Finally, we ran our Oldhammer 1st edition game at CRISIS. The raw photographs are shown below.

We followed the original scenario "The Ziggurat of Doom" quite literally, although each side rolled a D6 at the start of the turn for reinforcements. A natural 6 resulted in an additional monster, by drawing a card from the deck. This was a gimmick to bring out some of the old monster miniatures, but was quite fun.A Balrog could also appear from the depths of the Ziggurat, ending the game immediately.

Overall, the game ran pretty smooth, although we were a bit surprised by how clunky some of the mechanics are compared to modern tastes. E.g. at the start of of every turn, we had to roll for stupidity of troops, roll for Jabberwock effects, roll for going into or out of Frenzy, etc. It was all very entertaining though.

The best part of the game was that many older gamers passed by, and started chatting about the "good old days of fantasy wargaming" and "games were so much better when we were young". Although this is nostalgia at work (and one tends to forget all the boring games we had back then as well), it is exactly one of the effects a game such as this is aiming for.

We also had some younger players passing by asking how this is different from 8th edition and Age of Sigmar. To which my non-informed answer invariably was: It's still the same set of rules! :-)

The pictures - all taken with my iPad:

General overview of the table.

... another general overview.

Thorgrimm Branedimm is defending the gate to the Ziggurat.

A few of the quick referene cards, to facilitate looking up statistics.

The vintage miniatures drew the most attention. We tried to have miniatures that were all pre-1983 (and thus would have been available when Warhammer was first published), but a few dated from the mid-80s.

The origin of each miniature was also listed on its reference card. The Treeman is scratch-built (see earlier blogposts ...)

Although I brought only a small collection of my Oldhammer monsters, I aimed for the most iconic ones that would be recognized by most veteran gamers.

Guthnog Bristlenose charging in a Frenzied mode Sigrud Slendershank, one of the Dwarf defenders.

One of the random reinforcements, a Jabberwock, came to aid the goblins, We found out during the game that under the original rules, a Jabberwock is invincible.

Goblins storming th Ziggurat. The dwarf player could choose the direction from which the goblins entered, so he choose the side where the Ziggurat had no stairs ...

A giant eagle lurking in the woods.

More action around the Ziggurat.

Guthnog Bristlenose fighting with Thorgrimm Branedimm on the first level of the Ziggurat. This run of the game ended after Guthnog was slain.

A few more paintjobs have been finished for our CRISIS 2017 game.

The idea still is to play the Ziggurat of Doom scenario from Warhammer 1st edition, using vintage miniatures that were available during the early eighties, and could have been used to play the scenario when Warhammer 1st edition was published in 1983 or shortly thereafter.

Earlier, I already reported on 12 Minifigs Forest Orcs that were finished.

Fellow wargamer Wim VdB (check out his blog) has now finished the dwarves (including Thorgrimm Branedimm), and some goblins and orcs.

First, we have the dwarves:. These are pre-slotta Citadel, and you can see the Thorgrimm Branedimm model as well.


 Next we have Chronicle Orcs:


And finally Ral Partha Orcs:

A little follow-up on the previous post about our upcoming Ziggurat of Doom convention game.

One of my wargaming buddies reported he did find an original Thorgrimm Branedimm figure in his collection. How cool is that?

Here's the picture - a pre-slotta original  Thorgrimm Branedimm. So, we will probably have an original Thogrimm Branedimm at Crisis.


I also noticed Stuff of Legends has some more images of this renowned dwarven figure.

We have decided what our game will be for Crisis 2017. We will run the Ziggurat of Doom scenario from the first edition of Warhammer, using vintage fantasy figures that could have been used in 1983, when Warhammer was first published.

Scenario

The scenario is pretty straightforward. A large Ziggurat is defended by 6 dwarfs, who have to hold out against an attack by goblins, 6D6 in total. The Ziggurat is located in an open plain, surrounded by forest. The scenario was also slightly modified and published in White Dwarf 340, for the 25th anniversary of Warhammer.

Scenery

Luckily, I already have a big model for the Ziggurat, made for me in mid-90s, and which was based on exactly this scenario. The model has been used in various games before, but it is still an impressive model that should draw some spectators.

A first mock-up of what the table could look like is shown here. The table at CRISIS will probably be somewhat larger.


We might still add smaller scenery elements such as lichen, rocks, and various other little bits and bobs.

Figures

This is the hardest part. The idea is to use vintage fantasy figures that were around at the time of publication of Warhammer 1st edition, so the figures must be from 1983 or earlier.

First, the dwarfs. I have a couple of old Ral Partha Dwarfs from their Fantasy Collectors range. These show up in the Ral Partha catalogues as far back as 1979, so that's vintage enough.

Ral Partha dwarves from the late seventies (Fantasy Collectors, 02-03x).

Below you see some of these dwarf models on the Ziggurat. They seem rather smallish (more on that later), but I will still base them on a slottabase, so their height will increase somewhat

Dwarves on the top level of the Ziggurat.

