Ironsides!

I HAVEN'T done much work on my 'Burn Witch Burn!' project for some months, instead concentrating my energies on getting my 28mm fantasy miniatures painted. However, last week I managed to finish five Foundry ECW dismounted cavalry troopers. These are pretty olde sculpts and rather 'clunky' by modern standards, but I like 'em and think that they painted up very well indeed. The colours are of course partially inspired by the uniforms worn by Ogilvy and co. in the film Witchfinder General. Next in the queue are some witches, a black hound and some Foundry ECW civilians. 

Despite not mentioning it over the preceding few posts, my goal to paint at least one model a week is still being valiantly upheld, with the current total for this year now standing at a not inconsiderable 58 (although I should get a few more done before May is out). I have also recently been working on some terrain for a 15mm fantasy project using the awesome 'Mayhem' rules, which has somewhat retarded my painting. More on this in due course!

Cavern Crawl 2.8 Update

SINCE launching CC2.8 a little over a fortnight ago my mediafire account informs me that (as I write) it has been downloaded 294 times. This is very impressive - not to mention a little startling! - and to all who have taken the time to grab a copy I extend my sincerest thanks: I hope that you enjoy the rules. Obviously it will take time for people to digest this latest edition before even gaming with them, so immediate feedback has not been overwhelming. To those who are genuinely interested in CC I would again like to direct you to the dedicated forum, where anything related to the game can be discussed.   

Cavern Crawl 2.8 Unleashed!

OKAY, I know this is about the hundredth incarnation of Cavern Crawl (eh?), but will you stop yelling and throwing stuff if I promise that this is the final revision prior to 'proper' publication? Since 2.5 came out back in January I have been corresponding with a number of fledgling crawlers who have been quizzing me hard over various aspects of the rules. This scrutiny plus lessons learned from personal experience has led to a number of significant edits and revisions. Please understand that if you already have some affinity with 2.5, then 2.8 shouldn't come as too great a shock: it's the same basic system, just fine-tuned for a smoother ride! Incidentally,  2.5 has been downloaded  494 times according to my mediafire account. That's quite impressive not to mention encouraging. 

As I wrote 2.8 represents the CC system pretty-much in it's finished state. Of course there're probably still some typos and garbled explanations, but they should (hopefully) be scarce and will be dealt with before the final edition surfaces. Likewise the layout is far from finished and there are aspects that certainly need to be dealt with prior to an official release. Still, it is serviceable for the time being.

I mentioned original artwork previously and this is still underway. My friend is not a professional artist and is kindly working around real life: still, he has got much done and a release date of late summer/early autumn is not unrealistic. Being an inveterate tease he's only allowed me to see wip pieces thus far, but what I've seen has pleased me greatly. As a teaser of my own, here is one of the unfinished pieces:

His style is simple and unadorned and I think it compliments the 'generic fantasy' nature of CC perfectly. Again, bear in mind this is a concept sketch and not the finished item. 

I suppose I should probably cease my waffling now and furnish you with a link to the new version. Here you go:

Download Cavern Crawl 2.8

As usual, if there are any access issues then please contact me at funghyfipps AT aol DOT com and I will message you the pdf directly. 

Given the interest previous versions of CC have elicited I thought it might be an idea to start a dedicated forum. Now I'm quite prepared for this to fall flat on its face, but I thought that rather than email me directly regarding rules queries etcetera using the forum to air questions and opinions instead might be helpful to other crawlers in that it will force me to clarify unclear rules publicly. I am also inviting users to communicate any house rules and other modifications they might have made and to also relate any deeds of derring-do they may have whilst playing CC. If you are interested then please join up and get posting: 

Cavern Crawl Forum

To celebrate the release of 2.8, I thought I would relate thee a recent tale of epic battle and heroic deed from one of my own group's crawls. For those who take their fantasy seriously I apologise in advance for the ridiculous nature of the names with which the intrepid heroes have been christened...

