Friday, 5 June 2026

Grim Fell Scar

 


Grim Fell Scar
Grim Fell Scar Situated on an extremely remote island on Imperial world of Barrauch. Once home to hardy villagers and miners who eked out a living from the unforgiving earth. Since the mines shuttered, the landscape has been dominated by a sprawling network of abandoned Imperial listening stations. In the shadow of its rusted arrays, the remaining miners and farmers have turned to a strange, hermetic faith, worshipping the haunting Vox Static that bleeds from the ancient machinery. Mostly ignored by the planetary governors, these Insular backwater residents keep strictly to themselves, their lives dictated by the crackling voices of the "Old Frequency." Here, the line between technology and theology has blurred into a silent, watchful isolation.


Barauch – (Hive World; Sub-Sector Capital): is the current and reluctant base of Sub Sector Governance. After the destruction of Phrell the Administratum commissioned a report into succession proceedings and third in line was Barauch. Seventeen years after the devolution of Algea the planet of Barauch was awarded the title of Sub Sector Capital. The current Governess Crythin Drabow of Hive Grifford was opposed to the honour and fought against the title delaying the coronation for almost fifteen years, with support from her subjects. The people of Barauch are superstitious in the extreme and with the downfall of the last two Sub capitals they did not wish to suffer the same fate. Since the coronation all the planets' noble factions have come together to fortify Barauch's defences and have put a brutal clandestine police force in place to safeguard the planet. The population now live in a constant state of paranoia and fear.
Barauch has massive fossil fuel recourses. The planet is made up of many small islands between polluted water ways and relatively small seas. The hives and islands of Barauch are protected by massive crumbling sea defences and are linked together by large causeways that are at times only accessible at low tide. The largest and most treacherous is the Causeway of 9000 Lives (a conservative figure to say the least) that leaves Hive Grifford. The most important causeways are heavily armoured with bunker complexes and gun turrets rising out of the sea. The planets land masses are made of open coal mines where massive labour forces excavate the planet to power the giant coal furnaces that run the steam powered hives. The hives are a mass of Victorian, Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture in black and dark teals, with the orange glow from furnaces creepily flickering on the buildings. Many miles of brass piping runs through the hives: harnessing steam for large scale clothing and weapons production.
Madness is common on Barauch, as the population await their doom, ghosts, poltergeist and other paranormal activities are often reported. Due to the mental state of the populace asylums have been established across all the hives, where doctors look after those actually insane and report those that are in fact psychic. For Barauch has a higher than average psychic population; the Black Ships dock at this world more often than any other in the Sector.


I wanted to capture a couple of things with this project , Yorkshire dales  meets 40k Battle at the farm , with some Ghibli castle in the sky Welsh coal mining village vibes of Slag ravine, with a little dash of war of the worlds, Kes, and Threads.




Iam thinking of twinning it with some 70's 80's British soldier vibed Imperial guard , against some post apoc type scavengers , or strident  tripod necrons.

A few images inspired tis project that has been in my  since 1987 when I first read battle at the farm in Warhammer 40k rogue trader . At the time i read that alongside ratspike and Blood and iron and still had a vivid images of the Falkland's war and the anti war film ( extremely harrowing ) Threads 



Living in Yorkshire the images of wars and farmland and ruined farmhouses kinda stuck. 



the build was relatively easy , a couple of 2by 2 mdf boards covered i flocked rolled paper from Jarvis. a  ruined farmhouse from wargames atlantic and some  fantasy towers converted to industrial from tabletop world and some dry stone walls from games workshop.


 













































Wednesday, 3 June 2026

Ars longa, vita brevis

To John,

Sail forthe amongste the half moons and shooting stars,  this world, now bereft of your boundless imagination's feels less than before.

 Thank you. 

John Blanche Gothic Punk

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

D.N.A Dramatic Narrative Action : A simple narrative driven gaming hack



I have designed a simple, filmic, narrative-heavy, and hopefully intuitive game system for quick solo play or friendly narrative-driven action. The idea was to use 2d10 (D100) to approximate and reduce the dozens of rolls found in many gaming systems down to a single Action Roll. To strip it down to its DNA, if you will, I wondered: Is it possible to reduce every decision down to a single percentage, and would that be simpler than multiple rolls for every intent?

In D.N.A., you state your intent, check your Power Tier, and roll. I’ve created a few charts to add variety and cinematic flavour to the results. I created this for myself, but feel free to modify or share it. It works great for solo games or fun multiplayer stories, though it is open to abuse and not ideal for competitive play!

🧬 D.N.A: Dramatic Narrative Action

Where the story never stops for a rulebook.

D.N.A. is an ultra-light narrative engine. No complex math, no character sheets, just pure action.

1. CHARACTER CREATION

Choose your Tier and start playing:

  • PUNY (-10): Civilians, dregs, or swarms.
  • BASIC (+0): Standard soldiers, common thugs.
  • SKILLED (+10): Veterans, assassins, leaders.
  • ELITE (+20): Super-humans, heavy-armour pilots.
  • LEGENDARY (+40): God-tier entities, war machines.
2. DIFFICULTY (TIER SHIFTING)

The GM (or the environment) shifts your Tier based on the situation:

  • EASY TASK: Shift Tier UP (e.g., Basic becomes Skilled).
  • STANDARD: No Tier Shift. Use your base Tier Bonus.
  • HARD TASK: Shift Tier DOWN (e.g., Skilled becomes Basic).
  • IMPOSSIBLE TASK: Shift Tier DOWN two steps.
3. THE ACTION ROLL

State your Intent, roll 2d10 (as a D100), and add your Tier Bonus.

