Wednesday 5 May 2021

GNW Progress and other Stuff....

 Firstly, the command base of part 1 of Phase Two of my GNW project. I asked Nick to make up one battalion of all Grenadier heads, to depict the grenadier battalion of the Livgarden til Fods (footguards) and he happily obliged. The command stand has now been completed, using one of the flags I located via Google.


The flag used and a very brief overview of the Lifeguards



Closer shots from three different angles....


..... once again, I am very happy with how these figures have come out.


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Next up, I mentioned I had a Sunday afternoon game with my mate Andrew. Once again, the fantasy Frostgrave collection was dusted off and hit the table. To add some variety, I also took along and used a few of my recent Border Reivers collection - at least it got a few of them onto a gaming table and "blooded"!


A view of the gaming area


One of Andrews many outstanding items of scenery


My first warband - the lady in green is a sorceress this time, with the Reiver behind her as a Hero


Andrews hero in the light coloured cloak


The other half of my team, again, a Reiver represents a hero, with an actual genuine Frostgrave sorceress in red behind him


Frostgrave plastic warrior with a female head by Statuesque Miniatures


The Sorceress casts a spell


On the other side, Andrews sorceress was having good success against my "minions"


Two archers deployed to cover the flank of my advance


Ganging up - two girls take on a single peasant!


Two separate sword fights - we won one each


My hero charged across the table and managed to take out the sorceress


Despite rolling 11 on two D6, this poor archer didn't really have much hope against the hero


My other sorceress casts a final spell.

In game one, I lost more figures but by good luck rather than anything else, I lost fewer VIP figures, so when we totted up the victory points, I was surprised to have won by a couple of points - it didnt feel like I was winning during the game!




Team two - the two heroes are two different Reivers and the ladies are the magic users


Sword armed minions


A couple of bow armed Reivers - Andrew was surprised, he did not realise I had any non female figures for this genre!


On any roll of a double, ghastly apparitions would appear randomly on the table and attack either side, based on a die roll. These lovely figures are all painted by Andrew


Luckily, we only rolled one double across both games - this was the ghoul that appeared


Right next to my spear armed Nun 


One of my girls in close combat with an enemy minion


The two sorceresses conspire together to ruin Andrews day


Two heroes locked in mortal combat - after a couple of rounds, my Reiver was victorious


On the other flank, the two heroes also engaged in hand to hand combat - and again, my guy triumphed


But Andrews sorcerer was again zapping my minions at a great rate of knots - I think he dispatched both the nun and the red haired barbarian, before taking out one of my sorceresses too


Like game one, I felt like I had lost - I definitely had more casualties - but because I killed two heroes and Andrew only got one of my sorceresses, plus extra points from achieving particular game missions, I again came out on top by a very small margin.

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Finally, today I had to take a day trip to the port city of Tauranga on the east cost of the Bay of Plenty, about 150 km from my home in Pukekohe and as it was such a nice day, after my meeting, I took the opportunity to take a few pics to share with my blogger buddies 


One of the suburbs of Tauranga is called Mount Maunganui - this is the said mount


View along Mt Maunganui beach


The busy port of Tauranga


Mt Maunganui from another angle


Views of the scenery I drove through between Tauranga and Pukekohe


At Paeroa, on my return journey, I took the opportunity to stop at this place. I have passed it at least 6 or 8 times per year for over 30 years and have never visited - today was the day I remedied that omission!


A hand made scale model of the Bark HMS Endeavour - Captain Cooks ship


This beautiful model of a Royal Navy ship was also hand crafted (its not a scale model kit) by a local retired RNZN man


This 19th century steam barge lay submerged in the local river for about 40 years before it was reclaimed by a group of local enthusiasts, who had intended to restore it - money, however, could not be raised, so its now housed in a purpose built display


A couple of shots of a old steam pleasure cruiser




An Oerlikon (?) AA gun from either a German E Boat or British MTB - both sides used them


An old steam traction engine....


....a long way from its original home - a bit like my good self!


To be honest, the museum was a bit of a disappointment - I am glad I went alone and didn't drag my wife along, Entry was only $8 so it didn't really matter - but I am sure, years ago, they had some kind of military vessel on display, but its not there now. Perhaps I imagined it, or perhaps its been relocated to the Maritime Museum in Auckland. Notwithstanding the underwhelming experience at the museum, it was a pretty good way to spend an 8 hour work day - 5 hours driving, a 90 minute meeting and home an hour earlier than usual!

More Swedes next time.

38 comments:

  1. Great start on phase 2. You've also reminded me that I need to dust off my own Border Reivers when I get a chance

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  2. Thanks Neil...hope to see your Reivers some day soon!

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  3. Another lovely stand of figures Keith...
    And what splendid working day you had...

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Cheers Aly, the all grenadier unit will be a little bit different when completed. It was a good work day for sure, I need more like that!

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  4. Hi Kieth- Splendid Game and great Figures. Captain Cook's ship was the Bark 'ENDEAVOUR'...The Bounty was Captain Bligh's. Cheers. KEV.

