Berserkers (1)

My computer has picked up a virus over the last few days. Which is the first one I have ever had that's nasty enough to make me think about smacking it with a baseball bat. I will no doubt overcome this minor setback but in the meantime it really stinks! However for the moment if I send you an email with "NO SUBJECT" in the title, just delete it don't even bother opening it, it's a watse of time from some waste of skin.

Back on the painting table I have done a couple more Vikings for SAGA. I will use them as Berserkers. One is a very old (1980's) Citadel Viking Ulfhednir. The other is a Gripping Beast plastic. Having done just the tinniest piece of Internet research it does indeed suggest that Berserkers should be bear chested. SO this is something I will change at a later date, but for now these 4 figures will suffice to fill the roll.

I'll try to post again on Sunday, and with luck the virus will be a distant memory. All the Best Clint

Scary Angel

This is one of the Crooked Dice Scary Angels. They have been doing a promotion for this sculpt and for the rest of June, are selling it for £2. I picked this one up at BROADSIDE. Usually they are shown painted as statues as featured on a well know BBC TV series about a time traveller in a phone box. I decided however that it would make a passable VAMPIRE, so have tried to paint it as such. Most images of vampires have more bat like wings, but I think this still works. It was great fun to paint and I wanted a change from Vikings for a few days hence this figure. At this stage I have no idea what I shall use it for, but it is one of those stock models you buy and will work out what it's for later on.

That's today's post. I'll post again on Friday. I am content with the poll feedback, I'll keep it open for the time being, of course but at this stage there is a clear winner. That could change if more people vote of course but with 7TV having more than twice the votes of any other category my mind will wander that way most likely. All the best talk soon Clint

Getting Shirty

I did not get as much done as I had anticipated over the weekend. No new figures to show you today.  I did however get the design for the club shirts finalised. They guys wanted black as they thought it was more slimming. It costs more but what can you do. Originally I wanted the logo on the back of the tee shirts but that would have doubled the price, so instead I settled on just over the left breast. As you can see it is my typical dice rolling level on the graphic, unless I need to roll low in which case "Box-cars" is far more likely.

The game I played at the club yesterday was not really visual, 1200th scale ancient galleys. I had never in my life tried ancient naval games, so it was a pleasant change of pace, if not change of result as I graham managed to ram my ships about 4 times as often as I did his. Needless to say as a fleet admiral of this period I have the command ability of Captain Mannering from Dads army. Overall I did enjoy it and would play it again.

That's it for today. Hope to post again on Wednesday, All the best Clint.

3 points

Although not very clear there are 8 figures in this unit. (I Promise).Which in the SAGA rules means these are warrior level troops. Not Militia or elites, but more your standard fighting men. As mentioned previously I could find no historical precedence for giving them all the same shield colours, I have gone so purely for game convenience so that I know which unit is which. These clearly are the blue and whites. as opposed to red and whites and yellow and whites shown previously. The second photograph is my unit of berserkers. I am not totally happy with them and will swap out the Dane axes (2 handed axes) this coming week for a couple of guys with two weapons. It's little things like that which tend to bug the hell out of me. Which is why I have called today's post 3 points, and not 4. I have previously shown the other two points, and will take great delight adding the berserkers when I feel I am happy with them. The last picture is them all jumbled together.In retrospect I should have taken the snap from a higher angle. Therefore that will be the plan for the final shot. I only need a couple of figures to get there, two more berserkers and a warlord. One of the club was looking for a dog to have on their warlord stand. I shall blatantly steal that idea, unless I can find a female captive of course. They are Vikings arfter all.

That's it for now. Thanks for looking I should post again on Monday. All the best Clint.

Today's SAGA

As you can see I am slowly expanding my SAGA warband. Only 5 more here, but a few more on the painting table that should be finished by Tuesday next week I suspect. That however depends of if I get sidetracked. As I have a single box of Gripping Beast Hirdmen, I shall attempt to build everything from that one box. So far so good. Yes it might seem tight fisted of me, but I am not in a position to through money at every project that comes along. Having said that I have 3 or four figures from many years ago which I can add to this warband, but seriously only 3 or 4 and I will have to be very selective which ones I use. One for example is wearing "Russ" trousers so I won't use him this time, only 0ne has a bow, so he won't get used either. Two others are in padded gambisons and so they don't look right with all the rest. And so the list goes on. Realistically I am expecting to re-use two of them.

