Warm Ale and Mud

Just a quick post before the weekly Hammer Horror movie night begins. I have added a new page to my website: https://angelbarracks.co.uk/

I have been working on my undead (or rather Samantha's undead) and have done the front rank. The banner reflects both our love of Hammer Horror films and the fact we totally fancy Ingrid Pitt. Every Saturday night is Hammer Horror double bill night with crisps and dip. Here is this Saturdays billing: It may or may not also foreshadow a character yet to come. Mikeal Jacsen is the leader of the undead infantry, and as you may or may not know the model is based on Michael Jackson. We know this not only from the name, but also his hair is on fire as happened to Michael Jackson when filming a Pepsi advert. We can also deduce this is him from the fact that in Terror of the Lichemaster he leads zombies, which is of course a nod to his Thriller video. That and it describes him as "In death Jacsen was a great dark skeleton, long and thin with a skull that burned with an unnatural light, and from in between his huge dead teeth there issued a foul, thin shriek that few could listen to wi...

So my last few updates were about mojo loss and the scale of Warm Ale and Mud potentially being the cause, with so much left to do, and how doing a mini Mordheim would help regain the mojo as such a project would be much smaller and easier to complete. I even bought some models for it. BUT… That is another project and will just delay Warm Ale and Mud. The thought of two projects bummed me out. Then realisation hit. It is painting the undead that is causing the issue. So many more models to do..    bleurgh. So I started making a field as I want to have my table look less lawn like and more countryside like. The field has zero game mechanics attached, it does not affect movement or LOS. It is just there to make the table top look nicer. It is hard to tell, but it is not completely flat either, it is very slightly undulating, maybe this will be easier to see later...  Like I say nothing special, but when the table is set out with this and the farm and barn, and ot...

Right, work begins on the notheim stuff. Each warband needs a leader and the more dramatic the better right? Seeing as I am sticking with Warhammer feels and not going down the Hammer Horror route I have these 2 as my warband leaders. The vampire Ingrid Karnstein and hunter of the undead Piotr Von Heiligsheld and his hound Kiszen. Nothing is finished yet, Ingrid is a WIP.

So having decided to play a version of Mordheim but in my rural setting of Heiligsheld I just need to decide the feel. I am torn between a more traditional WFB style of model and a sort of more historical Hammer Horror style model. I am thinking models that are much less war and more day to day, for example my wife will be playing an undead vampire led warband and whilst I have a WFB vampire, it is very fantasy, I am tempted to use a regular female noble as the vampire. Just pale skin and maybe red eyes. Same with my own warband, which is likely to be witch hunters. I imagine a witch hunter and his entourage coming to Heiligsheld. For the witch hunter, I am thinking less warrior and more magistrate and his priest more of a puritan preacher. I am wanting to make it more historical in its look and low key. So yes vampires, zombies, werewolves, witches and all that jazz, but without all the skulls. One reason for this is my wife and I watch old Hammer Horror films and we lov...

So I sat down a while ago and worked out very crudely when I think everything will be ready to properly start the Warm Ale and Mud Heiligsheld project. About 12 months. That is a long time to wait and it bummed me out a little. Chatting with my wife we suggested revisiting Mordheim as she liked that and it has a low figure count and most of the needed models are already painted. The only difference is that I would set it in Heiligsheld instead and use rural type terrain rather than ruins. Hedges, trees, bush, gorse, carts, animals, shrines, bogs, rocks, huts, shacks etc. Enough terrain so it plays the same but set elsewhere. So this will be something I will do parallel to WAM. My question though, is this something that would interest you folks or are you just here for the WFB 3rd edition stuff? Oh and I will be using the 3rd edition rules in terms of combat and weapons etc. I will use some relevant skills and the experience system, but things like STR modifying saves, charging meaning ...

With my Stirland lads I collected the whole force in advance, as I knew what I was aiming for. I planned out the force and bought the models, then started painting. I was delaying with the undead but I have now purchased the final unit for the Undead chaps and it is mostly the old Nightmare Legion models. These are the last 2 units to be painted. I was looking for old original shields for them, but people want silly money so I have been slicing the boss off these shields and they will do fine, especially when they all have the hand painted designs on them... I plan on mirroring the symbol from the zombies, the dread wyrm of Sylvania. And I made a start on painting the swordsmen, there are some great sculpts in there. The astute may notice that my my Stirland lads are made up mostly of swordsmen and halberdiers, as are my undead. There is a mocking parody of sorts afoot. Love this chap, I was tempted to place him at the back so that holding is head up to get a better view makes more sen...