Set Back

For some unknown reason the glue did not set properly on the circus board. I'm blaming both my ineptitude and the weather! The reality is I have no clue. I have used the glue before and had no problems so I really am at a loss. Anyway I went to work on it yesterday and half the pieces fell off. Looking back it's quite comical really, but it dd not feel so at the time.

Anyway moving forward I have been to B+Q and bought some tiny nails and a different glue and I shall fix the problem over the weekend. SO slightly behind schedule in my mind, but nothing to much to worry about.

My main concern is that I nearly got sidetracked so early into the year. I did not and have not succumb to way ward projects but I must say it did start to come close. My mind was wandering about Victorian Zombie games. They could have a vastly different feel to a contemporary zombie game. BUT I am not going to look into it as an idea any further, I need to focus on the projects I have identified and not get sidetracked on a whim.

That's today's very brief post. All the best and I'll post again soon!!!! All the Best Clint

The Circus begins!

Long term readers will remember that I created a game contained within a wall paper table. That particular game was an underground car park zombie game. Being inspired by: War in a box
I have been keen to follow his example but in my own way. Given the dimensions of the paste table I started to imagine what sort of game I could fit in one. Being long and thin a couple of ideas finally emerged my favourite was the Chariot race of the Roman Circus. So this is the first post about how I can bring that project to fruition.


My first task was to strip out any and all car-park parts. After all the Romans were advanced, but as carts were not allowed into Rome except at night! (or so I have read). Stripping it all out was quick and really quite enjoyable. All my projects have a budget and as the zombie car park had past it's sell by date it was due to be recycled into something new and hopefully exciting. Obviously is Money and Space were not issues I would have just used a new paste table. But until I do win the national lottery they will be issues and as such I have to be realistic.

being limited to the size of the Circus I will build I have not decided which scale would be most appropriate. I will build the arena and then see what fits best. To many people this may seem the wrong way of doing a project, but given the space restrictions I have set myself it seems the right way to go.

As the Circus arena being a race track was created with curved walls at the end of each straight. One of my early jobs was to make these. I cut 4 90degree corner sections, one for each of the corners of the paste table. I was limited by my need to close the table and by the materials I had at hand so used some scrap 12mm MDF. This brings up a couple of problems. The walls would need to be representational as opposed to a realistic height for anything above a 6mm 1/300th scale. While not ideal it is acceptable. The main issue is that I have no nails small enough to hold the corners in place. Fortunately these corner pieces fit quite snugly in place. I have used PVA white wood glue (resin W) and will give them a few days to dry which given the weather I feel they will need.

The central reservation has been fabricated out of some off- cut battening. Again this is too thin for the smallest nails I have, and again is now held with PVA white wood glue. Using scrap I have not measured widths and heights other than by eye. However, this is not such a bad thing as it saves me time and money and a trip out to B+Q in the rain. As you can see I have rounded the ends to aid chariot turns. I had no circle template or compass with me nor could I find any pot or lid of the right dimensions and now that I look at the picture while typing this they don't look to be as precise as I would have liked them. Moving on I know it's something my club players will not worry about too much as it is the idea that counts and little things like that won't make too much difference in a game.

As you can see I have only room to work on half the board at a time.So I will need to allow about 1 week to pass with drying time to allow the glue to set and the whole arena to reach the same level. You can see from the picture on the right that the proportions do not look too distorted. At present this is only the basic construction but even so I does give a flavour of how it might turn out. There are a couple of stages to still go in construction but until the glue has had time to dry I will not attempt them. All construction projects have phases in which they look tatty. This is one of those phases, it would look better if I was not re-using materials but you can still see the direction this project is heading. Construction wise I can see another 2 week of work ahead but most of that will be waiting for things to dry. Time invested in this project 1 1/4 hours so still early days.

Thanks for reading.Until next time, take care have a good few days and we shall talk again soon. All the best Clint.

New Year, Projects

Well as 2012 draws shuddering to a close I inevitably start to look to the new year with a view to which wargames projects I should attempt. 2012 as a year was unfocused for me and I don't want to fall into the same pattern next year. I am the first to admit that as a wargamer I get easily side-tracked by new films, novels, rules, and nice shinies! So realistically I know that I will struggle to complete these ideas. It is important for me, at least in my own head (it echos in here BTW), to try to bring the following ideas to life in the next 12 months. OK let's all be realistic I won't manage them all, but here's what I am thinking!

