Midgard : Britannia (Building Interlude)

This post takes a slight detour from the rest of the series. Here I will report on the building and undercoating of some of the non-Midgard based miniatures. Like with the Romans, I have decided not to paint all of the Celtic collection at the moment - I'll save some of them for a later challenge/project. Here is a list of those that I have worked on over the last few days so that they can be painted...

The Chieftains and Champions (see also comments further below) - three each from Warlord (on the left) and Foundry (on the right). There is a marked difference in scale, with the Foundry figures showing their age by being that much smaller, but they should still work well together. I had started a little bit of painting on a couple of them whilst playing the campaign but never really built up any enthusiasm at the time...

Six Chieftains and Champions

The Druids are all from Warlord Games. I have re-used an older photograph of them cut to size...

Four Druids

Here are two more Mounted Warriors to go with the eight already painted - these used 2 of the 36 bodies that were still on the plastic warrior sprues. I decided to do one as a banner bearer just in case one is needed for other games in the future, and because they look good...

Two Mounted Warriors

And finally, the chariots and crew. I completed constructing one of them by the time I posted this missive, but it turned out a little wonky - oh well, never mind. I will hopefully do another update when the other two chariots are constructed and all three are subsequently undercoated. I am toying with grabbing the Boadicea chariot from Warlord to complete two Midgard units worth (two chariots per 120x100mm base), and to give the army a super-special leader. I will also need to get a couple of movement trays organised for the chariots from Warbases to complete this part of the army.

One Chariot and three Crews

I spent a good few hours over the last couple of days assembling all of these miniatures and spray undercoating those that were not already done so, with the exception of the chariots as mentioned previously. I actually enjoyed taking the time out from painting to do some modelling instead. The updated painting list now looks like this...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (78 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 plastic figures)

• 1/2 bases of elite warriors (10/20 a base each of plastic and metal figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 metal figures)
• 1 base of female warriors (10 metal figures)
• 2 bases of archers (8 metal figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 metal/plastic figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 metal figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 metal figures)

Others that I will complete now that they have been prepped and/or undercoated...

• Leaders and Champions (6 metal figures)
• 1 base of druids (4 metal figures)
• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)
• Chariots and crew (3/6 metal figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 34 Standard and elite warriors still on their sprues (plastic figures)
• 8 Javelinmen (metal figures)
• 2 Slingers (metal figures)

Whilst re-jigging everything to see what was left to paint, I noticed that the leaders and champions consisted of seven metal figures but there was a single plastic figure on the second Elite Warriors Midgard base (the other nine were metal) that I still need to paint. So, I swapped them over and put the plastic elite warrior to the side. I now actually do have a base of ten metal elite warriors but only six metal leaders and/or champions as showcased above.

Once the Midgard based and leader types have been completed I will have plenty of options for a game, so I may run out the Romans as their opponents again for a one-off battle from the Chronicles of Midgard supplement. I will then look at getting some Lord of the Rings figures painted so I can get in a bit of fantasy gaming - maybe another mini-campaign?

So, when I put in the order for those chariot bases, at the same time I will order some standard Midgard movement trays for the Lord of the Rings stuff. First up I think I want to get an orc army organised, then decide whether I want to use Gondor or Rohan as their first enemy.

Midgard : Britannia (Female Warriors)

Well, I lost my painting mojo a bit over the last week - lots of real life stuff came up (youngest daughter's graduation was one major good thing though) and I just generally lost interest for a bit. So, as a result, this unit of ten female warriors took me a while longer than my usual efforts to complete. I was also looking for brighter colours for them compared to the male warriors, so I had to search back into my paint pot archives as opposed to those just lying around on my paint station to find the colours I thought would be best for them. I am still only painting block colours and shading but I was sorely tempted to give plaid/tartan a go. I will save that paint scheme for another time as I just want to get this Midgard Briton army completed in my set time frame of one unit per week.

Female Warriors

Army numbers...

All of the Midgard based Celtic figures (78 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 plastic figures)

• 1/2 bases of elite warriors (10/20 a base each of plastic and metal figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 metal figures)
• 2 bases of slingers (8 metal figures)
• 2 bases of archers (8 metal figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 metal/plastic figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 metal figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 metal figures)

And the rest...

