CCL. Fabula Rules System Playtest

Last Sunday we gathered a few friends and gave a test run to the rules we wrote for the Sunhold event.

If you want to try out the rules as they currently stand, you can download them on this link: FABULA. If enough people show interest, I'm considering opening a FB group for the Fabula rules system so folks can share their experiences, opinions, house rules and stats.

I also put two other documents up for download: the Sunhold mood board (LINK) and the brief intro to the setting (LINK), since I got a few queries about those.

This week we've seen more WIPs from other Sunhold participants:  @ingrimmson (LINK) @shavigrad (LINK),  @frigidus_sanguis (LINK) and @totally_not_panicking (LINK). 

Follow #aos28sunhold for future updates on the project. 

Now about our first playtest. Ivan and I were GMs, and we had three players: Luka, Goran and Patrik (who also took photos of the game). Luka was the only one with experience in tabletop miniature gaming. We set up the board using our ruins and graveyard scenery, populated it with traps, loot and visible and secret monsters (Deadwalkers, Skeletons, Harpies, Crypt Ghouls, Deranged Cultists), and let the players pick their warbands. Luka played the Iron Legs, Goran the Templars of the Twin-Tailed Comet, and Patrik had Avananta Stormsight with a single Templar henchman. Their main goal was to raid a particular crypt that contained a valuable artefact, but in order to get there they had to get through perilous ruins.

The players decided at some point to start viciously killing each other. That ended in all PCs being wiped out before they even passed into the second half of the map, where a boss was waiting for them, guarding their main objective. The guys didn't take the game seriously in the slightest, but since this was a playtest it didn't matter as much. We definitely confirmed that collaboration between warbands is highly beneficial for success in this game.

We did get a bunch of feedback from our playtesters, some of which we immediately implemented in the first tweak of the rulebook. We intend to do several more playtest games to get a better idea what works and what doesn't.

CCXLIX. AoS28: The Iron Legs

The Iron Legs are a group of adventurers working for the figurehead Queen of Eagelroc. This warband was designed by my brother Ivan and executed by me. This band of rascals will be used this Sunday in our first playtest of the rules system Fabula, which was written for the Sunhold game.

Lukas the Fortunate.

Lukas is the leader if the warband. He is a mercenary, treasure hunter and explorer, whose accomplishments are more often than not the product of inexplicable luck rather than skill or wit. He was built using mostly plastic Perry parts. The pistol is from Freebooter Miniatures. The sword and helmet have been heavily modified with wire and putty, and the ruff around his neck is sculpted from scratch.

Padre Ambrosius.

This character is a corrupt priest of Sigmar. The model was based on a WH40k Astropath. The head came from Warlord plastic Zulu warriors kit.

Sebastianus.

Sebastianus is a soldier with an appetite for human flesh. Perry plastics with some sculpting.

Narses.

Narses is a rifleman, and a notorious coward. Also a Perry plastics kitbash with a bit of green stuff.

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The first few public posts from Sunhold participants have been shared by @shavigrad (LINK), @vmkuriljov (LINK), @frigidus_sanguis (LINK) and @totally_not_panicking (LINK). Follow #aos28sunhold for future updates on the project.

CCXLVII. AoS28: The Order of the Twin-Tailed Comet

For my first post of the new year we have a new pair of Templars to join the existing two. Now they have the numbers to be a warband on their own.

Two Knight Brothers, Commander, Chaplain.

Knight Commander.

I wanted the Commander to stand out from the Knight Brothers. The helmet design reminiscent of the twin-tailed comet is something I wanted to include from the start.

The conversion is a mix of Perry plastic parts, a GW comet symbol (don't remember exactly where it came from) and green stuff.

 

Chaplain.

The conversion is a combination of Perry plastic knight parts and North Star plastic wizard (plus putty).

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On a related note, I'm happy to announce that this summer I will once again be hosting an AoS28 event in Zagreb. The custom rules system written by my brother Ivan is nearly ready for a test drive, and I'm busy preparing the briefing document and fearfully glancing at the pile of terrain that needs to be built and painted over the coming months. 

More information coming soon. 

CCXLVI. AoS28: Orthros the Defender and a Monk

First of all, merry Christmas!

ORTHROS THE DEFENDER

Orthros the Defender is a Stormcast Sequitor. I got rid of the giant pauldrons and weapon, as well as the helmet halo. This mini was a commission, so he's not staying with me for long. He is likely to eventually get a twin who will remain in my possession.

Orthros and Avananta.

THE MONK

The monk is a mini from the Reaper Bones Black range. First time working with bones black, and it's an improvement over the original bones plastic. Less bendy, for sure. The mould lines are still a bitch to remove, since the material is still not great for filing or scraping. 

It's a really cool model straight out of the blister. I only slightly altered the cross he's wearing to make him better fit into the AoS setting. Not sure yet what his role will be in the games (NPC or playable character), but he is a Sigmarite monk. Painted him to match my Mordheim MMXIX flagellants, which will also be modified and incorporated into my AoS28 collection eventually.

