Project Log: Altburg - Townhouse I, Part 3

Moving on with the house...I have finished the flooring (although I will do some finishing touches later on). The platform looked a bit dull to me so I decided to make the intersecting vaults in the corner where the walls are highest. I think this way it will look much more pleasing to the eye and also give valuable hiding space for miniatures.

First I made two arches with appropriate measures:

Then I made the outlines on the walls and used a Dremel drill to cut out the openings for the arches:

Finally I inserted the arches into the walls and sealed them in place with liquid resin:

This was the easy part. Now I will have to build a cross-vault inside. This will be a bit tricky.

Project Log: Altburg - Townhouse I, Part 2

The build of the first Altburg townhouse has begun! After more or less defining the design, it is time to actually start working on the ground floor. I started by gluing together different sections of the walls which I cut in desired dimensions.

For now, I am only focused on basic construction and forms. In later stages I will be blending different wall sections together by remodeling the areas where they connect. I will be also removing unwanted parts (like the doors on the photo above and bellow).

To get an idea where the walls of the elevated platform should be, I placed the balcony on upper floor for guidance. I want the walls to follow the shape of the balcony. I cut out the balcony from Tabletop World Fisherman House kit. However, this balcony is a bit to wide for the house, so I will probably make another one from scratch.

  I marked the outline of the stairs on the wall and used Dremel drill to remove some of the wall texture to fit the stairs more nicely.

After I encircled the house  with walls it was time to embed additional stairs and add flagstone flooring to the platform.

This is where I stand now. Next time I will finish the flooring and make some openings on the platform walls to make them more interesting - both visually and regarding gameplay.

Mortreich Von Todtstein

Mortreich Von Todtstein is a brother of Kain Von Todtstein. He is as cruel and merciless as Kain, and equally vicious and capable commander. The two brothers always competed for dominance. Even in life, from the time they were little kids fighting with wooden swords, these two were constantly battling each other, be it in a direct way or by plotting schemes behind the curtain. Now in undeath, they are again confronted in the eternal battle for the favor of the supreme commander and their lord Kruger "Der Nacht König". Mortreich was absent for several centuries while at the same time his brother supposedly banded with the Night King in his expedition to the Black Pyramid. It is said that he was roaming the lands of the old world on his own, in a search of a magical blade, an ancient dark relic of great power - the “Nightfang". Eventually, his search was successful. Some say that the sword was hidden within dimensions of the dark gods and demons, beyond this universe. Equipped with this ancient blade, it is widely believed that he can open various portals to netherworld and summon a vast horde of spectral minions in an instant. Therefore do not be fooled by his appearance of a lone vampire count warrior. The shadows that follow him reluctantly are always there, waiting to be unleashed upon his single commanding word from a death spell. There are even stories that the blood that ends up on this ancient blade never coagulates, keeping it in liquid form indefinitely. Words about Mortreich wielding the mighty Nightfang reached Kain fast. Thus his hatred towards his brother grew even greater, for every vampire’s dream is to hold this potent weapon. What will the future bring, and will this bad blood ever come to an end, only time will tell.

I remember, some 20 years ago, when me and my friends were playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles 6th edition, this was one of my favorite Games Workshop models. I was playing Empire at the time and was so envious of my friend who played Vampire Counts. I wanted this Red Duke model so bad. :) Today, 20 years later, I still find this mini to be bloody awesome! The Duke is so full of character. Something that today's minis lack, in my opinion. And I finally own it! :D 

Project Log: Altburg - Townhouse I, Part 1

This is going to be the start of a big and long project. My goal is to make a big, fully modeled and modular "Altburg" city board using, remodeling and converting only Tabletop World models. I am very excited about this project and think it will look awesome once it is done (If I manage to turn all my ideas into reality). This is something I really don't want to rush and will be working on it on and off whenever I feel like it. This big project will be divided into many smaller sub-projects as this one. I will be working on the separate buildings first. Once I have a decent number of buildings, I will be planing out the cityscape and modelling the board itself, with all the elevations, streets, bridges etc.

