THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN............

Reuben J. Cogburn has agreed to take on the job in Hog Thief Bend. Known to his friends as 'Rooster', he is a veteran of the American Civil War and served under Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill, where he lost his eye. Cogburn previously lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas in the back of a Chinese dry-goods store, along with the proprietor, his friend and gambling buddy Chen Lee, and an orange tabby cat named after Confederate General Sterling Price. The rumour round town is that he has never had a 'dry day' in his life! Luckily for Rooster, the Sheriff's Office is right opposite the Broken Drum Saloon, so it's not too far when he gets a hankering for a shot of redeye. Let's hope he can bring some law and order into this den of iniquity.

The whole town, so far.............

UPDATE

Still drinking this.................

but reading this now.............

BLACKSMITH NEARLY OPEN FOR BUSINESS

The Blacksmith's is now in place but not quite finished. The town is looking a bit more populated now.

THE CHINESE ARRIVE

Fu Kin Su Pa is joined in the back passage by his colleague and fellow boo how doy, Chu Wing Fat. It looks like a Chinese Laundry is a serious proposition for Hog Thief Bend now!

THE TONG COMES TO HOG THIEF BEND

The first of my boo how doy. This is Fa Kin Su Pa, a hatchet-man from the I Po Ying Tong. The I Po Ying Tong are based in San Fransisco's Chinatown district. Fa Kin Su Pa and his fellow boo how doy have been sent on a mission by Wun Hung Lo, the Dragon Master of the I Po Ying Tong. They are looking to set up a laundry in a boomtown to act as a front for their nefarious activities. It looks like there may be the beginnings of a little Chinatown in Hog Thief Bend! This could mean big trouble!

SETTING UP THE FORGE

Still working on the Blacksmiths, just working out where the forge etc. is going. Sheriff's office should be coming next.

O. W. BANDY - THE BLACKSMITH

Not finished yet by a long way but some progress. At least old O. W. has got his sign up!

A STALLED PROJECT

I'm making a secret rocket base which every evil overlord should have. This one is designed to work for KKBB, Pulp, WWII etc. The inspiration is of course from You Only Live Twice.

This is as far as I have got so far, it has now been pushed to one side to allow room for the development of Hog Thief Bend, my current obsession.

BLACKSMITHS

I bought the Foundry set of Blacksmiths for my town. As they come with knee britches, I've used greenstuff to make their trousers.

SUMMER'S HERE!

Sitting in the garden, thinking about wargaming the Old West:

Drinking this.................

.......and reading this!

A BLACKSMITH COMES TO TOWN

I intend to use mainly 4Ground buildings designed for Dead Man's Hand. This means I only have to paint the miniatures and I do like the 4Ground buildings. However, they don't have a Blacksmiths building so I bought this one from Sarissa.

GUN STORE OPENS IN HOG THIEF BEND

Roland Deschain has opened a gun store bringing the total number of buildings to three, the town is booming!

Hog Thief Bend so far.........................

RULES & CHARACTER CARDS

I'm intending to use Pulp Alley rules for my first Old West game. These are a superb set of rules designed and sold by Dave & Mila Phipps. Once you've learned them you don't need to pick up the rule book again whilst playing. The story of the game is more important here than any technicalities.

Pulp Alley Store

I will try other sets of rules but for the first game I'm sticking with what I know.

These are the Character Cards I designed for the game, the Oklahoma Long Riders versus the Pinkertons.

TALL TALES FROM HOG THIEF BEND - The First Scenario

LEAD ADVENTURE FORUM PAINTING CLUBS

I love the LAF painting clubs. My rather average skills at miniature painting are not a problem as these clubs are not run as competitions, merely the first 100 entries. Great fun. Here are my entries.


The Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts Painting Club

#10 - Captain Stede Bonnet – ‘The Gentleman Pirate’

#30 - Anne Bonny - a renowned female Caribbean pirate.

#60   - ‘Duke’ Jacob – Roger’s Rangers

The Weird Wars Painting Club

#50- Standartenführer Klaus von Shreckenhammer of the Ahnenerbe

#097 The Very Reverend Lieutenant-Colonel Harold ‘Stinker’ Pinker, commander of the S.V.S. (Special Vampire Service), motto ‘Who Stakes, Wins’.

The Future Wars Painting Club: 101 Space Oddities - COMPLETE after 15 days!

#007 - Sgt. Granite, Jungle Warrior

The Great War Painting Club - 100 Miniatures #12 - Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen

HOG THIEF BEND GROUP PHOTOS


The outlaws line up for the ubiquitous group-shot before the showdown,

L-R: Bill Doolin, ‘the Slaughter Kid’, ‘Tulsa Jack’ Blake, Bill Dalton, ‘Dynamite Dick’ Clifton and ‘Red Buck’ Waightman.

and the Pinkertons line-up.

L-R: Chas Schumacher, ‘Birdy’ Edwards, James McParland, Frank Geyer and William Pinkerton.

THE MAYOR

This afternoon, newly elected Mayor Quimby, or as he is better known to the populace, 'Diamond Joe', met Captain Wilton Parmenter, commander of F Troop, stationed at nearby Fort Courage. Presumably they were discussing the latest theft of horses in the area and what the army was going to do about it!

Bill Gull, the Bend's Barber-Surgeon (late of Whitechapel, London) has now built his barber's shop, conveniently next door to the saloon.

and here's Bill waiting for his first customer...............

HOG THIEF BEND

Charlie Malloy (aka the 'Dirtwater Fox'), the town's professional gambler, surveys progress so far in the fitting out of the new saloon........

The new saloon, Rogan's Bar plus Bunkhouse from 4Ground.