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Travels with Teras – Episode 4

April 6, 2021 by FBN Leave a Comment

Recently I travelled to the wargaming table of Graham McNeill to discover what the mind that brings us amazing Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fiction played on. I was pleased to see that he was fully committed to the indoctrination of his young son into all that was wargaming, and that Evan had even now started to paint his own miniatures. While we walked the battlefield, we had Graham give us an account of some fo the more memorable moments of kill team that have been played here. Having captured the wordsmith however, we would be remiss if we did not have him describe that world that those battles take place in.

Our battlefield is part of Hive Refinery Ajax Tertiary, a continental sprawl of industrial hinterlands, holy sepulchres, and ruins of ancient wars on the planet Galvanus Novum. Across its millions of square miles are promethium processing plants, atmospheric processors, sacred ruins of the ecclesiarchy, and deep chasms that plunge into the planet's bedrock to caves unexplored and arcologies long since sealed off by the Adeptus Mechanicus. It is rumoured that ancient sites sealed in the deep crust of the planet are held shut by agents of the Deathwatch, and that whatever lurks within is too terrible to be spoken of. Who can say if such things are true, but the adepts of The Machine God dwell in uneasy peace with the agents of the ordos, and the delicate balance of power is one that non dare upset.

It is funny how things miniature can change our perspectives. Can you tell me your first memory of toy soldiers? My dad and I would go to warhammer world after my swimming lessons every saturday to get a cookie and look at the tables and models. I think when I was five I painted my first space marine there (thanks to the two James and Amy!).

At this reliquary shrine, the plague champion, Vorlax Gulthor was brought down by a sustained barrage from T'au fire warriors of Vior'La. The reliquary looks surprisingly clead considering its history. Have you ever used something that happened in a game in one of your novels? I used to yeah. A great many of the battles in Nightbringer were ones we played back in the day when I lived in Glasgow. After that book, it kind of went the other way round, with me making dioramas based on moments within the books. I did one with Uriel facing off against the Nightbringer, and one of the Warsmith.I started doing one of a lone guardsman facing off against a carnifex from Warriors of Ultramar, but never qute finished it.

You have been directly involved with Ultramarines for some time now. Not only have you explored them via your Ventris novels, but you play with them on your gaming table. What intrigues you about the Ultramarines? I loved the classical feel of theme, the Greco-Roman vibe of their names, their histroy, and their iconography. I loved that the didn't need to be Space Vampires/Vikings/Monks to be cool, that they were cool all on their own. Their history and background already suggested tons of other stories out there to be told, and I wanted to give them characters and flavour that didn't realy on rules, that was there purely from their expression of who they were.

Sometimes when gaming the miniatures seem to dictate what they should do. How do you deal with a competitive decision vs a storyline decision? It's always a tug of war between wanting to do the right thing by the way of the story and the character of what model you're looking at. I want to do what the characters would do, but that might not be the most sensible option on the tabletop. I usually err on what's coolest and what feels most exciting, even if it might cost me the model, hoping that the 'coolness' of the move will cause the dice gods to smile on me.

Defending the entrance to the reactor control station, space marine Tanalorn held the stairs against every warrior the T'au could throw at him. Eventually he was brought down by cowardly ranged fire, but he held long enough to holdthe objective and secure victory. Evan, why did you pick a T'au mini? What are cool about them? I chose this model because he was from a different planet than all the other T'au my dad has, and I wanted to paint him myself.

Terrain tells a story and allows for different scenarios on the tabletop. Can you comment on its importance to you? For sure, terrain is a vital part of every game, not just for the cover it provides, but for the story it tells in its placement and what pieces you put out for each game. I like to place each piece imagining what happened to that piece to make it a ruin, or how two pieces relate to one another. So, does this pumping station connect to the power plant, and why is this fuel depot here and not over there? Why would you need connecting platforms running between this building and that one? We place terrain with a view to imagining what kinds of exciting moments we might see in-game. Placing terrain in ways that don't contribute to the story or allow for dramatic moments to unfold is missing out on all the great stories we like to relate in the aftermath of a game.

A sniping position for space marine scouts that effectively denied an avenue of advance for necron warriors, delaying them enough to allow the warriors of the Emperor to secure their objective. Even do you have and words of wisdom that you could pass on to players your age that might help them with a defeat? Just remember next time you will probably win, and every game is just another lesson, teaching you what to do next time.

