Introducing kids with an old classic

My nine year old nephew and his friend were visiting so I decided to dig up HeroQuest and see how they like it. I've been waiting for my sister's children to grow old enough for "proper" boardgames for years and I think now's the time.

The first adventure, of course.

The adventurers split up, something experienced dungeon explorers never do, and the dwarf runs into trouble!

Just a room short of their goal, the remaining adventurers are swamped by the monsters and make a valiant last stand..

The children said they've never played anything like it and had lots of fun. The theme is familiar enough as they play fantasy games on their computers, but boardgames like these don't exist these days, not as Finnish translations, at least. Kids that age are just starting to learn English and the Finnish market is so small it is not economically viable to do translations of niche boardgames. HeroQuest was translated back in the day and I think it sold lots of copies as nearly everyone has memories of having played it or having a friends older brother who had it.

Maybe I should get around to finally paint the figures...

More reinforcements for my Germans / SHQ miniatures vs. PSC size comparison

Getting some of the support options for early war Germans can be a bit tricky in 20mm. I want to be able to game Barbarossa in Chain of Command so I need at least the small 50mm mortar and preferably the Panzerbüchse 39 AT rifle. My Germans are mostly Plastic Soldier Company, who don't stock what I need, but my friend tipped me off on SHQ miniatures. Their site is antique and they don't have photos of everything but delivery was fast and shipping costs reasonable. Oddly enough the figure bags were labeled "WARNING: these pieces contain lead". I though we're not supposed to have actual lead in our lead pile anymore in the EU? I'm not complaining though, a bit of the ol' Pb makes the figures more durable as they will bend rather than break, and painting and varnishing them will seal the metal inside a protective layer anyway.

Panzerbüchse

An engineer team with a flamethrower. A scary weapon in  CoC!

The 5cm Granatwerfer is a standard support weapon in early war platoons.

The models are nicely detailed (especially after painting up those horrid Strelets Finns!) and fun to paint. But will they blend in with Plastic Soldier Company 20mm´s?

The answer is.. not perfectly. The PSC models are slightly taller and plenty bulkier. I think they work in a pinch however, and blend in when looked at from a "wargaming distance". It'll help not to mix them within units also.

I definitely like the models and anyone looking at getting an all metal 20mm German force should give these a look. I have some more stuff from them in The Pile(tm) but didn't paint everything straight away.

They come from the land of the ice and snow

Sure, start a new period. There are never too many!

It's going to be a small one, honest! I got these 28mm Gripping Beast hirdmen in exchange for some Baker Company winter war figures maybe a year ago and thought it's high time to paint some of them. I aim for a warband of maybe 30 figures plus a longship to represent a force of viking raiders.

They paint up easily but the shields take some time to do if you want to get fancy.