O Holy Knight

With my version of Venice in the grip of criminal guilds, debauched nobility, aquatic eldritch monstrosities and undead fiends, here to put the religion back into Christmas, whether you want it or not, are an Avignon Guard and his Reliquary Page.

Amongst the list of unpleasant factions at war in Carnevale, the zealous and unforgiving Vatican forces are not only presented as unwelcome invaders and thoroughly corrupt, they also seem to be ultimately responsible for the whole mess.

These new additions to my nascent Vatican forces are not official TTCombat miniatures, but as I've said previously, despite having a really nice miniatures range that isn't overly expensive (certainly when compared to Games Workshop or Modiphius), it's a really easy game to proxy, with the most difficult aspect being matching the more true scale proportions of the models, rather than getting models that look right.

My interpretation of the Avignon Guard bypasses the true scale issues by covering up all his features and being somewhat larger than most people.

It's fairly easy to spot that that the base model for this kitbash was a push-fit Stormcast Eternal from Age of Sigmar I had knocking around. I simply filed down the shield and shoulder guards, gave him a Bretonnian helmet and swapped his spear for a greatsword from a Frostgrave sprue (the sword handle is still the spear haft) and popped him on an appropriate base.

I'm leaning into purple and white as my faction colours for the Vatican, and so the shield and scabbard brought some vibrance to what is essentially a simple undercoat and wash.

It's interesting how much I like this miniature once the obviously Stormcast elements were removed, and we're I ever tempted to paint a Stormcast army, I'd probably perform head swaps on the whole force. Not sure I'd bother with smoothing all their shields down though.

The Reliquary Page is a young boy in the service of the church who is carrying holy relics which serve to motivate other Vatican troops and provide in game bonuses.

It says a lot about the church in this setting that they are happy to send unarmed (the hatchet is for chopping wood) and children into dangerous situations with nothing to protect them, and their skilled warriors are wreathed head to foot in armour - mind you, they've sent fully armoured knights to a city full of canals, so I'm not sure they've really thought any of this through.

The model I used is an old metal figure, which needed its pudding base carefully removed, with a couple of plastic accessories added to his back to represent the relics.

I kept the painting simple as I wanted to convey the fact that this boy is a merely lowly servant of the church who is exposed to extreme danger and has to spend every waking hour in the company of Catholic priests.

I'm not sure he's having the happiest of childhoods.

I was initially concerned that the rather chunky Avignon Guard might look too big, but put next to the rather tall Inquisitor and Executioner, he fits in well.

If anything, the Reliquary Page is too small, but I can explain that away by him just being small for his age, probably because he's underfed.

Combined with the 25mm scale of the Talisman Inquisitor giving the impression that he's also an adolescent, this group is now suggesting that all of these characters have spent their entire lives in the service of the church.

The eagle-eyed amongst you with very good memories might also have noticed that I've brightened up the paving slabs beneath the feet of the whole gang.

I've done this because I wanted to give them something more than flashes of purple to tie them together, but it also suggests the perceived purity of their corrupt institution. I did something similar with the Patricians with more varied colours and really liked the effect it brought to the whole group.

All that remains is to say Happy Christmas to both of my readers, I hope you have a fantastic day tomorrow and Santa thinks you've been good enough to deserve lots of toys.

For me, I do know about one thing I'm getting which is hobby related, but anything else will be a nice surprise.

Acquired: -58

Painted: 396

Lead Mountain: 620

Disclaimer - All views expressed about the Vatican and the Catholic church expressed in this post are definitely just about the fictional version of both presented in the Carnevale tabletop game setting and bear no relation to any real world organisations...no matter how similar they are in name or actions, both historically or in the present day.

Humankind's Last Stand

'V', the original miniseries and 'V': The Final Battle were a defining part of my youth. I remember seeing them for the first time and my family delaying setting off on holiday to finish watching the final episode.

I painted up a bunch of Visitors a couple of years ago, but didn't pick up the Resistance from Crooked Dice until fairly recently. I'm not sure why I didn't paint them sooner, but I have now.

Given how vividly I remember the show, I really wanted to get the models looking right. This is really helped by the extremely characterful sculpts. 

