The Beard Bunker

If you enjoy the narrative element of wargaming, having a story behind a character or unit can genuinely enhance the games in which you use them. I’ve touched on this before when I talked about why I thought it was a good idea to create your own backstories , but with this post I’ll talk specifically about how I create characters in an attempt to be more helpful than polemical. Writing a character can be very in-depth if you’re so inclined (I often am) but for now, I’ll endeavour to keep things simple. Not I Am Sam simple; probably Forrest Gump simple. I don’t wanna go full retard here. Don't be too hard on me, Kirk. Please.   People are understandably cynical about anything that can be identified as ‘formulaic,’ but all the same, a lot of those formulas exist for a good reason. If you want to create a nuanced, lifelike characterisation for your army’s general/chapter master/head boss person thing, then the following advice will only be the start, but a good start neve

Hello All, it seems like the bunker has been on a bit of a fantasy binge lately with everyone focusing on getting their campaign armies up to strength. Since I am a cheeky whatshisname and got the undead up on their feet months ago I've been beavering away quietly on my 40k project. As you might remember at the beginning of the year I decided to resurrect my Dark Angels armies and began painting the odd unit every so often. Now that the big Gee Dubyah have unleashed a new codex and Dark Vengeance on the world, my Dangles have been getting some love. Dangles you say? Shush! It's their official, top secret code name for the imminent Nerd Thunder 4: The Guns of Nuvverork. For those who don't know, Nerd Thunder is the Beard Bunker's annual road trip to Warhammer World to play an enormous game of 40k. Go read Charlie's lovely write up of  last year's game. Go on, go read while I bribe Charlie with empty promises of toffee to do the magic photo box thing. Done

...I'd cannon in the morning, I'd cannon in the evening... No wait, I do have a cannon! I really ought to have seen this coming, I post something Dwarfy and a couple of days later have something else! Shoulda been patient and combined the two. Hey ho, here's a short post! Once more I have used a classic artillery piece. I think I'd be getting boring if I layed into all the reasons why I am less than enamoured with the modern ones. Read this if you are curious. Anyway, the woodwork was treated in the usual fashion: Steel Legion Drab, Rakarth Flesh highlight, Agrax Earthshade wash. The cannon itself uses Runelord Brass which is fast becoming a favourite from the new range. The crew are cribbed from a couple of different war machines with their engineer attached. I found a new leather tone which replicates that pale tan suedey leather you see on workshop aprons. It's Zandri Dust highlighted by adding increasing amounts of Pallid Wych Flesh to the Dust. The P

Eyup fellow bunker dwellers, much like Charlie's post this finds me firmly on the home straight of the Dwarfs ready for the (as yet still unnamed) big beard bunker bash - surely there's something in "B4 the Storm" there... Anyway, today its the turn of the Rangers, front and centre lads: There's a jolly chap in the centre of the unit that some of you will recognise from the Pirate Viking Painting 200th post ( link here ). While the unit has a champion model I thought any unit of Ranger's should have its own Bugman. I'd even use his rules if I thought the requirements made any sense (who would want Rangers who weren't quarrellers?). Speaking of the unit makeup, it is a bit different to how they're normally assembled: See? A mix of Great Weapon armed dudes and Crossbow armed dudes. This is for three reasons: First, the unit comes with both great weapons and crossbows (which makes this a brutal unit, 14 S4 stand and fire shots and then two

Holy bum grapes, the Beard Bunker is now one year old. And it’s 2013. That sounds suspiciously like the future. An awesome-yet-nightmarish future in which there are only six weeks to go before the Beard Bunker’s long-awaited campaign . Now that the fog of the winter party season is lifting, I should probably survey the damage... [Charlie]: What ho, Bunker Machine Spirit! Give me a status report. [BMS]: PROCESSING_ [BMS]: PROCESSING_ [BMS]: PROCESSING_ [BMS]: PROCESSING_COMPLETE [BMS]: EGO STATUS: -1 [BMS]: CAMPAIGN ARMY READINESS RATING: -46 [Charlie]: The campaign readiness rating is fair enough, but... ego status is at minus one? Why? [BMS]: You played John again. Apparently you have blanked it out. [Charlie]: What? Why would I blank out a game with an entertaining opponent like John? [BMS]: May I remind you of what happened last time ? [Charlie]: Something about un-killable midgets on a train? [BMS]: Something like that. [Charlie]: S