Those magnificent Dwarves intheir flying machines....

 No excuses but it has been a struggle to get anything done this week. None the less I did finish 2 Dwarf Gyrocopters. These are from Kallistra and part of my very slowly growing 10mm dwarf army. I did buy a job lot of blisters about 3 years ago. Buying them as a job lot I did not get too much say in the contents typically it had a little of everything odd and "exciting" but not the best selection of core troop types. There were some of course but then there were also a couple of packets like these!

In most fantasy wargames settings dwarfs have technology of some sort to counter the fact that they have no spell casters. All my life I have steered clear of collecting dwarf armies for this reason. I have nothing against them just that I felt that if you did not want to use magic you might as well not play fantasy games and stick to ancients. I am at long last coming round to having Dwarves and actually quite like them not I am getting older. Perhaps I feel I have more in common with them!

Anyway these are painted in blues to fit into the rest of the army which is still small in number but I do have a couple more blisters to paint up so I suspect they will get a little larger. By the time I do get them done of course it is doubtful that I will have an opponent at the club, but such is the speed of my painting and the fact that I get side-tracked so easily. Oh well I may have to think of an opposing army for them myself!

I have the day off tomorrow so I hope to get some painting done then. I have several things started but nothing near completion. I have overtime all next week so time to think but not so much to paint. My current thinking projects are about the show game for Broadside 2014, about creating a set of rules for Samurai wargames (I have yet to find a set I like, but you can anticipate some Japanese figures in the near future) and about other wargames ideas which both flit into and out of focus on a daily basis!

so until Sunday take care, have some fun and I look forward to seeing you soon. Best Wishes Clint

MHWC Open Day

As well as the zombie wild west game on Sunday, on Saturday I went along to the Milton Hundreds Wargames Clubs open day. I know what you are thinking where is the Milton Hundreds? Well for those of you who don't live within 5 miles of them it's the Sittingbourne club.  Not sure why they think Milton Hundreds Wargames club sounds better than Sittingbourne wargames club but as the founder and president is a local history buff I have always fallen asleep when he replies to that question. Anyway what follows is a very quick report.


The first game through the door was a "Rapid Fire" late war game set around the Germans trying to escape the Falaise Gap. A very enjoyable fast moving to watch. Simon the games organiser always puts on a very well structured game well thought out and balanced. The Germans started one side of the river with their escape route over the other side. The inevitable fighting over bridges and fords was to take place all day. Overall as WW2 games go a very nice game to watch. Phil and Alex as the Allies and  Steve and American Bob the Axis.

Keep scrolling down there are a few more games to get through.

 The next game by Richard, Gary and Clive was a WRG 6th edition ancients game. I did have a good chat with Richard and Gary who used to be in the Rainham club (the club I go to). I think on a technicality Richard is still the Rainham club President as we have never voted in a new one! Yes we are that organised! We are still going though after all we don't need titles and to get all official. Anyway back to the Game Gary and Richard are very traditional wargames as demonstrated by their choice of rules and the age of the lead on the table. Absolutely nothing wrong with old rules and armies and it does demonstrate a wide spectrum of activities at the club so it is good to show such diversity.

The next game was put on by the Maidstone Wargames club, who were there as guests of MHWC. Several Maidstone players are members of the Sittingbourne club so they do have very strong links. Crickey the Sittingbourne club even consider me a member! As you can see this is an W-Wing bash and they had told me they would do a different space game later in the day. "Starmada" I think they said but I can't be sure.

 Additionally to the games being played they had s number of tables set up ready to go. Again to show some of the diverse games that are sometime put on at the club.

Saga. Nuff said.



This was an odd one! Speaking to Mark the MHWC secretary he did admit the game was set up for 3 musketeers, but he realised that he had no suitable figures for the game when he got it to the hall so placed a few Dr Who figures into place to make the display more interesting. What was VERY flattering is that I was later told that the buildings and scenery were purchased after I put on a 3 Musketeer game on at their club 2 years ago. I have promised to return (hopefully later this year) and run it again as it was a giggle!


 A wild west setup. I do Know they sometimes do put on a game set in this period and as you all should know I am very interested in this type of game. Everyone needs to play wild west games they are just so much fun.

 

 The other game they had set up and ready to go was a WW1 game using "To the Last Man" rules by Chris Peers. Belgium's attacking a German position. With very smart Belgium Cavalry and a couple of Belgium WW1 armoured cars, all well painted by Mark (as mentioned above). I wanted to get a tutorial for these rules and that was one of the reasons for me going. However Mark (secretary) and Alan (club President) were too busy meeting and greeting and making trips to the refreshments that the Women's Institute had supplied. I must say I did enjoy the sausage roll for 30p so I can see why they made more than one trip while I was there!









Lastly for today here is the nessercary "loot" picture. Armourfast supplied some free tanks and I was invited to take a couple. As the choice was either Cruisers or Jadpanthers I took 2 Cruisers as I do not think I have ever owned any of these tanks for my entire life! The two magazines were 50p each and gave me something to read on the train going home.

That's todays post I should have some figures ready for the next post on Friday. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon.

