Rich Grimmond 2023: a recap

Rich Grimmond 2023.

It is hard to believe that after a few months of planning and excitement, the hobby meet-up Rich Grimmond 2023 has come and gone. The event spanned a few days, and brought over 25 talented hobbyists to the main branch of the Richmond, Virginia Public library to play games, look at models, chat and just generally have a good time. The get-together was planned and hosted by Martin McCoy and Mike DeBolt. A major focus of the event was a narrative Inq28 campaign called The Rot of Hondious, that Martin and Bill Ford co-ran (of the Mordheim 2022 fame). Words cannot adequately convey how amazing the event was, filled with jaw-dropping models and terrain, and some of the nicest people in this miniature hobby. It was great to meet old friends and create new ones, all the while sharing our love of the miniature wargaming hobby. Below are a series of photos that we hope capture a fraction of the excitement of Rich Grimmond 2023!

The event was held in a well-lit conference room in the main library in Richmond, Virginia. Some prints of Martin’s (martin.mccoy.art) art welcomed everyone to the event space.

Alex (av.hobbies) helps repair many of the board tiles Bill (the_ruin.501) brought, which had been damaged by an uncaring airline.

Alex (av.hobbies) from Tabletop Wizards brought copies of his new game Dead By Lead (which was published in the magazine Blaster) to demo during the weekend.

Greg and Adam chat with Grant (underworldalliance) about the hobby and Caliban28, a game he is developing with Mike DeBolt (gundamofficialhobby).

Shortly after the event started on Friday, Martin (martin.mccoy.art) and Adam started up a game of Mordheim.

Adam’s Sisters of Sigmar warband ventures into the ruins of Mordheim yet again.

Martin’s (martin.mccoy.art) Marienburg warband descends into the depths of some ruined buildings, cautious of the Sisters of Sigmar.

Greg set up recording equipment to interview people at the event.

Eric and Greg played a game of Caliban28, where a group of knights in proto-power armor hunted a deadly manticore.

Having finished repairing the Hondious titles, Alex (av.hobbies) and Bill (the_ruin.501) prepare to play some games.

Jonny (Witchhammerstudio) brought his stunning “The Breath of Organthus” board, complete with a lazy susan to easily rotate it to facilitate gameplay and photographs.

Isaac’s (weirdingsway) Raider/Cultists of Urumet venture into the gothic class cruiser The Breath of Organthus in search of artifacts from the Dark Age of Technology.

The Breath of Organthus detects its halls being breached and activates its defense protocols.

The ship seems deserted as Telemarus Abeon, the Deserter King, and his Urumet raiders continue to descend deeper into the ancient vessel.

As they reach the center of the harvesting chamber, a myriad of custodial servitors ambush the invaders.

A custodial servitor readies its flamethrower as it detects the Urumet's cronewitch.

Ayakash the Blind tries to bend warp energy to her will and fend off the inexhaustible advance of the ship’s mechanical defenders.

One of the Urumet Formantine Raiders surveys the destruction, having personally silenced numerous constructs with his trusty autorifle.

Shane (7he_blindman), Isaac (weirdingsway), and Mike (gundamofficial) discuss the miniature hobby at All For One Tattoo.

Cole's (colecifer_xxvii) ecstatic cult infected by the Red Joy sweep across Hondious, their vision red with blood.

Cole (colecifer_xxvii) and Chris (pied_pewter_piper) get ready for mischief as day two of Rich Grimmond begins.

Adam and Alex (av.hobbies) discuss the doom that awaits all those trapped on the planet Hondious.

Isaac (weirdingsway) and Blerz (blerzcraft) talk about list building for the modified version of Forbidden Psalm that was used for the Rot of Hondious event.

Steve (sovthofheaven) makes some last changes to his warband list (Inquisition) before the games begin.

A collection of resin teeth were used to tally victory points between the games and determine which warbands would take part in the final game of the event.

Bill (the_ruin.501) explains how the Rot of Hondious games will proceed, complete with warband-specific primary and secondary objectives.

The forests of the Altarwood at the outskirts of the city of Highcrown - created by Shane (7he_blindman).

Highcrown Grain Storage district - created by Doug (sleepykamistudios).

Imperial Survey Facility of Prefect Miscaruss - created by Bill (the_ruin.501).

The Clocktower of Rheindal III - created by Bill (the_ruin.501).

The Altarwood runs red with blood as the Red Joy attempt to fuse with the wytches of the forest.

Lucretia Barghest leads her flock of joyful retainers into the heart of the Altarwood.

The Red Joy (colecifer_xxvii) sweeps over the Clocktower of Rheindal III, ignoring Heimdall, Seventh of his Name (stone.jaw).

The Beast, a maddening conglomeration of joy crazed psykers (created by totally not panicking).

Having fused with the most powerful psykers on Hondious, the Beast descends upon the Imperial Survey Facility of Prefect Miscaruss, intent on expanding to neighboring worlds...

A small strike force of cultist of the Church of the Red Athenæum infiltrate the docked The Breath of Organthus, of the Sagorea trade dynasty, hoping to obtain (kidnap) a navigator that survived the calamity that was the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum.

The cult quickly found the ship to be defended by a legion of cold custodial servitors and servo thralls.

The situation devolves quickly as a cyclopean mechanical construct, bristling with mechadendrites and fulminating electricity, emerges from the dark hallways.

Adam and Alex (av.hobbies) play a game of Caliban28 at Battlegrounds in Midlothian, Virginia.

Mike (gundamofficialhobby) chats with Terry (stone.jaw) at Battlegrounds, reflecting on the long day of miniature gaming.

The Rich Grimmond group at the end of day 1!

The Rich Grimmond group at the end of day 2!

Some warbands from the weekend:

A selection of classic navigators created by Isaac (weirdingsway).

Lady Misersoph and her Extirpators, created by Isaac (weirdingsway).

Isaac’s (weirdingsway) Cultists of Urumet, led by Telemarus Abeon, the Deserter King.

Pulp Der Todesfall of House Waste and Scarcity and their followers, created by Tyler (tylerisalrightatpainting).

Some bloated warriors of Nurgle, created by Tyler (tylerisalrightatpainting).

Renegade Xenos Inquisitor Minamoto no Yorimasa and his retainers created by Grant (underworldalliance).

Jeremias Oktober, blight of the Red Joy, created by Chris (pied_pewter_piper).

Inquisitor Helgar, the Emperor’s Cleansing Flame, and their retinue, created by Steve (sovthofheaven).

Inquisitor Tandros Vadrin with their retinue, created by Alex (av.hobbies).

A selection of models from our Red Joy warband (two of which are goblin models from Westfalia Miniatures), all three of which were gifted to Martin!

Some Red Joy models, including the towering monstrosity in the back (created by totally not panicking) and the flesh construct (on the left) that Martin sculpted.

Thanks for looking at all our photos! Look forward to more posts in the future detailing specific aspects of the event, including our Rot of Hondious games and our experience demoing some new games!

- Eric Wier