Circus!

OK the picture gives it away. "Circus" of course refers to the Roman Circus. This will be a very short and quick project. For one thing there will be minimal figures and the terrain is pretty straight forward. I want this project completely finished by the end of February. My main concerns at the moment are figure scale and the rules of course. But I have ideas for both of them and I am not panicking just yet.

Monshonga Station

Monshonga Station is the name I have given the WW1 East Africa Game. The name may well change but as this needs to be finished by 1st week of June for the Broadside '13 show you know this will be my early focus for the year. To be honest there's not too much to do. I have one side painted (German Askaris) so only terrain and the other force to do. As I painted all the Askaris in 6 days I realise that painting the figures for the game will not take up too much time. The Terrain will also be an easy fix as this year I will be making all the scenery free standing. So with no terrain boards to make this could all be done quite quickly.

No Peace Without Spain.

For a couple of years I have been thinking that I would like to do a large battle game with ranked figures and in a horse and musket era. My first thoughts were Napoleonic. However as soon as you mention that era at the club you get bombarded by comments about 15mm armies Shako rules and how massively huge their armies are. So Napoleonic battles are passe in the club setting and if I was doing it in any scale OTHER then 15mm my choice of scale would be questions and there would be an implied criticism. If I choose another set of rules other than SHAKO that would also be frowned upon. I would be told that I can do what I want, of course, and Informed that they already have all the armies and literally thousands of figure. I want it to be my project and not a joint one with the club. Therefore I think I would like to do the War of Spanish Succession (WSS). I know that I will need to make all the terrain and build at least two armies, so this will be a year long project. I plan to use the "Beneath the Lily Banners" rules but all in 1/300th scale. Needless to say the units will have more than 18 figures in a them, as I want to keep the base sises the same (or similar). As yet I have not settled on which armies to select as there are so many options. British, French, Dutch and Bavarian all hold appeal I will just have to wait and see.

Zone.

My real introduction to wargaming came in the 80's (that makes me feel old) when me and 2 Friends played modern era micro tanks. So my final game that I want to do is some 1980's era cold war wargaming. This year gone I have been collecting rules and trying to determine not only which set, but also which scale. As I already have two armies in 1/300th (6mm) it makes most sense for me to use that as a starting place. If I was clever (I am not) I would use the terrain from WSS and 1980's and make them compatible. I must admit I will try as it will make my life easier but the "modern" battlefield is different from the 18th Century one, Roads are different, buildings are different, field sizes and agriculture are different. But perhaps from a game point of view mayhap we can get round that.


Here are a few game ideas that did not make the list: 28mm Super-Heroes. King Kong, Aeroball, Gangsters, Samurai. 20mm Mad Max, 15mm Bloody Barons (although this might when Peter Pig re-releases the rules next year), Franco Prussian War. Boxer Rebellion. 10mm Zulus, meta horde Zombies,

Thanks for reading. Let's hope I can finish these project in the next 12 months. One thing is for sure I will get sidetracked but at least I have a plan for next year written down now.

As always comments are very welcome. I shall try to post again on Monday before the year ends If I can't manage it have fun and take care, All the best Clint.

Another Christmas Over.

I hate my Birthday and Christmas and New Year. I am not just saying it. I mean it. To me these things all in the Winter months are reminders that I am just treading water in my life and getting older but without really achieving anything significant. Which is why I hate them. For Me Boxing day is worse though all the family want to get together and my cousins bang on about their exciting careers and holidays and jet setting and I just end up feeling depressed and useless and pretty worthless in my life. The one thing I asked for this year was to be left alone at Christmas time. It was a gift I was not to receive. The only thing I really wanted and the family will never give it to me. I even got stitched up at work and dropped right in it at work on Christmas Eve by my supposed work colleagues. All this makes me sound like a petulant teenager and not a middle aged man rapidly approaching 50 which is of course the true situation.