The leader of the dwarfs is Thorgrimm Branedimm. This was a promotional figure which you could only get by using a voucher in the first edition of the Warhammer rulebook, and I guess it's quite costly to find one now. However, I have another old Citadel dwarven figure, and he looks in pose very similar to Thorgrimm Branedimm. Perhaps a little conversion might do the trick.
Update: Thorgrimm Branedim found!

Citadel dwarf in my collection (C06 Dwarf Adventurers)

Thorgrimm Branedimm

Thorgrimm Branedimm, pre-slotta

As for the goblins, I have three options. For each group, I have roughly 20-30 figures, which should be enough to populate the goblin army as per the original scenario.

Option 1: Citadel goblins. These are figures from the Fiend Factory range, and these are models FF20, FF22 and FF23. These were later also part of the C13 Night Goblins range (see also here).

Old pre-slotta Citadel goblins.

Option 2: Custom Cast goblins. These are models from "Lesser Orcs of the Red Eye" from Custom Cast, dated 1975 (more info here).

Old Custom Cast Lesser goblins

Option 3: Valley of the Four Winds Orcs.These are "Forest Orcs", once published by Minifigs, and go back to 1978.


Option 4: mix and match of any of the above ...

In any case, the relative size of the figures is also important. Below you see all figures at the foot of the Ziggurat.


From left to right: Custom Cast goblins; Ral Partha dwarves; Citadel goblins; Minifigs orcs; and for comparison, 2 later Citadel miniatures (fighter and dwarf). Note that all these miniatures are listed as "25mm". Scale creep visualized!

Rules

WFB1 rules as closely as possible. The idea is to summarize all relevant rules on a single sheet, leaving out all the rules that are not needed for this specific scenario or troop types.

No unit formations are necessary, this scenario is obviously meant to be played using individual figures. Sometimes we forget that this was a mode of playing that was still very much present in WFB1.

Pimping the scenario

We might "pimp" the scenario by using more vintage Citadel figures, especially monsters that might appear out of the woods using random event cards or something similar. Maybe my scratch-built treeman can make an appearance? Or some of the other Oldhammer monsters (see here, here, or here)?

Crisis 2017 is only 6 months away, so we better start brainstorming about game the game we are going to run.

An initial effort of putting the brainjuices to work came up with the following 2 ideas:

1. Run a Shambattle game, using the 1929 rules and vintage flat metal soldiers.


2. Surf the Oldhammer wave, and run the Ziggurat of Doom scenario from WFB1, using vintage figures from the 80s.


We still have 5 months to think about it, then scramble everything together in the remaining 4 weeks.

In preparation for a replay of the Ziggurat of Doom, the initial WFB1 scenario, I decided to bring out and clean up my Oldhammer Orcs&Goblins. I didn't repaint the figures, but redid the bases in an 80s style - grey flock and some simple tufts of grass and small rocks.

Note that the Orcs and Goblins are not painted green, but Orcs a brownish flesh, and the Goblins a fleshy orange ;-) Sacrilege to some, creativity to others.

Identification of some of the miniatures I have labeled as "Ral Partha" is still uncertain, but I am working on it. Any help appreciated.

All Orcs & Goblins around the Ziggurat of Doom.

Goblin Wolf Riders by Alternative Armies. See this page on Lostminiswiki.

Goblin warriors - all Citadel Miniatures

Goblin Fanatics - Citadel.

Various Orcs - Ral Partha 11-409. The one in front looks suspiciously like the Ral Partha Bunny of Doom. The one front left probably from the Orc Legion of Death 02-083

Orc Warriors - all Citadel. Some Alternative Armies goblins in the foreground.

More Ral Partha Orcs.

Catapult (including crew) is from Prince August. Bolt Thrower Citadel, crew Bolt Thrower probably Ral Partha

Grenadier (Classic Fantasy Blister #327) Orc General, Citadel goblin.

Citadel Orc Archers.

Citadel Goblin Archers

Ever since I read Warhammer Fantasy Battle 1st edition as a teenager - and which was my first exploration in the world of miniature wargaming - the scenario "The Ziggurat of Doom" included in the 1st booklet captured my imagination. The scenario features a heroic last stand of 6 dwarves against an horde of goblins.

I still remember thinking I would never be able to stage such a scenario, but I tried nevertheless. The Ziggurat itself was modeled using wooden toy blocks, but figures were a problem (plastic 1/72 Atlantic Romans served as Dwarves and Orcs), and I only had a handful of trees to model the surrounding forest.

30 years later, things have changed. I now have enough trees to fill my gaming table twice, several 1000s of miniatures for all sorts of periods, and I even have a nice model for the Ziggurat. The model was built on commission during the 90s by a talented guy who also frequented the local gaming shop. When he announeced he would take commissions for buildings and scenery, I knew exactly what I wanted! The Ziggurat of Doom!

Here some photos I took yesterday:




I have used the Ziggurat for several games over the years, most notably our pulp King Kong game, but also for some generic fantasy games.

King Kong game, 2007

Te Wapen game, probably 1995

Last Tuesday we played a 'Pulp era' game over at Phil's Den of Lead Delights (read: his attic), of which pictures can be found here.

