Dreadfleet’s Skull Island Completed

These piece has sat on my workbench for months, first it needed some dry-brushing, then a wash and finely a basing. Even after it was complete it still awaited my attention. The Dreadfleet’s Skull Island will end on being used with my Pirates of Mysterious Islands ships or perhaps with another set of miniatures ships.

Warhammer Dreadfleet - Bone Hydra

This polystyrene miniature is from the Wargame Factories’, Dreadfleet board game, and it represents one the few monster adversaries.

In Greek Mythology, a hydra was a multi-headed creature; a cross between a dragon and a serpent. When a head was cut off, two would grow in its place, making this a worrisome adversary. What the Bone Hydra’s properties are in this game, I don’t know; best to give this creature a wide berth and stay out of its path.

Projects for June

After a long hiatus I am visiting my dungeon workshops once again, and I plan on getting some painting accomplished.

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New Projects

• Warhammer Dreadfleet- Bone Hydra
• Kings Of War- Skeletal Dog
• Hordes O' Bits- Bomber Torch Runt

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Old Projects

Warhammer Dreadfleet- Skull Island

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Completed Projects

Reaper Miniatures
#03608: Aquatic Familiars II
Sea Monster (Aberration)
Mermaid
Octopus (Aberration) Warhammer Dreadfleet
Graveyard - Leech Wyrm
Warhammer Orc Arachnarok Spider – Trees
Bombshell Miniatures
Pumpkin Buddy

Other

Ristuls Market Halloween Basing Kit (10 resin miniatures)

An Encounter with a Sea Monster

Sea monster or sea dragon, call it what you will; coming in close proximity with a creature like this on the high seas is enough to unnerve even the most resolute of men. The sea monster and the ship traveled parallel of one another for a good league or two in the pre-dawn hours without the other the wiser.

At dawns first light the ships lookout noticed the object and called for the mate on duty. The mate took out his telescope and took note that it was a sea creature of the sort, which is best to keep your distance from. Not wanting to draw attention to the ship, a more experienced officer would have veered off a few degrees at a time, but the mate ordered” hard to port”. The creature took notice of the abrupt movement and lunged toward the ship.

Whether the creature looked at the ship as challenger or a possible meal, the crew of the ship put all the sail they had to the wind and broke out the oars to gain as much distance from the creature. At this point the creature is very close and the ships only chance is to, after swinging to port, to face the sea dragon and fire its four port side cannon in hopes to decapitate the creature.

Properties for my Dreadfleat Ships

These are the proposed properties for my Dreadfleet grand alliance and cogs. See my previous post relating to this topic, Components needed for a Simple Game.

Die Roll
1-3:    In disrepair
4-6:    In repair

Die roll	Situation
1	Worm ridden: the first bad storm, cannon shot at the waterline, or hitting of a reef this ship will take on water and sink.
2	Be barnacled: barnacles slow down a ship and make it hard to maneuver the craft. This ship needs to be careened at the first possible opportunity.
3	This ship is in disrepair, this could mean the rigging needs over hauling or that the sails need patching. At this point any stormy weather will cause problems that will have to be addressed thus either causing deaths, injuries, or slowing down the vessel when speed and maneuverability is needed most.
4	After coming out of a storm and needing some minor repairs, which are underway, these minor nuisances do not affect the maneuverability of the craft.
5	The captain runs a tight ship and this ship is in good repair.
6	This ship, just coming out of dry docks, is in excellent repair.

Projects for August

There as been a snap-Fu with last month’s projects post, and I am still working on those Dreadfleet ships from last month. I have made some head way and I have just about completed these miniatures. In addition, I also painted twelve desert cactus plants.

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New Projects

None

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Old Projects

7 Dreadfleet Grand Alliance & Cogs ships

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Completed Projects

Reaper Miniatures
#03608: Aquatic Familiars II
Sea Monster (Aberration)
Mermaid
Octopus (Aberration) Warhammer Dreadfleet
Graveyard - Leech Wyrm
Warhammer Orc Arachnarok Spider – Trees
Bombshell Miniatures
Pumpkin Buddy

Other

Ristuls Market Halloween Basing Kit (10 resin miniatures)

Components needed for a Simple Game

1. Playing Pieces for X-number of Combatants
I will be using the seven miniature dread fleet grand alliance ships and cogs for my main playing pieces. In addition, the dread fleet’s leech wyrm sea-monster will also be brought into play randomly.

2. Properties for Combatants
I had formally created properties for the leech wyrm sea-monster and need to come up with properties for the grand alliance and cogs.

3. Playing Area
I don’t know when I will get around to this playing component and may just play my first games on a table top, but it would be nice to have a playing surface that resembles an ocean surface. A 24 x 24 inch playing area should be about the right size for these miniatures.

4. Dice

Although having dice in multiple colors might be nice, I do have plenty of the dice on hand. I do need to work-up some properties for dice rolls for movement, offensive and defensive turns, and for the effects of weather.

Grand Alliance and Cog Ship Work Flow

     Start at the bottom and work your way up:

1. Paint waves a shade of blue; use something bright
2. Paint super structure and mast a dark brown color
3. Paint oars a light brown or tan color
4. Paint sails white or an off white color. Vary the colors a bit on the sails
5. To help identifying each vessel of the same type, paint banners different colors on each vessel
6. Go back and dry brush a contrasting color on waves
7. Using white add dry brushing to some of the waves crests 
8. Dry brush two shades of brown to add contrast to the ships super structure
9. Add some shading and highlights to the sails

Attributes for the Leech Wyrm Sea Monster

I found this miniature at Hoards O’ Bits; it is from their Games Workshop Dreadfleet collection. This miniature will eventually be coupled with the set of Cogs and other ships, also from Hoards O’ Bits Dreadfleet collection. It might also be pressed into service with my Pirates of the Curse of Davy Jones game.

