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Tuesday 30 December 2008

Magic girls

Hey!

After a long silence I finally have something new to share. I had a little spare time (Christmas holidays) and got a chance to speed-paint 2 minis between wrapping presents, buying a christmas tree and doing all the (cool) celebrating.

Another quantum leap towards the goal of seeing my (dauntingly big) wood elf army finished one day.

Here are two wood elf spellweavers!
I hope you like them!



As requested here are the colours I used.
I use mainly Vallejo paints so I added the approximative GW equivalents in brackets for those of you who use GW paints. When there is no direct equivalent to the Vallejo Paint I suggested a mix of GW paints.

Key:
BeBr = Bestial Brown
BlBo = Bleached Bone
SnLe = Snakebite Leather
SuYe = Sunburst Yellow
GrEa = Graveyard Earth
ElFl = Elf Flesh
DaFl = Dark Flesh
FiOr = Fiery Orange

The Brown parts

1. Vallejo Tierra Mate (BeBr)
2. Highlight with mixes of Vallejo Tierra Mate (BeBr) with increasing amounts of Vallejo Arena Oscura (BlBo).

The Yellow Parts


1. Vallejo Uniforme Inglés (SnLe)
2. Highlight with mixes of Uniforme Inglés (SnLe) with increasing amounts of Vallejo Amarillo Arena (BlBo+SuYe).

The Skin


1. GrEa
2. Highlight with a mix 1:1 GrEa+ElFl
3. Wash with GW Devlan Mud and let dry (!)
4. Highlight again with mix from step 2, i.e. 1:1 GrEa+ElFl
5. Highlight some more with 1:2 GrEa+ElFl
6. (optional) Highlight with pure ElFl

The diamonds


1. mix 1:2 FiOr+DaFl
2. Make half-circular highlights with mixes of DaFl with increasing amounts of FiOr until you reach pure FiOr.
3. (optional) Place a pure DaFl arc oposite the pure FiOr to give some more depth.
4. Place a little dot of white on the darkest (top) part of the diamond to simulate the reflection.

I hope that helps!
Don't hesitate to ask me here or on the forum if you have any more questions.

Friday 7 November 2008

Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald - Part 3

There he is, the finished Treeman built from scratch!
Enjoy.






Wednesday 15 October 2008

Golden Tom results are out!

Congratulations to the winners of Tom's Boring Mordheim Competition 2008!

Golden Tom
Moonlit necromancer
by footofadhesivetape


Silver Tom
Dragon Monk on Temple Dog
(for Border Town Burning supplement)
by Cianty


Bronze Tom
Magister casting Dark Blood by UnderBheit


Head over to TBMF for more pics of the winning entries, an overview of the jury's votes and to catch a glimpse of all the other fantastic entries!

Sunday 5 October 2008

Golden Tom 2008

Tom's Boring Painting Competition
has closed!

Thanks to all of those who have entered!
Expect the results after october 10th 2008.
Good luck!
-Admin Tom


Saturday 6 September 2008

Chaos in Cathay



The very first Border Town Burning review on the world wide web.

The unofficial Mordheim supplement Border Town Burning by Christian "Cianty" Templin, Stu "Werekin" Cresswell and friends has been in the works for over four years, and is eagerly awaited by Mordheim gamers all over the world. A week before its official release, Tom's Boring Mordheim Blog was the first to be invited to take a look behind the scenes of the most anticipated Mordheim supplement of 2008.

Exclusively on TBMB you will be able to read about what exciting stuff awaits you within the pages of Border Town Burning before it hits the web! Admin Tom has read the Mordheim supplement for you and offers an exclusive review of the exciting new setting for your Mordheim campaigns.

Exploring new spheres

Border Town Burning is set near Cathay, the far East region that lies behind the World's Edge Mountains, whose snowy spine shields the Old World from the Dark Lands. The first pages of BTB offers insight into a letter of Remino Hauser, a merchant on his way to Cathay and into the personal journal of Hans Hierbach, a travelling Sigmarite preacher, whose descriptions of the foreign, secretive and rich land of Cathay set the stage for the extraordinary mood of the rulebook and raises questions that tickle the reader's appetite. Do the elves have contact with Cathay? If so, for how long have they known about Cathay? Are they the ones responsible for smuggling Topum into Mareinburg? What lies beyond the city of Sen-Quoi which, by imperial decree, no Old Worlder is allowed to trespass to the East upon penalty of death?

In BTB we leave the sinuous, torch-lit streets of old Mordheim to breathe the chilled air of the borderland steppes between Cathay and the Northern Wastes, where barbaric tribes devoted to the Gods of Chaos dwell.

"From this point on, reality continues to break down [...]. Even the landscape itself is hostile, as the mutating, ever-changing effect of Chaos has scarred the lands permanently. A lack of landmarks makes map-making extremely difficult and something that can be seen in the distance one day can be gone the next. A traveller might even think they have been going east for many days only to find that they have been going west, north or not moving at all."
-
excerpt from Border Town Burning

What's new?

