Stargrave - Skaven are even out here?!

On the galactic highway that is outer space the crews of various ships and cruisers seek adventure, loot and a snazzy stone for warp travel, maybe.

Veer-Myn artwork from the Deadzone game.

Oh my how long has it been since I updated this blog!! what have I been up to? Well summer never lends itself to painting for me, to much to do outside and other activities. Have I painted anything you may ask, and the answer is yes but it hasn't been overly oldhammer. The most recent off the paint table are the miniatures from The Thing Board Game and Cosmic Frog but I'll save those for another day. In the meantime...

Welcome to Stargrave and my crew. A game of mercenary bands or group of disparate folk trying to get by in the unfriendly cosmos. As you can see my crew is a morphed conversion of genestealer cultists and skaven minatures.

The crew line up, loot maybe nearby to steal!

Painting the minis from Drakon the Board Game.

Now you may be wondering what sort of title this post is all about. By that I mean, have I just spelt the word dragon wrong or something?

She wants her treasure back!

Nope, Drakon is a board game made by the fine people of Fantasy Flight Games and designed by Tom Jolly. Within this game there are several adventurer miniatures looking for gold and a dragon who is not too happy about these wizards, warriors and thieves trying to steal her gold.

The tiles are nice and sturdy, good as they move about a great deal.

The premise of this game is tile laying to gain variable gold coins until you reach a value of 10 on which you win. Sounds simple but some of these tiles are nasty, the heroes all have a one shot ability they can use and if you meet Drakon herself back to the centre you go minus 3 coins. Games are usually quick, dastardly and above all a lot of fun.

All seven models lined up for a photo.

This leads nicely to the miniatures that come with the game. We have a Ranger, Sorceress, Thief, Fighter (dwarf), Druid & Knight trying to get away with as much loot as possible and then Drakon herself the Dragon. The issue is that they are all a pale grey plastic which sometimes makes telling them apart slightly tricky. Have no fear though as here at oldhammer40kquest it is time to paint them all....

Encounters at a Cosmic scale!

Mwahaha!! Our evil planet conquering crusade is almost complete, this planet looks lovely, wait these natives we just encountered are so adorable we can not colonise their homeworld, let's go take over that Traders system instead.

Yes are cuteness will help us conquer the cosmos!!

Welcome to Cosmic Encounter where in the depths of space, the alien races of the Cosmos vie with each other for control of the universe.

Alliances form and shift from moment to moment, while cataclysmic battles send starships screaming into the warp as ancient tech is deployed. Players choose from hundreds of alien races, each with its own unique power to further its efforts to build an empire that spans the galaxy.

If that all sounds a bit over dramatic then blame Board Game Geek.  Over the last weekend (25th Jan) I managed to get two games of Cosmic Encounter played between 4 players. Even though I lost both games it was always entertaining and still very close. But which aliens did I encounter and who did I use to try and control the universe?

Game 1: The Fury, Ethic, Sorcerer & Will

My Alien Species

The Fury

Ah yes the very angry space archers. Did we lose an encounter or lose some ships during an alliance? Then suffer our wrath!! Although it seemed like a decent alien threat, the Fury ended up not doing a great deal as the Sorcerer ran rampant.

Game 2: Guerrilla, Trickster, Lightning & Oracle

My Alien Species

Trickster

Do you like 50-50 odds then the Trickster alien is for you. Got a terrible hand, there is still a 50% chance you might win. Got a great hand but think the opponent might have some sneaky way of winning, it's still a 50% chance for them to lose. Will we use the power will we not who knows when it comes to the Trickster.

In this game I had more success but ended up using flares more than the actual Trickster power.

Until next time when I will have actual oldhammer painting stuff to show.

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Nemesis: On the Tabletop everyone can hear you scream!

What better way to ring in 2020 than with a tabletop board game where death lurks in every room, ventilation shaft or even your own crew.

Nemesis from Awaken Realms

Welcome to the starship Nemesis. You have just woken from cryo-hibernation the ship is unknown to you, there are strange noises emanating from the corridors, an odd slime is on the floor and warning lights indicate a fire is in progress. More concerning is the dead body on the floor; she looks like she was torn apart from the inside!

After a quick debate the Captain heads to the cockpit with the soldier while the engineer (who has been oddly quiet) goes looking for tools. The Pilot heads off to check on the engines. You ease out of the hibernation pod into your motorised wheelchair, panels blink into life showing various medical charts, scientific graphs and other data. The pilot may need help as he has headed off on his own so you follow after him into the Hatch Control room... (screeesh)

It's over 10 foot tall and mucus drips from it, this alien intruder is a nightmare given life. Looking at your pistol you decide to escape rather than fight. It slashes at you but only catches the back of the wheelchair damaging various systems keeping you healthy. You race into the Comms room in panic and slam your hand on the lock door panel. The pilot doesn't believe you as he wanders off down a different corridor in search of the engine room ...

New Year, Old Projects and an Ancient Evil

2019 is here and the cold weather is settling outside, the perfect climate for outdoor activities, no wait that is summer. This is the perfect time for indoor activities like tabletop gaming and painting. With that in mind; blows the dust off a very old box ...

Braawd Swoord!!

The Heroquest: Design your own Adventure Kit! Ah yes this is an amazing blast from the past. This is what you needed back in days of yore before PCs had become affordable and could only just about run Space Invaders. 

Dib dib dib dib

Stay active, post an update! ... Dark Souls, Sonar and an Ork

Ah yes the blog I knew there was something I needed to do. Indeed creating some interesting posts has been left to one side for a bit due to my focus being taken off mini painting.

Wher' you bin? Da dust mites are gettin ooge!!

However although painting has not been on the agenda actual gaming has taken place. Yes games of the board game Dark Souls where everyone died took place.

My Knight, getting completely wrecked by an angry demon!

Also Captain Sonar a fun game of underwater submarine warfare with lots of commotion, near misses and radio operator failure!

The calm before various bad Russian Sean Connery impersonations.

The only bit of painting I have got done is one Ork boy who isn't quite finsihed yet, however just because I'd like to put up something here is that Ork.

Hair squig implants always rock!

I'll be adding him to a general ork mob when he is complete. On the horizon I have the final Gargoyle and Chaos Sorcerer for Heroquest to paint up and some other models who keep staring at me intently or hoepfully.

Until next time :)