• Standard and elite warriors still on their sprues (36 plastic figures)

• Leaders and Champions (7 metal figures)

• 1 base of druids (4 metal figures)

• Spearmen (8 metal figures)

• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)

• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Chariots and crew (3/6 metal figures)

Again, there are one or two figures in this set that I would love to see in a Five Leagues party. I have a feeling that, along with a druid and some fighting types, my first warband might have a bit of a Celtic feel to it. This would fit right in with my ancient Doggerland gaming sessions - those prior to the DnD campaign.

I am not sure what to go for next time - maybe the rest of the skirmisher bases - namely the slingers? There are only eight of them spread over two bases, so they should make for a couple of quick wins to get my mojo back, before tackling the larger units again (a base each of standard and elite warriors still need to be completed), and then the list of the rest.

My Latest Wargaming Article

On Friday morning, the latest copy of Miniature Wargames (issue #520 - August 2026) dropped through the letterbox and onto my doormat. Back in May I submitted an article for consideration of publication to the magazine based on a scenario that I wrote after a chance meeting with John Treadaway the editor of the magazine at a wargames show last year.

During this meeting we discussed all things Weirdstone of Brisingamen and, as a result of our conversation, he asked me to write an article for the magazine. I jumped at the chance. It took me a while to get around to writing it due to various other real-life projects that needed completing first, but it has now finally seen the light of day in the latest issue of the magazine...

Miniature Wargames #520 - August 2026

I mentioned the game/scenario in passing in a previous post. The game played was my first for Dragon Rampant Second Edition and it was a cobbled together affair figures wise. I had enough miniatures to make up both armies but I had to proxy quite a few. I had enough warlocks, mara, and svartalfar for the "baddies" and the leaders, heavy infantry and most of the skirmishers for the "goodies". However, despite the non-canonical figures it worked splendidly and the game made for a great narrative.

It is the scenario idea and after action report that made it into the magazine along with some pictures of my figures that were scenario appropriate.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing the article and John enjoyed reading it well enough that I have been asked to write something set in the same universe but for a different game system. I will be working on it over the next couple of months.

Stay tuned for the next Weirdstone article, as well as a possible article for another magazine set in the times of The Anarchy.

Vecna: Eve of Ruin (#4) - The Mines III

The recent hot weather and football World Cup has meant that we have not been able to meet up online for several weeks. That said, we managed to get together last night, and that allowed us to finish this particular part of the current adventure.

The Mines - Day 3 (continued)

After Healing up as best we could, we decided that we should at least try to investigate and clear out the final cavern in the vicinity of the mine entrance. We had very few spells between us now, but we were almost back at full health - we just hoped that there was nothing too serious to overcome in the final cave.

Using my magical boots, I jumped to the island that separated the spit of land we were currently on from the final cavern's spur. There were lots of bodies that I could see on the opposite bank by the final cavern entrance; some even looked like they had been gnawed upon and possibly eaten.

Navda joined me on the small island and we tried to lasso some of the bodies and drag them into the water so that they could be shriven of their potential undead status. We managed to do this for about half of them, but then the rest were beyond our reach.

I then jumped across to beach opposite to see if I could push some of the bodies into the water physically, but as soon as my boots hit the gravel a massive roar emitted from the cavern followed by the sound of many metallic objects clashing and grinding together. The remaining zombies on the beach began to stir and move towards me so I jumped back to the island to bide us some time.

Dharion had unslung his bow by now and had begun shooting the zombies that he could see, felling several of them as Twerca, the dwarf warrior joined us on the island. Navda also began to loose arrows at the remaining zombies, but just as we thought we had almost got them all a few more emerged from the cavern.

Suddenly, one of the zombies was pulled into the cavern mouth at very high speed, which puzzled all who saw it happen. The remaining dwarf zombies were quickly destroyed by the archers - the beach was now clear. I jumped back across, but as soon as my boots hit the beach I was attacked by more zombies that emerged from the cavern. They beat me badly before Dharion destroyed one and the rest of the party could get across to help.

