Terrain building at the Wandering Dragon...

OK!  Now that I am not half dead anymore, I can finally get around to this post on the terrain I was building at the Wandering Dragon Shoppe on Saturday!

Kevin was kind enough to save me a spot, and some used pill jars, so that I could construct some steampunk terrain pieces for his Warmachine game boards!!

Here I am getting everything set up...

Some textured plasticard with the metal grating on it...

And lots of polystyrene tubing!

I started out by cutting some square and rectangular pieces of foam as a base.

And then started to position some of the pill containers after I sawed off the threads.

I cut numerous small bits of foam, which will look more like control stations or coal bunkers when painted.

I added some bits of polystyrene tubing here and there, along with more foam details, such as the steps.

You can see this piece beginning to take shape...

Now for the all important, and by far most tedious part.  Making the rivets!  This tool is more of an archivist hole punch, which is great for making lots of rivets.  Getting them out of the punch can be a bit of a pain, as static charges make them want to stick to the punch.

I fished them out, and then put them in a container.  I got out a new, very sharp exacto blade, which I will use to handle them.

Each rivet it picked up with the blade, dipped in a spot of glue, and then painstakingly positioned on the terrain piece, one by one.  As I mentioned, this is the most tedious bit!!!

Here you can see some other pieces that I was also working on, using some other types of containers...

More bits, more rivets.  Once these are painted and weathered, it will be a real transformation!

I tried to leave some places where the figures could actually get on top of the terrain, using it as cover or for a dramatic fight scene!

The view from above.

I made a few more pieces while we were there, which I will show in another post.

It was really hopping at the Wandering Dragon, as usual!

Lots of stuff going on, and lots of people having fun, with Malifeaux, RPG's card and board games, you name it!

Well, it's getting to be crunch time for the Painting Pyramid!!  Just 3 days remain!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/891905985/discover-the-painting-pyramid-with-james-wappel

Kirin Lightfoot, Dwarf Rogue

Here's one more Stonehaven Dwarf!

This is Kirin Lightfoot.

Kirin has learned to survive on her own, and consequently does not quite know how to work with others.  ait's not that she doesn't want to, but out of habit she thinks of herself first, taking what she needs.

Though Kirin is oblivious to many social expectations, she is friendly at heart and a quick learner...

Orm Surefist, Dwarf Monk

Once again, we return to Stonehaven to see another addition.  This time, it's Orm Surefist!

Orm prefers seclusion.  For him to take up the road, something truly critical must be on the line.  Orm spends most of his free time training.  He does not value social interaction, but he attempts to be kind when forced into a conversation.

I had lots of fun doing the freehand!  The base is from DragonForge Designs, and it has those Woodland Scenics painted leaves for some extra color!

Be sure to check out their very cool gnome kickstarter!!!!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2087444096/gnomish-adventurers-box-set

Happy Birthday blog!

One year ago today this little blog was launched.  I had no idea what it would become!

In that year, there have been over 1000 posts, 550,000 page views, and over 400 loyal Wappellians recruited!!

Many thanks to everyone who has followed this blog, and listened to my mad ravings!  It all began with the huge surprise that White Dwarf had done a 2 page spread on my Lizardman army, featuring my army display board.

As I have told many people over the years, that army board was also intended to be a playable terrain piece, with its own rules and so on.

You have also read the story about the Temple of Blood.  This campaign played out that story.  It was four parts, with Rich's chaos vs my Lizards.  This was the farewell to 7th edition.  The previous 3 parts were all setting up this final battle.  There were magic items found, secret maps, and so on.

That lead to this set up for the final battle!

Babo awaits!

The armies deployed.

The forces of Chaos, led by the Khorne demon...

The mighty Lizard host!

Preparing the advance.  Since neither side would start out with complete control of the Temple, it was a race that had to be won...

The "Temple restoration crew"  readies itself to fight for its treasured heritage.

My giant unit of skink and kroxigors (since completed) had to cross the river of blood, as it had started in the secret deployment zone.  Minor detail, anything that stepped into it risked certain death. If any figure rolled a '1', it was killed outright!!!

