CoastalCon 2021: Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs, oh my!

 Despite the Covid hit, the folks at CoastalCon (a small indie-game developer convention in Beaufort, South Carolina) were able to run a trimmed down convention this year.

I attended and was able to run three games of Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs.  Much merriment and death was had.

A revised exploration card with a jab at a friend of mine...

The table set up for Friday's game.

Group one on Saturday suffered a brutal defeat when jumped by spiders, ghouls and then orcs immediately following.  The Thief, alone, managed to escape back through the dungeon's entrance.

Group two on Saturday were met by spiders and an angry Sorcerer in the first chamber, not even getting down the first flight of stairs.

Encountering the massive Stone Golem the wounded party manages to sneak two Heroes past it...but the Barbarian and Elf are left behind.

The Barbarian slips, rolling one or more Skulls...the Golem steps up to crush him and the Elf sees his chance to escape...

Further down the bridge, the Halfling and the Dwarf encourage the Elf to spend his Luck dice and bolt for the gap to the bridge!

The Elf escapes, but the Barbarian is left broken and shattered by the Stone Golem.  The party escapes onto a narrow bridge that the Golem cannot cross - they later cut through Zombies to escape.

Having picked up a set of Metallic paints from Pro Acryl, I found a store at the convention selling the paints so I picked some up to try - some normal colours.  Really liking the metallics so I hope these are as nice!

MkIV Churchills from PSC

 So, finishing up my box of five PSC Churchills in 15mm...I did the last two as MkIV Churchills with the spare fuel cans, and front mud guards.  The performance is identical in game, but I decided I wanted it to look like two separate units - so they differ from the MkIIIs I did yesterday.

I did a made-up camouflage scheme as well.

Stumbling awkardly into 2021...

 Hobby has been slow in 2021.  Most of my time has been spent working behind the scenes on the dungeon crawl rules - a lot of photoshop, and lots o' typing.  Sadly that removes time spent on actual hobbying.

Over the past two days though I've managed to start clearing out some projects that have been sitting on my work desk

Some older trees that have been sitting around in a garage for 20 years since I first hot-glued them to some balsa wood stands around college.  Now updated to match the basing of my other trees - and something that's not cluttering up my hobby space!

 

On a complete whim I ordered a replacement set of metallic paints.  I've had the same line of Vallejo metallics for about ten years - some good, some bad, etc.  Heard great things about these, figured I'd just swap them out - prepare myself for the next ten years or so...

 

Build up three Churchill tanks from PSC yesterday - planned on at least priming them today.

Then got carried away and finished them (better pics later!)

 

The Soviet armour/vehicle depot is expanding beyond my storage capacity (basic infantry are in another bin entirely!)

 

So, some very slow progress.  I have also ordered a seventh iteration of test cards for the dungeon crawl, and will be attending CoastalCon in Beaufort, SC this upcoming weekend.  It sounds like it may be a pretty small shindig this year though.  It's being held at a local church in place of a hotel, etc.

Really happy with the Churchills from Plastic Soldier Company.  Nice kit, loads of options for variants (can only use two of the five though for Lend Lease).  Really pleasing kit to build and paint.  I just ham-fisted my way through the tanks and I'm happy with the result.

 

 

 

Games!: Battlegroup Kursk in 20mm.

 Got in a game of Battlegroup Kursk today in 20mm at a friend's place.

I lost narrowly, though it went pretty poorly for the Soviets most of the game.  I had to steal some pictures, since I forgot to take any.

Convention: Siege of Augusta 2021 (Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs)

While perusing some hobby stuff on Facebook the other day I stumbled upon someone mentioning Siege of Augusta, a gaming convention in, you guessed it, Augusta, Georgia.

It was a day before the convention started...but this was one I'd attended before, though not for five years or so.  I snagged a hotel room and decided to give it a go.  It's a mere 2.5 hour drive and the next day I was en route, a full dungeon stuffed in my car.

The convention was very small...nearly empty compared to the last time I attended it, due to Covid, etc.

Anyway, I set up a dungeon on Friday and then a similar one on Saturday and blazed through seven games of Caverns, Crypts & Catacombs.

The dungeon set up for Friday afternoon/evening.

One of the Hero Parties getting into trouble with Skeletons in the first Chamber.

The same game underway on Friday evening.

The dungeon set up for Saturday.

A Hero Party is battling Cultists while running for the exit in the last Chamber.

Mordheim Freelance Knight (on foot...)

 I mentioned a while ago to a buddy that the Freelance Knight from the Mordheim range was one of my favourite all-time miniatures.  He later surprised me with a new-in-blister set for my birthday.  I then stalled 3-4 years, simply being afraid to open it and "waste" it by painting it.

