Steamy Punky Goodness

The preparations for Poldercon are going as planned. With friends and family volunteering as guinea pigs, I’ve  been able to run 3 try-out sessions. Each session has led to some adjustments to the set up and the scenario, hopefully resulting in an enjoyable demo on May 1st.

Meanwhile I’ve painted a couple more miniatures, which have been staring at me across my hobby desk for several weeks now. They are some reinforcements voor the Scylla. The models below come from the same starterbox. The painting method was the same as with the Scylla models mentioned in a previous post, mainly using Contrast Paints over a ‘zenithal primer’.

Vito and Roberto Vendetta are the Heroes from this set, and despite being family (brothers, maybe?), they are very, very different. These differences go well beyond Roberto’s slight tan and Vito’s unhealthy pale complexion – although for someone who’s undead Vito’s paleness might actualy be considered a good thing.

In the game, Roberto is a dangerous sniper with an extremely powerful gun. He’s kept in check by only being allowed one specific target at the start of the game, and he can only pick a new target after the previous one has been taken out.

Vito on the other hand, wields a tommy gun and has stats that are not overly impressive, but very suitable for an undead Halfling. What makes up for this, is that any time a model with the ‘Vendetta’ ability (usually a Hero) is taken out within 6″ of him, he gets a free activation. If a model with the ‘Famiglia’ ability (a.k.a. Henchmen) gets taken out, Vito gets +1 G in his next activation, making him more accurate.

The Henchmen in this set are two Halfling workers, of which you get two for the cost of  ‘1’ in the game. They provide some – not quite deadly- close range fire support and serve as expendable harassment ‘troops’. Keeping them close to Vito so he can ‘avenge’ them when they inevitably get taken out sounds like a good strategy.

Then there are two big cousins, an Ogre Thrower and an Ogre Gangster, providing some much needed muscle in a faction dominated by weedy Halflings. The Ogre Thrower has the interesting ability to throw enemies through the air, potentially at other enemies. Ogres are not known for being great shots though ?

After a hard day of fighting crime, working on extraordinary inventions or a daring heist, what’s more rewarding than taking your loved one out for a romantic dinner by candlelight?

Trattoria La Romantica is said to offer the best of Scyllan cuisine in the whole of Lyonesse – something culinary journalists are curiously reluctant to disagree with.

Back on the blog after spending a bit of holiday in the UK, during which I got myself signed up to host a Wolsung demo game at PolderCon on the first of May.

For those who don’t know, PolderCon is a wargaming event in Utrecht, in the Netherlands. This year there’ll be 20+ different games to play, all hosted by volunteering wargaming enthousiasts.

The day is divided into 4 time slots of 90 minutes, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. For each time slot players can book a spot to participate in one of the demo games. How many spots there are at the table differs from game to game, but is usually something between one and four. This makes the demo’s quite ‘up close and personal’, without the distractions/interruptions of others who’re just passing by.

The clubs I’ll be using for the game will be the Ash & Oak, Inventors and Triad of the Lotus Dragon. Selection of miniatures is based on the contents of the various starter boxes, so there’ll be 2 Heroes a side plus 2-3 henchmen. All the mini’s are already painted (some of my older work, pics will follow), as is the bulk of the terrain. That means there’s plenty of time to ‘waste’ on small details ?

First up is the appartment building, which could use some furniture. The downstairs is going to be a shop, with the upstairs being the living area. All the bits are from one of Mantic Games’ Terrain-Crate kickstarters.

Painting was kept simple, with washes and Army Painter Speedpaint to help creating a little depth. I’m very pleased with the look ‘Hardened Leather’ gives to the wooden furniture on the first floor. Just one coat was enough.

The blue chairs where done with ‘Highlord Blue’, which worked well despite the many flat surfaces on the chairs. I think it did a better job than ‘Ultramarines Blue’ would have done. One thing that did put a spanner in the works is that I was to quick with trying to do some touch ups with the blue paint: apparently the first layer hadn’t dried properly yet and was reactivated by the new layer. This is why the darker chair turned out more blotchy in places – we’ll just pretend it gets too much attention from cats ?.

Here’s a close up of the wooden furniture, plus some street furniture and markers for parcels and packages. Next up is more stuff to put out on the street

After a covid outbreak in the house and distractions from numerous other sources, here’s another update.

I got seriously distracted from the Inventors that were mentioned in my previous post. At first more Scylla figures caught my attention, which will be ready some time next week. Also there were those Shanty Town hovels that were lying around primed and ready to be painted (many thanks to my friend Stefan, who very kindly passed his hovels on to me).

Before priming, all hdf was sealed by applying shellac (https://www.rustins.ltd/rustins/our-products/indoor/shellac-sanding-sealer). I learned about shellac in a video from OnTableTop’s  ‘Gerry can …’ series in which Gerry shows you how you can seal your mdf/hdf. The reason for sealing is that by doing so, you stop the mdf from absorbing all your paint, which makes it much easier to get good coverage.

I must say I think shellac works great! Applying it is quick and easy (I use foam from a blister pack to do this), it dries fast and isn’t overly smelly/messy. Once dry, I only needed one coat of grey primer from a spray can to get perfect coverage. A downside of shellac is that it’s a bit expensive, but I recon the bottle I got will last me for several years. I’ll probably will also save plenty of time, effort, money, exposure to fumes and complaints from my neighbours as I’ll need far fewer cans of spraypaint to get decent coverage,

After applying a medium grey primer, I applied different browns and a dusting of copper and green to the various roofs. Walls, doors and windows were painted using mainly artist en masonry paints. Coverage of these colours wasn’t that important, because I was aiming for a weathered, stripy look.

