Am I yearning for Fantasy?

[fsn]

Gentlemen.

I've been reading Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology", and Stephen Fry's  "Heroes" and "Mythos". As a good Norseman, I am particularly enthralled by the tales of Thor and Tyr battling giants; but I've also captivated by Theseus and minotaurs and hydra teeth and Heracles.

I found myself looking at the fantasy ranges on the Pendraken website. 

I'd like to add a new category to wargaming. Besides historical and fantasy, there is Mythical. It's not fantasy - honest. It's different.

I'm so ashamed.  

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Don't be, for many people, it's theor gateway drug to wargames.

[Big Insect]

You shouldn't be ashamed at all ... I love fantasy ... not the GW type, but good old fashioned 'legend & myth'; CS Lewis, Tolkien and Spencer's Fairy Queen etc.
I was brought up on the Hobbit as a bed time story and consumed the Tales of Narnia as a youngster, progressing to Conan and Edger Rice-Burroughs and then Michael Moorcock's and the Eternal Champion series. In fact it was Elric of Melniboné that got me into 'serious' wargaming.

In fact .... I might even have a massed army fantasy set of rules inside me somewhere ... if I search hard enough 

NB: I am not a Harry Potter or Game of Thrones fan I'm afraid ... too many 'borrowed' entities and story lines.

But does anybody remember a fantasy book called The Worm Ouroboros ? It had an Assyrian like civilization at its core.

You can easily use Warband to play Fantasy myth games or Hordes of The Things.

[jimduncanuk]

But does anybody remember a fantasy book called The Worm Ouroboros ? It had an Assyrian like civilization at its core.


Yes, I do.

I was hospitalised for quite some time when I was younger, pre-digital days, and I had the book which I had failed to read earlier.

I struggled through it eventually but don't remember much about it.

[mmcv]

Funny I've been the same recently!  

Browsing through that fantasy/dungeon range and pondering... Been listening to a few Conan tales last few days as well and picked up and started playing Four Against Darkness*, a pen and paper RPG. A little fantasy side project could be quite fun as a change of pace. The old school fantasy guys pulled a lot from real history and mythology in their writings, at least the best of them did. Always find that more intriguing than the tired old fantasy tropes you tend to get now, though they can be fun in small doses.

Of course it'll just get added onto my growing list of potential projects that I don't have any time to start at the moment!


* There's a Four Against Titans Greek mythology version I'm tempted by too as like yourself I've a great interest in mythology.

[Techno]

Go for it, Nobby !!

You know you want to !! 

Cheers - Phil

[fsn]

Not fantasy. That's just silly. But mythology. I could do mythology. I mean Ragnarok ... just need some giants, a massive wolf, world encompassing serpent, and some females on flying horses - totally not fantasy at all.

Of course, if Pendraken are bringing out some hoplites it's a small step to add a centaur or a minotaur ... maybe a hydra ... totally not fantasy.

Hmmm. Perhaps this will all go away if I lie in a darkened room.

For now, it's Flodden, and then ... a void that must be filled. 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

The new Warlord one is good, Erwon. Designed for 28's but perfectly useable at smaller scales.

[Big Insect]

There's a UK manufacturer (in Northumberland I think) that is producing a small but growing range of 28mm Time Bandit figures ... now that has to be tempting ... at least as a HoTT army.

The dwarves are already on sale, as is Agamemnon (aka Sean Connery) and the Minotaur + the Ultimate Evil and his helpers. Mr & Mrs Ogre. John Cleese as Robin Hood, Ian Holm as a diminutive Napoleon and of course our hero Kevin.

I like idea of the scenery all covered in plastic sheeting to keep the dust off and the ultimate weapon of the explosive Sunday joint.

Truly - Monty Python are a modern day legend.

The knights that say "Ni" and the "shrubbery" must also be another contender ... or do you "blow your nose in my general direction!"

[Techno]

I'm making 'something from mythology' at this very moment. (All right....not at this VERY moment....I'm typing.  )

I think you'll like them, Nobby.

Cheers - Phil.

[Westmarcher]

I'm not a fan of Fantasy   ......... mind you, I did like The Lord of the Rings (books & films) .... and the Harry Potter movies ..... and I did recently play a fairly enjoyable Mythological 'Age of Discovery' game set in the Far East with Steve Holmes ..... and I'm currently watching Mysterious Island on TV ..... having watched Master of The World the day before  ....... nooooo! I've been infected!   

[Raider4]

I don't understand why there's this stigma over things being labelled as 'fantasy'?

[Big Insect]

I think it is the fault of the media .... D&D playing being portrayed for nurdy boys who don't have an interest in girls etc.etc.etc.

When 'Serious' wargames are depicted in TV and Film there are (most usually) depictions of re-fights of Waterloo i(n 20mm with Hinton Hunt figures) or ACW or Colonial games.

You rarely see World Conquering Evil genius's play-testing their military master plans in a sand-tray with 10mm tanks!

Waha, ha, ha haaa!

[FierceKitty]

But does anybody remember a fantasy book called The Worm Ouroboros ? It had an Assyrian-like civilization at its core.

I once posed for the painter who did the illustrations (Keith Henderson). He was in his nineties and doing a Commedia dell'Arte scene; I was volunteered by his nephew to pose as both Punch and Harlequin. Picture an unheated studio in a western Cape winter (not quite freezing, but brass monkeys were insisting on woolly underwear); only heat source a bar heater, pointed not at your humble - and much unclad - narrator, but at a heavily mufflered painter. When I start getting cramps and am on the point of mutiny, Keith remarks in a quavering voice "Lucky you to be so young and supple", keeping me at it for another half hour.

[Last Hussar]

Nude wargamers.

An image nobody needs.