Collecting and Painting old miniatures, OD&D, Wargaming, OSR games.

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

New Rule sets to ponder for the coming year!

 I've been on a bit of a binge since Fall acquiring rulesets for TTRPG games that I find interesting. I watch a few online channels fairly regularly, and reviews come up for various systems and modules in the realm of OSR. I've also shopped at DriveThru RPG in various categories looking for rules light systems that I can implement in a solo player format.

 


While it is nice to be able to purchase a rule set in pdf and receive it immediately, there is just something to be said for having a hard copy you can hold in your hand. I have the pdf for all these volumes, but I enjoy getting the booklets when I can.
 



I searched a little for an original copy of Chainmail to go with my OD&D collection, but really couldn't justify the cost. The print on demand version works well enough for my needs. Who knows? I may find an original at an estate sale someday. I purchased White Box to cover OD&D basics so I can reduce the wear and tear on my first three original volumes. I have the Old School Essentials Basic, but only in printed pdf form, and the price was really great for the White Box rule set.




 
I purchased Mork Borg at the local Gaming store and got the supplement off of Amazon. Their site has pdf support so I can use that for reference as opposed to thumbing thru the rules book, but I'm glad I bought the hardback as it really is a unique project, worth the bound price. 






Both of these books are rule sets by Questing Beast, and are in the rules light category of OSR. 
I printed out Maze Rats from the pdf as I didn't have any luck finding a copy, or a print on demand version. Knave is a newer release, and was still available in print. 





Another rules light OSR that I found intriguing is DEATHBRINGER by Dungeoncraft. No spells are listed in this rule set so you need to source them elsewhere, but this set is a quick read, printed double side on a single sheet of paper folded into a booklet. Well worth having for the price point.

On the way is Solo Gamemasters Guide by Geek Gamers and the Master Edition of Index Card RPG. 






Thursday, December 22, 2022

More Lord of the Rings miniatures

 I picked these up thru separate auctions in the last few months. All are from The Lord of the Rings line for Elan Merch made by Heritage. Since the undersides are stamped Elan Merch that's usually how I refer to them.


The mounted figure is 1751-k Servants of Sauron (un-released).  I have two of the Servants of Sauron that came from Hobby Haven in 1977 -78, and was able to obtain the full 1751 set of nine a few months ago. This mounted figure was not in that set as it was unreleased, so this Nazgul is a nice find. 

The Gandalf and Aragorn miniatures are from 1750 The Fellowship. Coding for that set is a bit wonky as Gandalf is simply coded 1, and Aragorn is C,  although one of the hobbits is 1750 C. I may look for a catalog image as I think the set up will probably explain the coding system for this group. 



The previous Aragorn figure I got back in the '70s had his sword broken off at some point, so nice to find this one to replace him. 

All have been primed, washed and pre shaded with vallejo acrylics. 


Thursday, December 15, 2022

Some RP aquisitions



 A few more Ral Partha miniatures from the late 70's. The Wraith in the foreground is the earliest; ES 30 with a base date of 1977 on the bottom. It also has the ES number on the top of the base. 

The Cold Drake (01-072) and Griffon (01-051) are from 1979 and the Winged Serpent is the 4th version with a date of 1982.

The number coding for the Wraith in the 1978 catalog is missing for some reason. It does show up in the 79 catalog with a coded photo and it is in the listing in the proper order. Unsure why it was missing a year earlier. 

The Cold Drake and Griffon are both v2, and the Winged Serpent miniature replaced the Serpent Creeper versions 1-3.

All have been primed, washed and pre-shaded with acrylics.