Sunday 1 September 2013

Bring out your Lead: The First Oldhammer Weekend


Well, the last die has been rolled for the first Oldhammer Weekend. 

The heaps of beautifully painted lead have been safely squeezed back into their foam trays and carried back to wargame dens across Northern Europe.  And if they are anything like me, their bags are groaning with purchases from the Foundry's incredible range of 'toy soldiers'. 

Thinking back, its rather a challenge to try and put the weekend into a coherent series of paragraphs and recount all the things that occurred for those enthusiasts who were unable to attend. So I am actually going to say very little and let the series of photographs that I am presenting below do the talking for me. Before we move on to those, I just need to thank the Ansell family for all the support they gave us over the Saturday and Sunday. I have been to many a wargames show and tournament over the years, but I have never visited such a friendly and supportive venue. They provided us with a bar, sausage sandwiches, and just when we were all dithering about where to go for eat in the evening, a choice of meals cooked for us in the Foundry itself! Marcus, Diane and Bryan were all very approachable and friendly and chatted with attendees for hours. They had even cast up the old Dogs of War Citadel range from the 1980s for the event! 

So if you are after a venue to run an wargaming event, I can wholeheartedly recommend that you choose the Foundry to do so. We ever much hope to be able to return to the Foundry in the not to near future to take part in an even bigger event!

Big thanks must also go to Gaj from Warhammer for Adults who helped organise things from day one and to one Skarsnik, who lead us through the streets of Nottingham and helped ferry Oldhammerers to their hotels and carparks! 

The Realm of Chaos Warband table on Saturday morning as players set up their forces. Dan and I had discussed how to run this and opted to GM throughout the day, but the Oldhammer spirit quickly raised its head and the game just ran itself! No easy feat, considering how complex Slaves to Darkness can be. 
Beastmen of Slannesh in all their perverted glory.
A lovingly painted Khorne Warband takes to the field. They were all ultimately destined to perish over the course of the game.
More followers of Khorne assemble on the field. Dice lay waiting...
Jeff's Khorne Warband which some of you may recognise from the Facebook Group through the distinctive shields on the orcs. 
The smallest warband of all, just four models. A lovely painted ogre. 
The forces of Slannesh make ready, including one the author's own minotaur models. 
Warlord Paul's Warband of Lord Savage. Those crossbows reaped a mean harvest. 
Martin and Paul move their models forwards in a early Slannesh movement phase. Note the tower scenery piece, Bryan told me it was originally built by Nigel Stillman.
The forces edge ever closer to one another.
The minotaur of Khorne rushed across the field to engage with the Troll, Throgg. Incredibly, after years of failing stupidity tests he passed with flying colours and promptly vomited all over his enemy. 
Nico's Marvellous painting was exhibited in one of the many cabinets of miniatures. Seeing his stuff online is impressive, but seeing Nico's paintwork for real is mind-blowing. He is incredibly skilled and has hordes of models painted to this standard. 
Tony Hough holds court with his portfolio of original artwork. Guy Carpenter can be seen with the earphones in the centre of the picture. His artwork was astonishing to behold. Still trying to persuade the wife to let me buy one!
The Warbands game in full swing. There are models everywhere. But did anyone spot where my d10s went?
Slannesh Warbands advance across the sunken lane. 
Erny, Garth, Steve and other Oldhammerers, Oldhammering away. I don't think that many copies of the Third Edition have been in the same room for over twenty five years.
Garth's famous undead models as seen on Warhammer for Adults. I loved the paint job on the Plague Cart!
Harry's beautifully painted miniatures. I originally saw these on Warseer and they inspired me to start my own old school painting. 
Thantsants' Orc's Drift. It was still being fought as Dan and I left.
Beautifully painted Slaan. 
Even more beautifully painted Slaan.
Even, even more slaan. 