Twerca immediately charged into the cavern, but the rest of us slowed as we encountered a chest high mound of mud, debris and discarded weaponry. The clanging and grinding metal noise grew louder as we slowly entered the dark chamber, but Druss entered a berserk rage and charged in to aid the dwarf. Gladreth decided to cast Invisibility upon herself and snuck in further than the rest of us. Suddenly all was pandemonium; several more zombies emerged from the dark as another huge roar was emitted from a being deeper within the cavern. I was glad to have my magical mace as all non-magical weapons were suddenly ripped from my comrades' grasps; bows, rapiers, swords, all flew into the darkness.

The source of the roaring and the grinding metal noises emerged from the darkness - a Risen Reaver (as I was told later); an undead drow warrior much larger than any drow we had previously seen with four arms and his entire body impaled with weapons of all types, including our missing bows, rapiers and swords.

The Reaver jumped high and landed right between us all huddled just inside the entrance. Most of us fell to the ground with the impact and the Reaver proceeded to carve us up with its four sharply weaponised arms. The rest of the zombies joined the attack and we rapidly began to tot up all kinds of serious injuries. Twerca and Gladreth, whose invisibility fell from her as soon as she entered the combat, fell under the onslaught but I could not reach either of them to stabilise them. A Prayer of Healing, however, helped everyone, albeit temporarily.

The fight was rejoined in earnest by my comrades, but the Reaver kept us at bay and put Twerca down again. Finally a shot from Dharion's bow found its mark and the beast fell. Unfortunately my second Prayer of Healing could not revive Twerca in time from the horrific injuries that she had sustained in the fight.

The Final Cavern at the Entrance to the Mines

As soon as the Reaver died, the rain stopped and the sun emerged from the breaking clouds to start the process of drying the land. With the rain stopping, the water level in the channels began to recede and revealed all of the dwarfs that we had thrown in to spare them from undeath. We could now also see the entrance to the mine itself.

We explored the rest of the cavern for loot but didn't find too much other than the remains of a large number of partially eaten dwarfs. A couple of them still wore a few items of magical clothing (a cloak and a pair of boots), and there were a few magical weapons lying around that had not adhered to the Reaver which must have come from the defeated dwarf warriors.

We picked up what we thought would be valuable and buried the dead as best we could. We then returned to the village where we told the few survivors what we had found and what had happened. They were glad of the news and allowed us to rest up and Heal our weary bodies and souls.

This ended the current part of this adventure. Hopefully we will be moving onto some more intriguing parts of the scenario next time.

Midgard : Britannia (Archers 2)

The second unit painted up quite quickly as I knew the paint scheme I was going for and there are only four figures to go on the base. I stuck with shades of green and brown to make them kinda look like rangers/scouts, but they are within the bounds of colours used from the time.

The paint jobs were just block colours followed by a wash to give them some depth. As mentioned previously, all units in this army will have basic paint jobs even though I am itching to stretch my skills a bit more with some proper highlighting, shading and decoration.

The second unit of Celtic Archers

And here they are together with last week's unit...

The two units of Celtic Archers

Army numbers...

All of the Midgard based Celtic figures (68 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 plastic figures)

• 1/2 bases of elite warriors (10/20 a base each of plastic and metal figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 metal figures)
• 1 base of female warriors (10 metal figures)
• 2 bases of slingers (8 metal figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 metal/plastic figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 metal figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 metal figures)

And the rest...

• Standard and elite warriors still on their sprues (36 plastic figures)

• Leaders and Champions (7 metal figures)

• 1 base of druids (4 metal figures)

• Spearmen (8 metal figures)

• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)

• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Chariots and crew (3/6 metal figures)

A quick picture of the last few units...

Archers and Elite infantry

I am very happy with my painting rate and that I am still enthused enough to keep on painting. There are still quite a few figures to go and some need constructing. I will look at trying to glue together and undercoat a number of the figures from the second list above over the next couple of weeks. I think I have mentioned before that I will most likely not paint all of the miniatures from the lists above, but I would at least like to complete all of the ones previously based for Midgard and a goodly amount of the leaders and druids.

