Thursday, 16 February 2012
Fantastic Voyage 2 (More "tank" pics)
As not all the pics came out on the last post here are the rest. Mostly I have 3 of each type, but only one flier and 4 of this one. Last pic shows all the types together for a comparison of size. Colour wise I have three projects for these bug vehicles. Moon boards, Tim's desert boards in 15mm, and the fantastic voyage game. Colours should suit all three terrains if possible, but undecided just yet, either beetle like or worm like is my current thoughts. But any suggestions welcome. Always happy to have constructive feedback.

We can play on the moon boards as soon as there's a spare slot at the club. which should be 6 weeks time if Kev, Tim and Relfie desire (or anyone else). Up to you guys I know you'll let me know.
Fantastic Voyage idea
Up the shed the moon board is drying nicely and should go to paint over the weekend. The coast board is also coming along well. I have added the 3 inches to bring it to full height and if dry tomorrow I'll do the basic carving on the cliffs. And then that's the boring bit done with The exciting bit is next where I swear a lot make a mess and panic.
Due to babysitting duties I have painted nothing more than last time.
Anyway that's it for today,
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Early again
Again posting early because I think I'll have my nephew again tomorrow and therefore will not get a chance to write anything then.
Having had such a good game at the club on Sunday my thoughts have naturally drifted onto all things colonial. I mentioned the diversity of club members a few days ago, but when you enjoy a game you want to play and collect it. Tim has enough 15mm Sudan stuff, or will have when he gets some more Ansar for the Mahdi's forces as I felt he was a little shy in the last game. Graham is also thinking of getting some stuff for this period, he mentioned Egyptian forces. Egyptians would be a nice compliment as they can be used to both fight against or alley with the British depending upon the dateline. (Although they would not alley with the Mahdi!) So IF I decide to join in I might be best selecting another part of the world for the colonial period. The obvious one is Zulus, but the thought of painting a horde of 15mm Zulus quite frankly leaves me COLD! Afghan tribesmen or Maoris also fails to inspire me. Which could leave the Boxers if I wanted a colourful army and I like the idea but then I think of all the terrain and the painting and cost and I quickly go off the idea. There is a colonial project I started about 20 years ago however which I could rejuvenate. I have a start for it and it would or at least could be a good fun game to play.... 7th Cavalry and Indians, (Sioux or Apache). It's not the obvious choice for colonials as we tend to pigeon hole colonial mostly to British or at least European Expansionism. Our Friends across the pond did not need to set sail and invade another country they only "needed" to invade their own! (No offence meant to any American readers).
Well the snow has gone so I have managed to do some work up the shed, now it needs to dry again. The Moon board has had another coat of "Muck" and now has to dry. This should be it's last coat of muck and then two coats of paint and glue to bring it to the same stage as the others.
The coastline board has dried (mostly) so I have added a few more layers which brings it 3 inches short of planned height. I have carved the cliffs a little so there are no massive overl-hangs. I am a little behind on these two projects now, but not disastrously behind just yet.
Little has been finished due to babysitting duties. Currently on the paint table is a unit of 10mm dwarfs, A matchbox converted car, and a platoon of 15mm US infantry for PBI. Yes I know it's a random mixture but these are all ongoing projects. I am looking forward to sharing them with you as I get them done. AT present I am doing a bit on all of them when time allows.
Having had such a good game at the club on Sunday my thoughts have naturally drifted onto all things colonial. I mentioned the diversity of club members a few days ago, but when you enjoy a game you want to play and collect it. Tim has enough 15mm Sudan stuff, or will have when he gets some more Ansar for the Mahdi's forces as I felt he was a little shy in the last game. Graham is also thinking of getting some stuff for this period, he mentioned Egyptian forces. Egyptians would be a nice compliment as they can be used to both fight against or alley with the British depending upon the dateline. (Although they would not alley with the Mahdi!) So IF I decide to join in I might be best selecting another part of the world for the colonial period. The obvious one is Zulus, but the thought of painting a horde of 15mm Zulus quite frankly leaves me COLD! Afghan tribesmen or Maoris also fails to inspire me. Which could leave the Boxers if I wanted a colourful army and I like the idea but then I think of all the terrain and the painting and cost and I quickly go off the idea. There is a colonial project I started about 20 years ago however which I could rejuvenate. I have a start for it and it would or at least could be a good fun game to play.... 7th Cavalry and Indians, (Sioux or Apache). It's not the obvious choice for colonials as we tend to pigeon hole colonial mostly to British or at least European Expansionism. Our Friends across the pond did not need to set sail and invade another country they only "needed" to invade their own! (No offence meant to any American readers).