However not to put too big a downer on the whole thing I was given a couple of nice gifts which I really do appreciate. Back in the day the comic 2000AD was my weekly fix and while I did like Judge Dredd, I am sure there is an ISO cube waiting for anyone who says otherwise, for the first 27 editions of the comic I loved HARLEM HEROES! As we all know Dredd was not in issue one, he first appeared in issue 2, but the HEROES were! They only lasted 27 episodes but they were an underdog story and as a scrawny teenager I could identify with them. Not because they were athletes, I clearly was not. Nor because they were black negro Americans again I am not. But because they'd been handed the shitty end of the stick and as a youth so I felt had I. Anyway thanks mum for gifting the comic book collection to me for Crimbo. Yes I had to order it and take delivery and pay for it! (She has reimbursed me since!) But it was from her and it is appreciated. I had completely forgotten how badly drawn it was or how naff the dialogue, but still it did and no doubt still will hold a place in my heart.

The Max Brooks Zombie Survival guide which I must confess I had not actually read. Which is probably a surprise for a guy who plays zombie wargames to admit but none the less I have not as yet read it. It is now however on the pile of things to read so one step closer. On Saturday when I blog intend to talk about my plans for next year (at least as they pertain to wargames) and this will no doubt feature in those plans.

I also received two DVD box sets from my Sister (one for Christmas and one for my birthday). "Pacific" which I hope is like "Band of Brothers" I have never seen and while the war in the far east was never really my bag it will be of some interest. As a wargamer most things with some form of conflict will hold something for me.  So I am quite looking forward to it.

As hinted at above I was a wimpy kid! As a weedy nerdy four-eyed picked on and bullied kid at school of course I loved Blake's Seven. I am now terrified of opening the shrink wrap and watching the first series. There is no way it will live up to my memories. The costumes acting sets and scripts will look and feel old fashioned (and not in a good way). Jan Chappel whom as a kid I had such a crush on will no doubt fail to live up to my dreams and Villa Restal (my favourite) will not be as clever and witty as I remember. Still it will perhaps bring back some thoughts of my youth and the optimism I felt about the future (at the time).

Please don't wish me Happy birthday, it will just piss me off! I just need a couple of stress free days to recharge and I'll bounce back.

I'll do a happy optimistic post on Saturday.  All the best Clint.

Supierior Firepower!

I just wanted to share the festive seasonal greetings with you. I hope that Santa brings you a whole lot of nice loot, but more importantly I hope you have a Brilliant time and manage to put smiles on the faces of those close to you.

Thanks for Reading my blog I hope everything goes well and you have a safe and pleasant holiday. Looking at the picture perhaps giving is better than receiving!

All the Best Clint.

Zombie Hunter Kev.

My latest Zombie Hunter is Kev. No Not "Zombie Kev" from the club, but Hasslefree's Kev ZH figure. As with all Hasslefree figures It is a really nice sculpt and as such a real joy to paint. This figure seems a little shorter than most of their range which I quite like as it gives a natural height variation. I must admit I did struggle with the colours this time out, but am quite happy with the final result. (Although the "jumper" has been painted 3 times now). As regular followers will know I bought him as part of the Zombie Hunters pack. Tony being my favourite was the first one completed and now I only have Ken to paint. You can take that as a warning that there will be another one along soon. Overall I have enjoyed painting them all and I shall do a group shot once Ken is ready.

I have both front and rear view as the armour is hard to see clearly from the front as is the webbing harness. I wanted a contrast between the two as I want all the figures to look like they have found their items and not been issued them and yet I do want them to look realistic. I was lucky enough to see this armour on a TV cop show but the webbing was the same green. But as I wanted a contrast and dark blue looked wrong I settled on brown. Therefore we can assume that Kev has taken his equipment from a military source, as opposed to Tony who's armour is Dark Blue and most likely police issue. The grey pullover is civilian clothing and is probably his own prior to the Zombie apocalypse but the trousers are probably looted along with the boots and armour.

Well that's today's post. As my next scheduled post would be X mass day I shall do a very brief blog post tomorrow instead.  Thanks for reading See you all tomorrow. Take care and kill Zeds!

All the best Clint

West Wind Zombie Hunter.

When I bought the West Wind Productions Biker gang I also purchased the single foot figure that they had titled "Zombie Hunter" and for a whole £2 not a bad addition to my Zombie Apocalypse survivors. It does need to be said that he is slightly larger than the normal 28mm figures, but not overly so and he will fit in with the rest. A one piece casting he is armed, as you can see, with a hatchet or axe and a sawn off shot gun. The gun is a little bit large and a little cumbersome, and has a cartoon feel to it. Personally I don't mind that and he should fit well with the mounted bikers. The dynamic pose will stop me getting any more of him despite the price, as I can see them standing out in a game.

