Midgard : Britannia - miniatures update 2

As promised last time, this post will be a commentary on what has been painted and what still needs to be painted for my Midgard Heroic Battles : Britannia Briton and Roman forces.

The Romans required for the campaign had already been painted by the time I came to play any games, but most of the Britons still needed a lick of paint. After approximately three months of hobbying, I now have two great looking armies that are painted and based for gaming in the realms of Midgard. I also still have a small pile of unpainted miniatures for both factions.

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

Painted Briton figures detailing those that are now based for Midgard...

Briton Army

Briton Army from above

• 40 standard warriors (4 bases - plastic)
• 20 elite warriors (2 bases - 1 plastic, 1 metal)
• 10 female warriors (1 base - metal)
• 10 mounted warriors (2 bases plus 2 extra - metal)
• 8 archers (2 bases - metal)
• 10 slingers (2 bases plus 2 extra - metal)
• 8 skyclad warriors (2 bases - metal)
• 4 hounds (1 base - metal)
• 4 druids (metal)
• 6 chieftains and champions (metal)
• 3 chariots and crew (1 base plus 1 extra - metal)

Unpainted Celtic figures...

The remaining unpainted Celtic figures

• 40 warriors and elite warriors (plastic)
• 8 javelinmen (metal)

And, here is the full list of all the Roman figures that are in my collection and their state of play...

Painted Roman figures detailing those that were based for Midgard...

• 80 legionaries (4 bases - plastic)
• 6 officers (plastic)
• 7 officers (metal)
• 11 mounted auxiliaries (2 bases - metal)
• 8 auxiliary officers (metal)
• 24 western auxiliaries (1 base - metal)
• 16 western archers (1 base - metal)
• 24 eastern auxiliaries (1 base - metal)
• 16 eastern archers (1 base - metal)

I am unsure whether to make up any more bases for the remainder of each troop type. I will cross that bridge when I come to play a game and work out whether I need any new bases created or not.

Unpainted Roman figures...

Most of the unpainted Roman figures

• 53 legionaries and officers (plastic)
• 2 officers (metal)
• 9 Balearic slingers (metal)
• 12 Numidian cavalry (metal)
• 6 hounds (metal)
• 1 eastern archer (metal)
• 1 western auxiliary (metal)
• 4/11 artillery and crew (resin and metal)

Note: due to being in another box that I couldn't get to right now, the above picture does not contain the Balearic slingers, hounds or the bulk of the artillery/crews. When I get around to daubing these factions again, I will try to remember to take full before shots of what needs painting.

So, this brings me to a decision - what to paint next? I have a hankering after doing some Lord of the Rings stuff, so I reckon I will begin working on my generic orcs; both official Games Workshop stuff based on the films, plus any other "unofficial" figures that fit in with them. I have a feeling that I may need to buy a small number of miniatures to round out some units to fit onto Midgard bases, but I will detail my thoughts when I write the first post on the collection as it currently stands. I will also need to choose an enemy for them (Gondor, Rohan, Elves or Dwarves I imagine) to paint directly afterwards so I can play some games when they are completed.

Vecna: Eve of Ruin (#8) - The Mausoleum III

After we realised that we would get no more information out of Shanzezim, we gave his room one last casual glance to make sure there were no further exits and then left to explore the rest of the underground complex.

We passed back through the pool room and explored the short tunnel and doorway to the west. The room was devoid of anything of interest except for a load more pipes and three cogs which we looked up briefly on the parchment Shanzezim gave to us to see what the did.

A quick discussion led to us following Navda back to the large room with the numerous doors, behind one of which we rescued Shaselle, and we decided to look closer at the door at the top of the stairs. The painted eye symbol on the door gave us all the creeps, but we opened it anyway.

Beyond the door was a staircase down, which didn't make much sense - why go up the stairs just to go down them again? At the foot of those stairs we encountered a room with four different sized bells suspended equidistant from the ceiling by ropes. We noticed that footprints led mostly via the north side of the bells, so Navda scouted ahead in that direction. A quick listen at the door told him that there were people in the room beyond. He then pushed the door slightly ajar to make out five cultists within the room mid argument. He motioned us forward with a finger to his lips but, unfortunately, Druss managed to knock into a bell that set it ringing.

The game was up so we all advanced to support Navda. We noticed a few of the cultists cast spells but without any verbal components to them. Puzzled, as nothing seemed to affect us, we none-the-less entered into the room and a melee erupted. As soon as he entered the room, Druss started to act strangely and dropped all of his weapons before he turned around and left the room. Gladreth, leaving nothing to chance, cast a Lightning Bolt that severely injured three of the cultists, whilst Navda and I loosed arrows and slingshot at the leader (we assumed he was the leader as he was wearing a necklace of teeth in addition to the usual eye insignia). Unfortunately, the leader had a few tricks up his sleeve too, and he Fireballed the entire room singeing us all in the process. Gladreth returned the favour by casting her own Fireball that killed three of the cultists, and then Navda shot the leader dead.

