Warm Ale and Mud

  Sabine and Mikael Stockhausen purchased the inn when they moved to the village just over a decade ago. Sabine was employed by one of the larger moneylenders in Nuln and Mikael was a former trader, they decided they wanted a simpler quieter life for them and their daughter Lottie. They had enough funds to go pretty much anywhere in the Empire and when they heard about an innkeeper wanting to sell up and retire they leapt at the chance. The Stocks Inn however is not its original name. It was since its building over 200 years ago known as The Wicker Man. For the longest time, the yard in the inn was where criminals were held in stocks until a roadwarden came to take them away to Leicheberg to face trial. However when the barracks for the Counts men was built in the village proper, criminals were held there instead as they seemed to miraculously escape less frequently. (some say vanish is a better word) As such the stocks became unused and languished propped up against the ...

To inform you I am starting an ECW project, sort of. New Blog HERE . No more mention of that sort of carry on will be mentioned on this site again. Taal Be Praised. 

Over on the Oldhammer Forum the monthly challenge is both Femuary and Februhairy. Sensible female models and hairy models. I am quite close to finishing my next big build, but these 2 models that fitted the theme also belong to the big build. For Femuary we have Sabine Stockhausen a landlady. Not the greatest model and not the greatest paintjob, but it gets the job done. And for Februhairy we have Bugmans Beer Cart. Here is the original as seen in a White Dwarf: and here is my homage to it.  The cart is not the original original but the original as now once again available. It was just as horrid to file/sand/fill and assemble as it was back in the day. I wanted to try and mostly copy the paintjob of the original. It made me realise I had not painted blue clothes on a model in about 20 years, which is a thing... I changed my normal skin recipe as I decided that with dwarves having been alive so much longer than men they likely would be a darker skinned. Slight changes made to the or...

 Here is Uli the Dwarf who lives and works on the Pertwee Farm: I had already made the Farmhouse and the Barn but I wanted some way to link them together as a single terrain piece.  I could have taken the buildings off their bases and made a new big one but that seemed like a waste of the work already done and it would mean the buildings could not be used elsewhere. So I concocted a template that would be the sort of yard and would join up with the two farm buildings. It is a piece of MDF with some scratch built items. The gate also opens for added greatness. Here is a rough photo dump of the beginnings to the end. And then add the scratch built bits, some more flock etc and bingo: Time for a break and something small and easy next!!

Whilst my wife and daughter are away on holiday I am finding more free time. So I have painted 2 models already this year!! I was going to paint the Dwarf farm hand but upon closer inspection the model is not that suitable and also a bit of a crude sculpt so instead painted Johannes' Wife and his Doggo. HANSINE. No-one messes with a farmers wife, especially one with hands the size of hers!! Now, the colours are not what I would have done ordinarily. A white apron and hood sprang to mind as the obvious choice, but I wanted her clothes to match that of Johannes, so that is what I ended up doing. (Mostly, I meant to do grey tights but forgot...) HOLEN. Whilst I search for a suitable Dwarf I will make the terrain section that joins the Farmhouse to the Barn.

Over on the oldhammer forum there was a topic about what you did in 2025. Here is a piccy of what I did. 2 buildings, 1 field. 1 Troll 1 villager 10 skeleton archers 15 skeleton swordsmen ​15 skeleton halberdiers 20 zombies 3 ghouls 1 Krell 1 The Lichemaster 5 Fleglers 10 Armbrustschutzen 15 Helblitzen 1 Count 1 Elementalist 99 dudes and 3 terrain pieces. Resolutions/plans for me are to try and get as much of the village as possible done and then maybe start 1 of 2 special projects... I had hoped to have done all of that 12 months prior, but I had neglected to factor terrain and other stuff. But all in all I am happy. That is about 2 figures a week which I am happy with, of course some weeks saw nothing done at all, and some weeks saw much more than 2. But I guess 30 or so villagers for 2026 and 10 buildings should be do-able?

Both my garrison and undead force are deliberately small in size to allow skirmish games and not to take up too much painting time. I have now finally finished the final two models and my Undead force is done!! First I painted Krell . I actually found him quite dull and uninspiring compared to Jacsen and Ranlac, which surprised me as lore wise he greater and more powerful of the trio. O nce a champion of the dark gods of Chaos, left for dead and forgotten by those he once worshipped, he lied entombed, waiting in undeath for a chance to take his revenge. It was Heinrich Kemmler who found and freed Krell. Bound now to The Lichemasters indomitable will he serves a new master. Then I painted the main man himself. Heinrich Kemmler After his costly victory at Frugelhofen the Lichemaster and what few remained of his force moved slowly through the foothills and into Sylvania proper. Seeking a new source of power he discovered the legend of the Karnsteins and of one particular dread member of t...