As you can see on the rear view there are no hidden weapons although it is possible he might have something under the jacket if you need to play him that way. I went for a very basic colour scheme. I did try dark blue trousers first but as there are some obvious pockets on his thighs I changed it to a desert tan colour which went well with the Jacket lining and his hair. He really was a joy to paint, just one of those figures that put up no fight with the brush so I am tempted to get a few more from the range, after all the price is right.  Given the weapons and clothing this could be quite a versatile figure suited to all manner of escapades from pulp games (maybe he's a crazy Pilot which the Eldrich horrors have driven insane) to Zombie hunting with Biker gang games thrown in for good measure.

Despite having a week off I have managed very little painting as I have been busy baking. To the right we have a fresh cream chocolate cake for a leaving do at work and 3 boxes of rich chocolate fudge, which will be Christmas gifts to my neighbours. The fudge is a variation of my usual recipe with pistachios mixed with the chocolate. In Addition to these I have also managed to bake a Maple and Walnut cake and a Dundee Cake. So while not painting I have not been idle!

That's today's post. I shall blog again on Sunday so until then thanks for reading take care and don't let the brush get dry! All the best Clint

Biker Gang (unpainted)

I recently was given a Biker figure which Vamipfan (AKA Bryan) and Brummie (AKA Simon)  were able to identify as coming from West Wind Productions . Having found the source I immeadiatly oedered a set. For £19.99 you get 10 Bikers and bikes. Now for me 10 mounted figures for £20 seemed like a very good deal. Postage cost were not too high and delivery time was within 1 week which considering it is the week before Christmas is very quick service. Having had one I was aware that they were multi part figures. (2 Part Bike, separate arms and heads).

The bike chassis were all the same, which is not a major issue. Two different forks were included, 5 of each type. It would have been nice to have some "Ape-hangers" for handlebars but the variety of forks will give some degree of variety.  Still as it works out at £2 each with rider it would be churlish to make a fuss about what one would have found in an ideal setting.
There are 10 bodies, with legs attached in 3 different poses. Which should make for a less uniform look to the gang. Three head sprues, each of four heads for a total of 12 heads. Add to this 10 arms. For me the problem with the arms is that they did not send the right combination. By that I mean I have an ODD number of sleeved and bare arms. In an ideal world they would have been equal or even a couple of spares. Most of the weapons are OK, But as only 10 were supplied there is not so many choices that you can make. One is armed with a chainsaw for example only an utter fool would use a chainsaw on a motorbike. It in no way will lead to a happy outcome. Therefore this arm even if no others will get converted. Maybe a simple weapon swap maybe something more dramatic. The other weapon I don't like is the M16 which seems very small and weedy when compared with the other toys. 

I can only speak for the pack I received and it is possible that other packs might have a better selection and more variety with arms and weapons. As mentioned above though for the price I really can't complain. If I can get 6 I am happy with for £20 I will still think I have had a bargain.

That's it for today. All the best and speak soon Clint.

Caen 0.1 AAR

Ian and Grahams Position end of turn 2

The Caen Campaign has started. The first battle was always to be a learning experience as there were 7 people playing the one game and only tow of them had played the rules before, although another one had managed to read them prior to the game. The first battle was a very simple affair of 2 Canadian squads advancing across the Normandy Countryside to make contact with the Germans. I split each squad down so that each person had a single fire team with either a Sergeant or Corporal in charge. These were to be very similar squads to the ones each player will get but as a campaign pre-game it was disclosed that they would get fresh squads for the campaign and as such this was a learning game.

The Canadian players were (in proximity to my seat):

• Ian
• Graham
• Kevin
• Dave

While the Germans were:

• Tim
• Relf.

The Germans were allowed to set up 40cm from the table edge while the Canadians (who were advancing were allowed a 10cm start zone. The top picture shows Ian and Grahams Canadians at the end of the first turn. taking the left flank they were advancing on Tim's 1/2 squad. The small yellow dice was the first shot of the game (by Ian) and having thrown 3 of a kind on the dice the gun was out of ammo much to the mirth of the Germans (and many of the Canadian players as well). Ian was trying out al the rule options as he wanted to learn the rules as swiftly as possible.

