Twenty more Xenos Rampant Cultists

Here are my next two groups of Cultists for my Xenos Rampant ongoing project;

I've tried to keep some colours common across all three units, hence the red hoods and purple trousers on this second group. These are armed for a more long range shooting role than the first set and are led by a figure without a hood and carrying a spear, as well as some kind of energy pistol. He also has a shield. My idea with him is that he represents a kind of Prophet/force commander for the cult, maybe even with psychic powers that he can transmit via his spear, which is really a kind of psychic energy weapon or beacon. I think that these are probably more suited to being a unit of Light Infantry, as they lack the armour of the previous lot. They probably ought to have the Guerillas characteristic to boost their armour value when in cover.

Now, my third unit;

These keep the overall "red hoods" theme but are mainly dressed in grey, again linking them to the unit above, colourwise. I think that these are also suited to a Light Infantry role, possibly with an upgrade to having Heavy Weapons, seeing as one has a rocket launcher and a couple have what look like heavier support weapons too. The guy on second front left with the backpack is wearing what looks like a pilot's helmet and is carrying a comms device. He is an alternative force commander figure if I decide I don't want a psychic force commander.

So, there we have it. Three units of Cultists who will form the core of a force which follows some strange occult belief system, perhaps worshipping strange Alien Gods or powerful xenomorphic beings, or maybe just dedicated to destruction and death for its own sake. Who knows?

Next, I'll be working on a couple of units of disciplined fighters who can represent the military of an Empire, Republic or Dictatorship or maybe just a well-armed and equipped Planetary Defence Force.

Some Cultists for Xenos Rampant

Here is my first group of 10 figures to use as Cultists in Xenos Rampant;

These are all based on the Frostgrave Cultists plastic box set with weapons from the Stargrave Troopers and Mercenaries boxes. I'm a big fan of the plastic cultists set and they work well as members of some kind of weird sci fi cult or as space pirates who want to keep their identities secret. This group are clearly wearing some kind of body armour and half of them have pistols and blades so could be used for troops with the Assault Doctrine characteristic or maybe as Berserk Troops. The flamer being carried by the guy on the front right seems well-suited to close combat and assaults.

I've given them a purple-based colour palette so they could be used with the Cultist figures I painted ages ago (back in 2019) for Saga: Age of Magic, who would definitely be Berserkers or Primitives as they have no shooting capability. I like the idea of a Xenos Rampant force that has fanatic troops who just want to get close up and personal with sharp or pointy objects. I could also use some of my daemonic figures, based on Ghost Archipelago Snake Men as Lesser Xenomorphs. They could be given a ranged attack based on spitting toxins. I've not played Saga: AoM in ages, so it would be nice to see them on the table again.

I've got 20 more of these guys to show you, but I'll put them up separately in two more posts, in a day or so.

Frostgrave - the long scenario reaches its penultimate stage

People who follow my blog must be aware that we have been playing out a series of linked games around the theme of finding the whereabouts of the treasure of a dreaded but long-presumed vanquished Necromancer. This started in December last year, and will finish in August, once various holidays are out of the way.

This game, together with the preceding two represent three concurrent parts of a single quest to find three Vorpal blades, which can only be handled by spellcasters, and which will play a role in the forthcoming denouement.

This time around, Owen provided the Wizard, I brought along an Apprentice and Richard a Captain, plus assorted warband members for support. Andy, once again ran the game and Nick took charge of the evil creatures.

Here is the initial table. The eagle-eyed might recognise the provenance of the central obelisk.

Everyone had to enter and leave this underground chamber via the portal on the right-hand side.

Bad things began to happen immediately. My hapless Thug was soon killed off by a snake-like guardian.

Vengeance was swift, however, as my Traesure Hunter, Warhound and conjured Zombie triumphed.

Elsewhere, more serpentine evil appeared. People may recognise many of these figures as well.

Daunting though these enemies appeared, we soon managed to see most of them off.

Obviously, the Serpent Wizard was protecting something, so we advanced across the chamber.

My Apprentice cast Wall, to prevent this Hydra, summoned from somewhere by the portal obelisk from easily attacking.

