And so it begins

Despite having a heavy cold, (NO sympathy please), I have been working up the shed. Only a couple of hours but some progress has been made. As you can see in the photo I have supplemented the 2 foot square boards with 2 double sized (2'x4') boards. (I have 2 more small boards not shown and set aside for later use on different projects).

 There is a reason for this which will become evident as work continues. This gives us a 4 foot by 6 foot playing surface. Alan (the main Broadside organiser) has agreed that we can have as large an area as we need so I might well ask for an additional 2 foot length, not for terrain, but for dice rolling, model placement and for any literature we may produce as a club, for the game. By literature I do not mean great works of storytelling prowess that would be stretching it far to far, but club leaflets and meeting dates a little about the rules and the game and the background if you have been to a few shows you'll know what I mean.

The next stage is to plan out what terrain is needed and where on the boards it will go. I have decided to keep it as simple as I can as that will give me a chance to get it finished. Additionally I will want the boards to be as versatile as possible. There was a club game at Broadside last year some 8 feet by 12 feet only capable of one configuration. I am not knocking this approach, but as a small club with very limited resources I think it's better that we at least attempt to get as much use of any built terrain as we possibly can.

Looking carefully in the background you can see the moon boards and top left corner the past table which I have started to convert into Circus Minimus! I have only mentioned those terrain projects to let you know they have not at all been forgotten about. The moon boards were twisting and warping so a few months of lying flat will probably help them straighten out.

On an unrelated note I have been invited to attend a game with "Posties Rejects" in about 10 days time (16th March). I am actually looking forward to it and have offered to bring something edible. (Yes it's a bribe! ). As yet I have not decided if Sweet or Savoury is the way to go.
 Ray has informed me I will be on his side against Mr Angry (aka Fran) and  Big Lee as a consequence I have informed Ray that we shall keep anything edible our side of the table. I just don't have enough time to make some very rough "Poitin" but I don't want anyone getting too rowdy so I won't this time!

That's it for today with luck more again on Thursday!
All the best Clint.

One off game idea

      I mentioned a one off game idea to Karl (Crooked Dice) and he was kind enough to give me a free figure of a "fembot" as it has a robot mask head. So here is my first attempt to replicate the classic film "West World" onto the table top.  I have tried to recreate the Yul Bryner gunfighter. Unfortunately I could not get an exact copy of the figure so instead went for one I had already. It is a foundry figure from their "wild west Cowboy" range. I did not have a figure that was wearing a shirt without a waist coat. Yes I know that this one is wearing a "firemans" shirt which is different from the film. So we have to accept the figure is representational and not a definitive copy. (I did look for one at Cavalier but came up short). The thing to bear in mind is that it is the idea which makes the game and not the detail of the figure.  Despite the fact that the picture was taken in natural light it has come out very dark. I accept that the figure is painted in dark greys and dark browns but even so it has still the best of the bunch and still far to dark. Oh well!!

West World was of course written by Michael Crichton who then adapted and re-wrote the story which later became "Jurassic Park". While there are similarities there are also differences but they are both about "Theme Parks" which go horribly wrong and try to kill the people there on vacation.  I would recommend the film if you have not seen it. Yes it is dated and it shows, but it is still worth looking at.

So where does that put us with a game? In the film Yul Brynor is the only real nasty trying to kill the star. But that need not be the case in a game. The first time the star and co-star (who dies) encounter robots that have gone wrong is when a rattlesnake bites one of them. Obviously this should not happen, "Health and Safety " would freak! In a game setting however it would be better to have several robots trying to kill the players. At this stage it is only the germ of an idea but I think it has legs as a one of club game as we already have all the terrain and figures we would need, Unless of course I can scrounge more robot heads.

That's it for this week. It all starts again on Tuesday. Thanks for reading and I hope you like the idea. All the best Clint.

                                                                                       

1 New 3 Re-paints

 Well as you can see I have managed to repaint three more figures from the white spray can fiasco. In addition I finished another Hasslefree zombie hunter. So four figures finished this week, which considering I have been on Annual leave is really not a lot. I shall try to do better next week. Not really a lot more to say today so I shall keep it short.

