Tabletop Wargames Blog

Gunboat on the Nile

2011-10-06T23:11:00.003-04:00

We are experimenting with an 1885 Sudan campaign scenario these days and I'm trying to incorporate the Old Glory Shipyard 28mm gunboat I bought a few years back. Dont have much time to write about it now, but here are a few photos for starters.

A Tribute and Final Salute to the Orkmeister

2011-08-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

These are very sad days for our gaming group. Mr. Carl E. Cordell, our beloved and revered Orkmeister, also known to us as Karlmek, passed away on July 31st. It was not unexpected, but nevertheless we never gave up hope that he would be with us for many more years. He never gave up hope either.

Carl was the consummate hobbyist and wargame enthusiast. Not only was he an extremely brilliant tactician, he was also one the best model builders that we have known. His achievements in this area were many, but the one thing we will always remember best were the Space Ork vehicles he scratch-built for playing Warhammer 40,000 (40K). We spent many hours over the 12 years that we knew Carl playing in huge elaborate battles, both 40K and WWII in 28mm scale, that he staged and directed. We spent many hours trying to defeat his vaunted force of orks and their beautifully hand-crafted battlewagons, wartracks, guntracks, stompas, and trukks full of the best close combat specialists in the universe. We rarely won.

Carl was one of the best 40K players on the East Coast. He frequently competed in the Games Workshop Grand Tournaments in Baltimore and Philadelphia. In 2003 the Games Workshop staff at the Grand Tournament were particularly struck by the appearance of Carl's army and his scratch-built vehicles. They decided that some photos of his models would go nicely with an article they were preparing about Ork Speed Freaks; an army list that Carl truly loved using. So they took some photos of a few of his models and they ended up on page 72 of issue 279 (April, 2003) of their "White Dwarf" magazine (middle photo). This was truly a unique honor for a hobbyist who had not sought out any recognition or publicity for his modeling skills, but it was very well deserved.

Carl was also a master at designing and making scenery for our games. As can be seen in the photo above he made the most beautiful 40K city that anyone has ever seen. In this case he actually used Games Workshop's "Cites of Death" building models, but of course nothing out of a kit was ever good enough for Carl. He took the basic kits and added his own plastic pieces to them to make them even more imposing and impressive.

I also need to mention that we also spent a very large amount of our gaming time on World War II. This was another aspect of the hobby that Carl loved. We were always amazed by Carl's encylopedic knowledge of World War II, especially the North Africa campaign. Along with this, he seemed to know everything there was to know about WWII armored vehicles and trucks. We used to talk on the phone frequently and listen to him talk on this subject for one to two hours at a time. Everything we did in the WWII area was always done with 28mm infantry figures and 1/48 or 1/50 scale vehicles. Carl had a flair for dramatic effects and as far as he was concerned any models in scales smaller than that were lacking in visual impact. It was an expensive way to do it, but there was no arguing with the approach. Every time we set up our WWII stuff at the local hobby shop we always drew a large crowd of envious onlookers!

We had a great time using all the wonderful scenery sets that he created. We had a lot of fun over a period of 12 wonderful years with Carl, and because of Carl. We of course are very grateful for the time we had with him but we are sure we will never see his like again and we feel very empty.

REAL Thunderwolf Cavalry

2011-07-23T07:49:00.009-04:00

As I previously noted, I discovered a gent who makes true Thunderwolf Cavalry. Of course, he doesn't call them that - or GW would be all over copyright infringement or some nonsense. Which makes it tough for those of desiring to field howlin puppy cav - since GW doesn't MAKE any. On top of not making any decent models for a really cool unit, GW doesn't even make any halfway decent models.

Paulson Games = problem solved.

Not only does he make lovely wolf models that are the right size to have an eight-foot tall Space Marine riding them, he makes the saddle/legs for the rider as an extra bits option you can buy. I bought the "full meal deal" with all three poses of howlin pups and the legs to match.

The models are made of resin and require assembly (duh!) and painting. There is some flash, but it requires minimal effort to clean the bits up and prep them for gluing. Not having worked with resin before, I discovered that my model glue doesn't work, so in stepped my "Zap-a Gap" to save the day.

Interestingly, the bodies have Roman numerals inside ("What have the Romans ever done for us!?!") to keep the modeler from getting confused about which body half goes with the other.

There are three poses available. I'm not sure if Mr. Paulson intends on crafting any more poses. Perhaps if he sells enough, he might be encouraged to offer another pose or two. Perhaps a "lunging" or crouching model? Just saying!

As nice as the wolves are, I have to say the rider legs and saddle bits really brought a smile to my face. They are extremely well crafted, nicely detailed, and have "Space Wolves" touches on them. In addition to the very cool space marine cavalry legs (with stirrups!), Mr. Paulson has created textured bases the same size and shape as GW Warhammer 40K cavalry bases!

Here are a few photos of the models and bases painted white and touched up with badab black wash to show the detail. For unadulterated images, head over the Paulson Games.

As soon as I get one ready to show off, I'll slap up some pics for my fellow Space Puppy fans to drool over.

\

Thunderwolf Calvary Tweaks and "Hacks"

2011-07-13T13:37:00.001-04:00

I mentioned a while back that I planned on “hacking” some non-Games Workshop figures to create Thunderwolf Calvary. I found some figures that were almost right – still a tad small – and looked nice. Not great, but they would do… I found them at my (RIP) local, Game Parlor Woodbridge (the shop closed recently after six years of trying to stay afloat – the main GP store in Chantilly, VA remains open!). I asked some of the lads at the shop about wolves. They ran through the normal litany of Ral Partha, GW Dire Wolves, and Reaper minis. While some of the Reaper figures were actually quite nice, they were far too small. I started digging through various stacks of figures and raiding different racks in a random manner – when I came across the Privateer Press figures for Warmachine. Specifically, there were some wolf figures for the Hordes add-on that were about the right size, had some armor, and weren’t “ugly”. So, I bought three figures and mounted space marines on them. Mounting the marines, in particular, the legs, was torture for me – and for the space marine in question. After several tries, I was able to get them on, but not without breaking the legs on one or two, and having to use green stuff to fill in gaps or glue to hold the bits together. No Canis, space marine legs aren’t designed to bend that way!

I’ll get some photos of my “hacks” up soon. They remain a work in progress; however, I have to get this post up, because I know there are Space Wolves players out there that are desperate to field some new figures, and, like myself, are having a tough time finding appropriate figs. Although these “hacks” work, and they are “nice”, the reason I felt compelled to throw this post up was that I’ve actually found some incredible figures online.

I originally found the link on the Dakka-Dakka forums, if I recall correctly – so some SW players know about them. However, I’m so very impressed with these figures that I want to spread the word – and do a good deed for fellow SW players, and for an extremely talented sculptor. For now I’ll throw in a link to the Web site – later, after I’ve had a chance to actually do some work on them, I’ll try to do proper justice to them with a full post!

Jealous?

2011-06-11T19:05:00.003-04:00

I really like the Perry Miniatures range of Choson Korean Imjin War miniatures. I decided now is the best time to finish it off and place a large order. Normally for a large order I would go direct to a miniatures manufacturer. For this order I thought why not, I'll try a US retailer. I purchased some stuff from Architects of War at Fall-In! last year and really liked the people who worked there and the products on sale of course. So I placed a special order with AoW knowing it might take a while to get it. I got my Perry Miniatures Choeson from Architects of War. AoW ordered it a couple of weeks ago, got the order in complete from Perry Miniatures and shipped to me the same day. Excellent service from both!

Warlord Games - Imperial Roman Army

2011-03-10T19:32:00.026-05:00

Well, I ordered an Imperial Roman Army for £45.00 from Maelstrom Games last week. They had a nice sale due to their 10 year anniversary so I took advantage of it and bulked up my Roman collection!

The contents are listed but I hadn't seen a review or even an outline of how it's packaged and pictures of the sprues anywhere so here is a quick list and pictures of what comes in this deal. I apologize for the poor pictures but I'm still learning. You can find detailed pictures of each sprue on the Warlord Games Web Site.

First, you get a nice big box. A box of Romans. Boxes of Romans are cool. The art work is really well done. One thing I really enjoy about Warlord Games products, especially their box sets are how they make me feel like I did when I was a kid. Way back in the day I used to talk my mother into buying me boxes of Airfix toy soldiers, usually the 1/32 scale. It was always so much fun looking at the art on the boxes and then getting them home, opening the boxes and removing them from their sprues.

Here is the Praetorian sprue:

It has 20 miniatures in two sprues. The command sprue has the musician and standard bearer who carries the supplied vexillum plus there is the Centurion who is a bit different than the "regular" Centurion in that he's wearing his cloak around his body.

You have the option to attach their plumes if you so desire. I suspect that it's only right and proper for them to go into battle dresse

d as best they can but it's nice to have the option of not putting the plumes on.

The Auxilia

They're quite animated.

Twenty four models are supplied. Surpris

ingly no command!

Now for 60 regular Romans. Almost a century of them!

The Survivors, the Veterans. Little Scipio put together a couple he liked them s

o much too! These are the best miniatures in the box in my opinion. I love the campaign look and how they appear to not have had an opportunity to fix up their equipment. I'll stop here and summarize with; If you want to start an Early Imperial Roman army in 28mm, this is a great box set to start with.

Miniature Wargaming ADD...

2011-02-12T17:34:00.005-05:00

So, I've been quite busy with real life, especially work over the last three months. So much so that even painting at night was few and far between I was so tired!

Well, the projects have been wrapped up and I've got some time to relax. My weekends are back for my personal time to spend with family and soon some gaming!

During the last week, I've been excited to get back into gaming especially 28mm Napoleonics, then a couple of days later, I thought maybe I should get back to finishing my AWI Guilford Court House project inspired by the book "Long, Obstinate and Bloody", oh and then a day later my son (he's 12) found my French and Indian War miniatures and I though, oh I need to finish those. But wait theres more! I then got the idea that some Middle East Flames of War, specifically Yom Kippur would be fun to try as I was send a play test set of rules for that! I was pointed to the new article on the forthcoming "HAIL CAESAR!" game being developed by Warlord Games which got me thinking I need to finish some Imperial Romans and wow wouldn't it be fun to start a 28mm "Barbarian" army of Picts that looked like the guys in the movie "The Eagle" just to shake people up on the game table a bit?

So, does anyone else jump from project to project not really completing much?

I know that I can complete gaming projects, especially Flames of War forces, 28mm WWII, 10mm Ancients and 28mm Ancient armies. But lately I've looked at what I have and wonder if I'll ever be able to focus on any unfinished project to completion. What should I do?

Das Book - A Flames of War Compendium

2010-11-24T20:45:00.008-05:00

I've said it before, and for any new folks, I'll say it again - I am not much on strategy or tactics. Unfortunately, though we love Flames of War (FoW), we don't get to play very often. If I recall correctly, within our little group, Consul Scipio and I were the last to play, and most recently - and that was in a tournament at Fall In. (Fall In, by the way, was an awesome convention, lots of fun, good friends, surprisingly good food, and more games than you can shake a bag of die at!) I believe my last game, prior to the tournament, was nearly two years ago. Yup. Been a day or three!

With that in mind, and given the fact that real life and online game addictions keep me focused on things not on the tabletop, I have trouble remembering the basic rules - forget about all the special rules, scenarios, and scenario special rules!

Our friends down under at Battlefront (New Zealand, not Oz!) have released a compendium of special rules for each army in the mid to late war range, called "Das Book". Included in this small tome are all the charts for the arms and equipment of each army, as well as all the missions and mission special rules!

One thing that I have not tried yet is the "Total War" rules. These are games from 3000 points and up! Amazing!!! I can see dozens of tanks and hundreds of infantry moving across a table, ready to smash into their opponents!

I call "Das Book" a bargain at $10.00 (U.S.)!

Once, long ago, an old soldier told me that "plagiarism is the highest form of a compliment" - or something to that effect. Therefore, I present to you, directly from the FoW Web site - copied from the back cover of "Das Book" - an overview by the lads in New Zealand! If you want to read it and get a view of the book and all the great charts, you can go here.

Oh! And please tell me I'm not the only one that doesn't get the "Das Boot" reference? ;)

"Das Book is the Flames of War field manual for the consummate WWII general. With all the tools and tactics you need to play a one on one engagement with a friend or enter the tournament arena and destroy your opponent’s forces. Know your enemies strengths and weaknesses, understand the missions and objectives, learn how to use the terrain and fortifications of the battlefield to your armies best advantage.

Compiled from across the Flames Of War book range, Das Book includes:
- Nine Combat Missions: Free-For-All, Encounter, No Retreat, Fighting Withdrawal, Breakthrough, The Cauldron, Roadblock, Hasty Assault, and Breakout.
- All mission special rules.
- Late-war Airborne Assault Special Rules and Mission.
- Amphibious Assault Rules and Mission.
- Bocage Rules.
- River Crossing Rules and Mission.
- Fortification Rules, with updated bunker rules and two Fortification missions, Trench Fight and The Big Push.
- Street Fighting Rules and Mission.
- Complete Mid and Late-war Arsenals for all of the major forces."

So what's the bottom line? In one small book, you have all the information you need, from all of the books - mid-war to late war - to play any era of game you like, save the new early war games! That saves having to tote around 3-5 larger books!

Like I said, at ten bucks "Das Book" is a bargain!

Warlord Games Bolt Action Universal Carriers Mark II

2010-10-27T21:29:00.020-04:00

I purchased a couple of Universal Carriers Mark II from Warlord Games last week. I had a special request that they be shipped to me for my son (Kyle is 11 years old) to paint up before our game at Fall-In! on Saturday.

Warlord Games delivered!

Even better was the product. They sent two great looking carriers and crew. So here are the pictures of the carriers and the crew before being painted.

The nice thing about the carriers are how 'clean' they are. I couldn't find any pit marks on either model. The edges and sharp parts were straight and clean up was minimal. There was some resin in the tracks but that's expected and was easy to clean up.

This top down view shows some of the interior with crew. Kyle punched out the front opening for the hull machine

gunner and the gunner with machine gun fit in very easy.

I'm no expert on Universal Carriers but these appear to be well sized to match with the driver and crew. It seems to have all the right pieces and form.

More of these are in my future!

This front shot shows the second carrier and the crew added to it. Note that I had only

purchased one set of crew thinking of splitting them between the carriers. I regret that decision now and will be buying more crew.

Notice that the head on the driver is wearing a baret. This is because Kyle is using them for his Red Devils. The driver body is a resin part of the carrier and you can put on different heads. Warlord Games shipped us the Red Devil head upon request.

This carrier doesn't have a hull machine gunner but Kyle put in a machine gun!

Kyle and I are very happy with these models. They put a smile on our face pulling them out of the box and unwrapping them. The grade on these is A+.

Here is a picture of the back end of the carriers. Driving away as this review ends...

It's Time - Fall-In!

2010-10-26T10:20:00.005-04:00

Yes, it's that time of year to pack up the vehicle and head north to Fall-In! 2010. This year it's in Lancaster PA at the Lancaster Host. Formerly where Historicon used to be held.

This year is going to be fun for me as I've tried to pack in a lot of games and keep myself and my son busy. Here's what I'm doing:

Friday - Noon into evening - Flames of War Doubles Tournament.
Saturday AM - Flea Market - I have a table and a bunch of junk (gold to some others I hope) to sell
Saturday 2PM - Red Devils vs. Germans - 28mm Disposable Heroes game. Germans provided by our very own Bwana Bill! All three of us inconsistently posting bloggers will be there so say "hello" if you'd like. My son painted all the Red Devils, I'll take pictures and post a report.
Saturday 7PM - Flames of War Vietnam Ia Drang - I'm busy trying to finish all these before then.
Sunday - Shopping

This year for me it seems I'm playing "WWII" and "Modern" games. Yet I prefer "Horse and Musket" gaming and that era. So, after this convention my next few will be "American Civil War" focused!

Are you going to Fall-In!?

What will you be gaming and/or doing?

Huzzah Hobbies: New Gaming Store In Northern Virginia

2010-08-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

For those of you who live in the VA, MD, DC area you might be interested to know that there is a new hobby store in Ashburn, Virginia. It's called Huzzah Hobbies. I have not been up there yet, but from the looks of it they apparently support quite a variety of game systems to include some historical systems such as Flames of War and DBA.
http://www.huzzahhobbies.com/index.cfm

Looks like it will be well worth checking out!

Warhammer World War II

2010-08-27T05:05:00.012-04:00

I have an interesting news scoop for all you Warhammer Historical fans out there. I was at the Games Workshop "Gamesday" convention in Baltimore last weekend and I had a chance to chat with the Forgeworld chaps about the Warhammer Historical books which now fall under their domain. I wanted to know if they has brought any to the convention. They has not brought any but they were very pleased to tell me about some future releases in the works.

They said there will be a new batch of supporting books for the new Warhammer Ancient Battles 2.0 book. There will also be a World War I dogfight book; the title of that one will be "Flying Circus," or something like that. Most interesting of all, there will be a World War II book that will be called "Kampfgruppe Normandy." This is interesting because my friends and I have always wondered about what playing WWII would be like with a Warhammer 40,000 (40K) framework. Years ago there was a home grown Warhammer WWII freely available on the Internet. Our group had downloaded all of it but never got around to trying it. When it comes right down to it, there already is a 40K system for WWII out there. You all know it as Flames of War (FoW). It's no secret that the creators of FoW used to be Games Workshop employees in New Zealand. But, as we all know, FoW is a 15mm system whereas I'm sure that this new Warhammer Historical book will a 28mm approach. It will be interesting to see what this new book is like. Remember; you heard it here first!