The quest begins. Human Mage 'Debbie McGee', Human Knight
'Ser  Gareth the Gay', Elf Ranger 'Nigel' and Human
Barbarian 'Jakkov the Red' gird their collective loins for battle.

Kicking in the first door catches a trio of Orcish guards, erm,
off-guard. Without hesitation the gang wade in and start
redecorating the chamber with Orc's guts. Debs vaporises an
unfortunate greenskin with a successful casting of  Wrath of
 Taranis.

After clearing out the guardroom of a measly 9 gs, the party
investigate the next door, which gives on to a large room. Nigel
detects a falling block trap, which the ever-impetuous Jakkov
 insists on disarming. He duly fails and is struck by
half-a-tonne of falling stone. The hapless oaf loses 3 Vitality.

In the following corridor Debbie and Nigel exchange arrows
and lighting bolts with a couple of Goblin Warriors, slaying
one of them.

Feeling rather left out, Jakkov and Ser Gareth charge
hell-for-leather down the corridor to close with the remaining
archer. On the way in Jakkov falls into a pit trap and requires
Debbie's healing skills. 

With the Goblins sent to meet their maker the party proceed
through a nearby doorway. The locked door gives egress to
a dusty nook alive with rodents. These are soon eradicated.
A moldering bookshelf gives up a Healing Potion, which
everyone agrees should be given to Jakkov.

Backtracking, our fearless adventurers ramble through empty
catacombs before disturbing a couple of Cave Maggots. No-
one is impressed.

Returning to the scene of their struggle with the Goblin archers
the quartet try an unopened door and disturb an unwelcome
party. Four Orcs and a Cave Troll fill the space between a
yawning chasm and the entrance. Undeterred, the heroes charge. 

Typically Jakkov bites off rather more than he can chew by
launching a solo attack on the Troll. Things hang in the
balance for several turns in which Jakkov makes good use of
that Healing Potion. With a little help from Debs, Jakkov smites
his foe. The battle is won.

Crossing the chasm proves easy for Nigel and Debbie (who
casts Teleport on herself); even Jakkov makes it across
unscathed. Poor Ser Gareth rolls a 1 and plummets into the
abyss. Fortunately Nigel possesses a rope and is able to
haul the wounded knight up from the inky depths.

The next room contains another nasty surprise: Orcs and an
Owlbear. With numbers favouring the heroes the fight is less
intense, though Nigel is badly hurt by the Owlbear.

A roughly-hewn passage leads into a corridor presenting the
usual choice of exits. 

A fell Minotaur patrols a large room and the party fight hard to
best it. Jakkov's Vitality becomes grievously reduced and the
struggle doesn't end a minute too soon. 

Moving onward a secret door gives on to a forgotten crypt
haunted by two Crypt Wights. A tremendous battle ensues,
with Jakkov being reduced to an unconscious state, revived
only by Debbie's fortuitous casting of Touch of Belenos.
After the battle a search of the tomb reveals the Circlet of
Incantation, a powerful magic item that allows mages to
attempt two spells per turn. 

The finale sees the band face off against the depraved ruler
of this subterranean hell: archimage Athok the Obsidian. His
undead Skeleton guards and Gargoyle attack!

Blows are traded in a desperate fight to the death.

Slowly the party push their way onto the dais and the demented
archimage. Jakkov provides a rearguard against the the nigh-
indestructible Gargoyle whilst Ser Gareth sets about Athok
with his Great Sword. Debbie alternately fires off Touch of
Belenos and Wrath of Taranis.

Finally the Gargoyle crumbles to dust, as Jakkov reels from
multiple wounds. Once again Debbie rushes to his aid. In the
opposite corner Nigel and Ser Gareth hack Athok down, the
mad sorcerer perishing with a mad cackle on his blood-
flecked lips.

To the victors, the spoils!

