The Horne of the Rat Warhammer Battle Report - Orcs vs Skaven

The Horne of the Rat stood out in the center or the battleground. It was a large rock formation which made the Orcs uneasy. Bolloks the Black was not intimidated by a rock. However he didn't get where he was by underestimating either enemy and superstitions. He sent a batch of boyz over to his right to watch it. The night gobbos needed watchin as much as the rock, especially with the crazy fanatics residing in the unit. Bollocks kept them to his immediate left so he could give them looks if needed.


The Night Goblin Shaman, Pig Stikka was hungrily handling his mad cap mushrooms and itching to get the little waaagh active. There was a group of arrer boyz off to their left with Oog, the armies standard bearer.

1000 point Warhammer battle fought between Orcs and Goblins and Skaven.
Skaven
Lvl 4 Grey Seer
Battle Standard Bearer
30 Storm Vermin
30 Clan Rats
30 Clan Rats
3 Rat Ogres and 3 handlers

Orcs
Black Orc Big Boss

Battle Standard Bearer

Lvl 2 Night Goblin Shaman

40 Night Goblins

2 Fanatics

20 Orc Boyz with choppa and shield
20 Biguns with 2 choppas
12 Orc Arrer Boyz

Out of the mists the rats began their approach. Bolloks eyed them cautiously. There were two large units of clan rats. No problem with those guys he thought to himself. Then he saw the hulking forms of the misshapen rat ogres and their handlers followed by heavily armored rats he recognized as Storm vermin.

Once again Bolloks eyeed the opposition. He did see the rats banner within the storm vermin but where was their leader? Then he saw the armored rats part to allow a cloaked and hooded figure to the front. He peered through the fog and deduced the leader was a grey seer. He'd heard of a powerful magical rat in this part of the mountains and had now found him.It was Dormrot the Blightmaster Grey Seer of the Horned Rat clan. Dang

Dormrot wasted no time in motioning his troops forward and striking out at the night goblins. The air electrified as warp lightning crackled from his fingertips and struck the night goblins immediately following several additional goblins were scorched. In total, seven night goblins fell.

Pig Stikka augmented the arrer boyz with Gift of the Spider God, making their attacks poisoned.
He tried to cast Sneaky Stabbin on the night goblins but the grey seer prevented it. The Arrer boyz let loose a volley and slew a rat ogre and two of their handlers. The Orc Boyz on the right flank nervously eyed the Horne of the Rat rock formation and argued whether or not to go by it or not. Being away from their leader, they continued their squabbling. The rest of the army advanced.

Dormrot was not pleased and made note of the diminutive shaman. He would make the night goblin pay (he generated 11 casting dice). The seer began by getting revenge on the pesky arrer boyz. He promptly cast scorch, warped lightning and the thirteenth spell which warped the remaining 8 arrer boyz into clan rats. Pig Stikka was hopelessly outclassed against the powerful caster and could do nothing to stop him.

As the rats now moved forward the rat ogres and first clan rat unit began to charge the orc lines. Suddenly the fanatics could be contained no longer and broke free. The first streaked toward the rat ogres and the second careened through the clan rats smashing three of the rodents to paste. The Rat Ogres could not be stopped by the handlers and charged through the first fanatic who crashed through one of the rat ogres, wounding it and slaying the last pack master. Once the twisted ogres hit the night goblins they tore through 5 of the short greenskins. Not to be outdone, the goblins were able to stick the two rat ogres with spears, slaying them both.

The clan rats, after having the fanatic pass through, attacked the Orc Biguns and Warboss taking down 5 of the brutes. The Warboss and Biguns struck back slaying 9 rats. Due to the proximity of the Grey Seer and Standard, they held their ground.

The fanatic moved crazily across the battlefield, now blocking the path of the orc boyz who decided to make haste toward the fighting. Bollocks the black and his biguns slew 4 more of the foul furry creatures and only lost 3 of their own numbers. This time the rats broke and fled through the unit behind them. Before the second unit of rats had time to react they were being assaulted by the angry greenskins.

Pig Stikka and the Night Goblins took heed and uncharacteristically charged the Storm Vermin and the Grey Seer. He tried augmenting his fellow goblins twice but the Grey Seer prevented both spells. The goblins attempt to slay as many rats as possible and land several hits but only kill one of the heavily armored rats. The rat chieftain and Storm Vermin snuffed six night goblins from existence  Not even the presence of the nearby warboss could stop the goblins from fleeing and they were summarily run down by the Storm Vermin

The orc lines were getting thin and Bollucks had very little he could do. He continued the slugfest with the clan rats but behind him doom lurked.

