+ inload: Opening scenes in Shallowell +

+ Shallowell + 

Events kick off in the mysterious town of Shallowell. I'm fairly sure LordBloodtheHungry, who's done the bulk of the work in creating the town and its inhabitants, is planning to post up a full report of the game. I'll post a link to that when it goes up, so this is really just a very quick overview.

A treat to play; we used the Mordheim rules. The scenario revolved around the player's warbands – Warmtamale's local inbreds, Omricon's merchant caravan, Bob Hunk's ratcatcher's guild and my Witchhunters – arriving at the edge of Shallowell (hence the encroaching fields at the bottom of the picture) and finding a caravan under attack by goblins and bandits.

A closer look at just some of the NPCs, all built and painted (along with the scenery) specifically for the game.

Warmtamale's thieving yokels.

Bob Hunk's ratcatcher's guild.

Omricon's merchants.

The scenario unfolds...

+++

+ Burning of Prospero +

+ It's taken me a while, but I've finally got most of the figures for Burning of Prospero built. I'm treating it as a self-enclosed game, so while I wasn't able to resist a bit of kitbashing and conversion, I decided against making the marines larger. It was a refreshing treat just to cut the figures off the sprue and start building! +

+ I'll post up the rank and file in a later inload, as there's a bit more to say about them in terms of what I've done, so for the moment, here's a couple of the stand-out leaders and elite pieces. +

+ Going for a song on trading and secondhand sites, the Ahriman figure is a really cool sculpt from both an aesthetic and technical viewpoint. Lots of thought has clearly gone into this iconic anti-villain. I've made a simple headswap as the original one looked a bit 'pudgy' to me, but otherwise he's simply off-sprue. Very clever arrangement of pieces; the Legion symbol on his right shoulder (left in the image)helps to hide the join. +

+ Custodes! Never thought I'd see the day that these were released; let alone in plastic, but I'm very glad they did. A really lovely set of models, with a great mix of dynamism and sense of their stalwart nature. Being an old traditionalist, I went with halberds all round (aside from the standard bearer, who in the interests of looking good, is missing a weapon entirely!) as this is the image I most associate with the Emperor's personal guard. +

+ I've deliberately tried to avoid assembling them to look cohesive, as their background suggests they shouldn't look as regimented as the Legiones Astartes: each Custodian is an individual, which should be represented in the model as much as the rules. +

+ In some ways, this method of release – as a particualrly desirable part of an box set – harks back to classic games like Titan Legions, which was the only way of getting the awesome Imperator Titan. I hope this style of release works for GW, as it certainly works for me. +

+ Surprise treat of the box for me was the Silent Sisterhood. The models were a treat to assemble, and even had the bits left over to convert Inquisitor Greyfax (another cool recent model, and a gift from Warmtamale) into a senior Sister of some sort. +