Well the snow has gone so I have managed to do some work up the shed, now it needs to dry again. The Moon board has had another coat of "Muck" and now has to dry. This should be it's last coat of muck and then two coats of paint and glue to bring it to the same stage as the others.
The coastline board has dried (mostly) so I have added a few more layers which brings it 3 inches short of planned height. I have carved the cliffs a little so there are no massive overl-hangs. I am a little behind on these two projects now, but not disastrously behind just yet.
Little has been finished due to babysitting duties. Currently on the paint table is a unit of 10mm dwarfs, A matchbox converted car, and a platoon of 15mm US infantry for PBI. Yes I know it's a random mixture but these are all ongoing projects. I am looking forward to sharing them with you as I get them done. AT present I am doing a bit on all of them when time allows.
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Sudan Club Game. Battle Report
I am blogging early today, because I will be looking after my nephew a few times this week including tomorrow so I might not get time then. I hope to post again on Wednesday.
So it was club day today at the club, I was going to play Warmaster with Kev and Relfie but as Relfie did not think he could get the day of work I arranged a game with Tim. Playing a game with Tim is always good all his figures are well painted and based. He provides all the scenery and makes no fuss about all the work he has done. The basic scenario was to relive a small detachment of Scots troops on the outskirts of a town. Tim Made and cast the town and is available from FRONTLINE WARGAMING so have a look. Thorn bushes had been cut down to create a defence position which we had to reach all the way across 6 foot of 15mm desert.
The Relief column is in the second picture and Graham and myself shared the responsibility of command. We used the rules "A Good Dusting" mostly as a playtest for the club as not one of us had used them before. My forces and a cavalry troop are to the bottom of the picture while Graham had two additional units not seen in the pic. The Ansar were to appear in "Random" locations at "random" times so all we had to do was advance to the objective at the pace of ox carts on the open desert, which is to say walking pace. So off we set with flank and rear guard units set out in place in a very organised manner.
The Mardi did not want to play straight of the bat and only sent a small probing unit of spears and sword into a rocky outcrop on the far right flank. Obviously I was not going to let that go unchallenged so I countered with a unit of infantry in open order to flush them out while supporting with my cavalry.
The column slowly advanced.
The following turn a unit of Camalry arrived on the British left and two units of Ansar with rifles decided to test the defending Scots in their defence position. Graham sent his cavalry against the camels and melee was entered. The melee was indecisive and a group of "Fuzzy Wuzzies"turned up in a box canyon previously unobserved by our Colonial powers. By now my fire power had halved the spear on the rough hill so I let loose the cavalry in an impetuous charge up hill on a rocky slope. They consequently bounced, but did not rout.
Johnny Foreigner then bought a smooth bore cannon up behind me. Just not cricket old boy not cricket at all. The shooting Madi at the Scotch defence forced the lowlanders back and made them regroup.
The Cavalry/camalry melee was still pretty much at a stand still each taking equal casualties and thus a swirly mass of mounted troops hacking at each other. The Fuzzies tried to join the melee but the khaki line of foot poured a withering fire into them. It was decisive enough to give them a pluck test which made the halt before contact.