The new clan rats moved to flank the Biguns, the fleeing rats raillied and The Grey Seer began his casting. Once again he cast scorch, warped lightning and the thirteenth spell which once again warped the last unit of boyz into clan rats. He had done the last with irresistible force and was wounded himself in the backlash. This made little difference as the warboss and biguns were surrounded and would be utterly destroyed.

A quick and resounding victory for the Skaven!

New Release - Bolt Action Panzer IV ausf D from Warlord Games

Warlord Games continues to add to their ever-growing range of highly detailed and durable Bolt Action vehicles and the Panzer IV ausf D is a welcome addition.

This guy will give some extra muscle to your Panzer Divisions as they roll through the European and North African battlegrounds.

The Panzer IV ausf D model is a combination of resin and metal. The cost individually is 32.00 USD.

If you are headed across the Russian steppes you might want to pick up one of their platoon deals with three of these models for 88.00 USD saving you 6.00.

If you order from Warlord Games directly, they offer free worldwide shipping on orders over 75.00.

The Ausf D version of the Panzer IV was the first real production model with over 200 being built between 1939 and 1941 and more than 8,800 by the end of the war. The Pz.Kfw IV ausf D featured new front hull plate design to accommodate the return of the hull-mounted machine gun and a new external gun mantlet and it remained in service until 1944,

Despite the heavy Panther and Tiger tanks getting all the glory the Panzer IV was the only German tank to earn the distinction of fighting from the beginning to the end of World War II. The mechanically reliable tank was the backbone of the German war machine throughout the war.

Warlord is also now offering Bolt Action Waterslide Decals for all the turrets on your Panzer IV models.

You can choose between white, black with white outline, black stencil or white stencil turret numbers.

How about a sheet of Balkankreuz too!

Have a great battle
The Old Crow

Talk Like a Pirate Day! brings you Captain Diamond Joe!

Arr ye land lubbers!! Me and Diamond Joe be wishin you a merry Talk like a Pirate Day, Arrrr!

It's an international event so everybody should be talkin like a pirate!! To help celebrate we thought we'd share a good piratey figure.

This is Diamond Joe from Black Scorpion miniatures. A fine amount of detail for a metal miniature. Black Scorpion has switched most of their figures over to resin earlier this year. Be sure to check out their entire line of pirates!

This figure was painted here at Battleground Hobbies by Josh.

Another fine job! Check out details like the salt encrusted edges of his coat.

Arr Matey,
Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow

A Viking Great Hall for SAGA - Part Two

A quick Viking Great Hall update! We were able to get the interior flooring started with some handy coffee stirrers! Most coffee shop owners won't mind parting with a handful if you ask nicely. These are a little easier to work with because they are thinner, skinnier and longer than craft sticks.

Using the same technique with other craft sticks we taped a row together and trimmed off both ends. Then score them in at least two other places to represent individual boards.

We also cut several shorter sizes for spacing the boards out.

Starting with one long stick we placed it on the outer edge. Next we used one of the smaller spacers that was approximately half the size of the first scored section. Thne add another long piece and continue alternating as you go.

As you move across the flooring it should resemble what you see here.

Once finished the balcony flooring was inserted. Make sure your doors swing in and back closed easily.

The stirrers worked for the doors too. You can use balsa wood pieces and score them but we had plenty of stirrers of various widths. Measuring the width of the door we sized 3 sticks and taped them together. Place it behind the door opening and trace the curve of the door onto the front of the stirrers.

Once cut glue them onto the cardboard door and verify the door swings in and out. Repeat this for all the doors and flooring.

Next we'll tackle the paint job and landscaping!

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

A Viking Great Hall for SAGA or Dark Age Wargames - Part One

A couple weeks ago we showed you the idea we had on how to build a Viking Great Hall to be used in SAGA or any Dark Age Wargames you prefer. We've made a little headway on the project and wanted to show what we have so far.

We had started with a cardboard mock up and decided to use the cardboard on the rooftops and front and back of the building. To sturdy up the upper walls we'll use luan and an interior support of foamcore. Why luan? Why not. Our reasoning was to make the removable roof sturdy enough to withstand wear and tear. Secondly it has a nice texture already, so no facing will need to be added.

