Town Houses and Mansion from Tabletop World

Tabletop World released some very nice timber-framed fantasy houses over the last couple of months. After their latest release - an impressive mansion - it was time for my yearly order. As always this means another review of these new products on the blog.

There are few things in the hobby these days that excite me as much as when Tabletop World release a new building. And although I was quite critical with their Coaching Inn (specifically its size) that piece too is an absolutely beautiful eye-catcher on the battlefield once it is painted. So naturally I was very excited when Tabletop World showed a preview image on their website for their upcoming release. Between the announced release date and its final release date I was checking out their website daily to see if it was out already. Once the full gallery for the Mansion was up it were minutes until I placed my order, catching up on their latest products since the release of the Coaching Inn: Townhouse II, Townhouse III and the new Mansion. Let's take a closer look!

Townhouse III, II and the new Mansion next to each other

Golden Tom 2014 - Tom's Boring Painting Competition 2014

Games Workshop may have dropped Mordheim, but the community is still well alive. And what better proof could there be than the announcement of Tom's Boring Painting Competition 2014 over at Tom's Boring Mordheim Forum.

From Tom's announcement:

Did someone say “Golden Tom”? YES! It is finally here again by popular demand! After 6 years, TBMF is (finally!) back with hosting the second Golden Tom Painting Competition!
And this time, we beefed it up with an amazing, REAL, PHYSICAL, 300g BRONZE CAST, MAHAGONY BASED trophy!

THIS is YOUR chance to compete once more in the only Mordheim themed painting competition in the world and take the amazing Golden Tom statue home (well… technically you are not taking it anywhere, we will send it to you by post)
So wet your paintbrush, get the sculpting putty out, shake the paint pots and DAZZLE us, because who knows when you will get that chance again… maybe in 6 years?

This time there is a very special prize for the winners: These awesome statues were sculpted by forum member Ben "floedebolle" and one will go to each of the top three places:

So head over to Tom's for the full rules and start painting!

The Port of Gierburg - Part 4: Dock Section II Ground Level WIP

After completing the first section of my Port of Gierburg gaming table it is time to start with the second module. This one will be a lot more difficult and a lot more exciting. Due to its complexity I will handle the (under)ground level first and then tend to the rest later.

Similar to the first module this one is based on a solid 5mm MDF board. Following my initial plans (see Part 1) it measures 45cm x 72cm.

The concept for the port modules with two dock sections encapsulating a water board

Review: More Wargame Terrain by Tony Harwood

Recently my copy of "More Wargame Terrain" arrived in the post. Let's take a look!

After the excellent first volume "Building Wargame Terrain" Tony Harwood has released the follow-up book: "More Wargame Terrain" with more articles on how to create top quality terrain for the tabletop.

From the Outside: Production Value

This perfect bound, full colour soft-cover book has a total of 118 pages from front to back. The layout and production is pretty much the same as the first book so nothing new to explain here.

Gypsy Caravans from Sarissa Precision

In this post I present my versions of the two Gypsy Caravan models from Sarissa Precision.

I first saw the two gypsy wagons by Sarissa Precision on the Lead Adventure Forum and I was instantly sold: the designs of the models looked great.

Gypsy Caravans (source: LAF)

Now before looking any deeper into the caravans I have to say that I am usually very sceptical of laser cut models. They seem to be very popular for all kinds of terrain these days - especially Wild West buildings. Often these models appear somewhat "flat" to me, lacking the details of resin models. However, there are certain structures that lend themselves to laser cut building very well. The dockside crane I assembled recently wouldn't look any better (or probably even as good) had it been scratch-built. The gypsy wagons by Sarissa immediately looked like further examples of laser cut technology done right. In fact, these models look much more interesting than the gypsy wagons I know from West Wind Productions or Old Glory. Actually, judging from the Sarissa website pretty much all of their buildings look damn good to me. Anyway, let's look at the wagons!

Building a little Lantern

In this short tutorial I describe an easy way of making a lantern using remains from the bits box.

