The Alternative Armies Blog

Welcome to the Alternative Armies blog. This blog tells you all about what we are up to and it is where we post our latest tabletop gaming news and articles.
We cover Flintloque and Slaughterloo, High Fantasy, Other Ranges as well as our 15mm scale fantasy, science fiction and historical ranges.
Our game systems and free content such as PDF downloads and reading articles. Enjoy and do dig back in time to see what was going on before now.

Feel free to comment and ask questions. We are always happy to help gamers with their hobby.

Thursday 28 November 2013

59007 Cryptmass Goblin House released!

New for Flintloque and Slaughterloo

Cryptmass on Valon is a scary affair for most.  Not like on our world where the giving of gifts softens the heart and promotes love to all Men.  Oh, no.  On the magicke world of Valon the festive season is called Cryptmass for a reason.  That reason...the dead rise.  From their crypts and coffins for two nightmarish days as Wylde Magicke seeps up from the depths of the world.  In more civilised places such as Albion and Krautia there are plans and organised gangs who go, shovel and swords in hand, putting the dead back to rest but in Al-Garvey its a little different.  The Goblins and Dark Elves take to their homes and hearths locking doors and windows and taking the teachings of the Catatonic Faith wait out the scratching at the shutters.  Goblins often hang a dead Dodo outside their door in an effort to distract the risen dead.  Silly really...how would they cook it?

The buildings are Al-Garvey are much like those of their neighbours in Catalucia.  Crudely built stone structures with ceramic pan tile roofs and heavy wooden doors.  Their main difference from the Dark Elves of Catalucia is in their size.  Being made for Goblins their doors and windows are smaller than would be comfortable for larger creatures.  That does not however stop the blue coated Elves of Armorica who occupy parts of Al-Garvey from squeezing themselves into the diminutive rooms.  


59007 Cryptmass Goblin House
1 Fantasy Resin Building Kit  12.00GBP 
or 25.00GBP Built and Painted.
This code contains one high quality multiple part grey tone resin building.  Requiring assembly you receive the following parts.  One front wall, one left wall, one right wall, one rear wall, one roof along with six skulls and holly wreaths (from three different designs) and a dead Dodo hung by its feet. The snow is part of the structure and is molded into the building parts.  When assembled you have free choice of wreaths and dodo placement with the structure built its dimensions are 100mm tall (including chimney), 60mm wide, 60mm deep.  It is a fantasy festive season building suitable for all 28mm smaller humanoids such as Goblins.

Oh and if you don't want your house to be in a winter theme then painting the snow on the house with a sprinkle of sand upon it with greens and yellows makes a lovely moss and lichen like covering. After all Goblins are not big on home maintenance!


59007M Cryptmass Goblin Houses (3) (save 15% off price)
3 Fantasy Resin Building Kits  30.50GBP 
or 63.50GBP Built and Painted.  
If you like this brand new structure then you can order three of them in a bundle and save fifteen percent off the single purchase prices both unpainted as well as the price built and painted.

Scale shot with 26mm tall Joccian from 54501 Obidiah's Gun
Alternative Armies – Buildings for Flintloque and Slaughterloo
This festive season we bring you our first high quality grey tone resin building kit.  Easy to assemble and fine fun to paint up and use the building gives you an ideal black powder napoleonique fantasy structure unlike anything else in the wargaming world to put on your table.  Designed with function and durability in mind but also with the unique nature of Flintloque and Slaughterloo this building and those to follow it capture the spirit of fantasy fun that the game systems are all about.  You did read correctly, this building and those that will follow it.  You see 59007 Cryptmass Goblin House is just the beginning.  It will be followed by more structures larger and smaller not least of which will be the typical version of an Al-Garvey Goblin House (code 59008 in early 2014).    Get your first building now and be in at the start.

Go HERE.

Happy Cryptmass Season one and all!

GBS

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Concepting for Flintloque...Cryptmass in Al-Garvey


A quick posting about what is about to happen for Alternative Armies and fans of Flintloque / Slaughterloo this festive season.  This will be out in full detail this week and I did mean to do this earlier but its been a really mad week!


Have a look at the concept sketches and see if you can work out the meaning.  Yes, its fairly clear! As you can see the World of Valon is about to get something that before..it never had.  This is going to make wargamers very happy!

More real soon.

GBS

Monday 25 November 2013

Information Pages now on the Blog

56540 Cotechino Guarda from Flintloque
I have just added several information pages to the blog to give it a bit more structure in readiness for the content which is to come.  Each of these follows a different game system which Alternative Armies has and gives some images and background for those new to them.

You can see these pages running along the top of the blog.  Have a click on them and a read of those which take your interest.

The last two pages are link tags to our other blogs where you can read about me talking all manner of 15mm.co.uk and The Ion Age matters.

Enjoy!

GBS

Thursday 21 November 2013

Orcs in the Webbe

OITW Homepage
Many people when they speak about Flintloque mention Orcs in the Hills.  A venerable and now deceased magazine that Alternative Armies used to promote and expand the game system back in the 1990's.  Though the magazine is gone one guy decided to make a little tweak to the name, calling it Orcs in the Webbe, and launched an online portal about his favourite black powder fantasy wargame.  

Craig Andrews, known as the Mad Welsh Wizard to some, is that fellow and his Orcs in the Webbe portal is now probably the biggest free resource for those who seek the lore of the game.  I have personally contributed a lot of content to OITW over the years and all of it is there to read.  Previous editions, extra rules, scenarios, uniformation articles, background, interviews, fiction and more to browse.  There is also a Flintloque Archive for the way back when and such joys as Tankard Tales too.

In short I will be referring to Orcs in the Webbe on this blog (calling it OITW for short) and also Craig so I just wanted you all to know what it was about.  You can spend quite literally hours or even days on OITW reading, printing out, playing and lurking about.  It is a fantastic resource.

This December OITW will be doing its annual Advent Calendar of a month of articles and content, one per day.  The biggest month of the year for OITW in my opinion and I will be making my own contributions as always.

GBS

The Notables Yahoo Group

The Notables!
On the 20th of March 2007 I began a Yahoo Group which would become one of the best and friendliest places on the internet for wargamers to meet and chat about their games.  The Notables Yahoo Group was and is modelled after the club house in Londinium of the Notables, a group of well heeled and well known Gentleorcs on the World of Valon; setting of Flintloque.  

An image of the first ever message posted by me in 2007!
Though the group is now a bit poorer due to the frankly terrible re-organisation of Yahoo by its new organisers the content and the friendly nature of the group is just as it always has been.  The image above shows the first message ever placed on the group.  We are now nearing the 20,000 message mark.

If you are a fan of Flintloque or of Slaughterloo or Typhon, Erin or High Fantasy; in fact anything that Alternative Armies makes then you should join.  Its a fine way to spend an evening or so a week reading and commenting.  I run the group and I welcome you!


GBS

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Alternative Armies now on Blogger!

Hello Everyone!

Alternative Armies now has its own little corner of the blogosphere with this new dedicated blog.  It will be my pleasure to bring you all the latest news, latest releases, concept and archive posts and articles along with a lot more.

We will be starting soon so keep watch.  We can't let our sister brands The Ion Age and 15mm.co.uk have all the online fun now can we.

Gavin Syme (GBS)
Creative Manager