The Graying of Canis Wolfborn - Continued from the Greening of Canis Wolfborn

2010-08-24T08:51:00.022-04:00

As you can see, I'm all about snappy titles and endowed with great creativity! (kidding!)

Some time back I described cleaning and "greening" the Canis Wolfborn model here. I primed him before I finished writing my post about the greening, and then began to paint.

After months and months of painting a bit here and a bit there, I've finally decided to leave well enough alone, and have finished Canis Wolfborn.

I used the photos on GW's website and the box cover as a guide for colors and such. Where I deviated from the GW paint scheme is where I felt the artistic need to express my own unique flavor, in paint.

Enjoy the "wolfy" goodness!

I had a "model" to pose for me, so I could make the wolf more realistic - and personal: Izabelle, smile and take a bow sweet girl!

... and for my next trick, Thunderwolf cavalry, "hacked" from GW Space Wolves space marine models and Warmachine "Warbeasts".

Dancing with Death in the Desert - the Introduction

2010-08-17T07:07:00.009-04:00

Bwana Bill, MekMeister Carl, Andy, and I decided to throw nearly every 25mm "desert" model or figure we owned on the table. This post is intended to be an introduction, with additional photos and a some descriptions to follow.

After some debate, we determined that the "Big Game" would consist of Italians and Deutches Afrika Korps attacking 8th Army Brits and U.S. Army. It was decided, after much more debate, that there would be no "Tigers", although technically our game, which was not intended to be totally historical, was being played in Tunisia.

The Defenders were dug in like ticks on a hound. The 8th Army selected a large "domed building" - known in most parts of the world as a mosque - to defend. With walls and towers, this looked to be quite a formidable location to assault.

The Americans were in trenches and behind hills. Between them and their DAK nemesis was a building housing occult relics, which Dr. Jones would love to get his hands on, but not if the forces of "Der Furher" got there first! Of course, if the 1st Infantry Division arrived first, the relic would be placed in "good hands". ;)

Here is "Herr Leutnant" standing on his Sdkfz 251, ready to charge into battle. Note the calm demeanor, the steely gaze.

Could this be the reason for Herr Leutnant's confidence? Two of the DAK's finest vehicles: Panzer IIIs, with short 50mm guns. Hmmm... Perhaps not. I managed to acquire some 25mm decals the day before the game, just in time to add the finishing touches to these lovely models. Pitty they didn't perform in battle as well as they look - but that's another post!

Or perhaps these incredible Marder tank destroyers? Would they see off the Yank armor with their powerful guns? These were acquired by MekMeister Carl, though I'm not sure who the manufacturer was - they are really nice, prepainted vehicles though!

Well... If all else fails, rely on your non-commissioned officers to take charge and continue the assault: Red Section Sergeant stands at the ready to obey his Leutnant - or carry on, should the "El Tee" fall to enemy fire.

...to be continued...

Field of Glory PC game

2010-08-13T22:40:00.001-04:00

I have been playing this PC version of Field of Glory for about three months now. It is a computer war game that is based on the now well-known Field of Glory table top miniatures rules for ancient wargaming. But, for those of you who have been exposed to the miniatures rules and have found them to be a a bit daunting in scope and complexity, please do not think that of this PC game.

I would venture to say that this PC version is somewhat loosely based on the miniatures rules. It does use the same fundamental method for resolving combat but all that is handled by the program. It is very easy to select and move units. The interfaces are all very intuitive and it is extremely easy to start playing right away without studying anything. Its really just a simple matter of selecting a unit with your cursor. The area around it then lights up to show where it could possibly move to, and then you just click on any highlighted hex and it goes there. If the selected unit is a missile firing unit the yellow range circle appears on the map to show all the areas it can possibly fire at. At the same time, all the enemy units that are potential targets for either a missile attack, or a charge, suddenly display icons that allow you to then shoot at them or attack them. So it really is just a simple point and click system. The program comes with a very nice, easy to use, easy to understand, built-in manual that you can call up any time to study.

You can play against the AI or you can play by email against human opponents. The AI is good for learning the game and practicing a bit. The real beauty of the game is the play by email(PBEM)system. You will want to play the game this way because the AI will not be much of a challenge for you after a while. The game appears to have become quite popular. There over 1200 people that are participating in the PBEM system and it is quite easy to find someone to play against. You can issue, or accept, an open challenge or you can set up private games controlled by password access. There is no subscription fee or payments of any kind for using the PBEM system. Anyone who registers a valid game license is free to play as much as they want.

The basic game comes with quite few set scenarios that you can play by yourself or with someone else. There are now three supplements that have come out for the game with a fourth on the way. Each supplement provides even more scenarios and they also provide army generators that allow you to build your own armies and then use them.

I realize that this is a not a tabletop miniatures game, but let me tell you, it sure goes a long way toward satisfying that gaming itch when you know that your next miniatures game might be a month or more in the happening. Through this game I have established a relationship with a very nice gent in Australia (and I live in Virginia!). We have been playing back-to-back games against each other for two months now and it has been lot of fun for both of us. It's nice to come home, fire up the computer, see what he has done to me today, and then see what I can do to pay him back! All this doesn't take much time either, you can play out a game turn in about 15 minutes!

That is all I want to say about it for now. This is not intended to be an exhaustive review of the game. I just wanted to get the word out that I think this game is a real gem that more people should try. I think you will really like it.

As far as I know there are only three ways to buy this game. The first would be to order or download it from Slitherine.com in the UK where it was developed. The second would be to order or download it from Matrix Games. I personally prefer to order mine in disc form from Strategypage.com because I like their prices and free shipping.

Colonial Wargames Convention Announced for 2011

2010-08-10T19:00:00.001-04:00

News flash for all you colonial gaming fans. Lori Brom at "Sergeants3" has announced that the Brom's will be sponsoring a colonial gaming convention in either October or November of 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lori of course is the daughter of Larry Brom, the illustrious author of "The Sword and the Flame" rules for colonial wargaming which still rank as the "gold standard" for that genre' of gaming.

Wings of War

2010-06-20T20:12:00.005-04:00

This afternoon, Bwana Bill, Orkmeister Karl, Andy, and I had the opportunity to have a little "dad" (and not so dad!) time. Bwana had the World War I version of Wings of War, and has purchased a lovely array of their models. We sat down and ran through about five games in four hours. Amazing!!!

The game is played entirely with cards - unless you choose to purchase the lovely plane models (pre-painted). There are NO dice in the game. You select three moves (left turn, right turn, sharp right [for rotary engine aircraft!], straight, climb, or Immelman) and that is what you do during your turn. Each card represents a "phase". During each phase, you select your card, lay it down, move your aircraft, and then check range and arc of fire to any nearby opponents.

We played about 3 or 4 games of standard fighter scenarios - first the two "newbs" played each other, then all four of us played as wingman - two man teams.

I really enjoyed the game, as it is very quick and easy to learn and play - and as always, my eyes are drawn to well painted models - especially if I don't have to paint them!

In two scenarios, we play two fighters attacking a fighter, which was escorting a two-seater reconnaissance or light bomber aircraft. The objective for the fighter team was to stop the larger aircraft from getting to their airdrome and taking photos.

That was interesting - the larger aircraft, being two-seaters, have a rear gunner - therefore, they "sting" from the front (maybe - depending on the aircraft) and the rear.

All in all, we had a great time, and then got to have a quick gander at Orkmeisters scenario books for Kreta. Fallschirmjagers coming to a gaming table near you in the near future!!!

Warlord Games Bolt Action British Paras

2010-05-02T16:26:00.008-04:00

It's been a long time since the last post on this blog, hasn't it?

I've been quite busy with work, family and painting when I have the chance. I thought I would share an experience today as my son decided he wants some 28mm WWII British Paratroopers. Since he has done very well in school, I thought I would treat him with a few.

Kyle likes "larger" 28mm sizes so we looked online at:
Artizan Miniatures
Bolt Action (Warlord Games)
Renegade Miniatures

All of them looked good, but after closely reviewing them, Kyle preferred the Bolt Action range. I think it helped that almost all of the pictures were of painted miniatures. It appears they were painted by Paul Sawyer too, who is one of the owners of Warlord Games. Very nice paint work too I look forward to Mr. Sawyer posting more pictures of his work.

Also, I recently purchased and started playing the new Flames of War: Market Garden campaign and board game. So far it's been a lot of fun to play. I'll follow up with another post reviewing this game.

Zulu! Or the Anniversary of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift

2010-01-22T15:32:00.007-05:00

Today is the anniversary of both the Battle of Isandlwana and Rork’s Drift. Many men died, on both sides, on this day where bravery and sacrifice were proven by thousands soldiers. Please take a moment to toast the fallen and those who survived now long gone. An overview of each battle can be found HERE.

For those interested in more information on these battles there are a couple of great books which cover them in detail.

“Like Wolves on the Fold” by Mike Snook – you can read a review by Bwana Bill HERE
“How Can Man Die Better: The Secrets of Isandlwana Revealed” by Mike Snook

They are both out of print but you can find them for sale at www.amazon.com

Bwana Bill has written a few great posts regarding The colonial experience with Zulus which you can find searching our blog.

A couple of years ago I started on my 28mm Zulu project. It’s been shelved for the time being but I thought today would be a good excuse to post how I paint my Zulu Warriors.

The first thing I do is decide how I can make the process as quick and easy as possible. I’m a lazy git and really don’t want to spend much time painting hundreds of Zulus. But I want hundreds of painted Zulus!

Here’s what I use, in the order that I use them for my “Married Zulus”:

Krylon Camouflage Brown
Citadel (Games Workshop aka GW) Chaos Black for hair and band
GW "Leather" for straps
GW Bleached Bone as the base color for leggings.
Shields GW Bleached Bone highlighted GW Skull White, with brown splotches of Tamiya Nato Brown.
GW Bolt Gun Metal for iron blade
GW Bleached Bone for blades
Brush on my home made magic dip. GW Brown Ink + Future Floor Finish

I have only painted Old Glory Married Zulus so far.

15mm Sci-Fi - Rebel Miniatures

2009-12-07T20:20:00.011-05:00

I have a lot of projects to finish. So many I went "AHHH!!!" the other day. So what does one do when they have a lot of projects? Well, most people would pick one and get going on it. What does Consul Scipio do? He starts ANOTHER project.

Here's how it happened...

Black Knight, a good friend who I game with a lot and attend conventions with pointed me to the new Battlefront Flames of War Vietnam* miniatures. Those Hueys look nice! So I sent my Father and Brother and sent them a link to buy me the US Cavalry "army" so they could get me that for Christmas. While I have time to wait, I started looking around my game room, otherwise known as the room of disorganisation, to decide which project to keep working on until the Cavalry arrive. "Should I work on some Flames of War Brits? No, I've been painting Flames of War miniatures for the last couple of months." Then I thought "Should I work on the 40K Tyranids? No. Even though my son is working on Games Workshop IG and Tau, I just can't bring myself to work on it." Then I saw my boxes of 28mm plastic Napoleonics. I painted about 24 French Line Infantry but honestly I'm just not into it right now. Looking around some more I found some Rebel Miniatures 15mm "Earth Force Marines" and two Grav tanks. "Well, they're the closest miniatures I have to 15mm Moderns that aren't WWII so why not."

In two nights I've painted over 20 Earth Force infantry and two tanks. I plan on expanding the force with Merkava 5s and even more Earth Force Troops. Although MY troopers are "Cavalry" or "Mobile Infantry" in my story. Oh and I want some of those gun ships and drop ships too! They look great. I still have to touch them up and dull coat them but I'm happy with the results.

Here are a couple more pictures. Forgive me as I used my iPhone and they are quite shiny!

Now, what rules am I going to use? Heck if I know. I have been thinking I'll create my own since there doesn't seem to be a 15mm company level Sci-Fi game out there.

* I realize that Battlefront insists the Vietnam game and miniatures are "Wargames Illustrated" but who are they kidding?

The Raid

2009-11-30T11:42:00.004-05:00

The fight between the prisoners began innocently enough. A “Tommy” was brewing up a bit of tea for his mates when another group of Tommies, bored with the prison routine decided to get up a football match. Unfortunately, what appeared to be a bad kick, sent the ball squarely into the tea kettle, with predictable results. The two groups clashed, forty or so prisoners, punching, kicking, and shouting epithets, and drawing the attention of the camp guards.

Shouts of “Fermo!” erupted from the Italian guards, as they waded into the unruly mob, rifles swinging.

Long Range Desert Group Leftenant Nigel Smythe-Clyde and Sergeant “Jock” Andrews slipped quickly under the fence and into the desert as the sun began to set, whispering a word of thanks to the lads in the camp for the distraction they had provided. With the light fading and the heat of the day dropping, the two survivors of the ill-fated raid on a Duetche Afrika Korps (DAK) supply dump began the long trek to freedom, hoping to fight again another day.

Smythe-Clyde could not help but relive the moments leading up to their capture, as he and “Jock” moved from cover to cover as best they could in the bleak desert terrain.

The raid began with two teams of LRDG trucks and jeeps, carrying a lone S.A.S. team, surprising the drowsy guards at the DAK supply depot. The initial explosion from the S.A.S. team's demolition charges, or "Lewes Bombs", destroyed a pile of fuel drums, sending flames high into the gloaming sky.

Smythe-Clyde’s team raced past a lone Italian Stuka, hosing it with tracer fire as they went. Their route took them between three tasty targets, and their combined fire destroyed all that they aimed at, sending exploding ordinance arcing into the sky, narrowly missing their vehicles.

With the flames settling down to a steady burn, it was time to leave. Having achieved four of five of their intended objectives, it was time to beat a hasty retreat before the alerted enemy arrived.

The other LRDG team commander swept in and picked up the S.A.S. team and headed for their planned escape route, as the roar of engines and a plume of dust announced the arrival of a group of unhappy DAK soldiers. Watching their precious supplies go up in flames put them in a decidedly foul mood.

The DAK heavy machine gun unit leapt out of their Krupps trucks and set up their weapons, intent on stopping the "Tommies" from escaping. As Smythe-Clyde’s team began turning their vehicles around to make good their escape, the DAK HMG teams opened fire, destroying every truck in Smythe Clyde’s team. Two men ran towards his jeep as he began to accelerate away from the killing zone, he nudged “Jock”, who slewed ‘round, braking and accelerating, then braking again as he neared the survivors. The two troopers jumped on board as “Jock” stood on the gas pedal, pumped the clutch and sent the jeep careening towards the other LRDG team’s location.

As they drove, the soldiers could not take time to reflect on their grievous losses, instead focusing on getting clear of the area, hoping to fade into the desert as dusk approached.

A rumbling in the distance announced the approach of another enemy unit. Drivers pushed their machines to the limits as they negotiated the unfriendly, yet familiar desert terrain.

Ahead of the escaping LRDG, a DAK Panzergrenadier platoon leapt out of their trucks and hustled into position, hoping to block the oncoming juggernaut with a wall of lethal lead.

The LRDG teams approached a route they had reconnoitered earlier around a patch of nearly impassable marsh, filled soft sand, when a sharp-eyed gunner spotted the Panzergrenadiers and opened fire. At nearly the same instance, every gunner on the remaining trucks and jeeps sent a fiery hail of tracer-laden machine gun fire into the scrambling grenadiers. Bullets struck flesh and bone with merciless abandon.

As they eased past the marshy area, they could hear the cries of the wounded and dying. There was no return fire. Smythe-Clyde allowed himself the slightest grin, hoping that this encounter was a portent of their impending escape.

The last gleam of the desert sun disappeared as the survivors pushed past the salt marsh and continued towards a wadi, which they hoped would shield them from enemy eyes and retribution.

As darkness deepened, the teams were forced to slow their vehicles, for fear of becoming stuck or running into an enemy position. Smythe-Clyde and his comrades pushed on, relying on the cover of darkness and what speed they could maintain to cover their escape. He could just make out the entrance to the wadi they sought, slightly illuminated by the rising moon. If only their luck would hold a bit longer! They were in sight of safety!

Suddenly another sound issued from the night. Again, sounds of engines, but this time mixed with the unmistakable sounds of tracks clanking across the desert floor.

Smythe-Clyde took a deep breath and said a quick gallows humor prayer,”For what we are about to receive, we give thee thanks!”

Two SdKfz-231 armored cars appeared like ghosts out of the darkness. They opened fire on the escaping LRDG teams, missing all but one truck. The team from the stricken Chevy leapt to safety, climbing aboard another vehicle.

One of the “acht-rad”, or eight-wheeled armored cars was sitting directly in the entrance of the wadi, nearly blocking the escape route. Engines roared as the commander saw their only hope for escape slipping away. He shouted his command, “Get past ‘em, go, go, go!! Into the wadi, move it!.”

The other armored car was on their right hand side, outside the wadi. If they were quick enough, and lucky with their shots, they might be able to bail the crew of the one armored car out, and dodge the fire of the second by entering the wadi.

Smythe-Clyde ignored the command to enter the wadi, instead ordering “Jock” to slide past the second armored car while it was pre-occupied with the other team.

As he glanced back, he could just make out the flashes of fire from HMGs. He wondered if it were the same lot that had killed most of his team. To their side, he could see sporadic fire, apparently from another panzergrenadier platoon.

The other LRDG team commander and his trucks entered the wadi and raked the side of the armored car, unfortunately to little effect.

Then, with a lurch, Smythe-Clyde’s jeep came to a bone-jarring halt and burst into flames. He and “Jock” were both thrown from the vehicle. In the flames, he could just make out the team he and “Jock” had rescued, apparently dead from machine gun or cannon fire. Smythe-Clyde and “Jock” leaped to their feet and ran onward, hoping to escape in the darkness.

