Thank You!

Let me start by saying Thank You to all those who voted on my poll about scale for the WSS. I do appreciate the input and the comments advice and suggestions. I will take the poll down over the weekend, but for now I very brief discussion of the results.

Firstly let me say there is no CLEAR winner and it seriously did come down to just 1 vote separating the top three positions. I will admit to being a big fan of 10mm figures for a number of reasons for another project they might have been perfect.... should I ever do Zulu's for example or if there was a greater variety of modern cold war era stuff I would seriously consider that Scale.

15mm made a late run in the poll. Some of my club members (who did not vote BTW) have mentioned that they would want this scale. But when asked if they had any figures or any intention of getting some for this project, they all shook there heads and walked away quickly! I have not discounted their views but they have very different priorities. One ex-club member ( he's been too busy to attend for over a year, but still a decent chap) has started Great Northern war (GNW) in 15mm so if he gets some more free time and returns to the club I may get the opportunity to play in 15mm as well.

28mm has an obvious attraction. The units do look seriously good and that is no doubt why Beneath the lily banners has chosen them for the internal pictures within the rules. I am still tempted by this scale but as it stands I will try the 6mm 1/300th scale.

This morning I have sent for some Baccus 6mm WSS figures. My plan s to see how good they are paint a unit and then make the totally final decision. One club member thought I was going to just use 6 figures at this scale on each stand. I will wait and see when they arrive, but my current thinking is 3 stands to a unit with 24 figures on each stand, making 72 6mm figures in each unit. Baccus has 4 figures to a sprue so 6 sprues on each stand. Well that's the current thinking.

Due to working double shifts this week there has been a distinct lack of painting wargaming or other activity which did not involve sleep or work. However I do hope to get something done over the weekend and with luck I should have something to show come Monday. Thanks for reading, I hope the snow treats you well and take care and see you soon. All the best Clint

Caen Turn 1

Yesterday was a club Sunday and it was booked for the first turn of my Caen Campaign. Of the 5 Canadian squads only 2 were due to fight. This was due to the moves being carried out on the campaign map. All the squads were moved, one squad moved into a minefield and stopped and then withdrew, 2 squads advanced into empty grid squares while the other two "discovered" the Germans players.

Relf on the Left and Dave on the right.

One battle was between Relfie and Dave, with Relfie, as German defending. As the defender I allowed Relfie to start the game hidden which he took full advantage of. Dave moved the Canadians up along a broad front and Relfies Germans opened fire. With typical club luck Relfie managed to run out of ammo on 3 of the five figures who fired and would need to let them spend an action reloading before they could fire again. Despite that the shots were quite effective and a couple of Canadians fell. Relfie's squad also had a mortar which he managed to use to some purpose. Given the 10cm blast radius Dave had little real choice but to have a couple of figures as a target each turn. The mortar was able to keep at least 2 figures pinned and did eventually manage to get a succession of wounds on Dave's bren team and take the assistant out of the game. It was a good battle but given the Germans had about double the points of the Canadians, Dave's forces did eventually crumble.

The other battle between Tim (Germans) and Graham (Canadians) highlighted Grahams tactical skills and Tim's mad (low) dice rolling. Graham advanced in a very narrow front and soon realised that Tim's dice were up to his normal standard (which is to say less than good). Graham was able to concentrate his actions/reactions and firepower into a very small are of Tim's thin camouflaged line. As such Graham poured fire onto Tim's MG34 with sufficient force to wound the gunner who did not have  an assistant (His second MG34 did have an assistant). From that moment on Tim was always on the back foot and despite moving his sniper asset to a better position was not able to turn the tide. When in position the sniper was claiming a Canadian each turn but as the rest of Tim's troops crawled wounded to their fellow squad members. Unfortunately it was too little too late and Time German squad conceded that grid square to the Canadians. Graham did admit afterwards that he was on the verge of withdrawing when confronted with the sniper but as Tim's squad was badly shot up Tim failed the morale check (from Grahams point of view) just at the critical moment. Overall another good battle but with a surprise result.

Campaign wise I need to  send out the maps for the next turn and tell the players where they stand with regards to casualties, replacements and other issues. I will also need to apply the effects of things like preplanned artillery, air strikes and similar events. These are dealt with very simply I roll d6 for each event, German artillery, Canadian Artillery etc and if they roll lower that the dice I roll for the battles they happen before the battles and if equal or higher after the battles. As this turn I rolled a 1 for the battles everything happens after the games are fought.

We also had a little time for a very brief excursion into Full Thrust. Ian and Relfie are now looking to possibly start fleets. As GZG do two starter fleets for £30 I would suggest this would be a place for them both to start.

I think the real high point of the day was the arrival of John Lambshead (http://johnstoysoldiers.blogspot.co.uk/) who used to be a club member and whom we all hope will return. Overall a very good club day very enjoyable and the campaign has taken it's first real steps.