The Foundry's display cabinets were packed full with a small fraction of Bryan Ansell's collection. Recognise anything. I spent quite a while identifying Andy Craig's work here. In truth, you could spend hours peering through the glass and still not see everything. I drifted back over the course of the day and spotted new things every time. 
Competition time. Who recognises this model? It appears on Bryan's wargames table in the Third Edition Rulebook and beyond. We used it as an object in the Realm of Chaos game. 
Always nice to see The Lost and the Damned being used in a game. 
This blog's author beneath the original Harry the Hammer painting by John Blanche that graced the cover of the first edition of Warhammer.
Rick Priestley shared some amusing stories about a life in wargaming and the perils of having long hair along with John Stallard. Rick told me that he is working on the Gates of Antares, among other things, at the moment and wants to produce a new set of fantasy rules sometimes in future. 
The author of this blog with the Mighty Avenger himself, Bryan Ansell. 
Bryan and Tony signing Third Edition rulebooks. Claus is very happy!
Some of my Khorne warriors advance on the forces of Nurgle. Overlooked by an ancient piece of scenery. Have you found it in the old rulebooks yet?
Slannesh forces murder Nurgle followers. Nice shields there.
Action on the Realm of Chaos table. 
Padre and co playing the Rumble of the Jungle. Harry had just run off at this point looking for his viking helm. 
Harry's lovely Bloodbowl stadium.
Selkie's beautifully painted goblinoids. 

Slambo stands above the Wanted poster for the Perry Twins. Funnily enough, we saw them and Aly Morrison drinking in one of the pubs we visited. 
Dreamfish leads Slaan to victory.
Some of the artwork on display. Ian Miller originals. 



Orlygg

36 comments:

  1. Excellent set of photographs. Real shame I could not attend.

    I love the Slann, very nicely done, but all the miniatures looked excellent.

    Must have been good to meet Rick Preistley, Tony Hough, and Bryan Ansell, as well as the other 'Oldhammer-ers'?

    You are right, looks like there has never have so many 3rd ed Rulebooks (and a 2nd Ed one in picture 16?) in one place for many years.

    I recognised the tower from Warhammer Siege, it must be like having your photo taken next to an historic landmark :)

    Looks like you had a great time, thank you for posting the photos :)

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    1. Your name was mentioned frequently, particularly when discussing people who could field very large units of models. Hopefully we shall see you at a future event!

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    2. That's flattering to hear.
      Hopefully I will be able to make it next year :)
      I'll see if I can get either the all the Slann or Goblins done by the end of summer 2014!

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  2. No comments about Skavensies? A terrible oversight-sight! May the Horned Rat curse-curse your dice rollings manthing!

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  3. Words fail me for expressing how amazing it is to see all that miniature history in one place... and those Warhammer celebs on show as well!
    My envy of those who could make it is quite painful now.
    Thanks for letting us have a peek!

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  4. Amazing photos! I can only imagine how exciting the weekend must have been! Thanks for sharing and I look forward to hearing more in the future.

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  5. Thank you, orlygg!! This wonderful glimpse into the weekend will have me happily daydreaming for days!

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  6. Everything looks just amazing. What an occasion must have it been. Real Oldhammer in all its glory! I'm glad that everything went that well. Also delighted to see there is such an enthusiast community which makes this be still alive. I hope this is the first of many Oldhammer Weekends!

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  7. What can I say only super!
    Merci beaucoup for the pictures, and Bryan Ansell had a french t shirt ;) lol

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    1. It had GM printed on the back of it too! Coincidence or design? (:

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  8. Wondrous. A real pain I couldn't make it. A REAL PAIN. It looked like a great time, what with the warhammer celebs, tons of oldhammer minis and famous terrain.

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  9. looks like a rare old time was had by all. Aside from all the celebs floating around I love the eclectic look of the warbands: the use of antique and not-so-antique Citadel miniatures alongside non-Citadel miniatures is very much in the spirit of the 'use what you have at your disposal' ethos that applies to Oldhammer.

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    1. You have to look really hard to find two minis alike. Such was the depth and range of Old School Citadel. Mind you, there were lots of other minis but different manufacturers too. The new Foundry casts of the old Empire, Norse and Bretonnians models are also excellent, and we will see a great number of those models fielded next time.

