The Curse of Bogland - III

Arrgh. Three times in a row fate has conspired against me. I missed yet another HoTT gaming night at my (quite far to travel to get to but very satisfying when I do) wargaming club.

:(

I be cursed ...

At this rate my evil, war-mongering are turning into agrarian poets with pointy ears and long hair. The Orc-Boss of Bogland is not a happy boss. I have one last chance before the year is out to get back into the action.

A surge of metal mined from Moria

At last, the flush of WW2 projects off the painting table cleared in my mind's eye a slot for the LOTR HoTT project. specifically those Metal Morian Goblins. These are the boys (or things) who will stand by the Great Goblin and Goblin Shaman, so they deserved to be of a slightly better class, or should that simply read weight? ;)

Specifically the Goblin King of Moria (Note : Please excuse the glare in the photo's caused by the evil-smelling torches in the Goblin tunnels, and yes the basing is far from complete, but the plan is to do that all in one go at the end)  

The Evil Goblin Shaman of Moria:

The dead-eye Archers too are of a quality above the normal (plastic) "hoardlings".

A plastic 7Hd (incidentally I originally was planning to base them 5Hd but thought they looked too much of a "skirmish formation", rather than the swarming mass of writhing goblin arms, legs and bodies I remembered from the epic Fellowship of the Ring scenes - my painting arm complaints but artistic director is happy akin to Peter Jackson) :

Hoards of things (with two more bases still needed for the Moria OoB):

Next stop, back to the plastic to flesh out another two more Hoards (7Hd) of the above, (that's fifteen figures in all, two times seven plus one, as one of the above bases is a figure short) before I can move onto that Cave Troll which has been hiding in a box for simply years now :)

The HoTT GW LOTR "War of the Ring" Campaign project seems a long, long way off at the moment.

:(

Bogland Terrain and Army Composition

Just to flesh out a few details from my HoTT campaign world

The INSIDERS GUIDE TO BOGLAND: 

• No road infrastructure as it encourages humans
• No woods, they "would" (ahem) encourage elves
  
• Flies, lots of flies, everywhere, nice juicy flies
  
• Rough ground everywhere to trip things up like silly men in plate armour
  
• No rivers as such but plenty of pools of stagnant water for things to "lurk" about if you get my meaning
  
• Hills yeah, nasty little steep hills, horses could break their ankles on those
• Pits of snakes and things, and lots of biting beetles
• Lots of Orcs, nasty evil ones
  

Prime time real-estate really, yet for so,e reason in its entire recorded history no neighbouring country has yet successfully invaded it, or for that matter expressed a wish to, bar the DREGS who got lost and couldn't find it!

Trolls, you got to love them and fear then, even if they are on your side! These are of the more modern Games Workshop ilk of 28mm offerings.

The Bogland Orc Army:

• 1 x Warband (General)
• 1 x Warband
  
• 8 x 5Hd
  
• 1 x Troll (Behemoth)
• 2 x Beasts
• 2 x Riders
  

Technically not based as a true hoard, but it gives you a feel of what you expect to see. Again, old, old AD&D figures finding a second lease of life (although based incorrectly). My HoTT army painting is slowly taking form in GW LOTR figures. For the campaign I am borrowing some 15mm orcs.

Bogland Army Battle Honours:

• Victorious slaughter against the unwashed DREG's in the Battle for Smale (now called Lesser Bogland)
• A completely routed contingent in the Battle of Dwarf Rock (but we don't talk about that much and it's the last time we try and help a rival Orc clan kill dwarves in armour with pointy things)
  

Mottoes and Sayings: 

• Never wash or fight fair
• Make sure that elf is really dead
• If it's good enough for a rat or flies to eat, it's good meat
• Why? The Boss said so

Hail to the Orc Chief of Bogland

If "the day to end days" happens and heaven forbid the winter ancient campaign splutters on a damp start, "Plan B" maintains that I can fall back on the "fun" campaign from my other (shamefully infrequent) wargaming soul-mates (it's a bit of a drive to get there but well worth it when I do). I [try to] venture forth once a month (or so) to HoTT it with the 'worst' of them: Dwarves, Rats, Horseman, Desert Drifters and Orcs, lots of Orcs. Here I am currently dabbling as self proclaimed Orc-Warrior Chieftain of Bogland viewing the rest of the world with megalomania and paranoia. The Boss-Man is shown below, twenty eight year old D&D figures, now that should bring a nostalgic smile to many a face. The paint job is a more recent affair, some eight years old!

Bogland (THE HITCH-HIKERS GUIDE):

A foul, evil smelling bog-land of bilge and puss vomited forth from the earth that upsets the noses of elves and horses, but is somehow strangely palatable to that of dwarves due to its similarity with the fermentation process. The badlands stretch as a far as the eye can see, an afterthought of bad magic from an inept sorcerous fool long since dead. A place feared by many but called home to a race of squat and squalid orcs whose language has over one hundred and fifty ways to describe a dead elf but no word to mean "poetry"! The closest they get is "to evacuate ones bowels noisily in the morning". Summary: Best avoid, as no clean running water is available.

The urge to embark on world-wide crusades of destruction comes naturally to these orc-folk. Currently  I am engaged in a life and death struggle with the neighbouring DREG Desert Drifters in what the official Bogland history refers to as "The War of the Dark". The war took a turn for the better when 50% of the DREG army was eaten by a hungry Sand-Worm in a desert storm (I kid you not) as they tried to invade Bogland. They should really make better maps or at least attempt to read them. As Bogland returned the invasion complement, despite now being outnumbered 14 stands to 6 these same plucky, these surviving fanatics attempted to lift my investment of their second city (nay, squalid collection of small huts). Suffering an additional a mere 50% army casualties in the process (Knights being ripped apart by an ugly big Troll Behemoth), they then retired to their capitol (a big hut) where it looked as if their "end days" were fast approaching (to the sound of orc marching feet from Bogland).

