A Couple Of Pics From A Couple Of First Edition Warhammer Games

Playing with some recent photos fired up the desire to actually post something again.  These are from two different games.

1.  Thistlewood:

2.  "...and, oh, a Balrog is Toughness F and has 15 Wounds..."

Happy New Year!

STAR TREK is 50 years old!/Playing with "boy dolls"

"Spock to Enterprise..."

"The Captain has done something to his leg.  We require immediate medical assistance."

"Enterprise to Mr. Spock, the Doctor is transporting down..."

-"You are not Dr. McCoy!"

-"Of course not, I am Dr. Zaius!"

-"Mr. Scott, the transporter seems to be acting up again."

-"Aye.  And, 'O my poor Bairns!'"

When suddenly...

-"Ah-ha, Captain Kirk!  At last, we meet again."

-"And there is no escape now, James T. Kirk, I have brought friends!"

Happy Birthday, STAR TREK! 

Warhammer For Everything/40mm Fever/Even Ernest Hemingway Knew of The Irresistible Magnetic Allure Of The Miniature Painter!!

Although I obsessively collect rulesets and actually try to play them, I find I always come back to good ol'Warhammer.   Ah, Warhammer.  Roll to hit, roll to wound, roll to save.  So simple, so wonderful, and so adaptable to every single conflict/adventure imaginable!  Over the years I have used the Warhammer system to game everything from cavemen squabbles to WWII aerial combat.    Last weekend The Kid and I used it to fight out a fictional battle from the War of 1812:

    The good citizens of Buffalo are fed-up!  They march to join the American Regular Troops who are advancing over the border into Upper Canada.  Along the way they roll a D6 (1,2, -they are fearful, 3,4, they are just fed-up, 5, 6, Frenzied!) - the good citizens of Buffalo are frenzied!!

American Regulars form into a firing line to impress the citizens.  (We gave all Regular troops the ability to re-roll any 1's when rolling to hit if they are in a firing line formation.)

And here come the British! 

Battlelines form.  (Niagara Falls can be seen in the distance...)

The Americans shoot first!  Cannons in Warhammer are always so much fun!

British Hussars charge the American Frontiersmen.  "They don't even know how to form squares!", laughed one Hussar before he was shot from his saddle.

British native allies charge too.  (We gave them extra attacks and the Hatred rule to make them truly terrifying and potent.)

The mid-point of the battle:

First Nations warriors overrun into the American Batteries!  At this point in the battle things really swing in favour of the British.

Realizing all is lost, the Americans pause for a cool silhouette/shadow shot and the game ends.

 

By the way, all these figures are 40mm and were painted by Ross Mac of the fantastic blogs, Battle Game Of The Month and a Gathering of Hosts.   Yeah, 40mm is where its at!  I love this scale and wish I could transform all my miniatures now into 40mm!  I first became hooked on 40mm when Front Rank Miniatures was having their Fall Sale.  This led to a very fortuitous series of happy transactions with Ross Mac as he was selling off some of his beautifully painted colllections of 40mm.  It was really perfect timing too because I have been finding that I enjoy painting less and less as my eyes change/age.  (Boo and hiss.)  But speaking of painting, the other day I came across the following when re-reading Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises:  "...and just when he had made up his mind to leave his wife she left him for a miniature-painter." (!)   And this "he" is a good-looking, athletic rich young man from a well-respected old New York family, yet he is no match to the mighty allure of a miniature painter!!  It makes one think, because afterall, Papa Hemingway really knew what he was talking about.  I think I will continue to paint...

 

"They Shall Not Pass Our Mountain Pass!"

There are days when one must simply shout:  "Glorious Second Edition Warhammer!!" 

Ahh, Second Edition Warhammer, I rarely ever play it and seldom even look at it, but when I do, I love it!   No other edition even comes close to touching the artwork of wonderful Second!  (I had to resist the temptation of typing the preceding sentence boldly in Bold Print.)    The picture below being a perfect example.  I must have spent the better part of the morning staring at it and dreaming. 

This mutated into an afterschool game...

"Brothers, They Shall Not Pass Our Mountain Pass!"

"Goblins!!  They're everywhere!!!"

Dwarves are falling!

But Dwarves fight on!

and on...

and on, against overwhelming and impossible odds...

"But They Shall Not Pass Our Mountain Pass!!"

"Unless, alas...

...they come en masse!"

"O Good Grungni, what a day to be a Dwarf!"

My Favourite Star Wars Action Figure Says...

"Happy May 4th!"

it's nice to play outside again...

Incessant Time-Travel is fun...

...although it sure messes with the months.  Eastertime has suddenly come about again!  But that's ok, 'cause it means egg-hunts and games outside!

 

Happy Spring!

 

Bye for now...