Inside the wadi the other LRDG team’s luck ran out. With their vehicles destroyed by HMG and 20mm cannon fire, three surviving teams attempted to assault the armored car in the wadi. A series of rushes and assaults using sticky-bombs failed to produce results, and the return fire from the armored car killed the remaining men.

The clank of tank treads on desert track grew noticeably louder, and then ominously stopped. “Jock” and Smyth-Clyde looked at each other and slowly stood, throwing their weapons and Arabic headgear to the ground. Ahead of them, five Panzer Mark III “Specials” loomed, all guns trained on the two survivors. Behind them, the turret from the armored car swung around to cover them. A hatch opened in the lead Panzer, and the tank commander climbed out, motioning with a raised MP-40 for the pair to approach.

As they walked cautiously up to the Hauptmann, they heard in surprisingly clear and nearly unaccented English, “Welcome into the “bag” Tommy. Cigarette?”

The Greening of Canis Wolfborne

2009-11-17T17:10:00.012-05:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I had happily acquired the new Games Workshop model, Canis Wolfborn for my Space Wolves Warhammer 40K army.

I was so excited by this acquisition that, although I was completely awash in pre-convention painting projects, I took time to clean the model and put him together.

I will reiterate that I have never seen such an imposing hunk of metal designed for the tabletop! Canis is a "mere" Space Marine, his size alone is inconsequential - unless compared to a "mere" mortal! However, his mount, the cybernetically enhanced Thunder Wolf, Fangir is another story altogether.

I have not done actual measurements so cannot provide an accurate size for the model; let's just say it's really big!

Unfortunately, when I built Canis and Fangir, I was out of "green stuff" modeling putty and could not fill the cracks left between larger bits.

I finally got some green stuff and went to work on Fangir - and here are a couple of photos showing the results.

Fangir and his rider, from the front

Looking down at Fangirs' tail end

As I worked with the model, it became apparent that the spaces left between Canis' arms and his torso did not require putty. However, poor Fangir had a few spots that needed a bit of help.

I mushed up the yellow and blue parts of the green stuff, squished it around till it was nicely blended, then rolled it out in long strips that would nearly fit into the crevices. Using a dental pick, I pressed the green stuff into the cracks, and poked it into a similar appearance and texture as his fur.

I also learned a bit about photography while getting the shots for this posting; Note to budding miniatures photographers - when using the Super Macro setting on your camera, using a flash will leave a large black shadow in the shape of your lens! DOH!

I have begun the carbonite freezing process... umm.... I mean the priming process, and hope to begin painting Fangir and his pet space marine soon!

An Unfortunate Oversight

2009-11-12T10:52:00.002-05:00

I feel the need to apologize to Black Knight and Consul Scipio, as I completely left them out of my Fall In AAR!

I mentioned that due to several factors I was only able to get in a couple of games at Fall In this year. I shouted out much deserved thanks to Jim "Gnome Wars" Stanton - and then moved on to the next topic!

The other games I played at Fall In are a direct result of the hard work and generosity of Black Knight and Consul Scipio!

These two partners in warfare planned and executed a Warmasters Ancients Campaign that was somewhat like a Tourney.

I had never played Warmaster Ancients before, so this was a learning experience. Consul Scipio had the doubtful privilege of playing me in our first game of the campaign. I won that one, but only due to his patience, kindness, and forgiving nature. Also mass. I had mass. I had a LOT of mass! Black Knight spent several hours prior to the campaign painting up extra Gauls for me to use in my assault on Consul's Roman Legions. (After all, what have the Romans ever done for us?)

My second game was against Black Knight. After having to wake me several times so I could fumble my figures about the table, we decided to call it a draw! As was the case in the game against Consul Scipio, my game with Black Knight was filled with patience and generosity. Both were very forgiving opponents to this beginner! I will say that Black Knight's Persians are a "nasty" army to face, and the battle presented me with yet another learning opportunity!

I enjoyed my games of Warmasters Ancients, and consider that a high point of my weekend! Although I do like the game, my current gaming priorities and budget preclude me from investing in figures or rules. I loved the way it flowed though, and I think I could do pretty well - until my die turn against me as is so often the case!

My deepest and most sincere thanks to both Black Knight and Consul Scipio for an enjoyable campaign and the opportunity to play a new and fun game!

Saying "So Long" to Gettysburg; The End of an Era - the Death of the Hobby?

2009-11-10T09:40:00.020-05:00

I attended the HMGS-East Fall In convention in Gettysburg this weekend and have since been deep in thought about several gaming-related issues. Please excuse me as I drop a few braincells here for mutual contemplation.

Apparently there was an issue that precludes the HMGS-East from returning to the Eisenhower Hotel and Convention Center, which is located right next to the Gettysburg battlefield. Although the hotel is old and the amenities are minimal and rather expensive, the nearness to the battlefield, where so many Americans fought and died for their causes, seems to lend a special feel to the Fall In convention.

In the past, I've had poor experiences with several of the staff at the Ike; though most to try to provide good customer service. Several were true gems, shining stars of friendliness and service. This year, as always, the staff was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the attendees. That, and dealing with folks irritated by any myriad of issues, doesn't make for a pleasant work environment.

I'm not certain of the reasoning behind the move to Lancaster, PA, but I'm sure that the convention will still be a good one, though I am saddened by leaving Gettysburg. The last Fall In (for the foreseeable future) at Gettysburg was appropriately themed, the Beginning of the End. The theme was related to the end of WWII, as the allied forces made advances into the home territories of the axis forces. For me, it was the end of an era. I hope that one day Fall In will return to Gettysburg, perhaps at the Ike or at a different venue. There are few things as awe inspiring as a slow drive through the battlefield on a crisp fall morning, monuments rising out of the mist like soldiers of old, giving one last hurrah for the final charge!

Another issue that impacted many gamers, including myself, Consul Scipio and the Black Knight (not to mention about 40-100 other folks!) was that the Ike overbooked a large room, which was to be used for several early Friday games, and the Flames of War Mid-War Tournament. The result of the overbooking was that many of the earlier games, one of which I was supposed to play in, were canceled, and the FoW Tourney was postponed for several hours.

That was most certainly not a good way to start the weekend. That early morning game I had signed up for, was the only game I was able to pre-register for. My weekend was beginning to look bleak before noon on Friday!

I was able to get into a couple of games this weekend, though literally only a couple! For the expense and hassles involved, it is hard for me to justify attending a convention, if I am only able to play a game or two.

Shouts and salutations, and my deepest thanks for a good time go out to Jim "Gnome Wars" Stanton for an amazing game that was entertaining in so many ways! Jim is the co-author of Old Glory's "Trench Wars" rules, along with John Spiess. The two colluded on the table set up for an East Front World War One game. Later, with minor adjustments, Gnome Wars, which is basically a WWI game using fantasy miniatures produced by Brigade Games, took the tabletop and more wanton death and destruction abounded! The game is learned quickly, and is very easy to play, although at times adjusting tactics to various surprises tossed in by the game master can be a challenge! There were a lot of ladies and young folks playing the game. I'll take a wild guess, but I'm thinking that three primary factors attracted younger gamers and the rare lady gamers: ease of play, enjoyability, and very "cute" miniatures. I mean, how threatened would you feel when facing a German Lancer Gnome mounted on a bunny? Really. :-)

Another issue, though not related to the Ike, was the rather slim pickings at the Flea Market.

Based on the experiences of Bwana Bill, Consul Scipio, and myself the Flea Market was below par this year. There were a lot of folks selling nicely painted armies or figures at high prices; some of us selling a lot of cruft and clutter, and very few folks really spending money. This year I sold perhaps 1/3 the amount I usually sell, and had to drop my prices to the point that I couldn't buy all the things on my shopping list. This is a very bad sign and presents a potential danger to my own home. After selling all that lead and not replacing it, combined with all the hot-air from Washington, D.C. in such close proximity to my home, I'm afraid my house may float away. (That was a non-partisan, "I dislike politicians of all types" sort of poke!)

Finally, I heard a lot of commentary from fellow gamers about "the death of the hobby". As the economy continues to tank, the priorities of many gamers have had to shift to simply keeping food on the table or a roof over their heads. The snowball effect is, of course, in play. Lower sales and higher production costs lead to higher prices, and thus lower sales. It's a self-licking ice cream cone. I don't believe this cycle will continue. If it does, some miniatures manufacturers will simply go out of business. However, not all will go out of business, and there will be new ones starting up. The economy will rebound, and the world will be well again. Or as good as it ever is.

Aside from the obvious economic issues, some gamers were concerned about the poor turnout and the aging gamer population.

I didn't see that.

What I saw was a good turnout at Fall In, with good participation by gamers of all ages.

In fact, one of the highlights of Fall In, for me, was watching some young men and women play in the "Under 18 years of age" Flames of War Tournament. I was amazed to see young folks playing a fairly mature game, rolling bones, pushing lead - and rarely, if ever, referring to a "cheat sheet".

Death of the hobby? I think not. With young folks maintaining an interest in games that are not "easy" to play, aided by folks who run fun games or fun tournaments, or create simple and enjoyable games that provide an entry level experience for potential new gamers, and I think the hobby is safe enough for now.

Overall, I had a very nice time, though the best part was, as usual, seeing friends, rolling bones, and pushing lead!

Alternative Paints for Larger Projects

2009-11-03T10:38:00.005-05:00

There are two groups of friends that I game with; Bwana Bill, his son, Karl the MekMeister, and a few other friends, and Consul Scipio, his son, the Black Knight, and other assorted friends.

So far these two groups have been on relatively divergent paths gaming-wise. Lately, as I have mentioned, both groups are now focused on battles in World War II, in the North African desert.

As our little groups begin to blend interests, we are finding more and more common ground in the hobby.

We are pretty much involved in 15mm and in 25mm models and figures.

When painting smaller figures, many of us have found the Vallejo "Model Color" to be accurate, and quite sufficient of portion to do the job.

However, we are finding that using those little eye-dropper bottles can become quite expensive, when painting larger figures and models - especially armored vehicles!

As the ladies in our lives lead us about on shopping tours, we usually keep a weather eye out for anything that may be useful in wargaming. My wife loves to visit Michaels hobby stores, both for supplies for her own hobby interests, and to obtain supplies for school projects. I like Michaels too! Pssst! Wargamers secret: In the Seasonal Decorations section you can find trees that are extremely useful for 25mm gaming - and sometimes walls or entire houses!

In the paint section, I have discovered Apple Barrel, and in particular, one color that works very nicely for German WWII desert vehicles and equipment! The color is "Country Tan". I have used this color in the past for painting WWI Australian troops - and it works a charm!

Our own Bwana Bill has also discovered a color that can replace the more expensive, smaller bottles of acrylic paint: Americana "Desert Sand" - how appropriate!?

These paints, both the Plaid and Americana, usually cost between $1.00 and $2.00 U.S.

So as the economies of Nation's round the world continue to mimic the last movement of the SS Titanic, and our wargaming budgets dwindle, we encourage our loyal readers to examine less expensive alternatives for paints, flocking, scratch building materials, and perhaps even models! And do share what you find here, and we'll help you spread the word!

Love and Hate

2009-10-31T12:24:00.005-04:00

Grab a wineglass and have a seat, we're about to have some whine!

I love my Battle Front Minis - they are usually very clean, well built, well considered models that go together without TOO much difficulty, and look really nice on the tabletop. The "Six-Pounder Portee" - a mid-war model of a British six pound anti-tank gun mounted on the back of a truck (Portee), is one that I have to say I'm a bit frustrated with.

Imagine the scene: less than a week till Fall In (the HMGS East convention in Gettysburg, PA), five different armies at two different scales scattered across the table in my chaoserrr war room, and I'm painting as fast as I possibly can.

I start the final coat, drybrushing and highlighting on my six pounder portees - and BAM! I drop one.

For starters, this model is a bit tricky to put together. Kudos to Battle Front for putting a "how to put it together" guide on their site for this model.

The problem lies with the ammunition rack on the back of the truck. There are four posts that this box is supposed to sit on, and it doesn't like going together. oh well! This is overcome with super glue and patience. Ta-da! A lovely model when complete.

Then the drop.

No, it can't drop on a nice fluffy figures case tray that is lying nearby. Neither does it fall to the slightly less fluffy stack of magazines on the other side. Noooooooo. It falls directly into the Dremel case on the floor, bashing itself to pieces on drill bits and sundry drill attachments and other cruft.

I wince in pain. Mostly cuz I think I broke my toe falling down the stairs, but also because I recall that this model is tricky to put back together. I resolutely begin picking up the pieces and reach for my super glue.

To add insult to injury, after I recover the bits and begin ever so patiently applying super glue to the little bits needed to put the pillars for the ammo box back into place - I drop the main bit. Off it goes into the black hole that is the floor of my dungeon, never to be seen again.

That's the "hate" part. I hate dropping models when they are nearly complete. Considering I slipped and fell down my stairs (caught myself, but hit a few!) this morning, I guess I should just have called it a day for anything requiring concentration.

The love part comes now, so sit back, relax and sip your whine! :-)

"Green Stuff" is your friend.

After searching for twenty minutes or longer, and basically cleaning the floor with my hands, I settled down to work with "Green Stuff", or two part modeling clay. It's also known as Kneadatite Epoxy Modeling Putty.

Take a bit of blue and a bit of the yellow portions and mash them together, like making a mud pie as a child. Keep water nearby and a sculpting tool of some sort. Although an X-Acto knife will work, there are hazards involved, especially if you're clumsy like me!

After mushing the yellow and blue bits together, as any child can tell you, you have green mush! The resultant mix is somewhat sticky - which allows you to stick it onto models where it is needed. However, that stickiness can also work against you. This is where the water comes in. Wet your fingers (the ones you are touching the green stuff with!) to keep it from sticking to them. Also, dip your sculpting tool in water to allow it to slide across the surface of the putty.

Apply the green stuff to the spot you need to fix, massage it gently with your fingers and sculpting tool. If you have a tricky thing (like the brace for an ammo box on a six pounder portee!), you may find that you need to form the green stuff as close as possible to the desired shape, and then come back later to trim off excess.

The image below was taken with my "Crackberry" phone, therefore the detail is not as clear as it should be; however, I hope you can see enough to get the point.

So remember folks, let's be careful out there!

LRDG Battle Report over at "What Would Patton Do? Blog

2009-10-28T12:56:00.003-04:00

I don't mean to drive any of our loyal readers away; however, one of our wargaming associates has posted a truly unique "batrep" of his Long Range Desert Group's first battle. Head over to "What Would Patton Do?" blog and read "L Patrol pt 1."

Fall-In Preparations

2009-10-28T08:48:00.004-04:00

In the dark shadows of the nether regions of the Castle Keith, I am laboring intently, deep in the dank dungeon that is my War Room.

I am currently working on some additional troops for my 28mm World War II (Disposable Heroes, a Coffin for Seven Brothers - DHC7B) German SS and American Paratroopers, because I intend on running a "pick up game" at Fall-In. The scenario is called "Blood in the Snow". It is a meeting engagement between elite forces at a remote farm manor house during the Bastogne encirclement.

I'm also working on British WWII tanks (Honeys and Crusaders) and infantry for my 15mm Flames of War army. I'm applying paint to my Italian tanks, infantry, and artillery, trying to top off that army too!

Just to confuse matters, since I obviously don't have enough to paint, I'm working on my Late War Gross Deutschland Panzer Kompanie. Basically I'm herding cats, but thankfully the Pioneers are helping! ;-)

If that isn't enough, I'm also touching up various bits and bobs to sell at the Saturday morning Flea Market. I'll also be bringing, by special request, a small package of very special fleas! Can't get enough of those!

If any of our loyal readers are headed to Fall-In, look for us at a gaming table covered with snow, or sand, or grass, or...

Lovin Bad-ab

2009-10-17T14:00:00.001-04:00

The title may sounds like a Country and Western song about love gone wrong. However, this post is about Games-Workshop's Badab Black wash.

I've used inking techniques over the years that come very close to the results achieved by those who utilize the "dip" technique. I paint my figures up all nice, then brush them all over with thinned down GW Brown Ink. I then highlight the figures back up a bit. This technique gives the figures a nice sense of depth and also satisfies my love for dirty miniatures. I then add mud as needed, and sometimes as not needed, to further enhance the grimy warrior effect.

Yesterday I acquired two new armies for WarMachine, by Privateer Press from two of friends. We accomplished some dark back alley trades, and (I hope!) everyone ended up happier for the deals!

In that trade I acquired an army of Cygnar and an army of Khador. Each of the armies were painted by friends with different painting styles and tastes for light and dark. Each army was at a different level of completion as well. The Cygnar Army was mostly ready for the tabletop, with only a handful of figures requiring paint. The Cygnar army is primed black. The Khador army was a work in progress, with basic colors on many of the figures, with some being completed. The Khador army is primed white.

My new Cygnar army is blue, and has been inked and highlighted, which clearly shows the great detail of these lovely figures. My new Khador army is painted with fairly bright colors, (tis a red army after all!) and to sort of put my personal stamp on the army, I determined that I would darken it up a bit.

I have used the Badab Black wash on smaller models that were painted with military colors, and it has worked very nicely. After all... non-fantasy warrior figures will, in my humble opinion, need to be darker, muddier, more weather worn.

The WarMachine figures are fantasy figures, so a lot of color is the norm rather than out of the ordinary.

I grabbed a couple of Warjacks, a Juggernaut and a Destroyer and began to apply the GW Badab Black Wash. I did not thin the wash at all, but rather used a LARGE brush and simply gave the figures a bath with the Badab Black wash!