Elsewhere, Richard's Captain took on the Serpent Wizard's Bodyguard.

More nastiness appeared to attach a hapless crossbowman.

The brave Captain fought through to attack the Serpent Wizard, killing it but being killed himself by a Wraith Knight who was holding the Vorpal Blade (no photos, sorry). 

The fearsome Mouth On Legs creature was killed.

The Hydra was much more of a problem.

A Gorgon appeared. By this point, Owen's Wizard was out of the game. To win, I had to keep my Apprentice alive.

But to stay alive, we had to vanquish the Hydra. My Treasure Hunter managed to slay the Beast.

Ans she went on to kill the Gorgon, too. What a star!

Again without pictures, we combined to kill the Wraith Knight and my Apprentice took control of the Vorpal Blade. Time to get out of this chamber.

We fought out way back to the exit, seeing off more Serpent Guardians en route.

So, now, the Wizards, equipped with Vorpal Blades must confront the Evil Necromancer to triumph. 

Saga: Age of Magic - my Otherworld army gets a run out

Yesterday at the club, we had one of our occasional all-day sessions. This was a great opportunity to get my daemonic Otherworld warband (made mainly from Frostgrave figures, with Alternative Armies Creatures) on the table for some Saga: Age of Magic. This was going to be a learning experience as I'n not played with this faction before. I fell into the trap of thinking of this as an impact army which did me no good against my first opponents, Clive's Undead.

These Undead are a terrific-looking army, with an Ancient Egyptian theme.

Unfortunately, for me anyway, they are also a very shooty army, with lots of bow-equipped warriors.

I plunged ahead, trying to get my best killy units into combat, with the Hunters leading the way. They didn't last long, succumbing to a lot of accurate shooting. Still, I had high hopes for my Creatures.

I used Portal to get my Hearthguard into a position to charge. Two powerful units ready to bust the Undead line apart. What could possibly go wrong?

Ha! What could go wrong was getting shot at. My Behemoth and the Creatures were targeted first.

By the time the Creatures had taken a lot of Fatigue, they were easy meat for some Undead Warriors.

My Behemoth and Warlord were the next targets to suffer.

Also, the sad failure of my Hearthguard, who despite gaining Resilience via Astral Bond and were still unable to take out the Undead archers.

With the Behemoth gone, again due to shooting, my Warlord was the next one to fall.

We called time on the game. I had virtually no Saga dice left.  We set up a second game. This time I was opposed by Clive's High Elf Great Kingdom army, led by Matt, who was new to the game, with assistance from Clive.

I learnt from my mistakes and set up with all my troops in the cover of woods.

I waited to see how things would develop. Not only did the Elves have bows, they also had a Dragon and a Hero on a Pegasus.

The Elven Hearthguard was in two groups of four. My Sorcerer soon managed to get one group reduced to two figures, using a combination of Rift and the Bolt and Drain Life spells.

My Hunters were getting shot at by Elven bow Levies. So, I charged them, with predictable results. 

One Hunter left. I advanced some Warrior Cultists through the woods.

I used Portal to move my Creatures behind the Elven line, threatening the weak Hearthguard unit.

Elsewhere, the other Hearthguard led the Warlord and Sorcerer into the attack. My Warriors in the woods were having success with Abyssal Breath to shoot at the bow levies.

After some manoeuvres, Matt managed to move his weakened Hearthguard out of charge range, so I used Portal again to bring my Creatures back across the table. The green jewels indicate that they are sheltering behind the Elemental Barrier spell.

I'd given up worrying about the Dragon marooned out on my left, but I really needed to charge those bow Levies with my Creatures.

With clever use of the board, the Levies moved out of the way, and the Elven Lion Creatures charged my Creatures, utterly obliterating them.

Things went from bad to worse and eventually, I threw everything into a reckless attack, which was spectacularly unsuccessful. Another loss for the Otherworldly Daemons.

However, it wasn't all bad. My Sorcerer was really effective, using Drain Life with a fair amount of success, but, more importantly to use the spell to remove fatigue. I think, also, that I am beginning to learn how to play with this faction. More games are required.