Next time should hopefully see the completion of the Female Warriors base. There are ten to be painted, so they may take a little more time than the archers recently took.

Midgard : Britannia (Archers 1)

These figures were delayed for a bit as I had to go to a funeral earlier this week. When I got around to doing some painting, I decided to go for a unit of the archers to get a quick win - they only took me four days in total at around 20-30 minutes per day. I am not sure if the paint schemes are historically accurate in any way, but I don't really care too much to be honest. I was using these as a bit of a test run for my Lord of the Rings Gondor and dwarf rangers to see what shades of green and brown go well together.

Again, I didn't go to town on the very basic paint jobs for these troops; just a few basic colours, shaded and based in the standard way for my Celtic troops.

The first unit of Celtic Archers

Army numbers...

All of the Midgard based Celtic figures (64 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 plastic figures)

• 1/2 bases of elite warriors (10/20 a base each of plastic and metal figures)

• 1/2 bases of archers (4/8 metal figures)
• 1 base of female warriors (10 metal figures)
• 2 bases of slingers (8 metal figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 metal/plastic figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 metal figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 metal figures)

And the rest...

• Standard and elite warriors still on their sprues (36 plastic figures)

• Leaders and Champions (7 metal figures)

• 1 base of druids (4 metal figures)

• Spearmen (8 metal figures)

• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)

• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Chariots and crew (3/6 metal figures)

I like the way they turned out overall, so I will try to continue on with a similar paint scheme on the next batch of archers. I have already seen one or two of them that I would like to use in an upcoming Five Leagues warband that I am putting together. These figures have a lot of character.

Next time should be the second batch of Britannia Archers.

Midgard : Britannia (Elite Warriors 1)

This unit of ten elite Celtic warriors was a struggle for different reasons to the last couple of cavalry bases. They took much longer than the skirmisher bases as there were ten warriors on the base as opposed to four. These took me eight days to paint averaging 30-40 minutes per day, whereas the skirmisher (four figures) bases tended to only take about four days at 20-30 minutes per session. Despite the extra effort involved, I am still on pace for approximately a base per week.

Elite/Noble Warriors

I didn't do a grandiose paint job on these despite them being elite troops as I just want to get the army finished. Again, they were a basic few colours, shaded and based, but I managed not to mist the shields this time when I sprayed on the matt varnish. They should fit in well now as Roman adversaries, especially on their Midgard bases.

Here's the ongoing army tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (60 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 plastic figures)

• 1/2 bases of elite warriors (10/20 a base each of plastic and metal figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 metal figures)
• 2 bases of archers (8 metal figures)
• 2 bases of slingers (8 metal figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 metal/plastic figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 metal figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 metal figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• Standard and elite warriors still on their sprues (36 plastic figures)

• Leaders and Champions (7 metal figures)

• 1 base of druids (4 metal figures)

• Spearmen (8 metal figures)

• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)

• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Chariots and crew (3/6 metal figures)

As this elite warriors base was made up of purely plastic miniatures, I thought I would mix things up a bit and do a few more metal miniatures next - I have several skirmisher bases to paint, so maybe some archers or slingers? I have another base of elite warriors to complete (I think they are all metal), but I will leave them a while as they will take a long time if this last lot was anything to go by and I need a few more quick wins to get my mind back in the groove before tackling them and the last unit of standard warriors (both ten per base). I also have the female warriors to contend with; another base of ten figures.

Once the figures that were used for the Midgard campaign are completed, I will carry on and do some of the rest of them - primarily I will aim at painting the leaders/champions, the druids and the last two mounted warriors. The chariots need to be fully assembled so will provide another challenge that I am looking forward to. I may not bother with the plastic figures still on their sprues, the metal spearmen and remaining two slingers just yet - I reckon I will be all "Celted" out by then and relishing a fresh challenge.

Midgard : Britannia (Mounted Warriors 2)

I really struggled to get these finished this week - it was extremely hot here in the UK and my painting mojo deserted me in favour of staying cool and sipping cold drinks. They seemed to take much longer than last week's efforts and I felt that I spent a lot more hours on these to get them right, even though they are still just a basic paint job and shade wash. I struggled again with the vast expanse of horse flesh and all the little bits and bobs around the saddles. That said, it is four more figures and one more base completed.