Without Ink

With Ink and a few highlights

I must say that I'm quite pleased the the results. So much so that I am going to finish painting the rest of the army using the same style and techniques my friend used, and then bathe them all in Badab Black! The washing of the figures may be followed up with a bit of highlighting, just to bring out the detail of these lovely figures.

So, this is (in case the FCC is watching) a NON-PAID endorsement of a GW product; which, if you know me, I'm not too fond of GW and their business practices - but I do love these washes and highly recommend them.

Game on!

"Aussies at Bardia"

2009-10-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

One of our latest projects is gearing up to run some scenarios from Mark Fastoso's new scenario book called "Aussies at Bardia." It covers the three days in January 1941 in which the the 6th Australian Division captured the fortified town of Bardia, Libya from its Italian defenders. As usual with these things it will take a while but we are making pretty good progress. Like almost everything elso we do, being huge gluttons for punishment, we will be doing this in glorious 28mm which of course always requires the expenditure of a significant amount of money for vehicles in the 1:48 to 1:56 scale range; and it can be very difficult to find them. Fortunately we have hit a recent bonanza in the form of a company called "Company B." They have been cranking out a large selection of Italian tanks, trucks, and armored cars that have hitherto been non-existent. I have been buying mine from Brigade Games at the HMGS East conventions in Pennsylvania. One nice thing about the Bardia book is it is mostly infantry on infantry so you do not need a huge amount of tanks. A couple of British Matilda IIs are indispensible to this book. "Army Group North" has some very nice Matildas in resin plastic. I got mine from Brigade games also. There is only one scenario where the Italians are counterattacking with seven M-13 tanks, uh, we are probably going to want to do that one in 15mm. I have acquired some very nice Italian Bersaglieri infantry figures from Askari Miniatures. We will be using these to represent the Italians troops even though none of the scenarios call for Bersaglieri. The Askari Bersaglieris were not really designed for WWII gaming, they are more appropriate for the 1925 to 1935 colonial campaigns in Africa, nevertheless, they will work just fine for WWII. The only concession I had to make was to acquire some Italian machine gunners from Artizan Miniatures to go with them. At this point my Italian infantry are almost ready to go. Speaking of Artizan, I got the British/Aussie infantry from them and they are painted and ready to go. So, with just a bit more work on the tanks, and then some anti-tank guns (not easy to find either), and then some scenery; it will all be ready to go!

"Roman Seas" rules

2009-10-16T19:00:00.000-04:00

Here is another news scoop for you wannabe Beh Hurs out there! Get your credit cards ready because any day now Eric Hotz will finally, after two years of painstaking work, will be ready to start selling his "Roman Seas" rules to accompany his impressive line of card stock Roman and Carthiginian ships. These ships are 1:300 scale and they are compatible with 6mm infantry figures to use as crews. If you are wondering what I am talking about, scroll down to my posting on August 7th, 2009.

Remember, you heard is here first!

First DAK

2009-10-16T15:35:00.003-04:00

As Bwana Bill, Consul Scipio, KarlMek, BlackKnight, and I all prepare to head into the desert again in various scales, I was inspired to finish off a Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK)Heavy Machine Gun and crew.

The figures are by Battle Honours - does anyone know if they are still in business? I see figures still for sale at www.oldglory15s.com, however, I can't seem to find a Battle Honours homepage.

Anyway, here are the first of my DAK: Enjoy!

Canis Wolfborn

2009-10-13T09:02:00.005-04:00

After many years without a "real" codex, Space Wolves players are once again "official". The new codex is out and I got a copy very early on, having pre-ordered it at my local brick and mortar game shop! I'm still plowing through the book, though I do intend on providing our dear readers with a review of the document, this post is about a new character (of which there are several!) that I also purchased days after it's release.

Canis Wolfborn rides a mighty cybernetically enhanced Fenris wolf which is called a Thunderwolf. His name is Fangir.

Being a fan of wolves, I find the creature too massive for my personal tastes; however, it is supposed to represent an alien breed of wolves that are much larger and more fierce than their Terran cousins. Add some cybernetics to enhance his attacks, and the beast is nearly the equal of his space marine rider!

I've actually built the model already, though I have not yet primed it or begun to paint.

First impressions:

Like many large Games Workshop models, the bits don't all necessarily fit together smoothly. I managed to put the model together without pinning any parts; however, I will likely regret that move in the future. If you are building this beastie, be aware that pinning the arms on Canis will likely be a safe bet, and aid in keeping the arms in place later during transportation and gameplay!

Although I have applied my "pumice" to the base, along with a small stone from the garden, I cannot prime and thus begin to paint until I acquire some "green stuff". I'll be stopping off at my local game store today to pick up a pack. Without green stuff, there will be rather annoying gaps here and there at the joints on Fangir.

I plan on posting photos of my progress with this model, so please stay tuned!

Purchase Plans for Fall-In!

2009-10-13T08:57:00.019-04:00

I saw a post at "Lord Ashram's House of War" blog and decided I'm stealing his idea and using it here.

When I attend a convention, I always go with the idea that I'm "not going to spend much this time!" Really, I do try to buy my miniatures from my FLGSs in the area. There are miniatures that my FLGS cannot stock or special order so I am left with either not starting projects that use those miniatures or buying them at conventions. I rarely buy over the internet unless there is a sale or I get a deep discount. With Old Glory raising their shipping cost to $9 per order I won't be ordering online with them very much.

Old Glory
WWI: I need some Old Glory WWI German Heavy Machine Guns. I also want to get a Mark IV tank for my son, who's building a WWI British force to roll over my Germans.

Ancients: Ships, we like 28mm ancient ships so a trip to the Merrimack Shipyards (part of Old Glory) is in order

Napoleonics: I was going to purchase a few Austrians from the new 2e line. However, with the increase in shipping costs by OG I may not start this project.

Age of Glory
WWI: More British Infantry from Great War Miniatures

AWI: Perry Miniatures Tarelton's Cavalry, Southern Campaign British and Patriot Militia.

The Warstore

I really like the guys that run their booth so I have to stop by to say "hi" and then end up buying stuff from them. They have a great selection of terrain odds and ends (for me) and also good discounts on historical plastics. At least in the past they have.

Napoleonics: Victrix British Centre Company, maybe a box of French Line

Terrain
Do you know of any company that will be there selling pre-made trench system for WWI?

That's pretty much all that I need so far and it seems Age of Glory is destined to get most of the money I plan on spending. 2010 is shaping up to be an AWI, Napoleonic and WWI projects in 28mm for me.

Games in Education Day - AAR

2009-10-01T09:08:00.011-04:00

Consul Scipio went to the Games in Education Day last Saturday. Along with the Consul came his son (the Son of Scipio) to help with selling some stuff at the Flea Market, play a game and check the space out for next year. Neither took a lot of pictures.

Getting to "Balmer" was easy and unloading at the Charles Street entrance was very quick. There was a very helpful gentleman wearing a bright orange "Flea Market" hat there to help us.

After dropping off my car in Lot C I walked back to the convention center. That took about 5 minutes. Once at the flea market room we settled in and got to talking to others. That's one thing I really enjoy about flea market selling is I get to meet so many nice people. It was a small turnout and I wasn't expecting to sell everything. I did this really to see how difficult it would be. It wasn't a problem at all.

Fellow blogger Standagard had a table next to us. Together we were able to setup a table to run a game while manning the flea market tables. However, due to a storage in staff (Son of Scipio cannot watch two tables at once) we had to call it off. We plan on offering it (this time we'll remember the SNOW) at Fall-In! 2009. We use the rules "Disposable Heroes and Coffin for Seven Brothers" by Iron Ivan Games.

Standagards' US Paratroopers and SS:

Son of Scipio got to play in an Ambush Alley game. He had a great time and the guys running the game and playing in it were great sports to let him play! Thank you! Isn't this a nice looking table with a lot of great terrain?

I'm not into "modern" wargaming but I wish I had had a chance to play in that game. We plan on getting the Ambush Alley rules.

At the end of the day (for us, we left around 2PM) Son of Scipio bought some WWI British Infantry from Age of Glory. I'm so proud that he used his own money to start his own historical force. Way to go son! Packing up and getting out was a breeze. The flea market support was again very helpful in getting us out of there. If you'd like to know more about the specifics of the BCC Logisitics and another bloggers observation, I highly recommend Walt O'Hara's Blog.

Space Hulk Returns

2009-09-10T11:30:00.001-04:00

For fans of the old Space Hulk Game: Space Hulk is back for a limited time!! Follow the link below to check it out!

At $99.00 it's a bit steep. Apparently the folks at Games Workshop have failed to notice a minor dip in the global economy. :-/

Space Hulk

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Space Wolves Wolf Pack

2009-09-09T14:19:00.001-04:00

Although I've long been out of the Games Workshop gaming arena, I still have my Space Wolves. When the latest edition of Warhammer 40K was released, most of the forces in the game received new "Codexes". The Space Wolves have been using their old codex for a long time; however, the wait may soon be over! Space Wolves fans, jump back into the game howling! Run with the Wolves!

Space Wolves Wolf Pack | Monday, September 07 | What's New Today | Games Workshop

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Ceasar's Legions for $9.99 only on 09/09/09

2009-09-09T13:37:00.001-04:00

I realize this appears to be a total advertising gimmick - and for the Wargames Factory, it is! For us, it's simply sharing a great deal on good figures with our loyal readers!

From their website: "To celebrate 09/09/09 (the last time we'll have single digit dates until New Year's Day 2101 (01/01/01)) we've made the 48 figure Caesar's Legion set $9.99 for ONE DAY ONLY! Click here!"

Have fun, but consider: What have the Romans ever done for us? ;-)

"Roman Seas" at Historicon

2009-08-07T07:45:00.001-04:00

Here is an interesting development that you all should know about. If any of you ever longed to reenact that great naval battle scene in "Ben Hur" you will soon have your chance.

Eric Hotz, the same gentleman that produces the Whitewash City cardstock scenery and also the Larry Leadhead comic strip, will soon be publishing a set of rules to accompany his "Roman Seas" cardstock model ships. The cardstock ship models have been available for a couple years now. They are the same scale as 6mm wargaming figures so you can use 6mm infantry to man the ships. The ship models are superb! They look great on the table and you have to get real close to realize that they are only make of cardstock (heavy paper).

I had an interesting experience at the recent Historicon convention in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with all this. I went there thinking I was going to play in a game based on the Battle of Camerone using the "Sword and the Flame" rules. Instead I found out that I had been given my second choice which was a playtesting of Eric Hotz' yet unpublished rules. What a great second choice it turned out to be! Brian Cantwell ran the game and he said that the goal of the rules was to provide playability and a cinematic feel. I have to agree with that. The models and scenery were quite a spectacle and the game drew a lot of admiring onlookers. Better still, I pulled off some extremely lucky die rolls and ended up winning the grand prize which was one of Eric Hotz' seascape game mats with hexes printed on it. I also obtained a CD containing some of the Roman cardstock models. You can see more on the game at Brian's "Repple Depple" blog.

I hope to soon be attempting to build a few models so I can be ready when the rules come out.

To Mud or Not To Mud: That is the Question:

2009-07-31T11:41:00.000-04:00

Few folks realize that William “Billy Bad Bones” Shakespeare was an avid wargamer. You see, when he penned the famous line, “To be, or not to be: that is the question:…”, he originally wrote, “To be muddy, or not to be muddy: that is the question:”

But seriously, whether or not to apply mud to wargames figures, and how much to apply if you choose to do so, is a great discussion topic.

Being an old soldier, I operate under the maxim that there are no clean uniforms or vehicles in a warzone or even on the training field. Clean uniforms and vehicles belong on the parade field!

In a warzone, paved roads are luxuries that are more likely to bring sudden, violent death, than traipsing around in the woods, through all that “nature stuff”. Dirt roads are only marginally less dangerous, though most vehicles require some sort of road to travel on. Infantry wisely avoids the roads or even trails, in order to avoid potential ambuscades.

I tend to sling a lot of mud on my figures, working my way up from the boots or tires/tracks. I recently described the reasons for mud to a friend by saying:

“Mud.

Imagine it has rained for a week or two... the grass in your back yard is so soggy that when you step in it, muddy water squishes up between your toes.

Now imagine that you are running an "I’m on fire" drill in the back yard.

You run - mud slings up your legs... you drop, you get mud on your stomach, chest and fronts of your legs... you roll... you get mud on the back of you. As you go to get up, you use your elbows - turning them as dark and muddy, as your knees, which have borne the brunt of the mud.

That's combat - minus the "4000 guys trying to shoot me" while you do all that! ;-)

Mud tends to be darkest on knees and elbows - the initial points of impact for a body in motion in a dirty/muddy place.

Uniforms don't need to be obscured, cuz it's a wargame... a game. Toys. In real life, I've had uniforms become the color of the soil I was operating on - almost all over!

Add sweat (white salt) stripes around your webbing... Heh! It’s nasty!”

Dirt and mud are an unavoidable part of warfare, whether in real life, or in any historical (or fantasy/sci-fi) war.

So, to mud or not to mud:

To mud: Add mud for the added realism and to add, through the painting of your figures, the gritty, dirty feel of real war. Real soldiers fight. “Wanna-be’s” prance on the parade fields! (Editors note: Quit with the mudslinging!)

Not to mud: Choose not to mud because mud obscures. Some wargamers prefer the “parade ground” look for their figures.

They’ve spent considerable time painting a very detailed, lovely miniature. To throw mud on it would obscure or detract from all that work.

I believe that a compromise can be reached between the “mud” and “pristine” camps. After all, if we didn’t want folks to see what a nice paint job we put on our figures, we could just paint them muddy brown top to bottom and leave it at that. Obviously you can have too much mud!

For those who don’t want to obscure the paint jobs on their figures, I recommend a light touch of drybrushing mud onto the boots, perhaps a touch on the knees – and for “modern warfare models” (call that WWI to current time and sci-fi models), I’d lightly touch on the elbows as well. Add an occasional splotch of mud to the helmet or head, and that will give the feel of warfare sufficient for a game!

In the end, it’s about gaming and having fun, and your figures are your own. Do as you see fit and as suits your style, since your figures are likely to spend more time on a shelf being admired than they are actually being pushed across the table, unless they are the only army you own, for the only game you play!

How to apply “mud”:

1. Pick a “dirt color” appropriate to the area you plan on wargaming. If the area was not renowned for a particular color, then select a good middle ground brown. Games Workshop’s (GW’s) Graveyard Earth is a wonderful mud color. Snakebite Leather, also a GW product, works well too.

2. Apply mud coloration from the bottom of the fully painted and inked (I use brown GW ink, mixed 50/50 with water – or the new brownish wash, Ogryn Flesh) model towards the top, using the drybrushing technique.

2.a. For vehicles, some “throw back” is recommended. By painting up and towards the back of the vehicle you effectively show the forward movement of vehicles through dirt and mud.

3. Apply “splashes” and splotches. A little dab’l do you here; some on helmets and turrets, perhaps partly obscuring unit or number decals – but only partly obscuring!!

4. Seal with your favorite clear coat sealant to protect your hard work!

5. Bask in the glow of your fellow gamers admiring your handiwork – or revel in the verbal warfare than ensues about “To mud, or not to mud:”

28mm hard plastic Viking warriors under development

2009-07-17T06:34:00.004-04:00

Here is the latest development rumor from the Wargames Factory. Their next product line will be 28mm Viking warrios in hard plastic. I also hear that ther new line of Numidians is out and they will be giving away free samples this weekend at Historicon.

U.S. Army Enters the Mediterranean!

2009-07-14T06:58:00.000-04:00

Bwana Bill and I have been discussing getting back into Flames of War (FoW) for some time now, so we put lead on the table and made it happen!

Bwana is used to playing his Deutsch Afrika Korp (DAK); however, for our return to the desert after nearly three years, Bwana ran the game and assisted his son in playing, while running his all new, fresh off the table U.S. Army Tank Company!

Two platoons of Sherman tanks, an infantry platoon, a Company Command platoon in Sherman tanks, and a platoon of tank hunters - M-10 tank destroyers made up the U.S. Tank Company.

On the German side were the following platoons; Company Command in Panzer Mk IVs (x2), two platoons of Panzer III (with the long barreled 50cm gun - 3 shots per turn if they don't move!) and a platoon of armored Panzergrenadiers.

This appears to represent two fairly evenly matched opposing teams; however, there are benefits and detractors each opponent had to deal with.

After a rousing rehash of the rules (did I fail to mention that it's been nearly three years since we've played FoW?) we placed our units on the table and prepared to duel.

On the first turn, due to the special rules of the scenario we were playing, our units had effectively moved - so could only shoot at reduced rate of fire.

The Germans started the game; my first time running DAK, so I was anxious about my ability to run the army properly. However, this was offset by the fact that Bwana Bill and his son had not fielded an 'Ami' army before!

I rolled to dig in my infantry on one objective - and failed. Since they didn't move or shoot, they were considered concealed and gone to ground.

A few shots at long range from the 50cm guns and the 75s of the Panzer platoons and the Company Command team resulted in one American tank bailed out, one in flames and the 2IC tank(the Executive Officer or 2nd in command)in flames.

First blood to the DAK veterans!

American 2IC tank in flames

On their turn, the Americans chose to move closer to the Panzers with one tank platoon, and wisely elected to place their surviving Company Command tank behind a building. A leaderless company usually results in an epic fail!

Maneuvering deftly up a wadi, the Americans closed the distance and opened fire on the Panzers. The results were one Panzer III bailed and one burning.