On my flank (the right) I pulled the cavalry out of the charge and turned them on the smooth bore. They would stop short and have to suffer cannon shot but if they survived they would fall on the gun and sweep it from the board. And If they did not survive It would buy me enough time to bring some infantry into place to bring Martini Henry's revenge on the cannon crew. Harsh but If I was going to loose any unit the cavalry were my choice. As luck (in the form of bad dice rolls) would have it they took very minimal casualties and ploughed into the Gun. I felt good. I finally got rid of those pesky spearmen with my rifle line my cavalry had survived assured destruction and the column was creeping up the board. More Ansar arrived, foot units on the left and a native horse unit near the smooth bore threatening to scupper my cavalry. Graham was not getting it all his own way. His cavalry finally broke leaving a gap for the Camalry to dash through and reach the baggage train. However Graham had anticipated and swung his rear guard unit into position to "muller" the Native Cavalry and his baggage train guard unit to a position to counter the Camalry IF they did close with the baggage train.
My Infantry by this stage had moved far enough up the table to take a couple of rocky hills (uncontested) and bring supporting fire for the Sottish contingent who were slowly getting whittled down. Platoon fire from these heights drove the locals back into the town and away from the Scottish defenders.
At this stage it was clear that we would make it through with sufficient force to relieve the defenders. My Cavalry scattered the gun crew. and Grahams infantry had overlapping fields of fire and could enfilade any attacking force that came close.
Conclusion: A good game, rules we shall use again, nice scenery and figures. Great people to game with all in all a very worthwhile experience. It is clear the Tim needs more Mardist forces, they did well but needed more numbers to really challenge the British. Arriving piece meal ment they had no concentration and allowed me and Graham to focus on them when the arrived and we thus tended to outnumber them when it mattered most. (in terms of fire power if not always numbers).
The Relief column is in the second picture and Graham and myself shared the responsibility of command. We used the rules "A Good Dusting" mostly as a playtest for the club as not one of us had used them before. My forces and a cavalry troop are to the bottom of the picture while Graham had two additional units not seen in the pic. The Ansar were to appear in "Random" locations at "random" times so all we had to do was advance to the objective at the pace of ox carts on the open desert, which is to say walking pace. So off we set with flank and rear guard units set out in place in a very organised manner.
The column slowly advanced.
The following turn a unit of Camalry arrived on the British left and two units of Ansar with rifles decided to test the defending Scots in their defence position. Graham sent his cavalry against the camels and melee was entered. The melee was indecisive and a group of "Fuzzy Wuzzies"turned up in a box canyon previously unobserved by our Colonial powers. By now my fire power had halved the spear on the rough hill so I let loose the cavalry in an impetuous charge up hill on a rocky slope. They consequently bounced, but did not rout.
The Cavalry/camalry melee was still pretty much at a stand still each taking equal casualties and thus a swirly mass of mounted troops hacking at each other. The Fuzzies tried to join the melee but the khaki line of foot poured a withering fire into them. It was decisive enough to give them a pluck test which made the halt before contact.
On my flank (the right) I pulled the cavalry out of the charge and turned them on the smooth bore. They would stop short and have to suffer cannon shot but if they survived they would fall on the gun and sweep it from the board. And If they did not survive It would buy me enough time to bring some infantry into place to bring Martini Henry's revenge on the cannon crew. Harsh but If I was going to loose any unit the cavalry were my choice. As luck (in the form of bad dice rolls) would have it they took very minimal casualties and ploughed into the Gun. I felt good. I finally got rid of those pesky spearmen with my rifle line my cavalry had survived assured destruction and the column was creeping up the board. More Ansar arrived, foot units on the left and a native horse unit near the smooth bore threatening to scupper my cavalry. Graham was not getting it all his own way. His cavalry finally broke leaving a gap for the Camalry to dash through and reach the baggage train. However Graham had anticipated and swung his rear guard unit into position to "muller" the Native Cavalry and his baggage train guard unit to a position to counter the Camalry IF they did close with the baggage train.
My Infantry by this stage had moved far enough up the table to take a couple of rocky hills (uncontested) and bring supporting fire for the Sottish contingent who were slowly getting whittled down. Platoon fire from these heights drove the locals back into the town and away from the Scottish defenders.
