Wattle Fencing.

Being a lazy modeller I have been after some reasonable looking wattle fencing and wanted to take the strain out of making it myself. I do have some 'home-made' fences but I wanted to check out a few of the companies that made some.

Renedra wattle fencing. 

Above we have Renedra, who seem the obvious first choice, with their nice straightforward looking plastic offering, reasonably priced at £6 a frame. Each frame consists of 5 sections each 124mm long and 2 sections of 60mm long plus a gate. I thinks its also available from Gripping Beast for £4.50! Having seen this 'in the flesh' I have to say it looks pretty good painted, if a tad small in height. 

Hovels Celtic farmastead.

Next is the 'hurdle fencing' from Hovels Ltd. Can't really comment as I have not actually seen this but it looks reasonable in the pictures.

Irregular Miniatures.

Above we have the wattle fence offering from Irregular Miniatures. This looks fairly good painted and is very cheap at £3.50 for 5x1" pieces.

Products for Wargamers.

Next is the WTFE01 Wattle Fence from Products for Wargamers. This is a very reasonable £1.50 for a ready to use approximately 6" strip. Not quite as detailed as some but I am sure the two Vikings hiding behind it don't really care too much.

Grand Manner.

At the other end of the scale we have the wonderful work of the folk over at Grand Manner. The large wattle pen above comes in at £12.70 for the unpainted and a whopping £25.40 for the painted version. Having said that, like all their products, its pretty sweet...

Brother Thomas admires the new pig enclosure. Dreamholme wattle fence.

Finally and by pure fluke, I came across Dreamholme Scenics (see what they did there) who provide a nice 6 piece set of fencing,  for £6 unpainted or £11 painted. I ordered some of the painted fencing right off the bat as I like the look of a few of their other items so thought I would test them out with this. I must say I am very pleased - quick delivery, well packaged and a nice paint job, perfect for a lazy chap like me!

Also in the picture above is a set of crates from p.m.c. games, again pre-painted and nice and cheap from their ebay shop.

Any other suggestions??

Ars Magica - The Black Monks of Glastonbury.

Not a lot done lately but finally made a start on the Redoubt monks. Whilst browsing various figure manufacturers to add to the lead mountain I found yet more monks to add to the growing congregation!

Brother Thomas (on the right) and the newly arrived Brother Cuthbert lead the monks in prayer.

The new recruits joining the Redoubt monks are the 'Brothers of Shrewsbury Abbey' from the Black Tree Design Feudal Characters range. They are Brother Cuthbert and the three from the front row in the middle. They are really nice sculpts and could pass in pretty much any period.

Cardinal Bertrand and the monks.

So far I have only managed to base them and get the basic flesh done but they looked so characterful I couldn't help take a couple of pictures! With the black undercoat they currently look a little like a group of particularly serious Benedictine monks. Brother Thomas looks much like a Franciscan friar in his brown robes. This of course made me think of the classic book/film 'The Name of the Rose.'

Brother Thomas investigates the murder of Brother Adelmo whilst the horrified monks look on...

The story takes place in Northern Italy, during the early 14th Century A.D. Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his novice Adso of Melk (narrating as an old man) arrive at a Benedictine abbey where a mysterious death has occurred ahead of an important theological Church conference. William, known for his deductive and analytic mind, confronts the worried Abbot and gains permission to investigate the death – a young illuminator appears to have committed suicide. Over the next few days, several other bizarre deaths occur, and the two gradually discover that everything is not what it seems in the abbey.

Diabolic? Murder at the Abbey!

The title of this blog entry comes from an old Ars Magica supplement about the famous Glastonbury Abbey, a house of the black robed Benedictines since Saint Dunstan instituted it in the tenth century. The monks have fallen to diabolic corruption that threatens to overwhelm them all.

A Touch of Fantasy...Brother Thomas.

Decided to add a little bit of fantasy stuff to this blog as I have no where else that seems appropriate to put it! Might dig out some old fantasy wargames notes from my early Warhammer Fantasy Battle days and perhaps even some RPG stuff too.

Anyway, onto one of my earliest Citadel figures from my collection...

'Brother Thomas' is an old Citadel Miniatures chap I have owned for many years. I bought him in about 1982 for 40p and he has graced many wargames tables and RPG's over the years. He has certainly faced far worse things than one or two angry Danes with axes. Battles that spring to mind include the legendary 'Bloodbath at Orcs Drift', the 'Nightmare in Blackmarsh', 'The Battle of Dalion Pass' (the only game I am aware of thats had intelligent baboons fighting on one side!), 'How Red Was My Valley' (regarding the case of the missing Count von Bulow) the defence of the Principality of Francovia and the 'Return of Martin the Liche-Lord and the Wars of Spite'. He was always somewhere on the fringes of the action, even if it was an old dwarven stronghold or a mission near an elven fortress. Other characters involved included the dwarf lords Clando the Bane and Torak Dragonhelm IX (bearer of the Runesword Casmakis), the 'Scarlet Plumes' (a kind of roaming police force made up of Runequest miniatures), Harboth & the Black Mountain Boys (Citadel Orcs before they went really spikey), Mengil Manhides company of Dark Elves and even a Slann raiding party after slaves and booty. Hmmm, last one sounds familiar...anyway, enough reminiscing!

Brother Thomas.

(Re-posting this from Gjallarhorn, my Viking blog)