I'll post again on Sunday (I hope) so until then take care of yourself and those who are close to you. All the best Clint

SWAG (Cavalier)

As mentioned on Monday here is a quick shot of the Cavalier loot. I did not stick entirely to my planned spend but I will say there is nothing I am unhappy with. So what did I walk out the door with?

• 7ombie Tv Supplement "For Ghouls and Colleges" Not only the rules but also the cards. Being honest I can't see myself using the majority of this rule supplement as most of it is not to my taste. I am glad to have gotten it, but it will probably never be used. I know a couple of other club members will want a look though and perhaps they will take something from it that I have missed.
• Osprey fortress series: D-Day Fortifications in Normandy. On my list I had thought to get an Osprey book of some kind. Given my Architectural background and my interest in wargaming Osprey Fortress series always have something of interest for me. It was not until Monday night that it occurred to me that I might find something useful for my Caen Campaign. Given that this book concentrates on beach defences there is little I can use in reality for the campaign though, unless I do a flash back mission. It will be read and digested and the information used at a later date no doubt.
• 1 Pot of Dark elf Green "Coat d' Arms" paint. (I can always use dark green paint!
• A complete 15mm War of Spanish Succession British army. (all the packs centre left). I had asked Black Hat to bring one for me to look at as I would rather see what the figures look like in real life than via the interwebb thingie! I glanced at two packs and immediately decided that I liked the figures so much more than the Bacus 6mm ones.  I passed Mike Lewis my hard earned and went round with a smile on my face all day. I will say I really do like these figures in 15mm, I can't stress that enough. I also bumped into one of the Kirke's Lambs Re-enactors (the group now disbanded), whom I had actually been to school with. This may have influenced me... Nah!
• 2 Packs of Bases from Peter Pig. (30mmx40mm) Having spoken to Ray Rousell about his 15mm Beneath the Lilly banners base sizes these are just fractionally bigger. This should be enough to get started. These bases are the same size an my Apache bases so we can both guess where any spare will end up. 
• 2 Resin Miscasts. Both these resin pieces are 20mm in scale and fit the criteria of farm out buildings given the very least amount of work. This work estimate will of course change the moment I want to use them of course.
• 2 Packs of SHQ 20mm French resistance. One with a pistol one with a shot gun and the last with a bren gun. Perfect for VBCW.
• 1 Pack of Artisan Cowboys from Second City. Yeah these were more an impulse buy then anything, but I was looking for a single cowboy figure but could not find the single figure I wanted. But all three are very nice sculpts and with a name like Clint Cowboys are always an option! Perhaps it's a weakness. If I had been Christened "Kirk" no doubt Star Trek would float my boat (it doesn't).
• Last but not least a gift from Crooked Dice another Fembot. Was offered it free by Karl because he really likes a game idea I suggested and because I gave him some of the fudge I made for Ray and Fran. (I am not suggesting good quality food is a way to a wargamers heart.... you can make your own assessment!)

Well that's the haul that made it home with me. But the best thing I walked away with was the smile and feeling of well being the show engendered in me.

That's todays post folks. next post Friday. Until then take care and paint if you can and plan to paint if you can't. All the best Clint!

Cavalier 2013

Yesterday I went to Cavalier, the Tonbridge Well Wargames Society (TWWS) show. For me this is the first show of the year and represents getting back into the swing of things after the Winter season. Weather is quite often an issue for this time of year but this year it was behaving itself, (last year we came across several flooded roads on the way home, a few years before that it was cancelled due to the snow etc....) This year I didn't even wear a coat even in the queue outside.  Ahead in the row of big hairy (and some baldy) large girthed chaps I could see some familure faces Bloggers Fran, Ray and Big Lee among them. (All three lesser girthed chaps than many in the queue!)

Inside it was very busy as always with shows dropping off in the afternoon. (I'll do a loot hall post later in the week, but overall very happy with my swag.) For me though the best part of the show was the meeting of fellow wargamers. At the start it really was a case of walking 5 paces and stopping and offering a greeting to a chap I knew (mostly vaguely but still) with others it was a 5 minute or longer chat. After the pleasantries it is usually a case of finding out what they are after or have already bought, some discussion of club politics and less commonly of Game ideas. I had mentioned one game idea with Larry (Hernebay and Whitstable club) about 15 months ago and he wanted to talk through the idea some more. With that gestation period the idea definitely has legs, so I will propose it for our club show game next year.