At this stage it was clear that we would make it through with sufficient force to relieve the defenders. My Cavalry scattered the gun crew. and Grahams infantry had overlapping fields of fire and could enfilade any attacking force that came close.
Conclusion: A good game, rules we shall use again, nice scenery and figures. Great people to game with all in all a very worthwhile experience. It is clear the Tim needs more Mardist forces, they did well but needed more numbers to really challenge the British. Arriving piece meal ment they had no concentration and allowed me and Graham to focus on them when the arrived and we thus tended to outnumber them when it mattered most. (in terms of fire power if not always numbers).
Saturday, 11 February 2012
I am very pleased with the post man today. He dropped off a single eBay buy of this Dwarf Flame cannon blista. SO I'll give you a free guess as to what will be coming up on the painting table this week. Having looked at the figures closer than a simple eBay picture will allow I think they will fit quite nicely with the Kallistra ones I already have, which is going to save me a lot of time and effort. No need to muck about getting different crew figures and and all that malarkey! I still have a few packs of Kallistra to paint and base, before I can claim anything like enough to Field an army, But as I got this one cheap I feel I can indulge myself and get it done before next weekend. I have got some dwarf warriors on the table as we speak and I am sure I can get those done by then as well.
I hope to have a bit of a CULL of old figures soon, either at shows or on that famous on line auction site. I have been putting it off both through a reluctance to part with them and a natural level of apathy. However the time has come. I realised the time had come when I wanted to play a game of PBI (Poor Bloody Infantry by Peter Pig). the problem being that I don't have the figures for this project painted just yet. "I Know" I thought "I can use my Flames of war figures!" There in my mind problem solved. So I dragged the Flames box from the top of the cupboard and had a rummage. I went straight to the US Paratroop Company. I looked at the figures and I saw that the troops carrying BARs and .30 cals were for the most part mixed in with other figures and thus could not be told apart as I would need to for PBI. I looked at them, I starred at them, I thought long and Hard and put them back on top of the cupboard and took down the US infantry company which was still in its shrink wrap. The problem was that I could not face re-baseing them. I would rather start afresh than re base figures. Yes I know It is sheer lunacy but it's the way I'm hard-wired. Ahh you are thinking that's ok he can still play Flames now so that's ok nothing wrong with that. But there's a problem, and you knew there would be. You just knew it. The problem is no one else at the Rainham club plays Flames. The two people who did play have left the club for pastures new and I wish them luck with all that, but It means I have stuff I'll never get to use now. I could hang on hoping that a new player will turn up and already have an army that's compatible, but seriously what are the chances? So I think they will be part of a Cull, a spring Clean, an exodus, a slimming down if you will. One of the big problems with the club members and to some extent all wargamers is that we are all individuals. If I say at the Rainham club let's have a WW2 Game it would generally be accepted as a good idea (Unless I said we're playtesting for Phil and then I'd have a rather different response). And that's great happy smiley faces and lots of people saying I have "I have a _____ army " and "I have a ----- Army" but no two armies will be compatible with any other either in scale, theatre or time period. Let alone be based to the same set of rules. So at Rainham for the most part you need to do two armies, which can be a lot of work. Ok Ok that's a slight exaggeration as Pete and Rob can both field North African armies (Pete Axis and Rob British), in the same scale and using the same rules. But as a generalisation everyone has something different.
On the whole though I would not change the clubs attitude I am learning to embrace it. Finally coming to the Point Graham already has 2 PBI armies, (Russian and German). So creating an alternative one of my own seems like a good idea. The Obvious choice would be to build something which could be complement these armies so of course I have chosen Yanks!
Yes I am as bad as everyone else!
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Skaven Marines
All painted in acrylics and pretty quickly. I used a base coat of "tin bitz" for the rusty armour speckled with a couple of light browns and two or three brown washes of varying shades to get in all the cracks and give it a dirty look. Then some boltgun and mithril silver very very quickly drydrushed on to some of the areas mostly where I thought there would be exposed edges likely to take a bash. The light Green is Scorpion green and a mix of scorpion green and white, while the dull red is scab red, which I use as a part skin tone and on the bolt gun grips.