He's a huge man, who will surely strike fear into the rotten hearts of the enemies of Sigmar.

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The minis I sculpted for the Harwood Hobbies Kickstarter earlier this year are now available in the Harwood Hobbies online store: LINK. There is an end of 2019/beginning of 2020 sale on right now. You can use the coupon End2019 for 20% off your purchase.

That's all for today. Back to feasting on holiday delicacies! 

CCXXXIX. AoS28: Celestial Gheists and Templar

A few new models for Avananta Stormsight's retinue. Definitely wanted to make a some brand new models for the upcoming game, but a part of the warband will still be filled with existing Free People soldiers.

Celestial Gheists

Got Blasphemous recently as an early birthday present from my brother. These guys were directly inspired by certain creatures from the game, whose design is no doubt based on the more odd-looking biblical angels, such as the seraphim and the cherubim. The game is gorgeous, BTW. Definitely worth looking into for its aesthetics and world (the gameplay is also really well done, but it takes some practice to get the hang of it).  

The Celestial Gheist minis were built using Stormcast heads, with wings & tails I cut from Zombicide crow swarms. They aren't something that exists in the AoS lore, so this is me making things up again. The Stormcast seem to me like a mix of Judeo-Christian angels and the einherjar from Norse mythology (and likely more stuff that I'm not aware of). As I often do when I mess with Warhammer factions' aesthetics and lore, I'm going a step back from their finished designs and taking a different path from there. So, going along the perceived angelic nature of Stormcast Eternals, I've introduced this caste of non-combatant reforged spirits from Azyr that serve as messengers and helpers to the Stormcast. There will be more such changes and additions in the future, you know I can't help it.

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Templar of the Order of Ghal Maraz

This figure has the same rules profile as the two Templars from before, and simply belongs to a different knightly order - hence the slight difference in appearance. The mini was constructed out of Perry plastic bits.

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The game is scheduled for Saturday, and it will be a clash of three different factions: the forces of Order (played by myself), the corpse-puppets of a Lich (played by my brother Ivan) and the warband of a Vampire (played by our guest Vladimir ). There will be a report of this after the event.

 

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In other news: I was a guest in the latest episode of CryinMo's Tabletop Alchemy podcast. Check it out here: Episode 24.

CCXXXI. AoS28: More Free Peoples Soldiers

My collection of soldiers for AoS28 has been slowly growing in the background, and now I've got nearly all companion types available in the Rangers of Shadow Deep rulebook. I guess we should finally try out the rules.

 

Men-at-Arms

 

Men-at-Arms are soldiers trained and armed for figthing at close quarters. Their standard equipment includes a sword and shield. Perry plastic HYW English + French, with Victrix Roman shields.

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 Archers

 

 Archers are soldiers trained and armed for figthing with bows. Perry plastic HYW English.
 

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Crossbowmen

 

Crossbowmen are soldiers trained and armed for figthing with crossbows. Perry plastic HYW English + French.

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Recruits

Recruits are the newly joined members of the Free People's armies. They are often young and usually unskilled. Perry plastic HYW English + French and one Victrix Roman head.
 

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Guardsmen

 

Guardsmen are soldiers trained and armed for figthing with larger two-handed weapons such as poleaxes, halberds and spears. Perry plastic HYW English + French.

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Templars

 

 

Templars are knights sworn to a religious order. They are elite warriors highly skilled in melee combat. They wear plate armour and carry two-handed weapons. 

These are out-of-the-box Perry HYW French knights. The symbol of their order is Sigmar's twin-tailed comet.

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Trackers

 

These specialist huntsmen are not warriors by trade, but they are skilled with a bow and useful to stay on track of the enemies of Order. They wear wild animal pelts and paint their faces to hide themselves in the woods. I used Victrix Ancient Roman heads and Perry medieval bodies and weapons.

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Eagelroc troops - these guys will serve as NPCs from the Free City of Eagelroc, which is completely reclaimed from Chaos, repopulated, and on the rise. Eagelroc sends soldiers to help with the cleanup of other lands, but also to pillage the ruins and bring the loot back home. These two soldiers happen to be duardin, but it's not a duardin-only city, there will be humans, too. These plastic dwarf minis were a lucky find, they fit well with my new collection and I can easily convert them with Perry bits (which I did here). They're from eM4. Not really the best material and casting, but I've seen much worse quality for higher prices than this. I'm really happy with these. 

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Hunald and Kottar, Lord Gereon's Men

These are two henchmen I made for an earlier scenario. My brother really liked them and wanted me to incorporate them into this collection so he can keep using them. They needed a bit of tweaking and a repaint, but here they are. They count as a Guardsman and a Crossbowman.

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We took the models for a spin a few weeks ago, in a skirmish with a couple friends who wanted to try tabletop wargames for the first time. We used our old favourite: the converted Malifaux 2E rules system; so we had to come up with profiles for all these unit types (and the Stormcast heroes leading them).