Seeing the huge skink unit attempting to claim the Temple, Chaos also races towards it!

Compelled by their evil, warp spawned overlords, the minions advance.  They are carrying with them some of the magic items they found in the Jungle Hunt...

The goal is in sight...

The Lizardman "Foot cavalry" manages to reach the Temple first.  Go skinks!!!

Using the safer causeways, the skink and kroxigor units attempt to get themselves into postion to defend the temple against the inevitable assault.

Some units break off the advance to the Temple, veering off towards the evil horde.

The Lizard vanguard climbs the levels of the Temple.  The other group prepares to sacrifice themselves by engaging  the Demons and slow them down.

The big skink and kroxigor unit suffers huge losses as the cross the deadly river of blood, as the Temple recognizes no one!  19 will die n the attempt.

The flying demon lords prove to be even more mobile, as they are not hindered by rivers of blood...

The Lizard units on the left engage the Chaos forces, hoping that the poisoned blowpipes and javelins of the skinks can fell the great Demon beasts...Magic flies, Engines of the Gods, crackle with mysterious energy, and blood is spilled.

Lots of blood!

Eventually, the heavy magic of the Demons proves too great.  The baleful fire of the Tzeentch flamers fells too many brave skinks, and the Temple falls.  Can Lustria survive?

Here's that two page spread that started it all!!

Only 5 days left to go!!!!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/891905985/discover-the-painting-pyramid-with-james-wappel

The Legend of Stikki Wikkit

Meet the General of more than a few of my tournament armies.  Stikki Wikkit!

He was made using a regular plastic skink, with some wings from an old GW plastic bat.  The base was done using sculpey and green stuff.

Here's a portrait of Stikki, done for Games Day.  He managed to win a trophy for Best in Show in the art contest.  You would expect nothing less from Stikki!

And for those of you interested in the story of the army...

The story is the same for my tournament armies (such as Adepticon and Rampage, to name a few).  It goes into more detail of the Temple, a four part campaign that Rich and I fought over the Temple of Blood, and why most of my armies are devoid of saurus.  Yes, a skink chief has been my general at tournaments

So, here it is, The Legend of Stikki Wikkit and the Temple of Blood

It seemed as if all the laws of the Universe had been violated at once, in the most hideous and violent ways. Death, destruction, and despair polluted the very fabric of time and space as the innumerable hordes tore away at mind, body and soul.


The very earth itself seemed to bleed as endless numbers of warp-spawned creatures hacked, clawed and tore at the Temple, and what was left of the Sacred Host.

I had known of this event for many eons. The stars had shown me, a warning from the Most Ancient Ones. Now the Skull Demon had come, and ultimately the Temple would fall. In great fiery blasts I call down stones from the heavens, slaying ten times a thousand of the nameless horrors. Ten times that ten thousand warp spawn take their place.

Timeless meditation was not enough to prepare me to defend this, one of our most sacred, and certainly most dangerous, Temples. The glyphs so carefully carved by skink craftsmen meant to protect the Temple began to morph into blasphemous shapes as stones cracked and shattered. I could feel the four Great Serpent columns beneath me shudder and weaken with the deluge.

The savage warp beasts were now upon me, and all hope was lost. As they tore at my own flesh, I saw a massive creature, more terrible to behold than the entire great host. Blood, fire and hatred radiated from the abomination. Blacker than night, brighter than any star, He beheld me, and knew that the victory He had sought since the first Daemonic incursions had been achieved.

With the final intact shreds of my mind, I sought out the power crystals, which still remained in the eyes of the four Serpent Columns. They must not fall into the possession of the vanquishers. Just before my body is disintegrated in the blast of daemonic energy directed at me, I cast the four crystals into obscurity and oblivion, so that the Skull Demon would be denied his long sought after prize, and could not use the Temple as a gateway for the annihilation of Lustria.