The wrecked load-lifter was the scene of heavy fighting between Ultramarines and a cadre of Necron Immortals. By battle's end, only a single Astartes warrior was left standing, but the blessed tech remained in imperial hands. Can you tell us about your terrain? Did you paint it? What companies did you collect it from? Did you get any as gifts, and do you have a favourite? Yeah, I built and painted all of our terrain. 99% of it is from TT Combat, who make a bunch of varied MDF sets for gothic ruines, industrial, alien etc... I love their kits, as they're easy to put together and, once they're painted up, they look great on the tabletop. Alex Landing made and painted me a couple of objective markers that were from Adepticon. The crashed load-lifter was something I scavanged from work. The artists on our worldbuilding team went on a mad kitbashing day with a whole host of model kits and when the time came for us to move office space, they were all thrown out. I managed to scavenge this one and (sort of) rebuild it in a way that made it look like it was meant to be a wreck. Then I made a crater piece to sit it within, so it looked like it had been hit by a rogue shell.

The atmospheric vent... laying bait, the T'au drew a shambling horde of poxwalkers across its centeral gantry. A perilous path that saw every one of them pulled down into the threshing blades below. In the aftermath of the battle, evan stands triumphant this time. Ugh now that does set a visual doesn't it. Can you tell me what type of gamer you both are? Story based, campaign based or competitive? My dad is a story-driven gamer who will always play the scenario as part of a bigger story. I am an achievement-driven (in console games) competitive player who likes to play for the thrill of a win. Congratulations Evan on a battle well won! Thank you both for the visit and I can't wait to meet you on the tabletop again soon.

Episode 4 Travels with Teras, special guests Evan & Graham

Filed Under: Travels with Teras

Travels with Teras – Episode 3

April 5, 2021 by FBN Leave a Comment

In 2015 I had the destinct pleasure of embarking on a voyage to the battlefields of Waterloo. Geek Nation Tours took over 30 people on a signature battlefield celebration of the 200th anniversary of one of the most important battles of European and British history.

With me I had two trusty co-hosts, Dave Taylor of Dave Taylor Miniatures, who would oversee painting seminars while on our tour. And thus would allow us to explore the geeker aspects of our interest in Waterloo - toy soldiers!

and Barry Hilton of the Leage of Augsburg, Beneath Lily Banners, Republic to Empire, and Donnybrook - would be joining us on our tour as battlefield guide. His in-depth knowledge of the area would allow us to delve deeply into the historic period as he walked along beside us.

For the next part we tried to follow the engagements in chronological order starting with Ligny, where Napoleon first clashed with Blucher and the Prussian army. We visited the Gerard Museum there and arrived early enough to see the troops that had garrisoned themselves in the nearby field. From there we went to Quatre Bras and on to Genappe and the Caillou Museum which was Napoleon's bivouac the night prior to the main battle.

Perhaps one of my fondest memories of the tour. Upon arrival we discovered the very table napoleon planned Waterloo on. Dave Taylor and I immediately desperately looked for dice, and soon after were rolling dice on that very historic table like a bunch of giggling schoolboys.

We of course made the 226 stair hike up the Butte Du Lion or Lion Monument for the magnificent view of the battlefield. Barry was sure to point out in detail the positions of both forces and the battle started to come alive before our eyes.

We even met several re-enactors taking in the same view as us.

To further immerse us into the history and the battlefield itself we visited the famous Waterloo panorama - painted by Louis Dumoulin and first seen in 1912. Somehow one of our group made it right into the bloody midst of the carnage. I am not sure how this was arranged but I wonder if he will ever be thte same again.

I still often think of my experiences while standing just outside of La Haye Sainte. It was here that the German and British troops held the attacking French at bay and in doing so, secured Wellington's center. It is perhaps one of the most important sites of the Waterloo battlefield and one of the keys to the allied victory. Really though, for me it was one of those times that I understood what Geek Nation Tours really is. One of my tour participants made the treacherous crossing to place his hands on the gates of the farmhouse itself. Keep in mind that this was most likely the busiest street we encountered ouside of Brussels and thus, it was a bit harrowing to see hime cross. It brought a smile to my face however, to see him place his hand on the gate. When we returned we continued our travels and I asked hime about the encounter.

He told me that when he was young, his mother ordered him the Airfix Battle of Waterloo Farmhouse from the UK. At that time, it was no small feat to get such models and miniatures across the world and it took months to arrive as it traveled across the ocean. When it finally did come, his mother took him into his living room and set the boxes down in front of him. He was enamoured with the sets and still remembered his mother's eyes looking down at him as he soaked in something that he would be interested in his whole life. As it turned out, prior to the tour he had lost his mother and the physical connection with La Haye Sainte allowed him a connection with not only his hobby and his interest in history, but with his mother herself. I couldn't help but tear up when he told me the story.