For those that have voted on my poll thank you very much. If you haven't there's still two weeks to go so for the sake of a button click what have you got to loose.

That's it for today. I'll post again Saturday. Thanks for looking all the best Clint.

POLL

You may have already noticed a Poll in the top Right hand corner of the blog. It will be running for a little over two weeks. Please vote on what you think I should start as my next project. All views will be considered, and may well sway me away from one thing and on to another. I should be clear though I will retain the final decision.

That said I can see merit in each of the above ideas.

I shall finish the Saga Force (vikings) I have started probably by the weekend. And have a number of other things to concentrate on as well all at the same time.

The historical options are much more focused at this stage with regard to look and feel, at least in my mind. If I was to say War of the Roses as an option (Not on the list of options) then the project has a clear look and feel. There would still be a lot to decide on, rules, scale, number of figure, any special terrain requirements etc. However we all know roughly what it would look like. I cannot say the same about Sci fi or Spy-fi. Here the opposite is true, I know the rules and scales but not the look I would be after. Which at least to me creates an interesting dichotomy.

The ideas in detail:

1. Wild West. As mentioned yesterday I bought some 15mm Apache figure (both foot and mounted) and I can see a game set in the Hollywood wild west genre. The rules I think would work best would be Peter Pigs "Patrols in the Sudan" obviously I would have to tweak them to make them more specific to the setting. For terrain I would need to build not boards but free standing pieces.
2. 7TV/7ombie Tv. This option really is wide open to a vast interpretation of ideas. In this option only the rules are really set. I should make it clear that I will not be building a city if this is selected, so don't just see the word Zombie and think "Oh Great another Zombie infested city". Loads and loads of unfocused ideas on this one, but at least I know the rules and scale.
3. British Colonial. While at Broadside I chatted with Guy Bowers (editor of WSS) and we both agreed that you tend to see very little variety in British Colonial games they tend to typically be either Sudan or Zulus. At Broadside there was a Maori Wars game, which is what prompted this discussion by the way. So it would be one of the lesser played British colonial games.
4. Sci Fi. Another really wide open idea. Several people at the Rainham club have mentioned 15mm Sci Fi in the last 6 months. So forget the 40k high fantasy science fiction, and think more Traveller 2300. Rules yet to be determined, possibly Stargrunt possibly Gruntz. Setting also to be determined. I see enough Desert worlds and Ice worlds at shows, and they look good. But I am sure there are more options.

So those are the options, have a think, make a choice, and have some fun.

All the best Clint.

Loot and Scoot

Broadside is over for this year, and planning has started in preparation for next year. I'll talk about some of that at a later date. As a show I really dd not realise how much money I had actually spent, in my frenzied trolley dash of good-ness. Despite the expenditure I think I am most happy with the free items I was given. The first was from Fran (http://theangrylurker.blogspot.co.uk/) who on the day was far from Angry, Lurking yes but as angry as a raging Caterpillar. A genuinely nice guy as are the other "rejects" I met. he gave me this VW camper van for the Afghan game, I'll need to weather it a bit but I'm very pleased with it and it will get a good home. So many thanks Mate really appreciated.

The purchases include, 3 buggies from Ainsty Castings, I should have had a better look at his products but time was against me.Some clear acrylic bases from Fenris. 8 packs of 15mm Apache figures. When we think of colonial wargaming we always focus on the British army, usually in the Sudan or Zululand. But there are so many other options. American colonial is of course the wild west but we never use the term colonial for it.  2x28mm Bigfoot from Newline designs very versatile figure and why not have a Bigfoot hunt game, or maybe something a little more abstract. Two Vikings from Grubby tanks, again for the Afghanistan game, not a vehicle the British troops enjoy being in when faced with an enemy who use IEDs. Some crooked goodies from Crooked dice. (they have too many scary angels in one particular sculpt so that sculpt was only £2 each and I must say I am really looking forward to painting a scary angel.) They are the stone angels from Dr who in style and they do look very good when painted as statues.The tee shirt was from the BRITISH LEGION, I made a donation and was given a tee shirt which I shall wear with immense pride. I also picked up some Saga dice from Wargames Emporium, hey are a couple of nice guys as well definitely worth chatting with. I wanted some saga dice but had not settled on which force I was going to build. They sold out of Anglo Danish dice so I grabbed the Viking dice at the end of the day sometimes it's easier when the decision is made for you.

