Ruglud's Armoured Orcs Dogs of War Unit Completed!

Last summer we did a post on How to Build Ruglud's Armored Orcs and never showed the finished models. Well today we rectify that error. Here they are in all their orcyness. The entire unit works well together and all have collected their mementos from past battles.

We'll review the individual models in the order we showed you in the previous post.

Here are the first two of Ruglud's boyz, both have items raided from the lizardmen across the pond in Lustria.

Next the veteran from the Dwarf Wars sports a miners pick.

This orc boy has some chaos warrior armor and sword.

Sporting a dwarf shield as a breast plate.

More dwarf mementos

These guys have some chaos and Empire memorabilia...

... and additional items from Lustria

And lastly as I mentioned, my favorite raided a Tomb King treasure trove and brought the kings head back to prove it.

Kings shield carried on his back too.

So there you have them all individually and together!

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

Steampunk Team For In Her Majesty’s Name On The Workbench

Taking a quick scan through inventory in order to build a team for the Steampunk game In Her Majesty’s Name, here's what we came up with so far. For our leaders we pulled out some Thrilling Tales figures from Artizan Designs.

This figure was from the Mercenary Pilots package.

This guy was also from the mercenary Pilots set of three figures.

They'll both need some customizing done to convert them to Seampunk.

For our support personnel, we used the "Immortal Battalion sets one and two also from Artizan Designs.

We have them primed and ready for painting already.

And we scrounged a couple circuit boards from the old electronics bin to help customize these figures. We'll give another update on the "Baron's Brigade" in the next day or two.

So Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

In Her Majesty's Name Steampunk Skirmish Game by Osprey

New steampunk skirmish game coming from Osprey Publishing! Osprey is very well known for their multitude of beautiful and finely detailed warfare books. From what we hear, this one will be no exception.

It is 1895 and the world is in turmoil. The Great Powers compete for resources and the latest technology, and an undeclared and secret war rages between them all. This is the battleground of the Adventuring Companies. These clandestine agents of the Great Powers operate in the shadows, matching skills and wits in pursuit of the newest scientific formula or powerful artifacts.

In Her Majesty’s Name sets these adventuring companies against each other in one-off encounters and in longer narrative campaigns. Companies are usually comprised of just 4–15 figures and two players could easily play three games in an evening, making an on-going campaign a highly viable option.

In Her Majesty’s Name has been designed to allow maximum versatility for the player – if you can imagine it, the system will help you build it.

There is, however, a wealth of material provided in the book, covering weird science, mystical powers, and a range of pre-generated adventuring companies, including the British Explorers’ Club,

the Prussian Society of Thule, the US Marine Corps, the Légion Étrangère, the revolutionaries of the Brick Lane Commune, ancient Egyptian cults,

and the mysterious Black Dragon Tong.

The book is a 64 page paperback and the contents will have an Introduction, Overview, how to Create an Adventuring Company, the Rules of Play, a section on Vehicles & Mounts, Campaign Rules and several Pre-generated Force Lists as mentioned above.

North Star Military Figures will be releasing miniatures (as seen above) to go along with the release this month. If you have an insatiable appetite for these things, check out Empire of the Dead from West Wind Productions. Here is their box set of the "Gentlemen's Club"

Other Steampunk genre games like Smog 1888 The Thirteenth Hour and Mauser Earth from Smart Max have some fantastical figures like Major Dreadful and . . . .

Haupsturmfuhrer Von Kardsten but these are 1/35th scale miniatures so it'll be tough to mix and match these figures with other games.

We'll be whipping up something to throw at you in the near future but til then,

Have a Great Battle
The Old Crow

Napoleonic Polish Vistula Legion - New Release from Warlord Games

You can now pre-order Warlord Games new Polish Vistula Legion. Another of Warlords ever expanding and finely crafted plastic box sets.

The box contains 36 plastic and metal Polish line infantry figures. The exact release date is unknown but can be expected some time mid May. Any pre-orders will be shipped out at the end of April to coincide with Salute!

The Vistula Legion was perhaps the most famous of the many foreign units in French service under Napoleon. Formed in Silesia in February 1807 from an infantry regiment and cavalry regiment in the service of the Kingdom of Naples, it was initially named the Legion Polacco-Italienne (Polish-Italian Legion) as it had been organized around the Poles in Italian service.

Renamed the Légion de la Vistula (Vistula Legion) in March 1908, it became three infantry regiments, each of two battalions, each battalion having six companies of 140 men (one grenadier company, one voltigeur, and four fusilier) plus a Lancer regiment of 1,000 men in four squadrons.

The Vistula Legion was sent to Spain in June 1808 where it fought in numerous actions, their most celebrated of which was at Albuhera in 1810 when the lancer regiment rode down a British infantry brigade, destroying three out of the four British battalions in only four minutes of slaughter.

By 1812, the Vistula Legion was greatly rewarded and honored by being accepted into the Imperial Guard. They formed a brigade within the Young Guard Division for the impending invasion of Russia. 

In September 1813 they fought the Russians in a bloody engagement at Neustadt (near Dresden). Participating in several small engagements and skirmishes, they were virtually destroyed at Leipzig that October.  The Legion was reformed in early 1814 and at Soissons, on 2 March, it fought valiantly against the blockading Russian forces earning 23 Legions d 'honneur.

Unusually, none of the Legion’s infantry regiments carried banners until late in 1813, when the remnants of the withdrawal from Moscow were re-organised into the Vistula Regiment.