Druss came out of his fugue and closed the door at the bottom of the stairs that led to the bell room. All the other three doors in the room were closed. Despite this, we still felt uneasy. As the combat had stopped, we decided to take up positions guarding each door and investigated some of the contents of the room. We searched the bodies for treasure (we got a pouch of gems and a few of the amulets each cultist wore for our troubles), and found that the basin in the corner contained normal water but the bottom of it seemed to be gold coated. The tables contained some bread and goblets of what looked like cheap wine; we did not attempt to eat or drink any of it.

Just as we were beginning to relax a little, the door to the north of the room opened. A robed, skeletal figure stood in the doorway. Druss charged it down and struck it mightily with his battle axe whilst Navda simultaneously loosed a shaft that ended its un-life.

As the body crumpled to the floor we heard the bells peal from the bell room. Dharion cast a spell that created a tangled web of thorny vines that filled the stairwell to slow down any potential intruders.

The door to the west now opened, but this time we did not see anyone. Navda took a quick look only to see an empty bed chamber. Suddenly, a cultist appeared from beneath the stairs in the main room we were all in and cast a Fireball. At this point I was knocked unconscious by the blast. From what was said when I came to, Gladreth had rushed to my aid and the warriors took down the cultist very quickly.

The Helix Mausoleum

Just as everyone thought that this must surely be the end of the combat, another cultist suddenly appeared and cast a spell at Gladreth, which she shrugged off. Dharion put an arrow into him and Druss delivered the coup de gras. A quick search of the bodies gained us a few more gems and a number of eye symbol amulets, as well as several decent robes that we could use for disguises.

After a quick discussion, we realised that Invisibility must be being used, so not wanting to get caught out again, we trapped the doors to make a noise if opened. Gladreth, Druss and I then quartered the room in search of further cultists, whilst Dharion stood watch and Navda explored the guard room (there were only a four cots and a few piles of bones in there). We didn't find any more cultists, but just as we finished up our search, Dharion heard a knock at the bell room's door. Then silence.

Just as we thought we might be safe again, the items that we had set to the trapped northern door fell down with a clatter. A few moments later, another cultist appeared levitating close to the ceiling. She cast an icy blast kind of spell and, as I was not fully healed from the previous Fireball, I went unconscious again.

Gladreth was Commanded to give the cultist, who had now descended to the floor, a hug which meant no-one could strike her (the cultist). Druss didn't give two hoots and took the risk. He cut the cultist down with his battle axe whilst Navda struck her with an arrow as she let go of Gladreth. Gladreth rushed over to administer aid to me to keep me alive whilst Dharion Healed me. The cultist's body was searched and a key chain with four keys on it was found alongside another pouch of gems. As the search was going on I cast a Prayer of Healing to give everyone back some health.

Whilst we got ourselves organised, Navda went through the northern door to explore a little further. He came back after a few moments to say that there was a long corridor with several rooms along it, some with new padlocks. He mentioned that he had stuck his head inside one of the rooms only to discover several cultists and a couple of ghouls. One of the rooms had the potential to be a holding cell.

Vecna Cultists - courtesy of Fantasy Grounds

Midgard : Britannia (Chariots 2)

And with this last chariot on its base, that is the project completed! After just over three months (started 6th June 2026 and ended today, 10th September 2026) of painting and modelling, all of the Celt models used in the Midgard : Britannia campaign, plus a few others, are finished. Here is the last of the chariots...

Chariot variant 2

From another angle to show some grisly trophies

I added a couple of severed heads from the Celtic Warrior plastic box sets to this model to give it a bit more authenticity. Unfortunately the whole base looks a little too blue for my liking, I should have thought about the colour scheme a little more before committing to it. I have also just noticed that I forgot to paint the horses' eyes - maybe I will remedy that at a future date.

Here are all three of them together...

Chariot squadron

Briton figures progress (135 of 135 completed)...

• 106 figures based and ready for use with the Midgard rules set
• Druids (4 metal figures)
• Chieftains and Champions (6 metal figures)
• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)
• 3 Chariots and crew (15 metal figures)

And the remainder...

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

So, what to do now? I still have those unpainted plastic Celtic Warriors and a small warband of eight metal javelinmen to complete. As stated before, though, I would like to move onto something different next and leave these, together with the Roman remnants, until another future date.

Next post will hopefully feature a summary of where I am at with both the Briton and Roman armies. I will try to photograph at least some of them again for a sense of how they all look on the table and also to catalogue what I have left for a future painting project. I have plenty of Roman and Celt figures still left to paint, so I imagine that would be another summer's project.

Midgard : Britannia (Chariots 1)

After my major faux pas of gluing the chariots to their bases prior to painting (at least I undercoated them first!) I decided to paint them in two lots as there are two different styles of chariot. Here are my first attempts at painting the more "basic" chariots...

Two chariots on their bases

These look great on their own. The Warbases, erm, bases, fit the chariots perfectly.

The same two chariots on their Warbases movement tray

But, once they get onto their movement trays, they look superb. I am so happy with the way that these have turned out. This is how I imagine that their enemies would see them thundering towards their lines...

From the front

This is a view from above. As you can see, they glued up a little on the wonky side, but that, to me, adds to their authenticity.

From above to show how the bases fit the movement trays

I took one further image of the chariots swapped around...

And swapped over

Briton figures progress (130 of 135 completed)...

• 106 figures based and ready for use with the Midgard rules set
• Druids (4 metal figures)
• Chieftains and Champions (6 metal figures)
• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)
• 2/3 Chariots and crew (10/15 metal figures)

And the remainder...

