Sunday 24 February 2019

Non Playing Characters and Livestock

As a final piece of set dressing, I was keen to furnish the Witchfinder game board with some non-playing characters and livestock.  Now, I have form for being distracted, the slightest whim often leading to the abandonment of full blown and even well established ideas.  However, given the immediacy of the game, this was a luxury that I couldn’t afford to indulge in.  So it was that I found myself dipping within an inch of my life in a bid to get things finished and on the board. 
It made no difference, whether it be bovine, buxom beauty or Blacksmith’s boy all were bound for the dip.  In my haste I wasn’t as careful as I should have been and allowed the staining substance to build up and pool, which had the adverse effect of making everything appear dirty.  Some of this was remedied in the highlighting stage, but nonetheless it was an important lesson learnt.
So a final selection, destined to breathe life into the 'Vale of Muchwhinging'.  We have cattle and sheep from 'Warlord Games', with Musket Men and villagers from 'Redoubt Enterprises'.  There should have been more, but here then, hangs a tale.  I placed an order with Redoubt back in June 2018.  I was surprised to see that ownership had passed to Mr. Andy Grubb, but happy in the knowledge that one of my favoured collections of miniatures was still going to be available for purchase.  Given the logistical difficulties involved in the transfer of the operation Mr. Grubb had very sensibly posted a polite notice forewarning customers to an inevitable delay.  All of this is perfectly reasonable, not to mention understandable.  Whilst disappointed that my order wasn’t ready for the game some weeks later, it wasn’t the end of the world, but I was starting to be troubled by the delay.  I wrote, and continued to write, but to no avail; I may as well have been shouting in the wind.
The amount concerned was not so much that I was overly worried, but the principle of the thing was starting to bother me so, now some six months later, I decided that one last push was in order.  I had read on one of the many online forums that Mr. Grubb was a splendid chap, but that there had been definite issues arising over the change of ownership.  One gentlemen suggesting that a simple email would normally resolve any issue, he even supplied the email address.  As I looked closer, I could see that this was a different address to the one on the invoice that I had been using and decided to give it a go.
Within hours I received a reply that could not have been more apologetic and within days the missing items arrived safely here at Awdry Towers, with yet more apologies and some bonus miniatures.  So thank you Mr. Grubb and here’s to a long and profitable tenure as proprietor of a such a wonderful range of miniatures.

50 comments:

  1. Excellent miniatures, Michael, and a good news story (eventually) too. Marvellous additions to your collection and its good to hear that "Redoubt Enterprises" are in good hands.

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    1. Thank you Simon. I was so relieved about the Redoubt issue, they still have plenty in their range that I would like to add.

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  2. Love your NPCs miniatures Michael, superb!

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  3. Cracking additions to your witch-finder sets Michael. :)

    And glad to hear you got your delayed order resolved.

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    1. Thank you, Mr. Grubb could not have been more apologetic and helpful.

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  4. Very nice work on the figures Micheal and pleased Redoubt miniatures have a new owner instead of going into the dustbin of history as I love the figures!

    Christopher

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    1. Thank you Christopher and I couldn't agree more. Their miniatures still have bags of character.

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  5. Great paintwork on these minis Michael. Will add a lot of character to the game.

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    1. Thank you so much, hoping that they will see a bit more action before too long.

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  6. Lovely character figures and farm animals, wonderfully painted as always!

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  7. Glad it all worked out, cracking work Michael!

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  8. Great work on the background townsfolk and animals Michael, good to hear the problem was resolved and the company is still going on.

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    1. Thank you Dave, so pleased that Redoubt gets to live on, so many great miniatures.

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  9. As always, exceptionally painted miniature characters for the little boy within you.

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    1. Thank you so much Jay, they just help to tell the story.

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  10. Wonderfully charismatic villagers Michael. NPC figs such as these breathe so much life into a table, both visually and in the players' minds.

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    1. Thank you Paul and I couldn't agree more. I seem to spend far too long fiddling around with the little extras.

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  11. Great looking figures Sr M. I was having a lengthy chat with Andy today at Cavalier in Tonbridge. Me and Postie bought a few painted figures from him.
    He said he's finally getting his head around which figures are on which moulds. Some ECW figures and on the same mould as FIW figures and such. So it's been very confusing.

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    1. Thank you Ray and great to hear that Andy is getting his head around Redoubt, I still have so much more to buy.

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  12. Lovely looking NPC´s. One Thing.. a black sheep..don´t all sheep herder types have a baa baa Black sheep in the herd? Herd?? What is the collective Name for a load of sheep?

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    1. A flock and by jove you are right, I must remedy that immediately. ;)

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  13. The addition of these NPCs will no doubt really bring the tabletop to life. Too many games are just about pouring some scenery on the table, without taking into account all the civilians and animals who live there. Fantastic work on each of them.

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    1. Thank you so much, I love tinkering with the additional bits and pieces.

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  14. Superb painting Michael and great additions to your wonderful collection.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

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    1. Thank you Pat, I take a lot of my inspiration from you amazing terrain boards.

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  15. Superbly executed additions to your game's forces; must be getting close to a conclusion eh ?

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    1. Never Joe, I just keep thing of something else I would like to add - a dung heap springs to mind. ;)

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  16. More excellent additions to your table Michael. Yes using the dips does require some trial & error, hence why I tend to brush it on (love dollar store brushes for this). I too have had an errant order which has never manifested itself at my door. Like you I sent an email in response, but did not hear anything. It is an establishment on the isle, but even those whom live there have oft said orders were slow in coming...time to make another email I guess & maybe your luck will rub off!

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    1. Thank you Terry and a selection of cheap brushes is definitely the way to go. I do hope you have some luck with the order, it can be very frustrating when you don't hear anything.

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  17. More great additions, Michael. Glad the order finally found it's way to your doorstep.

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  18. Your non-playing characters and livestock definitely will make great additions to the game board.

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  19. Beautiful work! It's figures like this that really REALLY dress up a table.

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