So to hold the luan in place we cut two foamcore pieces to match the front and back of the building. They only go from the the upper floor level to the roof peak. We notched the area where the luan would rest.

Here are the pieces so far. The roof assembly will rest on the upper floor when in place. We wound up notching the upper balcony doorways from the foam so the doors would still be able to open when the roof is on.

Using a hot glue gun we attached the luan front and back and on both sides of the foamcore. Next we attached the roof panels, again using hot glue to withstand the usage. REMEMBER to dry fit everything before gluing your pieces together. It really stinks if you glue the second half on and find everything out of whack because one side is an inch longer.

 Next we cut the ground floor walls from foamcore and notched the ends to support the front and back walls.

Don't forget to cut out any windows or doors you plan on using before assembling the structure. For now we left one side of the cardboard doors attached to act as a hinge.

After the cuts were made we hot glued the walls together.

At this stage find a way to ensure the building is square. An easy way is to push it up aganst a wall and then lay a thick book on either end to form the right angles you want.

Now to add the balcony. We cut 1" by 1.5" rectangles from foamcore and then cut them diagonally. We cut a total of 20 triangles.

One for front and back and one every 2 inches. Make sure to measure the thickness of the floor and place your supports accordingly.

The floor was cut from black foamcore and will be lined with some wood material, maybe balsa or craft sticks.

With the roof firmly together we decided to add one gable on either side above a secondary entrances. Start with two triangles and score the center line to fold them.

You'll need to work out the angles depending upon the pitch of your roof.

Measure the center line for the gable and measure out equal distances for the lower points. This will also give you the measurement for the triangle face piece to fit inside.

Here it is after the assembly. Now to apply the facing.

We'll be using the same technique as the Viking Trading Post we built back in May. Using craft sticks, tape several together. Place as many as you feel comfortable working with. We need just over 18" of wall so that's a lot of sticks.

We used a triangle to get our baseline drawn on and then scored the sticks with a utility knife. We did use a metal ruler to keep our line straight. Our walls are 2.5" tall but to accommodate the slope on the roof we cut the pieces slightly shorter.

We then snapped off the ends with a small pair of pliers.

For the front wall of the viking great hall we need to cut some angled pieces. Once again we drew on our baseline and then transferred the angle of the roof onto it. Going down the middle will give us twice the number of boards.

Place the angled pieces along the roof line and cut filler boards as needed. Here are the sticks being put into place. We left a small gap under the top doors for the balcony boards to be put inserted. We placed sticks over the main door but will need to cut the archway.

To do that we simply turned the hall over and traced the archway onto the craft sticks. We did the same for the upper doors.

Here is the assembled and covered hall. We had several small spaces to be filled, especially around the doorways. You can now easily see the gap for where the balcony will fit.

It'll sit on the beams holding up the hall roof.

So, that's where the Viking Great Hall is currently. Should be able to get the interior worked on this week. Let us know if you have any questions and stay tuned for part two!

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

Warsaw, City of Ruins and Warlord's New Bolt Action WWII Game!

Recently stumbled upon these intense images of the City of Ruins created by Platige Image for the Warsaw Rising Museum. It is a recreation of the devastation wrought on the city of Warsaw in WWII.

63,000 model buildings were created from 1,600 historical photos.

35 historical objects were recreated in great detail. 

It took 30 artists 6 months to compose and 2 months of continuous rendering.

These images are intense and yes we'll tie them into gaming with Warlord's recent release of Bolt Action WWII fighting game. 

This is a joint project between Warlord Games and Osprey Publishing, the leading independent military history publisher. It was written by legendary gamers Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley so it's sure to be a hit.

Rick does a great job describing the size of games here.

Bolt Action provides the rules needed to bring the historic battles of World War II to your tabletop battleground. Using figures, vehicles and terrain, you can fight battles in the shattered city of Warsaw. You can even choose which of the World War II powers you'd like to general, and then construct armies from the lists provided. Armies include the major powers as well as Poland, Belgium and Partisans!

Army options give you a wide variety to build the kind of army that most appeals to your style of play.

If you do want to defend Warsaw, you can pick up a Polish 7TP Tank Platoon (3 tanks) from Warlord Miniatures.

You can even choose between the single or twin turreted models

Pick up a box set of early war Polish Infantry too.

Or if it's to late, grab some partisans for your resistance to disrupt and destroy enemy communications and infrastructure

But no matter what you do,

Have a Great Battle!

The Old Crow