#Turnip28 first unit BIG BUILD TO DONE!

Afternoon, I've finally got around to starting my Turnip28 army. I say finally, that's not true, I actually built these in October! I've just finally got around to blogging about them. 

Now, I'd say these are exactly as I originally imagined I'd do a Turnip28 squad, back when I first saw Turnip28. But, I've since seen some much weirder and interesting conversions. So, although I'm really pleased with my results I'm also slightly disappointed. But, I know if I was to try to achieve the more esoteric I wouldn't have even got this far. 

Anyway, these are Perry Napoleonics, mixed with some War of the Roses or Medieval Command squad. 

I've also used some elements from my Kurnoth Hunters to make Hermit Crab like backpacks, that I could fill with flock and various twigs from my old 'witches broom'

I made these twin to use as a toff, with some green stuff for a weird root vegetable type snout. Is it a mutation? A plague doctors mask? An elongated armoured visor? Who knows.

For now we have another Bloody Great Big Bloody BIG BUILD Stamp of Bloody BUILD Approval

I've since undercoated them. Bone for the unit, black for the Toff.

I'm thinking a Hallowe'en them, with oranges and black. Now I always intended them to have black tar bases, like my Death Guard. But I somehow like the Red Planet BASE and there is a picture in the Turnip28 rulebook that is very red, so I think I can make it work. 

That way I can make use of the movement trays I found useless for 40k

Now I've since added orange jackets, and brown straps, bags and weapons. In the process I've discovered they're fiddly to paint if I try to capture the detail and that was never supposed to be the plan.

So that's why they've sat untouched for months. But at least it urged me to get back on the Deathwing...

Battle Reports #Turnip28

Afternoon, I've been a fan of Max FitzGerald's Turnip28 for ages. Although it's not like I need another game to get into or have the time the aesthetic fascinates me - Napoleonic/Medieval root based vegetable warfare with funny names. The colours are so unlike how I paint, not high contrast saturated highlights so the challenge of total grunge and browns rally appeals. That said it was Otty who had the spare figures and time to make not one but two armies to play with his son. They're a bit brighter than I'd do but he was doing them the way he son wanted them. Anyway, he suggested us having a game, which although I was intrigued I'd had such fun with Middle Earth Bolt Action I doubted this could live up to those heady heights... but I was wrong. I was so excited I had to write the reports up, although if I was a true 'content creator' this would probably nose dive my algorithm, but I don't care about that nonsense 😁

OK, simple setup, 5 objectives - the pigs and 2 wagons in my half and two wagons in Otty's son's. I had a stump gun and he had brutes and chaff's [skirmishers] instead but it seemed like a balanced force.

My Stump Gun got an early kill in a preliminary bombardment.

I'd pushed forward with the super-fast moving Whelps and charged his Whelps. I was really successful with hitting but he saved more. He hit badly but I saved badly and ended up losing with only one Whelp legging it.

This allowed my Fodder pikes to join my Toff on the right. My Stump Gun fired properly and decimated his crossbow Fodder, who ran away.

My Pike fodder got into the trench and took out the Whelps. The Stump Gun totally obliterated the opposing Toff - everything hit, everything wounded - it was like he'd been in a nutri-bullet!

I think Otty's son made a tactical error he. We realised his Chaff were untouchable - skirmish and in cover I just couldn't hit him in cover, but instead of using that to his advantage he marched out of the ruins to secure the pigs. This put him in charge range of my musket Fodder who killed all but one of the Chaff.

Brutes shambled out of the cemetery.

And slaughtered my fodder in the trench. But then they were exposed to the stump gun who blasted them to pieces

All that was left was the black powder smoke and the taint of burnt veg. But my Toff got killed by some crossbow fire and suddenly my advantage was in doubt. Otty's son had secured 2 objective. and now I only had the 1.

I could move to secure a second, to draw or I could charge the Toady in the wagon top left, with Whelp to capture the objective. But I needed to pass a blunder, get a high 2D6 charge, survive a dangerous terrain test hurdling the trench and then win the combat. Draw or gamble a win/loss. I went for glory, passed all I needed to and cut the Toff down with ease.

OK, plenty of first game mistakes were noted afterwards but all things considered a really good game. There's still an advantage for going first but that's mitigated by activating only a toff/Toady and a unit at a time. So there is little hanging around with passive play. I really, really enjoyed it.

So much so, we had a second game and it wasn't even 10pm! Otty took the reigns this time and we swapped forces as he was convinced the Stump Gun was too good. I was lucky again to win deploying objectives first so I did take advantage of that keeping 3 of them in my half but I deployed conservatively making use of the available terrain.

This is turn 2, a lot had happened, Otty's whelps had breached the cemetery [with 1 dying on the railings], but my Chaff had obliterated them shooting through the gates [we'd later discover I should have added +1 to my Inaccuracy but the dice were hot so it might not have made a difference. But otty followed up with the Fodder Pikes. He had 11 at this stage, his first 8 dice were mainly 5s and 6's on the dangerous terrain test climbing the railing. 

The remaining 3 dice were all 1's, but one of the dice landed out of the box so he re-rolled it in the box and got a 1! 🤣 I was n hysterics at this point.

The remaining 8 charged the Whelps but they were too traumatised from the loss of their chums, got battered and clambered back over the railings - killing another 1 or 2 in the process! 🤣

My brutes charged the musket Fodder, which had been peppered with Chaff and crossbows from my Fodder. The legged it but not before doing some damage to the Brutes.

Otty's Toady killed the Brutes Toady, but I think that opened him up to be shot at by something.

I think it was my Toff, while my Brutes wiped out the last of the Pike Fodder.

Otty's Toff tried to secure the objective but my Brute got in there and we traded about twenty dice roles - each unable to get a hit and when we did making lucky saves.

But eventually The Brute pulled him down and mulched him into the dirt.

With my Toff holding the cemetery objective, Brute holding Otty's baggage train my Whelps marched to capture the barrels, casually floating over the railings festooned with dead, red, fodder. All that was left of the reds was one fodder running for the hills and the totally panicked Stump Gun

SO. MUCH. FUN. The game is simple and I know we're playing the basic version [wrongly] but the mistakes we identified make sense and I've no doubt we will mater it in time. I desperately want my own guys ot paint up but will happily wait until I've cleared some things from my TO DO LIST. Anyway, rocking up and just using the figures that are there is part of the appeal. I don't have to unpack anything, or pack it up at the end of the day. The painting is already done and even better, we finished 2 games by midnight.

I've realised, the game is irrelevant so long as it is fun. Currently, with MESBG, Middle Earth Bolt Action and now Turnip28 we've 3 systems that are tactical, fun, funny and ready to go. 10th edition 40k has a lot to catch up to this lot. But, even if it fails there are plenty of options here to expand and explore while still enjoying playing toy soldiers with my mates!