Unrelated to the stuff I bought I also had a good chat with Guy Bowers of WSS. He is looking for a club to put a specific game on for the magazine. I am not sure Rainham are the right club for the game, but it is something I shall talk to the guys about and See if they like the idea.

Have yet to focus on my next project, and am looking for some feedback from the Rainham club on Sunday when we meet next. I will get my SAGA force done in the next week or so.And I have some pro painting to get done. You know I'll show what I do. But for the next few days terrain is not  going to be my focus.

Thanks for Reading (or just looking at the pics). I shall post again on Thursday. Until then take care roll some dice and have fun. Cheers Clint

BROADSIDE Show Report

A BIG THANKS

to all the Bloggers who helped publicise the event. The good news is that the numbers through the door were just about DOUBLE last years which is testament to the power the grass roots wargamers can bring to an issue.

I thought I took more pics! The evidence tells another story so I hope some of the other bloggers will make a better job of the show report than this one.  Not making excuses, I should have taken more pics but in the excitement and turmoil of the show I just didn't simple as that as I was trying to wear three hats all at the same time. Hat 1 running a game, Hat two, helping to run the show by checking on the traders etc. Hat 3 Promoting the Rainham wargames club. (Hat 4 was getting photos buying stuff and having fun). Anyway the first 2 photos are set up in the main hall. The game being set up in the middle was a rather nice 15mm Alamo game which I really regret not getting a pic of as I have seen it before and it does look good. The second photo is Kev and Peter from the Rainham club and of course my game. Third Picture is the game in progress. But As I know you have seen this set up before I won't say anything else about it now.

Maidstone club one the prize for best game in show with their 6mm D-Day Pegasus Bridge game. It would not have been my personal choice, but it would have been in the top 5 and therefore I can no complaints as the judges would have had a lot longer to look at everything and hopefully be more open minded than me. So well done Andy and the Maidstone guys.
MHWC, the hosts of Broadside put on a Rapid fire game in 20 mm. Probably the biggest game at the show in terms of floor space, and I really liked the look of it despite the fact that you see so many WW2 games at shows. Which I guess on reflection shows their popularity.
I can  say very little about the next few pics except give scale. They are a 28mm ancients game from a club, a10mm game put on by a games company and a 28mm game from the another club with a strong association with "Tolehaven".It's a shame that some clubs still persist in show games with unpainted figures, I am sure they would rather have everything painted and ready to go, but real life probably got in the way. It happens sometimes and for the most part does not happen very much at all. *Climbs off soap box*
 Think of this report as a learning experience and the next show report will be better. The last two Pictures are of course the Posties Rejects one of the game and one of their guys. I'll leave it to you to work out who each one is. From my point of view meeting them all was one of the show highlights. I shall give my thoughts and reflections on the show later in the week once I have mulled them over.

That's it for today. I feel sure there will be a few more show reports in the next day or two so just think of this as a taster of what's to come. AS I type this I think it was a better show than last year and hope that next year will be better still.

Thanks for reading, all the best and more soon. Maybe tomorrow. Cheers Clint

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TODAY

Well it's 6:30 am and I am all ready to go. I have been up since 4am just checking that I have everything right and correct not that I think I have, bound to have forgotten something.

Since getting up I have printed spare Flea market forms, spare Parking vouchers, some quick reference sheets  and the scenario we shall play.

The next stage is to move everything to the front of the house ready for pick up. My lift arrives at 8:15 or there abouts. We should be packed and on the road by 8:25 and arrive at the hall about 8:45. And that's when it all begins. The doors will have been open from 8am so it should be in set up mode by then. I have asked RWC (Rainham Wargames Club) to arrive at about 9am. I have not told them yet That I have put my hand in pocket and booked 5 bacon Sarnies for us. Hope no one's on a diet. They'll have to buy their own teas coffees and beers though (I can only think of one club member who might want a beer at 8 am..... the rest of us No.) . But I think the Sarnies will be very much appreciated.

I have 19 items for our clubs Flea market stall all stuffed in carrier bags and I think it's all at a price to sell. However I expect to be bringing most of it home again. Probably with a lot more from other people. Time will tell.

In my head I have a small shopping list, some things MUCH more important than others. Nothing too exciting but we all know come about Wednesday I'll post a shot of the swag I walk out with. You never know might happen tonight when I get in.