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

As mentioned previously, due to the gluing mishap, there were some very awkward places to paint and varnish, but I think I managed to do well despite the set-backs. The one small saving grace at this point was that I only glued the chariots to their bases and not the crews to their chariots. I was able to paint the crew separately and that gave me time to think on what to do with them. I tried to stick them to small pieces of clear plastic so that they could be removable and therefore the chariots could be used for something else, but the glues I used just would not create a permanent adhesion and the figures kept popping off of their bases. I therefore decided to glue the figures on permanently and will look into buying more chariots if required for other projects.

Whilst painting these chariots I also got to thinking more about alternative uses for them. I rather liked the idea of converting them to have wolves or boars to pull them, with maybe goblin or dwarf crews. I also saw them with Lord of the Rings Easterling and Elven crews - I'd need to work out a suitable paintjob for them, but I think they could be made to look like they fit in with those armies. Certainly a couple of ideas to toy with going forward.

Once I complete the last of the chariots, I will do one final army summary, which will probably also incorporate my thoughts on the Roman figures still left in my pile of shame.

Vecna: Eve of Ruin (#7) - The Mausoleum II

The holiday season disrupted our gaming a little, but we were all able to get back around the virtual table last night for another dive into the realms of Neverwinter...

Navda moved stealthily into the pool room to find something that he could throw into the large pool to see if anything would be disturbed. Gladreth and I moved up to support him, but as soon as we entered the room, a large water elemental suddenly erupted from the pool and grabbed her. Navda manged to loose an arrow at the being but it ignored the harm done and slammed Gadreth into the floor with great force. Dharion also loosed an arrow at it from over my shoulder and entered the fray.

Water Elemental - by Fantasy Grounds

Two smaller water weirds then arose from the pool and attacked Navda and Dharion just as the rest of the party joined the combat. Dharion and Druss were engulfed within the flailing watery limbs of the elementals but luckily Gladreth was dropped. I Blessed the fighters to aid them in their battle and used a Sacred Flame to deal some damage to the otherworldly creatures. This caused the weird attacking Navda to pause in its attack and he dispersed it with a well-aimed shot. Unfortunately, the main water elemental was enraged by my magic and battered Gladreth into a near death state. Druss and Drakkon managed to defeat the large elemental, and its death caused the other, smaller weird to disperse and give me room to aid Gladreth. My Lord's magic brought her back from near-death and a Healing Word salved the wounds of the rest of the party.

After the combat, we checked out our surroundings. There was a crudely cut corridor set into the north wall and three exits to the south, one on the southern wall and one each towards the end of the eastern and western walls. Whilst searching the exits we discovered and picked up a diamond encrusted silver bracelet from the floor.

Most of us decided to head north to see if the corridor met up with one of the rooms we had entered earlier, and found that it did. The room had a huge pile of debris in the south-eastern corner and a set of steps on the western wall leading up to a balcony and a door with a painted eye upon it. The northern wall contained three doors, with evidence of foot traffic to the central door which had a brand new padlock. Drakkon, meanwhile, had remained behind for a while to investigate the doors in the pool chamber. He found that the southern door had brand new hinges and a padlock, the western passageway ended after a short while at another door, and the stairs led up to yet another door.

When Drakkon had caught up, Navda attempted to open the lock but was unable to. Drakkon had a go using brute strength but he also failed. Druss smashed the lock off the door in the manner of a barbarian. When the dust had settled, we could make out a north-leading corridor beyond the door we had just opened. As we approached the end of the corridor, a slight puff of cold air from the room ahead ran chills down our spines. Contained within the small chamber at the end was a stone crypt with a wooden lid. Many dark items of cloth were strewn about the chamber and spilled from the gap made between the partially removed coffin lid and the sarcophagus.

As Navda approached the coffin, he noticed that he could hear a very slight breathing sound. I made light that it was most likely a vampire contained within which made everyone back off slightly. Navda kept his nerve and between us we pushed the coffin lid off to reveal a mass of black shrouds that covered a humanoid shape. I leaned over to check out the incumbent and suddenly my arm was held in a grip of iron. A woman with black hair and black and white robes emerged from the shrouds. Due to her firm grip on my arm, I was easily able to pull her from the sarcophagus where she greeted us with thanks and told us her name was Sharselle. I offered her food and water, and whilst she ate she narrated that she had been kidnapped by cultists a few weeks ago and that they had stolen her magic.

Navda perceived that something was not quite right with her story and that she seemed to be holding something back from us. With a little gentle persuasion she told us that she had had a recurring dream for the last week or so about a levitating desecrated man who suddenly screamed and exploded. Due to its intensity and recurrence, she told her local priest. The very next day she was kidnapped by cultists wearing tattoos of an eye and a hand. She was brought to this dungeon and her magic was stolen from her. Her explanation sat heavily with all of us - it almost seemed like some external power had made this information very important.

As Sharselle was too weak to move, we said that we would leave her there temporarily and then escort her from the dungeon when it was safe to do so. We gave her some more food and water and details of the way out just in case she recovered her strength.

Due to the success we had with rescuing someone from behind a padlocked door, we decided to head back to the pool room and investigated the southern door which Drakkon had found with another new lock and hinges.