The rules we used were .45 Adventure by Rattrap Productions, and we played with some of Frank's new alternative WWII figures and some of my Darkest Africa figures (with one new one). Players were Frank, Koen, Phil, Eddy and myself.

The scenario involved the delightful Elizabeth, assistant to the archeological team running around the jungle, mysteriously being abducted to a sinister pyramid deep in the steamy jungles (just getting into the pulp lingo here, bear with me). The archeologists, two teams of figures, went out into the jungle to rescue the fair damsel, while a bunch of Nazis and nuns arrrived after them to get to Elizabeth themselves, for reasons that were never really clear.

I played one of the archeologists' teams, with 'Winston Churchill' as the professor, his assistant Arthur and four French marines, Jean Luc, Jean Francois, Jean Louis and Jean Marc. Eddy took the second archeologist team, while Frank and Koen played the (mostly female) Nazis and (entirely female -- we think) nuns respectively. The rest of this entry will be a report of the game from the viewpoint of my character.

Before the start of the game, umpire Phil had indicated that according to ancient legend and rumour, one needed three gems to successfully ascend the pyramid, of a fate worse than bears telling would befall the climber. These gems were to be found throughout the jungle, embedded as eyes in a variety of idols and statues. So item number one on the agenda for the good guys was to find these statues and collect three gems. Eddy and I decided to go part of the way together and then split up to take different paths through the jungle to the pyramid.

As it happened, the evil guys arrived on scene fairly quickly, and we (well, Eddy) decided on a change of plan: while Winston would forge on ahead, part of Eddy's party would try and delay the Nazis who were by then hot on the trail of the two adventurers. Meantime, the nuns took off into the jungle on a path of their own.

While Eddy was playing hide and seek (or rather, hide and be struck down in close combat), I discovered the first statue and duly cut out one of its eyes -- gem number one! However, right after getting gem number one, Jean Luc, our point man, discovered the dangers of the jungle first hand when a huge snake reared up from the undergrowth and bit him in the arm. In the end, it took two of Jean Luc's fellow Jeans to dispatch the slithery bugger (the snake, not Jean Luc).

Undeterred, either by slitherings in the bushes ahead or the cries of combat behind where Eddy was entertaining the nazis, we forged on to stumble upon a crowd of natives (well, three) in front of their hut. Not wanting to go into combat and losing time which we could not afford, I held aloft the gem from the statue and bellowed across the jungle 'Behold the Eye of Umbulumbuth'. That put the fear of, well, Umbulumbuth into the natives who promptly scattered into the jungle never to be seen again. Well done, methought.

And onwards to the jungle we go, taking out a tentacle (and presumably whatever was attached to said tentacle below the water) with a single well aimed shotgun blast (thank you, Arthur) and accepting the handover of a gem from one of Eddy's henchmen that had come running forward. Two gems collected!

At this point in the game, Eddy's delaying action had pretty much played out, with all of his figures in the delaying group being put out of action (something about a blademaster in the nazi camp), and the rest of the gems were out of reach or in the hands of the bad guys. After a mercifully short deliberation, we decided to take the 'legend says' part of 'get up the pyramid with three gems' with a good grain of salt and take our chances with only two.

So on we went to the pyramid, this time with Jean Francois leading the way. Of course, after successfully vaulting over a stream that turned out *not* to be fordable at a ford (thank you, umpire Phil), a rumble in the jungle just ahead of him turned out to be a huge herbivorous dinosaur, although Jean Francois might disagree with the plant eating bit, as the dino promptly took off one of his arms. However, fearless Winston, having paid attention in school, dug out the remains of his lunch and threw a healthy bit of lettuce downrange, momentarily distracting the big beastie and allowing the party to smartly bypass the behemoth and start the ascent of the pyramid.

And so it was done. While Arthur and two of the Jeans held off (well...) the increasing pressure of the nazi pursuers (who, together with the nuns, had 3 gems for themselves by now), Jean Francois and Winston climbed the steep steps to the top of the pyramid. It was then that they found out who kidnapped Elizabeth in the first place ... a big hairy ape, that was very big, sitting on top of the pyramid and was really big. Did I mention it was big? Anyway, undeterred, or rather being out of other options as well as lettuce by then, I bravely ventured further onto the pyramid. To my great relief, the ape seemed to be ignoring me (bad after shave?), though he did throw Jean Marc (who had had enough of the nazis) into a three a few miles away. After this however, a party of nuns arrived to entertain the monkey, and Jean Francois and Winston reached the top of the pyramid.

Thus we came to the crux of the evening, the pinnacle of excitement, yea even the climactic apotheosis, when Winston took his two gems and placed them in gem sized indentations in the altar Elisabeth was enchained on.... CLICK ... turns out that the old legends could'nt count. We won!

I had a blast with this game, even harking back to my roleplaying days (a long time ago when I was still wet behind the ears) at times (the natives and the lettuce ideas came from there). The rules proved a tad awkward at times (a bit too much math on occasion, even is it is just addition and subtraction), but they did get the job done. To be repeated, I'm sure.