The Good, the Bad, and the, er, Undead

JUST a brief update to share some pictures of what I've painted thus far in April. Being signed off work for two weeks with a fractured elbow (which is, incidentally, on the mend now) has given me plenty of hobby time, most of which has been spent painstakingly editing Cavern Crawl 2.8 prior to release later this month (hopefully, anyway). Still, some time has been set-aside for 'brush-action' in this period and and here is what I've managed.

The knight is 'Sir Grantham Smythe of Chalton' from RBG. For the sake of variety I went for a different colour scheme from my previous fantasy humans (see last post) and I will probably do a couple of other feudal-types in similar colours to represent retainers and suchlike. Opposite is GW's Sharkey/Saruman model from their LotR line. I manged to nab the oop metal incarnation from the ebay for a veritable song, especially when you consider what the Evil Empire are now charging for the model in Finecast! He's painted-up to be a generic evil sorcerer/necromancer type.

Next are a couple of GW LotR Ringwraiths (metal, again) which I have rudely defiled with my meager converting 'skills'. The chap on the left has had a plastic GW skull added and the one on the right a Mantic zombie head (I think...). Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but suitable for my diabolic purposes! These will be 'Crypt Wights' in CC.

Finally a quick n' dirty snap of a play-testing session of 'Companies of Chaos'TM, Cavern Crawl's tabletop skirmish and alliterative cousin. The random force activation didn't go my way at all, but when a lone Zombie very luckily slew a partially injured Ogre my chagrin turned to undisguised glee! Great fun indeed...

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Clifton Road Games in nearby Exeter for a game-or-two of Matakishi's 'Crom' rules. From what I've read of them it should be a blast. Whatever might be on your agendas, I hope you have a good weekend gamers!

Models what I have Painted in March

I'VE not been quite so productive this month, but then I've taken rather more time over these models than February's crop. Also, fracturing my radial head on Tuesday at work certainly hasn't helped the cause! Typically it's my painting arm, too, so my output for April might be seriously retarded. Time will tell... 

These models are the start of my human fantasy faction and as you can see I've gone for a traditional medieval appearance. The spear-men are Ebob Scottish Pikemen and the other three are from Red Box Games. I think they mix together well enough! So 11 models painted in March, bringing 2013's overall total to 48. That's roughly one model painted every two days! 

I'm currently working on some final revisions to Cavern Crawl and will upload the new version in the coming weeks. Play-testers will be required so stay tuned!

Models what I have Painted in February

GREETINGS loyal reader. As is becoming somewhat customary I feel that I should first apologize for my silence over the last month, but you all know how life has a vexatious habit of getting in the way of 'hobby time'. I write 'hobby time' although what I really mean is 'posting the fruits of my hobby time onto the internet', as I've hardly been quiet since my last post! Sticking resolutely to my oath to paint at least one model a week through 2013 I have rather outdone myself in February, tickling no-less than 23 miniatures with the old hairy wand over 28 days. Combined with the fourteen I managed in January, this brings my total to 37: a figure that possibly eclipses my entire output for the preceding year. Huzzah! Enough wind and on with the good stuff...

Lots of Undead this month, so those of a nervous disposish might want to look away. My Cavern Crawl sessions have been distinctly devoid of the shambling and malodorous types that comprise this 'faction', a deficit I thought had better be remedied. First up are eight metal Army of the Dead from the Evil Empire's LotR range. These are to be used as 'skeletons', despite the fact that some of them have yet to reach such an advanced stage of decomposition. 

Next are twelve Red Box Games Zombies (or 'Lesser Infernals', as they are styled), which I managed to snaffle last year when Tre was selling his metal stock off dirt cheap. Probably my favourite shamblers...ever and a breeze to paint to boot! I suppose these will be made available in 'Trollcast' in some future KS. 

Finally we have three metal LotR Orc Archers. These were given to me some years back by a friend and I've only just got around to painting them! Hopefully - given that my painting mojo is currently in hyper-drive - such dilatoriness (I do love online thesauruses) is a thing of the past. 

Expect some Cavern Crawl batreps in the near future.