Gutzom, Dwarf Dungeon Delver

Over at Tabletop Diversions, at http://tabletopdiversions.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-ever-expanding-dungeon-session-25b.html , in the comments section I offered up a character to join the party. The character is a dwarf dungeon delver. Doodling around the other day I came up with this "cartoony" sketch of Gutzom (and friend).

Other than that, I've been playing some solo boardgames, Race for the Galaxy, Tales of the Arabian Nights, and the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. I have a few more games to add to the gaming queue now. And more miniatures to clean up and paint. (and, as always, more books to read). :)
Currently I'm painting up some more halflings and a few other peoples and animals.

Even More Assorted Miniatures

This time around, a mortar, which I think was a bombard from a 15mm or 10mm set (I forgot where I got this from), but seems to make a good smallish mortar for 28mm figures. The wonders of "modern miniaturization".

A snow leopard, from Reaper. The large cat is the animal ally of a druid (which I don't have).

And finally, Boadicea/Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, from Hasslefree Miniatures. I tried to do a different plaid on her cloak. It's not the best, but I guess it'll do.

More Assorted Miniatures

First, some halfling militia/home guard and a couple of halfling adventurers with their well-stocked pony, all from Foundry.

Next a female archer from Reaper and a couple of male archers, source forgotten.

And last, but not least, some female dwarf warriors. I think these were from the same manufacturer who did the Highlander dwarves I did quite some time ago. The one with the axe is a weapons conversion. Her sword was too fragile, so I used a plastic axe head from a GW dwarf sprue, a bit of wire, a bead, and some greenstuff, to give her a sturdier weapon.

Oddities (Space and Otherwise)

Making more progress clearing out some of the old lead pile. Some of the figures are ones I liked or that amused me. I don't know if I will ever have any use for them in games. They're just fun to paint.

An alien from Reaper, their Chronoscope line, I believe.

A dire crocodile, also from Reaper.

A dimetrodon. From Acheson Creations, if I recall correctly.

(Maybe I will have to do some sort of lost world/jungle thing, with aliens. ha ha)

Norse Dwarves

I painted up another batch of figures from the old lead pile. These are old Norse dwarves from Foundry. In my fantasy world they are from the island of Smorgasbergen, a dwarf holding founded several generations ago by a seafaring dwarf known as Smorgas Herringsbane. I have a small family tree worked out of him and his descendants to the current chief, Snorkil Gnarlison, along with a map of the island.

I have shields that I think came with these figures, but I'm debating whether or not to attach them.

This finishes up the Foundry dwarf figures I have. Now I'm trying to decide which figures to work on next. Also, I've been thinking about whether to base up some of my old figures on stands for use with rules like Hordes of the Things or some sort of homegrown rules using stands of figures. I could easily work up a number of fantasy armies and still have plenty of individually based figures for skirmishes and rpgs. Of course, I could use movement trays or non-permanent attachments of the individual figures to stands, but permanent stands also have some appeal to me.

Dwarves and Lizards and a Walking Tree

First, a dwarf merchant and some dwarf fighters from the dwarven kingdom of Firestone. Figures are from Foundry.

Assorted dwarf swordsmen, gunners, and wizard, either from the dwarven kingdom of Beerstone or among the wandering Freestone dwarves. More Foundry figures.

 

Blue skink shaman and large chameleon pet/familiar/mascot. GW figures.

Old GW (or possibly Citadel) metal skeleton, with newer plastic shield. (A little tribute to Ray Harryhausen)

 Large plastic treeman from the Reaper "bones" line. The head and arms were separate, but had deep well-fitted connections making it a breeze to put together for a strong finished piece. Could make for a good forest-based monster or a creature or construct under control of a forest or jungle-dwelling shaman.

Games and Game-Related Materials

While I am slowly chipping away at my old lead pile, with some fantasy miniatures currently on the painting desk, I have also been playing Paizo's Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. I am thoroughly enjoying this game so far. In the past week or so I have played through 4 of the scenarios, playing solo as a single character. I like the artwork on the cards. The wide variety of cards keeps the game interesting, and I believe will allow for multiple enjoyable plays of the adventures and scenarios. I believe there is also a lot of potential for player-provided content and customization if people want to go outside the box.
The game plays pretty quickly (easily under an hour), doesn't take a huge amount of space or a lot of setup time. The rules book could be better organized, but there is already a lot of information on-line at Paizo and BoardGameGeek, so finding answers to questions isn't hard. After a couple of play-throughs I think I have a good handle on the rules, which hasn't always been the case with other games.
All in all, I find the game quite engaging. It's the sort of game where when I finish one scenario I want to go on right away and play another.
I know the game is not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're looking for a solo fantasy game with rpg-like elements I think this card game is worth checking out.

In other news, I understand the Rory's Story Cubes people are going to start coming out with themed 3 cube sets to mix in with the existing cubes when you want some thematic flavor. I think one of the first ones will be a fairy tale set, and another will be a dinosaurs or prehistoric theme, and a third one whose theme I forget (I was distracted by the dino/prehistoric theme). Apparently the idea is if these sets sell well enough they might do more themed sets like them in the future.