Here is a closeup shot of some of the Tabletop World buildings I have painted in the past:

So for my first townhouse I decided to use Tabletop World Merchant House as a starting point:

I collected many bits, wall sections, parts of various Tabletop World models which I thought might be useful for this project:

My idea is to make a tall townhouse which will be built on an elevated platform. Also, I want to give it a large balcony, perfect for marksman to shoot from.This will make it more interesting for gameplay. In general, I want this table to have many levels and places for miniatures to hide or take cover, so I will have that in mind when planing the buildings and the board. After all, I will be using this board for Mordheim. :)

Once I had a general idea of how I want this building to look I started to "sketch" it in real life using various wall sections and parts. After a lot of experimenting, this is the concept that kind of stuck with me (I will probably change some things as I go, but this is the starting point that I really like):

Now that I defined my idea it's time to actually start working on the model! Update will soon follow. Cheers guys! :)

Heresy Lab Militia Man

Recently I received some of the Heresy Lab miniatures to do a review on them. Some of the models are cast in resin and some are 3D printed. The quality of both is great, although there are some annoying print marks on the ones that are printed, which is in the most cases unavoidable. What I like the most about these minis is that many of them are really dynamic. Like this warrior I have painted, for example. He is packed with action and really looks like he is in the midst of combat. I think that the minis like this are perfect for skirmish games like Mordheim.

Speaking of Mordheim, here is one cool shot I took on the last session I had with my friends. Witch Hunters sniffing out the Skaven.

I have big plans regarding terrain! I will be converting many of the Tabletop World buildings and making a big gaming board. More about this soon! :)

Mournful Knight standard bearer and progress on the unit

Standard bearer for my Mournful Knights (Blood Knights) is done! I'm keeping the same color scheme throughout the unit to make them look a bit uniformed. Lots of black and red and dark metallics. Having completed the third model, out of five, I've noticed there is a problem which is repeating on every model. There is a huge gap between the rider and the horse when I want to glue them together. They just don't fit. On all three models I had to make a ball of Green Stuff to fill the hole and glue them properly. I also pinned the banner to make sure it wont fall off.

I also addressed the issue of fitting the basses together. I had to reposition one of the knights so that I am able to fit them all together. I barely managed to find space for all three. Hopefully I'll manage to somehow squeeze in the remaining two as well.

Mournful Knight and Armored Skeletons Command Group

Recently I have finished my second Mournful Knight from Gamezone Miniatures. I'm happy how it turned out. However, I realized I can not fit the bases of the two models together, which is quite frustrating because I want to be able to put all the models in one unit. I guess if you are playing Age Of Sigmar this wouldn't present an issue, but for Warhammer Fantasy Battles it is crucial that you are able to do so. I will try to reposition the models so that the bases can be placed side by side, but I'm not sure if that would be even possible since the models are pretty wide.

Also, I have painted the command group for my Armored Skeletons. I'm not completely sold on the (Bretonnian) banner though. I might replace it with one from the Grave Guard box and make more traditional design to fit better with these classic models.

Al-elib Iblis

From the south, all the way from the lands of Araby came this deteriorating mad man, riding an obscure corpse cart filled with rotting bodies. On one stormy night he arrived to Sylvanian forest drawn by the very potent dark energies he felt. It is not known whether he was summoned by some powerful individual, Necrarach or Blood Dragon, who are lately gathering the troops within the Sylvanian borders, or for some other obscure, personal interest. The word about the pale rider with piercing insane eyes started to spread among townsfolk all throughout the Empire. It is said that the corpses risen back to life and fueled with arcane necro magic are pulling the damned thing relentlessly, day and night, without ever needing to stop for food or sleep. Cloaked in the green mist he is rarely to be seen and most often his arrival is foreshadowed only by unbearable putrid stench and cackling sadistic laughter. However, once he reveals himself, there better be no living person around! Stories have been told about men being paralyzed by his abysmal gaze and whipped to death, only to end up on his ever-growing pile of corpses. The sound of the sinister bell mounted on the top of his chariot freezes the blood in the veins of the living. When the chariot stops, Al-elib is seen knocking the bell four times, most often in vicinity of the graveyards and sites of the recently ended battles. Upon the fourth knock, the souls of the departed are seen leaving the bodies and being sucked by the demonic bell. It seems he is using the bell to collect the souls of the recently deceased and then channel this energy to the corpses pulling the cart and attacking the unsuspected pass byers. On top of all this, it is also believed he is bringer of disease, for wherever he arrives people start to suffer from various infections and deadly illnesses and so the misery he brings stays with people even after his departure. This mad man is whipping the animated corpses for no other reason than for pure fun. When bodies become wrecked beyond recognition, he likes to change the crew. So by all means, if you ever encounter this wicked necromancer and his cursed entourage, run as fast as you can!

I think this is a really cool looking model from Games Workshop and for the most part I enjoyed working on it. However, once I finished painting the cart, placing the corpses inside was a real nightmare! I barely managed to squeeze them in, using force. In the process the paint got pealed off on some of the hanging limbs. I would definitely recommend gluing the corpse pile on the wooden bottom of the cart prior gluing the poles that are sticking out. If you are interested in the whole process of painting this model and checking out all the posts concerning Al-elib, follow this link: corpse cart