Navda picked this lock easily, and inside the damp, musky cell we found a gnome who introduced himself as Umberto Noblin; one of the four people we had been asked to find.

Umberto Noblin - gnome historian and author

He was very talkative and self-promoting but between blurting out details from his new book about the outer worlds and gods and so on, we managed to gather a lot more information about what was going on. We asked him about the relevance of the eye and hand symbols and he waxed lyrical about them all being signs of Vecna the Lich Lord, used by his followers to return him to this plane. Apparently, one hundred years ago a man named Vecna became a lich lord and conquered the realm of Oerth. In his lust for power, all he wanted to do was destroy. He had a very cruel close associate named Kas, a person who had turned into a vampire lord, to whom he gave a power magical sword. The two fell out and battled one another. Vecna now wants to conquer this world and it only needs one more spell to be cast by his cultists before he is returned. He is currently in the realm of Shadowfell, and Umberto asked us to stop this from happening by defeating him in the shadow realm so that he cannot make it to this realm. As with the details Shaselle told us we all had a feeling that these details were significant.

We mentioned Sharselle to Umberto and he said that he knew of her. All that he said of her confirmed what she had told us. We ushered Umberto to Sharselle's crypt and then escorted them both out of the mausoleum with strict instructions to go to the town council and report themselves to have been found by us.

We then returned to where we had left off and decided to take a look at the door at the end of the western corridor. We could find no tracks that headed this way and could only hear a dripping sound coming from within. We decided to leave it for later and climbed the well-used stairs in the east wall to a wooden door with a handle. Before we opened it, Navda listened and could just make out some fumbling and a tinkering noise.

Navda popped the door open a crack and espied in the candlelit room a pile of rubble to the south-east corner (with a slight gap above it), a large cluttered desk with lots of clockwork items on it, and a being with a very fish-like look sat at the table tinkering with the objects upon it.

Shanzezim - a being out of time

Just as we were about to say "Hello" and enter the room, the being within, named Shanzezim, beat us to it. He asked after the health of his elemental helpers and we had to admit that after being attacked we had to subdue two of them. He seemed nonchalant but rued their loss as they were useful for maintaining the pipes. He then asked us if we were members of the Water Clock Guild. We replied in the negative. He sighed and said "They have all died out. I am the last. I need to finish my clock."

We managed to piece together that he was an elemental of Neverwinter and a member of the Water Clock Guild, and that his job was to protect the pipes that fed the town its water. He explained that the eight valves turn in sequence and control the water flow in the fountains and basins in Neverwinter and then he gave us a small document that detailed how they worked. He had been there over one hundred years by his reckoning and that the clock he was crafting should be finished in three years. The guildmaster, Quicksilver or Jake Slight Bobhand, had bound him in this dungeon. He also mentioned that the cultists pretty much left him to his own work and therefore he didn't bother them. A bit of cross-questioning revealed that he had been there closer to six hundred years; from when the settlement had its beginnings. It seemed that he had no concept of time as it affected mortals.

As we said our goodbyes, he handed us a solid gold flywheel and mentioned that it did not belong in his clock.

The Helix Mausoleum - in Shanzezim's room

Midgard : Britannia (Mounted Warriors 3)

And this post brings me to the last of the "odds and sods"; a couple of Mounted Warriors. These can be used as part of the skirmish style cavalry bases for Midgard if I swap out the heavily armoured riders, or just to add into a unit of ten cavalry for any other game systems.

I only tried out one newish trick with these figures - I had a go at a skewbald horse colouration scheme. I think it turned out OK, but the horse image I copied meant that most of the darker hide ended up hidden by the saddle and rider. I will look at variants on this theme when I get around to painting more cavalry - unfortunately due to the gluing incident, I won't be trying anything more than a single colour scheme on the chariot horses.

Two New Mounted Warriors

All of the Mounted Warriors Together

I think it is nice that I have more figures than are required for the unit bases I made (see the slingers from the last post for another example). It means I can randomise the Midgard bases each time I play with them or use the whole ten riders to choose from to create a lovely Dragon Rampant unit.

Celtic figures progress (120 of 135 completed)...

• 106 figures based and ready for use with the Midgard rules set
• Druids (4 metal figures)
• Chieftains and Champions (6 metal figures)
• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)
• Chariots and crew (15 metal figures)

And the remainder...

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

Next up is the unit I have been waiting for - the chariots. I have three of them ready to go, but they will only make up one full Midgard unit base unfortunately. I guess the other could be used as a unit chieftain/champion? I will need to purchase one or two more to allow me to expand to two units. I am toying with the idea, as well as buying one or two for use as goblin chariots or whatever, but they are very expensive. We shall see what pans out when I get around to painting my fantasy figures.

The Cousins' War - Game 2

Following up on our initial attempt at playing the game a couple of days ago, we found the time yesterday to have a rematch. This time it took us about 30 minutes to play through as we were now becoming familiar with the rules.

Again it only took three turns to complete out of the five due to some good decisions and great dice rolling by my son and some poor tactics and a bad decision on my part. I played York again and my son played Lancaster...

Turn 1 - The Battle of St. Albans

It all started off well for the Yorkists (me) what with them winning the Battle of St. Albans and gaining influence in the midlands region.

