I was a 6th grade miniatures maniac!

I haven't posted in a while. I have been focusing on a lot of other projects, but I'm going to refocus my energy and keep blogging! I will mainly be writing about  my AD&D 1st edition kids / neighbors campaign, and pictures of the fantasy miniatures that I've been painting.

Here is an article I wrote for Cigar Box Battle - I hope you will enjoy it!

http://www.cigarboxbattle.com/i-was-a-6th-grade-dd-miniatures-maniac-a-nostalgic-look-at-old-school-dd-miniatures/

and so the adventure begins.....

So the AD&D campaign is under way.. here is the party in marching order:  "Maul" a 1st level 1/2 orc thief, "Brylan",

a 2nd level 1/2 elf cleric (NPC), and "Kanabad", a 1st level Barbarian. They have some hired men-at-arms marching with them and are headed to "The Caverns of Chaos" as part of the "Keep on the Borderlands" module. I really like "The Keep" as a great low level, dungeon crawl adventure for new players. There is enough content in B2 to keep the players going until level 4 or so. I'll be spicing things up a little bit with my own material as well, and then who knows where the party will head....?

The party sets out.....

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - long live Gary Gygax!

So, after many years of NOT playing AD&D, this 40 something gamer Dad decided to get back into the game. I decided at the moment to keep things intimate, and just start playing with my sons. They are school age and are excatly the same age as me and my brother when we started gaming back in the 80's!


As far as rules go, I'm using what I like and what's most familiar to me, so we are using the old TSR Advanced D&D books pictured here. If Gary Gygax didn't write it and it didn't come out in the late 70's or early 80's....we won't be using it! I will be likely incorporating some old articles from Dragon magazines and maybe a few new D&D charts, weapons, etc., but for the most part I'm keeping it "old school".

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - these are the books we're
going to use in our campaign.

Some old miniatures painted by me back in the 80's! I think that's a Grenadier Storm Giant, a Ral Partha
3 headed "Stooge Troll", a Grenadier "Roman" orc, an Ogre Mage, and a few other 25mm figures. I recently made the ruin
out of some cardboard pieces and wedding cake columns. Old figures...new picture...but I used an effect to make it
look vintage.

Dwarves - I painted these as a kid in the 80's, and I still have most of my
figures. I always liked these figures,but I don't recall the manufacturer. Does anybody remember? Broadsword?

I always enjoyed the miniatures aspect of the hobby, so I will be posting quite a few more pictures of my miniatures...so old...some new.

An old AD&D DM's screen with a few minatures I recently painted. This was the view players had of me back in the 80's when
I played a lot of AD&D! I left the game for a many years, but never left my passion for fantasy behind. Now that I'm middle-aged, I'm on my own personal "mid life crisis" quest to get back in touch with my D&D roots. I have started by playing new games with my kids, and a friend of mine and his kids.

Welcome to Magen Fellow's Keep!

I started gaming AD&D back in the 80's when I was in 5th grade. My first character was a druid, and

they are still one of my favorite classes. My kids are getting old enough to play D&D (they are in elementary school) and I thought it might be fun to get out the old books and start a campaign. Here is what we've done so far:

* They have rolled up a human barbarian, and a half-orc thief. I have a 1/2 elf NPC cleric helping them. My friend Chris, and his kids haven't rolled up characters yet, but if they decide to join us I think we'll need

a magic-user in the group, a fighter, and I'd love to see a druid, ranger or bard.

* We are using the old AD&D Player' handbook, DM guide. Monster Manual and Unearthed Arcana....that's it. I'm keeping in old school!

* I have a lot of old modules, but I wanted to start my campaign off the way I started...at the classic Keep on the Borderlands. I was able to get this module off eBay for about $6 plus shipping. The campaign is going to start as the adventurers head to the Keep.

* We have played one short introductory game. The Barbarian and the 1/2 orc were headed to the keep and ran into a group of goblins along the way. We were able to practice some combat rounds, and the adventurers won, killing about 6 goblins in the process and freeing their captive - my NPC 1/2 elf cleric!

* There will be more posts and pictures coming about my past, present and future AD&D adventures. Stay posted and feel free to comment!