Under the Dice Fest 2026: Day 1

 

Day 1

The first weekend of October (Oct 2, 3, 4, 2026) marked the 3rd annual Under the Dice Fest and the 4th New England Mordheim Open (NEMO). I was fortunate to attend with my good friend Brad, who has been playing miniature-based wargames with my brothers and I for more than twenty years. I wasn't there to play Mordheim, or even play games at all. I wanted to capture what makes Under the Dice Fest so special (or any of the events Under the Dice/Hive Scum/New England War Council organize). This post will be about the first day of the event, Friday 3-Oct-2026, and will be followed by a series of other posts about the other days.

Man O' War: Orc Wyvern

Sea Lord.

Last month we began building an Orc fleet for Man O’ War. Next, we turned our attention to the polar opposite of the lumbering Orc Hulk: a lithe wyvern! We wanted to share a few photos and talk about how the assembly went.

Man O' War: Orc Hulk assembly

Blood and Thunder!

After playing Man O’ War at UnionCon, we decided to start building an orc fleet. For the first ship, we decided to assemble the iconic Orc hulk, a cyclopean ship with all the chaotic energy you would expect from the orcs, filled with design cues that are still being used in the orc miniature ranges to this day! While working on the model, I looked around online for other reference photos and found that there are very few (aside from the single photo from the box). Hopefully this post will provide useful references to other hobbyists looking to assemble an Orc Hulk!

Man O' War: A new beginning!

The Call of the Wretched Sea

After playing my first game of Man O’ War at UnionCon, I decided to build a fleet of my own! After spending some time on eBay, I bought a variety of ships from different fleets. My first focus is assembling an orc fleet, since I was able to get all their core ships. Over the next few months, I plan to share more posts on assembly, painting, and maybe even a few games along the way. If all goes well, I hope to have a small fleet ready for UnionCon next year!