Tim's position end of turn 2

Tim's Germans were always intent on occupying this building but as it was outside of his deployment zone he could not start in position and had to spend a couple of turns moving troops before he was ready for the Canadians. Unfortunately I had deliberately left this building with Very restricted fields of fire with a small wood directly across the other side of the road from it.  A better place for Tim to have started was about a foot to his left but the building was just too tempting a location. I can't fault Tim too much I am sure I would not have spotted it and concentrated on the building as well. By the time Tim was in position the Canadians (Graham and Ian) had also moved into positions which gave them the optimum cover bonuses. Tim did manage to wound one of Ian's chaps with a rifle shot at extreme range which left that figure crawling around for the whole game.
The long range shooting between German and Canadian riflemen lasted for a while which gave Ian's section time to get to the other side of the woods ready for some close in work. Graham managed to pin the German LMG which gave Ian the chance to rush the building. A lone runner with a grenade skirted the woods and was about to throw the grenade when Tim snatched the order priority and let rip with the corporal and the MP40. The grenadier was cut down in the middle of the road in front of the house. But knowing that the corporal could not fire again in that turn Ian sent another chap with a ready grenade out into the open. Hurling the grenade through the window it exploded inside and took the Machine gun and crew out of the game. Tim's Corporal was also shot down by Ian's sergeant's sten gun and pinned. Tim got the corporal out the back of the house but his rifleman by the parked car was picked of by Grahams rifles. At this stage Tim was down to just 2 figures. Seeing that Ian could mop them up Graham wheeled to bring fire on Relfies section. In a desperate last ditch attack Tim tried to lull a similar grenade trick on Grahams troops. If it had been successful the Canadians would have been on a morale check so it was one of the last moves of the game on this flank. Fortunately for Graham his Sten carrying Corporal won order priority moved and fired and killed the German before he could throw the grenade.

Kev to the right Dave to the left Turn 2.

Across the other side of the Battlefield Rolf's Germans were all set up and hiding from Kev and Dave's Squad. Moving through some woods to the edge of the treeline these Canadians used the rule that you can always target a support weapon (in this case the Light Machine gun of Ralf's) to try to keep it pinned with long range rifle fire. The tactic worked quite well for a short time but eventually the belt fed MG was able to lay down a hail of fire into Kev's 1/2 squad that tipped the balance. The LMG can fire 6 times in a turn as opposed to a single rifle shot. Dave was managing to stay out of the line of fire and snipe at the German riflemen that were protecting the MG34. One of these players did manage to kill the Mg34 gunner, but the assistant took over. The Mg34 did it's work and killed enough Canadians to put them on an immediate morale check before Dave could shoot back. Very bad dice rolls that one normally attributes to either myself or Tim forced the Majority of Kev and Dave's troops off of the board as they either retreated or hunkered down unwilling to fight. By this Time Graham was starting to lay down some fire on Relfies bullet ridden abode. However the Germans snatched initiative and Relfie turned the MG 34 on the line of Graham troops.


Relfs starting position from which he hardly moved.
 Mg Team upstairs in the building
 and the purple dice indicating
which troops were hidden.

Unfortunately Relfie did not realise that Graham had a Bren Gun and therefore did not target it. But the MG did well and killed one (by inflicting 2 wounds) and pinned another. The Bren gunner returned fire and with 4 shots as a rate of fire was able to kill the MG gunner on the top floor. As time was now pressing Kev sent his NCO out from the woods into the open, but was not close enough to fire his Sten. As Relfie won initative the next turn he charged forward with his Sergeant and an MP40 Kev Relf and Graham all rolled of order priority (Relfie even had a re-roll due to veteran status). Graham won and the Bren barked again and the sergeant fell grasping his chest where he had hoped a medal would have been pinned. This put the Germans below the Break point and the took a morale check for each figure still active and conceded the game.

Conclusion: Over all the rules worked well and players seem to appreciate both the simplicity and the feel of the rules. We did make a few mistakes, but not too many I think. (Until Graham emails me and tells me all the things I got wrong). The Main criticism seems to be that it is no harder to throw a grenade through a window from across a street as it is to throw it just on a random section of ground. a simple house rule can fix this though. Overall not a bad start and now most of the players have tried a game they should be able to play mostly just from a crib sheet. So all in all I count it as a success.

