Prehistoric Orkney II

Carrying on from yesterdays' post about my trip to prehistoric Orkney, our third and final day was spent at the sites we mainly came to see. Two of them needed to be booked in advance due to them being of world importance and thus visited more frequently.

Today was a day for extremely windy weather. Where I am from in the south of England we get the occasional storm where the wind speed reaches gusts of around 50mph (80kmh). Today we had constant wind speed of 50mph with gusts of an even higher velocity. What a difference constant wind speed makes! The easterly winds coming in from the Atlantic battered the western shores of Orkney with rollers that looked to be around 20-30 feet (10m) high!

Our first place to visit was Skara Brae. This was one of the sites we had to book in advance. Unfortunately, after coming all this way to specifically see this site (my main priority) it was closed due to the weather. I was a bit disappointed, but safety first. There was a visitor centre to look around and a mock up of one of the houses on site, so the trip wasn't completely wasted.

Skara Brae is a Neolithic site that was uncovered from the local sand dunes during a storm, probably not too dissimilar to what we experienced when we got there. There are several "houses" built of stone that appear to have been linked by stone-lined passageways. As mentioned in the previous post, I will not go into too much detail here as there is far more information available online.

I was able to purchase a bunch of guide books here for all the sites that I was going to visit plus some that I would not be getting around to this time, so I will have plenty to read in the coming weeks.

After the disappointment at Skara Brae, we headed on south to the Ring of Brodgar, the third largest stone circle in the UK after Avebury and Stanton Drew. As an aside, I have visited Avebury on several occasions, a well as dozens of other monuments around the UK including Stonehenge (I was privileged to be able to go within the circle as part of my Prehistoric Archaeology Diploma studies, as well as do some night photography under strict supervision with a friend of mine - alas, since his passing I no longer have access to those beautifully enigmatic shots), Castlerigg, Arbor Low and many stone monuments in Europe like Carnac, but I have never been to Stanton Drew - I have put it back on my list of places to visit.

The Comet Stone

View of the stone circle from the Comet Stone

A barrow mound

The narrow isthmus at Brodgar plays host to several prehistoric monuments, with this stone circle being the most prominent. Only about 27 of the original 60 stones remain, but they are still an amazing sight. The site has spectacular views over the two lochs (one either side) and the surrounding countryside - it is obvious that it was a special place back in the day (and it still is).

After spending quite a while walking around the stone circle we headed down to the Ness of Brodgar, but it was closed due to the new archaeological discoveries found there. So, we drove directly to our next port of call - another stone circle, but on a much smaller scale than the Ring of Brodgar.

The Stones of Stenness is a much smaller ring of stones, of which only four of the original 12 remain standing, but the monument is no less impressive for being diminished. Closely linked to the nearby Watchstone and Barnhouse Village, it is a site located within the Neolithic landscape alongside all the other stone circles, cairns, barrows and so on. It is most likely the oldest henge site in the UK.

The four remaining Stones of Stenness

The Watchstone in the distance

To bring all these sites together, I have attached a photograph of a signpost from the site. I do not own copyright to this so if the owners are not happy with me posting it, let me know and I will take it down.

A sign post at the site

A little to the southeast of here lies the final destination of the day; Maes Howe - a Neolithic chambered cairn. This was the second site that needed a ticket to visit as it can only be approached by official means. From the nearby visitor centre (with a small museum that we looked around whilst waiting for our transportation) a coach is laid on to the site with a guide. The site had to be unlocked when we got there and no internal photography was allowed. However, the guide was able to talk to us all about the site and answer all of our questions.

Inside the tomb, there is a fair bit of graffiti from down the years, the most prominent being from the time of the Vikings. The most talked about image is one of what is purported to be a dragon or wolf.

The Maes Howe graffiti - modern interpretation

The actual graffiti is open to interpretation, but it does look like a beast being stabbed. However, and I can see why the conclusion that it was a wolf was made, just below it and to one side are two other pieces of graffiti; one that looks like Jormungandr (the World Snake) and the other of a form that Loki often took. So, it could be assumed that the "dragon" is actually a representation of Fenrir, as both Fenrir and Jormungandr are children of Loki. There are also other pictures of Fenrir and wolves from the same period found elsewhere in the Viking world that look very similar.

