Osprey Games – Warriors of Athena Quests
Welcome to the second part of the Warriors of Athena review. After taking a close look at the Warriors of Athena - Heroes book, we focus specifically on the book “Quests” today.
What is it about?
As the name already suggests, this book focuses primarily on developing the narrative of the setting for Warriors of Athena. While the first book focused on the heroes we play, this book highlights the heroes' journey. This takes the form of mini-campaigns, which are categorized into three parts. I will go into more detail about this below.
It should be noted that this book does not work without the Heroes core rulebook. The rules for Warriors of Athena are not included here, which gives this book the feel of an expansion.
First impression
Like Warriors of Athena Heroes, the book's design is very beautiful, but it also has the same weaknesses. Once again, I immediately noticed the wavy paper and a misalignment in the first binding of the book. From a printing perspective, I wondered whether some decisions had been made in favor of production costs. Binding at the spine is actually an expensive processing method and significantly higher quality than, for example, a book that is bound with glue. The cover, on the other hand, is made of carton with a glossy finish, whereas a matte finish would have made the book a little more durable.
Osprey Games – Warriors of Athena Heroes
Frostgrave, Stargrave, Oathmark and Rangers of Shadow Deep. All these games have one thing in common: Joe McCullough. Known for his focus on narrative-driven games, another game penned by him is being released, and once again, the partners for the release are Osprey, for the rulebooks, and Northstar Miniatures, for the corresponding game accessories.
What is it about?
It is a harsh, wild world, and the mythical monsters of ancient Greece have been unleashed. As if that weren't enough, bandit lords, sinister cults, and other evil forces are also wreaking havoc. In their desperation, the inhabitants of the various city-states pray to the gods. But mortals are only a means to an end for them. A tool for entertainment or pleasure, not worth further concern. Only Athena hears their pleas and decides to help the mortals. Her means of choice are the many illicit demigods who populate the world and have the power to rise up against evil. But she must carry out her mission in secret, for the other gods do not like it when their toys are tampered with. And so she quietly and inconspicuously leads the heroes to where they are most needed, so that their deeds may become legends.
In this book, players take on the role of one of these heroes and their companions to face unexpected adventures and challenges. Conveniently, however, you don't have to face the horrors of mystical Hellas alone—other players can also join your hero as demigods and take part in the battle between good and evil, humans and monsters.
Stargrave – Even more Sci-Fi goodies
As Miniaturicum is a not only distributor but very often on board with the Nickstarters, I had the chance to pledge to the starter and get some freebies, along with a few blister packs for review purposes to show you. This was a while back and simply got swamped in the backlog, but here it is.
- SGV101 Biomorphs
- SGV115 Veterans
- SGV205 Specialist Soldier Medics
- SGV201 Specialist Soldiers Hacker / Codebreaker
- some loots from the first Nickstarter - Loot markers, D20 and a Rogue
The miniatures are cast in metal and usually single pieces. They do not have tabs or small "hills" on their feet, but are "barefoot", so you can freely put them on the bases you intend. Each blister comes with a matching number of 25mm round bases by Renedra, and each pack is 7 GBP (around 8,50 EUR on the European market).
Stargrave – More Sci-Fi goodies
I got myself some individual blisters from Osprey / Northstars Stargrave sci-fi skirmish, to cover generic roles in sci-fi systems but to add some depth to my Necromunda Collection. In detail I got the following sets
- SGVX001 -The Old Rogues
- SGV203 - Specialists Guard Dogs
- SGV305 - Plague Zombies I
- SGV306 - Plague Zombies II
Stargrave – Dead or Alive
We gave you an overview on the initial release of Stargrave. Covering the rules themself along with the first three plastic kits of the Crew, Troopers and Mercenaries. But where has Stargrave moved to in the mean time?
The first small supplement was released along side the Nickstarter in March 2021. With the first lockdown a lot of games, and especially Osprey Games, received single player add-ons and so did Stargave with Dead or Alive initially a free mini-campaign for solo-gaming of 21 pages - which was in 2024 re-released as a full 96 page paperback supplement with further content for Stargrave. So due to this fact - this was the first and the most recent supplement for Stargrave, with quite a few releases in between.
