Oliphant!

"Grey as a mouse,
Big as a house,
Nose like a snake,
I make the earth shake,
As I tramp through the grass;
Trees crack as I pass.
With horns in my mouth
I walk in the South,
Flapping big ears.
Beyond count of years
I stump round and round,
Never lie on the ground,
Not even to die.
Oliphaunt am I,
Biggest of all,
Huge, old, and tall.
If ever you'd met me
You wouldn't forget me.
If you never do,
You won't think I'm true;
But old Oliphaunt am I,
And I never lie."

As I mentioned earlier, the boys and I spent the Christmas holidays watching the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings more or less on a loop. The youngest - age 4 - was very taken withe the Mumak. So very taken, in fact that he immediately started asking for one.

It's a fascinating model - for years, one of the biggest that GW made and almost an entire army in its own right. So I didn't mind using my hobby budget to buy one. The sculpt is showing its age - there was quite a lot of filling needed. Once constructed, I broke out the airbrush for the base colours and highlights and followed it up with some drybrushing for texture.

It was a relatively fun little project and led to a happy customer.

Next up, another project for my other son and then - finally! - something for me.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS

We've spent the last few weekends, the boys and I, watching The Lord of the Rings films on Netflix. They both loved them (and the moment I felt like I'd done a good job Dadding was when they both literally cheered when the Eagles arrived in Return of the King) but the Eldest - who has more Middle Earth miniatures than I do, probably - was particularly taken with the Balrog.

So much so, in fact, that he wanted to buy one. Bear in mind this is a significant investment for a 6yo. He had to use all the money he had saved for a significant period of time and then do a few odd jobs round the house for the rest.

In any case, he ordered one and it arrived. He then spent a happy evening putting it together.

It's quite a big thing to paint, so we cracked out the airbrush. He's been using the airbrush since he was 4 when I got him a cheap Spitfire to paint, so all I really had to do here was mix paints for him and tell him what colours to use.

Once he'd basecoated it, I painted in the black of the wing phalanges and the back plates. I also added the lighting effects on the base and tidied up the face.

It's a model with a lot of presence and he seems happy with it. I live in fear that he's going to want to play the Middle Earth SBG and field it - in the new rules, the Balrog is an unstoppable beast.

More Medieval Mayhem

As you may remember by two sons - now nearly 6 and 4 - are nuts about knights. The other day th eeldest dragged the box of Fireforge Teutonic Knights out of the drawer and asked me to build him and his brother another. As per usual, I let them choose the colour scheme then I had to figure out at way to make them work. 

The green and beige check on this chap helped me figure out the colour scheme for an upcoming project. Keep an eye out for it. Hint: it's another kind of Knight...

And so here are all of them together.

Again, these Fireforge knights are brilliant kits, full of dynamism and movement. The one charging with the lance has inspired me to dig out that old White Dwarf article with the jousting game and come up with my own version. 

A Quiet Sunday Afternoon

There I was, laid on the sofa, reading a book about The Peasant's Revolt to help me plan my GCSE History when a little voice pipes up. "Daddy, can we play The Game?"

So that's what we did.

It starts off with him playing with the two Warg Riders I made him...

Before we move into the serious business of dungeon exploration, Middle Earth Style. 

The very simplified DnD-style system we're using still requires deep thought...

But the Witch King is finally defeated.

Incidentally, he has named his fearsome uruk-hai warriors mounted on fell wargs. One is called Peanut. The other is called Ra-Ra. 

Better than reading, don't you think?

End of the Summer

The new school year is about to start and this year it is rather special as my eldest son will start primary school.

This summer has been quite nice as, for the first time, he's shown an interest in the things I've been doing. I've even had the chance to do a simple dungeon bash with him which taught him the basic of dice rolling and practiced counting out squares. I thought I came up with the rules but I'm fairly sure my subconscious has kicked up a version of Rab's Knight's Quest work.

In any case, we've had a great time. So to commemorate it, and because this blog is as close to a permanent record as I have, here's a collection of pictures of my son geeking out with his old man. 

It's been a fun summer and bodes well for the future. Thanks for reading as always. 

Dungeon Crawl

Had a bit of trouble painting because the Eldest won't leave me alone. So I grabbed the Dungeon tiles I made, the poly dice I'd bought for him and did a quick dungeon bash.

In the first one, he had to rescue the king's crown that had been stolen by bandits. 

"Can I smack him Daddy?"

Rolls dice. Compares results. 

"He's dead! Does he have the crown?"

Killing people and nicking their stuff. He's an RPG natural. 

It worked quite well as he has having to remember that the different numbers were and which ones were higher and lower than the others. In the space of ten minutes he was more secure with quite a few numbers. 

This morning he asked if he could play again. 

I asked him if he wanted to be a ranger or an elf (I had a few Lord of the Rings miniatures kicking about). He chose a ranger; proof that he has good taste and will avoid namby pamby elves. 

This time he trying to rescue the King's Wizard. 

Opening the door of the dungeon. 

Pondering his next move. 

The next move being, of course, ATTACK!

And at the end of his trail of carnage, he defeats the evil sorcerer and rescue the wizard. 

Again, he made real progress with the numbers so as well as being fun it had educational value. Or at least that's what I'll tell his mother while I buy a load more stuff to stock a dungeon.