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  10. Looks like a great day out and a fantastic idea for some nostalgic gaming.

    Well done.

    Tony

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    1. It was great fun, but I didn't really get any gaming in at all. I was too busy chatting (or should that be waffling?) away to other Oldhammerers. There was just so much to see, and I am still spotting stuff I missed on other people's blogs and on the forum.

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  11. Nice review article mate.

    As soon as I read your plea I instinctively knew your dice must have been scooped up into my dice box! I checked, there appear to be two green gem D10 I don't recognise, is that right? Everyone was using my kit and it all just got dumped back in at the end of the Saturday game! PM me your address on the BLOOD forum and I will post them back to you.

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    1. Don't worry about them mate. I am sure that they will return to me some day. Until then, look after them to save on postage!

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    2. Very well, I will look after them and give them a roll from time to time to keep them lucky. Until I see you next, any time you need a a D10 result just send me a message!

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  12. It was great and got me thinking i need to get back to doing a lot more gaming! The under empire is gonna rise a lot more! Cheers for a great and friendly weekend all. Oh and I think a blog will defo have to start but NOT as Ernie Minor/Junior/the second or any of the suggestions that game from drunken musings on Saturday night!

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    1. How about MiniErni then? (: Looking forwards to a fresh blog to add to the ever growing community web presence. Perhaps you could call the blog Skavenblighty?

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    2. I have the name already...................

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    3. C'mon... it's got to be Bert and Erny surely?

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    4. Ha ha ha! Classic Paul! Or he could go for Eric and Ernie? They were certainly an amusing double act!

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    5. Double act???????? He's me brother not me wife! I hope to have it started by the end of the week, if not then it'll be a couple of weeks as I'm to a "land of cider" for a week.

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    6. OK, after a name change my first attempt is: http://snickitstale.blogspot.co.uk/

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    7. Why the name change? Is one blogger account not enough? (; Good looking blog so far, but you need to add the followers gadget thingy so we can all subscribe!

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    8. Varl Snickit has been my Warlords name since the mid 90's so just felt right. Gnawdoom, whilst being a name of Skaven legend, isn't of my making. Imagine my narkiness when I came across a Warlord of very similar name in a short story in the 6th edition Skaven Army Book! Theft!

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  13. Stunning looking miniatures and fantastic looking 'old skool' gaming boards and terrain. Looks like a great time was had by one and all! Certainly inspired me... I'm cracking on with my Nurgle as we speak! Recently started a blog too... Any chance of a shameless plug? ;)

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    1. Sure, post up a few more pics of your minis and I'll do a little article about your blog. If I were you, get yourself the followers widget so people can join your blog and see each new post in their blog lists.

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    2. Yes, I also encourage the use of the followers widget. It just makes things so much easier.

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    3. Cheers for the advice Orlygg (and you too Warlord Paul)! Gadget added... Now to see if it works.

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    4. No problem my pleasure, I'm a member now. Love the warband!

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  14. What a great looking day, I'm so envious of you all. Thanks for all the pics. Time to prepare for next year.

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  15. Wowowow. Looks like a big fun. I really love the Slann models. So full of vibrant colors. Thumbs up also to the shields on some models. I am still trying to paint thme this way.
    Thx to the organisers.

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  16. Awesome photo log! The RoC game was brilliant to participate in, it made painting up my warband totally worthwhile. I'm going to try again in my attempt to persuade some members of my local club to try 3rd edition skirmish games.

    I'm gutted I couldn't make it on the second day, I'd have liked to fight around that old grey watchtower from the rulebook and get some revenge on those Slaanesh deviants!
    That tower by the way, is on pages 10 and 11 of the 3rd ed rulebook and also on pages 100 and 104 of Warhammer Siege!

    Did Rick Priestley and Bryan Ansell appear on the sunday then, or was it late saturday? Either way, I wish I hadn't missed a chance to meet them. :(

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    1. Bryan was at the Foundry on Saturday while Rick Priestley and John Stallard dropped in on the Sunday morning.

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