On the other half of the table, the M-10 Tank Destroyers also closed the range and fired into the flank of the first DAK Panzer platoon, bailing one and killing another.

The American infantry moved out of their vehicles into buildings on their side of the table and consolidated their positions.

Turn two:

I rolled to dig in my infantry on one objective - and failed.

Having forgotten my Stormtrooper move at the end of my turn, I decided to stay where I was and slug it out with the Sherman tanks. 2nd platoon of Panzers opened fire on the Shermans at range, killing two.

1st platoon lit up the second Sherman platoon, killing two tanks, and also took a "just for kicks" shot at an American halftrack in the open, missing miserably.

I succeeded in remembering my Stormtrooper move, and rolled successfully for two platoons to move, and moved them four inches - one towards the enemy, one away.

The Americans moved their 1st tank platoon towards the objective guarded by the DAK Panzergrenadieres. The half tracks, free of troops but armed with machine guns, moved towards the hapless infantry this turn as well.

The survivors of the American 2nd tank platoon fired on the Panzer IVs of the Company Command team - knocking out the German 2IC. The American Commander, peeking out from behind the building fired his rounds into the panzers, with little effect.

The Americans maneuver aggressively

The M-10s, now in range, fired at long range, and knocked out a Panzer III of 2nd platoon, on the German left flank. Between the M-10s and the survivors of the American 1st tank platoon, the German 2nd Panzer platoon lost another tank, and two more bailed.

Turn three:

I rolled to dig in my infantry on one objective - and failed.

I rolled to get my tank crews that were bailed out back into their vehicles. One failed. The other crew jumped in and prepared to resume the battle.

Since the Americans were now in range of the "doorknocker" 37mm gun on the infantry command half track, it fired two rounds - hitting once, and true to form, the shot bounced off.

Did I mention my infantry failed to dig in, on three tries???

2nd Panzer Platoon fired at the American 1st platoon, killing another tank and bailing one other, leaving only the platoon command tank fully operational.

1st Platoon and the Company Commander chose to shoot at the survivors of the American 2nd tank platoon, and destroyed it nicely. One unit dead!

The Americans rolled to get their tank crews back in the fight, and succeeded.

The Americans returned fire from the M-10s, bailing three of the remaining Panzers in 1st Panzer platoon, and killing one.

1st Tank platoon charged up to the (not) dug in Panzergrenadiers, alongside four half tracks. The armored juggernaut lashed out with machine gun fire, pinning the infantry thus reducing their "defensive fire" to one shot per section, vice the normal three shots. The German defensive fire managed to knock out one American half track.

After killing one section with the MG fire, and nicely pinning them, the tanks and tracks charged into assault. They rolled, I rolled, they rolled, and the infantry was dead. Poor guys never had a chance against tanks, all unsupported like that! However, the German half tracks remained on the objective, thus contesting it.

Turn four:

I rolled to dig in my infantry on one objective - and failed. Oops - hehehe! Never mind, they were dead at this point.

At this point I march moved the Company Commander towards an unguarded American objective. He closed to about eight inches.

On the American turn, Bwana Bill and son attempted to consolidate their position on the German objective by killing all the remaining tracks. They accomplished this without too much trouble - half tracks against tanks aren't much of a match! With those tanks and half tracks on my objective, I needed to pry them off or get a vehicle there to contest it, before the start of their next turn.

The American Commander made a run for the objective, which was about to be contested by the German Commander, and fired a shot at the German Command tank, but missed. Nearly an epic fail; however, he now contested the objective, and on my turn I would need to blast him off the objective to win it, and perhaps the game.

The M-10s fired at the German 2nd tank platoon, managing to bail three tanks - leaving the platoon combat ineffective.

Turn five:

I rolled to get my three bailed crews back into their vehicles, succeeding on two, but the third crew were certain their vehicle was about to brew up, and stayed cowering beside it. Rommel would have been able to inspire them - Rommel I'm not!

The Panzer IV Company Command tank fired at full Rate of Fire (RoF) at the American company commander, penetrating his armor and cooking off his ammo. A leaderless company is not a good thing.

I charged one tank of 2nd tank platoon up onto the recently captured objective, placing its barrel almost onto the rear of one of the surviving American tanks. The remainder of the platoon (the ones that were in the battle!) and 1st tank platoon then opened fire on the Sherman tanks and the two half tracks. Results, all in flames - you gotta love those long barreled 50cm guns, firing 3 rounds each! I do recall the many games when my Brits were on the receiving end of that fusillade, and it is unpleasant seeing that many die rolled against your vehicles!

At the bottom of turn five, I rolled for Stormtrooper moves for each of my units, and all three got it. I moved closer to the objective to insure the Americans wouldn't attempt to retake it with the M-10s, and eased the Company Command tank up next to the burning American CO's tank.

At this point I controlled one objective, and the Americans were without their CO.

As Bwana Bill and his son began their turn, they realized they needed to take a morale check; however, without a CO, there is no morale check. Game, set, and match.

A win for the doomed DAK, and a good first mission for the fresh faced Americans!

Mare Nostrum

2009-07-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but there seems to be a lot more interest these days in the Italian Army's role in World War II. I think that our friends at Battlefront.com might be largely responsible for this when they produced a very nice product line of Italian pieces and background information for the Flames of War rules.

I recently acquired a new book called "Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts," by Ian W. Walker, which proved to be a very interesting attempt to rehabilitate the image of the Italian Army in the North African campaign. The book focuses on the armored divisions and makes a very convincing argument that they achieved impressive results given the resources at their disposal.

Now our friends at Iron Ivan have published a companion book on the Italian army to their Disposable Heroes/Coffin for Seven Brothers rules. They have given it the title "Mare Nostrum," which is a reference to the Roman Empire and its attitude that the Mediterranean Sea was "Our Ocean." I have not purchased a copy yet, but I certainly intend to. My pals and I want to try some North African scenarios in the hopefully not-too-distant future, and we are bound and determined to not leave units like the Ariete and the Littorio out of it.

Assembling the Sturer Emil

2009-07-11T21:04:00.018-04:00

Well, I'm excited as I bought my Mid War Monster so I thought you might like to see the contents of the box and how the models look after assembly.

First, the miniatures come in a nice box. Note that Sturer Emils are 3 per box at $30.00. That's $10.00 each. For those quick to do the comparison, these are CHEAPER than "normal" Battlefront Flames of War tanks!

On the back of the box they list all of the models in the series.

Packed by Noriey. Let's see how well Noriey can pack!

Looks like Noriey can pack in it!

It's all there! Note that after I took the shot, I found the sixth crewmember. He was squeezed in between some tracks!

Here is a close-up of the resin. Notice how "clean" it is. The entire resin model is like that. Very clean castings.

Now it's time to clean up some of metal parts and assemble the models. Only minimal cleaning

was required. The metal tracks fit to the body perfectly. The inside of the separate gun barrel that fit against the body required some cleaning out to fit properly, but not much.

I then glued the crew to a tounge depressor as I like to paint 15mm individual figures in this manner.

Here are some closeups of one of the assembled models.

So far, I've enjoyed putting these models together. Next I'm going to spray them black, spray Testors Panzer Grey and touch them up.

Mid War Monsters?

2009-07-10T12:31:00.015-04:00

OK, I'm into just about everything regarding Wargame Miniatures. Historical, Fantasy and Sci-Fi in particular.

I enjoy Flames of War. It's a fun game and simple enough for me. Great way for me to get my toys on the table and kill a few hours. However, I do enjoy history, in particular "North Africa" in WWII. But that's another post.

Recently I got a chance to get a quick look at the Battle Front "Mid War Monster" book at my FLGS, Eagle and Empire. For a book about vehicles that were hardly or not at all used, I was impressed. It's clearly written for "fun". The articles for each vehicle were detailed and, I will admit, included a bit of fiction for vehicles that didn't see combat, although that is clearly indicated as such. One pleasant rule that applies to all these vehicles is they are disallowed in tournaments and used by "opponents permission", keeping these in the "fun only" category during game play. I enjoyed it so much I put myself on the pre-order list for this book and for the Sturer Emil and Boarhound. I mean, a giant 27 ton armoured car is simply not to be passed up by those of us who are Anglophiles. I had no plans to order any of them so I suprised myself that I did so.

Sturer Emil on the Eastern Front in WWII

New "Napoleon" rules

2009-06-05T18:00:00.002-04:00

Good news for all you Napoleonic fans out there. Foundry miniatures in the UK has now released its own set of rules. It looks like a very beautiful book with a lot of color photos, painting guides, background articles, and maps. Here is what Foundry has to say about it: "Napoleon is not just another set of rules, it is packed full of information on one of the most colorful and dramatic periods in European history."

"Napoleon contains a unique set of entertaining rules that are flexible enough to be used with almost any basing conventions. It also includes many army lists for the most popular Napoleonic armies, plus advanced rules covering such diverse subjects as pontoon bridges, grand battery fire, ground conditions, setting fire to buildings, friendly fire and ambulances!"

"Napoleon also features articles on painting and collecting Napoleonic models, plus many other sections detailing uniforms and historical background. This 232-page, full-colour, A4-sized hardback has over 400 colour photographs and illustrations, including many Knotël prints, plus numerous diagrams, maps and other illustrations."

As far as we here at this blog are concerned, we are going to let you readers try them out and report back to us. None of us are into Napoleonics. Not that we have anything against it, it's just that none of us have storage space for yet another game system!

Consul Scipio's Projects

2009-04-15T13:33:00.011-04:00

Every so often, I like to review the miniature wargaming projects I'm working on. I think this helps to keep me a bit focused. As focused as someone who collects and games just about every genre and many different sizes of figures available can be I guess.

War of the Ring

This new game by Games Workshop is quite possibly the best game system they've released. Ever. It's not perfect, but if you're a fan of "Middle Earth", like 28mm sized miniatures all ranked up in formations, want a quick game but still give a tactical feel, this game may be for you! I've pulled out all my GW Lord of the Rings figures which had been stored away for a few years to see what I had. After review, I can field a 2,000 point Elven army with Rohan Allies and a 2,000 point Isenguard Army, with an allied Mumak! All I need to do is buy some bases for this game. Games Workshop is having a hard time keeping up with the demand for their new War of the Ring movement trays that the bases fit into though. I haven't been able to buy them from my FLGS, Eagle and Empire nor from online mega store "The Warstore". I do need to buy an Isengard Troll to add to my evil force too. So I will post updates as I get relevant pictures of games or modelling projects.

15mm Sci-Fi

A suprise project that snuck up on me. Perusing through the TMP forums, I saw a post on "Space Above and Beyond" being sold at SAMs Club for $18.99. A poster, Cacique Caribe provided some links and a couple were to manufacturers. I clicked on the link to the blog "Dropship Horizon" just to see what the Space Marines looked like. They looked very, very nice. So I looked up the manufacturer, Rebel Miniatures and I saw some stuff I liked so much I had to order it. I'll describe what I ordered and this project in more detail in a near future post. This is my "when I don't want to work on 28mm stuff" project.

Wargames Factory Romans

I am an enthusiast of the Ancient Roman time period. Whenever I find a book about Ancient Rome, I will read it. My first ancients army is an Old Glory 28mm Marian Roman force. Lately I've been thinking I should add to it but I didn't want to continue painting Old Glory Romans even though I am an Old Glory Army member. I ordered some of the new Wargames Factory 28mm Late Republic Romans instead. These are cheap but from what I've seen online, they look good for the price. This is my "when I don't want to paint Middle Earth miniatures OR 15mm Sci-Fi" project.

Other projects I am working on when I have the desire to do so:

40K - For the first time ever, I'm building a Space Marine force!
Warmaster Ancient Battles - I have a Late Repbulican Roman army I'm adding to
Warmaster Ancient Battles - I have an Ancient Indian army I need to finish
English Civil War - 28mm Warlord Games and Perry Miniatures are staring at me
American Revolution - 28mm Perry Miniatures are staring at me to get started
Napoleonics - 28mm Perry Miniature French are demanding to know why they've been boxed up.

Now that I type this out, I really have a problem finishing projects. Moreso than I thought. What should I do about it, if anything?

Vale,

Consul Scipio

Marcus Aurelius in 28mm

2009-04-08T18:00:00.000-04:00

Have you seen or heard of this new figure from Warlord Games? It is the Emperor Marcus Aurelius depicted as a tired campaigner somewhat like he was portrayed in the Russel Crowe "Gladiator" movie. It is an interesting departure from the typical heroic poses that we always see in miniature wargaming. Marcus Aurelius was the epitome of the "philosopher king" style of ruler, and here he looks like he is watching a battle or campaign unfold in front of him, not because he wants to be there doing it, but because he has to be there doing it.

It sort of reminds me of that well-known sculpture called "End of the Trail" (bottom right) that shows a Native American who has obviously also seen a lot of campaigning in his time. In any case, I think I like it, mainly because it is different, and it seems to capture the essence of Marcus Aurelius and what he was all about.

28mm Roman Cavalry in hard plastic

2009-03-26T18:00:00.000-04:00

Check out what is now available for pre-order from the "Wargames Factory." 12 horses and riders for only $19.95!

And as if that was not enough, you can now also order Celtic chariots to use against the Roman cavalry. It should be an interesting match up!

Is there a Commands & Colors English Civil War game in our future?

2009-03-18T22:00:00.000-04:00

Junior and I attended the HMGS East "Cold Wars" convention in Lancaster, PA this past weekend. In between games we like to walk around and look at what people are doing. I particularly like to see what rulesets people are using. So as we were strolling through the Lampeter Room where all the tournaments are held, we just happened to come across Richard Borg and a group of gents playing an English Civil War (ECW) game with 28mm figures on a cloth marked out with hexagons. Richard Borg is of course the renowned author of several popular games such as the Commands and Colors (C&C) ancients system, Memoir '44, Battle Cry, etc. In the first picture below he is the gent in the white shirt.

What struck me about this scene is they were obviously using the same card movement/action system that has become familiar to us in Richard's games, but this time the rules and cards appeared to be home made. I asked him if this was an experimental ECW version of C&C and he acknowledged that it was. I then asked him if we are going to see this published some day and he said "hopefully."

So there you have it folks; a great "scoop" from your favorite gaming blog! Remember, you heard it here first!

Tools of the Trade – a Prelude to an Introduction to Painting

2009-03-09T09:36:00.006-04:00

It was a very wise man who said, “Use the proper tool for the job.” Of course, he was most likely single and therefore able to buy those tools, without the oversight of CINCHouse (Commander in Chief House), which often results in conversations similar to the following:

Wargamer: “Oh!! I need this tool!!”

CINCHouse: “Why? You don’t use the tools you have.”

Wargamer: “I need this one for that special project!”

CINCHouse: “You haven’t finished the last (insert large number over 20 here) projects you’ve started. Finish those before you start a new one!”

Wargamer: ““But it’s on sale!”

CINCHouse: “And… this matters how? Buying another tool you’re not going to use, even if it’s on sale, is still a waste of money.”

And of course, in the end you don’t get the tool, try to make do with another tool you may have never used, and end up cutting off parts of the project, and perhaps your body, that you didn’t want to cut off.

In a perfect world, a guy could buy all the tools he needs to do the job right.

Since it’s far from a perfect world, we’ll make do with what we have, as best we can. However, there are some tools that, if you compromise quality, your project will suffer.

Paint brushes: This is the most important tool a wargamer will purchase. Skimping here WILL adversely affect the outcome of your figures.
Imagine having to pick hairs out of your paintjob as you go. This costs you in time taken to remedy a problem that could have been avoided, and costs you in a reduction in quality. Bad brushes make for bad paintjobs.

Be picky about your brushes. ‘Nuff said.

I use Reaper Brushes, almost exclusively. No, this is not an advertisement for Reaper – I just happen to like the brushes! They are good quality and are reasonably priced.

The average wargamer will need a broad range of sizes and shapes of brushes. For figures, you will need a very tiny brush to use for painting details, a medium brush for applying paint to small and medium areas, a larger brush for overall coverage of medium and large areas, and several sizes of stiff brushes for use in dry brushing.

For vehicles, I recommend the “Tank Brush” by Citadel. If you properly thin your paint, you can use the Tank Brush to paint a vehicle, without leaving brush marks, thus negating the need for expensive air brushes. (Not a knock against airbrushes!)

Soap, Water, and Paper Towels: No, I’m not going to tell you to wash behind your ears. Soap, water, and paper towels are essential items used to properly care for your brushes!

A bar of soap, such as Ivory or some other plain, square block of soap will work nicely. Any old dish will work to hold the water – just make sure it’s cleaned after each session, if possible – or soon thereafter!

The way this works is, you dip the brush in water and swish it around, then wipe it off on a paper towel. Then, after wetting the brush again, place it on the bar of soap and draw it towards you, rotating or spinning it slightly as you go. Then swish it around in the water and repeat until clean, periodically using paper towels to dry the brush off and remove excess paint-filled water.

Another technique, though perhaps not as economical, is to use surgical prep pads; cotton pads soaked with rubbing alcohol. These pads can be used in place of the soap to remove paint from a brush, or so I’ve been told!

It is critical to care for your brushes properly. Brushes will last longer, and be usable at a moment’s notice, if they are cleaned and stored carefully.

NEVER leave your brushes in the water dish for extended periods of time. Doing so will result in the paint being more difficult to remove, and the brush attaining a new, and likely undesirable, shape.

