Here doggie, good doggie.....

Hi all

The Silvermoon Trade Syndicate  have their collective fingers in many pies, from import/export (both legal and illegal) to opium dens, to prostitution and a multitude of illicit activities including gambling!  One of the many places that the shadier Jwar citizens can gamble at are the fighting pits, where giant Butos clash in titanic struggles, gladiators of all shapes and sizes can find glory in front of a baying crowd.  Of course there are various different types of fighting pits from the more luxurious special built arenas to the most seedy back streets in Jima town.  This is where you'll find the animal fights. 

****quick disclaimer - I vehemently oppose organised animal fights/blood sports of all kinds, i find them abhorent and do not support them in any way, humans have choice  (most of the time) and can do what they like but animals do not!!****

Anyway for Xmas, for my STS faction I received  some "Pit Dogs" here is the blurb from GCT Studios...

The mongrel pit dogs of Jima’s fighting pits are bred for their ferocity and savage nature from pups, with only the most aggressive and vicious surviving. Harshly trained and conditioned into living weapons, used to create spectacle and serve as guard dogs for the Oyabun and high ranking members of the Gumis. The Iron Fist’s trainer able to guide these hounds with the crack of a whip to wreak havoc amongst their terrified victims.  

I wanted them for their ability to run interference for my other fighters.  They are relatively quick - ignoring terrain, tough and cause fear if they initiate melee.  Not the best fighters but tenacious and when combined with some future faction fighters, particularly the animal trainers that arrived over the holiday period (that will include my birthday too) they should prove to be quite the handful.  At only 3 rice each and with a dual track I intend to take both if I can, when I can.  

From a painting point of view they were fairly simple, a little Vallejo "Chocolate brown" and white and its all done.

I'm so excited about the imminent arrival of the rest of the faction, we've got Oyabuns, Sumo/Butos, street urchins, leopards, repeating crossbows and fighting chickens!! 

hope you enjoy

dGG

Xmas Haul

hi all

This post is mostly a thank you. First of all I have to thank my Secret Santa, organised by Cath Willey over on "The Blog with No Name". This is the first time I've participated and I was very happy to see a box of goodies turn up a couple of weeks ago even happier when I opened it and found these.....

These are just about as perfect as they could possibly be and will be used of course for my beloved Bushido and just goes to show that the Secret Santa has read the blog :-)

Talking of perfect gifts, I received a lovely gift from Roger of "Rantings From Under the Wargames Table".  Thank you Roger, amazingly kind and generous too.

As for the haul from the family, it was pretty bloody impressive, i guess in part due to my success on Black Friday and re-gifted back to me....  ;-)

Loads and loads of Bushido including two new factions and tonnes of dice, the real prize being the Bushido Rule-book, I know you can download the rules for free but the book gives you all of the background that the download doesn't.  As regular readers of this blog know I love the "fluff" that surrounds gaming, it gives the games depth and, for me at least gives them longevity.

One of the gifts from Missus Gobbo was the Heroclix Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set, which meant that the annual Christmas family board game session involved the Turtles looking for April O'Neil and save her from the Mousers (which they failed...)

I even managed to superglue one of the new factions together, i'm looking forward to getting these bad boys and girls on the painting table.

I also got this lot from Master Crafted Miniatures, they are going to add a great deal of detail to my new Prefecture Board.

anyway, I hope that you all got the shiny new toys that you desire.

hope you enjoy
dGG

Prefecture of Ryu board - WIP part 1

hi all

So a quick update WiP on my new board, this one is for my Prefecture of Ryu faction and will represent the inside of a Damiyo's palace/castle.  I must admit I'm struggling with this one a bit with regard to the interior of the building.  The game requires 25 - 50% terrain coverage, but the inside of Japanese buildings are traditionally quite spartan, this leaves me in a little bit of a pickle.  So over the next couple of weeks I'll have to put my thinking cap on.  Of course I do have my dividing walls that I produced last time and I have got some nice 3D printed statues and lanterns from Master Crafted Miniatures coming so hopefully I can get something sorted (note to self - plan more before you dive into a project half cocked....)

