Ravenfeast

 Last night, I was invited by Lars Schieving for a quick introductory game of Ravenfeast.

The game was new to both of us, so it was mainly trying out the mechanisms.

Basically it was about two rival Viking warbands trying to bash eachother's skulls in

I would like to say that I won due to my formidable tactical skills, but that would be overlooking the many lucky dice rolls, which led to a slow but steady attrition of the opposing forces.

My biggest mistake was the placment of the archers: I put them in the center, but since for some odd reason they can move only half the distance of the other figures, they found themselves without a clear line of site on any target early in the game. Not quite sure what my best option would be.

Ful points for Lars Schieving for proving the excellently painted 40mm figures, though I still wonder why my birskr was wearing a diaper.

der why my birskr was wearing a diaper.

Medieval/fantasy village completed

So this is what has kept me occupied, off and on, for the past five months or so: my fantasy/Medieval hamlet: inn. houses in all price ranges, and of course the sheep cote. The construction of most structures is described elsewhere on this blog.

Fun project, and I hope you liked seeing me muddle along. I also hope you saw how easy this is to do, and that it inspires some of you to do your own project.

Medieval/fantasy inn

As a focal point for my Medieval/fantasy hamlet, I built an inn.

In the rural parts of the Netherlands I've lived in, inns were not what we would understand as an inn now, but more like a working farm with facilities for weary travelers.

An example of such an extended farm can still be seen in the railway station coffee house in nearby Scheemda:

Since having a fire in a thatched building was not very advisable, farms had a separate cooking/baking house, close but not attached to the main house.

First attempt at the front of the building.

I found it a tad too low, so automatically it also got wider.

The barn part was added.

And the whole thing under one roof.

Had to disassemble the front of the building to add structure and details. Several coffee stirrers were sacrificed.

In the meantime, the basic construction of the cook house was done.

If you're wondering about the low top floor side windows, that is a common Northern Dutch 19th - early 20th Century feature, which I think would also go well with my Medievialized version.

Walls daubed (sand in wet paint) and the woodwork primed.

You may have noticed the sudden appearance of two small a-frame houses. Last month we had a heatwave, way too hot to paint, so I decided to add a few A-frames - you can never have too many A-frames.

Brown wash for the walls.

Everything reassembled, cook house done.

Yet another innocent towel slaughtered to make thatch.

And the final result.

The sign was made with the aid of some jewelry findings.

In the Netherlands, perhaps elsewhere as well, a swan sign was a code telling travelers that they didn't need to be cold or lonely during the long dark night.

The roof is darker than the flash makes it look.

This is the largest building I've done in this style It took me about a month, working an hour or so most evenings, and I think it's well worth it.

Sheepcote

Since last week it was too hot too paint and finish the A-frame building, I started on another addition to my Medieval/fantasy hamlet: a sheepkote ('schaapskooi' in the King's Dutch.)

Actually, since buildings like these are still in use, it's suitable for any period from the Dark Ages till present.

The first set-up of the walls:

And the roof, to lend it its characteristic shape.

The walls clad with coffee stirrers. Please note I only used proper Medieval style coffee stirrers.

Beginning to take shape.

The walls primed

A late towel roof thatching.

The final result. Again, I went with an older weathered look.

Larger Medieval/fantasy A-frame house

Since I already have a few small A-frame huts, and now a few farm houses, I thought it might be nice to have an in-between building, a small A-frame farm, with hay loft.

The rough build, as usual (for me at least) styrene and coffee stirrers.

Daub added (sand in wet paint), the woodwork primed.

An innocent towel was slaughtered for the thatch.

Since the previous buildings are rather dark brown, I decided to go with another colour scheme, for an older and more weathered building.

Second Medieval/Fantasy farm house

Well, actually the first one, since I built the styrene version years ago, probably in 2004.

Added timbers, and daub. Here the timbers were primed and the daub painted.

Another cheap towel sacrificed. 

After a brown wash and some touching up I'm calling it finished.