Anyway enough waffle and if I'm not going to talk about purchases or this idea I'd best start with the pictures. I have to say unlit the last hour of my visit I had forgotten to take the camera out of my bag, but was reminded by Big Lee as he rushed passed saying that he'd not taken many pictures (thanks Lee) or I might have forgotten. It's very possible that I have the labels wrong on these pictures so feel free to correct me if you know better.



Friday Night Firefight Club with Patton '46 gamed caption

My Favourite game of the show.
Crawley Wargames Club, "Brave Little Belgium 1940" Game

Belgium again, but out of the town square! A very busy looking game with much to see.

North London Wargames Group, "Drop the Bridge" (I think)

Old France new England a French Indian war game.
The guys were in costume as well !



Society of Ancients, "Battle of Crimius 340BC"



The Gamers Hub, a group of mostly young gamers
in the Medway towns with masses of enthusiasm.
"Imperial Siege 40000"



Southend Wargames Club (I suspect, but not sure and would like confirmation)
I spoke to one of the chaps here (sorry I can't remember his name)
 who was very happy to discuss the rules they were using "Maurice"
 and why they had swapped from "Lilly Banners Rules"
They also claim to have seen my blog so they get double bonus points.
as it looks like the kind of game I would have enjoyed to play.

Maidstone Wargames Club with "Operation Deadstick"


 

Tony take 2

Here is the repainted Tony. Yatter Yatter Yatter white primer spray varnish You know the story but here is tony finished. As you can see I still have not worked out how to manipulate images on windows 8 so it's a bit of a long shot. Anything closer or with a telephoto lenses was too blurry to show anything. I'll figure it out sooner or later, bear with me.

Anyway a weeks (half term child minding) is over, at least until Easter. Warhammer 40k has been put away again and need not rear it's head for at least 5 weeks. Actually I will admit I did enjoy the last game we played as I made my nephew work out all the rules in order to stop him saying 4+ for every single dice roll! By Jove I think he knows the rules now. Or at the very least he realises that ballistic skill + dice roll has to be 7+ in order to achieve a hit. This is a big step forward.

Tomorrow is Cavalier, a local wargames show. I have made some homemade chocolate pecan and pistachio fudge for the Posties Rejects. Foolish of me perhaps but I am putting it all in a single container I'll let them work out how to split it up among themselves. I also hope they will offer it to any other bloggers who turn up as they know far more bloggers then I do. I actually trust all of them to share but I do think there will be quite a lot of banter among themselves. Let's hope there's no fallout to innocent bystanders! The road to hell is, as they say, paved with good intentions!!!

I do have a shopping list of goodies planned in my head for the traders tomorrow. Certain traders will not be attending which is a shame as a couple of them would stock the things I need. Anyway here is a few things I will be looking for:

• WSS figures.
• 28mm Cowboy (1 single figure for a game idea)
• 20mm Partisans for VBCW
• 20mm Cold war turns hot/ZONE vehicle (BMP or BTR80 )
• 28mm Witches
• 28mm dogs
• 15mm chariot (a sample for chariot race game), Essex Donnington, Magista Militum etc
• possibly a 10mm chariot for the same If I can find one.
• Osprey Book of some kind
• anything else that takes my fancy at the time

Those are just as few quick thoughts, but when I get there I will no doubt get sidetraked and come away with something completely different!

That's it for today. Hope to do a show report on Monday. All the best Clint

BUF Cavalry.

Here today having finally gotten onto the computer we have a squad of British Union of Fascists (BUF). They are 20mm (1/72 scale) from IT Miniatures. At this stage they are 90% finished, with just the touching up to do and some tufts to put on the base, so let's call them done.  There is one officer (far right) and 9 other ranks which all have the same pose. All the horses are the same though, just painted in different colours. You can only just make out the red arm band on the figures left arms. You'll have to take my word for it but they also have lightning bolt flashes to the arm band (ok some did not come out that well but they all look OK if not perfect!).