(Above) There is no Troll quite like an original AD&D Grenadier Troll (long nosed) figure.

Yet it was not to be so, divine intervention interceded on behalf of the DREG as an unexpected plague struck Bogland for the whole of year Year Two of "The War of the Dark" (I couldn't make the game twice in a row). With a whole year to recover the DREG's may now be able to muster a flea-ridden field army to face Bogland in a fight to the death for their capitol, that's if the plague ever lifts from Bogland.

To be continued ....

Painting Tray Update

Behold (at last) the behemoth King Tigers have rolled away to strike terror into the hearts and minds of the Western or Eastern Allies alike. Or alternatively presenting a plum target of opportunity for a young Jabbo fighter-pilot (Mustang or Sturmovik) to make his name. In convoy below (a faked wargame moment):

Or deployed, ready to dominate a wargames table near you ;)

Meanwhile a further batch of German heavy armour presents its profile under the painting lights. These pair of Tigers (1/72 Hasagawa and 1/76 Fujimi [early version]) pose a slight problem for me as I will have to move away from the three tone camouflage scheme I was enjoying. Something either Dark Yellow with Green or Brown irregular lines to break up the profile. The 1943 summer look as it were.Currently they sit in the Oiled and Metallic stage ready to take their camouflage markings on:

Meanwhile up in the skies the Airfix Battle of Britain single engined fighter project continues in a stop start fashion. The Hawker Hurricane MkI stands in its shade colours as:

While the Boulton Paul Defiant (viewed broadside) is shown here. It packed a surprise rear-punch to a Hurricane profile (seen from behind), but once bitten twice shy in combat as a 12 o'clock attack was its undoing.

Last but not least a second metal Goblin, The Great Goblin King himself gets painted and the Moria Goblins HoTT Army project takes an oh so small step forward:

In the background I have almost uncontrollable urge to paint 20mm WWII plastic infantry in large industrial batches, after all in the northern hemisphere the nights are beginning to draw in.

:)

Metal problem in Moria solved

Gotcha Mr Metal Goblin!


Stop Press: Factory batch process abandoned on the Metal Goblins. Each figure is now treated as an individual in a 'holistic' arty manner before going onto the next one, sounds almost like therapy to me. I probably needed a well earned break from painting endless batches of GW "Camo Green" and GW "Bolt Gun Metal" body parts anyway.

The individual process is far slower but with only ten metals to paint some form of forward progress can be maintained, one down, nine to go!

:)

Troublemakers: The Goblins of Moria

Now the painting tray stands almost empty, quite forlorn .
Gone are the tanks and aircraft.


What is left is the evil Goblin hoard that has all but broken my will to paint them, but that is what Goblins are good at, being evil and sneaky.

The background to this madness:
It all started when I joined in a HOTT (Hoards Of The Things) Campaign down at my local wargames club. Despite my not having a 15mm army I became an Orc Chieftain (of Bogland) through a generous donation/loan by the campaign referee. The game was a blast (and is still ongoing) so I came away enthused and charged to do some HOTT fantasy figures of my own. The trouble was that I had a stack of unpainted 20mm LOTR (Lord of the Rings) figures from GW (Games Workshop) and couldn't really justify in my own mind doubling up with an equivalent army of smaller 15mm goblins! Rather than base the LOTR figures individually I would HOTT them in stands, a perfect solution, or was it?

The planned HOTT Moria Goblin Army:

9 x 7Hd (Hoard) = 9 AP
1 x 3Wb (Warband General) = 2 AP
1 x 3Wb (Warband) = 2 AP
1 x Shaman (Cleric) = 3 AP
2 x Troll (Behemoth) = 8 AP

Total 24 AP (Army Points)

Variations:
1 x 4Bw (Shooters) = 2 AP
1 x Balrog (God) = 4 AP
2 x Warg Riders (Riders) = 4 AP (2 AP each)
1 x Gollum (Sneaker/Lurker) = 3 AP or 1 AP

It all started well, I batched my "plastics" up in groups of tens and started off in factory production mode. It became an organised ritual part of the day and the figures stacked up nicely. I even decided to upgrade my hoard numbers from five on a base to seven as I was using the 25mm basing sizes. Five on a base looked like a skirmish formation rather than a seething, dangerous hoard. So far so good and I raced through forty eight plastics in about three to four weeks. Here are the "good" plastic Moria Goblins [Work In Progress = basing + 15 plastics to paint for my Army List]

:)


Then I hit the GW metals and promptly got "metal fatigue". The "bad" Moria Goblins [Work In Progress = highlighting and basing]

:(


They just broke my rhythm and concentration, instead of a set of familiar poses they were all oddly unique. I fought the urge to open up my last packet of plastics as I deemed that would be a severe loss of face in front of the metal Goblins. I stood at an impasse.

By way of distraction I started to tidy up, or not in the case of the Jaguarundi and the late war German stuff took my eye. I started searching on the Internet for an appropriate painting scheme, I fell into some blogs and thought I fancy a go at that. So its time to be "up and at those Goblins" (any inspirational comments appreciated) , watch this space ;)

Note: On the upside, after reading a friends recent post on their wargame blog: http://thewargameshed.blogspot.com/2009/08/jws-reunion.html, l liked what I saw on the creative use of a chessboard for Balin's Tomb. Hence I shall leave a good dozen of the plastics individually based after all for those inevitable AD&D adventure nights with old friends from school.

:)