Anyway, what I've done so far is to take one of my last remaining artist canvas which measures 60cm x 60cm, just short of the 24" squared  requirement and add some wooden trim to it. with that done I lined the canvas with some corrugated cardboard in order to provide some strength.  I then took some paint I bought in Poundland and gave it a quick coat or three...

Once that was done I added the Poundland tiles to the board to represent the flooring, originally I had the idea to do the whole floor with coffee stirrers - can you imagine how long that would have taken!?!  So when Jez directed my attention to the tiles (4 for a £1) I was delighted.  The tiles are 12"x 12" so needed a little trim to fit and we end up with this...

A couple of the scenarios in the game require a corner deployment zone measuring 6 x 6" so I decided to make these as terrain pieces rather than just a boring square that I mark out, to this end I thought I would do them as either viewing platforms/balconies.

For the base of the piece and to lend a bit of strength to the piece I used some lengths of thick mdf that came as packaging for our new oven.  Cutting them to 12" lengths and adding the cut off to strengthen the joins I glued the mdf together with "no nails" which holds it brilliantly.

I then cut some foamboard to the shapes of supporting walls and added some wooden coffee stick bolsters that would hold the planking of the slopes in place.

using "no nails" to bond the walls and mdf I constructed this....

I then cut out the 6x6" deployment zone and glued that in place before using my old fave coffee sticks to the angled foamboard to form a slope.  I ummed and ahhed about putting in stairs but actually wanted a slope as its more practical and looks just as nice.

and with the balcony and trim in place, I just needed to paint it and put the flooring in for the platform.

Next up time to cut out a piece of floor tile for the platform.

I also painted the inner walls white and shaded them with some Agrax and drybrushed them white again.  The wood work I drybrushed in increasingly lighter greys, I decided to do this because there was no way I was going to be able to match the beams or planks to the floor tile colours so it was better to do something altogether different.  The outer walls I painted using the same "Rustic Red" as the trim on the board.  For some further decoration I drew some Kanji onto "aged" parchment representing the symbols for "Honour" "Integrity" "Dragon" etc, then using PritStik glued them to the walls.

So that's as far as I have got with the limited time I've had, I'm very pleased with the result, I have another one to build for the other corner and there will be more to come after Christmas.

I have had a very rare week off  which will include the big day itself, so it falls to me on behalf of the Nerd Herd and da Gobbo's Grotto to wish all of you, who have followed this blog and the exploits of the Nerd Herd a very Merry Christmas and may Santa bring you all the shiny new toys your heart desires, I'll catch you after the big day.

hope you enjoy
dGG

Battle 2 and an apology

hi all

The first part of the title - below is the link to mine and Damon's second battle of "the Starter Set Wars"  a series of battles using only the starter sets for GCT Studio's Bushido that we have recorded and published on YouTube. The game was recorded at the same time as the first one so the quality is a little poor (the next recording session will be in HD - I hope) but it does lead onto the second part of the title the apology....

l-r Hanso, Miaro, Yariman of Ryu, Hiro (fromt), Jin (back)

Yumi, Rice Farmer of Ro-Kan, Master Ekusa (front), Atsuko (rear), Kenko

Sadly the camera ran out of the power half way through the game and the last few turns were lost :-(

But we went ahead and published the first turns anyway because.... well just because really, it's experience and the game was fun so we published! 

Enjoy the bits of film we have, subscribe and like if you do.  

https://youtu.be/3x5yjF-vNu0

Hope you enjoy

dGG

Darkness Gathers (part 3)

hi all

please find the batrep of battle 3 of my recent Bushido tournie (I told you it takes a while to write them up!).  If you need to refamiliarise yourself with what happened in previous battles/episodes you can read them here, here and here.

