A Hobby Goblin's Workshop

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  • Embarking on a 15mm adventure

    The thought of wargaming in 15mm scale has intrigued and tempted me for a couple of years now and was first planted in my brain by eBay Miniature Rescues‘ Pocket Hammer videos.

    Discovering 10mm wargaming through Warmaster has shifted my perspective and 28mm now increasingly seems like an unwieldy scale, in particular when it comes to storage.

    After much deliberation I decided that a solo skirmish wargame would be where I’d start. I would then be able to pursue this hobby project at my own pace and with my own goals, and eventually get to play without being dependent on anyone else finding this idea at all interesting.

    So what game to pick then? And what genre?

    I eventually narrowed it down to Rangers of Shadow Deep.
    I find it very appealing that there’s a written story to play through that other players express is very good, and also very practical that the book provides a “bill of materials” for each scenario so that I know what I’ll need to create or get to be ready to play.

    Rangers of Shadow Deep by Joseph A. McCullough

    The very first 15mm models that I painted were upscaled 10mm models by Forest Dragon. These were a joy to paint, but there was something unsatisfactory with the weight. Resin is a very light material and those models weighed next to nothing.

    The featherweight class of the 15mm Big Brawl

    Inspired by Matthew from Bedroom Battlefields, I’m giving metal models a try! An order of human skirmishers and zombies from Alternative Armies kicked it off and I have to say that I’m rather pleased with both their heft and price!

    A great set of Rangers and Companions!

    How I’m doing it and my progress so far

    • Halve all game dimensions and 3D print a range ruler at 50% size to be able to use the original distance values in the game.
    • Bases: 13mm and 16mm diameter washers with a magnet in the middle for safe and simple storage and transportation.
    • Basing: Vallejo texture paste “Brown Earth” with a Seraphim Sepia wash. Decorated with “Tiny tufts” from Gamer’s Grass.
    • Painting: White primer and mostly Army Painter Speedpaints for quick and somewhat lighter paint jobs.
    • Sealing: Gloss varnish followed by Scale75 ultra-matt varnish, because I’m told that metal models chip paint very easily.
    • Storage: A plastic box with a GSW Rubber Steel Sheet.
    • Terrain: A mix of 3D prints (e.g. Imitation of Life Miniatures‘ lovely terrain), 2D “mouse mat” terrain and wooden blocks.

    I am very keen on the idea of building up a collection of semi-generic fantasy miniatures in this scale that I can use to play any fantasy skirmish game that strikes my fancy. Deth Wizards and Five Leagues from the Borderlands both seem like excellent games to one day follow up Rangers of Shadow Deep with.

    These are the miniatures that I’ve completed so far:

    • My Ranger and his three companions
    • 8 Zombies
    • 4 Mummies
    • 3 Orcs with bows (that I’ll be using as Gnoll Archers)
    • 1 Villager

    I look forward to reporting how the first scenario went!

    Take care and happy hobbying! 🎨

  • An exciting package

    Last weekend I picked up this large box (banana for scale) after winning an online auction. Let’s have a look inside, shall we?

    A promising start! The content seems well protected.

    Alright! I have wanted a copy of this rulebook for some time.

    Next layer. This plastic terrain looks rather familiar…

    And at the bottom of the box, another box!

    And here it is, a Battle of Five Armies box set, released by Games Workshop in 2005. I just love this cover art with the enormous Beorn surrounded by goblins, wargs, dwarves and men. We also see Gandalf on the attack and goblins falling to their doom from the claws of giant eagles. Magnificent.

    Warmaster is my favorite game and the works of Tolkien have had a special place in my heart since my early teens. The prospect of playing Warmaster in Middle-earth is very exciting to me and so I am very glad to now own a copy of this game.

    Let’s have a quick look at what’s inside…

    A big thank you to the seller for packing everything so nicely! 🙏

    A cardboard river, a blister pack and a bag of assorted characters.

    Wow! A lot of models in the next layer down.

    Maybe two dozen painted unit stands (eagles, warg riders and dwarves from the look of them) and at least as many unpainted ones. A smattering of painted characters on round bases and some old ruins (cute!) are also among the many treasures.

    And so we reach the last layer, and isn’t it a sight to behold?