I finally said "fuck it" and painted the on-foot miniature yesterday.  Absolutely lovely miniature to paint (the shield is drying so it's not glued to his pack just yet).

Love the old grizzled look, the tattered sleeves and knees of his clothing.  The broken feather, etc.  Just heaps of character.  So...here he is.

 He'll probably see a lot of use in the dungeons now as the "Warrior" going forward.  Eventually I'll take a crack at the mounted version, though I have little use for it at the moment.

PS: Editing a photo for a forum mate - ignore this bit!

Battlegroup Cards: Ammunition and Aeroplanes!

 For use with Battlegroup games in WW2 I've done a quick test run of some dry-erase friendly cards for keeping track of vehicles and aircraft.

WW2 Ammuniton & Aeroplane Cards 

 These cards come together as two sets of 16 cards, each set is identified by a grey or green colour.  Each card has a vehicle facing and an aircraft facing.  The vehicle facings include room to monitor ammunition types and includes room for armour facings and speed bands (just for ease of reference).

Wrapping up 2020...Finfolk!

 My last nine miniatures finished in 2020; nine "Troglodytes" from Reaper Bones.  Troglodytes is a weird choice for fishmen...so I won't be using them as such, but rather as "finfolk" or something more suitable.  Troglodytes, the word, originally refers simply to cave dwellers (often with an attached assumption that they're anti-social and not following along with society's advances, etc.).  It has no fish or aquatic meaning, but I believe they are fish-like in D&D.

Typical newer Bones material; suitable for minions, but not ideal for character-minis.  Details still a bit on the soft side.  Left glossy from the dip and with weapons flat-coated.

This brings my 2020 total of painted miniatures to 207.  (Counting each base of 15mm figures as a single miniature).

Games!: 2nd Edition 40K and Battlegroup: Kursk

 Just some pictures from two games over the past few days (and I missed taking pictures of some games over the past few weeks).

 

Soviet deploying to counter a three-pronged German assault.

Soviet armour is caught by Stuka dive bombers and artillery, pinning and sowing chaos.

Soviet armour and infantry being blasted by artillery and bombs.

Though I lost the game, my final moment was a lucky AT rifle team firing a round at a Panzer IV, needing an 11 to pin it, and a 12 to kill it....mission: accomplished!

 

Late in the game...things looking dire for the Dark Angels as they retreat toward the landing platform.

A poor shot of the table.

The Eldar Exarch lands to assist the Dark Angels - protecting the Tarantula turret from the nearby Genestealers.

A Carnifex ignores the dangers of the acid lake and attacks two Shining Spears.

On the other side of the table, a squad of Fire Dragons stands their ground against a Carnifex - buying time for the Dark Angels and other Eldar.

Early in the game, the Swooping Hawk Exarch skirts along the acid lake, firing at the Genestealers.

Early in the game, the Dark Angels withdraw as the Tyranids chase them onto the table.

A second unit of Hormagaunts is hurtling at the Dark Angels as they withdraw toward the platform.

The Tyranids swarming toward the Dark Angels.

Flying from the other side of the board, the Swooping Hawks land, dropping grenades and breaking the Hormagaunt unit - and then opening up with lasguns.

After defeating the Hormagaunts, the Swooping Hawks grenade a unit of Genestealers...making one mistake; leaving one alive.

The Inquisitor Chaplain and Techmarine organize the retreat to the landing platform.
 

Chaos Beastmen, 2nd Edition styles.

 So, back when I was playing 8th edition I picked up several sets of the Blackstone Fortress Chaos Beastmen because I was going to write up a datasheet for them and run them as auxiliaries to my Chaos Space Marine force.

Fast forward a year...and while I painted the four I originally obtained with my box, the other eight were sitting idle as I'd lost all interest in 8th edition 40K as it ran rampant into nonsensical territory.  Then...2nd edition revival.

What's this?  A competently written codex!?  A Chaos Cultists list which includes actual Chaos Beastmen!?  Boom.  Motivation to finish the other eight.

Modified and equipped for 2nd edition (where they could actually take wargear and decent weapons).

 

Yes, the picture is a bit crap, but you get the point!  I armed five or six with Bolt Guns and made two "Champions" who can lead squads of Beastmen.  One is armed with a bolt pistol, power axe and chainsword...while the other is armed with a plasma pistol and power glove.

Wonderdraft Maps (for links)

 Don't mind this, just posting some Wonderdraft maps I did for some role-playing games.  Using the blog to link images!