As before I've only taken a few photos so sorry for the lack of eye candy, you'll just have to make do with the narrative ;-P

Soldiers of the Prefecture of Ryu

Aiko,struggling to keep up with small column of Temple monks, felt the leathery hand of her Guardian lift her up and onto his broad back. The giant silver-backed gorilla, recently brought back from the brink of death by Aiko’s power following a devastating katana strike, barely broke stride as he easily bore the weight of the young Shungenja.  The scar that followed the line of his powerful shoulders and down his spine was still vivid and raw, Aiko traced the wound with her fingertip allowing her Ki to sink into the flesh, cleansing it from any lingering infection. With a snort of relief, the huge simian looked over his shoulder with a toothy smile on his normally serious face.  Aiko, wrapping her fingers in his coarse black fur settled back and looked around at the landscape that the weary Ro-Kanese found themselves travelling through.   

The fight with the Tengu back at the Garden of Six had left the group battered and bruised, but crucially had also sapped their morale.  Master Akari, the mercurial Tanuki monk had begged clemency from the ancient birds in order to allow Aiko to heal their wounded and withdraw from the Garden in peace, which they had allowed begrudgingly. The monks had gathered their fallen comrades and had left the Tengu to their bizarre rituals, rituals which could tip the delicate balance within the Jwar Isles too far. Since then the Master had pushed the monks hard to get back to the Temple nestled in the mountains of Ro-Kan, determined to get word to the other Masters.  

Aiko, watched as her friend Koji, the young orphan boy who, with his pack of playful macaques roamed ahead scouting the trail for any dangers to the group. The boy’s naturally jovial face unusually serious as he took on the important role. The blasted ground around them was inhospitable - hot and dusty, lit by streams of magma as the superheated rock broke through the surface filling the air with sulphurous gases. Rocky outcrops littered the land with some particularly long rubble strewn protrusions ran parallel forming a pair of channels through the valley that led to the foothills of the Ro-Kan. Suddenly in the distance, the agile young monk, lithely ran up the long Bo staff he carried and balancing precariously at the top peered forward, shading his eyes from the low sun. With a hand gesture he beckoned to Lita, one of his macaques who joined him at the top of the staff and looked out along the valley.   Following their gaze Aiko could only make out a dust cloud that rose from marching feet, no detail as to who was making it. As quickly as she climbed up it, Lita ran down the staff and trotted back toward the column making her way over to Akari and chittering away to him. 

Gathering the monks around him, Akari gave some quick instructions to the small simian who scampered off back to relay them to Koji.  Addressing the remaining members of the group, the mercurial Tanuki gestured to the approaching dust cloud. “A patrol from Ryu’s army are approaching, a little off their usual route.  It would appear that they want to block this pass, unfortunately the quickest way home with the nearest alternative three days travel.  The temple masters must learn of the Cult’s increased activity and the Tengu’s folly.” 

Kenko regarded the diminutive Tanuki speculatively, “Master you are the swiftest of us all, the rest of us can hold them here allowing you to get a message through.” The youthful monk glanced around the group, taking the measure of each of them. “The mission is all, the balance must be maintained regardless of the cost” Kenko spoke with a passion evident to them all, each of the warband nodding in agreement at his outburst.  Akari nodded slowly at his student’s impassioned speech, moving over to his customary position on the flank while the rest of the Ro-Kanese spread out into their familiar fighting formation.   

Koji already in his scouting role could make out individuals now, directly in front of him were three guards, two with yari and the third carrying some kind of musical instrument made from a giant seashell. Blocking  the other passageway, were four Guardsman again mostly armed with yari and led by a samurai who wore the Prefecture blue with the black armour of a ward of the court and carrying a heavy katana.  Focusing his Ki he forced a narrow stream of the spirit energy to his friend Aiko who eagerly converted the Ki into “blessings ” for her Guardian. Koji’s pack raced forward to intercept the advancing Prefecture soldiers and hold them in the pass in order to enable the other Temple folk to catch up.  