I have had a lot of fun doing these while I was not going up the shed but for now I'll put them away until after "Cavalier" (2 weeks time) in the hopes that I can get some more bits and bobs for them at the show really cheap, either at the bring and buy or at one of the stalls. I did intend to visit a GW store next week and get the staff to sort me out an army list based so that I may focus my spending a bit at the show, but as it's half term next week I'll give that a miss as the place will be crawling with kids and I don't want the local kids to start one of these armies and flood the store with badly done versions..... well maybe once I get enough to actually play a game, and not just one squad, which it is at the moment.
I have started painting the 20mm "Road Kill" vehicle now, I settled on a "Baby blue" base coat which does look quite striking. It's not till you start painting sometimes that you actually think more about the model. During construction I was focused on sticking things on and seeing what it looked like. When you get to painting however you have to make a decision about the game world. You have to decide for example if the car was modified before painting or if it was painted then modified. On the face of it it does not seem a hard question but there are implications as to how you see the world and the people in the world. If the car is modified and then painted for example it implies that the modifications would also be painted and there fore that the people had the time and energy to worry about aesthetics. Or was it a standard car that they adapted to fit a new environment and world setting. Generally we think it will be the second option, but if the rules already come with a world setting you can't be totally sure until you have read them.
Talking of rules I have sent for "Outrider" but not received them yet. The reviews I could find (few that they were) suggest that movement is like in "Wings of war" where you lay a card and then move the vehicle. I can see this working as a mechanic very well. It would rely on basing the vehicles. All of this is speculation for the moment though but I am intrigued enough to want to know more.
I had a "Senior moment" while at work last night and remembered a project I bought everything for but never actually started. One of the club members (Graham) plays PBI (poor Bloody Infantry) by Peter Pig. About 2 years ago I bought enough 15mm figures to create a US army infantry company and then did nothing with them so they are still sitting in their packets. That being the case I might dig them out and actually get them started while I wait for the Cavalier trolley dash experience. It will all depend on how the mood grabs me in the next couple of days. I don't want to build scenery in the shed for until the snow has gone, yes a wimp I know I have been called worse and probably will be again before the week's out. Like most of us I do have a lead mountain and yet as I look at some of the boxes I am not inspired enough to do much about it heaven forbid. And while I think about eBaying my Flames of war stuff (also 15mm ww2) I do wonder how much I can salvage and use for PBI. The problem I have had with Flames of War is the two club members who did start forces left and I am now left with an army I shall never use again, it's nicely painted so I should at least break even on eBay, although you can never tell, or I could sell it at Cavalier or Broadside.
Oh there is some news on Broadside by the way. The Council has completely changed how we are to cope with the parking this year. Last year we had to pre buy parking vouchers from them. This year we are to buy 4 hour tickets and display Broadside Badges in the car windscreens. It does raise the price from £2 to £3 for each vehicle, BUT we are not limited to how many car parking spaces we can have. Last year we had to limit it to two cars for each club and 2 for each trader. Which is awkward for clubs putting on games. (I'll talk about it at the club on Sunday).
Well that's today's news done, hope you found something interesting here. All the best Clint
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Road Kill?
add ons. I did read the rules for "Axles and Alloys" last night but I am not convinced. Only being able to make one turn each movement seems very restrictive, but perhaps It might give a reason to drop speed in order to manoeuvre. I am not anti "Dark future" from Games Workshop, I have the rules and did start reading them before X mass but never finished. I don't think it would take too much to use them although I would need to create some kind of turning key/template and forget the grids that are on their tracks. Another option is OUTRIDER, which I came across this morning and know very little about. It is available here:
The two photos are of cars I have created for a post apocalypse mad max setting. The top is 28mm scale, created a while back and I don't think I ever used it. It gives the right feel. I would like to get some buggies but they are harder to get as a starting point to work from and then they would require more work to bring to a good gaming standard and if in the rules they are not as powerful as standard cars why would you bother, except for completion.