Lamps and lanterns add a lot to the atmosphere of the gaming table. Unfortunately though, while lamp posts are available from a number of producers (e.g. Yeoman Models, Grand Manner, Thomarillion, GeBoom) I could not find a supplier for humble lanterns. So I decided to build one...

Gierburg Gypsies

The travelling people arrive in the City of Gierburg!

Another batch of beautiful paint jobs by Simon Bradley: Gypsies from West Wind Productions' Vampire Wars range roam the dirty streets of Gierburg.

But where are their iconic moving houses...?

Update: Gypsy Caravans

Liebster award

This little blog of mine recently received a Liebster award nomination from Simon Bradley of Stone Cold Lead so here it goes.

The idea of this award is to promote other blogs and get to know the people behind them. The exact rules seem to be changing constantly so this is the rules set I got from Simon's post.

Painting the Coaching Inn

Following up on my review of the Coaching Inn from Tabletop World I now present the finished piece.

As I mentioned in my review the Coaching Inn does not require assembling: other than cleaning up the piece all you need to do is glue the two chimneys to the roof and glue the fence/balustrade on the balcony.

The Scratch-built Balustrade

Speaking of the balustrade: I am not too keen on the fence that comes with the building. It looks too gothic/fantasy for my taste - I prefer a slightly more conservative/low-key style. Because of that I chose to build a new balustrade from wooden sticks.

Comparison of the original balustrade and my scratch-built one

Painting the Inn

The painting process was pretty much the same as with my previous Gierburg buildings. And it was a long one! With all the details the building has, tending to each shingle of the roof and each stone of the walls and - the most tedious work of all - painting all the windows with their grating, I can't count the many hours that went into this building. But it makes it only all the more satisfying once you are finished with the piece, lean back and look at it...

The finished Coaching Inn

Finally, this is what the completed Coaching Inn looks like:

Gangs fighting it out in the streets of Gierburg

A firebrand speaking to a mob of Gierburg peasants
from the balcony of the coaching inn

Elsewhere on the Web...

...you can find these amazing medieval timber frame buildings by Miniature Warfare.

Miniature Warfare is an Italian blog full of inspirational terrain building. The current project is this stunning scratch-built medieval town.

Scratch-built town by Miniature Warfare

Below I have list some links to various blog posts from the work in progress stage to the finished pieces. So waste no time and head over to the blog and enjoy this exceptional terrain!

Work in progress

http://miniaturewarfare.blogspot.com/2013/10/2-tdmc-medieval-contrada-update.html
http://miniaturewarfare.blogspot.com/2013/11/2-tdmc-medieval-contrada-so-far.html
http://miniaturewarfare.blogspot.com/2013/12/2-tdmc-medieval-contrada-another-update.html
http://miniaturewarfare.blogspot.com/2013/12/2-tdmc-medieval-contrada-final-rush.html

Painted

http://miniaturewarfare.blogspot.com/2014/01/medieval-town-bit-of-colors.html
http://miniaturewarfare.blogspot.com/2014/02/medieval-town-little-progress.html
http://miniaturewarfare.blogspot.com/2014/03/medieval-town-2-final-shots.html
http://miniaturewarfare.blogspot.com/2014/03/medieval-town-end.html

A Dockside Crane for Gierburg

The 1:72 scale medieval crane from Green Line is the latest addition to the docks of my Gierbug gaming board.


I bought the kit at this year's Tactica show, where I saw the assembled model in the flesh and was immediately convinced. It is available from Fredericus Rex.

The kit comprises mainly of various sheets of laser cut balsa wood. There are also two paper sheets for the "metal" parts, rivets and the hook. Thread is included to represent rope.

Usually I mainly work with resin buildings and I am totally spoiled by Tabletop World and Grand Manner models which come pretty much fully assembled out of the box. Because of this, I found the kit somewhat challenging - lots of pieces that need to be prepared and glued together. However, it was challenging in a very positive way: The pieces fit together perfectly and balsa is always easy to work with. It actually felt like I was assembling my own scratch-built model, with the exception that the various pieces were already provided. The model does not have any of the design flaws I usually dislike about laser cut terrain, where you can clearly tell from the finished model that it was built from simple precut kits.