Weathering was done using some washes, drybrushing (with a very big brush) and ‘Streaking Grime’ from AK Interactive. To add more character, I added advertising posters which can be found here:

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AgCNwicNek7bjWhzQu3RQOH_5nK7?e=9W0GAe

(the link on the Wolsung webpage isn’t working, so I made a scan of the original print that comes with Micro Arts’ Wolsung Advertising Columns)

Below you can see some pictures of the finished result, plus two shots of one of the locals you can encounter in this part of town.

A quick little update with some models for the Inventors. This week I painted a bunch of golems, in the shape of a 3 Clockwork Servants and a 2 Wind-up Soldiers. They are nice little models to paint and are a quick and easy way to increase your henchmen choices.

The little Clockwork Servants help your other, bigger, golems to perform at maximum efficiency. Lubricating joints, tightening nuts (no pun intended) and boosting the batteries – there’s nothing these little fellas can’t do. They’re also handy for holding your tea while you’re trying to decipher those oil-stained blue prints to find out where the red wire needs to go.

Playing with toy soldiers becomes a lot more exciting when the toys actualy shoot back. The cork guns of these troops have a limited range to minimize collateral damage – so one doesn’t need to fear upsetting the neighbours by stray corks hitting their cat.

Next on the painting table are more Inventors to boss the golems around, plus an extra Lab Assistent and the pinnacle of golemic science: the Biocognitive Golem.

Since the previous post I’ve been hard at work getting some paint on the Scylla. For these maffioso Halflings I wanted to try a different painting method than the traditional grey/black undercoat followed by layers and highlights. I decided to give Contrast Paints in combination with ‘zenithal priming’ a try.

I first primed the models with Uniform Grey from The Army Painter, followed by a light spray of GW’s Wraithbone from the top at a 45 degree angle. The idea behind this is that shadows become darker and highlights become lighter, provided that you let the primer shine through the actual paint your using. Contrast Paints are ideal for this, as are the various similar products that are now available (like The Army Painter Speedpaint or Scale 75 Instant Colors).

You can also use this approach with normal paints, but that requires you to carefully thin them down and applying them in very thin layers. This can create very nice results, but to me this feels like a slow proces, where it’s the speed that made me think of this method in the first place.

I’m very pleased with the results, especially considering how fast and easy is was. Apart from the zenithal priming and using Contrast Paint, I only did a bit of drybrushing and the odd extra highlight (mainly for white cuffs and the like)

It’s been a little while since the last update, mainly due to distraction caused by the ‘Tale of x gamers’ that’s running at my local club. Members have (re)started their Warhammer Fantasy armies (6th edition), with the overall goal to finish a 2000 points army by the end of the year. I’ve started with a  new Vampire Counts army and have been mainly painting zombies ?

Wolsung has not been relegated to the back seat however. I was gifted a set of shanty town huts from a friend, who got them via the Wolsung kickstarter (many thanks Stefan ?). They are primed and ready for painting.

The marketplace is called ‘done’ for now, below are a few pictures of how all the bits look when put together

The inventors also got some attention. I made quick work of 2 Laboratory Golems, rapidly followed by a Lab Assistent, Alice Tinkerly and Thorvald Nielsgaard.

The other stall has become a butcher’s. All bits are from Tabletop-Art. Because of the limited pallet, painting was very quick. I put the biggest bits on translucent bases, which wasn’t really necessary for the big crate but the barrel with offal is now less prone to being nocked over during play.

When I’ve got better light I’ll put the whole market place together for a picture. Along with the stalls in the previous post I’ve got a fair number of baskets, bags and crates on clear bases that’ll bulk it out nicely. Salespeople would be a nice addition as well – models from Guildball’s Butchers Guild spring to mind ?

A new year, a new blog, a new medium.

I’m starting this blog with the intention of creating a place to document my adventures in the wonderful world of Wolsung – the steampunk skirmish game – and keep it all in one easily accessible and easy to navigate spot. This also with the aim to share it with other people in an effort to inspire and enthuse them about this wonderful game.

It’s a couple of years since I got introduced to the game by Jeroen, one of my best friends. Timing-wise it came at exactly the right moment in my ‘wargaming career’. Having played first Warhammer Fantasy, Flames of War and Guildball in mainly a competitive way, I had started to reach a point where the thrill of competition became less and less important. To quote the wise words of another friend ‘I’m tired off playing competive battles, I’d like to play more beautiful battles’. Games and battles where it’s not about giving your opponent’s army a hard and fast clobbering, but games where the scenery, the miniatures, the story and the ambiance all combine into one awesome experience. Add food and drink and you’re getting as close to Walhalla as a living and breathing wargamer can get.

For me Wolsung ticks about all of the above. Lovely models, lovely scenery (and lots of it! ), interesting game mechanics and rules and background stories written with a good sence of humour. A game that is not about winning at all costs, but about having a good time with your mates. Top hats, pockets watches and chocolate cigars add to the experience.

On top of that, the possibilities for scenarios and campaigns are endless. The wider Wolsung world, with the fabled metropolis of Lyonesse at its core, is described in enough detail to give it shape, but with enough blank spaces to be filled in by the players imagination. Add to that game mechanics that allow your heroic characters to perform basically any action you can think of, and you have an enormous sandbox full of potential.

So with these words, a start is made, the cogs are whirring!

For future reference, please visit https://steamypunkygoodness.blogspot.com/

I’m mainly sharing this via OTT to help generate more attention for Wolsung, as I think it’s a great game. For lots more content, check the many video’s that BoW/OTT have done on Wolsung in the past, and ofcourse the projectlogs of these members:

Wolsung by Poentje

144Artist Explores Lyonesse or My Journeys into Wolsung