I am using the weather as an excuse not to work up the shed, but I have checked and nothing has been damaged by the frost. And on the plus side we have a pair of blue tits looking like they may nest up there. If so it will be the 3rd year in a row so once they are settled I know I can work in the shed without disturbing them.
Lastly for today the Skaven Chaos Marines are coming along nicely and should have this batch finished by or over the weekend. That's all for now take care all.
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Deep and crisp and even. That's either the snow or a pizza description. But today it's the snow. I am not saying I am snowed in or anything like that, but I am not inclined to work up the shed, or even to spray up some figures ready to paint.
As I only have the skaven marines on the paint table at the moment, and they are drying having had a heavy rust wash on their armour they could not be photoed. But I ha ten minutes so I thought I'd offer an update. As you have seen I have 1 finished, but 6 started and waiting on the paint table. Additionally I have purchased a plastic rat ogre from eBay ready for converting. I have considered using rat ogres as the basis for terminators, however I think I'll stick to the dreadnought conversion idea. SO now the quest for a good cheap space marine dreadnought so I'll trawl eBay in a bit and keep my fingers crossed.
I have also been talking to Kev about a mad max game idea. To this end I have started to convert a "matchbox" car when it gets to an acceptable stage I shall of course blog it.
Well that's today, lets hope the weather improves enough to actually get something done which is worth showing.
All the best Clint.
As I only have the skaven marines on the paint table at the moment, and they are drying having had a heavy rust wash on their armour they could not be photoed. But I ha ten minutes so I thought I'd offer an update. As you have seen I have 1 finished, but 6 started and waiting on the paint table. Additionally I have purchased a plastic rat ogre from eBay ready for converting. I have considered using rat ogres as the basis for terminators, however I think I'll stick to the dreadnought conversion idea. SO now the quest for a good cheap space marine dreadnought so I'll trawl eBay in a bit and keep my fingers crossed.
I have also been talking to Kev about a mad max game idea. To this end I have started to convert a "matchbox" car when it gets to an acceptable stage I shall of course blog it.
Well that's today, lets hope the weather improves enough to actually get something done which is worth showing.
All the best Clint.
Friday, 3 February 2012
As you can see here are the latest of the 10mm Warmaster Dwarf cannons. I did get them finished and while not blowing my own trumpet they came out quite well. It was a pain to get them finished but now that they are I feel good. I may have to start the next unit over the weekend.
I have not been up the shed due to working all the overtime so when I check I am hoping that everything is dry enough to work on. The Cold and inclement weather has delayed work on the two construction projects, but not disastrously so.
A brief post today. Cheers Clint
I have not been up the shed due to working all the overtime so when I check I am hoping that everything is dry enough to work on. The Cold and inclement weather has delayed work on the two construction projects, but not disastrously so.
A brief post today. Cheers Clint
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Well the crisis that stopped me blogging on Monday is over now. So I can continue.
Nothing is dry up the shed. So I can't work on the moon boards or the cliffs, which is a shame but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it at least for the moment so the best thing to do is just wait and see how it goes. I would love to say I'd done this to it or reached that stage, but as it's not dry enough at the moment I'll have no choice but to be patient.
I have done some work on the painting table however. My mental block on the 10mm dwarf cannons has passed and they are now progressing, I should have them done by Friday. I'll say no more for now and with luck chuck a photo up end of the week.
I am also now working on Skaven Space Marines. 6 more started, All the conversion work and even some of the base colours. I really need to talk to a few GW employees about these and get some decent feedback as opposed to working in the dark. I can't see it happening in the next few weeks though, but by then I should have a squad done and then I can start to ponder my direction. I am loving the idea of a Rat ogre dreadnought though so as soon as I can find the bits cheap enough on eBay (cheap rat ogre head and cheap dreadnought....not a chaos one I'll make it chaos without the aid of GW this time).