Turn 2 - The Battle of Wakefield

Again, the House of York won at the Battle of Wakefield and gained influence over the south, but the House of Lancaster managed to secure influence over the north.

Turn 3 - The Battle of Mortimer's Cross

York had seven units in the Battle of Mortimer's Cross and Lancaster only two, but Lancaster whittled down the Yorkist armies and snatched a well-earned victory. My dice rolls were very poor, as were my attempts to bluff it out -  I lost every round of the battle. The result was that Lancaster expanded their influence over the Midlands and the south and gained victory in the war.

After action report - we had the game down pat by now so we were able to jump straight in and play. I thought that it would take the full five turns to play but I was outsmarted and lost in the third turn. I was too confident going into the final battle with a 7:2 advantage but my forces were whittled down and eventually lost. A quick moving around of forces meant that the Lancastrians not only held the field at Mortimer's Cross but also won the war.

We are both enjoying this game as it swings back and forth within each turn and the end battles are great fun what with all the bluffing and counter-bluffing involved. Hopefully we can get another one or to games in before the end of the week.

Midgard : Britannia (Slingers 3)

I decided on a very quick win this time round. These slingers only took me a couple of sessions to complete. These very basic paint jobs brings the total number of slingers up to ten - enough for two skirmish bases or a full ten man base if required.

The Two New Slingers

Here they all are together...

All the Slingers Together

These figures are literally just three or four colours and a wash, but the sculpts make them what they are. I actually do really like these despite their basic look. As mentioned in a previous post, I am tempted to do a Five Leagues from the Borderlands warband/party with figures from my Celtic collection, and some missile troops are always handy to have in a tight spot.

And now onto the Celtic figures progress (118 of 135 completed)...

• 106 figures based and ready for use with the Midgard rules set
• Druids (4 metal figures)
• Chieftains and Champions (6 metal figures)
• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)
• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Chariots and crew (15 metal figures)

And the remainder...

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

Next up will be the last two cavalrymen and then the chariots thereafter. I don't think I have ever fully completed an army that I set out to paint. I am very close with this one. Let's hope I can keep up the discipline and see it all through.

Midgard : Britannia (Chieftains & Champions)

I was able to paint these fellas relatively quickly. I put in some extra time this weekend and had no interruptions, so the standard block painting went on by the numbers. Again, nothing spectacular. I am staying resolute to just block painting and washes for this army. I will push my skills a little more with the next project.

Chieftains and Champions by Warlord Games

Chieftains and Champions by Foundry

All the Chieftains and Champions together

With the completion of these, all of the leader-types are done, so I can field a Celtic/Briton army with a great choice of champions. If I have need of more I can always grab a figure or two from the Elite or Mounted Warrior units already completed, plus there are the chariots in the wings waiting for a dab of paint.

I am still painting most days for 30-40 minutes per session, so I am hoping to see the completion of the remainder of the figures in a couple of weeks' time. If I am able to keep the discipline and avoid any new bouts of painter's block, this should be achievable.

Celtic figures progress (116 of 135 completed)...

• 106 figures based and ready for use with the Midgard rules set
• Druids (4 metal figures)
• Chieftains and Champions (6 metal figures)
• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)
• Slingers (2 metal figures)
• Chariots and crew (15 metal figures)

And the remainder...

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

Either the mounted warriors or the slingers will be up next before trying to tackle the too-hastily constructed chariots. The chariots will take a bit of time, due to a few of the very awkward places to get the paintbrush into, but they should be do-able.

Whilst doing all this painting, I have noticed that a few of my very old paint pots are beginning to dry up; some of the pots are 30 years old or more! I have been adding a few drops of water each time I use them to keep them flowing, but some are gradually moving beyond repair and are totally drying out in the pots. I am just hoping that the main colours I am using can hold out until the last of the miniatures above are completed. Several pots have been discarded over the last few weeks where they have just dried solid, so I will take a look to see if I can replace them from the original vendors. If I cannot I will need to source alternatives.

The Cousins' War - a boardgame

My youngest son is over for a week of the summer holidays at the moment so, as is usual with us when we get together, we got to talking about all things gaming related. After showing him the newly painted Celts that he subsequently declared that he wanted to defeat in a Midgard game, I mentioned to him that I had a couple of things that he hadn't played before, one of them quite new, that he might want to try first.

The Cousins' War mini boardgame

A few months back I attended a games show in Gillingham, Kent and bought the first game in a series by Surprised Stare Games Ltd that looked interesting. The range consists of a few small games in a series titled Pocket Campaigns that can be played in half an hour or so on a small table pretty much anywhere. I bought one of their games based on The Cousins' War, or the Wars of the Roses, along with the solo gaming supplement.

The solo expansion pack

In the main game box you get a small gaming board, a rule book, a couple of small decks of cards and a number of dice and counters made of wood. It takes seconds to set up.

The solo expansion contains a few extra cards for creating the solo gaming experience.

The Cousins' War and solo supplement

This afternoon, we laid out the board and worked our way through the rulebook. I had to take on the Yorkist (White) faction as my son prefers the Lancastrians (Red). We gave the rules a quick once through and decided to play and see how we got on. The rules, when initially read, are quite involved but if they are read as you play along they very quickly fall into place - learn by doing.