No peace without Scale

Observant readers will note a new POLL in the top right of this blog page. Found it good. Please read below BEFORE you just wildly click on it and all will be explained. The poll will run for a week and I want general feedback even if just by entering the poll but comments are always welcome.

OK here we. Yesterday I received my copy of "Beneath the lily Banner (2)" I hasten to add that is is not a review of any kind as I have not got very far in reading the rules at all. Oh I have looked through the book a lot but read very little. I must say it is without doubt one of the best looking rulebooks I have ever seen. And that is what has created the problem!

Over the last couple of years at the club we have moved more towards skirmish wargaming and very much away from big battle games. This year I wanted to do something with bigger armies as there is a megalomaniac like side to me that wants to order hundreds if not thousands of little metal soldiers to their deaths (well being put back in the box anyway, let's not get over dramatic!) So I have settled on the War of Spanish Succession (WSS) as the era or period I wish to develop. Originally I had planned to do the project in 1/300th (6mm) as I was going to make some scenery for micro tanks and this would be an alternative use for the boards. However not being too hasty I am now looking at other scales and this is where I want feedback. The Basic question is what scale should I do WSS in? Below are the options and some of my thoughts.

• 6mm. (1/300th): As mentioned above this was my original idea. It has a number of advantages over all other scales mostly in storage and transportation. Storage for most of us is an issue we can't get round it and until we win the lottery I don't think a sensible solution will come forward. Also as my eyesight is mole like (very short sighted) I am borderline for driving which is why I don't. My eyesight does not stop me painting small things though which as a wargamer is not a bad thing. All this pre amble means that transporting large scale figures is fraught with problems, mishaps and inevitably broken figures. If I do go ahead with the 6mm scale storage and transportation problems will be minimised. As mentioned above terrain will get a secondary use so that to me is not a huge issue.
• 10mm (1/200th) Along with 6mm, 10mm  figures are easy to store and transport. Cost is not an issue with any of these scales simply because I would put keep the base sizes the same but have more figures to each base at the smaller scales. In many ways 10mm is the ideal solution except in two regards. One I do not have any suitable terrain nor do I wish to start sourcing any. Buildings at 1/200th scale are few and far between and expensive when you can find them simply because they are so scarce. Basic supply and demand. So I would have to make terrain boards knowing that they would be of very limited use. The second issue is that lack of figure manufacturers. Yes there are a couple and they do nice figures but somehow I feel there is something lacking.
• 15mm: This scale has a number of advantages over the smaller scales. Ray Rousell (great blog) plays these rules and in this scale and his units do look very nice indeed. The eye candy factor at this scale is worth considering. Terrain wise I probably already have enough in 15mm, although I will always want more (which of us does not?) However storage and transportation at this scale starts to become an issue. There are ways round it of course, but most of those rely on other people giving me lifts to and fro, which is great that they do so but I always feel a chump asking. But as a scale it does have much to commend it.
• 28mm: This is the scale they use in Beneath the lily banners rule book. The pictures in the rules are like extreme hardcore porn for wargamers! And with 6 figures to a stand and 3 stands to a unit (18 in total) you are able to get two units from a box of wargames factory plastics. Again with the 15mm scale I think I already have enough scenery to stage a game so that is not as issue. So the only real issues are transport and storage which can be solved in the same manner as listed under 15mm figures. This is without doubt the prettiest solution and has the biggest impact on the table. I also wonder if there could be a Witch Finder General cross over in this scale!!! (Just a wild thought).,

So those are the options. Please take the time to click which scale you think would be best for me. If you wish to leave a comment explaining your choice that's appreciated too. I must admit to being drawn to ore than one scale choice for this project so you may tip the balance for good or ill with your selection. I have masses of overtime in the next 2 weeks which should be enough to fund this project entirely even after tax and stoppages, no matter what scale is selected.

Thanks for reading and I shall post again soon.  All the best Clint

Progress report.

Well I am not sure what's happened, but I can't upload pictures from my computer to this blog at the moment. I am sure there will be a way but it will probly take me a while to work it out.  But until I do I will just give you a non visual progress report.

Circus: \I have re-attached everything that fell off and am now waiting for the glue to dry before carrying on with the next stage. I hope to have a couple of pics of that when I work out how to post them.

Caen Campaign: We should be playing the first real games on Sunday. At present I am making some more bocage for the tabletop. (about another 20 feet's worth.) This should be ready to go by Sunday as I am at the stage where I will be doing the grass borders.

Apaches: I have also painted up a few more stands of Apaches for the project I started late last year. Still a huge amount to get done, but if I manage to do some every so often I will not notice the pile shrinking.

Well that's what I have been doing, but without photo evidence you'll just have to take my word for it.

All the best, and Hope to speak soon and with pics Clint

Post Script: If the pic below coms out I have Semi solved the problem. (Now just to check)



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.