The Leech Wyrm has the following attributes:

The Leech Wyrm can move 3 if under water and 2 if on top. When resolving a Move action the controller of this piece must roll a die. On the die roll of a 1 or 3 the sea monster is assumed to be moving under water, while on a roll of anything else it is assumed to be moving on top of the sea.

Sea monsters cannot attack while under water except when they are ramming a ship from underneath the water. If the controlling player is going to attempt a ram the creature must be moving under the water and be in the same space as the ship. The player will announce his intention and then roll a dice. If they roll a 6 the ship is sunk.

While on top the water and in the same spot as the ship the Leech Wyrm may attempt one of the following attack methods:

• It may snatch a crew member from the ship
• It may attempt to destroy the spars, rigging, or superstructure of the ship

These actions will be resolved using the following die rolls:

• Snatch a crew member from the ship- 1.
• Destroy the spars, rigging, or superstructure of the ship (one per turn) 3 or a 6. Any damage to the ship will hinder the ship from moving her basic movement action.

Whenever Leech Wyrm is attacking on the surface the defender gets to fire its cannon and any other ordnance it may have before the creature retires.

The defender will use their normal cannon die rolls, however they will have to have at least two successful shots to kill the Leech Wyrm.

Projects or December

The holiday season almost upon us and with the holidays is some time off and winter weather that May keep me more home bound than I care to be; thus the expanded project list.

1. Ykreol et le Pere Noel miniature This miniature accompanied their Nativity set 
2. 7 Dreadfleet Grand Alliance & Cogs ships and Dreadfleet Graveyard Leech Wyrm (sea serpent) 
3. Continue to work on Ykreol Nativity set 
4. Cut out the Battle of Dorking print and play game components 
5. Cut out the Battle Honey Springs print and play game components 
6. Cut out paper dragon or haunted bungalow

Projects for September

Houston, we have a problem here. I should have known that I wouldn’t get to all those projects I had planned for the month of August. Last month I aimed a bit too high, so I am going to be a bit more conservative with my estimates this month.

1. Finish painting Dreadfleet Leviathan Island (Scenery piece)
2. Finish painting my SplinteredLight Badger (20mm)
3. Create and paint a three detail pieces for the base, (the one I completed last month) gears, slab of steal, and rusty spring.

Four Dreadfleet Resources

I have looked at the Games Workshop’s Dreadfleet game before and wondered whether I should make the purchase. The box is cram packed with multiple plastic spruce with game components attached. The whole game, with the exception of game board, a large cloth map, will need to be assembled and painted. The instructions and art within the instruction booklet is splendid and the game is said to play well.

With all that you receive with the purchase of this game, its price that nears $80.00 is not all that bad. I might consider purchasing this game; it would definitely keep me busy for a while. However, am I up to the task?

Dreadfleet - An Introduction

A Games Work introductory video that gives you a preview of the game plot the game components.

Dreadfleet Review – First Game

Like the title alludes to the site gives the battle report from the author’s first game of Dreadfleet.  

Dreadfleet assembly and painting tutorials

 Provides multiple videos on the assembly and painting of many of Dreadfleets components.

Miniature Miscellany-DreadFleet

Features the author’s review of and his progress painting several of Dreadfleets ships and other components.

Dreadfleet Leviathan Island

My Dreadfleet islands have arrived from Hoard O’ Bits. The islands are just about the right size for my Pirates at Ocean's Edge, ECT games. Even though there isn’t too much in the way of assembly, I appreciate having something to fit together before painting a piece. These islands will be a welcome addition to the flat cardboard islands that are supplied with these game packages.

Projects for August

Here it is August already! Where have the last two months gone; another academic year is almost upon me.

The 28mm Persian miniature did not get painted last month or the month before. Perhaps this miniature will get some attention sometime in the near future. It seems that am a bit more ambitious this month. We will see.

1. Paint Dreadfleet Leviathan Island (Scenery piece)
2. Finish painting my Splintered Light Hare and Beaver (20mm)
3. Paint base piece (this will be used to display a couple of steam engines that I have completed some time ago and some robot miniatures that I will be painting in the near future)
4. Complete small metal shed (This is my first DIY project in a while. I also have a few other DIY projects that I that want to accomplish in the near future)
5. Create and or paint a few prop pieces for the base, see number 3 (gear, slab of steal, and rusty spring)

Hoard O' Bits

I recently came across a site that deals in surplus Games Workshop Warhammer bits. Some of the brands that Hoard O' Bits carries are Battletech, Dreadfleet, Dreamforge, Hobbit, Wargames Factory, Warhammer,Warhammer 40k, Pegasus Hobbies, and FireForge. Some of the types of bits that Hoard O' Bits carries are Board Game Bits, Buildings, Creatures, Terrain, Weapons, and Monsters.

While I was visiting the site the other day I purchased three Dreadfleat islands. I thought I might try to make use of these islands with my Pirates of Mysterious Islands miniatures. I also purchased a Warhammer Powder Monkey and a Garden Of Morr - Main Gate.

There were more than a few items that caught my eye, but at the time of my visit were temporary out of stock. I created an account with Hoard O' Bits and I will be contacted when the following items are back in stock: Female Sorceress, The Hobbit Goblin King, and a Small Shack.