The crane assembled but yet unpainted

After assembling the crane I removed the wheel again for undercoating and painting. I always enjoy painting wood structures: A bunch of drybrushing with browns and whites, finished off with a bit of weathering with green wash, and you're done - a very relaxed and rewarding task.

The finished crane

 

Since I was "transferring" the crane from 1:72 to 28mm scale I found it appropriate to use a thicker type of thread than the one that came with the model. So I went with the same that I currently use for rigging on my ships.

Finally, this is how the finished model looks as a dockside crane at the Port of Gierburg:

In conclusion, I am very happy with this model. It was refreshingly challenging to assemble without ever being too difficult. It looks like a cool scratch-built piece rather than one of those boring unrealistic laser cut buildings you see so often. I do not find the 1:72 scale to be a problem, either - it gives the impression of a nice small crane to me and works perfectly well with 28mm figures. In short: an excellent addition to the Port of Gierburg.

More Gierburg Citizens

Another couple of shady characters join the ranks of Gierburg citizens. Like the last ones these were again painted by the talented Simon Bradley.

A Gierburg merchant and his assisstant inspect a new load at the port

A young boy running in the streets of Gierburg

Most of the newcomers are again Highwaymen from Outpost Wargame Services.

Highwaymen and other scoundrel taking over the Port of Gierburg

With these highwaymen new in the city the Gang of Robbers, Bandits and other criminals is now large enough for battle:

Tactica 2014

One of the yearly wargaming highlights is the Tactica convention in Hamburg. Combined with meeting friends who live there this makes for a great weekend.

The Tables

If you are a regular at wargaming shows it gets increasingly hard to be impressed by the various gaming tables. My favourite was the huge Zombie board:

I was very impressed with the underground level: The idea of using the edges of the board is ingenious. It's a perfect way of adding another level to the board which is also practical, because you do not have to remove buildings or streets all the time. I am now considering this for my Port of Gierburg project.

Here are a few other tables:

Update Feb, 25th: For more photos visit the Tactica blog.
Update Mar, 5th:  Even more photos at Spieltrieb Frankfurt.

The Game

We played a game of Bushido. The objective was to convert three shrines for victory points over the course of six rounds. I had never played Bushido before and this was a great introduction to the game.

I like how you can have a nice game with only three figures and a comparatively small gaming board. This definately looks like a good game to play in addition to a main hobby project.

The Purchases

Browsing the Thomarillion booth I spotted their Streetlamps (designed by Deltadog Designz for their game Götterdaämmerung). These are really nice lantern posts so I bought a set for use at my Gierburg port.

Street lamps from Thomarillion

Another addition for the Gierburg port is this medieval crane from Green Line and sold through Fredericus Rex. The crane is 1/72 scale but big enough for 28mm.

Medieval Crane from Fredericus Rex

My greatest discovery, however, were the 28mm figures at the booth of Schilling-Figuren. The Napoleonic range by Westfalia Miniatures offers a huge range of beautiful wagons and carts:

Westfalia Miniatures available at the Schilling-Figuren booth

I bought three wagons right away - a British ambulance cart (without crew), a French post coach and an Officer's coach - and ordered another one: a French utility cart with chests and mobile forge.
I also bought a surgeon set (seemingly designed by Ingo's-Figuren) consisting of a surgeon, an assistant and a victim.

I can't wait to get cracking on these. As always the convention was a great inspiration from which I return with a lot of enthusiasm for the hobby.

Tabletop World Painting Competition

Tabletop World has just announced a painting competition: Submit photos to them showcasing either single models or entire dioramas to get a chance of winning mighty prizes. In addition, they offer a guaranteed 10% discount to all participants on orders placed until June 1st. If that doesn't sound great, I don't know what does. I expect to see some very cool submissions in this contest and can't wait to see what people come up with.

This may also give me the neccessary boost to finish their Coaching Inn.

Painting Competition announcement from the Tabletop World website

Update January 30th: The rules have been updated. New poster image is above.
Update April 2nd: The gallery with all entries is available from the Tabletop World facebook page.
Update April 4th: The winners have been announced.