Civil War Tank

This is just my kind of weirdness - I love it!  Well done Captain!
He posted it at his blog but I'm re-posting it because it deserves not to be missed!

Lots more pics of this awesomeness at the Captain's site here:
http://captainrichardsminiaturecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/09/civil-war-tankwhat.html

Man Cave to run Participation game at CANCON 2012

Thats right - The Man Cave Gamers have been accepted to run a participation game at CANCON in Jan 12!  It probably wouldn't take a brain surgeon (or a rocket scientist I suppose) to guess that it will be a Dark Ages skirmish game, with players running about with Viking warbands pillaging a not so poor and not so defenseless Saxon village.

Daisy the Dragon: CANCON's iconic symbol

CANCON is the Annual Gaming Convention in Canberra, held every Jan around the Australia Day holiday, and its one of the largest held in Oz.  I've never run a game in any style of convention before so I'm really looking forward to the fun and challenge of this - even though its less than a month after I move house!


Find out more about CANCON 2012 here:
http://www.cgs.asn.au/index.php/cancon

Hellmouth Heroes: 10 Games down!

You might remember that last month I started plyaing a new Vampire Blood Bowl team: The Hellmouth Heroes: http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2011/08/hellmouth-heroes.html
Well they've just completed their 10th game - one of the advantages of a live-in opponent!

The Hellmouth Heroes, posing after their first win of the Season in Round 4

Game Stats                         W:D:L = 5:1:4
TD for: 23                             TD against: 20
CAS for: 9 (0 kills)                Cas Against: 27 (3 kills - all Thralls)

Team Roster

Vamps
   Drusilla: Block, Dodge, Nerves of Steel
   The Master: +1 Ag, Block, Sure Hands
   Angellus: Pro, Block, Fend
   Spike: Block, Tackle
Thralls
   Sam Sickle-Cell, Guard
   Matty Malaria
   Anemic Andy
   O Pos, Kick
   O Neg
   Henry Hemophiliac
   AB Neg
   Harry Hemoglobin, +1 Mv
5 Re-Rolls, Apothecary
Team value: 151

Overall I'm really happy with the development of the team so far.  The Vamps are getting some versatile skills now (the 5 Ag Vamp is a killer ball handler/thrower), but I'm routinely having far more casualties inflicted.  Admittedly the Vamps do a few of those themselves, but I need to get some Mighty Blow and Pile On to start giving the pain back in equal measure!

BB Flesh Golem

Wow- what a wonderfully horrific fig!  Designed for Blood Bowl, it has a wide range of applications.

Fig by Willy Miniatures, pic from: http://www.coolminiornot.com/285779

Bloody Sports Bases

Useful for Star Player bases I guess, or sideline figs, generic re-roll markers etc

http://www.tabletop-art.de/Bloody-Sports-25mm

One in 3,200 chance a person will be hit by 18,000mph out-of-control craft today

So keep your helmets on!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2040818/On-alert-satellite-crash-One-3-200-chance-person-hit-18-000mph-control-craft-today.html

She is Teasing Me...Part 2

Remember this? http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2011/09/she-is-teasing-me.html

Well she brought me back an Orc's Nest t-shirt, a coffee mug and a cool card based fantasy wargame for the Lad and I to enjoy, so she is totally forgiven!  Plus a pint glass from the Euston Tap Bar -she swears she paid for it and everything :-)

Re-Roll Counters

Last month when we attended the NWA open day (http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-out-at-nwa.html) I picked up a sprue of the Renedra gravestones to make a small graveyard for my Saxon Church (http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2011/06/saxon-church-finished.html).  Then when I started playing my new Vampire Blood Bowl team I wanted some themed reroll markers, and these are just the business!

I mounted each on mdf and added some routine basing compound, then undercoated in black and added 3 layers of grey drybrushing before applying some flock and silfour tufts.  I'm really happy with they way they have come out.

