Blackhawk + Tower of Skulls + The Necromancer

Tower of Skulls

The Necromancer. Not a popular fellow. He has the sort of personality that leaves you cold. Thousands of years old, he has been defeated by many legendary heroes, only to return with vengeance a century or so later.

It is rumoured he has a fortress, the Tower of Skulls, hidden deep in the World's Edge Mountains, beyond the Borderlands and the Caves of Chaos. Certainly not where you might take a pleasant stroll for an afternoon picnic.

In the world of Blackhawk™, this foreboding mountain fortress is only sought by those who have clearly lost their minds (or are about to). The Necromancer is not one to be trifled with. Although the ruins appear abandoned, in his service are legions of creatures dark and foul, living and undead.

Inspired by this awesome new piece of terrain that Lewis found in a pet shop. It's far too good to decorate a fish tank!

Playing at The Green Dragon

The Green Dragon Inn is located at the (real) Middle-Earth at the Hobbiton™ (gotta love those TM's, eh?) Movie Set near Matamata, New Zealand. It's a half hour drive from my house. As it's the fictional pub in JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, the Inn at Bywater has long been the favoured watering hole of many a thisty hobbit.

As a fan of The Hobbit since childhood, I've had a special and fantastic experience. Last night I played at The Green Dragon Inn with harmonica master Derek 'Haggis' Maguiness for a Christmas party. My good friend Lewis was also there telling stories. He's a professional storyteller. I think he summed it up best, in one word. Epic.

I saw the sign!

 

The mill.

Trouble at the mill.

Barrel load of fun.

Home sweet home.

Bilbo's house is in the hill behind us.

 

The Green Dragon Inn.

The stables.

Beautiful December weather. For those in the Northern hemisphere, Christmas in New Zealand is summertime fun.

Street lamp.

"A place to drink, a place to meet, a place to rest your hairy feet."

Closing time. After an awesome evening on entertaining the guests, we relax at the bar.

Cameron, from Scotland, gives us the thumbs up!

Smaug!

I'm off to the movies tonight with some friends to experience the second film in Peter's The Hobbit trilogy. Or, more importantly, to see Smaug!

"My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!"

—Smaug

 Ah, he's such a charmer, eh?

Oh, then there's this elf, who will undoubtedly be a favourite for my kids!

Chronopia Miniatures

Here are a few Chronopia miniatures from the 90s. They are from the Firstborn army lists and look fantastic on the gaming table. They just scream 'eavy Metal. The checks are the kind of detail I rarely paint these days.

Grenadier + Dragon Lords + Magic Users

The first miniatures I ever painted were made by Grenadier. They were available from the local (Te Kuiti) book shop in small blister packs or boxed sets. The following miniatures are from one of the latter, Dragon Lords - Fantasy Boxed Sets: Magic Users™ (TM, yes indeed), Advanced Level Adventurers. Except for the Magic User, who is from another Dragon Lords boxed set: Specialists - The Skilled Ones.

Magician (A44) and Sorcerer (A38).

Magic User and Enchanter (A40).

They were 25mm, made of lead, and also came with some heavy-weight endorsement:

 "I endorse Grenadier's DRAGON LORDS™ and FANTASY LORDS™ miniatures because they capture the spirit and imagination of fantasy role playing." ~ Dave Arneson.✞

The Enchanter was originally painted by my friend Alex. I recently gave it a repaint, keeping his masterful robe lining. The others have also been given some love with a gentle brush within the last year or so. I have given away a lot of my Grenadier miniatures over the years but still have plenty left to paint. Because of the fine detail, they are very rewarding. These miniatures have really stood the test of time. Almost 30 years!

It's probably worth mentioning that (way back then) during a game of D&D we didn't tend to use miniatures except to represent our character in party order.

✞David L. Arneson, Co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, the original adventure fantasy roleplaying game.

Mordheim Miniatures + Johann + Bertha + Aenur

Mordheim... remember that damned city? Well, the rulebook may be sitting on the shelf for the moment but here are some of the special character miniatures that came out with the game. To be honest, although I thoroughly enjoyed painting them (back in the 90s), I've never used them in a game of Mordheim. From left to right: Johann the Knife, Bertha Bestraufrung, High Matriarch of the Sisterhood and Aenur, the Sword of Twilight.

Johann the Knife, Bertha Bestraufrung,
High Matriarch of the Sisterhood and Aenur, the Sword of Twilight.

Just as deadly from behind.

We halted play on a Mordheim campaign a couple of years ago. My treasure hunters were nailing any opposition to the proverbial wall with their crossbows. A dwarf will never be fast but with chain shirts, iron helmets and shields, they are bloody tough to knock down! Between them and the Norse warband, Chaos was having a miserable time of it to be sure!

Blackhawk + The Campaign

The Campaign now has a name! In honour of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor and Gary Gygax's Greyhawk, The Campaign is now called Blackhawk. I even whipped up a logo:

The number of players has grown also! Well, it's time for some gaming... and perhaps a new character or two...