It was then I truly understood what Geek Nation Tours was, and how important travel is to the human spirit. One's journeys clearly connects people to those places that are history itself, and travel allows them the tactile realization that those places - so long held within their minds - are indeed real. It can also bring them closer to those left behind and allows them to journey with those that are lost to the annals of history or to those more recently past. It is a truly amazing experience to share those times with a group of people and to realized that each of us are sharing the same experience.

Of course, the main highlight of the tour was not only the many days we took to walk the battlefield but also the re-enactment. It was a truly amazing sight as the salvos of musket and cannon fire were exchanged and the smoke from the same created a fog of war that so enveloped the thousands of re-enactors as the leave a chill down my spine.

The muzzle flashes were marvelous to behold and the roaring of the cannon silenced the onlookers. It was of course, just a recreation of the memory of the battle, but sitting there with the bass of the cannon fire deep in your chest and the flash of musket fire in your eyes, you could easily place yourself in 1815. There was some hilarity as well, as when the red walls of the faux hougoumont fell the crowd burst into laughter which was followed by cheers as the soldiers within propped them up again.

There were of course commanders on horseback, soldiers screaming and flags flapping. The effects so grand that the fields themselves seemed to share the excitement of the day.

The tour included two days of viewing the re-enactment from two different angles... One better to see Napoleon's machinations and the other to better see Wellington's stragety. Each day tour participants were given VIP treatment right on the battlefield.

I must confess however, a short hour before this photo was taken, I was not yet convinced that we indeed had tickets at all. Months prior I had forwarded the funds to what seemed like the correct Belgian tourist board address, but because of printing delays I flew across the pond with no tickets. Further, the receipt that was given was just a bank notice - a 'Yes we have your funds' - but no real indication of who had GNT's funds or for what. I must say it was with no small relief when the gate keepers let us into the VIP stand staging point.

Such is the life of tour operator. You plan and go over the details over and over again, but you don't know until you are there if all will move forward as dreamed of. I am glad to say Waterloo was a complete success.

 

 

 

Episode 3 Travels with Teras. Photos 1,13,14,15,16 courtesy of Annette Flynn. Photo 9 courtesy of Peter Kite.

Filed Under: Travels with Teras

Travels with Teras – Episode 2

October 19, 2020 by FBN Leave a Comment

Hello again, Teras Cassidy here from Geek Nation Tours in our First Journey via our "Travels With Teras" series of adventures in picture. I currently stand at the mouth of the cave of my set up for The Ghost Archipelago solo scenario "The Dead Keep It" found in issue 2 of the spellcaster frostgrave magazine. The scenario finds the heritor and a couple of their warband safely discovering a lost treasure deep within a seemingly non threatening cave. However once the treasure is picked up a series of traps lets loose as our heroes try to escape. As if that was not enough... the dead in the cave rise again to thwart the bands retreat. Before we catch up with them however lets take a look around the cave. Straight ahead of us we have the bulk of the cave in all its glory. To my right you can see many rock formations as well as a room that contains a ghoul waiting to rise again. To my left we can see the start of the underground lake that we will have to cross to find our adventureres. The layout of the cavern is such that there are two ways in and out... One over the right-hand passwageway along that wall face. And of course the bridge across the underground lake, for the terrain lovers out there, these are mostly Dwarven Forge tiles. These are from Secret Weapon miniatures. To be hosest though I can't wait to try my own with some 3D printing to flesh out the collection. From this side of the bridge one has a clear view to the other side. Where our heroes now stand desperate to make their way out of the death trap they find themselves in. It is likely, crossing the bring will be spoiled with traps, but on one of my tours everyone coming with me is quite safe. I do, however, have to comment on the nature of terrain. I love the fact that we can create worlds on our tabletop. Here I am crossing a bridge across an underground lake all in 3D and relating the experience to you. We live in a truly amazing time to be geeks. Safely across the bridge we make our way into the treasure chamber. This is the main treasure area for this adventure and where the adventure begins. Notice the glow from the torches and the summoning circle. A nice touch to these terrain pieces for sure. It is my sincere hope that Jazmine, daughter of the gorgons and princess of the Turquoise Barrier along with Avalian of the Glade and Orator of Trees and Keeper of the Woods, plug Kayla will safely transverse the perils that await their escape.

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Travels With Teras – Episode 1

October 19, 2020 by FBN Leave a Comment

Hello All

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Freebooter’s Network presents 40K Radio Episode 6

March 22, 2016 by FBN Leave a Comment

https://www.freebootersnetwork.com/wp-content/podcasts/40k-radio/40k-radio-episodex6.mp3
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We talk about what we have been up to and the future of 40K Radio.  Everything from Romeo’s retirement from the show to the creation of a new podcast network called: The Freebooter’s Network!

Filed Under: 40K Radio Podcast, Podcasts

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