So, that was the end of my wonderful trip to Orkney. I missed a few things and would like to return someday to complete my story. The people at the B&B we stayed in and everywhere else we went were so friendly and welcoming. It is a lovely part of the world to be in whether you want to immerse yourself in the archaeology and myths, or just partake in the wonderful pace of life that is the Orkneys.

Prehistoric Orkney

We had a late holiday this year to coincide with a certain landmark birthday of mine. We decided that we wanted it to be a bit special, so a visit to Orkney was on the cards. This is a place I have wanted to go to since I was a small boy - the prehistoric monuments have held the utmost fascination for me over the years.

It was a long time in the planning as there was to be a lot of driving, ferries and places to visit and stay to add into what would be a very busy itinerary. We started with a drive to Inverness for an overnight stay in a wonderful B&B before heading to Scrabster for the ferry to Stromness on Orkney mainland.

Due to the amount of sites and the large number of pictures and videos taken (of which I will only be posting a tiny amount), I will split the details over two posts to make reading and uploading easier. This post will feature the first few days of our visit.

The first item on the agenda was The Old Man of Hoy. This is just a geological artifact - a sea stack - but fascinating none-the-less. Luckily, rather than having to spend half a day and a fortune hiring a boat to get to it, the ferry ran right past it on the way to Orkney. Result! The day of the sail-by was very overcast with a lot of sea mist (the way back wasn't much better either), so photo and video quality turned out to be quite poor unfortunately. But, I have seen it now - twice!

The Old Man of Hoy

Upon arrival in Orkney, we decided to split our adventuring days between sites that were less well known (no need to book) and those that are more well known (need booking in advance). First up on the archaeological tour was a site at Isbister on the southern-most island of South Ronaldsay. It was a bit of a drive from our base on the outskirts of Kirkwall, but most of the islands around Scapa Flow were barricaded with causeways by Churchill during the war, which meant that the roads built atop them allowed travel to the most remote of places within the archipelago.

There are actually a few things to do here at Isbister; there is the Visitor Centre with a small museum, a Bronze Age building and the Neolithic stalled tomb. After paying a small fee to go see the sites, we had a longish walk (about one mile - 1.6 km) along very wet and boggy pathways to the Liddle Burnt Mound and Bronze Age building. As with all of these entries I will not go into too much detail, just conversational level, as more accurately recorded materials can be found online or in books from your local library. It is assumed that the mound is made up of thousands of burnt stones (once burnt they discolour and contaminate the water they are submersed in so are replaced quite often) that were used to heat the water in the large tank. It is assumed that the building is a ritual site, but other theories suggest it may have been a steam/sauna house or feasting hall.

The Bronze Age building and mound (just visible to the left)

The 1000+ litre water tank

The building from atop the burnt stone mound

The second site at this location is called The Tomb of the Eagles. This Neolithic burial chamber, situated just a short distance from the Liddle Burnt mound, is so called because of the number of sea eagle remains found within it when it was first discovered. There is another chambered tomb not far up the coast named Tomb of the Otters, but that was closed for this season (2026). From the names, it seems like there may have been some totemic symbolism involved - different families or tribes? Again, like with most things ancient, it is all open to conjecture.

Tomb of the Eagles

The entrance to the tomb is a very low tunnel around ten feet long (3m), but the site owners handily supplied a small wheeled cart to lie down upon to pull oneself into and out of the tomb. It is not for those with any difficulties with motility or claustrophobia, but once inside the tomb opens up and can be stood up in. It is quite large and the roof is vaulted in modern concrete to allow for the safety of visitors, but it does not detract from the awe that the tomb inspires. Clear plastic holes in the roof let in ample light, even on dull days like the one we had when we visited.

We took the alternative cliff top route back to the visitor centre in the hope of spotting some wildlife - sea otters, dolphins and whales apparently, but we saw none of those - however we were pleasantly rewarded by watching a sea eagle (that has only recently been reintroduced to the area) majestically fly by.

The museum is very basic, but there are a few artifacts from each site available to see. The staff are very enthusiastic and will talk to you about the sites and their history. There is also a nice little guide book that can be purchased for a smallish fee (£5 at the time of this visit) with lots of details.