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    1. Duh of course you are right Kev...I will edit it now!

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  5. DIversified and splendid pictures, especially the Bay of Plenty, the Life guards...and the sorcerer!

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    1. Thanks Phil, I had a lot to share this time!

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  6. So much going on in this post, Keith. Your grenadier stand is superb and I reckon you must live in paradise.

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    1. Thank you Jon, it's not a bad little country!

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  7. Good to start the next force without pausing ….. and a pair of most splendid flags. The fantasy setting is superb, half the story is told my the immersion in that wonderful terrain.

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    1. Thanks Norm. I have mentioned in a previous post that Andrew used to be a professional model maker...architectural model, concepts of future housing estates etc. so his terrain is top class.

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  8. A great start on P2. I do like the new flags too!
    The Frostgrave game looks very interesting as well.

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    1. Thanks Ray. I am not a huge fan of fantasy but it's fun to play every now and then.

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  9. Great looking minis and a lot of fun game sir!

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    1. Thanks you Michal - the games were certainly fun!

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  10. Lovely job on the GNW soldiers, the flags are great in the unit. There is a lot in your post, great border rievers, a period I often hankered over. Those tiles inthe frostgrave game are a hoot. Could you tell me where they are from?f

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    1. Thanks for all your positive feedback ! I can't tell you about the tiles but I ca find out.... So check back in a bit😊

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    2. The fancy detailed ones (with a bit of a shine on some photos - I will matt varnish them at some point) are from a recent GW game : Warhammer Quest: Cursed City.
      The other plainer ones with the recurring stone pattern are from a site that I know no longer exists. (I still have the file for them though)

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  11. Another great unit Keith and as always, the flags really do look superb. The Frostgrave game is a joy to behold and reminds me of my Mordheim games many moons ago. Some great photos too of your drive for work and the bay does look so beautiful. One day SWMBO and I hope to travel to NZ for a delayed honeymoon, but I think a few years off yet.

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    1. Thanks Steve, the fantasy skirmishes are good fun and Andrews scenery really enhances the aesthetic pleasure. I hope you do make it here one day, perhaps we will still be in touch via the blogging and we could catch up for a beer or meal!

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  12. Great addition to your GNW units, Keith. Fantastic looking game - and sights as well. Amazing to think how far the early explorers traveled in age of sail. BTW, my mom was born in Captain Cook, Hawaii.

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    1. Thanks Dean. Yes pretty amazing where they were able to go with the technology they had available. Mind you, the Maoris and other Paicific Islanders travelled all over the Pacific and reached New Zealand just using their knowledge and understanding of the stars for navigation.

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  13. Great looking command Keith, flags are really nice 👍 looks like an entertaining game of frostgrave and an enjoyable day out too 👍

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    1. Thanks Matt - a yes to all your comments! Next week I have a work trip to Hamilton so I am thinking about dropping in to Rangiriri Pa, another historic site I have driven past hundreds of times but never visited!

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  14. a lovely command stand Keith, and again the flag looks great. I remember spending several happy summer holidays in Mt Maunganui, although New Year's Eve was always a bit full on.

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    1. Cheers Lawrence, yes "The Mount" is still one of our Festive Hot Spots, although as we discussed in earlier posts around New Year, Whangamata and Whitianga are the real action centres!

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  15. Great stuff all around! I’ve yet to try out frostgrave nut everyone I know likes it. 😀

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    1. Just a clarification FWIW, we were using my adaption of another set of rules rather than Frostgrave (although we have used it before & it's fine - sometime I might drop in the spells from FG to this set, especially since I bought the very nice set of spell cards (Keith even printed off his own set when we were first playing it!)). I also like fiddling about with rules to simplify them as much as possible.

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    2. Thanks Stew...as Andrew has noted...I should not really call these games Frostgrave, as we are using different mechanics...but the collection of fantasy figures I use for these occasional games were originally collected and intended for use with Frostgrave!

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  16. Another enjoyable 'mixed bag' Keith. Marvellous foot guards, a saucy sorceress and beautiful photos from your travelogue. Those ship models are superb!
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James...the ship models were very impressive

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  17. A nice range of things to take in. Great Northern War is always a welcome sight (as are the other "alternates" to the more conventional WSS). Interesting to see Reiver figs repurposed for Frostgrave (and why not, when you come to think of it)? Always impressed by the lovely sights of NZ; mountains and seascapes abound, it seems.

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  18. Thanks for the return visit Ed! The Reivers have been patiently waiting for many months to get any kind of action, so like you say, I thought "Why not fantasy?" Many of Andrews extensive collection have a distinctly Renaissance look to them.

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  19. Great looking northern war unit! I like you're not frostgrave game, it's the only fantasy game I've played in recent years and I have a warband mostly painted in about 1980! Nice museum and scenery too!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, the not Frostgrave games were fun! The all grenadier GNW unit us completed now and I am onto the Nylands Regiment with white facings and the Karpus style hats.

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