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

New Release - Kolektiv Dwarves from Hasslefree Miniatures for Weird Wars

Hasslefree Miniatures has finally released their Kolektiv Dwarves for their Weird Wars. These are pretty sweet little figures which could be used in a wide array of oddball games like Osprey's In Her Majesty’s Name or old standards like Warhammer 40k. No more waiting, these guys are now available to purchase!

So what can you get? There are two Trooper packs each with 5 bodies with weapons. You get to choose between the two types of heads, Cossack or Peaked cap. Here's pack one..

...and here's pack two

You can also find two Specialist packs for the Kolektiv Dwarves. Pack one consists of 5 bodies, 3 Specialists include Lewis Gun, Flamer and a Sniper plus two random troopers.

Specialists pack two also contains 5 bodies. There are 3 Specialists, a Sapper, Grenadier and Medic plus two other randomly assigned troopers. 

Here are the Cossack and Peaked Cap heads available from Hasslefree. Gotta love the robust facial hair.

To beef up the Kolektiv fire power, you can add a Heavy Machine Gun team. As shown in the image here, the pack contains 2 heads, a 2-part assembly machine gun plus 2 trooper bodies.

Also available are mounted troopers and officers with a variety of weapon packs for variation among your miniatures. Here you can see the troopers and weapon packs. We can't wait to get our hands on some of these feisty Dwarves and put them up against our Pulp Action Immortal Battalion!

Have a Great Battle,

The Old Crow

New Release - Tau Sun Shark Bomber and Razor Shark Strike Fighter

Another New Release this month is the Tau Sun Shark Bomber and Razor Shark Strike Fighter kit.

The Sun Shark Bomber is a sleek atmospheric aircraft that is capable of sweeping down from the skies and blasting ground targets with its potent payload.

The Sun Shark Bomber kit shows the elegant design of the Tau in all its glory. Its front wingtips are tilted downwards, as are its stabilizers and these are connected in a way that frames either a quad ion turret or a pulse bomb generator.

Details include Air caste insignia sculpted onto the top of the model, and an array of metal panels, grills and two engines positioned either side of the nose.

There are also additional detail such as lights and an aerial. Other weapons options include a twin-linked ion rifle, burst cannon, missile pod, networked markerlight and seeker missiles

You'll also find two Interceptor Drones that are docked within the wings, but which can be disconnected.

Built along a design pattern modified from the Sun Shark is the Razorshark Strike Fighter.

The Razorshark forgoes an Interceptor Drone in favor of additional maneuvering thrusters, and it trades the pulse bomb generator for a fearsome quad ion turret.

This multi-part plastic kit contains 51 components and a Tau transfer sheet with which to make either a Sun Shark Bomber or a Razorshark Strike Fighter.

This kit as all the others, comes unpainted and requires assembly. It'll also set you back 65 USD retail.

Have a Great Battle,
The Old Crow

New Release - Tau Riptide and Broadside Battlesuit for Warhammer 40k

Gamesworkshop is at it as always with the New Release this month of the XV104 Riptide and XV88 Broadside Battlesuits for the Tau Empire! We've always liked the feel of the Tau models and these new models are no exception.

The Tau XV104 Riptide is the pinnacle of the Earth caste's battlesuit development. It stands twice as tall as the XV8 Crisis suit, but its movements are more like those of its smaller cousins than the mechanical stiffness displayed by Imperial walkers with their crude servo-motors.

The XV104 Riptide takes the evolution of the Tau battlesuit to a whole new level. Sleek and elegant armor panels, along with bolts and grills, cover its body.

Most notable is the models size, huge! You'll find it towering over the rest of the Tau and even other battlesuits. For your reference, here is a size comparison to the Broadside and a dreadnought, courtesy of the Total Wargamer Blog.

Despite its enormous size, with ball and socket joints it remains a maneuverable model whose arms and legs can be posed in a variety of different ways. Either standing tall or even kneeling down, you can use it as a unique, dynamic centerpiece for your Tau army. With some careful clipping, the joints can be given an even greater range of motion.

You also get three variant heads and a range of weapon options including a heavy burst cannon, twin-linked smart missile systems, fusion blaster and Riptide shield generator.

The XV104 Riptide battlesuit contains 108 plastic components and a Tau transfer sheet with which to make a XV104 Riptide Battlesuit and two Shielded Missile Drones.

It will also set you back $85.00 USD

The second Newly Released kit is the XV88 Broadside Battlesuit.

Designed to offer long-range support, the Broadside Battlesuit has exceeded expectations, becoming a mainstay of the Hunter Cadres and tank-killers of legendary proportions.

Powered by a particle accelerator, a Broadside's heavy rail rifle shot can penetrate the thickest plasteel bunkers.

With robust armoring, maneuverability and a stack of weapons within the box, the XV88 Broadside Battlesuit provides the Tau collector with a number of options.

The kit brings a fresh twist to the line of Tau battlesuits - they're noticeably denser models with a great presence in a collection of miniatures. Each one features a particle accelerator on the back.

T

he standard weapon is for the long and immensely powerful-looking twin-linked rail rifle, though they can be outfitted with eye-wateringly potent and somewhat fist-like twin-linked high yield missile system pods.

If that wasn't enough, then you can also use the twin-linked smart missile which is enough to please any Tau weapons connoisseur.

The kit also comes with a Shield Drone and Missile Drone.

The XV88 Broadside Battlesuit  plastic kit contains 91 components and a Tau transfer sheet with which to make your Broadside Battlesuit and two Drones.

The Broadside Battlesuit retails for $50.00 USD

Next post we'll look at air support for your Tau forces!

Til then, Have a Great Battle,

The Old Crow