However, given that these are essentially models of 'people in clothes' I needed to get the painting right to make sure that when I look at the table, I see the TV show.

That meant research.

The images on the Crooked Dice website suggest that the clothing choices of the four characters: Mike Donovan, Julie Parish, Ham Tyler and Elias Taylor, were taken from this promo image.

Therefore I decided to try to stick with them as much as possible, which included Donovan's godawful two-tone eighties jacket.

However, I did make one change.

I opted to put Julie, the medical student who becomes leader of the Resistance, in the red roll neck sweater she wears in the finale of the original two-part miniseries.

Partly, this was due to the fact that the scene was much more significant to her development as a character and a leader than the general 'stealth' outfit she wears on a couple of missions in the second three-part miniseries.

Mainly, however, it was due to the fact that with Ham and Elias also wearing black, I wanted a bit more variety in the group.

Despite Julie being the actual leader of the Los Angeles Resistance, cameraman Mike Donovan is the star of the show with Marc Singer (of Beastmaster fame) at his pompously wooden eighties leading man finest in the role.

I like the fact that the sculpt has him holding his MASSIVE camera, making useable as a civilian in other games. Also, if I want a more action pose, one of the Visitor models I've painted is clearly Donovan in disguise as he puts on a Visitor uniform with alarming regularity.

I'm pleased I managed to get the two-tone jacket sort of right, but my attempt to give him properly faded jeans didn't really deliver.

Elias is one of my favourite characters in the show and Michael Wright, the actor who played him, gets some of the best speeches in the show. This includes the still tear-jerking moment where Julie brings Elias' much more successful brother Ben to him as Ben is dying and we see Elias' caught up in a mixture of grief and his own inferiority complex.

Not much to say about the painting of this one.

Michael Ironside plays Ham Tyler and is probably the most famous face in the show, although Robert England (Freddie Krueger) is also in the show.

If you've seen Michael Ironside in any film (Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Top Gun, etc.) then you know all you need to about the sort of character Ham Tyler is. He's nothing if not consistent as an actor.

I'm perhaps most pleased with the job I've done on this model of the four as I think I've managed to get the leather jacket looking suitably worn.

All in all I'm really happy with how these have come out and painting them has made me want to watch the series again. I have a few more bits and pieces for the Visitors to do but I probably need to look at putting together some more generic Resistance members, as they get killed in drives whenever there's a fight.

Acquired: -58
Painted: 394
Lead Mountain: 622

Vampires Don't Like It Up 'Em!

I've not played 7TV for ages, and I've had everything painted and ready for running the Vlad's Army feature pack for a similar time.

So, when Matt became available for a game at short notice, I suggested we take a trip to wartime Britain and visit the stoic defenders of Walmington-On-Sea as they confront something that will send chills down all of their spines.

And I'm not talking about Private Fraser.

Cue the music and title sequence...

Vlad's Army merges a classic British sitcom, Dad's Army (although other names are used, I'll be ignoring them for clarity), which is about the bumbling and ineffectual members of a small town's Home Guard unit, and the nightmarish horrors of Weird World War II.

A natural fit, I'm sure you'll agree. 

In the three game campaign, the Home Guard try to contend with an undead infiltration force which is intent on disrupting the defences prior to a potential German invasion.

In the first scenario, the Battle of Godfrey's Cottage, a Home Guard patrol sets out to investigate a possibly enemy landing near the home of Private Godfrey and his two sisters.

Due to the amount of other people who show up in the game, I can only assume there was some kind of parish council meeting taking place.

The Home Guard must protect the civilians and drive off the undead invaders, which seem intent on slaying or converting all that they encounter.

The Home Guard patrol dispatched to the enemy landing site included the following personnel:

• Sergeant Wilson
• Corporal Jones
• Private Pike
• Private Godfrey
• 5 Home Guard Reservists

They spread out along the road and advanced cautiously towards the unknown threat.

Meanwhile, the vampiric minions and their local turncoat allies included:

• 3 Nachtjager Kommando Vampires
• 3 Half-Blood Turncoats
• 3 Wolves
• 6 Totganger Zombies

It's not clear why the Germans had disguised their glider as a Spitfire with American markings. Possibly it was to sow confusion. However, it's more likely to do with the limited budget available to the BBC props department in the early seventies.