We only had a limited amount of time so we only got three turns in whilst we played and learned the rules. My son started off strongly, almost wiping me off the board in the first turn! The turning point in this turn was that I hired the French mercenaries expecting a quick win but he played a card that turned them to his cause. I lost the battle and a lot of ground - he controlled two regions and the third was tied.

The second turn went almost exactly the same way but I managed to bolster my southern region despite losing the next battle again.

The third turn saw my son gamble everything on controlling the regions, so he didn't have enough troops to fight in the third battle. I therefore won it by a mile and was able to support my factions on the board so that we both controlled one region (he the north, me the south) with the central region in deadlock. I had more troops in my Reserves but he had more on the board. We decided to call it a draw.

It was a fun game; it took us about an hour and a half to set up, learn and play three complete turns. We could have played the last two turns in about 5-10 minutes each but we ran out of time. We will hopefully play a few more games throughout the week, adding in the third small set of cards for advanced play as we go. 

This is a game that we will probably take with us when we go away on holidays, and I will most likely add to this first one of the series with one or two of the others. There are currently about three more games in the series (extra rules are added in each subsequent game to make them more of a challenge), with one or two new ones being added next year - one of which is based on The Anarchy, one of my favourite periods of British history, called The Castle War. As an aside, I had a good chat with the company owner at the show, and found out he also wrote the rules for Siege - a hex based boardgame supplement based on the Cry Havoc rules back in the 80s, which I also own. I will need to dig that out soon too, but if I cannot find it, the rumour mill suggests that Cry Havoc has been re-released recently via a Kickstarter with a bit of modernisation and more Gary Chalk artwork.

Midgard : Britannia (Druids)

First up for the individually listed miniatures are a small coven(?) of druids. Like with all of the previous figures I only gave them a basic paint job and wash despite wanting to push my skills a little. Two of them (the naked one and the one on the right brandishing a staff) took only a few sessions to complete, but I got a bit of painter's block on the other two and they took me a little while longer.

Anyway, here they all are in their glory...

A Small Coterie of Druids

I am wondering whether to base them on a movement tray for Midgard as normally they would appear as leaders. I may do so anyway and then work out how to have a bunch of magic wielding characters appear together as a unit. I am sure there is something in the rules I can amend to allow this; something to look up at a future date.

And here are the druids with some warriors for protection...

Druids with Elite Warriors and Warriors

With the completion of these, the numbers continue to look better and better. I am still keeping discipline and painting most days for 30-40 minutes per day. I had a bit of a hiccup this week with a bit of painter's block as mentioned above, but I am stoked to get the next batch done.

Celtic figures progress (110 of 135 completed)...

• 106 figures based and ready for use with the Midgard rules set
• Leaders and Champions (6 metal figures)
• 1 base of druids (4 metal figures)
• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)
• Chariots and crew (15 metal figures)
• Slingers (2 metal figures)

And the remainder...

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

The mounted warriors and slingers look like quick-ish wins and add extra variety if I wish to make up the Midgard bases differently. As a result, I have moved the slingers into the in-progress list. Alternatively, I could get the leaders and champions finished. The remainder of the plastics and the javelinmen will need to wait. Decisions, decisions.

Midgard : Britannia (Building Interlude 2)

The bases and movement trays for the Celtic chariots arrived a couple of weeks back as mentioned in a previous post. I wanted to complete the last two bases of warriors prior to starting work on them though. Over the last couple of days I have glued up the two remaining chariots, undercoated all three of them plus their crews, and adhered them to their movement trays. It was only after doing this that I realised that I should have painted them first as there are some very awkward looking places to reach now, ha ha - oh well!

The Three Chariots prior to Basing and Painting

Warbases did a fine job in creating some lovely custom movement trays for my chariots - I used their standard 95x40mm pill bases as the starting point and asked them to incorporate two of them onto their standard 120x120mm Midgard trays. They work very well indeed - the chariots proved to be a fine fit.

Chariot Bases and Movement Trays

As the chariots are larger, more complex miniatures I am going to count them as a little bit more than the 3/6 (9 in total) count that I have been giving them so far. As each model consists of a chariot, 2 horses and 2 crew members I will count each model as 5 figures in total - 15 figures in all. Maybe if I paint vehicles or multi-piece items in future I will reconsider the total worth, but for now this makes sense to me (and makes the completed numbers more appealing). I know, I know, you can justifiably point out that I didn't count my mounted figures as two figures, when maybe I should have done, but to paraphrase Gimli, "They still only count as one!" 

Celtic figures progress (106 of 133 completed)...

• 106 figures based and ready for use with the Midgard rules set
• Leaders and Champions (6 metal figures)
• 1 base of druids (4 metal figures)
• Mounted warriors (2 metal/plastic figures)
• Chariots and crew (15 metal figures - 3 chariots, 6 horses, 6 crew)

And the remainder...

• 40 Standard and elite warriors (plastic figures)
• 8 Javelinmen (metal figures)
• 2 Slingers (metal figures)

Whilst evaluating my progress and contemplating what else needs doing, I took a look at some potential new units that could be built from the remaining unpainted/prepped Romans and Britons and the Warbases movement trays that are left. Here are the raw numbers (I may have missed a few figures, but I will add them in as and when I find them) - I will try to create as many new units as I can from these and hope that I do not need to purchase any more movement trays for the forces going forward. That being said, the numbers I already have should be enough for most 300 point army eventualities, and I wish to complete another couple of projects before circling back to this one.

