Diminutive epic contest - or Dwarf tossing in the arena

I finally found the time to sit down and try out Two Hour Wargames' latest version of Red Sand Blue Sky. I played one game last night but my camera battery was dead. So I decided to play a second game this afternoon and get some photos.

I grabbed my Foundry dwarf gladiators, a bucket of dice and the rules and sat down to an epic battle of 26 turns between dwarven titans, Pullo and Longinus.

Pullo, Murmillo

Enter Pullo, Murmillo!
Savy:         3
Strength:    4
Speed:       3
Signature:  Agile (adds +1d6 to the Maneuver table)

Longinus, Retiarius

Enter Longinus, Retiarius!
Savy:          3
Strength:     3
Speed:        3 (+1 without net)
Signature:   None
Non-Player Gladiator








Both titans enter on opposite sides of the arena.

Let the tossing begin!

Pullo advance to the center while Longinus hesitates a bit.

Longinus looks for an opening.

Longinus advances to the center and attacks head on. There is a brief flurry that ends with both holding their ground and catching their breath.

Titans hold the center.

Longinus backs off seeking an opportunity to cast his net. Pullo advances, denying that opportunity with a head on attack. His sword finds Longinus low in the belly for a serious wound. The crowd cheers at first blood while Longinus writhes in the sand. Looks like it will be a short, victorious match for Pullo.

Blood is spilled!

In an amazing display of agility, Longinis leaps to his feet and presses Pullo. A series of atacks, retreats and counters by both parties ensues ending with a failed shield bash by Pullo. Longinus thrusts his trident as Pullo stumbles past, striking his shield and only knocking him down.

Pullo narrowly escapes harm.

Pullo finds himself moving to the center trying to catch his breath only to be swept off his feet by Longinus' net.

At least I have the center...

For several long minutes Pullo chases his opponent around and across the sands of the arena finally trapping him against the wall. Pullo tries the head on attack again. Longinus hols his ground and then sidesteps to the heart of the arena. Pullo follows with an attack to Longinus' unshielded side. Longinus counters and drives his trident into Pullo's belly. Both titans are not wounded.

Longinus slips his trident under Pullo's shield.

Longinus moves to the center. Pullo presses the attack. Several exchanges later, Longinus has been forced to retreat to the wall again. Where Pullo attacks the unshielded side to no avail. Our gladiators catch their breath and seek advantage.

Not learning from his previous attempts, Pullo advances again. The trident's reach comes into play and Longinus stabs Pullo in the gut again, pining him. The crowd goes wild as Pullo's life leaks into the sands.

Alas, poor Pullo.

After my first two games I find that I truly enjoy this new rule set. I'll need to give it a try with live opponents. I'm finding that the NPG tables are fairy easy to use, but the latest rule regarding the net makes it almost impossible for a non-player gladiator to make a net attack. I fudged a turn and make Pullo stand and catch his breath so I could try one out. Around turn 20 I also fudged an NPG movement roll to allow the gladiators to close. I didn't want to sit there for another 20 minutes while they danced around. Alas, poor Pullo. My fudge decisions cost him his life.

Cold Wars - the return

I'm back from Cold Wars and slowly returning to work. Dealing with hundreds of people each day, drinking a bit too much and poor convention diet wipes me out. However, the unpacking continues and today I found a few of the figures I finished while I was there.

The first is for my upcoming Victorian Sci-Fi release. I present... Swakhammer.

He's my image of a character from Cherie Priest's novel, Boneshaker. He's a giant of a man with 2 big-ass pistols and a sonic cannon.

He'll be sold as part of a pack of VSF adventurers.

The second is a a jungle woman inspired by the Frazetta painting of Tarzan and the woman facing off against some Neanderthals.

In the painting the pose is pressed a lot closer to the ground. I've raised it a bit for the sculpt so the mold material doesn't get stuck and tear as easily.

Tarzan is forthcoming. I'm not completely sure when these will be available, but I think they are sold. I'll announce details when/ if I am permitted.


Both figures are 15mm. Enjoy.

Combat enhanced space chick

After several month of sitting on my table 90% finished, I wrapped this one up tonight.
Enjoy.

Conquistadwarf crossbows

I've been playing catch up with sculpting commissions after a six week root canal ordeal reminiscent of the end of Apocalypse Now. But I've managed to take a few hours each weekend to work on some of my own projects.

One of those has been the Weekly One Five jugger teams. The other has been a little more work on the Conquistadwarves.

This Sunday I was able to wrap up the crossbows.

I'm only starting with two poses. But these will allow for the assembly of army packs for a couple game systems out there. They may get helmet conversions later to add some variety without a lot of hassle.

This weekend I'll be working on two arquebus poses. They will start with helms and may be converted to bonnets later. I almost have enough pieces done for a master mold. But most likely pre-production casts won't be available until after Cold Wars.

I'm shooting for the end of April for production of both sets and the jugger teams. We'll see what happens.

New horse project

After several years of having to make horses for one company or another, I decide to streamline things a bit for myself. A couple of months ago I made a blank horse doll to be used for conversions for most of my other poses.

I'm not totally happy with the details, but, hey, it's a doll to be modified so I'm not real concerned.

Last month I did a few trial poses for Splintered Light's Normans. I was testing the viability of chopping off large parts and bending other sections to the shape I wanted. It seemed to work out all right. The basic body and head bulk and proportions remained constant.

The next step is to make a series of standard horse models that I can use with minor adjustments for several upcoming projects. Post apocalyptic riders, El Cid figures, VSF cavalry, and maybe even some orc raiders will be done over the next year.

The first set is 3 standing poses.

The wires aren't fixed in place yet. I just posted this to show the parts that have been removed. It should also be noted that the lower 3/4 of the necks were cut away to allow positioning of the heads.

I'll follow these up with a set of 3 walking/ trotting horses, a set of 3 running and probably a set of 3 extreme poses like rearing, bucking, etc.

More pictures will follow as sculpting progresses.

Here are two pics to answer Doc McBride's question at TMP. Yes, the horses can be used with previous horse riders I sculpted for SLM with very little modification. They may not work with the pony riders for the Picts. I haven't checked them out.

The first is the unmodified Arthur figure.

The second has had the insides of the thighs and calves files just a bit to sit properly.

Also note that the furniture has not been added, so the horse will be thicker overall for the prototype. But the master and production molding steps should thin it down to about the same thickness as now.