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!
Showing posts with label HMGS East. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HMGS East. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Love and Hate
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
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 peo
ple 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.
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