Congratulations little King Under the Mountain!
Mommy and daddy love you soooooo much!!!
And that ever since the day you arrived in our lives...
Printed and painted for the Rangers of Shadow Deep game I presented earlier this week, this beast is actually a printing mistake.
I needed one Giant Vulture for the game, and with my sleepy head I took the stl file by Miguel Zavala, and scaled it up another bumb, to 200%.
The result being a GARGANTUAN Vulture now, but heck, a quick paint job later in two colour tones for all the areas, and the beast was good enough for the game.
And afterwards I can still give it a use as an encounter once the Dungeons and Dragons campaign can actually take off...
The latest piece of scenery I painted up, a Viking Hut, found on Thingiverse.
Now, I like this sort of scenery, it prints fast at 12 hours (I have low speed, high warmth settings on the Ender 3 for better adhesion to the glass bed), and it is multifunctional.
The intended use for me is to of course use it in Middle-earth games, as it looks suitable for either Rohan or Dunland settings, with the thatched roof and all, but it can just as well be placed in games of Rangers of Shadow Deep or even Frostgrave when I finally get round to that.
Nice little piece for sure, and I`m going to be printing a couple more of those in all likelyhood...
Better late then never, I`m slowly going through the various animated series of the Star Wars franchise, and just finished the 4th season of Clone Wars.
Now, I`m not that much a fan of the drawing style, being an anime lover myself, and that is probably what makes it going so slow...
Counting 22 episodes, there are two major "arcs"for my feel in this season, as the story unfolds the further political struggle between the Republic and the Seperatists. The first half of the season seems to focus mostly on the development of the Clone Troopers themselves, while the second half focusses more on the bounty hunters and scum of the galaxy.
But it also features heavily on the fate of some fallen Sith apprentices, as there is a whole storyline on how Asajj Ventress turns to become a bounty hunter, while the final two episodes of the season detail the return on none other then Darth Maul!
It does show some good development for the later movies, as I picked up a slow and steady change in Anakin, and mostly his fighting style, from fast and flashy to the more calculated style of Vader, especcially in his duel with Dooku...
It wasn`t to bad a season at all, but well, Star Wars is just something I find okay for watching now and then, and not a must see at all cost franchise... so it might take a while before I actually get to season 5 I guess.
In today's post, the first model of an army I really want to start, where they not so bloody expensive on the 'bay right now.
Arnor! Former kingdom of glory and sister lands of Gondor and destroyed by civil war, it is roughly the area of the Shire, Bree and the lands of the Dunedain.
The first model for this force as such is the advisor of the King, Malbeth the Seer. The royal advisor of the last two kings, he made two prophecies: that Arvedui would be the last king of Arnor until Aragorn II, and that Aragorn II would walk the Paths of the Dead.
Now to see if I can paint some warriors to at least get a Battle Company ready of the great realm of old...
Today I managed to get another solo game in, and this time I opted to return to the Shadow Deep and put my rangers on their next adventure line from the rulebook: Mission 2 - The Beacon Tower.
Over the course of the past weeks, I have been printing and painting the scenery required for this adventure (it's a great motivator for sure!), but I already figured out I`ll be printing about 150 dungeon tiles or 40 wall sections before I can go into the next scenario of this story... if my heroes survive this encounter!
The game is ran on a 2.5 by 2.5 table with a river, and a lot of rocks with occassional greenery to provide a sneaky approach to the guards, a force of gnolls.
As I base my rangers setting a lot around Middle-earth, as I have by far the largest pool to draw on from them, that means the gnolls will be represented by the (not so) brave Orcs of Mordor!
The scenario is all bout being able to sneak up and quietly take out the gnoll pack, so one bodged roll could raise the alarm and put the heroes in grave danger! Adding to that, there is also Rachmel, my spear wielidng guardsman who enters the fray with 5 HP less due to a bad wound from the previous adventure still...