More Mounted Warriors

Again, there is a mixture of rider types on the horses to break up the painting monotony. I also ran out of spare shields that were easy to hand (I put one aside for one of the female warriors which I will get to soon, but I think I may have a few more on some old Roman plastic sprues), so only seven of the eight riders has a shield. To be honest that does not bother me as it makes them look more like a warband than a formal army. The unit cohesion still seems to be there though...

Two Units of Mounted Warriors

Here's the ongoing army tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (50 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

I am just under the mid-point of painting the based units, so here is a group shot of where I am at so far. They are beginning to take the shape of a reasonably sized army now...

The Finished Warband Bases so far

I haven't decided on the next base yet - maybe some armoured elite warriors? This will present a different challenge to the cavalry as there are ten figures on each base. Probably the same amount of area to paint as the mounted warriors but they will be more fiddly.

Midgard : Britannia (Mounted Warriors 1)

This time I present you with the first base of finished mounted warriors. I actually finished them on Sunday but have only just now found the time to write the post. These needed to be painted from scratch (well, they had an undercoat) and took me quite a bit longer to complete than the three previous units. The horses proved a bit of a challenge due to the large areas of hide involved, but I just continued painting for a bit longer each day. I went over the lines quite often with these so had to keep going back to touch up where I had made mistakes. I think that they have turned out OK considering.

Mounted Warriors

Like the previous completed figures, these were just a basic paint job - nothing fancy, just coloured in and lightly shaded to get them ready for use on the gaming table. I tried to put a mixture of rider types onto the horses to break up the painting monotony. Each base (including the one I will be painting this coming week) has a mailed chieftain/leader type, and three wearing a variety of upper body wear and wielding a variety of weapons. I wanted to give the units a bit of coherence, so they all got some Roman round shields painted in solid colours.

Here's the ongoing army tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (46 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 1/2 bases of mounted warriors (4/8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

I managed to paint most days again this week but, as mentioned above, I had to up the minutes per day to complete them on time.

Next base should be more Mounted Warriors.

Midgard : Britannia (Skyclad Warriors 2)

Next up is the second base of finished skyclad warriors. Like the previous base, the figures had already been undercoated in a flesh colour - I just had to add a few colours again. I painted for a little longer each day and was able to finish these ones slightly quicker than the previous base. Here they are in their finished status...

Celtic Skyclad Warriors

Another quick-win as the base only consisted of four figures again.

Here are both of the skyclad warrior bases...

Two Units of Celtic Skyclad Warriors

Here's the ongoing army tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (42 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

I have managed to get some painting time in on most days over the last couple of weeks, and the numbers of completed miniatures is growing slowly but surely. My painting confidence is growing again but I am still suffering a little with the light. I will keep the miniatures in this army to a basic paint job for now. I may experiment a bit more when I get to painting some fantasy units.

Next up should be a unit of Mounted Warriors.

Midgard Heroic Battles: Britannia (Skyclad Warriors 1)

And, here we have the second unit/base of finished figures - four skyclad warriors on a skirmish style base. This base was another quick win as the figures were already undercoated in a flesh colour - I just had to add a few colours and refresh the paint a little on the flesh...

Celtic Skyclad Warriors

Another quick-win for the army - I only had to complete four figures this time.

Here's the ongoing tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (38 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 1/2 bases of skyclad warriors (4/8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

Painting time was kept to around 20-30 minutes per day again. This method seems to be working as I am being disciplined enough to set aside the time each day to get the painting done. It is also just long enough that I am actually enjoying seeing the figures come alive in my hands as more layers of paint go on and I am not getting bored. Let's hope my attention span doesn't waver and keeps going. I did notice though, that when the light faded a bit, my vision failed rapidly and I had to call a halt as I just could not focus on the miniatures in the less than bright light.

Next up should be some more skyclad fanatics.

