Ye Olde Inn

by **whitebeard** » November 8th, 2014, 2:23 am

Hello,

I played 2nd Edition D&D back in High School when it was new. I'm thinking that already being invested in D&D combined with the HQ TV commercial soured me on it without ever giving it a try? After about 20 years without any gaming, I picked up HQ on eBay two years ago to play with my son and I just can't say enough good things about it.

A few months back we rebooted the game with a group of players and I started looking into the game more. I found my way here, I discovered that GW has a shop nearby, and that Reaper makes some great minis (Bones are the real deal!).

So I re-printed the board at 30mm… In fact I think I joined the forum back in September to download that excellent board scan. Thank you!!! That also means I've been lurking a little while, but I'm just waiting until I have something to contribute of my own.

And of course now I'm a Twisting Catacombs Classic Dungeon Dweller supporter.

Unfortunately I bring my own baggage to the game in the form of my own vision of the heroes. The ideal dwarf :dwarf:

will for me always be reminiscent of Guilis Thunderhead (Golden Axe). The wizard should look something more like Gandalf with dark blue and purple accented robes. The elf has a bow (and a sword). Wow, seems I was heavily imprinted on by Gauntlet?!! But the barbarian seems to need more armor in my opinion. After all, the first thing you buy him in the game is a helmet, so why isn't his mini wearing one? How about Ballin's Armor? It would seem to me that when equipped for a dungeon crawl, he would look more like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first Conan movie after he armors up in preparation for the ambush.

Here is a link to my first three ( :dwarf:

):

I'd like to learn how to "base" the wizard and the elf and get them on to approx 20mm squares. It would seem that I need to remove the existing bases (not easy?) and set them on GW bases? Or do I just buy green stuff, sink them in a wad and sculpt the base? Is GW green stuff okay to use for this?

As for the barbarian I just ordered two Reaper minis:
03036: Dantrag, Northern Adventurer
03468: Barbarian Hero
I don't care for the two weapons being wielded by Dantrag, but it is such a cool mini and pose. It definitely represents the direction I'm pushing the barbarian in.

I'm also working on an alternate board for when the original 14 quests run out. At that point I'd like to take to the forest (a midnight moonlit forest) for a few quests before diving into Kellar's Keep. I've got a Reaper Bones werewolf painted and I'm thinking that Prince Magnus has ordered the forest be cleared and the werewolf (or werewolves) destroyed. No big rules additions should be required for the forest board, just some common sense substitutions. "Closed Doors" are dark/unlit path tiles which become lighted paths (open doors) once the adjacent space is occupied, etc. You could insert this particular quest anywhere, as the reward can be the otherwise not so great silver weapons you must use to kill the werewolf. I thought I might have this one ready for a get together near Halloween, but there is so much to do… New monsters like a band of gnoll marauders, wolves, dire wolves, river trolls... New "furniture" like: trees, rocks, giant mushrooms, giant tree stumps, random ruins, dung piles, treasure hordes, graves, druidic items… I just hope to have enough done to pull together one quest next year.

Anyways, thanks again for having such a cool website, forum, and community!

I like your choice in figures, armor would look cool on the barbarian. It is yours, after all! Make it how you want! Have you considered the bases at the zealot site? They would match the monsters bases that way.

Here is an example of what it could look like. (You'll need to sand the bottom down a bit, you can see I failed to do this before I took this shot) For reference, those are approximately 1.5 inch squares

Oh, and there are different options, too. And if you can wait until they send the kickstarter stuff you wont have to pay any additional shipping either!

by **whitebeard** » November 8th, 2014, 6:20 pm

Thanks Sajungzak,

I read Ampersand's thread a few nights ago (and independently found his barbarian quest blog post before that when I was looking for a barbarian) so I recognize those figures! They look very cool together on those bases. I missed the part where the elf and the wizard were reproduced and made available… So it is very cool to see that you have all three! I'll use the "search" feature and find out why it's not on the Zealot shop yet, I only saw the Classic Dwarf listed there.

Ampersand's barbarian is so cool that I would use it independent of any preference for piece mail armor scavenged from fallen foes. But the "wolf" base figure really needs that head from GW 40k Space Wolves and buying all that stuff to make one figure… well, I could be buying a whole lot of cool Bones minis of my wish list instead.

My Wizard and Elf are both metal, so it would take a very long time to "sand them down". Do you have a link for how to base something like that without just stacking it on the base and making it very tall?

Rather than paint my goblins, orcs, chaos warriors, etc. I'm going to buy newer models and use those. Some of the GW models are good quality and I will buy those. So I've already decided to standardize on the GW square base style whenever feasible.

Thanks!

by **Schmidt** » November 8th, 2014, 8:03 pm

So you haven't even figured out that they are under "Shop/The Dungeon"? Pfft, silly you.
I would probably have put them in "Fantasy", but that's just me.

by **sajungzak** » November 8th, 2014, 8:28 pm

I meant that the bases need smoothing. They are a one part mold and the bottoms can be a bit uneven. I've never had to rebase a metal figure before... perhaps if you could get your hands on a clamp and dremel with an appropriate attachment. Wear a face mask. And goggles.

by **cornixt** » November 8th, 2014, 8:32 pm

With metal, it would be really hard to file down. You could trim off as much as you can around the feet, then make holes in the new base in which to set the over-tall feet. A bit of putty to hold it in place and you are done.

by **Daedalus** » November 21st, 2014, 6:38 pm

whitebeard wrote: Unfortunately I bring my own baggage to the game in the form of my own vision of the heroes....But the barbarian seems to need more armor in my opinion. After all, the first thing you buy him in the game is a helmet, so why isn't his mini wearing one? How about Ballin's Armor? It would seem to me that when equipped for a dungeon crawl, he would look more like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first Conan movie after he armors up in preparation for the ambush.

My vision of an armored Barbarian includes pieces of gladitorial armor. Many figs sport this look. I call it "piece armor" in my house rules armory.

whitebeard wrote:I'd like to learn how to "base" the wizard and the elf and get them on to approx 20mm squares. It would seem that I need to remove the existing bases (not easy?) and set them on GW bases? Or do I just buy green stuff, sink them in a wad and sculpt the base? Is GW green stuff okay to use for this?

You should check out this thread from the Hobby Room of the Inn.

whitebeard wrote: I'm also working on an alternate board for when the original 14 quests run out. At that point I'd like to take to the forest (a midnight moonlit forest) for a few quests before diving into Kellar's Keep. I've got a Reaper Bones werewolf painted and I'm thinking that Prince Magnus has ordered the forest be cleared and the werewolf (or werewolves) destroyed. No big rules additions should be required for the forest board, just some common sense substitutions. "Closed Doors" are dark/unlit path tiles which become lighted paths (open doors) once the adjacent space is occupied, etc. You could insert this particular quest anywhere, as the reward can be the otherwise not so great silver weapons you must use to kill the werewolf. I thought I might have this one ready for a get together near Halloween, but there is so much to do… New monsters like a band of gnoll marauders, wolves, dire wolves, river trolls... New "furniture" like: trees, rocks, giant mushrooms, giant tree stumps, random ruins, dung piles, treasure hordes, graves, druidic items… I just hope to have enough done to pull together one quest next year.

This sounds interesting. As you develop it, feel free to post your progress in the "What are you working on today" thread of the Lobby.