    Here we find a great many units of goblins, wargs, wolf riders and other nasty creatures in chieftain Bolg’s service, all fully painted.

    With them is also a Storm Giant and even the mighty Smaug himself in all his vengeful and terrible glory!

    There is something hobbit-like about the gentleman rolling the dice, I find. A suitable casting for this particular boxed set!

    Seeing the armies arrayed for battle like this on the back of the box makes me really excited to organize and take a closer look at everything in this box. But, that will have to wait to a future post…

    Take care and happy hobbying! 🎨

  • 10mm roads

    I recently painted up a set of Cromarty Forge’s excellent 10mm cobblestone roads for my Warmaster games. I think they look great on most tables and the jigsaw puzzle connections make them very easy to vary from game to game.

    Their rules in Warmaster Revolution are as follows:

    Roads and Tracks. These permit movement to units in column formation as for open ground regardless of the type of terrain traversed. A base placed centrally across or along a road is conveniently assumed to be travelling along it despite the road’s width. Infantry placed on a road through dense terrain still count as ‘defended’ stands – other troop types count as ‘in the open’ as usual. If a unit moves its entire distance along a road then the next order will be issued with a +1 to command. Roads obviously don‘t block line of sight.

    Warmaster Revolution Compendium, page 80

    Issuing a second order with no command penalty and a third order with only a -1 command penalty can really help troops traverse the battlefield!

    Printing

    The roads were printed in PLA on a Bambu Lab FDM printer.

    I think FDM printing works quite well for these roads but would recommend running the flame of a lighter over the cobblestone side of the pieces to burn away any stray filament strands. I forgot to do this and you may be able to tell in the pictures below.

    Painting steps

    The roads were first primed black:

    A generous drybrush of Citadel Verminlord Hide was then applied across the entire piece:

    Followed by an uneven drybrush of Citadel Terminatus Stone:

    And a light drybrush of Citadel Longbeard Grey to the areas that are already grey:

    Lastly, a generous and messy coating of various shades.
    I used the following ones:

    • Army Painter Dark Tone
    • Army Painter Strong Tone
    • Army Painter Softy Tone
    • Citadel Carroburg Crimson
    • Citadel Athonian Camoshade

    The set painted up quickly and I now look forward to painting up a set of rivers from the same terrain bundle!

    That’s all for this time. Take care and happy hobbying! 🎨

  • Hopes for 2025

    Well met! This is the hobby goblin writing.

    I thought I’d start this hobby blog off with something simple: my hobby hopes for 2025.

    Since learning about Warmaster Revolution in mid-2023 it has been my main hobby and gaming focus. I think it is an excellent game and am very fortunate that a group of enthusiastic players has sprung up in my local community.

    The Dwarf army

    For my first Warmaster army, the choice fell on the Dwarfs as Forest Dragon’s wonderful Dwarf range was being released at the time. I’m building it together with a friend so that we both get to enjoy playing with a fully painted army sooner.

    This is how it looks today:

    This army is a “gathering of the clans” (to explain the different color schemes 😇). The Dwarfs are a dwindling race and the clans must come together to battle their enemies.

    The army is currently at 1660 points and my first hobby hope for this year is that we bring it up to 2000 points and add basing to all units to look better.

    The Lizardmen army

    My second (and fully my own) army is one of desert-themed Lizardmen. I find that at the 10mm scale, lighter and more colorful units look better on the gaming table, so I wanted an army for which vibrant colors would be fitting. The choice was obvious.

    This is how it looks today:

    When watching Iain Standing’s Faction Focus: Lizardmen video, I picked up on him mentioning “lost tribes of Lizardmen in the Southlands”, which sounded intriguing. I’ve tried to match the basing to a gaming mat that I have, which will be their home arena:

    The army is currently at 350 points and my second hobby hope for this year is to bring it up to 2000 points as well.

    The wider community

    My third hobby hope for this year is to attend a Warmaster tournament or other event in Sweden (where I’m based) or abroad to meet Warmaster players from other communities and have some fun friendly games.

    It will be interesting to follow up on how these things panned out when 2025 draws to a close!

    That’s all for this time. Take care and happy hobbying! 🎨