Midgard Heroic Battles : Britannia (Dog Handler)

Well, as promised, here is the first finished figure since I restarted painting my old Celt/Briton army miniatures. A nice quick-win for the army - one new fully painted unit to join the three bases of warriors - I only had to daub a bit of paint onto one figure. He took me a couple of hours in total to complete, even with the stripes on his pants - they didn't turn out too well, but they add a bit of colour. I do like how the sleeves and collar of his shirt turned out though...

Celtic Master of Hounds

The three hounds for the base were already completed but I have now added their handler...

Celtic Dog Handler and some Wolfhounds

Here's an ongoing tally of what I have achieved so far. I will strike through when completed and italicise any unit that is partially completed with a tally quote...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

This has whetted my appetite for getting more done now. I am spending about 20-30 minutes per day painting - little, but often and it appears to be working so far. It took a while to get my eye back in and I "went over the lines" a fair bit so had to keep going back to repaint what I had spoiled. I think it looks OK though as my first attempt back to painting in quite a while.

Next up should be some naked fanatics - skyclad warriors in my Midgard : Britannia parlance.

Vecna: Eve of Ruin (#3) - The Mines II

The party got together again last night and we carried on with our exploration of the Dwarf Mines so that we could get to the bottom of the mystery.

The Mines - Day 3 (Dawn)

There were no incidents overnight that affected the watches, so we awoke refreshed and fully healed. It was still raining and the water levels had risen overnight. The sky was still gloomy and overcast; the sun barely making its presence felt. We decided that we would systematically search each of the remaining caves in this area outside the mine before plunging into the cold, wet depths of the torrent pouring into the entrance.

It was a bit of a chore to get ourselves across to each of the intervening islands between the one we were on and the one in the north-east as the current was still swift and the jumps were too far for everyone bar myself and the magical boots I was wearing.

We managed to get onto the northeast island without incident and was greeted by the sight of many more dwarf bodies. Taking our cue from what the dwarf warriors had told us earlier, we began to place the bodies into the water. After the second one slipped below the surface, the rest began to stir and we heard a series of groans from behind the rocks in front of us.

The number of zombie dwarfs was quite large, so Gladreth launched a Fireball into their midst destroying most of them. The groans appeared to come from a red haired dwarf female warrior in plate armour. We took no chances, hit her a few times and threw her into the water. She sank under the weight of her plate armour.

The remaining zombies managed to hold their own against us for a while and then suddenly Drakkon could no longer move. At this point the red-haired dwarf warrior woman pulled herself from the water and tried to get into combat with the remaining zombies shouting a war cry in her own language that Gladreth understood; she was not a zombie, but on our side!

Several more zombies emerged from the cave we were headed towards, so to cut them off I ran forward and tried to destroy them with my god's radiant holy powers. It had no effect on them whatsoever, and I was swamped by the horde.

The Entrance to the Mines (second cave)

Luckily, the dwarf warrior stormed to my rescue, taking many hits that should have struck me. I was feeling terrible for striking her earlier when we did not know she would be an ally. At some point in the melee, a weapon appeared out of thin air but I managed to duck in time to avoid injury. Not knowing what this new threat was, I cast my single Fireball spell and destroyed a large number of the zombies; Druss and Navda destroyed the remainder.

Unfortunately, just as we thought that we could lick our wounds and take a rest, a drow sorceress appeared and tried to Hold me. My god was with me this time and I shrugged off the charm but she ran back into hiding within the cave as a fresh wave of zombies bore down upon us. The fighters in the party managed to down a few but even more appeared. This was becoming ridiculous. We must have fought and seen at least thirty or more undead dwarfs in this cave alone. Luckily Gladreth still had a few spells up her sleeves and her last Fireball destroyed most of them.

Drakkon, annoyed by the drow priestess as she had charmed him twice, managed to get up close and finally dispatch her with Druss's help. Dharion and the dwarf warrior maiden completed the demise of the remaining zombies.

When the last zombie fell, I Healed the party as much as I could, including the dwarf warrior. She was grateful for the attention and opened up a little by telling us that she was with a couple of other fighters sent to liberate their countrymen. We mentioned that we had seen the other two and had rescued them from the island that they had got stuck on.