As mentioned above, we tried to go to the Tomb of the Otters but it had been closed. So, we looked around for something else to see before we lost the light as the weather encroached. Luckily, the Castle of Burwick, an Iron Age promontory hill fort was located nearby. Unfortunately, it is situated along a steep cliff path which makes it difficult again for those with motility or vertigo issues, and there is not a lot of it visible to the casual observer when you get there. The only way it can be positively identified is by the hammer-head shaped promontory it was built upon.

Iron Age Castle of Burwick promontory

The second day in Orkney was spent closer to our base in Kirkwall. I started the day with a run at the local parkrun in town and then after breakfast and a shower we headed into town to visit the museum. It is a small museum but it contains a lot of material dating from the early Mesolithic period right through to the modern day. My main areas of interest were in the first few rooms - Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as the Viking period. I also had a pleasant surprise in the 20th Century room with a small tribute to Jim Baikie of 2000AD fame. The visit took us about three hours to get around everything.

A visit to the very nice Deerness gin distillery to sample and buy a couple of bottles rounded out the day for us.

See next post for details of some of the more well-known Orkney sites.

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 (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.

Restarting StarVigia

I used to play a lot of sci-fi RPG back in the day at various clubs and amongst friends at each others' houses. It was mostly a very much amended version of the original small black book Traveller which was renamed Auslander by our referee due to those changes, and the occasional tabletop battle. As the years went by, real life got in the way and we all moved away to different parts of the country. Our face-to-face gaming sessions dwindled so much so that the small group of us that were left began to play via email (PBeM). Although it is slower paced than face-to-face, it is still just as immersive.

These PBeM games mainly moved to new "eras" from sci-fi and consisted of a variety of fantasy/faux-history strategy games, as well as games that were higher level that involved manoeuvring forces around a map culminating in occasional face-to-face tabletop battle games. But, that said, Auslander was slowly developed into StarVigia by our referee, so the few of us gamers who are left still manage to get our sci-fi fix.

Free Space Photo from t'Internet

Eventually, though, the remaining group of us have had to settle on only playing RPGs via email. The latest iteration of StarVigia I have played on and off for about four or five years, but I have played prior to this latest resurgence and I think its first iteration was several years prior to this whilst we still managed to occasionally play face-to-face.

My particular character for this scenario, Thomas Aquinas, first saw adventure back in 2020, but there have been delays in playing recently due to real life getting in the way. I had also played one or two other characters by email prior to him and also a number of characters post-Auslander whilst we still played face-to-face.

I won't go into too much detail about this particular StarVigia game here, only to say that gaming takes many forms, and depending upon our individual circumstances, we must play what we can, where we can.

Off on a bit of tangent now as this is mainly just a free-form chat post - I am very lucky that I have had a very full gaming life. It started when I was a mere nipper at primary school in the 1970s with Basic Dungeons and Dragons, which then moved onto a solid group of friends I met at a local gaming club with whom I played with (all sorts of games ranging from Runequest and the sci-fi games mentioned above) for decades slowly moving from meeting several times a week, sometimes with up to 30 players over weekend sessions, to just a handful of us playing by email today. Since having a family, my two sons have played several tabletop games with me and I have had the fortune of meeting a number of other Dungeons and Dragons groups in the last decade or so, including the latest group where we play online TTRPGs.

On top of all of this, I spend a lot of my time solo-gaming and thinking about gaming. This blog is my repository for games played, figures painted and thoughts I have about gaming. It keeps me going.

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.

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.

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.

Goblin Raiding Party

Harking back to yesterday's post, the picture I used of a little band of goblin ne'er-do-wells really got my nostalgic juices flowing; enough to warrant a post of their own (and probably several more to come in the future).

These figures are from a very early Citadel box set - Speciality Set 4 - Goblin Raiding Party. The details for them on the Stuff of Legends website has the names I came to know and, erm, love, but their designation does not match up with my memories - the figures listed in The Stuff of Legends entry for them is here in this linky and in the image below...

Image from the back of the box, words by SoL

When I bought the set, this was how I remember them being labelled (basically all the same except SoL have the Warlord and Lieutenant round the wrong way)...