Now I still have time to get some cornflakes and have a final read of the rules.

Talk soon Cheers Clint

2 Days to Go!

 As I am sure you are now WELL aware of BROADSIDE

will take place on Sunday and this is the last post from me before it does. I did contemplate detailing the show, but lets be honest if you are interested you're either coming or not by this stage, I really doubt there will be any last second changes of plans. However I would be doing the show a dis-service  if I did not put a link in as well. http://www.mhwc.co.uk/broadside-2012 
So there you go.
I thought I should also show where I am with regard to Saga. As I already had a box of Gripping Beast Hirdmen, also known as Vikings it was an obvious place to start. Given the lack of uniforms and the universal use of equipment by all sides, often given to loyal followers when stripped from the dead of either side following a battle. These troops can easily be used as Scots, Viking, Anglo Danish, Anglo Saxon, Welsh etc. The main differences come at the levy quality troops which would most likely not be given battle trophies. In the Saga rules "Dane Axes" are not given to Vikings, (they get berserkers instead) so the guy on the right in the SAGA rules would be Anglo Danish. In Real life obviously every faction used every weapon but for the game this guy is an Anglo Dane. The top unit of four figures are in my mind "Hearth-guard" as I have unified them with the same colour shields. While not a uniform as such it does identify them as being together. Call it Artistic licence. I am sticking to geometric shield designs just for ease of painting but I think it works quite well and gives a good look. Lots more to do of course. but at least it's a start.
That's it for Today. I may sneak a quick post in tomorrow (no promises) as I would post on Sunday, but I will be at the show. So take care and speak soon. All the best Clint.

Progress of sorts.

Having no focus I am doing a bit of everything all at the same time but mostly taking the opportunity to finish things off. Always worthwhile. The top picture is some "Zombie" ground scatter. Tim at Frontline (http://www.frontlinewargaming.co.uk/) makes these in resin. I was lucky enough to be given these by him at Cavalier back in February and finally managed to polish them all off. (I had already done some. But now I've got them all done.) They are not brilliantly painted, but they can now be put away and use for any forthcoming Zombie games.

The Second Picture is a few more bases for PBI. Two BAR, two Garand and one carbine (Command) stands. Slowly slowly moving this project forward. Obviously I had to finish all the Afghan boards and figures first so these have been on hold for a while. I can now press forward with this project now as well as several others that are part done. I had an email from Karl at Crooked Dice yesterday, it seems he'll be on his own at the Crooked dice stand at BROADSIDE, selling things and playing a game. He  did mention the "Fiddlers Green" game which involves Spy-fi agents against scarecrows in  very English village setting. I'll have a chat with the Rainham Wargames Club ( the club I belong to) and see if next year they'd like to do something Crooked Dice based for a couple of shows. Karl lives about 15 miles away from me so it could benefit us all. I'll have a chat with Karl on Sunday, as well as RWC and see if it's a good fit for both parties. I personally like the idea but I am only one voice among many.

I'll try to have some SAGA figures done for my next post on Friday. Thanks for looking take care cheers Clint.

What next?

Well that is the question. I have a feeling of Anti-climax now the Afghan boards are finished. (OK there are a couple of very small tweaks to make on them, but I'm not doing that in the rain.) So a week before Broadside and having booked the week off work I find myself twiddling my thumbs.

Don't get me wrong it's a fantastic position to be in. However I can't help thinking I should be working on something wargaming.

I have loads of ideas of course, but I don't want to start something and then get inspiration at Broadside and loose impetus.

As a club our next project will be SAGA. That being the case I will probably build a force for the game. Which is why I have photographed these two. About 18 months ago I was going to build a 28mm Viking DBA army, just for fun. Shame to let a few painted figures go to waste so I may well work on these this week. I really need to bite the bullet and decide which faction I want to do. Viking, Anglo-Dane, Norman, Scots, or even Breton. The others don't interest me. I think I'll just paint and see where it takes me. I have a couple of Ulfhednar and some with broad axes so Anglo-Dane or Viking seem to be the place to start.

In addition to Saga I will also get a bit of a mix of other projects progressed as well until I can get some focus.

That's it for today, thanks for reading. Hope the Jubilee celebrations are to your liking, after all they almost definitely won't be repeated in our life-times. All the Best Clint.