We searched the drow priestess but only found a few useful items: a very nice warhammer, a spider emblem round her neck and spider rings on her fingers, as well as two vials of what looked like Potions of Healing. We stuffed these into our sacks and got ready to move on.

Midgard Heroic Battles : Britannia - miniatures update 1

Following on from a recent post stating that I need to get cracking on some figure painting, I decided to chance my arm at daubing some paint onto the remainder of the unpainted Midgard Heroic Battles : Britannia Celts in my collection. I played the whole campaign with many of the British units unpainted or partly painted - my thoughts at the time were that I would rather play a game with unfinished models than not play at all. It worked for me then, but now I have an itch to get painting again as I would like to complete this particular army for future gaming and also to get me in practice for the many other armies I would also like to start working on over the summer.

Here is a full list of all the Celtic figures that I have in my collection and their state of play...

List of all Celtic figures that were based for Midgard...

• 4 bases of standard warriors (40 figures)
• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)
• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)
• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)
• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)
• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)
• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)
• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of all my other individual figures...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues
• 7 leader types
• 4 druids
• 8 spearmen
• 2 mounted warriors
• 2 slingers
• 3/6 chariots and crew

Over the coming weeks I am going to try to paint as many of them as I can in readiness for starting on my other unpainted legions for a variety of settings. I am hoping to get my eye back in so that I can begin to improve on my last few attempts. I am never going to be able to paint to Golden Demon levels (I have never had that level of skill by any stretch of the imagination anyway), but failing eyesight, limited time, patience and energy means I will try to do what I can. I am more of a looking reasonably good at tabletop distance standard type of painter, so if I can match that ethic again then I will be happy.

Here are the only completed bases/units so far - they were painted many moons back when I first bought them. Going forward, I am hoping to match their style and neatness if I am able to, but will cut down on some of the colour work - basic paint jobs only for them. There are a few more figures that were painted back in the day but I have not photographed them yet as the bases are not completed. Once those bases are completed, they will appear alongside the newer painted ones.

Picture of the, so far, three completed Celtic units...

Three bases of already painted Celtic Warriors

Here they are individually. I think I have mentioned previously that the shields got a bit washed out with the matt varnish spray - if anyone has an antidote to restore them to being a little brighter I would be happy to hear about it....

Base 1 of Warriors

Base 2 of Warriors

Base 3 of Warriors

I am going to try to complete a unit/base per week if I can, so I have lined up a few easy wins to begin with. I will then move onto some of the smaller units (4 figures per base rather than 10) so I can complete some bases more quickly and feel that I have at least achieved something each week. Then I will checkout the 10 man bases again to get a few of them done. Let's see how I get on over the next few weeks.

Hopefully, by the end of the next week, I will have a dog handler completed to add to the base of hounds I have already painted.

Vecna: Eve of Ruin (#2) - The Mines

Last night saw the regular D&D crowd get back together on Fantasy Grounds to play the next installment of the new campaign, Vecna : Eve of Ruin. It has been a few weeks since the last game as real life has taken priority, but hopefully we are back now for another run of games.

The Mines - Day 2 (Dusk)

We approached the dwarven mines by heading downhill alongside a torrent of water. The entrance to the mines had flooded from what we could see, and the water was very fast flowing. On many of the raised areas of drier land just outside the mine entrance we could see a number of dwarf bodies lying strewn around where they had apparently been slain.

Whilst we checked the bodies to see if any were still alive, and for clues as to what might have happened, we began to hear chanting coming from beyond a clusters of rocks. Some of the bodies began to slightly twitch so we moved forward to investigate further. A dwarf magician emerged from behind the rocks and Held Navda in place with an enchantment. Gladreth let fly a Fireball that reduced half of the rising bodies to ash. A short-lived fight ensued wherein Druss killed the dwarf mage, but he managed to throw an enchanted red gem at the floor that exploded into a Wall of Force causing a great deal of harm both to the party and to the remaining dwarf zombies before he died. The remining four dwarf zombies were quickly dispatched by Dharion, Navda and Gladreth's Firebolt.

