For Valon!

 My recent sale on eBay of my Epic 40k collection turned out to be quite, well.... epic! Among other things I was able to indulge myself with a fairly large purchase of Flintloque rules and figures! I ordered on Wednesday last week and the package arrived the Wednesday afterwards. I collected it this morning as it was (sensibly) sent by signed for delivery.

The box was rather large and weighty. Enough to make it extra fun and exciting to open!

The box contents.... The Catalucia starter set, 3 limited edition characters, the Grapeshotte expansion rules and a small, but very heavy, pile of lead. Much is camouflaged against the background by very careful and thoughtful wrapping of individual figures in bubble wrap. The contents overall was very well packed and I was very pleased with the care taken!

The starter set box shows what you get inside. The side of me which likes things to remain perfect was disappointed that the box was quite flimsy and the paper cover was not a full card sleeve and taped on at the back.... but then the sensible side of me remembered that, once opened, I would never put the figures back inside again and so I cracked on with opening it!

Well, what a pleasant surprise! Inside the box was robust polystyrene containing figures wrapped in bubblewrap. Perfect packing! Also included are the rulebook, two dice, bases for the figures and a double-sided sheet designed to get you started with a guide to the figures and three scenarios.

 6 elves are included in the box. The mounted one has a separate arm, it isn't broken! Pictures never seem to do these figures justice, but they are wonderfully large and chunky. 

The six ratmen. Again, managing to look much tinier than in real life, even though I included a tape measure to help show their size. Ah well, I tried. Next time I should include some other figures for comparison...

Other bits. Two ten sided dice (the game uses a percentage based system). Bases for the figures made from MDF. Different from the usual plastic slotted bases and I quite like them.


Below are the Limited Edition figures I got as part of my order. I'll go into more detail on these in future posts.

 From left to right: The artist Goyah (with Todoroni noble), Orc Chaplain, Foul Mouthed Freddy. Can't wait to give these some extra special painting attention.

I started to photograph the other figures, but the light wasn't good enough for close up work, as you can see by the Todoroni infantry above. Still, plenty of time to blog about all the rest later.

And just to show I didn't order figures at random, here is the very useful planning diagram I put together to aid my purchasing choices.

 

And on that note, I shall leave you! I'm looking forward to much more Flintloque related blogging in the near future!

Flintloque(?)

Okay, so I'm not posting much at the moment due to being busy. But you know how it is, the minute all your toys get packed away in boxes you start to miss them, and then the more you think about things the more your brain takes you to places which are new and interesting and.... gahhhh?!

Hence Flintloque. I imagine many of you will be familiar, at least in passing, with Alternative Armies' definitive fantasy Napoleonic wargame, but those of you who are not can read about it here.

When I think about it I have spent years skirting this game, all starting with a sighting of orcs and elves dressed like Richard Sharpe and the French at Salute one year. I've always been tempted slightly by this game. But why? Well...:

1. It is different from typical medieval type fantasy
2. It is skirmish (or massed, if you use Slaughterloo), which makes it cheap to get into
3. There is a free 'Lite' version which is good to get you started with minimal cost
4. It is still being supported after all these years by a friendly company (based upon emails with Gavin Syme)
5. The various races are just so much fun and I quite like the cartoony sculpts
6. I can definitely afford it if I sell a fraction of my Warhamer or Epic 40K stuff
7. It has solo rules (Like the ones in the USEME rules)
8. It looks like just plain good fun

 So do any of you play it, or have you tried it? Do you like it? Do you dislike it?

Let me know what you think!