Romans...

• 54 Plastic figures:
• 1 complete box of 30
• 24 on sprues (4 leaders, 20 legionaries)
• 2 Optios
• 1 Western Spearman
• 1 Eastern Archer
• 9 Balearic Slingers
• 12 Numidian Cavalry
• Artillery:
• 2 Scorpions + 4 crew
• 1 Ballista + 3 crew
• 1 Onager + 3 crew - for some reason I got a Caesarian rather than Early Imperial onager, so the crew are historically incorrect for this army - ho hum!

Britons...

• 40 Plastic figures - 37 upper bodies, 47 lower bodies (due to using ten uppers for cavalry) on their sprues -  plus 3 already constructed
• 32 Standard Warriors
• 8 Armoured Warriors
• 8 Javelinmen
• 2 Slingers

Unused Movement Trays...

• 4 Warrior ranked bases
• 5 Warrior non-ranked bases
• 5 Skirmisher bases
• 8 Mounted Warrior bases
• 1 Chariot base
• I need to create/order bases for the artillery - these need to be worked out in detail

Whilst thinking about other uses for these bases, I was reminded of my goblin raiding party figures. I may use some for those figures so I can begin creating a Midgard army for my old skool figures. I have a load of figures based up for Hordes of the Things that I never got around to playing with. If I can remove them from those movement bases and clean them up, I could use them for Midgard too. And that would also give me a few dwarf units to get me going.

Timeline - I began this project back on the 6th of June. I have managed to complete 13 movement trays/units in about 10 weeks so far, so I have hit my target of an average of a base per week. Some were more achievable than others so I got more than one base in per week, but there were a few moments when I wavered a little, although I just about managed it. Now to complete the remaining figures in the list.

Midgard : Britannia (Warriors)

And with this base, the last of the units based for Midgard have been completed. Ten more standard plastic warriors ready for more forays in Britannia. Actually, a little aside here, there were only nine figures to paint as one had already been completed back when I originally worked on the Celts when I first bought the box sets many moons ago.

The Fourth Base of Warriors

Celtic figures based for Midgard (106 of 106 completed)...

• 4 bases of standard warriors (40 plastic figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (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)

Other Celtic figures that have been prepped (0 of 21 completed)...

• 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 the remainder...

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

As I have been looking at these figures more and more recently, I want to play many more games with them. I have already mentioned a potential Five Leagues warband set in my fantasy world of ancient Doggerland, along with another Romans versus Britons mash-up, but I am also seeing these warriors as potential Dunlendings from Lord of the Rings. Don't know why but that could make for an interesting foray into Middle Earth as a Battle Company or SoBH warband.

Midgard : Britannia (Elite Warriors 2)

These metal elite warriors took me quite a while to complete this week. I had a busy weekend just gone as it was my eldest son's birthday. As a result I was unable to do any painting over the weekend, so I had to up the hours spent on them each day this week. To add to the two days that I was absent, my concentration was lacking and my eyes played up big time - I could hardly focus, and went over the lines on several occasions. I have most likely missed quite a few of the line crossing fixes but will not be going back to correct them.

Second Base of Elite Warriors

That said, all's still going well with my progress and the numbers are rapidly changing from unpainted to completed. Just one more of the units that were based for Midgard to complete now.

Celtic figures based for Midgard (96 of 106 completed)...

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

• 2 bases of elite warriors (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)

Other Celtic figures that have been prepped (0 of 21 completed)...

• 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 the remainder...

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

If I can get the last base of 10 Warriors completed over the next week or so and then get started on the prepped figures, I should be ready to get to work on the chariot bases/movement trays now that they have arrived (a super quick turnaround by Warbases - I thoroughly recommend them for your basing and movement tray needs). I am really looking forward to getting them ready for the paint station.

Vecna: Eve of Ruin (#6) - The Mausoleum

After a good night's rest, we decided to carry on with our investigations at the last places each of the missing personages were seen. We knew that Sachell was last seen at his own house, so we didn't need to return there as we had already been yesterday.

Day 31 - Early Morning in Neverwinter

Our first port of call this morning was the House of Knowledge. Despite spending a lot of our time there yesterday researching other details we did not get to question any of the regulars. Upon asking around this morning, we were informed that Umberto spent a great deal of time studying and researching various deities and histories. One night, he left suddenly and headed towards Helix Street, halfway between the House of Knowledge and the graveyard.

Not being able to find any more clues at the House of Knowledge, we headed to the Dolphin Theatre to try to find out more about Indrana's story. The people there thought he was a bit up himself but otherwise harmless. He too was last seen heading towards Helix Street.

Finally, we ended our investigative journey at the Winged Wyvern and asked our questions of the patrons and bar staff there. We were told that Eldon was right at home with the rest of the robed gentlemen that frequented the inn, reading scrolls and various tomes. He was last seen reading some books when he suddenly got up and said that he was going for a walk. He too headed towards Helix Street.