Just as we finished off the last of the zombies, we heard the final clattering of a combat emanating from a small island a short distance away. The two dwarf warriors had just defeated a small number of adversaries. They beckoned us over, but I was the only one who could get there, using my Boots of Striding, without being swept away by the swift current. They explained that the dead dwarfs should be placed into the River of the Gods (the waters around our feet apparently), and that the river held powers over the dwarf dead. They also explained that the flooding and rain would stop if we could defeat the evil wizard. The strong current in the surrounding waters led directly to the mines.

As we didn't currently have the means to rescue the dwarfs we said that we would return and save them later. We placed the dead dwarfs reverently into the waters as requested and left the two living warriors on their island. We headed towards the north-west where we found a small entrance that led into a very dark cavern. Inside, Dharion's superior dark vision could make out movement but not a lot else. Fearing that it would be more zombies, I cast Light on a large stone and hurled it into the cavern.

Entrance to the Dwarf Mins

The light from the stone allowed us all to see the numerous zombies within the cave. I rapidly moved in and called upon the grace of Pelor to return these souls to their proper place, and four of the undead collapsed to dust whilst another four retreated from my god's awesome power.

A tall, very thin humanoid, whose head was covered in spiders emerged from behind a rock and also moved away from me, but not without first firing a poisoned arrow. The rest of my comrades moved in and combat ensued. Gladreth's Lightning Bolt made short work of the zombies but the drow was made of sterner stuff and did not appear to be affected by the lightning. A few moments later another drow dropped from the ceiling and blew a strange powder into Dharion's face, blinding and poisoning him. Dharion and I were able to remove those curses from him using our spell-craft, but moments later the drow did the same again to him.

Druss, in a Rage, charged the drow located deepest within the cavern and was treated to a cloud of the same dust, but it had no effect on him. In a few moments he had cut the drow down, whilst Dharion (even though still blinded), Navda, Gladreth and I dealt with the other drow in short shrift.

As we searched the body of the first drow, the spiders from around his head tried to run away, but we crushed them all under our boots. On the two drow bodies we found two capsules of powdered malice, four poisoned crossbow bolts and some very nice studded leather armour. We stashed everything away for future use and returned south to see about setting the two dwarfs free from being stranded.

A quick return to the camp outside where Drakkon kept watch allowed us to grab his water breathing helm and a length of rope. We pulled the dwarfs across and through the waterway one-at-a-time and bid them farewell.

As night was now rapidly approaching we made camp and set watches for a long night's rest to heal up and recover our spells.

Framlingham and Orford Castles

On Wednesday, in the scorching 33 degree heat of the English spring, I was able to take the kids to a couple of castles in Suffolk: Framlingham and Orford. I usually visit these two castles on the same day as they go together historically. I have visited these castles on a couple of occasions previously, but not for at least 30-35 years! The sites have been thoroughly modernised in the intervening years and there is more to see at both sites than I remember seeing when I last went. 

Framlingham Castle was originally built in timber by Roger Bigod in 1101 after being granted the manor by King Henry I. The Bigods were a lowly family when they arrived with William I to conquer England, but rapidly rose to power. The first stone castle was built around 1154 by Roger's son Hugh who, via a variety of machinations and side-swapping during The Anarchy, eventually became powerful enough for King Henry II to want to reclaim East Anglia for himself to reduce the Bigod's power. The king confiscated the castle and all of the other Bigod holdings in Norfolk (this included two other castles (Walton and another) I think) in 1157, but he returned Framlingham in the 1160s. Hugh Bigod did not learn from his mistakes and supported a rebellion against the king in 1173 which was defeated, so lost teg castle again. He died on pilgrimage to Jerusalem around 1176.

Framlingham Castle

Framlingham is also famous for housing Queen Mary during the Lady Jane Grey fracas; it was here that she gathered support and later learned that she was to be crowned the first female monarch of England.

Orford Castle was built by King Henry II to counterbalance the power of Hugh Bigod in East Anglia whilst he reasserted his authority in the region.

Orford Castle

From the top of the castle you can see why the position at Orford was so strategic - the views over the Ness are amazing; you can see for miles. In fact, on a good day and without a few trees in the way you should be able to see Framlingham Castle.