Artiste Palette: No, I’m not going all “artsy-fartsy” on you. A palette provides you with a place to thin or mix your paint, where it will not dry as fast or be absorbed. I use a glossy (that’s important!) square tile, such as is used for tiling floors or walls in bathrooms or kitchens. The glossy surface allows the paint to be mixed prior to use, and it cleans up easily. I use a putty knife and hot water to clean my palette when needed. There are other resources that can be used as a palette, such as a Styrofoam picnic plate – which, instead of cleaning, you simply throw it away.

Another, more environmentally friendly, item that works nicely is a Teflon painting mat. The one that I use, in addition to my "old style" ceramic tile, is called Slip Grip Mats. These mats are easily scraped clean after a painting session, and remain ready to use for some time to come! Bwana Bill bought some at a recent convention, and thinking of his old friend, decided to gift me one! I love it, and more importantly, my wife loves it too! That's especially important!

Water bowl: Folks, a word of warning here. Don’t use your nice china as a water dish for cleaning your brushes!! There are specially designed plastic dishes on the market that have a separator and places for brush storage. An inexpensive alternative is a “Cool Whip” bowl. I don’t recommend explaining to CINCHouse that you simply had to use the entire bowl of “Cool Whip” ‘cuz you needed the dish for your hobby. I can attest to the likelihood of this excuse resulting in a rough night in the doghouse.

Cleaning up: It is important to clean the water dish and palette regularly to avoid cross-color contamination and the introduction of dried paint chunks into your current project.

Clothes: If you own clothes that you would like to be able to wear in public, don’t wear them when painting. This does not mean that you should paint in the nude, but rather that you paint while wearing “scruffy” clothes, such as sweat pants and an older t-shirt. Even though many of the paints used today in the wargaming hobby are water soluble, they are readily absorbed by cloth, and are not easily removed.

In the Beginning…. Part V

2009-02-26T10:29:00.007-05:00

5. Priming: One of the most critical issues of our time in the wargaming community, an issue that is hotly debated in numerous venues, and has yet to be decided one way or the other, is whether to use black or white primer.

Since this blog is about wargaming topics and is written for wargamers, I will attempt to remain neutral. To choose sides in “The Great Black V.S. White Primer Debate™” would be irresponsible, and would likely alienate half of my intended audience

My view in “The Great Black V.S. White Primer Debate™” is that one should use whatever performs best for the type of model/figure one is working on!

However, the reality is that I find it easier to use black spray primer on all the figures/models I work on, and then use a brush-on white primer for areas that require significantly brighter or lighter color paint.

I have used white primer in the past, but don’t like the overall effect. My metal colors do not come through as nicely as they do against a black primer. Additionally, when the end model or figure I’m painting will be using darker colors or modern military drabs, the white primer lightens up the model too much for my taste.

The operative statement here is: Use whatever works best for your style of painting!

My style of painting relies on a lot of shading and shadow, and I find it easier to highlight up rather than darken down. Thus I choose to use black primer the majority of the time.

I realize that some individuals will accuse me of not being a “real wargamer” because I choose to use black primer. I must state for the record that there are plenty of folks in the “black primer” camp who make the same statement about those who use white primer, although I would not be one of those people! I would never make such a sophomoric and judgmental statement!

So, let’s not discuss the barbarians flinging fire at the gates of the civilized wargaming world, who suggest alternative primer colors such as gray or rust brown! I cannot, in good conscience, recommend the use of gray or rust brown primers, unless you are intent on the destruction of civilization as we know it! We won’t discuss it here, because this blog is for wargamers, and those who suggest using gray or rust brown primer simply aren’t real wargamers!

But seriously folks:

I used to use GW (Citadel) black primer for most applications; however, that is now impossible, since GW no longer makes black primer. They claim that their “Chaos Black” spray paint also works as a primer; however, it dries glossy, and does not work as I believe a primer should work, that is, covering the figure and providing paint with a surface on which to stick.

I now use Rustoleum black primer, although I have used rust, gray, and white primers too. Rustoleum has the advantages of actually being a primer, is produced by a large company and is less prone to “bad cans of paint”, and it’s pretty inexpensive.

In the Beginning... Part IV

2009-02-26T10:10:00.003-05:00

4. Basing – This post is about “flocking” your figures’ bases prior to priming.

Bwana Bill introduced me to a Pumice basing material similar to this. Although the brand I use is different, the effect is much the same – a grainy, gritty putty-like substance that hardens and effectively brings the level of your actual base up to the level of the figures’ base.

I use a sharpened stick to spread the pumice putty around on the figures’ base, attempting to even it out nicely; however, I don’t attempt to make it flat or smooth, to better emulate actual ground.

If you want a tile base or a “stone floor” base, there are several alternatives available. You can use “green stuff”, which allows for ultimate flexibility. I use scraps of green stuff to make larger rocks for bases. You can model tile or stone floors, or simply smooth surfaces. If you have particularly thick figure bases, you can use green stuff to even up the base (bring the level of the base surface up to the level of the figures’ base).

Other alternatives are molded plastic sheets that provide the appearance of tiled, stone, wooden, or metal surfaces. In fact, a search at your local train hobby store will likely provide you with a wealth of ideas that won’t severely impact your budget, and are not too difficult to implement!

Once the basing is completed, I let everything dry. Drying includes glue for figures and any “stuff” used on the bases for texture. The pumice requires approximately12-24hrs to dry fully, though it can be carved or sanded after it has dried.

Some more info on the use of the pumice paste in particular, and basing in general:

What if, as happened to me, you already have an army all primed and based – with no choice in flock on the base, and you just discovered the pumice paste, or some similar basing material.

If you are ready to apply your paint, you can also choose a primary paint color for your basing material and mix the paint directly into the paste. Upon drying, it will be the base color you selected!!! The pumice paste absorbs color nicely and in my experience, there is no detriment to the consistency after it dries.

Other basing alternatives include various types of green, yellow, brown, or sand “flock” that can be easily applied after the figure is painted. I don’t recommend applying any flocking on the base until after the figure is fully painted, due to the chance that paint or ink will drip or run onto your flock, requiring the addition of more flock to correct the problem!

After drying comes priming, which is a whole different topic!

In the Beginning…. Part III

2009-02-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

3. The Base – for my 15mm figures I use the standard bases provided by the “Flames of War” gang, while I use whatever is available for my 25mm figures. I have used Games Workshop bases of all shapes and sizes, as well as bases manufactured by other companies. As long at the mold is clean, base selection should only be restricted by the rules you intend to play. The selection of inexpensive alternative bases will not affect the final appearance of your figures.

Although I did not mention metal bases, many historical gamers do make good use of inexpensive metal bases, which you can most likely find at your local game supply store!

Metal bases are very thin metal squares or rectangles of various sizes. The advantages to using these are that they are less expensive and sold in packs containing quite a few bases, and if you choose to use a magnetic figure carrying case, your figures can travel standing up, ready for battle!

In the Beginning…. Part II

2009-02-20T06:52:00.004-05:00

2. Cleaning – Some folks do a poor job at this critical stage, or skip it entirely. This results in a rough-looking figure that is not as appealing to the eye. Regardless of the level of painting skill you have, an improperly cleaned figure will result in a poorer quality paint job.

Most manufacturers recommend washing figures in warm, soapy water, to remove the “mold release” chemical from the figures. I always forget this stage – I wonder if any of our loyal readers can supply info as to why this step is or isn’t important! I have always felt that the scraping with an X-Acto™ knife or the filing with jewelers’ files would clean most of the “mold release” material off the figures.

As I stated above, I don’t wash my figures prior to cleaning or priming. Considering past experience, and reflecting on the number of times I’ve had to touch up figures or models that have scratched or chipped, it is entirely possible that my failure to wash the figures has contributed to a lowered resistance to scratching/chipping.

It is essential to remove as much flash as possible. This may require a combination of tools. I always have a set of jewelers’ files and an X-Acto™ knife on hand. The X-Acto™ knife allows me to scrape away larger elements of flash from figures, and to get into areas I may not be able to reach with the jewelers’ files. Always use care when working with these tools, as they are necessarily sharp and can inflict bodily harm to yourself or others nearby!

For plastic figures, I almost exclusively use the X-Acto™ knife, scraping carefully along the mold lines with the edge of the blade. For harder plastics, which several manufacturers are beginning to use, the use of jewelers’ files may be a viable option.

After removing the majority of the flash, tidy up with the jewelers’ files; you are attempting to remove any hint of flash or mold line. If you have a really bad gap or mold line on the figure (this is sometimes the case with larger models) use model putty or green stuff to level the seam.

Be careful not to remove too much detail! Over-filing can result in a loss of details – and if you are not familiar with the figures, you can sometimes mistake a key bit of detail for “flash” or a mold spot.

At times it may even become necessary to use a Dremel™ tool, or similar small, variable speed drill. From personal experience I can attest to the potential for damaging both the figures and the wielder when using these tools! Be careful!

One preparation that, in my humble opinion, enhances the final appearance of a figure requires the use of a Dremel™ tool or a small “pin vice” (a very small manual drill). I drill out the barrel of guns (particularly on Warhammer 40K figures!). I drill the barrel proper, and then the side-holes on the flash suppressors. When the figure is completed, the actual holes, rather than black paint lend an additional hint of realism!

Additionally, as a part of the cleaning process, I always keep a large flat file handy. This is the big, honking file that some folks use for auto repair or sharpening their battle-axes prior to a raid. I use the large file to clean the bottom of the bases on individual figures, and sometimes to thin the base down so that it doesn’t show so much under my “basing”.

I cannot emphasize how important it is to pay attention to detail at this stage, in order to have a nicer, more appealing figure when you pronounce the painting job to be "Finis!"

In the Beginning...

2009-02-19T18:59:00.001-05:00

Before you base or prime your figures there are a few things to consider.

1. Figure selection – Cost most often drives my personal selection of figures, at least when building an ‘army’. If the figures are too expensive, I often have to go with a less expensive alternative. Unfortunately, the selection of less expensive figures often results in a lower quality figure on my table. This is a poor place to start; however, it’s all too often the reality in the Wargaming community.

Cheaper figures are often produced by companies that do not periodically clean or remake their molds, which results in more flash or more noticeable seams that require significant cleaning.

If possible, examine figures in a line you wish to purchase, in person. Holding the figures in your hands is the only way to truly judge the amount of cleaning that will be required.

A key point to remember here is that when a new figure line is first released, the molds are new and clean, thus it is best, if you can afford it, to purchase new figure lines when they are released. Unless Commander in Chief(ette) (CinC) House, or your budget says otherwise!

If you are able to begin the painting process by selecting higher quality figures, the amount of time spent cleaning may be reduced, providing additional time to spend actually painting the figures!

Final Series of Apocalypse photos

2009-02-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

Here is our last installment of our recent Apocalypse action. In the first photo is Eldarmeister Tom's Eldar Avatar. Then in the next photo, there he is again, but this time he is going down fighting surrounded by a horde of Orkmeister Karl's bloodthirsty Orks!

The third photo shows one of the Ork Stompas closing in on an unfortunate IG tank. "Come to Papa!" he says!

Last, but not least, you see two of the three Stompas casually strolling through the armored "gun line" like they are out looking for daisies to pick! In the back of the same photo you can see the unit of Ork "Tank Annoyer" boys trying to appear as though they still matter!

WWII 28mm Scenarios for Disposable Heroes and Coffin for Seven Brothers

2009-02-17T20:00:00.002-05:00

I found an interesting tidbit of information on The Miniatures Page recently. Iron Ivan Games, the gentlemen that publish Disposable Heroes & Coffin for Seven Brothers (DH/C7B) have announced they will soon be publishing scenario books for gaming WWII in 28mm. That is simply great news as far as I am concerned! Let me tell you why. In recent years, I am always “the GM” for our gaming group when it comes to doing anything in WWII, and coming up with a good scenario is always hard. The scenario books that I have found never seem to match up perfectly with our favorite game system, that being DH/C7B. Something is always off. Usually it has to do with the units that the scenario calls for. The organization of individual squads is usually different and right away you have to start making changes and substitutions. Sometimes the scenarios call for a ridiculously large number of units. In cases like that it is easy to see that the scenario was originally designed and played for 15mm, or maybe even something smaller. Another thing I hate is scenarios that call for a ridiculously large playing area that is beyond the capabilities of almost all of us. Another thing that is difficult is converting tactical skill ratings and morale ratings to the game system that you want to use. Usually scenario publishers will try to help you out a bit on this, but not many.

From what I understand the first book will cover the Brit paras at Arnhem. Let me give you a hint too. If you examine the events list for the upcoming Cold Wars convention in Lancaster, PA, it appears that one of the games being offered is from this new scenario book, even though it has not been published yet.

So, I have high expectations for these scenario books. I have always been impressed with the thought processes of Messrs. Stine and Conley at Iron Ivan Games. I think they are very clever game designers and so my guess is their scenarios will be a great boost for the game system. When I read through the events list for the upcoming Cold Wars convention I could not help but notice that most of the GMs running WWII games in 28mm are using DH/C7B. It appears to me that DH/C7B is becoming more popular all the time; and rightfully so!

Space Wolves Vehicle Camouflage

2009-02-15T16:43:00.007-05:00

I love camouflage!

I retired from the Army a while back, and I recall an Army that wore "green sateens", which were, arguably one of the ugliest uniforms ever!

Although the elite Space Marines of the 40th Millennium are supposedly too "l33t" to require or desire camouflage, the old soldier in me bristles at the thought of any equipment entering a combat zone in "parade gloss" paint schemes.

After a discussion with Bwana Bill and Orkmeister Karl, I came up with a camo scheme for my Space Wolves vehicles.

I tried to stay true to their wolf-gray, winter-world origins, and came up with the scheme pictured below.

What do you think? We love comments and suggestions from our loyal readers!!

Painting SS Pea-dot Camo in the Fall Color Scheme

2009-02-15T09:23:00.011-05:00

I have been working on a 25mm SS Company for Disposable Heroes, and Coffin for Seven Brothers.

I chose an unusual camo scheme, simply to be different; and also because a field soldier knows, after a few days on an exercise or in combat, almost all you own turns brown with dirt!

The SS Pea-dot camo is, in my humble opinion, one of the better camo schemes to emerge from World War Two, from any country's military! It came as a bit of a surprise to me that there were variations to the Pea-dot camo scheme!

The normal scheme has a green background, some dark blotches (larger spots) and several shades of lighter green placed in small, random spots - the pea-dots!

The fall color scheme is all in browns/yellows.

To paint this scheme I used the following Vallejo Paint colors from the "Model Colors" line:

Base coat: 70825 German Cam Pale Brown

Large splotches and some small dots: 70822 German Cam Black Brown

Small lighter colored dots: 70977 Desert Yellow

Start by cleaning the figures well and basing them. I base my WWII 25mm figures on 25mm round bases. I then glue fender washers onto the bottom of the 25mm round base. Fender washers have one side that is somewhat rounded, while the other side is fairly flat, with some sharper edges. I try to glue them on so that the rounded edge is away from the figure, and will be in contact with the gaming table.

I then use a pumice mix on the bases to create a 'dirt' consistency base which also serves to hide the figures base against the 25mm round base.

After the pumice has dried, I prime the figure in black.

On this batch of figures I painted the pants in Vallejo Feldgrau, and painted the base coat of German Camo Pale Brown on the smock.

After the initial coats dry, I use the German Camo Black Brown to paint round, oval, and semi-oval shaped blotches on the smock.

I also paint some tiny dots with the German Camo Black Brown, sort of trailing away from the larger blotches.

Once that layer is dry, I use Desert Yellow to paint blotches of color on top of the dark brown camo blotches. This is not meant to totally cover up the larger dark brown blotches, but rather to be place in the center of a larger darker spot of color!

I also paint some more tiny dots trailing away from the larger ones, using the Desert Yellow.

As you can see, this gives an usual pattern that breaks up the outline of the soldier, as a good camouflage scheme should do!

The figures in these photos are approximately 90% complete. I still have inking and highlighting to do, to put the final touches on them, and then my (in)famous muddying!

I'm going to continue working on these lads, and hopefully will post more photos as they near completion.

Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse armored gun line

2009-02-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

OK, are you ready for this? Get a load of THIS gun line! Have you ever see so many 40K tanks in one place before? This is something you DO NOT SEE EVERY DAY! You have to come here to see anything like this. Amazing,isn't it?

Yet More Apocalypse

2009-02-11T19:00:00.003-05:00

Here's a few more pieces of Apocalypse "eye-candy" for you. The first is a "full frontal" of the scratch-built Mekboy Stompa. This monstrosity has with out a doubt been the nastiest piece on the table during all of the Apoc. games that we have held.

The second photo is an IG Basilisk hammering away somewhat futilely at all the massive Ork hardware running around.

Then we have two magnificent shots of my new Terminus Ultra Pattern Land Raider (What a mouth full! Just try to make an acronym out of that!). Magnificent; isn't it? Don't you just love firepower in all its various forms? Don't you just love the smell of air being superheated by large lasers in the morning?

Oh, and I need to make a correction to my last posting. Our Orkmeister has pointed out that the "Tankbusta Boys" should now be referred to as the "Tank Annoyer Boys!" Oh, the shame and ignominy of it all!

Apocalypse continued

2009-02-04T18:30:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot that a few days ago I said that I would post some pictures from our latest Apocalypse game. So, here they are!

The first photo is Orkmeister Karl's unit of Ork Tankbusta boys. These models come from a by-gone era of Warhammer 40,000 (40K), and Karl has added a lot of very nice scratch-built weapons and other details. This was a unit that we all greatly feared over the years. Now, unfortunatley, the latest Ork Codex seems to have turned them into a unit who's overall performance is quite disappointing.