Upon arriving at the cottage were met by Godfrey's sister Cissy, who volunteered as a nurse at the local hospital, rushing out to greet them.

She informed them of the aircraft that had come down and the odd shapes seen loping through the fog before pointing out that her guests at the parish council meeting had scattered and were probably lost in the darkness.

"Would you mind awfully rounding them up and dealing with whatever is out there?"

With that, and without Captain Mainwaring around, Sergeant Wilson politely asked his men to commence the search. Pike and a detachment spread out and explored the garden, the rest of the men stayed back to protect Cissy and Corporal Jones ran off into the trees shouting, "Don't panic!"

Meanwhile, by the glider, the Vicar had fallen into the clutches of some of the vampiric minions, namely a group of half-blood fifth columnists who had rushed out to greet their masters' arrival.

"I must say, I'm very disappointed to see you here Mrs Von Gruber, I shan't be asking you to organise the jumble sale again."

The Vicar's life was saved when the dulcet tones of Jones' less than stealthy search technique drifted through the night air.

He and another captive were quickly bound and gagged as the forces of darkness moved out towards the cottage.

The Verger was found cowering behind some plant pots. When questioned he said, "the Vicar's going to be very unhappy if he's not rescued."

"Why?' said Mr Jenkins, the tailor.

"They're going to eat him."

As the Nachtjager and it's minions reached the fence rifle and SMG fire pierced the night and a Half-Blood and a Wolf were brought down.

But the Nachtjager Kommando inhumanky shrugged off bullets and swooped towards one of the Reservists, ripping out Jenkins' throat as the Verger looked on, aghast.

Almost immediately, Jenkins rose up again, an unhealthy parlour to his skin and a fell light in his eyes.

"Excuse me, sir," said Sergeant Wilson, calmly, from behind the Verger, "if you wouldn't mind following me," and led the terrified man to the fence, where an ad hoc firing line had been assembled.

Wilson gave the order and gunfire ripped into the Nachtjager and Jenkins, and the poor tailor died for a second time that night.

Meanwhile, Corporal Jones, who had been giving a good account of himself, found himself surrounded. Contrary to his own advice, he did panic and ran off into the trees to escape death. 

Reviewers have since commented that it seemed implausible the Jones would survive such an encounter, however, it has been pointed out that Jones was a fan favourite, but also that Clive Dunn was still in contract.

With the undead on the advance, Wilson ordered the retreat in order to protect the Verger, Cissy and Godfrey's other sister, Dolly, who he had slowly retrieved from the cottage, along with his trust cricket bat 

"You took your time in there, Godfrey."

"Did I? I must have dozed off."

Suddenly, something strange can over the Verger. His breath became raspy and he leapt for Sergeant Wilson, trying wrap his hands round the throat of the Chief Clerk of the Bank.

"Do you think that's wise? Is this about the refused loan for church roof?"

The Verger's attack was brought to a halt with a loud think, when Godfrey, of all people, struck him on the back of the head with his cricket bat.

"Godfrey! That was a bit heavy handed, wasn't it?"

"Well, sir, my sister Dolly was telling me that he'd been rather rude about her buns."

Another Nachtjager had crept up on the Home Guard, using the cottage as cover. However, its clever ruse was countered in a shower of glass as Pike ran into the cottage and emptied his SMG through the window.

"Don't tell mum, Uncle Arthur."

Having learned from the fates of their fellows, more of the vampiric host were creeping up through the trees.

A wolf burst out of the undergrowth, but was surrounded and brought down by the men working together.

Meanwhile, Mr Norris, the Headmaster of St Gavin's School, was found hiding in the shed and met a grisly fate.

Shortly afterwards he had joined the enemy forces as a mindless slave, a fate which would have amused many of the boys.

Realising that they would be unable to rescue anyone else, Wilson gave the order to leave.

However, he was grabbed at the last minute by the undead Norris and was unable to retreat as the last of the Nachtjager closed in.

Sergeant Wilson smiled wryly as the creature looked over him. It's beastial arm lashed out and sent him sprawling, but his life was saved as another volley of gunfire drive the creature off.

The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage was over.