Dino’s annual preview 2023
Aha, so it's 2023, anything special coming up this year? Well, I'm turning 42 and as everyone knows, 42 is the answer to all questions! To all questions? At least to one question I have the answer: do I need more minis? No, not 42...
The Great Moderation is a concept that I have been following for several years now, where I limit my budget to 20,- € per month, with the goal to increase my painting output of existing miniatures and to limit the new purchases in my hobby. As it turned out, 240,- € per year is quite a lot if you already have a bunch of miniatures at home and the pile just grows and grows. For this reason, I plan to cut my budget again - ironically, my strategy has also found approval in the forum of the Tabletopwelt and a group project has emerged from it, so to speak, the not so anonymous round of addicted hobbyists, in which if possible no new purchases should be made. However, everyone receives 150, - € annual budget - for slip ups. This seems feasible to me, since I have everything here, within the projects I pursue
But before I move on to tackle one of the leftover projects, I want to paint the new acquisitions from last year first, because there is also a part remaining. In addition, I will set myself a fairly small annual goal in 2023, since my hobby time continues to melt due to my professional commitments.
Dino’s annual review 2022
It's that time again, a whole year has gone by and I have quite mixed feelings when I look back. From a hobby point of view, all in all, it actually went quite well. I have not reached my goal for the year, but I was and am close.
At the beginning of the year, I managed to paint the two remaining archers from the Corinthian part of my Mortal Gods army quite quickly. In fact, it went so smoothly that I would have loved to paint another troop right away, and I've assembled another group in the meantime.
Corinthian archers
Trouble in Tollonia – Oathmark Campaign Part 1
Holey kamoley, what have I done!? After I played a game of Rangers of Shadow Deep at the beginning of the year with Nico and Andreas, two buddies from the forum of the Tabletopwelt, and watched a lot of Oathmark videos on YouTube, I had the idea to raise a small Oathmark force from the resulting background.
While I was talking about it with Nico via Discord, the idea kept mutating until the thought came up to maybe play an Oathmark campaign for a weekend. The basic idea was good: paint the existing pool of minis and make an army out of it, while they would also work in several other systems. Target date for completion? Fall 2023, possibly in October when there's less going on.
In the near future I'll talk about this topic more often, but for today I'll introduce you to my Goblin Champion. My force consists of a necromancer and her undead henchmen, as well as the lowly goblins pressed into service. In my eyes, they excellently fulfill the classic role of henchmen and cannon fodder that kick the bucket in droves in every movie scene. On the other hand, their numbers are usually so large and their sly deviousness so pronounced that they don't seem insignificant.
In Oathmark, Goblin Champions are not quite so frail. They are characterized as evil-eyed bullies who like to emphasize their words with a whip. That's the kind of bully I wanted to portray with this champion.
Frostgrave: A Sword and Sorcery Adventure – Part 7
Somewhat surprisingly, I painted the thief for my Frostgrave warband last month. I can't say myself what drove me there, because usually it takes me quite a while to paint a mini in my style, especially since I'm not the fastest painter anyway.
But somehow I felt like it and the thief, I think I'll call him Garrett, just whizzed across my painting table. Probably the limited color palette has also contributed a lot to that, something that. I probably remember this for an upcoming Oathmark project.
Stargrave – Mercenaries
The third plastic kit from the initial Stargrave release are the SG003 Mercenaries. Probably the most colourful from the trio, and certainly worth a look. So, let's upon up this box.
Where the Troopers are the uniform wearing military force of a corporation or government, these mercenaries are coming along still as veterans of their trade, but a lot more specialised and unique. You get troops in once again heavy armour, but with more humanoid (and less humanoid) variation in terms of face and a wilder mix of their gear / weaponry.


