 They all have black shirts and army green trousers typical of the BUF. The horses have a variety of blanket colours and different coloured tack. Overall I am pleased with how they have come out and think they will be a great addition to the proposed VBCW game.

Thanks for reading today and I will try to write again on Saturday. Only one more day of babysitting to go and am so looking forward to being able to do my own thing at least part of the day. Tomorrow I have to be Space marines and fight yet another 40k battle. I expect to lose the game big time, as my heart is really not in it. Anyway that's it for today. Speak to you soon.
Cheers Clint  

Here we go again!!!

Following my white spray primer fiasco. I set aside the figures for a while as I just could not face them straight away. Well time has passed and I have re-painted the first one. Tony is the next in line, but for now and because of the limited time I have this week, being half term etc etc. I just managed to get one back to how it should be.  Not dwelling on the subject too much, but re-painting is a pretty joyless task for me and with luck it will not be a mistake I will make again in the near future.

As I am now being asked by a 12 year old to if he can get on the computer I'll cut it short and try to post again on Thursday! All the best Clint.

Last 2 for now!

These will be the last two VBCW vehicles for now, although there will be more in a little while. Two commercial vehicles no doubt pressed into service by some faction or another. The cream and red one was a right pig to paint and came very close to being thrown round the room and wit with a hammer. If I can build up the courage I might re-paint it in a few weeks time. Where as the light green "Williams and Grey" delivery van was the exact opposite, a joy to paint. I will admit it did start as a lilac colour but once I changed that to the light green everything flowed. again both these are available from Tim at FRONTLINE cast in resin with separate wheels. These two are actually two miss casts and do have very minor imperfections but nothing I will worry about too much.  Knowing Tim it is always a bonus the get some miscasts for club use as he can't sell them.

My first real unit of troops is coming along. I will pick up a few packs of French Resistance from SHQ and maybe Grubby Tanks at Cavalier next weekend. These will be to flesh out the IT miniatures figures to create variety as opposed to starting a whole new unit. I will have to do a show shopping list this week (look for it in a post later in the week) to try to deter me impulse buying.

Also as it is half term I will be looking after my nephew for a few days which means painting time will be cut dramatically. He also wants me to play 40k so he can learn the rules (shudder). Which I must say I am not looking forward to. But hey ho he's only young once!

That's it for today. Nephew permitting next post is on Tuesday. Take care and have a relaxing Sunday. All the best Clint.

Boards and things

As you can see I have been battening out some terrain boards. Each board is 2' square with 3/4x1 1/8" pine battens. Experience has taught me that this will both stop the boards warping and also reinforce them at the same time. While I am sure there are many other ways of doing the same thing I know this way works and gives a good result. I only managed to get four done, before the cold weather, boredom and need to get ready for work made it sensible to stop. I might manage more over the weekend. 4 is the minimum I can get away with, but 6 boards would be idea. Anyway it's a good solid start and a vital first step. Should I make a couple more over the weekend then I will start to plan the layout. Obviously I have things in mind, but until you start to lay them out I never know for sure. (Actually I only really know what I want when I have done what I don't want!) ........ Typical of me!

To the right is a new bag. A promotional Item for Virgin Galactic. So far this year I have managed to stick to the proposed projects, but I am now thinking outside that limited range as we run up to Cavalier, the first show of the season for me. Luckily one of my game ideas would require a certain company to be there, and this year they are not. So I will not get side-tracked  onto that idea until at least Salute when I get to talk the guys concerned. That does not mean there is no danger of me getting way-laid by other projects at Cavalier. As I have a little list of things I will be looking for. The most major of these is the War of Spanish Succession figures. While I would like to do this in 6mm, having sent for some figures I must say that now seeing them in the "flesh" I am not overjoyed with them, as such I give fair warning I may change scale even after the very helpful poll. I feel a little guilty about that, but if my hearts not in it I see no point in forcing it. The chances are that I will not see anything better but it is fair to say I will be looking at a couple of other options.

That's todays blog post thanks for reading and more again on Sunday. All the best Clint

Cars (no not disney!)