At the end of everything, two of Matt's vampires and both of my co-stars (Wilson and Jones) had been taken out of action, but the vampiric cast had been axed meaning that the tally of victory points was 3-2 and the Home Guard had won something of a pyrrhic victory.

This scenario was a bit of a tough ask for Matt as his close combat force had to advance across open ground against rifle-armed soldiers. Also, without any stars or co-stars he had a bit of an issue with not being able to activate his whole cast.

The action now moves into the centre of Walmington-On-Sea, where Captain Mainwaring will be trying to interrupt the enemy's travel plans.

Gifted Scientist

It feels like I keep returning to painting scientists, and my Faculty of Cryptobiology and Pseudoscience for 7TV: Pulp, just keeps growing.

The latest addition to the team is apparently called Dr Friedman, and is a 'mad' scientist (apparently specialising in chemistry) from the Reaper Chronoscope range.

He was given to me as part of the annual 7TV Secret Santa on the 7TV Productions Facebook group, where willing participants are paired up and exchanged unwanted miniatures from their lead pile as gifts. It's a nice little tradition I've taken part in for several years.

This year I sent off and eclectic group of Grenadier Sci-Fi cops, a suited pulp thug, a mummy and a dog. In return I received three Artizan Designs field agents from their Kiss Kiss Bang Bang range, and the esteemed Dr Friedman. 

As with all Reaper Miniatures, Dr Friedman is I really crisp and clean sculpt which needed minimal cleaning. The model lacks extraneous detail and so was quite quick to paint, especially as I mainly used contrast paints as my base coats and highlighted up.The bottles were hit with a touch of gloss varnish to give them an appropriate shine.

I used to really worry about large expanses of white, but I've become a lot more calm about the whole thing. Yes, the pain could be smoother, but this isn't a dress uniform or a superheros cape, it's a lab coat. It's going to be a bit worn.

All in all I'm happy with this one. And unexpected arrival, but pleasing nonetheless.

Acquired: -58
Painted: 390
Lead Mountain: 626

Art Imitating Life

This post is somewhat meta.

I'm a painter whose painted a painter whose painted a painting which has created two more paintings that I, a painter, have painted.

Still with me.

I've written before about my appreciation of games that make their rules and profiles freely available and then trust the quality of their game and miniatures to sell themselves.

Carnevale is one such game.

I find that this approach not only gives you a chance to try before you buy, but also leaves some room for creativity involving the bits box and lead pile.

So, although the miniatures for the artist Maria Fioritura and her painted protectors are great, when Matt, who had been doing some printing for JP, gave me a spare artist model, I saw an opportunity to do something for Carnevale.

I don't see this as problematic because I'm not currently collecting the Gifted faction (although they can be used as, for want of a better term, hired guns) and so Maria wasn't on any future shopping list.

My artist, Mario Fioritura, was painted mainly using contrast paints, which responded well to the surprisingly detailed miniature. I was a little worried that the colours I'd used on him were too one-note, but the yellow-brown pallette allows the colours on his pallete and the glowing green of his rent-infused eyes to pop, and I like the finished effect.

He came with an easel and canvas, something the original model doesn't have, and so I saw an opportunity to clarify the narrative of these miniatures by adding a carefully cut printout of an image of one of the Painted Protectors to the canvas.

In Carnevale, the Gifted are those inhabitants of Venice who the rent in the sky has imbued with supernatural or magical abilities. They can join other factions or work as a separate faction by themselves.

The Artist has the ability to make images in their paintings come to life as defensive duplicates, which is why I opted to use two monopose Wizkids Dungeons & Dragons miniatures to represent them. I did give them a weapon swap as their original sword were laughably flimsy. They are a little short, but they aren't meant to real people, so it doesn't bother me.

I've not tried anything special within the painting to make them seem specifically like they are artistic creations, but instead opted to use the canvas on the easel to reinforce the protectors relationship to the artist.

All in all, I've very happy with the Artist, and happy enough about the Painted Protectors. It means that I have my first Gifted option for games of Carnevale and it's a character I wasn't ever likely to pick up first.

Acquired: -57
Painted: 389
Lead Mountain: 627

Purge the Xenos!

My Blood Angels have never had the best of times when I playing Pete. He has a much more focussed mindset when it comes to building armies than I do and so I have often found myself somewhat behind in the arms race that is Warhammer.