For more detail on the Renedra gravestones, Anatoli has posted a review of these at his blog here: http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/renedra-plastic-fences-and-gravestones.html

Here they are in the background of a Dark Ages game as stand-alone gravestones by the Church:

Cthulhu Mythos in the Man Cave: Part 2

More Cthulhu mythos goodness: again help with the names would be appreciated! (click for larger pics)

Cthulhu Mythos in the Man Cave

In the eerie darkness of the Man Cave lurk several horrors.  All models are from the collection of my mate Ken, though we cant remember their names!  Click for larger pics

 Would you like to know more? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu_Mythos

Pirates!

Because its still Talk Like a Pirate Day in those retro timezones on the other side of the world, here are some piratey wargaming links.  Plus there is always room for another saucy pirate wench!


Background
http://www.thepirateking.com/index.htm
http://www.chronofus.net/wargames/piracy/piracy.htm

Supplies
http://www.gamesofwar.net/acatalog/Pirate_Supplies_Store.html
http://www.blackscorpionminiatures.com/index.php?cPath=27
http://wk.frothersunite.com/sc/pirates/pirates1/pirates.htm


Inspiration
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=20509.0
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=27253.0


Gaming
http://cianty-tabletop.blogspot.com/2008/10/setting-sail-collecting-ships-for.html
http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/index.php/search/results/38334a18aa0821deda6832ea63b138fe/

Yarrr - it be Talk like a Pirate Day!

Aye laddies - that day be 'ere again!  The Man Cave's 5th Annual Talk Like a Pirate Day post - Huzzah!
'Ere be the traditional saucy Pirate wench:

And 'ere be a jaunty tune to get ye in the mood - Yarrrr!


No idea what I'm taking about? http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

Life Lessons from Star Trek

This week saw the 45th anniversary of the debut of Star Trek, the science fiction franchise that reflected the optimism of the space race and made science fiction mainstream years before George Lucas would manage to get Darth Vader to pant heavily. As a television show, it changed everything and taught the world many valuable lessons… like these ones:

The Hero Should Get The Girl – As Often As Possible
Doing the right thing may be a reward in and of itself, but it never hurts to sweeten the deal with lots of sexy alien ladies. Star Trek, unlike lesser shows, was unafraid to suggest that action isn’t its own reward, but action for a good cause could end up with an entirely different type of action as reward anyway.

Families Suck, Unless They’re The Families You Choose For Yourself
Another one in the slightly dysfunctional column, Star Trek is full of characters estranged from their families, yet fiercely protective and loyal to their crew. Trek was one of the first shows to not only deconstruct the atomic family at that time still inherent in American society, but also arguably the first to foreshadow the world that was to follow, where individuals created their own definitions of family.

Extras Are Entirely Expendable
Only Star Trek dared to make it explicitly clear that, if you don’t do something to stand out in a crowd, you will likely end up dead from some unbelievable threat sooner rather than later.

You Cannae Change The Laws of Physics (Unless It Suits Your Purposes)
As Scotty was fond of telling us, some things are just plain immutable – and yet, every week, the Enterprise managed to survive despite those unchangeable laws. Why? Lateral thinking (and some ropey psuedo-science, sure, but let’s stick to the point here). Star Trek taught us to never just accept things as they were, and to try and find the real life version of doing something funky with dilithium crystals.

Aliens Are Just Like Us, Apart From That Nose Thing
If ever there was a case of making a negative into a positive, it’s seeing how the low make-up budget of the various Treks turns into a lesson about how we’re all pretty much the same no matter what race we come from – Xenophobia be damned, Trek said, we’re just wrinkly-noses, funny-foreheads or pointy-ears away from all being exactly the same.

Patience Is A Virtue When Dealing With Alien Races
You might think that Star Trek only taught the value of conflict, but no – Look at The Next Generation, and the fact that the Klingons are now onboard the Enterprise, or Voyager‘s Borg crewmate, and realize that what Trek was really saying is “Just hold on, and your enemies will end up working with you because circumstances will cause you all to realize that there are even worse things out there waiting to screw you up.”

The Good Guys Always Win
The most important lesson of all. After all, even when the crew of the starship Enterprise lost – Say, for example, Spock dying – there would always be a happy ending somewhere down the line. As long as you were doing the right thing, Trek demonstrated, everything would turn out alright in the end.

So never wear a red shirt to work!