1. D'glish Sharpcut, Ubar's Lieutenant
2. Urag Legeater attacking with Warpick
3. Discipline Master, Snurd Hideflayer with whip
4. Bulbug Orcleaver with warhammer
5. Warlord Ubar Earbiter - Goblin Chieftain
6. Goblin Champion, Torg Dwarfsmasher
7. Norgus the Flatulent attacking with Spear
8. Shaman Pogo Wildchant
9. Gigblad Childsplatter with Morningstar
10. Zurguch Wartpicker with Sling

Here, again, is the picture I took yesterday of the warband all painted using Humbrol enamel paints and based on artists board, with Tetrion and cheap flock for the bases.

Goblin Raiding Party

Goblin Raiders

More Goblin Raiders

Apologies for the poor photo quality - they looked fine on my phone but they lost a lot of detail when I transferred them to my PC to re-size.

What brought these figures back to the front of my mind was their place in one of my gaming worlds from long ago. I saw them as the ideal faction to face off against my dwarf army (Bugman and his Dwarf Rangers got to be included in this army too), which I also bought around the same time. In addition to these, I also picked up dozens of Night Goblins and various other goblins that seemed to fit with this warband - some even had the same shields!

My thoughts when I was totting up the pile of shame was that I would love to re-do these for my more modern gaming sensibilities. Unfortunately, so many of the figures have been affected by the dreaded lead rot. I will need to look into how to arrest the decay of the remaining miniatures so I can get them painted before they become unrecognisable. I just hope the paint on these ones has preserved them.

Another strange thing I noticed - why is Torg Dwarfsmasher on a round penny base whilst the rest are on those square home-made ones? I really don't know is the answer. I will eventually get them all rebased onto pennies for uniformity and to be able to use them for Midgard and Dragon Rampant (I may need to add one or two more from the collection mentioned above to make up the numbers).

If anyone has any tips on how to arrest the dreaded lead rot, I am all ears. Also, what would be the best method for removing the existing paint jobs? They are enamels, so not sure if there are any special methods or particular brands that are better than others. I will do some searching on t'internet but if anyone can help out in the meantime I would be happy for the input.

Painting Summary - all my 28mm miniatures

I have been buying miniatures for nearly half a century now and I have amassed quite the collection. Unfortunately, like most gamers, I am subject to the "ooh shiny" syndrome, and buy far more than I should do, and rarely get to use or paint them before the next impulse purchase comes along. That said, I have bought relatively few miniatures in the last few years - the vast majority in my collection are well over a decade old!

Goblin Raiding Party

So, over the last few days I have been going through my hoard (or should that be horde? 😉 ) and listing them on a spreadsheet in order to see what I have got, and what does or does not need painting. The numbers have spurred me to get my paint brushes out and begin working on them - I would like to get two sides for each theatre of war, so I can play my sons when they come over or at least have two factions for solo gaming.

Here is a break down of the figures that I have catalogued so far. This is not the full total as I have a few more in bags and packets that I will either sell as they were freebies from gaming shows or magazines, or throw away as they are broken and cannot be cannibalised for parts...

• Romans                          283      (192 of which are painted)
• Britons                           180      (43 painted)
• Roman-British               71        (45 painted)
• Anglo-Saxons                88
• Vikings                          89
• Runequest                      18        (18 painted)
• Undead                          45        (38 painted)
• Frostgrave                     96        (7 painted)
• Other Fantasy                96        (2 painted)
• Old Skool Stuff             569      (357 painted)
• Rohan                            175      (60 painted)
• Isengard                         212
• Gondor                          207
• Harad                             52
• Rhun                              85        (22 painted)
• Dwarfs                           77
• Goblins                          58
• Free People                    119

This gives a grand total of (gulp!) 2520 miniatures, of which 784 are painted – a 31.1% completion rate. That is an OK tally, but I am going to have to pull my finger out to make the total more respectable. I will start by getting paint onto some of my Midgard : Britannia troops as they are still fresh in my mind from the campaign. I know it is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but it will get me started, and hopefully inspire me to continue onto the Lord of the Rings stuff and so on.

I guess my concern now is ROI (Return on Investment); I would like to get some play out of them all in a fully painted state. As each faction gets completed, it will mean I can play more games in that era/setting and I can then do some whacky cross-over stuff like Romans versus Undead or make up Frostgrave or Rangers of Shadowdeep bands from Lord of the Rings factions etc.

