Topic: Mikes 25mm WFB Stirland Terrain

[Mike Stockin]

Toll Booth.

It sits on the north road from Heiligsheld, manned normally by 2 men from the Counts fortified manor.











Out the front on a bodged old sign are the blurred and worn toll fees, some less than generous road users say the signage is faded on purpose so the prices can be inflated.

As for the Toll Booth itself, whilst study with a single arrow slit to discourage people from trying to batter down the door, it is otherwise unremarkable.

Mostly the lads who are on duty linger about outside, hence the barrels.

On one barrel we see a bottle of cheap rotgut and the skull of the very first Toll Keeper, Jan Tresor. People say he drank and smoked so much that his mouth became rotten early on in life, but somehow even as a lowly toll keeper he managed to find the money to have gold teeth made to replace his own.
He was quite lucky like that, so the lads who are on duty keep his old bone box around as a good luck charm, hoping his fortune will rub off on them.

On the wall are some posters, one of which is of the famous fiddler, Anna-Sophia Muter.
She is a very accomplished musician, made more popular with bored toll keepers due to her tight clothing and bawdy songs.
The other posters are about codes of conduct for games keepers and road wardens by Herr Doctor Stillman, and the last a poster detailing the most recent hangings in the nearest town.



Below we see the brothers 'Spider' and Heff.
Once part of Martyn Hauer's mercenary company but now in service to Count Halven.

[Philhelm]

Awesome painting and background for such a "lowly" terrain piece.  I've always loved Stirland.

It's been years since I've played Warhammer, but The Old World is making me itch.  I don't have the table for it anymore and don't think I can justify the price but have decided to start a 15mm project.  What's funny is that I just recognized your name; my first dip into 15mm was with Crom's Anvil miniatures.

[Mike Stockin]

Thank you and double awesome!!

Have you thought about 10mm Warhammer?

[Philhelm]

Thank you and double awesome!!

Have you thought about 10mm Warhammer?

I have indeed thought about it.  I never played Warmaster, but I 3-d printed and painted some High Elf spearmen made by Forest Dragon.

I know that a lot of veteran WFB players welcome The Old World and the return of some classic miniatures, but before we knew all of the details I took heat on a Facebook group for suggesting that it should either (A) be released with round bases, rank-and-file movement trays, and with unit rules for AoS (to reduce competition between the games which would make sense if the reason for WFB's deletion was due to lack of sales), or (B) be released in a smaller scale such as 10mm or 15mm.  Imagine if you could buy a finely-detailed, plastic, army-in-a-box of smaller scale Warhammer Fantasy forces that can be played on smaller tables.

I personally moved on to skirmish level games, so I probably won't be playing The Old World, especially at a premium cost for dated or mis-matched models (for example, seeing the new Bretonnian foot knights next to the classic models is a bit jarring).  I still love the Old World lore though, so I can't quite leave it behind.

[Mike Stockin]

Not warmaster but WFB with 10mm.
I did this for about 5 years, just swapped from inches to cm and used 10/12mm models instead.

I am still playing WFB 3rd edition even though some lads down the club have started TOW.
As you note the scale creep is also mad!!

[commandant]

I do this with TOW but use 15mm and half everything

[Philhelm]

Not warmaster but WFB with 10mm.
I did this for about 5 years, just swapped from inches to cm and used 10/12mm models instead.

I am still playing WFB 3rd edition even though some lads down the club have started TOW.
As you note the scale creep is also mad!!

I was probably going to play with a different, non-GW ruleset, so I won't need as many miniatures (maybe 10-man units rather than 20).  Alternatively, I could always play smaller battles, and I have a few editions of Warhammer Fantasy, going back to 4th edition.  One thing I don't like about TOW is that it doesn't have all of the factions I'd like.  I've never played 3rd edition; what made you decide on that version?

[Mike Stockin]

Back in the day when I was first into WFB 2nd was just coming to and end so I waited for 3rd to come out, it is what I grew up playing.
Then about 5 years ago when I decided to get back into fantasy wargames I bought a copy of 3rd, 4th and 6th to see what I liked.
Still 3rd.
It has the least intrusive magic system, from 4th onwards it felt too much like a mini game.
It had the crunchiest combat, combats take longer which allows free units held in reserve time to bolster units that are fighting.
Reserves and flanks and what not a proper important.

It has all the rules, rules for all sorts of troops and weapons and formations.
Chargers don't strike first, it is based on initiative and that is modified by weapon speed, reach and target.
So a pike has great reach but slow speed, so it gets an initiative bonus vs cavalry.
In 3rd pike blocks are very good for defense, as you would expect.

Defensive play is not penalised, as defending troops could still strike the chargers first, based on initiative.

Combat takes longer as noted as the WS vs WS in 3rd is 5+ for like on like rather than 4+.
Which ties into the combat taking longer as it is harder to hit.

So TLDR I prefer the mechanics.

3rd also favours more story based games.
IF you decide to use the army lists there are no named hero models.
You have levels and these levels have titles.
Levels 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25.
A level 20 for example is a count.
Not a specific elector count, not the grand theoginist, not Karl Franz, rather just a title and you have to choose their name yourself.
However the rulebook says just play with whatever models you and your mates like.
Even the single army book (yes just one for all the races, neato eh) says to ignore and change things to best suit your style of play.

WFB 3rd edition felt more creative and less restrictive.
Couple that with it having rules for all occasions...

It works for me.

[Mike Stockin]

FRAULEIN PFIEZELS OLD COTTAGE

Fraulein Pfiezel is rumoured to be a witch.

She lives in her cottage, which is a few hours walk out of the village proper.
It can be reached via a small track that leads off from the main road, which can be identified by an old abandoned cart that has become quite overgrown,

Rumour aside, we do know that she likes to keeps to herself a lot.
On the rare occasions she does come into the village the folks there are deferent and polite.

She is often wandering the hills to the north of Heiligsheld or the deeper areas of the woods.
She is an accomplished herbalist and is the locals go to for cures and remedies.

Her cottage is small, and she has a small herb garden that she maintains fastidiously.

On her door is the skull of what the villagers say is a Beastmen she killed for wandering too close.

She claims to know nothing about anything like that, and she says it is just a skull she found, probably a sheep or goat or something.
She would say that though, she is deaf as a post, even with her hearing trumpet fashioned from the thigh of  a Beastman.

She also has a cat.

[opendialog]

Looks great! 


__________________________
dieta pudełkowa wrocław

[Zygmund]

This style of buildings are classic. Like from the pages of the Citadel how-to books. 

-Zyg

[Mike Stockin]

Thanks, here is what I am working on:

So begins my farmhouse build.

I am basing it on the Townscape one.
It will be close enough for people to recognise it, but not a faithful reconstruction.



Balsa wood for the timber and foamed PVC for the shell/substructure. Superglue being my weapon of choice.








Fiddly Bits



Then rapid dry Polyfilla for the rendering.

It gets messy so I find I need to scrap it off and score the balsa where the filler has tried to make it look a bit more wooden again.

Some scrap plasticard for the roof substructure so I have something to rest the roof tiles on.







I think the Townscape farm has tiles but I am going a bit poorer what with it being Stirland and am doing wooden shingles again.

However the balsa I have is too thick for shingles as it is, so once cut into strips I then carefully slice them down their length to make them about half the thickness.



Then after quite a while and just under 400 tiles later...







Then some various odds and sods



Also filled the windows.
I use plastic mesh / granny grating but I find that used as is, the gaps are too deep, so I fill them with plasticine and this helps make them look less rubbish.

I use plasticine as it is cheap and I use it loads for other stuff.
Jam in it:







Then to paint it and base it...