Thanks for reading this report. I hope to post again on Wednesday, til then all the best Clint.




Caen Campaign Start Tomorrow

I did not think I would get a chance to write today as I have been rushing to finish getting ready for the Caen Campaign which will start at club tomorrow. So Nothing I can show at this stage, as it is all paperwork, squad rosters, maps and pre planning. The game we will play first will be an introduction game to get people a basic understanding of the rules we will be using. I am expecting it to go slowly as most large games do when they have many players. I might be surprised and it might go very quickly. If it does I'll raise the break points for the squads so they hang around longer but I don't think I shall need to. If it goes really fast we can always play a couple of games.or more likely play something else.

 

So the basis of the first game is that it is set one day before the campaign actually starts. The Canadians are under orders to advance to make contact with the Germans and thus establish a "front line". Once the front line is established the campaign can start. Historically speaking this section of the Normandy Campaign Monty's plan was to exert pressure along the line to draw German troops into the battle. By drawing the Germans close to Caen the Germans would need to weaken their front line elsewhere which would then allow the American beach areas to break out in "Operation Cobra". There were a number of drawbacks which stopped this being as successful as envisaged. But given that each player will be given a single squad, say 10 men, then the bigger picture need not be explored too greatly. After all war is a very personal experience and the man on the ground usually only gets to see about 100m from where they are standing at any one time.

 

Not really much of a post, but I have already put the camera in my bag so unless it falls apart an AAR of Monday. All the Best hope to give you a fuller report on Monday. Til then take care keep warm and if you can get some painting done. All the best Clint

20mm plastic soldiers.

Yes I know the world and his dog have seen 20mm plastic soldiers enough to last them a lifetime, if not longer. I thought I should offer some proof that I have been painting ready for the Caen Campaign. So here and below are just a couple of pics which show both the Brits and the Germans together with their corresponding poses. All the figures are from "the Plastic Soldier Company" and a box set of hard plastics retail for about £10 give or take. Lots of the figures are in two or three pieces, but once cleaned up the fit together very nicely. Each box contains 3 hard plastic sprues with 10-11 different figures on each sprue. As you can see with these two riflemen many of the poses are very similar but with different nationalities. I have no issue with this as they will not be put next to each other like this on the games table. The Canadian uniform is straightforward Khaki with hi-lights and shading and actually takes as long for me to do as the German Camouflage (Oak leaf spring) pattern. I don't hi-light and shade my camouflage patterns at any scale smaller then 54mm, they simply don't seem to need it!

These next two are Light machine guns on the move. The molding and angle do much to conceal the Germans MG34. But the Canadians Bren Gun is prominently on display. Given the rules we shall be using (Operation Squad) the two weapons are very different. Just as they were/are in real life. This is one aspect of the rules which appeals to me. The 30 round magazine for the Bren does a lot to restrict it's rate of fire due to reloads. While the MG34 could have a magazine, but could also be belt fed.

The Last pic for today shows each nations medics. Medics in the campaign might become very useful when players want to patch up troops on the front line. Only a few squads will have medics attached the others will just have to make do as best they can. This is simply because the lieutenants either spent the points on medics or did not. And the players will each be given a RANDOM squad. So I expect most squads to have no medical benefits, mind you the choice of how to spend the points was not easy for some people.

That's it for today. Thanks for popping by and talk again soon. All the best Clint.

A Small Gift

No wargaming stuff today- it was a weekend swamped with relatives doing the pre-Christmas rounds drinking tea eating cake and giving cards. The knock on effect is that I got No painting done. Absolutely nothing, and I did have such good intentions as well.

In fact the closest thing I could manage was to send out a small Christmas pressie to a couple of other bloggers whom have kept me amused with various antics through-out the year. With that introduction you already should know who they are. (Stadler and Waldorf). Also known as Ray and Fran.

Pictured above are the actual contents. One Each guys and you get what you get. The coin (a 20pence piece) is for scale only and is not part of the gift. Ideally open it when you are both together at work where you will or can be undisturbed. No arguing and play nice! I have a written promise from Ray already so I shall trust you Fran to do the same! The pressie was sent 1st class yesterday so you may well receive it later this day.

For any other readers I should be able to get some painting done later today (with luck) so I intend to update again on Thursday. All the best Clint.