The second photo is one of the Orkmeister's beautiful scratch-built Ork Stompas. He can field three of them now, much to the chagrin of his Imperial opponents. They have not yet managed to destroy even one of them!

Photo number 3 is Andrew's classic Imerial Guard Steel Legion unit.

The last photo is 20 of my Khorne Berserkers grouped into one huge squad. Kharn the Betrayer is somewhere in there with them. I wanted to try this combination to see what would happen. My reasoning was that a large squad would serve to protect Kharn well and escort him into assault range. Plus, even if Kharn did kill a few of his own side during his frenzied assualt, it wouldn't matter that much if he was in a large squad. There is also a demon prince and a Predator tank operating independently on their flank. I decided on all this even though I knew it might be difficult to get them into assault range without a transport vehicle. So, since our game only lasted two turns before we ran out of time ... yes, you guessed it; none of them had time to get within assault range. So, it proved to be a bad idea after all.

Baneblade tank rumbles forward!

2009-01-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

OK, I have told you this before. Every once in a while we escape from reality and digress from historical gaming into science fiction. So last Sunday the gang got together to put together a Warhammer 40,00 Apocalypse game and for the first time in 13 months we had an opportunity to pull our super-heavy Baneblade tank out of the garage, load her up on the transporter and send her into action against the infidels. And here she is! Rumbling into action! The earth shakes, and the enemy shakes with fear! Stay tuned to this channel and we will show you more of the action in the coming days!

Battleground WWII rules reprint

2009-01-24T10:00:00.003-05:00

A few years ago we fell in with a gaming group that used these Battleground rules for 28mm WWII. We played numerous times and had some pretty big games. The publishers also produced 28mm figures to go with the rules. These rules are very small unit, skirmish oriented. The intention was that each player would control a force no larger than 1 squad or one vehicle. Accordingly, the rules are pretty detailed (the vehicle rules especially) and the figures had a lot of "personality," in a manner somewhat similar to a role playing game. The problem of course was that this group of ours always wanted to make the games bigger and bigger, and these rules are not conducive to that. The games started to drag on as a result.

Nevertheless, the whole thing was very popular but the people who started it soon went out of business. After that the gaming group we were in just faded away. However, over the years I have always seen these rules in use at the HMGS East conventions and I wondered where they are getting the stuff. Now I find out that there is another company that took over the printing and sale of the rules and all the figures. Check out this link at Pacific Sky Games and you will see what I mean. By the way, any 28mm WWII figures can be used with these rules. You can also use any 1:48 or 1:50 scale vehicles. Also, if you want a set of WWII 28mm rules that ARE conducive to large games you need to look no further than "Disposable Heroes & Coffin for Seven Brothers" from Iron Ivan games. See my previous posts on this.

More photos of the real Stalingrad fountain.

2009-01-16T18:00:00.006-05:00

One of the guys in our gaming group is a really good scratch builder. The other day we were talking about the Stalingrad fountain model that we covered back on December 20, 2008. He said that article got him interested in scratch building a 28mm version of the fountain some day. I think that is a really wonderful result which comes at a good time because I was beginning to wonder if this blog was a waste of my time! I of course told him it was a great idea, and it got me wondering if there might be any better photos of the thing out there. So I did a bit more searching on the net and came up with these. I think these could be very useful because they show the entire fountain in the frame.

It appears to me that the first photo was probably taken before the war and that the second photo is from sometime shortly after the Battle of Stalingrad. Notice all the artillery shells stacked around the fountain? Maybe the battle was still underway?

You know, the more I look at that these photos the more I begin to see how it could be crudely, or maybe even not so crudely, modeled using things from around the house. If you took a round serving dish with a big lip around the edge, and an empty cat food can turned upside down, and maybe some HO or G scale model children, you would already be halfway there! What do you think?

Update on the Development of the 28mm Late War German hard plastic sprues

2009-01-08T18:00:00.000-05:00

Today we received an update from the Wargames Factory on the hard plastic 28mm Late War German sprues under development. The first photo below shows some additional details of the figures. Here is what they are saying about this sprue: "This is a 5-figure sprue with multi-part Germans in a variety of advancing/fighting poses - maybe one crouching? Ideally, the set has extra heads (bare and with helmets and 1-2 NCO), separate arms with some open hands to have separate weapon swaps. Separate packs. Grenade and sub-machine gun options."

And now they are saying there is going to be an MG-42 team to accompany the first sprue of infantrymen. Here is what they say about that: "This is a 5-figure sprue with multi-part Germans in a variety of advancing/fighting poses. Ideally, the set has extra heads (bare and with helmets and 1 NCO), separate arms with some open hands to have separate weapon swaps. Separate packs. Grenade and sub-machine gun options. 1 MG-42, ammo carriers, loader. Works with my other entry to make a full squad."

Both of these sprues are going to sell for $5.00 each. This seems like a pretty nice deal for anyone looking to get into gaming WWII, or just expanding their collection.
Unfortunately, I already have what I consider to be a complete collection of WWII "sausage eaters," otherwise I would definitely be buying some of these. Incidently, my WWII Germans are metals from Black Tree Design which are also very nice figures.

Coming soon: Memoir '44 Campaign Book

2009-01-05T19:00:00.002-05:00

Good news for all you Memoir '44 fans out there! The Memoir '44 Campaign Book is now available for pre-order from Days of Wonder. It sounds like it has a lot of good stuff in it that could keep you playing for many years to come. I saw an announcement today that describes what is in the book. Here is what they say:

"The Campaign Book includes 12 different campaigns in three theaters of operation - Battle for Normandy in the summer of 1944, playable with the base game; the Blitzkrieg to the West in 1940, which takes advantage of the Terrain Pack; and Operation Barbarossa, for use with the Eastern Front expansion on the Russian Front in 1941. Along with the Advanced Campaign Rules, over 50 new Memoir '44 scenarios are included in the 112 page, full-color book."

50 new scenarios! That will definitely keep you busy!

"Combat Storm" rules for soft plastic "army men"

2009-01-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

I guess you could say that I started wargaming at a very early age. It always starts with those good old soft plastic army men. I always had them when I was a kid and some of my friends had huge collections of them. I can remember setting up hundreds of them in my friend Tom's basement and then we would throw tennis balls at them. I wasn't a very orderly game system, but it was still fun. Well, if you are looking to get into it in a more orderly fashion you might be interested in this. These "Combat Storm" rules are designed specifically for the 54mm soft plastics. It looks like the rules have a modern combat feel to them. The rules can be purchased for $19.99 but there is also cardstock scenery that can be downloaded for free inluding buildings and sand bags.

New 28mm Napoleonics figures

2008-12-31T18:00:00.000-05:00

Here is something very interesting. Take a good look at these painted 28mm French Line infantry figures. Very nice, right? Would you believe that they are not metal, but hard plastic? Check them out at the Perry Brothers web site. You can even get movement stands for them, in hard plastic of course!

Battlefield Evolution: World War II

2008-12-30T20:00:00.004-05:00

A while back we reported that Mongoose Publishing had released a WWII variant of their Battlefield Evolution rules on modern combat. I now see that they have supplements out for using vehicles including compendiums on both German and Soviet WWII vehicles. I still have not tried their WWII rules. I have tried their modern combat rules and it appears to be a good system. Everybody tends to become casualties very quickly though. Maybe that is just the way it has to be.

In case you are wondering, I still favor the Disposable Heroes/Coffin for Seven Brothers rules from Iron Ivan games when it comes to gaming WWII. It has been at least a year since I have organized a game, but I still regard that system as the best I have seen.

Having Fun with "Memoir '44"

2008-12-29T19:00:00.003-05:00

So, what are your plans for New Year's Eve? Wine, women, and song? I'll tell you what I'll be doing. I'll be sitting at home playing quick and easy boardgames such as "Memoir '44." (And maybe drinking one beer, or maybe two or three.) If your are not familiar with "Memoir '44" let me just tell you that it is a very clever, very easy, WWII combat boardgame. It's a bit like "Axis and Allies," but whereas "Axis and Allies" is at the strategic level, "Memoir '44" is at the operational/tactical level. It is easy to set up, learn, and play a quick game or two, or even three, in one setting on your kitchen or dining room table. The game comes with numerous soft plastic tank, infantry, artillery, sand bag, barbwire, and obstacle pieces. It also comes with a double-sided game board so you can run beach scenarios or normal terrain scenarios. There are numerous double-sided hexagonal terrain tiles for creating many different scenarios, each one having a total different terrain situation. The game's utilizes a card system that limits what you can do each turn; so you have to choose wisely. Some of the cards only allow you to activate 1 to 3 units in your center, or right, or left flanks. Some of them allow you much more latitude, and some of them allow you to put a real big hurt on your opponent if you are lucky enough to draw them. Learning when to use the right card at the right time is an important, and fun, part of the game.

My son and I have been having a good time with the game. We are working on the Normandy scenarios that come with the basic game box. We just finished playing through the first Normandy beach landing scenario (Sword Beach) which is a big challenge for the allied side. We played it through four times before I finally proved that the allied side can win the scenario.

"Memoir '44" has become a very popular game system with several expansions and web site support. The publisher is called "Days of Wonder." We have two of the expansions but we still have a long way to go with just playing through all the scenarios in the basic box. The next one on our list is Point du Hoc. That should be interesting!

15mm Model of the Stalingrad Fountain

2008-12-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

This has already gotten some coverage on The Miniatures Page (TMP), but I think this is so interesting that I just had to post it. There is a company, I believe they are in Spain, that is going to market a 15mm scale model of the famous fountain in the center of Stalingrad that we are all used to seeing in the history documentaries and even in movies. For those of you have never seen this fountain before, let me just tell you that the photo of the real one (2nd photo) became one of those poignant icons of the contrast between peace and war. The release date of the model is reported to be January 9th. It looks like it will be a great way to add interest to any Eastern Front urban combat scenario design.

If you compare the model to the photo of the real one (2nd photo) you will see some differences. The real fountain only had six statues whereas the model has seven and about three more that have apparently been knocked down. Then if you look the the photo of the fountain as it was depicted in the "Enemy at the Gates" movie (3rd photo) you will see that apparently the 15mm model is patterned after the movie's fountain, not the real one.

In any case, it appears to be a nice model and a great idea.

Santa Fights Back!

2008-12-18T05:45:00.003-05:00

I don't know about you, but every night after I get home from work I see yet another news story about the "War on Christmas." I never thought I'd live to see the day when there would be so many real live Scrooges and Grinches running amok. Well I got news for all of them, Santa can now fight back! You heard me right, there is at least one supplier of Santa wargaming figures out there. The figures in this photo comes from Amazon Miniatures. Apparently there was another supplier in the UK called "Wargame Supply Dump" but they appear to be closed down.
But that is not all, not only can you find minis, you can also get a set of rules for employing them in a combat mode; as a free download! Check out the "Free" page at Two Hour Wargames and you will see a little gem called "Santa Claus Wars." It, and apparently all their other rules, are based on a core set of rules called Chain Reaction 2, which is also available for a free download. These CR2 rules are generic enough that you can use them for almost anything you want to do!

28mm WWII German Troops in Hard Plastic

2008-12-17T09:01:00.004-05:00

More interesting news concerning the ever expanding range of 28mm hard plastic wargaming miniatures. We just learned that the Wargames Factory is developing a hard plastic sprue of late war WWII German troops. There will be five figures per sprue. This photo is a nice preview for you.

Resurrection, Part Two

2008-10-24T13:46:00.006-04:00

Painting proceeded on the recently rediscovered Blood Claws Bike Pack; however, come game day, they were simply gray/black/dwarf flesh.

I got the basecoat for the tires, fenders, gas tanks, and faces of the riders done, and even did a bit of metallic color on the twin-linked bolters, engines, and exhaust pipes.

However, undaunted, I took them with me to the Game Parlor to slap them on the table in defiance of the forces of Chaos!!

Unfortunately, due to some miss communications, and a lad that failed to show up, our lists required tweaking.

Calculator in hand, I proceeded to play with my list the best I could on the spur of the moment. What I came up with as a list was rather underwhelming, and it did not include my newly (nearly) painted bikers! Oh well.

Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and Orks (yes, Orks!) battled against the forces of Chaos. Some days, your old foe becomes your battle buddy. Go figure!

My Blood Claws held their own, primarily due to the presence of a Rune Priest who cast “Psychic Storm” successfully for three turns, defeating most incoming rounds.

In Hand to Hand (HtH), the Rune Priest fought like a rabid wolf, tearing apart Chaos troopers left and right. Unfortunately, the Blood Claws struck last in combat due to their lower initiative, and had trouble hitting and wounding due to their lower weapon skill and strength. They still managed to kill one unit of Chaos Berserkers, before being completely slaughtered.

We lost the game, but I think everyone had a great time.

I came away from the game with a new idea for vehicle camouflage, thanks to the OrkMeister! I’ll post some photos of my “winter” Space Wolves vehicle camo soonest.

Meanwhile, here is some “eye candy” from the game, Courtesy of Andy.

Resurrection

2008-10-03T08:54:00.003-04:00

Due to a number of issues, not the least of which is stress at work, I have not been in my "war room" lately. I say, "lately", but it's been a really, really long time!

Bwana Bill nudged me into action by announcing an upcoming game of Warhammer 40K.

"40K Deployment Warning Order

Marshalling area is GP Woodbridge. D-Day is October 4, 2008. H-Hour is 1300. Table is reserved until H +9. All commands will report deployment readiness by D -2.

That is all.

Out"

I cautiously proceeded into the deep, dark, and very dank depths of my home, where my war room is hidden. A recent tropical storm caused a flood in the basement, which resulted in the excessive dankness, and discombobulation of the room.

I looked around, trying to figure out what I had lying about for my Space Wolves, that might be built, and even primed, but not painted.

Basically this effort is the resurrection of an army that I once painted and then sold.

I have re-acquired some of my original models from the lad I sold the army to, and have touched them up to match the paint job on my newer models.

I found a unit of Blood Claw Bikers that I had built and primed years ago, and have finally begun to work on them in hopes of deploying them on Saturday!

Stay tuned!!

Zulu War 28mm hard plastics

2008-08-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

Here is another development in the expanding availability of 28mm wargaming figures in hard plastic. The Wargames Factory is now planning to come out with hard plastics for the Zulu War of 1879. This a photo of what the British figures will look like painted.

Correction on Army Painter spray cans

2008-08-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Brett, who left us a comment on the Army Painter spray cans, we now know that what the Warlord Games web site says is wrong. These products will soon be available in North America, as a matter of fact you can pre-order them right here from the War Store.

And here is something else that is very interesting. This page from the Warlord Games site shows how to use the cans along with their Quick Shade. It sure does look like a quick and easy way to paint a large number of figures!

Army Painter spray cans

2008-08-21T22:00:00.001-04:00

Here is another interesting thing that I just learned about; this is also from Warlord Games in the UK. They are marketing, only in the UK and Europe unfortunately, colored spray cans for quickly applying base colors to large numbers of figures. What is different about these spray cans is that they are also designed to take the place of the usual white or black primers that we use. In other words you can prime and start the process of painting colors at the same time. The can in this picture is "Plate Mail," imagine what you could do with that if you had just started painting a large army that is wearing a lot of armor! The other colors are Desert Yellow, Human Skin, Navy Blue, Red, Grey, Skeleton Bone, and Army Green. I hope we see this come to North America some time soon!

The new Testudo model.

2008-08-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

Here is a better view of that wonderful testudo model from Warlord Games. From what I understand the entire thing is only six resin interlocking parts. I would really love to have one of these but unfortunately the Roman army I am building in this scale is for an earlier time period. Oh well, tough luck, right?

Miniatures Go On Vacation - Day 3

2008-08-17T10:22:00.017-04:00

Today, it's time for the British Empire to lay down the law. Well, not really. The Woodland Indians now have some basic (very basic) warpaint on. They have not been inked yet but they looked "good enough" for now. I got the bases on the Woodland Indians painted and the first part of the flock on. These Conquest Miniatures are an absolute joy to paint. I will be ordering some in the near future! I also broke down and put the last bit of flock, long grass, on the British soldiers.

Then we took them outside and had a quick fight. The British were allowed to break up their formation into smaller formed units for this game.

"Get ready soldiers! Here they come!"

The warband that tried to sneak around and ambush the invaders.

BAM! The small detachment was ready!

But there are more coming!

The warbands are driven off by the brave soldiers holding the high ground and putting up a right good fire!

The mountain was held and the British detachment got away to fight another day.

Here's a view look out from where we were playing and taking pictures. We're off to have some fun for the rest of the day. I've discovered that swimming laps is great exercise for me so I hope to get to the pool for a long time today.

Miniatures Go On Vacation - Day 2

2008-08-16T09:42:00.008-04:00

OK, so today are a couple of pictures from "our" work yesterday. Consul Kyle noticed I was painting some British F&I miniatures so he promptly pulled out his Crusader Miniature 28mm Carthaginian Heavy Infantry! I'm so proud of his effort and desire for someone only 9 years old.

The British are not quite complete. They do not yet have "eyes" as all my 28mm troops, especially those that are firing any weapon, need eyes. I think it helps the dice roll better. My problem is I waterdown my bottle of white (GW Skull White) before leaving way too much. So I'm going to put eyes on them when I get home. That and they haven't been fully flocked yet. I will complete that process when I get them home. They are also very shiny right now, as I did apply my black "magic wash" which is a combination of black ink and "future floor wax". This time I brushed it on instead of dipping the entire miniature into the mix. That give me better control as to where the black lines go I guess. I may continue to do this in the future.

The Carthaginians are starting to get their flesh tone on now. Consul Kyle (he needs another name, appropriate for a Carthaginian, any suggestions?) wanted this particular unit painted in gold. Hopefully he'll get the bases painted soon so they show up better.