BTB is much more than just an expansion to the "core game" Mordheim. It unites new background, new warbands, new skills, new equipment, new dramatis personae, new hired swords and most importantly a brand new narrative campaign system in one supplement. In addition to introducing new and exciting features, BTB also partly relies on successful and approved rules from Empire in Flames and the article Blazing Saddles for mounts.

With a new setting comes a full package of new rules. Players will have a choice of 6 new warbands to lead into battle, namely Marauders of Chaos , Merchant Caravans, The Restless Dead, Battle Monks of Cathay, Black Dwarfs and Ogre Maneaters. It also includes the Norse Explorers which have been re-edited from the Lustria supplement. Of course all the original and official warbands from the basic rulebook remain available, and entirely playable in BTB. Although this supplement can be used for one-off games in an exotic setting, it develops its real flavour when played in campaign mode - its designed purpose. Unlike the core game, BTB provides specific agendas for every actor in the campaign and an enticing background with entwined stories.

Another new feature are unlockable scenarios. These only become available as the warbands progress through the campaign and it is the order in which they are played that tells the story.

Furthermore BTB introduces the campaign points (CP) system. Each warband has its own objective throughout the campaign, and collects CPs for completing incremental steps in it. (like playing a game, winning a game, taking out a rival/minion of chaos etc...) . The new rosters in the BTB rulebook provide little boxes that are checked one at a time. As in the known XP-point system, every time a player reaches a thick CP-box, he may check the campaign achievement chart, giving subtle advantages like slightly reduced recruitment costs due to fame, exploration re-rolls and such. Unlike XP however, CPs are gained by the warband as a whole. Campaign points are two things: first, an indicator of progress through the story and secondly a currency! Indeed hired swords costs money and CPs in Border Town Burning. A warband wins the campaign when it achieves its objective before the others, i.e. when all CP boxes are checked.

Story

In BTB Chaos is brewing but this time it's not about wyrdstone. A barbarian Chieftain is striving to become a Champion of the Dark Gods and raise an army to lead against the civilized peoples of the Warhammer World. However one does not become a Choas Champion over night, and so the aspiring champion has to locate four arcane artefacts that will grant him the power to become a Lord of Chaos. Unaware of this, adventure parties venture into the Cathayan region driven by rumours of these ancient magical items worth a fortune. The good news is, all factions - good and evil - are playable! Whether the players choose to go in as marauder chieftains yearning to become Lords of Chaos, as Cathayan Monks fighting the threat to their homeland or simply treasure hunters profiting off the confusion to get their own piece of the cake, they will play a part in orchestrating the campaign. Let it be said here, that there is no obligation to choose any of the above listed factions in the mentioned constellation. The beauty of BTB is that it works with any set-up of warbands: all good, all evil, all neutral or a mix thereof. However it goes without saying that the most enjoyable BTB experience will come from the latter.


Border Town Burning gaming table by Cianty.

Release date and installments

The Border Town Burning rulebook is split into six installments which will be released on a fortnight basis, boasting 144 pages in total of brand new material that allows you to explore an entirely new and exotic setting with your gaming group. Of course, the BTB sourcebook also provides us with a beautiful and inspirational gallery.It was kicked off on sunday august 31st 2008 with the first intallment out of six: "Background and Merchant Caravan".

Every two weeks thereafter a new installment will be published. This will allow players time to assimilate and enjoy every one of the chapters and ease them into this new setting.
Background and Merchant Caravan has already been released and the next installment is scheduled for September 14th, 2008.

Conclusion

With Border Town Burning the development team has delivered a one-of-a-kind and highly creative supplement for our Mordheim games that convinces through incredible professionalism and flair. With four years in development and playtesting it constitutes a very solid system and can be thus be trusted like any official release, if not more so.
When reading this sourcebook it is nigh impossible not to picture endless steppes, monasteries in snowy mountains, steaming pits of chaos, dim lit caverns hiding riches in their bowels, Cathayan monks doing spin kicks, ogres riding into a charge on the back of mighty rhinoxes.

It feels almost ubiquitous to say that if you are already a Mordheim player playing this supplement is a must. No wargamer worth his salt can afford not to play and enjoy Border Town Burning. It will bring not only a breath, but a blizzard of "fresh" air into your gaming experience and guarantee infinite replayability through a clever design and a rich setting. It will inspire and motivate you to explore new visual styles and ideas for your models aswell as spark myriads of new ideas for those of you who like to design new scenarios, quests and campaigns.

To those who may not play Mordheim yet, all I can say is that this is an offer you cannot refuse. An offer to join into a fantastic and fun world of Mordheim that has just been expanded to a universe by the talent and effort of a small team of bright young people.

Conclusively I would like to thank Cianty - gamer, painter and designer extraordinaire - and his great team for their effort and incredible dedication in bringing this brainchild to life, in a friendly and professional atmosphere. This is what the hobby is about and this is how it should be.