Over the coming months, hopefully, I will get more of the pile of shame reduced and some more games played with my "newly acquired" miniatures. Midgard, Dragon Rampant, Rangers, Frostgrave and 5 Leagues are all calling out to me, as well as some return visits to MESBG and general skirmish fun using very old home brew rules.

Byrhtnoth and the Battle of Maldon

The second trip out over the school break also included my youngest daughter (who is actually at university) as well as my youngest son. This time we went for something a little closer to home both time-wise and geographically; we went to visit the town and local environs of the Battle of Maldon from late Anglo-Saxon times.

The Ealdorman of Essex, Byrhtnoth, died at the Battle of Maldon on 10/11th August 991 AD and a tragic poem about the event was written in Anglo-Saxon soon after - we still have over 300 lines of it surviving.

The plaque at the bottom of the statue at the end of Maldon promenade.

Our day started by visiting the small museum in Maldon that houses the Maldon Tapestry (really an embroidery). It costs nothing to enter but I left a few pounds in the collection jar to help keep it running. The first two panels were of most interest to me but the rest of the embroidery was worth a look at and a quick read of the guide book the staff lent me explained what everything meant.

The 1st Panel

The 2nd Panel

These first two panels tell the story of Maldon's foundation and the battle that occurred nearby just over one thousand years ago. I won't go into the details as all that history can be found elsewhere on the web.

After spending a little more time looking at a few more of the exhibits we wandered up the road to view a couple of churches. The first had a statue/carving of Byrhtnoth on the outside, whilst the second has the only triangular tower in the UK.

Byrhtnoth carving on a local church

The only triangular church tower in the UK apparently

I had heard internet rumours that there was a stained glass window in his honour in one of the churches, but I was unable to find that on our travels.

Next we headed down to the estuary, via a local bakery where we picked up some lovely cakes for a snack, to the modern statue of the ealdorman at the end of the promenade. This is a nice little walk as it takes in lots of local historical flavour; Thames barges, historical fishing huts and local crafts stalls, as well as lots of places to eat and a huge recreational park.

We got to the end of the promenade and took a few moments to look at the modern bronze statue of Byrhtnoth. The plaque from the first picture is located here (it can be seen just behind the statue, to the right, in the first picture below).

Ealdorman Byrhtnoth (front)

Ealdorman Byrhtnoth (rear)

The plinth tells the story of the Battle of Maldon

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the sun was very strong today so none of my pictures of the plinth turned out particularly well (the best of them is shown above).

No visit would have been complete without visiting the actual battle site. This was a lot harder to find than initially expected. We looked all over the place but could not find the National Trust sign that I found on the internet that denotes where it is thought the battle took place.

The National Trust sign for the battle site

We found the causeway (or a modernised version of it) and looked around there for several hundred meters in each direction but only found a modern National Trust sign that only mentioned the battle in passing - it was more about the wetlands recovery and bird species in the area (fascinating in its own way but not what I was looking for today). Maybe the above sign has been removed in favour of the newer signage? If anyone knows about this I would love to hear from you about it in the comments.

Northey Island causeway

My daughter was becoming a little tired from all the walking (at least 5 miles was covered today), so only my son and I walked over the causeway (we had to be careful as it was very slippery), but there was nothing within easy reach that was of interest. What looks like water in the above photo is in fact a huge expanse of mud flats as the tide was out at the time of our visit.

We headed back to the car park after the visit, almost exactly three hours after we left (just in time, as the ticket expired after three hours). We chatted about all that we had seen on the walk back but were a little upset by the fact we didn't see the actual battle site according to the missing signage. That said, we were heartened by a comment one of the ladies in the museum made whilst I was chatting to her about the tapestry - a local historian seems to think that the battle site might not have been where The National Trust sign was but further into town, due to the fact a Viking Age (10th century) sword was found at a construction site a few decades back. This may have been a coincidental find, but nothing has been found at the "official" site anyway to corroborate that theory. Something for future historians and archaeologists to ponder?

Like Tuesday's visit to the Ramses exhibition, we had a wonderful day out and caught some of the spring sun's early rays to boot!