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.

The Details of the Spider Trees

I finally completed the other Games Workshop’s spider tree just in time for this gruesome season.

Tree fungus Spider webs Birds head with yellow beak Pile of skulls Spiders Pile of paw bones

Spider webs Spider Tree fungus Pile of skulls

Imagine you are lost and are wandering around aimlessly in the forest. You see light up ahead and you come out to a clearing in the forest to see two dead trees with all their disturbing details. What is worse, you notice that several spiders residing on the trees seem to have taken notice of you. It is getting dark. Would you continue on in the forest or stay in the clearing? Your answers might prove to be revealing.

A Host of Characters- Skaven with Poisoned Wind Mortar

A Host of Characters is a new project I have started. Toward the close of last year, I started to collect miniatures to use as characters in upcoming war game stories. One such miniature, obtained from Hoard O’ Bits, was a Warhammer Island of Blood, Poisoned Wind Mortar and Skaven crew set. The miniature came unassembled, included three parts and a slotted stand.  

Although I haven’t got around to painting this miniature I did assemble the piece. I am still questioning whether it was wise of me to glue one piece into place before painting the miniature. I might have a hard time painting different elements of the miniature, but what is done is done.

Warhammer Orc Arachnarok Spider Trees

Like I had mentioned back in March these castings are rich in detail and I am having a dandy time of picking out the details with dabs of paint. Unless I take note of some overlooked detail within the castings this miniature is complete.

Projects for March

The beginning of March means we are closer to spring and warmer weather. Although I got some of my older projects out of the way I didn’t get as far as I wanted on my new projects last month, so I have added them to my March list.

1. Warhammer Orc Arachnarok Spider – Trees
   These castings were a lot more detailed than I first had thought and it will take some time to pick out all these small details.
2. Bombshell Miniatures Belphegor Winged Monkey(almost finished)

---

Old Projects

In attempt to clear my workbench of half-finished projects, and for something different, I have added two old HO gauge projects to this month’s project list.

Ratio HO-Gauge Trackside Buildings
507         Grounded Van Body
524         Weighbridge and Hut

---

Completed Projects

Reaper Miniatures
#03608: Aquatic Familiars II
Sea Monster (Aberration)
Mermaid
Octopus (Aberration)

Warhammer Dreadfleet
Graveyard - Leech Wyrm

Bombshell Miniatures
Pumpkin Buddy

Other
Ristuls Market Halloween Basing Kit (10 resin miniatures)

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.

Details of my Hoards O’ Bits Order

I have received my last shipment of miniatures for this year. All of the miniatures are wonderful and I look forward to working on them. They will all will receive a base coat of either grey or black and await their turn for further detailing.

Miniature	Size	Description
Orc Arachnarok Spider- Trees	28mm	3 parts, some assembly required. Finely detailed.
Dreadfleet Graveyard Leech Wyrm	?	Small, but highly detailed sea monster.
Reaper Dark Heaven- Legends, Leprechaun and Owl	25mm	Nice 25mm miniature from Reaper Miniatures. This is my first “Rider” miniature. I need to revisit the Owls that were featured in my readings.
Island Of Blood Skaven Poisoned Wind- Mortar	28m	6 parts and assembly is required.
Dreadfleet Grand Alliance & Dreadfleet Cogs ships	?	Very small, but a lot of detail here. These miniatures should be fun to detail.
Reaper Bits Aquatic Familiars, Walking Fish	25mm	I never opened one of the aquatic familiar packs from Reaper and it seems that I already own one of these miniatures. Well at least one of them will get some paint.

My Last Order of Miniatures for 2014

This is my last order of miniatures for this year. Hoard O'Bits has received a second order from me and will probably receive at least another order sometime next year. Although Hoard O' Bits specializes in surplus Warhammer bits they also have a large collection of bits and miniatures from other manufacturers. This order, with what I already have on hand, should take me through the winter and possibly through part of spring.

Warhammer Bin Bits Orc Arachnarok Spider - Trees

Warhammer Bin Bits Island Of Blood - Skaven Poisoned Wind Mortar

Warhammer Dreadfleet Bin Bits - Graveyard - Leech Wyrm

Warhammer Dreadfleet Bin Bits - Grand Alliance & Dreadfleet Cogs

Warhammer Dreadfleet Bin Bits - Dice

Leprechaun and Owl - Reaper Dark Heaven Legends

Walking Fish - Reaper Bits Aquatic Familiars

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.

A Source of Warhammer Plastic Spruce

Some time ago I made a post of suppliers of plastic spruce. These suppliers supplied plastic spruces of 28mm and 1/72 scale miniatures that were historic in nature. The Bitz Barn offers wide selection of Warhammer fantasy miniatures spruce.

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.

28mm Bretonnian Horse

My Games Works 28mm Bretonnian Horse is complete. I still do not have a place for this miniature, but eventually it will be used in some scene. This miniature went together easily.

Recently, I went back through a few of my earlier posts and added a “horse” label. It really is a lot easier to add the appropriate labels as you go, but sometimes I don’t have enough foresight as to the needs of posts in the future.

My 28mm Games Workshop Wolf has been Completed

My Games Workshop wolf went together easily. The miniature, if you remember, came in four parts. It was a fun project; however it perked my interest for dire wolf and warg miniatures. This miniature was not advertised as a dire wolf, but its size and its apparent ferocious behavior reminds me of what a dire wolf might have looked and acted like.

Sorting Out my Spruce

Here are those Games Workshop spruce by type. As you can see all of these miniatures come in four parts and are either distributed on one, two or three separate spruce. All of the miniature have great detail.

High Elf Horse

Wolf

Bretonnian Horse

Empire Horse

In retrospect, I wish I had ordered two wolf miniatures and had not purchased the Bretonnian Horse as the wolf has more appeal. The other two horses look great and will fit perfectly into my plans for a couple of fantasy scenes I have in mind.

---

WTF are these kits hiding?

My Plastic Sprue Have Arrived from Great Escapes Games

Although this pile of plastic spruce needs to be sorted out, they represent four Games Workshop’s 28mm miniatures. These miniatures were ordered from Great Escapes Games in Great Britain. With exchange rates as they are and the charge levied on me by Paypal for currency exchanges, this is one very expensive pile of plastic.

Single Plastic Games Workshop Sprue

I was preforming one of my reverse web searches the other day. This is where I search through the images on a particular topic and visit the associated website for those I have an interest. I was searching for plastic spruces and came upon a plastic wolf and High Elf horse, but for some reason I did not initially save the link to my Bookmarks. I have been searching for those spruce ever since. Well today, by chance, I finely relocated those plastic spruces. They were found at Great Escape Games. Here is what I have settled on:

• GW Plastic High Elf Horse
• GW Plastic Bretonnian Horse
• GW Plastic Empire Horse
• GW Plastic Wolf

According to online literature these miniatures are either 25 or 28mm. Although the Bretonnian Horse seems like a generic looking horse, the other two horses look like they will fit well into a fantasy theme game, as well as the wolf, which looks very aggressive and menacing.