Before the battle, I could make a Navigation roll to sneak already a bit on the battlefield, which I duly failed of course. I would also be using Loraliel, my Ranger, to make the Stealth rolls as long as the alarm isn't raised as he has a +3 Stealth.
Turn 1
With the first turn starting, one of the Gnolls wanders off due to a succesful Stealth roll, allowing Loraliel, Cuchelain my Knight and Karaniok the Arcanist to sneak up the right flank. One of the wandering gnolls ends up in the river and drowns, taking down one worry for the game.
In the Event phase, a Booby trap springs near my Archer Theomir, but he had seen it using his Perception and evaded it.
Turn 2
Loraliel and Cuchelain advance further after diverting the gnoll sergeant, but can`t get to close in order to not be spotted by the patrolling gnolls. Two of them wander close to both Rachmel and Iramer, a guardsman and a man-at-arms respectively, but they can`t charge them because that would raise the alarm as more gnolls have their eyes on their tribesmen. The same goes for the one near Loraliel, as his kindred across the river wanders back into line of sight unfortunatly.
Turn 3
The heroes stay put in cover as the gnolls wander close, but then an archer spots Loraliel. The alarm is raised!!! He shoots, but the partial concealment saves Loraliel from being hit. But the fight is on, as those gnolls able to draw line of sight surge forward, while the others search the rocky outcrops for the heroes. This causes one of them to wander into the river, causing three damage.
Not afraid to break stealth anymore, Cuchelain charges a gnoll archer, but loses the fight and gets 2 damage. Rachmel charges a gnoll fighter to try and prevent them from ganging up, even if this puts him in the line of sight of the sergeant. However, it seems his earlier sustained injury plays up as he is swiftly dispatched by the Gnoll fighter.
Theomir aims a shot at a gnoll archer, causing 4 damage to the creature, but things aren`t looking good for the rangers.
In the event phase, it also starts raining heavily, reducing Line of Sight to 12" and inflicting -2 penalties for shooting from now on.
Turn 4
In a bid to help Cuchelain, Loraliel moves and fires at the gnoll that took down Rachmel, but misses. In response the gnoll charges him, but even though the beast is pushed back it takes no wounds. The second gnoll archer charges Cuchelain, and against the ganging up beasts the noble warrior is pushed back, wounded 3 times from the flurry of blows. His original opponent follows up, but fails to do more harm.
On the other flank a gnoll bumps into Iramer and engages, but can't wound the warrior, while at the same time a second gnoll is swept away by the roaring river. Those beasts are better at killing themselves then the Rangers are in hurting them...
Cuchelain recharges the gnoll archers, but fails to wound. Iramer on the other side of the table rolls a 19 in his battle... as does his opponent. Thankfully he has one point more of Fight and inflicts 9 wounds on the beast. In the duel of the archers, the gnoll misses before Theomir puts an arrow between the beast's eyes, taking it out.
Turn 5
Loraliel charges but loses again, taking no damage and holding the gnoll off in it's furious counter attack. The gnoll archer however takes down Cuchelain, while a second archer unsuccesfully shoots at Loraliel.
The gnoll sergeant spots Theomir and using both his actions forces him to be locked in combat, while another gnoll archer charges Iramir, wounding the grizzled warrior once.
As the situation grows desperate for the rangers, Karaniok charges a gnoll archer... and puts it down to a single wound! In the combat between Theomir and the sergeant, the archer wins the fight but unable to cause wounds decides to leg it, while his kinsman Iramer charges and slays a gnoll.
It looks grim for the rangers, but while not turning, the tide seems to be stalling a little... before the event deck revealed the red 3, and a fresh gnoll fighter rushes in, alas for the heroes...
Turn 6
Making use of the ranger move, both Loraliel as Karaniok charge their gnoll opponents. With a shaming 1 vs 20 Loraliel fails miserably and ends up with 11 wounds, while his companion ties the battle, slaying his opponent but taking 5 wounds himself in return.