Result TypeTriggerOutcome
CRITICAL PASSNatural 91–00 (or 91+)Cinematic Perfection. Roll on CP Chart.
SUCCESS26–90 TotalAchieve goal exactly as intended.
PARTIAL SUCCESS11–25 Total"Yes, but..." Success with a twist.
FAILURE03–10 TotalYou miss or are outplayed.
CRITICAL FAILNatural 01–02Disaster. Roll on CF Table.
4. THE CINEMATIC TABLES (1d10)

Use these for Natural 01–02 or 91+ results.

1d10Critical Failure (Lower is Worse)Critical Pass (Higher is Better)
1-2Catastrophic: Gear breaks or unit lost.Clean: Total success, zero mess.
3-4Panic: Forced to flee or cower.Terrifying: Enemy stunned.
5-6Entangled: Stuck, prone, or trapped.Tactical: Better spot or silent kill.
7-8Exposed: Lose cover or take damage.Collateral: Lucky event triggers.
9-10Reversal: Enemy takes initiative.Unstoppable: Act again immediately.

Designer's Notes

In a narrative system like D.N.A., a turn isn't measured in "inches of movement" or "number of attacks." Instead, think of a turn as one cinematic beat. A reasonable turn for a single model is: One Movement + One Significant Action.

1. What is a "Significant Action"?
Anything requiring a roll on The Ladder: Combat (bolter fire, blade swings), Technical (hacking, repairing), or Physical (leaping gaps, dragging allies).

2. Movement is "Free"
Narrative movement is free. Only roll if the terrain is Hard (vertical walls, deep sludge, hazardous debris).

3. The "Unstoppable" Exception
Result 9-10 on the CP Table allows an immediate second action—the mark of a hero.

4. Grouping (The "Squad" Rule)
Moving 20 models one by one can be boring. The Shortcut: Roll once for a whole squad of Basic or Puny units to keep the game flowing.
• Example: "The 5 Orks charge the barricade." Roll once for the group. A Partial Success may mean only 2 make it over while the rest are pinned down.


Example Scenarios

Scenario 1 (Solo Stealth): A Skilled (+10) Renegade sneaks past a Sentinel. Nat Roll: 04 (Total 14): PARTIAL SUCCESS. Caught cloak; must act to cut free.

Scenario 2 (Squad Combat): 5 Elite (+20) commandos in a Hard Jungle (Shift to Skilled +10). Roll 12 (Total 22): PARTIAL SUCCESS. Target down, flare triggered.

Scenario 3 (Apocalypse Scale): A Legendary (+40) War-Engine vs. 100 soldiers. Volley fire is Easy, shifting the soldiers to Skilled (+10). They roll 75 (Total 85): SUCCESS.

The Golden Rule: If the action makes the story cooler, it’s reasonable.

D.N.A. Core Engine | Version 1.0 | Designed by Neil Reed

DNA google docs version

Thursday, 30 April 2026

3d printed scenery

I have noticed in the past few years that 3d printed scenery has become really good and in many ways, price and scale and often design far exceeds games workshops own often attempts. As a terrain affionado I felt a tang of dissapointment when games workshop moved away from those realm of battle style boards and the amazing if somewhat prcicey forgeworld ones, and for a while there was really nothing inspirational about how they saw they saw their own ip with regards to enverionment, now i know most people including gamesworkshop see terrain as nothing more than line of sight blocking things and it was always 2nd fiddle to miniatures, which from a buisness point i get, more plastic more cost, however it feels they have kinda refused to inovate very much in these areas, especially in comparison to figures whith a few exceptions, which is a shame, and the gap has been filled quite successfully by the 3d printing market. Now i know the kill team and fantasy version of killteam, is quite evocative and changes quite readily however, i think they missed a chance to become the leaders of the field in this area. lightweight plastic interlocking modular flooring that is not silly prices for both fantasy and 40k could be a good start ? dedicated boards for each factions might be nice.. I am sure they are not bothered, but as a consequnece of Games workshop's inability to love the idea of terrain they have also passed this on to the most of the gaming community, who also see terrain as a mild inconveniece as oppsoed to the *grand setting it could be. (for a reasonable price :) * grand in every sense of the word. Just recently picked up these two beautiful sculpts for less than 40 pound including delivery.

Wednesday, 29 April 2026

Inq28 Inqvitational “The Ruinations at Black Sands” wips The Campanile

Aye up folk, been trying to get my head around how to build bring terrain to this event, which is not for a while tbf. PDH is organising things this time around, and he wrote an evocative palyer pack which got my head spinning with cool ideas, however i have had to rain those in somewhat, as if i am bring terrain to this event it would on public transport, which somewhat limits my ability. As such i am contemplating creating upto 3 simple boards 2by2 made up of 1 by 1 pieces and scatter terrain atop that capture some of the evocative writings, i did create a few ai images to inspire my vision of the blacksand area going with the nordic noir vibe, mainly to see how light falls on diffrent black textures. my first attempt at a travel light game board, blakc reflectiosna and an obsidian high gloss environment.
The Black Sands Monastery On mighty Rosicant, the vast and brooding Black Sands Monastery rises starkly from the iron‑rich waters of Lake Bled on the northern continent. Deliberately placed far from the grand cathedral of the cardinal world, the monastery stands alone upon a volcanic island encircled by a natural moat at the lake’s heart. Its isolation is no accident. Unbeknownst to the wider Ministorum, the Ordo Malleus quietly sustains the monastery, using its shadowed halls to shape and temper the feared Black Priests. Abbot‑Preceptor Rievaulx, master of Black Sands and Custodian of the Obsidian Cloister, was forced to accept the decree naming his monastery as the site of the Trials of Glorification, for any reluctance might have drawn the cardinals’ attention to the true loyalties of his order.