My Blood Angels are meant to be a close combat army, but I've never really invested in going all in on assault troops to cross ground quickly and smash face.

Whether it's Horus Heresy or 40k 2nd, 9th or 10th edition against his Alpha Legion, Space Wolves, Imperial Guard or Eldar, I have laboured across the board to get to grips with him and taken so many casualties on the way that I've lacked punch when I got there.

This time would be different...honest!

Now, don't get me wrong, I've not been spending money. Instead I sat down and looked at my army and focussed on a force that could get across the table as fast as possible.

Built around the same list I fought Matt with, I'd already jettisoned the expensive and slow Terminators, but now I also dropped the expensive Honour Guard in favour of another Tactical Squad (better for nabbing objectives) and swapped out the Razorback for a much more direct Rhino. Finally I used the saved points to add bodies to my Death Company and Assault Squad and littered a few Melta Bombs around the army.

This was now an army that was built, as much as my collection would allow, to cross the board quickly and get in close.

• Librarian (Shield of Sanguinius, The Blood Lance)
• Chaplain (Jump Pack, Melta Bombs)
• Sanguinary Priest (Jump Pack, Melta Bombs)
• 10 Tactical Marines (Power Sword, Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher) & Rhino
• 10 Tactical Marines (Power Sword, Plasma Pistol, Flamer, Heavy Bolter) & Rhino
• 6 Assault Marines (Power Fist)
• 6 Death Company (Power Fist)
• 2 Attack Bikes (Multi-Meltas)
• Land Speeder (Multi-Melta, Assault Cannon)
• Dreadnought (Blood Claw, Heavy Flamer, Multi-Melta)
• Dreadnought (Lascannon, Missile Launcher)

All that remained was to see what manner of heavily armoured awfulness would be killing me today.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. 

Infantry. Lots of Infantry. To be fair, part of this was because Pete is still working on his Wave Serpent and Falcon Grav Tank, but this was going to be a very different beast.

• Avatar
• Farseer (Guide & Doom)
• Warlock
• Exarch & 4 Warp Spiders
• Exarch & 9 Dire Avengers
• 15 Guardians (Shuriken Catapults) & Star Cannon
• 10 Guardians (Shuriken Pistols, 2 Flamers)
• 8 Wraithguard (Wrathcannons?)
• 4 Guardian Jetbikes
• Wraithlord (Bright Lance & 2 Fists)
• Fire Prism

I was facing a force that was not going to pound me with heavy weapons, but seemed set to wear me down with small arms fire, and had elements that would seek me out.

I was most concerned by the Avatar, who I learned, to my dismay, was immune to Flamer and Melta weapons, making it invulnerable to most of my heavy weapons. What's more, it was significantly better in close combat than everything in my close combat army.

Excellent.

DEPLOYMENT 

We rolled up the exact same scenario as last week: Seize Ground with Dawn of War deployment. In setting this up I learned we'd got it completely wrong last week, which doesn't render my victory void because Matt was doing the reading.

Pete deployed first and put his Wraithguard and ok larger Guardian Squad almost at the halfway line. This not only got him on two objectives straight away, but also pushed my deployment back.

His Avatar loitered in the centre, ready to be thrown straight down my throat.

I opted to started with just my two combat squads with heavy weapons in cover. My Librarian stood with the Heavy Bolter squad on the left, aiming to add some punch if they were charged by the Avatar.

That squad and the Flamer squad off table succumbed to the Red Thirst and would benefit from the Fearless and Furious Charge rules.

TURN ONE

With Night Fighting in play, there wasn't much for the Eldar to do but move onto the board. However, the Avatar and Wraithguard made rapid headway towards my lines, and the Guardians' Star Cannon managed to infect casualties on the Librarian's unit.

The Blood Angels arrived and loaded the flanks. This was definitely a tactical decision and nothing at all to do with the Avatar in the centre.

On my right, concentrated firepower surprised me and took out about half of the Wraithguard, despite the cover saved provided by the Warlock.

On my left, a similar strategy managed to whittle away two of the Avatar's four wounds. I was also poised for the Assault Marines to pounce on the Guardians in the next turn.

Things had started well.

