KOW: Orc Gore Rider Troops

 

My KOW army has been undergoing some changes since the new edition came out, even though I have yet to play, and I needed some chaff to chuck out in front of my infantry units.

So I have raided the very last dregs of my Warhammer army to create 3 troops of Gore riders. Not the cheapest of chaff it has to be said, but quite resilient and a little shocking if I'm lucky.. Who am I fooling I am never lucky when it comes to games!

Here they are placed to look like a regiment with a troop alongside.

My Battle Standard/Flagger 

Now I might be going to add bows to these figures so that I can deploy them as Skulks Outriders which are not so hitty but quite a bit cheaper per troop. I have made the bows and the quivers, just need to paint them and glue them on. Will post one troop as an example when complete.

Flats: Giant Eagles

For quite sometime eagles have been a feature of our D&D games. Since Yulmanda the Wood Elf Druid could shapechange into a flying creature and be able to cast Polymorph spell.

Although I could have dragged my several giant eagles from my KOW Nature army box, I realised I really didn't want too. So I set about making some by hand, based on some paintings I had made derived from the GW eagles of the 90's.

These I made in the same way I had made all the other flats I've created in the last 6 months.

I cut the bases from card and glued the overlapped section of the stand to them and the covered the whole lot with PVAcrete which I will paint and flock at some point

Finally, a cautionary picture to warn people who own cats just what, even the nicest of felines, is capable of. Harry decided to climb up the inside of our loft bed and knocked several boxes to the floor, breaking many models. He is a darling...

D&D Online set up and new Base Board

This is the current set up I have been using to play online recently although I have a notion Mrs Daxio is going to change the furniture around in our living room, don't hold your breath.

So in the above scene the base board is made from a piece of 24" square MDF which is 12mm or about 1/2" thick. I was asked a little while back how I make one of these boards.

First off I get a metre rule and a pencil and a measure and mark the MDF board so it has 1"squares on it,

Then I take a Stanley knife, there are other brands, and cut just to the side of the marked lines and at approximately a 45 degree angle. I tend to run all down one side of a line vertically, then the other (I turn the board round to achieve this) Then I cut the other way, which comes away in lots of small bits, 

Unmarked and uncut board 12mm thick.

At the same time as making the new base board I have been working on a backdrop, as per the DMGinfo film from the blog post a week ago.

Mine is going to be different from DMG's because I have invested so much time in what I have made to date. I'm going to take his concept and make it fir my situation

My backdrop is a piece of relief sculpture which can be clipped to my DM screen. I've made it from a 24" by 10" piece of hardboard. The relief bits were made from foamboard pieces which I have then worked on further with PVAcrete.

The PVAcrete being added to the foamboard. I tend to work on sections and leave it to dry before working on it further, just stops it from getting messed up

Completed backdrop will be posted sometime in the future.

 

Flats: Wyvern.... but not a Wyvern

 

As I approached my last game of D&D I realised that I needed a Wyvern but didn't have a model I could reasonably use to represent one. I decided that I would have a go at drawing something that I could then laminate and use. I did all that except I forgot that Wyverns don't have forearms as they are part of their wings...doh!

I made two of the flying beasts, each with a set of wings, however I could easily photocopy a new body and leave the wings off.

Here are the two I painted (using water colours) alongside a Frostgrave Infantryman.

I like them and the players certainly did. I drew these differently in that I only drew the single model, rather than group it together with other designs, which I normally do. I think from now on I will be drawing single monsters this way, it is a lot easier.

The BEST Modular Dungeon Tiles DIY Cardboard Terrain

I have been following the exploits of the DMG for some years now. In fact it was his You Tube videos that helped me when I first started creating furniture for my Warhammer Quest set.

So recently he has had a break but is now back creating a new method of creating the play area for D&D and I find it a dead interesting idea.

Having gone back into lockdown here in GB, playing D&D online is the only option. DMG's ideas giving a more theatrical backdrop method immediately appealed to me. While I won't be making exact copies of his work I will be taking his great ideas and applying them to my situation.

The great thing is that I can use the "backdrop" idea for online and live play. Looking forward to trying it out. Will be posting some backdrops shortly and how I am supporting them.

Human Warrior Flats

 

I finished drawing and inking a set of human warrior flats last week. The complete sheet above and some details below

These are different to ones I have made before as the arms are separate and so there is a variety of weapon choices.

There are medium, heavy and light armoured bodies, influenced by the Oathmark Human figures.

Archer, spearmen, swordsmen and double handed swordsmen can be made from the one sheet.

Half sheet views below. I draw out the front then fold the A4 sheet stick it up at the window, I don't own a light box, and trace round then draw in the backs.

Then I ink over the lot.

These are some Elves I made many years ago and painted with acrylics.

These are 3 flats I made from the villager drawings I made a while back and then hand drew weapons to see how they would look. I then water coloured them. They are better drawings then the elves, but not as brightly coloured. You can't have everything.

It was these that made me think about drawing the Human sheet as I was considering using them to create an Oathmark army. Still not too sure what I will do with them yet.