There are a couple of things I'm working on that I don't want to mention at this stage, (Kev knows Relfie so ask him if you want.) They are gaming and even zombie related but unless I can get them to work how I want I don't want to talk about them further.
I have been thinking about Zombie games recently. Most of the games we play are in the first few weeks of the Zombie-Apocalypse. Kind of the "Walking Dead" setting with a few survivors either scavenging, escaping or just moving through an area. While these are great fun and I'm not saying we NEED a change it does make me ponder if we should play it as more of a campaign. By this I mean the same sets of characters used each time to drive a storyline forward. Is day today survival sufficient for us or should we be looking to make a series of games where players actions have repercussions. Maybe if they drive cars a lot they might need to scout petrol stations, use a lot of ammo gun stores. Will the other local survivors be hostile to them for "stealing" resources or even just making lots of noise. After all more noise means more zombies. So something simple like driving a car down a street might seem fairly harmless but what if you are a survivor living by stealth and some road hog drags more living dead into your neighbourhood.
Another thought is what happens after a few months, how will the survivor groups have changed. Will they have built forts that they can defend or will they be nomadic. If nomadic what modifications will they have made to cars? Survivor architecture will also be different, boarded doors ad windows are only the start to the possibilities. Solar panels can provide warmth and light and running water, so the roofs of buildings become far more important, water collections and even small vegetable patches for those looking o live for many years to come. There used to be a textile factory in Leeds that had Sheep on it's roof. As a survivalist why wouldn't you do the same. I think there's some modelling opportunities to be had here, but at the moment they are just pondering. I think there's more possibilities for zombie games than just the out break period which we have tended to concentrate on. Still it's a lot more to think about, but enough of that for now.
I did go to the wargames club on Sunday, but I did not stay all day, I treated it more as a social then a gaming day. Most of the regulars could not make it either apathy, work, broken ankles or family commitments. Peter did turn up and will be their in 2 weeks. Graham put on a rather nice American Civil War game. (All Grahams games look nice, lots of scenery and every thing painted and he even has read the rules enough times to know what he's doing.....In my opinion Graham is the rules guru at our club.) I did mention club shirts and the treasure said the kitty had enough money just sitting their, not being used..... I am tempted to pay for them myself just to stop other people whining that they don't like them, or want a different colour/design or layout. It's funny but the ones that make the most fuss tend to be the ones least likely to do anything themselves,(just an observation). I did notice that there was a flaw in the design though, unforgivable to all wargamers on the dice logo I had a 1 and a 6 on adjacent faces. I have yet to change it on the computer, but at least I spotted it before someone else did. I'll start working on the shirts again, once this batch of overtime is out the way.
Nothing is dry up the shed. So I can't work on the moon boards or the cliffs, which is a shame but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it at least for the moment so the best thing to do is just wait and see how it goes. I would love to say I'd done this to it or reached that stage, but as it's not dry enough at the moment I'll have no choice but to be patient.
I have done some work on the painting table however. My mental block on the 10mm dwarf cannons has passed and they are now progressing, I should have them done by Friday. I'll say no more for now and with luck chuck a photo up end of the week.
I am also now working on Skaven Space Marines. 6 more started, All the conversion work and even some of the base colours. I really need to talk to a few GW employees about these and get some decent feedback as opposed to working in the dark. I can't see it happening in the next few weeks though, but by then I should have a squad done and then I can start to ponder my direction. I am loving the idea of a Rat ogre dreadnought though so as soon as I can find the bits cheap enough on eBay (cheap rat ogre head and cheap dreadnought....not a chaos one I'll make it chaos without the aid of GW this time).
There are a couple of things I'm working on that I don't want to mention at this stage, (Kev knows Relfie so ask him if you want.) They are gaming and even zombie related but unless I can get them to work how I want I don't want to talk about them further.