At once the tumult coalesced into a great shriek, for without the four crystals; the deamonic host could not exist. Flesh and demon alike were banished from the land, and sent back to the hellish realm between the stars.

All that remained was the stones. Stones that had been drenched in the blood of the fallen Sacred Host and the foul entrails of the baleful creatures. The stones had tasted more than the blood of the ancient ceremonial sacrifices, and the Thirst began.

I fly over the impenetrable canopy below, using all my senses to search for any enemy. Even the slightest disturbances go unnoticed. The leathery flapping of great wings,

Which could not drown out the cacophony of jungle sounds for so many months are now all that can be heard.

Why could the child races not sense this unnatural state? Was it the unquenchable thirst for meaningless trinkets that drew them to this land for so long? Did they feel safer here, with no denizens of the Jungle to threaten them?

I see evidence of the folly of the lesser races everywhere. The land has reclaimed their primitive settlements. Time after time, these lesser beings would construct their flimsy villages, seeking to plunder what they could from the land and the Temple.

Their tiny minds could not understand that the very stones upon which they walked would eventually destroy them.

Though I am but a lowly chieftain, I can sense the hunger of the Stones. Perhaps they know of our approach. Do they know of the cargo of which we carry?

In the few gaps in the trees I can see the work details which I have led many times to restore lesser temples and cities. Scribe skinks, glyph skinks and metal workers direct the hulking beasts of burden, clearing out fallen serpent steles which have lead us here to this site. 

Those skinks deemed incompetent for use in temple restoration have had their skills honed with the blowpipe, felling many hapless ape-men along our journey. Priests ride upon massive beasts of burden, which trample the overgrown vegetation spread out on the once glorious roads, and causeways that lead to the Temple. In addition to their normal use for clearing the most immovable of objects, two of these horned creatures carry the precious Gifts from the Gods. Portable gateways through which we will be able to securely transfer the vital crystals once the temple has been reached.

Quests of such importance have always been lead by the Oldbloods, or even Mazamundi himself! I could never have dreamed that I, Stiki Wikitt, skink chieftain, would be entrusted with reclaiming the Temple of Blood.

While we approach the Temple, a much larger formation replete with the greatest of our heroes and Mage Priests has been sent to another ruined city. We have done this for we know that the sorcerers of the elf kind have had fleeting visions of the Dark Power emanating from the Stones. The puny minds of the elf kind cannot comprehend the true nature of the Temple, however.

It is known that the Skull Demon, though banished so long ago, still seeks to claim dominion over the Temple, and all of Lustria. He has been watching through eternity, ever vigilant. We must complete our journey while the Great Army distracts him.

I fear that even if we succeed, I shall lead no more restoration quests. It is likely that we shall all be consumed. Only the priests have the protections needed to thwart the thirst of the stones, so that the four serpent columns will once again have the gleaming Eye crystals in place. Only then can the Temple be under control of the Scaly host once more.

This is my duty, but it is the will of the Old Ones as well.
Quests of such importance have always been lead by the Oldbloods, or even Mazamundi himself! I could never have dreamed that I, Stiki Wikitt, skink chieftain, would be entrusted with reclaiming the Temple of Blood.

While we approach the Temple, a much larger formation replete with the greatest of our heroes and Mage Priests has been sent to another ruined city. We have done this for we know that the sorcerers of the elf kind have had fleeting visions of the Dark Power emanating from the Stones. The puny minds of the elf kind cannot comprehend the true nature of the Temple, however.

It is known that the Skull Demon, though banished so long ago, still seeks to claim dominion over the Temple, and all of Lustria. He has been watching through eternity, ever vigilant. We must complete our journey while the Great Army distracts him.

I fear that even if we succeed, I shall lead no more restoration quests. It is likely that we shall all be consumed. Only the priests have the protections needed to thwart the thirst of the stones, so that the four serpent columns will once again have the gleaming Eye crystals in place. Only then can the Temple be under control of the Scaly host once more.

This is my duty, but it is the will of the Old Ones as well.


So, there it is.  A legend is born!