Monday 2 December 2013

Spiel 2013

Time passes by... More than a month has already passed since we visited the "Spiel 2013" convention in Essen. This time I went there with Bettina and Andi. Like every year it was great experience for us all.

I got hooked by the new Star Trek Attack Wing by Wizkids Games and asked Bettina and Andi for a trial session. It's a great game. So I bought the starter set and several expansions and started to play it with Bettina in Munich.

Bettina took many pictures on the con and Andi bought more than three plastic bags full of new games. The bags were so heavy, he couldn't carry them alone.


On our way to the Gruga fair in Essen.


The gaming crowd.


This year I tried out the new Star Trek Attack Wing game.


I liked it a lot so I bought it directly.

























Andi liked many more games and bought them all.


Friday 27 September 2013

In Space No One Can Hear You Scream

Time has come to start a new tabletop miniature project.

A short teaser of things to come...



















I am a huge fan of the Alien movies and their connected franchises like Predator, Prometheus, Blade Runner, Terminator, and others. For many years now I am planning to start a tabletop project set in this dark future sci-fi universe. The time has come to start this project in 28mm scale. Expect Aliens, Predators, Colonial Marines, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Engineers and many strange creatures lurking in the dark corners of the galaxy.

And remember… In space no one can hear you scream…

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Miniature Gallery: D&D Dragonlance - Dragonarmy of Takhisis

Like many others I started my career as a gamer with roleplaying games. The first edition of D&D brought me into the hobby during the late 80s and early 90s. I also started to read many fantasy books. The "Dragonlance Chronicles" from 1984/85 became one of my favourite series during these days.

Over the coming years I read all Dragonlance books (nearly 80) that were translated into German. Then my family bought a dog and I even suggested a name from the Dragonlance setting for him. The dwarf Flint Fireforge one of the major characters from the "Dragonlance Chronicles". We named our dog Flint.

Dragonlance is still today my favourite D&D setting. It recombines traditional elements of fantasy worlds and creates an epic background for an interesting story. I always liked the idea of gods - or better of the goddess Takhisis - directly interfering in the affairs of the mortals and trying to conquer the world of Krynn by the mighty Dragonarmies. Dragons are cool, Draconians are cool, as well as Flying Citadels, Death Knights and Raistlin Majere.

Years later with the release of the collectible painted D&D miniatures line, many characters and creatures of the setting became available for gamers and collectors. So I build up this force of prepainted 28mm miniatures to field it as a Dragonarmy of Takhisis.


The avatar of Takhisis - Queen of Darkness and Raistlin Majere.






















The army is led by Takhisis the Queen of Darkness herself! It's the avatar of the goddess, a dragon with five coloured heads combining all five evil dragon types - red, blue, green, black and white. She ist the goddess of all evil dragons. I use the Aspect of Tiamat miniature for her. In the D&D multiverse many gods and goddesses can be found in different settings with different names. She is called Tiamat on most worlds, Takhisis on Krynn.

Next to her is Raistlin Majere - the mightiest wizard that ever lived on Krynn. For many years he fought for her in her Dragonarmies before he betrayed her. He tried to become a god by himself and tried to succeed her as the major god of evil. He finally failed and was trapped by Takhisis in her abyssinial realm in eternal torture.


Baaz Draconians.

























The backbone of Takhisis' Dragonarmies are the Draconians, an evil race of dragonman created by dark magic. Takhisis stole the eggs of the good dragons of Krynn and corrupted them with evil magic to breed the Draconians. The most numerous are the Baaz Draconians. Derived from the eggs of brass dragons they serve as rank-and-file troopers of draconian armies. They are weak in mind, with a tendency for disreputable activities. Baaz turn to stone upon death.


Kapak Draconians led by Aurak Draconian and Sivak Draconian.























Other Draconians are less numerous but even mightier. Kapak Draconians are a race of venomous Draconians known for their stealth and cunning. They are derived from copper dragon eggs. When Kapaks die, they turn into acid.

Draconians are led into battle by Aurak and Sivak Draconians. Aurak Draconians are the most powerful and devious of all Draconian Sub-races. Derived from the eggs of gold dragons, Auraks prefer to use magic and their innate abilities over physical fighting. When they die, they turn into a large powerful burst of magical energy.

Sivak Draconians are also among the most powerful Draconians, second only to the Auraks. Created from silver dragon eggs they are the largest and most physically imposing Draconians. Due to their large wings, Sivaks are the only Draconians that can truly fly. Their ability to transform into creatures they have slain makes them useful spies in civilized society. When a Sivak dies, it takes the form of its killer.