I will hopefully start on the Indians sometime today after our horse ride at 11AM. I may not have them finished by the vacations end but at least I'll have a good start. Maybe tomorrow there will be a fight between the Woodland Indians and the British for control of Graves Mt.?

Miniatures Go On Vacation

2008-08-15T11:59:00.011-04:00

Well, I'm at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria, VA from today until leaving on Monday. No cell phone, but obviously, they have internet!

It's a great place to relax and do nothing. Look at the view from our Motel room door (and window too). This is their "Ridge Crest" motel, one of two or three, plus a lot of cabins/homes people can rent. This one has the best view.

So what does a miniature wargamer do on vacation when given the chance? Paint miniatures of course! I brought along some F&I Old Glory miniatures, British in Firing Line, One RSM95 British Officer and some Conquest Woodland Indians. The OG miniatures I found when looking for something else, which then led me to the Woodland Indians. They're not finished so I thought now would be a great time to do so. Here are some pictures of the miniatures in thier various states of completion before I begin.

British

Woodland Indians

I will take (better) pictures of them as I complete each group. I'm working on the British today.

2008-08-13T20:38:00.026-04:00

Historicon 2008

Historicon is a convention that I’ve really come to look forward to. It's "Historical Miniature Gaming's Biggest Summer Vacation". Lots of games, vendors and a chance to see some friends. A journey to Amish country in 2008 was to be a quick one this year. I took my son (Consul Kyle, who’s 9) and we headed on up to Historicon 2008 for a weekend of gaming, shopping and talking. I got lucky as my boss let me have Friday off, which originally wasn’t planned so Consul Kyle and I packed up and headed out a day earlier. After a 3 hour ride and some traffic on Route 30 we finally made it!

First thing to do was check out the flea market that had just opened. Too many people in too small a space. I couldn’t move. I am beginning to wonder if this configuration isn’t a fire hazard. Luckily Consul Kyle, being 9 years old, could squeeze by most people. I am finding more and more that the flea market is simply not meeting my expectations. Many sellers would rather pack their stuff up than sell it off at the price they put on it. Heck, if it isn’t 50% AND negotiable, then I’m not interested. So most of the stuff in the flea market isn’t of interest I guess.

From there we walked around the rooms of gaming to check out what was going on and headed to the first round through the dealer hall. After buying a heptereme from Old Glory we met up with some of my friends, Brian and Patrick. We got a quick bite to eat on the patio in the back of the host. Apparently the Host decided we did not need to sit down to eat. They removed all the tables and chairs! Sorry no pictures of that!

Saturday Consul Kyle got to play in THREE games! The first was a 54mm or 1/32 scale WWII game. He had a great time and the GM was gracious enough to make room for him to play in.

The terrain was fantastic as well as the miniature collection! It was so much fun I wished that I could play.

Consul Kyle played in two other fun games. The last one was later at night. It was a siege game using some home rules. That’s two strikes against what I consider a fun convention game. Wow, was I proven wrong. The GM was very nice and attentive, he let Consul Kyle play the part of the Caliph of Baghdad. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera Saturday night.

Sunday we hit the dealer hall again. We ran across Bwana Bill and his family by surprise as apparently we had missed each other all weekend. It was great seeing them again and maybe next year we'll have some more time to talk and enjoy a game! This day Consul Kyle took pictures of almost every vendors displays, or portions thereof, in the hall. I had no idea the boy had such a desire to take pictures. A couple of pictures he took:

Warlord Games Preview of their Testudo

Dealer Hall on Sunday
This turned out to be the best Historicon EVER. I was able to talk to a lot of friends, play a game and shop. I even joined the Old Glory Army this year. Consul Kyle can now get his 28mm sized ships at 40% and even with his allowance will be able to buy once every 3 months or so.

Ancient Wargaming "Eye Candy" from A & A Miniatures

2008-05-15T05:00:00.000-04:00

If you want to see some really beautiful stuff in 28mm scale check this out. I came across this A & A Miniatures company in the UK while looking for examples on how to paint imperial roman figures. I had never seen these figures before and they look really nice. I especially like the cataphracts. I might have to acquire a few of these some day.

More New 28mm Romans in Hard Plastic

2008-05-13T20:30:00.000-04:00

Well there really does seem to be a trend developing in the miniature gaming world now. Yet another company has announced the release of 28mm miniatures in hard plastic. This time it is a UK company called Warlord Games. Their hard plastic Romans come from the early imperial period, so now you have a choice between the Caesarian era (from the Wargames Factory) and imperial era. It looks to me that if you want to acquire these you will have to order them directly from the UK. One nice touch with this new set is that it comes with shield transfers.

Perry Brothers ACW artillery

2008-05-09T07:30:00.001-04:00

Check out this photo that I found. It is the new ACW artillery set that the Perry Brothers will be releasing. This set is not hard plastic, it is traditional metal. I like how they added the muzzle blast special effect. Almost looks real, doesn't it?

New 28mm WWII Rule Set

2008-04-30T19:00:00.005-04:00

A lot of announcements on new products recently. Today we just learned that there will soon be another option out there for those of you who like to run 25/28mm WWII games. Mongoose Publishing will soon be marketing a new rule set called "Battlefield Evolution: World at War." Some of you may already be familiar with the "Battlefield Evolution" system that came out a while back for modern warfare skirmishing. My son and I have that system and some of the pre-painted models that they marketed along with them. We played a couple simple middle eastern scenarios and they worked quite well. So, this translation of that system into WWII could be interesting. I kind of doubt that it will turn me away from using "Disposable Heroes/Coffin for Seven Brothers" though because I am pretty content with that rule set.

Anyway, it is always nice to have more alternatives. For a while there it seemed like we would never get a decent set of WWII rules again. Now we have several to choose from.

Here is what Mongoose has to say about it.:

Using the latest generation of the fast-playing Battlefield Evolution rules, this is the action-packed rulebook that brings World War II to your tabletop.

Battlefield Evolution: World at War is a portal into World War II, providing everything you need to stage small firefights in far flung villages, or massive confrontations involving massed infantry, armour and air units, as the struggle for territory reaches a fever pitch.

The main rulebook covers Late War armies in the European theatre, with future expansions introducing new campaigns and different armies. In this mighty tome, you will find army lists for;

British Army Infantry
British Army Paratroopers
British Army Commandos
German Wehrmacht Grenadiers and Panzergrenadiers
German Waffen-SS
German Fallschirmjäger
Soviet Infantry and Motor Rifles
Soviet Tank Desant
United States Infantry and Armoured Infantry
United States Paratroopers

Battlefield Evolution: World at War is designed for 20-28mm miniatures, and 1/72 scale models. The rulebook includes complete army lists, advanced rules, scenarios and a unique Engagements system allowing you to create your own missions.

This game is fully compatible with the rest of the Battlefield Evolution line, and hobbyists and publishers alike will have a chance to produce their own material for the game, through the introduction of an Open Content licence.

Perry Brothers hard plastic ACW Cavalry

2008-04-28T19:00:00.000-04:00

We just learned that you can now pre-order the next installment in the hard plastic 28mm figures from the Perry Brothers. This time it is cavalry and it will ship in May 2008. From what I understand each box will contain 12 mounted cavalrymen, 12 separate forage caps, 12 separate slouch hats, 12 separate carbines, 12 sword arms, 6 pistol arms, and enough parts to create 3 commands. Boxes also contains 2 Union guidons, 2 Confederate guidons, and a set of simple rules. Now that's what I call a flexible boxed set. And all for only an MSRP of only $28.32! If you are looking for a U.S. distributor, the War Store is the only one that I know of at this time.

What I've been up to lately

2008-04-27T12:39:00.006-04:00

Y'all need to 'give it up' for Bwana Bill, who has been carrying the blog along for some time now. Thanks Bill!!! He has posted new products, games that he's trying out, and games he and I have played. That's a lot of work, and I really appreciate all he has done to keep this blog from the dusty rolls of 'deadblogtown'.

Here are some things I've been doing to stay busy:

Space Wolves - I sold this army off a few years back, but have decided to rebuild it and play again.

Here are the Rune Priest and Wolf Priest for this "space going Viking' army of the far flung future!

And this is my latest project: Some new figures from Artizan 28mm WWII!!

This is a 'work in progress' and is just begun! I've cleaned and mounted the figures on a large base, and added the pumice flocking stuff we use for a lot of our figures. I'll post more images as I get more work done!

That's it for now!!!

But this is just a teaser, have a look at those lovely Askari miniatures again.... Bersaglieri?? Western Desert?? That sounds like an area that deserves wargaming again!

Ciao for now!

New 28mm Italian Bersaglieri

2008-04-01T05:00:00.002-04:00

Get a load of this! Here's something I never thought I would see! Askari Miniatures has just announced a line of Italian Bersaglieri figures suitable for colonial or WWII Western Desert games. They look really nice in the pictures. I have some of Askari's French Foreign Legion figures and I can tell you that they are nothing short of really beautiful! These look like they are just as nice, if not better. I would not be surprised if some of these "paisanos" make it into my collection.

Update on the new hard plastic ancients

2008-03-28T18:00:00.002-04:00

We have just learned that the first two box sets of 28mm hard plastic ancients from the Wargames Factory can now be pre-ordered. (See our March 17, 2008 posting for background.)
The Caesar's Legions box set will ship on May 23, 2008 and the Celt Warband box will ship on June 13, 2008. We also have a list of future products, looks like you guys that do the medieval stuff are in luck too. Here it is:
Celt Cavalry
Roman Command
Celt Command
Medieval French Crossbowmen
Medieval French Men-at-Arms
Medieval English Longbowmen
Medieval English Men-at-Arms
Imperial Romans

And we now have the art work for the Celt Warband box too.

Perry Brothers hard plastic ACW figures now available for pre-order

2008-03-21T05:00:00.000-04:00

The word is out that the Perry Bros. hard plastic 28mm ACW troops are now available for pre-order from Age of Glory if you are in the U.S. 36 figures with interchangeable slouch hats and kepis for $28.00. $1.50 from each order will be donated to battlefield preservation.

New 28mm Hard Plastic figures for gaming Ancient Warfare

2008-03-17T23:30:00.002-04:00

Here is another new development that many of you should find interesting. There is a new company out there called the "Wargames Factory." They will soon be marketing 28mm wargaming figures in hard plastic. They are being marketed as companion pieces for the new "Field of Glory" rules from Osprey Publishing. From what I understand, the first box will be Marian/Caesarian Romans and the second box will be Celts suitable for use as Gauls or Britons. I have to wonder why they decided on those two topics for their very first products. It just happens to be exactly what I have been collecting and painting. Are these guys psychic or something?

The first picture below shows what the Romans are going to look like. They seem pretty nice, don't you think? There will be 48 figures in the box and it will be sold for only $29.95! That is only 62 cents for figure. This could turn out to be an extremely interesting, and perhaps revolutionary, development in the wargaming hobby! We'll see, right?

The second picture is the art work for the exterior of the first boxed set. I love that picture! What a dramatic concept of what a volley of pilum would have looked like! I have never seen such an awe inpiring depiction of this before. Now you know why you would not want to be on the receiving end of that! I wish I could buy it as a print suitable for framing!

"Field of Glory" and "Rise of Rome"

2008-03-12T23:00:00.002-04:00

I need to mention that the highly anticipated "Field of Glory" rules from Osprey have now been published. They can be found almost everywhere from what I understand. Since the book (hardcover by the way) is from Osprey it is being pushed out to all the major commercial book sellers. You can also get the "Rise of Rome" and "Storm of Arrows" supplements. "Rise of Rome" covers the early, middle and late Republican Roman periods and all the many enemies of Rome from that time. "Storm of Arrows" covers late medieval. Many more supplements are coming.

Here is a list of what is covered in the "Rise of Rome" supplement, the Late Republican Roman list is where you will find the Marius/Caesar style of Romans:

MID-REPUBLICAN ROMAN
Mid-Republican Roman Allies
LATE REPUBLICAN ROMAN
Late Republican Roman Allies
Bithynian Allies
GALLIC
Gallic Allies
Ligurian Allies
PYRRHIC
LATER CARTHAGINIAN
Bruttian or Lucanian Allies
Late Campanian Allies
ILLYRIAN
Paionian Allies
ANCIENT SPANISH
Ancient Spanish Allies
LATER MACEDONIAN
ATTALID PERGAMENE
Attalid Pergamene Allies
Kappadokian Allies
NUMIDIAN OR EARLY MOORISH
Numidian or Early Moorish Allies
LATER SELEUCID
LATER PTOLEMAIC
PONTIC
SPARTACUS SLAVE REVOLT
EARLY ARMENIAN
Early Armenian Allies
PARTHIAN
Parthian or Media Atropatene Allies
Adiabene, Edessan or Hatran Allies
Elymaian Allies
Commagene Allies
Early Arab Allies
Later Skythian or Saka Allies
LATER JEWISH
Later Jewish Allies
Nabataean Allies
BOSPORAN

I bought my copy of the rules this past weekend at the "Cold Wars" convention in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I finished reading through the rules yesterday. I think the one biggest difference I have noticed so far is how these rules treat barbarian warbands. In many other ancient warfare rules if a warband beats you in close combat in the same turn in which it charged you, you are automatically (for the most part) broken. In these rules warbands are classified as "Impact Foot," which is perfectly fine, but wait, Roman Legionary infantry is classified as "Impact Foot" too! The logic being that a Roman unit is always going to counter-charge behind a volley of pilums so the "impacts" get canceled out. Which ever side loses still suffers a die roll penalty for losing to "Impact Foot" when it has to take its "Cohesion" test (kind of like morale/disruption combined), but it certainly isn't an automatic break and the charging warband could just as easily suffer the same penalty as the counter-charging Romans if the Romans were to win the combat. Interesting idea. I think I like that!

These rules and the supplements allow for a very broad range of options for army composition and size, so you can start out small or keep it small if you like. If I get time I might set a small experimental game this weekend and start teaching myself how to use the rules.

From what I gather, "Field of Glory" is already developing a pretty strong following. The book has only been available for purchase since February 7th and already there are tournaments springing up in the UK and even in the US. There was a small tourney at the "Cold Wars" con in Lancaster, PA this past weekend, and the Yahoo discussion group already has 647 members as of today! It will interesting to see where all this goes. We could actually have a widely popular set of ancient warfare rules here that does not feel like a glorified "dungeons and dragons," and developed by people who actually know how to express complex concepts through the medium of writing.

Peeps Competition: "Full Sugar Coating"

2008-03-02T23:30:00.001-05:00

We have something really special to show you this time. Our good buddy "Karlmek," who is our 40K Ork expert, and scratch building expert, whose gorgeous models have recently been featured on this blog, has sent us pictures of his latest entry for the Washington Post Peeps competition. What is the Peeps competition you might ask? Well the idea to take those little sugary Peeps bunny candy that you see all over at Easter time and form them into a diorama. Karlmek likes to do scenes from movies; last year he did a scene from the cult classic film "Reservoir Dogs," which became "Reservoir Peeps." This year he chose a scene from another cult classic "Full Metal Jacket," which has been translated as "Full Sugar Coating."
Since it has a military theme we decided to post it on the blog. So, check out the pictures, everything is scratch built (except for the palm trees) including all the different weapons; they were not taken off toys. He did very well in the competition last year, so let's hope that he does even better this time!

Rome at War: Fading Legions

2008-01-23T15:45:00.000-05:00

Well recently I returned to my wargaming roots a little bit. I grew up playing various board games, mainly those published by Avalon Hill. Lately I had my eye on this "Rome at War: Fading Legions" game because it looked like it might be an easy way to play out some ancient wargame battles without a lot of complicated rules and stacks of small pieces of carboard cluttered on a board laid out in hexagons.

I stopped playing board games quite a while ago because I got tired of dealing with stacks of cardboard and overly detailed rules, charts, etc. So I decided to take a chance and give Fading Legions a try. I'm glad I did! I have to say that I like it and find it to be a nice change of pace.

To begin with the pieces are extremely attractive. Many of them are long double length pieces; these represent the heavy infantry units. The rules allow only one heavy infantry unit per square so there are no large stacks to push around. Also, if there are any light infantry and cavalry in the same square as the heavy infantry unit there is room in the square to lay them alongside the heavy infantry unit. Same goes for leader pieces. So there really is no need to any stacking of pieces at all! This is a nice feature because it makes for a nice tidy playing area and you can see everything on the board without constantly picking through the little stacks to remind yourself what is there. And the graphics printed on the pieces actually make the game appear to be somewhat like a miniatures game. So with all the pieces laid out on the board it actually looks, dare I say it, somewhat realistic?! At least to me it does, but then maybe I just have a vivid imagination.

I have more to say about this game, but I will cover that later.

Larry Brom, out of hospital, back home

2008-01-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

Well more good news, Larry has been back home for a few days now and working on recuperating there. He has some figures to work on; Lord Chelmsford (see below) and his staff. Do a good job on him Larry, and have fun with it! And good luck with dealing with that big beard, that is going to soak up a lot of paint!

Take Out that Baneblade!

2008-01-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

Even though it was not contesting an objective, the Eldar fixated on reducing the Baneblade on the Imperial right flank to flaming junk. We counted approximately a dozen or more lascannon equivalent (or whatever those damned Eldar things are called!) hits on the Baneblade. Look at all the hit markers on that thing! By the end of turn two the Baneblade had only one structure point left and only one heavy bolter mount functioning. It definitely would not have survived another turn. Fortunately we ran out of time so there were no more turns!