Thank you for your time.
- Admin Tom

Want to know more? Download BTB here!
http://www.bordertownburning.de.vu/


Thursday 7 August 2008

Boring Mordheim Meetup 2008 - Chapter Four (final)

Tom & Tortiou proudly present
Live from Vienna, Austria, a TBMB&TBMF exclusive
1st MORDHEIM MEETUP Battle report!


Chapter Four - Kings of the Hill

The last scenario we played was a "King of the hill" type of scenario: we determined an elevated area, consisting of two buildings, in the center of the board, and the objective of the players was to occupy that
area with as many warriors as possible.

Boehm placing the last piece of scenery near the objective:


Close-up of the objective: any model standing in the red area after 6 turns brings in 1 Victory Point for
his team:




For this game, we decided to form three teams:

Team 1: Admin Tom (Witch Hunters) + Matt (Possessed)
Team 2: Boehm (Dwarves) + Erkwin (Reiklanders)
Team 3: Tortiou (Reiklanders) + Lanyssa Ryssyll (Dwarves)

Lanyssa Ryssyll and Tortiou, starting to the south of the table, divided their strike force:


Admin Tom and Matt, forming an unusual and rather surprising team of Witch Hunters and Possessed (yes we know, fluff wouldn't normally allow it, but did it for variability's sake), started to the North-West of the table:


They were almost face to face with Erkwin and Boehm's team, which showed up to the North-East:


One of Erkwin's marksmen covers the advance of his teammates:

At this time, the central position is still unoccupied:


Team 2 on the move!! (I just love this pic!)


Tom's and Matt's warriors decide to rush towards the south... but soon encounter some light resistance from
Tortiou and Lanyssa's team:



Two flagellants and Karol ambushing Lanyssa's binge-drinking dwarf:


Matt pushed his luck a bit too far, and charged the whole Team 2 with a single model (the now-famous Krackatoaaar):


Needless to say: the poor Krackatoar (in the centre of the picture) received volley after volley of arrows,
and finally expired and met its maker:



One of Tortiou's archers takes a firing position:


Erkwin's marksman watching the scene from a safe distance:


Even though Krackatoar just bit the dust, Matt keeps smiling!


As the end of the game approaches, Team 3 decides to rush inside the objective area:


Don Salchichón, Tortiou's hired freelancer knight, charges Matt's possessed and tries to hinder the advance of Team 1:


The close combat taking place between Team 1 (Tom+Matt) and Team 3
(Tortiou+Lanyssa) involves flagellants, Karol the possessed, two dwarves and Don Salchichón. Despite his strong armour save (3+), the Knight is put OOA by Karol right after his charge. Lanyssa's two remaining dwarves manage to hold their position for one more turn, delaying Tom and Matt and allowing the rest of their teammates to occupy the building.

Captain Tortiou's Reiklanders, storming the objective area:


Meanwhile, Team 2 (Boehm and Erkwin) uses the occasion to enter the area from the North:


Three Reiklanders from Erkwin's team manage to climb on the northeastern corner of the objective area:


The showdown is inevitable: the two teams clash in the centre of the objective area, inside the ruins. The fight is brutal, violent, bloody.
Who will be the King of the Hill?king


The objective area at the end of turn 6:


Captain Tortiou manages to kill one of Erkwin's champions with a well-aimed headshot from his duelling
pistol:



At the end of turn 6, the objective area was occupied by:
-Team 2 (Boehm + Erkwin) : 10 warriors
-Team 3 (Tortiou + Lanyssa Ryssyll) : 10 warriors
-Team 1 (Matt + Tom) : 1 dog Laughing

Thus, the game was declared a draw between Team 2 and Team 3.

However, both teams were given +1XP for their leaders because of the spectacular showdown!

Tortiou and Erkwin vehemently discussing the fight during the post-battle sequence:

(actually, they are just posing for the picture... Suspect)

This is how Tom's Boring Mordheim Meetup ended. After this game, we all went to the city centre of Vienna to have a nice lunch (with beer!) in a nice tavern. We all had some excellent goblin steak roasted à la viennese (only 13gc)
but Matt wanted to sacrifice the waiter to the unholy Khorne so we were actually asked to leave.

Matt getting ready to take on a huge "Speckbrot":



Tortiou discussing "sniper" rules for Mordheim with Boehm.


And here's a last shot of the whole Boring Meetup 2008 crew (munchin' away at those delicious 50cm breads I love you )



Conclusively I would like to say that this Meetup was really awesome, not only because the games all went smoothly and were fun and interesting, but also because every single participant was cool, nice, and geekishly crazy! jocolor

Thank you Erkwin, Matt, Boehm and Lanyssa Ryssyll!
And of course a big "Cheers mate !" to the incredible Admin Tom who moved heaven and earth to make this Meetup possible, and without whom all these games would never have taken place... Sir, yes sir! respect, mon gars!

And finally thanks to you for reading all this! cyclops