Not getting anything more concrete, we decided to head to the graveyard via Helix Street to look for more clues.

Late Morning

Helix Street turned out to be a busy, wide thoroughfare that led from the castle to the graveyard. We looked for clues as we walked down the street but it was full of daytime vendors and local traffic so it made things difficult. However, down one side alley between an undertaker's shop and a florist, Gladreth and I noticed an old, soft stone brick with an "eye" symbol scratched into it - similar to what we were looking for. It was quite an old and worn carving so probably meant nothing.

The graveyard, when we found it, was surrounded by an eight foot tall wall with the occasional supporting column of stone.

Early Afternoon - The Helix Mausoleum

We passed through the open iron gates beneath a sign that stated "Neverdeath Graveyard," and into the pauper's graveyard. There were a few people wandering around paying their respects at one or other of the many simple grave markings; mostly wooden headstones with names carved upon them. Luckily we bumped into an old groundsman who, upon questioning, was able to tell us a little about the history of the graveyards: both graveyards were about 400-450 years old but the richer one was built slightly earlier and housed the original Lord of Neverwinter. However, he was unable to tell us whether any of the symbols we showed him matched anything in that particular graveyard. We decided to head to the older graveyard.

In the older section, the graves were far richer, with many families having mausoleums, so there was more likely to be details that we might be able to gather alongside the clues we already had. Navda managed to find a mausoleum with the family name of Helix written in an ornate scroll work. It was worth investigating as it matched the street name if nothing else.

On our way there, we bumped into another groundsman and asked him a number of questions too. He told us a bit more of the history of the graveyard; Lord Neverwinter had a big mausoleum at the highest point in the graveyard that overlooked the rest, he mentioned several other unimportant (to us) dignitaries from hundreds of years ago, but when we asked about Vecna he was taken aback and asked why we would be talking about him when he wasn't even entombed there. We made our excuses and left.

When we saw that no-one was looking we headed towards the Helix mausoleum; an unassuming square block situated right by the wall of the cemetery. We noticed a number of footprints and scuff marks that looked like someone with a limp had walked up to it, as well as dark hand prints on the occasional wall or upright stone. When we got to the big, stone double-doors, we noticed that the area out front had been swept clean of leaves and that a rusty chain and padlock had been cast aside. Navda investigated the doors to make sure that they were not trapped in any way and he found that the hinges were well-oiled. When he pushed on the great iron handles, the doors swung in easily.

We looked around to make sure no-one was watching and stepped into the pitch black of the interior and closed the doors behind us. I cast Light upon my holy symbol to illuminate the way, and we headed deeper into the mausoleum.

The first thing we noticed were a number of booted footprints upon the floor and six large sarcophagi arranged around the walls. Upon investigation we saw that they were old and were engraved with a variety of Helix and Holt family names with their dates of birth and death; the latest was more than forty years ago.

Not finding anything of interest we headed to the downward leading steps to the south. At the bottom of the stairs we discovered a huge subterranean chamber. There were six more sarcophagi, but more importantly there were five walking cadavers who had noticed us because of my light.

I noticed that they appeared to be undead warriors, so I tried to turn them. This was to almost no avail - only one backed away from my holy symbol. The other four advanced to attack us drawing their black-bladed long swords.

A Wight - courtesy of Fantasy Grounds

Druss ran in to protect us and took the brunt of their life draining sorcerous damage, whilst Gladreth and I cast whatever spells we thought appropriate, and Navda and Dharion shot at them with their bows from the shadows. We destroyed them fairly quickly despite a fair bit of fumbling around in the less than perfect lighting conditions. Once they were dispatched, we searched the bodies for anything of value, but decided against taking their swords in case they were cursed. The sarcophagi had all been opened and all but one had some kind of remains in the form of a few gnawed bones and rags of clothing. We did, however, find four woollen cloaks and two hats in good condition; these were not original contents of the cists.

Whilst searching in the coffins Navda noticed a faint breeze emanating from behind one of them. A quick search revealed a catch that opened a secret doorway. Dharion and Gladreth had headed off in the other direction to investigate the western-most chamber only to find a lot of collapsed earth and stones that covered a set of stairs to the south-east and a doorway to the north with a brand new padlock and an eye symbol above it.

We had a quick chat and decided to follow Navda beyond the secret doorway first - there was no way we were going to split up just in case there were more of the undead about. The corridor beyond led south to another doorway, this time made of metal. He could still feel the breeze coming from beyond the doorway. A quick check for traps showed clear and he easily slid the door aside to reveal a room full of pipes and interlocking cogs that appeared to need to go clockwise but were jammed. It seemed to be some kind of control room.

Inside the Helix Mausoleum - using the newly found (for us) "fog of war" feature

The only other curiosity in the room was the presence of four wheel-like handles attached to the pipes that could be turned by hand. Not wanting to tempt fate, we left them alone and headed for the door to the west. We noticed that a pipe ran through at ceiling level from the control room, above the door into the room beyond.

Navda set foot in the room beyond to see a large, deep stone basin with ethereal looking creatures moving about in the water. They didn't seem to bother him as he walked in so he traced a few of the pipes to see where they led. The control room seemed to hold the answers, but when we turned the handles nothing seemed to happen except for a few gurgling noises; most likely made by the water in the pipes.