Rescue the Princess - Part 2

Part 2 of a recent Dark Ages battle we fought.  Find Part 1 here: http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2011/09/rescue-princess.html

Our Saxon nemesis Lord Uhtred make an unwelcome reappearance.

When we last left the stouts men of the Vik, the Lad's warband were strongly engaged at the village, my lads were rushing the Tree of Woe, and  Ken's were advancing on the old Roman ruins.  As it all appeared to eb going the Vikings' way, Saxon reinforcement appeared.  These were no peasant levies, these were Saxon Huscarls ready and eager for battle!

And more Saxons appear to the South!

The race was on! The Lad had to consolidate in the village, while I had to get into the Tree of Woe before my escape route was cut off.  My Champion challenged the Saxon Guard Captain and dispatched him in single combat, to roars of approval by the other Lads!

Little Pig, Little Pigs, Let us come in!

In rushed 6 of my lads - 3 went up, to check the tower, 3 went down into the dungeon.  Outnumbered, the rest formed a shieldwall to hold off the Saxons.

Where art thou Princess Lucky?

Ambushed by Saxons as they climbed the tower, two of my men were cut down by guards yet didnt find Princess Lucky.  Apparently the stories of hiding princesses in the tallest tower havent been written yet.  The other warriors who went down into the basement had better luck, cutting down the rest of the guards for the loss of one Norseman and retrieving the Princess (though she was perhaps more homely than expected...)

Bugger...

The battle at the village raged on...

...and on..

In the end the Saxons at the village broke and ran when their great hero Uhtred was cut down in front of them by the lad's Hersir, Gizar the Ironic.  It took quite a bit of convincing, but eventually we persuaded the Lad the ransom Uhtred back to the Saxons for lots of silver.

With the Saxons running, the Princess found, the Church looted and the village ripe for plunder, the battle was over and the looting began.  The Viks lost modest casualties but achieved all their goals.  Thanks be to Odin!

Rescue the Princess - Part 1

As always, these guys made the most of the situation!

Princess Lucky of Mercia (rumoured to have huge...tracts of land) has been imprisoned by a Saxon noble in a tower dungeon, known locally as the Tree of Woe.  The Viking warbands of the Lad, Ken and I were determined to free her and earn the ransom.

And while we're at it  we might as well also loot pillage and burn the local town.  Its what we do!
(click pics for bigger versions)

All was quiet in the unsuspecting Village...

The Tree of Woe

The morning was quiet and the fog had lifted.  Before anyone could say "Look over there - a distraction!", the Lad's horde entered and with typical Vik brashness decided to charge the defensive walls.  Naturally this allowed Ken and I to creep up a bit more stealthily.

The Lad's motley crew

Nobody would suspect that Ken's Vikings would advance down the road... 

Meanwhile, I took a good opportunity to loot the Church on the way through (I must remember to finish the inside floor)

The sounds of battle echoed through the valley as we crept forward.  The Lad charged head on and fought the desperate fyrd defending their village walls.

Norse scouts check the way forward is clear...

...and wave the rest of the men forward!

Will the Saxons detect the flanking manoeuvre?
Will the village defenders hold out against the savage fury of the Northmen?
Find out in the next installment of "Rescue the Princess"

Peasants finished

Finally finished basing these peasants - figs by Gripping Beast (click on images for bigger version)

More New Viking Figs

Seeing as yesterday's post was so warmly received, here are some more new figs: Foundry Berzerks
(click on images for bigger version)

The penguin on the shield is particularly intriging!

Love the helmet on the left and the braided beard in the middle!

All painted by my mate Ken.

New Viking Figs

Its been a bit of a Blood Bowl fest here lately, but that doesn't mean the Man Cave's Dark Ages are over!
Here are some of the latest works, being some nice figs from Foundry. (click on images for bigger version)

Actually, I purchased these through ebay, and then found out that they came from Jason of the Der Feldmarshall blog - http://derfeldmarschall.blogspot.com/  Thanks for the exchange Jason - hope you enjoy seeing them ready for their welcoming feast in the new Great hall!

I really like this fig

This Godi channels power from the Gods - or is it the Green Lanterns???

All figs painted by my talented mate Ken