Loraliel is charged by the newly arrived gnoll fighter, but wins the battle and causes 6 wounds on the creature, while another gnoll archer engages Karaniok, but while tieing again, neither suffers any wounds.
The gnoll sergeant barges into Iramer, but loses by one point and suffers 9 damage as a result from the warrior. The Rangers might suddenly be able to pull it off after all, and hope kindles in their ranks.
Turn 7
Again making use of the ranger presence, Loraliel charges the wounded gnoll while Karaniok engages the archer in combat. While the ranger dispatches his foe, Karaniok draws yet again with a 19 vs 19 and is taken out himself, while leaving his opponent at one wound on the table.
The Gnoll fighter charges Loraliel, but with a critical success the ranger lops off his head cleanly of it's shoulders, but then gets an arrow to the chest by the gnoll archer, standing with only a single wound remaining!
Ordering his remaining companions not to come to his aid, Theomir investigates the clue counter and finds the Book of Poems on a roll of 15, while Iramer slowly catches up to protect the archer from the patrolling gnoll still on that side of the river.
In the event phase, another gnoll appears and unfortunatly spawns nearly next to the bridge where the companion is heading, so he better readies himself for yet another fight!
Turn 8
Loraliel fails to wound his opponent, causing them to remain locked in combat. As the new gnoll fighter locks Iramer in combat, the gnoll archer would have taken Loraliel down where it not for the magical sword the ranger carried.
The patrolling gnoll wanders into the river again, and takes another 2 damage as Iramer holds off the gnoll fighter.
Turn 9
Loraliel starts by casting Heal onto himself and raise his hit points back to 6, but then loses the combat by a wide margin. Luckily he can Roll with the Punches, taking only 4 instead of 8 damage and keeping him in the fight... barely. That is one ferocious gnoll archer he is facing!
The noise or Iramer causing 7 wounds on his opponent attracts the last gnoll fighter and he starts making way to the battle. Theomir reaches and picks up the treasure chest in the camp in the meantime, as the duel between the gnoll and his kinsman continues.
For the third time in the battle, Iramer wins a tied roll thanks to his one higher fight value, and slays the beast facing him.
In the event phase, a giant vulture appears (so at least I didn`t print it for nothing)...
Turn 10
It's the last turn, and Loraliel finally, and only just, puts down the archer as the vulture glides by. The last gnoll can`t reach Iramer and choosing the safer option, the warrior moves across the bridge. Theomir walks off the table with the treasure, as the battle comes to an end. The mission was a success, but at what cost would it turn out...
On an injury level, the group did well in the end. Cuchelain had a close call, losing his potion of Toughness as a result (I wanted to save it up for the next scenario), Rachmel made a full recovery and Karaniok only suffered a smashed jaw, whose only effect is that he wouldn`t get a progress point for the game.
The treasure turned out to be gold and jewels, which where spend to give Cuchelain that extra advancement point he missed by being taken out in the scenario, while Loraliel levelled up to level 2, and gained an additional point of Fight as a result, but he had lost his magical sword of Blocking 1 in the game... but at least they are all at full strength now for the next scenario, as the Rangers will enter Tor Varden.
For which, as I said above, I`ll be doing quite some terrain printing and painting first...
A calm week this time round, even though I`m in full shopping spree mode pre-Brexit.
On a printing level, with enough trays and tiles printed for orktober, I went on and print some fantasy pieces for gaming.
From the 3D Hexes pack I bought a while ago, another few sections of the Lion Walls have been printed up, as well as their Crystal Core.
While from Mini Makers, I printed the ruined house to put on the table.
My Dark Realms first part of the october Patreon came in as well, with the Manor and the Gatehouse for the huge release this month, Castle Dracul from Castlevania!
But it hasn`t been printing alone this week, as once again I got some models from my regular eBay dealer, as 2 more ruffians and a wildman of dunland join the collection.
And issue 111 of my Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy fell in the digital mailbox, so that will give some nice reading though the "main theme" totally doesn't intrest me at all (Vietnam).
And that's it for the week, see you again next week round!