Hobgoblins.




















The Queen of Darkness has many henchmen, including Goblins and their kin. Hobgoblins are bigger, stronger and more disciplined than their Goblin relatives. That's why they form the largest contigent in the Dragonarmies.

 
Lord Soth and his Death Knights.















Lord Soth once was a good knight. Due to selfishness and arrogance he refused to help the good gods preventing Krynn from the cataclysm. For punsihment he and his companions were turned into undead Death Knights. During the War of the Lance Lord Soth allied with Takhisis to conquer Krynn.

Thursday 23 May 2013

HOTT Battle Report: Draconians and Orcs vs. Dwarves and Greeks

Last weekend Bettina and me visited my cousin Karl and his family in Berlin. We met Krüger and Andi who came to Berlin with his girlfriend Katja. Together we spend the long Pentecost weekend with gaming and visiting the "Carnival of Cultures" to eat food from all over the world and drink beer and cocktails.

Karl, Krüger and Andi are my old gaming fellows. As some kind of "gaming club" we play games together since decades - starting in Dortmund as "Wazimu" and continuing in Berlin. Today I live in Munich and they live and Berlin and Braunschweig. We can only rarely find the time to meet and play. I miss them and our regular gaming sessions a lot!


Having fun with my cousin Karl.

















On Saturday we played a big team match of Hordes of the Things with 48 points on each side. In my opinion HOTT is the perfect game to field miniatures from any setting, time period, game system and manufacturer against each other.

Andi played his Warhammer dwarves in an alliance with Karl's newly painted Greek peltasts on the "forces of good" side. I teamed up with Krüger who fielded his Warhammer orcs for the "forces of evil" side. My force was an army of Draconians from the D&D Dragonlance setting.


The forces are arrayed on the battlefield.



















Andi's dwarves formed the center of their battleline with Karl's Greeks split up on both flanks. Krüger's orcs were arrayed on our right flank, my Draconians and their Hobgoblin allies on our left flank. We had a good beginning. Andi made a daredevil advance with his Gyrocopter (counting as an airboat). Krüger's orc hero countered the assault and destroyed the Gyrocopter. Performing some dark and bloody ritual my Draconians even evoked the avatar of the goddess Takhisis herself (counting as a God) on the second turn!!!

Our old "gaming club".

















But gods and godesses are moody, especially the evil ones. Takhisis arrived, showed her power and majesty and directly disappeared again on the next turn... Oh my...

Then we began to loose. Krüger's orcs were slain by those naked slingers and sturdy dwarves one by one. My Draconians were able to hold the left flank and and to bring Karl's army to it's break point but they were not able to kill enough enemy units. Without our goddess our defeat was inevitable. Karl and Andi won the day.

With panic in their eyes these dwarves face their death.

















For more pics and more detailled information on the battle including army lists visit the blog of my cousin: http://zinnling.blogspot.de/

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Just Finished Painting: Chaos Spawn

Unleash the hounds of Chaos!

When the new Codex Chaos Space Marines came out my cousin Karl and I talked about all the possibilities the new Codex had to offer. We were happy that the once crappy Chaos Spawn became a much more interesting choise than in the past. As Karl is a big fan of the Warhammer Fantasy Chaos Warhounds he proposed to use these models as Chaos Spawn.

I immediately loved this idea. The warhound models look great. And a box of ten hounds is much cheaper than five boxes of two Chaos Spawn models each.

So here is a unit of five Chaos Warhound models that I will use as Chaos Spawn. Of course I painted them purple so they fit well into my Chaos Space Marine army.

The Warhounds of Chaos are unleashed.

They will form a five model strong unit of Chaos Spawn.

Like the rest of the army I painted them purple.

Sunday 14 April 2013

Just Finished Painting: Aegis Defence Line

With the arrival of 6th Edition flyers became a great threat. This Aegis Defence Line and its Quad-Gun gives my 40K armies necessary protection and anti-aircraft firepower.

The Aegis Defence Line.

Its' Quad-Gun provides much needed anti-aircraft firepower.

Sunday 6 January 2013

Just Finished Painting: Factory


During the Christmas days I build and painted another factory terrain piece. It’s the third scratchbuilt factory I made for 40K, Science Fiction and Steampunk wargaming. For these I used small parts that I bought in a building center.

The factory.


View from above.





A closer look.