Sorry I know the picture is dark, but I have yet to work out how to manipulate images in windows 8. There must be an easy way so I am sure it will come in time, but at present it eludes me. Two more FRONTLINE vehicles these will either be staff cars or normal civilian cars as the need arrives. One in Black the other a very deep red. The red colour was due to watching an episode of Colditz yesterday in which a car of the very same colour was driven by the star before he was shot down over Germany and captured. Yes I will use any source to get a colour I like! Not really that much more to say about these two.

I have two more civilian vehicles on the paint table which will be finished next, then on to some troops as to be blunt I am getting a little bored with doing vehicles.  As the weather looks acceptable today I will try to get up the shed and start converting wood into base boards. Not the most exciting of jobs, but it is the first step and I can't put it of much longer.

That's todays very quick post. More of the same on Friday. All the best Clint.

Civil war battle!

Regular readers will know that every other Sunday is a club day. Most of the club wanted to play Saga. I was not in a Saga Mood so I played a game of Civil War Battles (Peter Pig rules). Me and Rob were confederates and Graham and Peter were Union. All figures terrain and rules were supplied by Graham. Using Peter Pig rules you never ever get the force that you anticipate or the battle field you selected.  As such me an Rob set the battlefield up and Peter and Graham managed to move several of the key features to more favourable positions to them. It was a mid war eastern battle and the Confederates were defending. And that's where it started to go wrong!  The Picture to the right shows the Confederate battle line we had a rail track and a stream, they did us very little good. Pre game procedures meant that the whole left flank (Most of my troops to command either failed to appear at the start of the game (they would arrive later in the game) or Failed to appear altogether! As such the troops I actually did manage to field were a general, 2 stands of Cavalry a smoothbore  battery and a rifled artillery battery. Which means 5 stands of figures to hold the left flank. Rob managed to get loads more... he actually had some infantry.... 2 units on the board at the start of the game and 2 in reserve.

 As mentioned I had 2 artillery batteries, but the Union Cavalry pregame had managed to displace them from the hillock they had set up on. So it took a couple of turns to get them into a firing position. But not all was lost at this stage. I dismounted my cavalry into the tree line of one of the wooded areas. As skirmishers (carbine armed) they had a short (6") range but they managed to come out of the wood in skirmish line cross the stream and bring fire on the Union cavalry that were circling my flank about to enter my rear area. No one likes enemy cavalry in their rear. As a plan it worked for 2 turns but they were charged by 2 different Union Cavalry units and routed of the table. Rob was doing a lot better His of table troops had arrived and the right flank and part of the centre looked solid and secure. I had a unit of Veteran infantry in reserve and needed to roll 5+ on 2d6. You would hope that in the game I would manage to roll 5+ on 2d6 each turn. Yeah Hoped they would too. But I proved that I can roll consistently low at all the wrong times. My artillery batteries were doing sterling work. They managed to stall the Union Infantry units and slow their advance. I was only ale to slow one unit each turn by this tactic and facing 3 units it was just a matter of time before they inevitably were in danger. The Union Cavalry had re grouped and were no longer disrupted by forcing my good ol' boys from the table and as we ran out of time they were just in canister range of my rifled artillery battery, but unfortunately it was facing the wrong way. It was confederate turn next and If I had been lucky I might have been able to wheel into position and let rip with canister into the cavalry. I would have needed to roll 4+ on 1D6 in order to be able to attempt this.
Overall I was on the back foot from the start. I did manage to hold the Union forces of for long enough for Rob to push his flank into enemy territory despite being on the defensive. I did ask Rob to send me some of his troops to Bolster the left but he was more intent in killing Peters troops. I can't blame him for that, but it would have made a big difference to me as I had so few troops on the table. Still that is the joy of multiplayer games everyone has their own agenda.

Her Is a pic of the Saga multiplayer game mid flow. They managed to get 2-3 games in with different opponents on each side and a board game afterwards while we failed to complete a game! It was a good day and despite the fact that I did not want to go originally I am glad I did in the end. yes I lost dramatically but they guys are the kind of people that make loosing worthwhile!