The Guardian aided by the Ki blessings from Aiko, sped across the intervening ground in a thunderous charge, roaring it’s anger at the guards causing them to cower in fear.  Reaching out its giant hands the furious silverback grabbed the ankle of the nearest yariman and threw him to the floor with a crash.  Two of Koji's macaques attempting to “ape” the gorilla rushed headlong into the fight with the samurai, desperate to keep the Prefecture from forming a line of soldiers across the pass and give the Master a chance of breaking through.  Sadly the tiny monkeys lacked the destructive power of their 500lb cousin and could do nothing but irritate the armoured warrior.  

Kenko tapped into his own spirit energy, drawing on the Ki to fuel his muscles allowing him to run as fleet as a Ro-kan mountain goat.  With swift strides he easily paced the Guardian, drawing level with the giant creature and slamming into the nearest guard, an old veteran of the Dragon Wars by the look of him. The force of the charge bowled the wiry Yari-man over but caused no further harm as the veteran of hundreds of skirmishes absorbed the worst of the blow with his armour. A spinning side kick delivered to the abdomen of the samurai, doubled him over and toppled him to the floor.  Seeing the immediate area around him temporarily clear he moved closer to the gorilla, Kenko’s clinically delivered and controlled fighting skills strangely complimented the elemental fury of the silverback. 

Akari, always scanning, evaluating hung back from the fight, looking for the opportunity to slip by. It was frustrating to know that his own formidable fighting skills could aid his students in the unfolding battle but the mission was more important than this skirmish. He must get by and warn Ekusa and the other Masters of the coming danger to the balance.  With a wave of his hand he bid the blessed Kami forward to stop a Prefecture soldier from slipping past the Guardian, the earth elemental responding with a grunt that sounded like a small landslide.  Apelike in appearance, the Kami was a small but powerful creature made from the very bones of the earth, it strode straight toward the soldier batting away the feeble thrusts of the Ashigaru’s yari with a swipe of it’s rocky paw and landing a solid blow to the poor man’s torso that took his breath away. 

Aiko, in her customary position at the rear of the engagement lent her spiritual strength to her friends, crafting blessings and casting them out on silvery streams of Ki, gifting Kenko and the Guardian with healing energy or causing the blows that they landed to burst into flames. Her closest friend - Koji was lingering close by in case any of the enemy slipped passed the Temple fighters and providing Ki for Aiko to leech off and use to fuel her power.  

The Guardian fought with an apocalyptic fury, massive fists connected with soldier's torsos, buckling armour and flinging his opponents to the ground.  In a show of titanic strength the howling simian picked up the pummelled body of a Prefecture yari-man and clubbed the Ryu samurai to the floor with the broken corpse.  Beating his huge fists against his meaty chest, the 500lb silverback roared in victory as the surviving soldiers cowered in fear.   

Master Akari seeing the gap created by the awesome beast, drew upon the Ki he had been hoarding in readiness for his opportunity.  Channelling the spirit energy to his muscles, he sped off toward the far end of the pass.  Fleet as a startled deer, he danced around the long reach of the Prefecture's yari and gained the empty expanse behind the enemy lines, his legs a blur as he ran flat out toward the distant Temple and complete the mission. 

With the diminutive Tanuki gone, one soldier, a female goshi slipped passed the Temple warriors and made a break for freedom heading right for Aiko.  The little Temple Shugenja, forgoing her spirit powers, tucked herself into a little ball and flung herself at the knees of the goshi bowling her over to lie in a crumpled heap on the dusty ground.  Springing to her feet Aiko ran on, catching up with Koji and his pack and spurring them on after the Master. With the gorilla screaming in their faces over the prone figure of their leader, the remaining Prefecture soldiers stood back and allowed the rest of the Ro-Kanese to escape passed them and join the Temple Master.

The Righteous Warriors

hope you enjoy
dGG