TURN TWO

Given that my plan for the Assault Marines was telegraphed quite obviously, Pete took steps to deal with it.

The Fire Prism's cannon turned ominously towards them whilst the Guardians and Jetbikes positioned themselves to strike, and when the smoke cleared only the Sanguinary Priest was still standing.

The Jetbikes then swooped in to finish the job, but it seemed that the Angel himself was watching over the Priest, who won the fight and then cut down the rest of the squad as they fled before ploughing into Guardians in the hope of tying them up.

Meanwhile, the Avatar continued it's rampage and destroyed the Rhino facing it. Leaving the Marines inside exposed. They bravely opted to stand and fire in an attempt to bring the burning god down but failed, sealing their fate on the following turn.

On the other flank, the Wraithguard managed to destroy the Dreadnoughts Multi-Melta but could do nothing else to avert their appointed doom.

They were wreathed in flames and Bolter shells before the Death Company struck, hacking down the last of the Wraithguard and consolidating towards the Eldar lines.

In other unphotographed news, the Land Speeder immobilised the Fire Prism and the second Dreadnought began a long and embarrassing series of failed shots against the Eldar god with both it's twin-linked Lascannon and Missile Launcher.

TURN THREE

Which the Death Company sweeping down the flank, the Farseer plucked at the strands of fate to attempt to avert catastrophe by casting both Guide and Doom whilst the Warp Spiders jumped behind them to clear the path of fire for the Guardians.

However, the unfettered fury of the Death Company allowed them to defy fate and carve their way through, even after the Warp Spiders charged in, their Exarch armed with twin Power Swords.

The Avatar ploughed into the Tactical Marines that had been disgorged from the Rhino, and despite their heroism, they were cut down. another wound was chipped off the Avatar, by the Marine with the Heavy Bolter in the squad that was next on the chopping block.

Meanwhile, the Death Company continued their rampage, supported by the rest of the flank, whose firepower cut down the Farseer allowing the Death Company to charge into and destroy the Guardians.

There was more misfortune for the Eldar as their other Guardian unit finally broke it's ongoing battle with the enraged Sanguinary Priest, broke and we're cut down.

This left the Eldar with a single Troops unit, the Dire Avengers in the centre, whilst the Blood Angels had three Combat Squads. One of which, the Missile Launcher squad, had begun its run through cover to secure the objective on my right flank. The Eldar's only hope for a draw lay in funding a way to finish off two of those distant squads.

TURNS FOUR & FIVE

With limited tools, the Eldar set about their mission. The Avatar finished off the Librarian's squad, taking out one of the scoring units.

The Wraithlord hunted down the heroic Sanguinary Priest out of little more than spite, giving him an ignoble death suited to one who had stormed a flank by himself.

The Fire Prism had a very slim chance of securing victory for the Eldar. If a scattered shot could hit the Plasma Gun Combat Squad, then an additional turn might allow it to do the same to the Missile Launcher squad in the event of a sixth turn.

As I said, very slim.

Especially when the scattered shot went the wrong direction. It immobilised the Rhino, but guaranteed that the Eldar couldn't win.

Victory was sealed for the Blood Angels when the Attack Bikes raced forward and managed to pierce its hull with a Multi-Melta shot removing any chance of the Tactical Marines being hurt.

The Land Speeder swooped in to begin chipping away at the Dire Avengers whilst the remaining Death Company raced to join in.

The Dreadnought finally managed to disengage the safety on its Lascannon and blasted the Avatar to smithereens, leaving only the Wraithlord to oppose the destruction of the Dire Avengers.

At this point we opted to end the game as the result was now a foregone conclusion.

BLOOD ANGELS 2 - 1 ELDAR

That was a really good game with swings of luck on both sides. Pete's weight of fire strategy really hit a stick point in trying to deal with the Feel No Pain rule of the Death Company.

My failure to finish off the Avatar in the early part of the game, almost cost me dearly and I really need to stop hanging my Assault Squad out to be shot at in the early game.

I think this might be the first time my Blood Angels have won against Pete, and it might also be the first time they have won back to back games. However, I am very aware that not only do I seem to benefit from the Seize Ground scenario, but also Pete will rethink and there will be new horrors awaiting me next time.