I have been thinking about Zombie games recently. Most of the games we play are in the first few weeks of the Zombie-Apocalypse. Kind of the "Walking Dead" setting with a few survivors either scavenging, escaping or just moving through an area. While these are great fun and I'm not saying we NEED a change it does make me ponder if we should play it as more of a campaign. By this I mean the same sets of characters used each time to drive a storyline forward. Is day today survival sufficient for us or should we be looking to make a series of games where players actions have repercussions. Maybe if they drive cars a lot they might need to scout petrol stations, use a lot of ammo gun stores. Will the other local survivors be hostile to them for "stealing" resources or even just making lots of noise. After all more noise means more zombies. So something simple like driving a car down a street might seem fairly harmless but what if you are a survivor living by stealth and some road hog drags more living dead into your neighbourhood.
Another thought is what happens after a few months, how will the survivor groups have changed. Will they have built forts that they can defend or will they be nomadic. If nomadic what modifications will they have made to cars? Survivor architecture will also be different, boarded doors ad windows are only the start to the possibilities. Solar panels can provide warmth and light and running water, so the roofs of buildings become far more important, water collections and even small vegetable patches for those looking o live for many years to come. There used to be a textile factory in Leeds that had Sheep on it's roof. As a survivalist why wouldn't you do the same. I think there's some modelling opportunities to be had here, but at the moment they are just pondering. I think there's more possibilities for zombie games than just the out break period which we have tended to concentrate on. Still it's a lot more to think about, but enough of that for now.
I did go to the wargames club on Sunday, but I did not stay all day, I treated it more as a social then a gaming day. Most of the regulars could not make it either apathy, work, broken ankles or family commitments. Peter did turn up and will be their in 2 weeks. Graham put on a rather nice American Civil War game. (All Grahams games look nice, lots of scenery and every thing painted and he even has read the rules enough times to know what he's doing.....In my opinion Graham is the rules guru at our club.) I did mention club shirts and the treasure said the kitty had enough money just sitting their, not being used..... I am tempted to pay for them myself just to stop other people whining that they don't like them, or want a different colour/design or layout. It's funny but the ones that make the most fuss tend to be the ones least likely to do anything themselves,(just an observation). I did notice that there was a flaw in the design though, unforgivable to all wargamers on the dice logo I had a 1 and a 6 on adjacent faces. I have yet to change it on the computer, but at least I spotted it before someone else did. I'll start working on the shirts again, once this batch of overtime is out the way.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
This board is 24 inches square. and should reach a height of 11 inches plus the light house. I have glued the first few layers of polystyrene down and will give it a chance to dry before I add more layers and take it to full height. Originally I was going to work to the pencil lines but I could not get the polystyrene sheets I wanted at B+Q so I settled for some smaller and cheaper ones. As with all things I'll try to save money on wargames projects where I can so I was not too disappointed with getting smaller ones. In an Ideal world Blar Blar Blar...
I'll settle on the rusty armour for the skaven Marines. I was asked why I thought metals that far in the future would rust. I can think of several reasons, like they use a material that corrodes for the same reason that we don't make modern tanks out of stainless steel. It could be expense, durability, resilience, scarcity of materials or the reason I have selected, because I like the look of it. Other than that I have not sat at my freezing cold attic painting table, because it is just that at the moment, freezing cold. I'll no doubt use the excuse of being to hot in the summer!
Lastly to Kev who broke his ankle on Thursday. Get well soon mate, take care and we'll talk soon no doubt.
All the best Clint.
I'll settle on the rusty armour for the skaven Marines. I was asked why I thought metals that far in the future would rust. I can think of several reasons, like they use a material that corrodes for the same reason that we don't make modern tanks out of stainless steel. It could be expense, durability, resilience, scarcity of materials or the reason I have selected, because I like the look of it. Other than that I have not sat at my freezing cold attic painting table, because it is just that at the moment, freezing cold. I'll no doubt use the excuse of being to hot in the summer!
Lastly to Kev who broke his ankle on Thursday. Get well soon mate, take care and we'll talk soon no doubt.
All the best Clint.
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