Ah before I go, I have just noticed I have tipped the 100 followers. I am both humbled and flattered by your presence and would like to say how much I appreciate every one of you.  I do not do any giveaways or competitions to try to attract more followers. This is very deliberate it means you are here because you want to be and not for any greed or freebies which makes you all far more valued to me than I would feel had you just joined in the  hope of getting something for nothing!

Cheers All I appreciate it! Best wishes Clint

Ths town aint big enough!

 I have had a roller coaster of a weekend. I will do a post on Wednesday about the Milton Hundreds open day and the things I walked out with (Swag, loot and freebies.) I will not do a post about my sisters marital problems but that is deffinitly the down part of the roller coaster and It meant that I was not able to sort out the Wild Zombie West game as well as I would have liked. But enough excuses I can hear you saying get on with it.

So getting on with it. I told the players the situation. Which is to say that they were all travelling by stage coach and during the day they were unable to change the horses as the way station was a grizzly sight and everyone was dead and partially eaten by animals and the horses had escaped the corral and so they had all been rushed into town with the current horses covered in sweat and close to collapse. Thus all the players arrived on foot in the same location at this stage unaware of the zombie apocalypse.

It was dark, the lights were out and the stage coach horses ready to collapse so most of the players headed to the saloon even though no lights were on and on one was in the streets. Two players (Fat Pedro and Randy Cockspur) decided they would look elsewhere and for go the temptations of liquor!

Figures started to emerge onto the street and amble towards the players from all directions. Getting closer Deacon realised that these were some sort of abomination from the pit and fired a scatter gun at the shamblers knocking them down but not killing them. "Preacher"  and Manco went into the saloon and still failed to identify the two figures inside as being undead. They were promptly attacked. Gary Winchester loitered outside and tried to peer into the shadowy gloom as figure moved closer. " were clearly not quite human but the third looked convincing enough in the dark. Warm Leg Bob identified a walker and plugged it with his sixgun out side the saloon.

Pedro was moving towards the Sherriff's office he had a machete and being Mexican he had an extra clue from the name of the town ( Negro de la ciudad de cabra) while Randy Cockspur decided that late night shopping was the thing that made most sense to his limited thinking lumberjack and he looted some cans of peaches from the general store.

Meanwhile back at the saloon Manco had been attacked and bitten and Preacher also attacked had managed to fight the rotter off. Three zeds had closed in on Mr Winchester and while he was able to survive the combat it did result in him running for an alley way trying to put some distance between the growing numbers and himself. Eventually he manages a fighting retreat and slays two zombies but takes a bite to his torso for his trouble. Preacher scrambles out of the saloon and kicks the swing doors knocking the pursuing zeds flat. As a clump of figures they reform at the other side of the street. Randy continues his supermarket sweep and stuffs a pistol into his jacket and Pedro finding the law office/jail empty helps himself to a carbine and some ammunition. But all over the board the zombies are closing in. Players decide that there is little to be gained firing weapons randomly each time rousing more of the biters and decide the best plan is to get out alive.

Each of the bitten players had to roll d6 each activation and on a 6 they would collapse and start to turn. So each turn the rest looked on hopefully! (Yes that is my club for you). They both kept rolling 5's but not once did either of them get a six! CURSES.

Warm Leg and Deacon headed west down the street concentrating on distance and not shooting until Warm Leg made it the first to exit the board, followed moments later by Deacon. Both alive unhurt and un bitten!

A bitten Gary Winchester escaped the board North East having skirted buildings and avoided any further zombies by dodges rather than gunfire. Manco also bitten headed due east third off of the board but in danger of infection from a bitten left arm. Preacher went south a bit more ragged than he started but otherwise in good health. Randy climbed out the back window of the store after a series of melees where he wielded his lumberjack axe against unarmed zeds. It lasted a long time often fighting 2 zombies at the same time but eventually he clambered through the window and left the town south westerly direction the only player with food for the following day.

The window at the back of the jail had bars so he was forced to exit onto the main street into the sight of the zombies. Which then gave chase. The zombies with guns had a 1 in 6 chance of remembering they had fire arms but if one fired they all would remember. Until now they had not managed to get a 6. But now as 3 gun zombies came into range they suddenly remembered. two missed but the guy with the shotgun hit and while I rolled a 1 for damage the shotgun did knock Pedro off of his feet. This allowed them to get closer. These gun zombies could so easily mobbed him at this stage, but instead they rolled a 6 again and decided to shoot and not move. All three missed and Pedro managed to escape the town South south west in direction.

The game was not a complete shambles but there was so much I could and should have done better If I'd had a little more time to prepare. Not being overly critical but I did have to wing it a bit here and there because I forgot the rules and some of the charts and tables. I took the stance just to keep it going rather than look everything up. And being very self critical I know I did not give all the players the best game.

Still looking to the future I can see several improvements I need to make and with a bit more preparation I can see the idea working out.

I will post a report about the Milton Hundreds Wargames club open Day on Wednesday. Until then take care and have some fun Clint

A fist ful of Zombies,

New Recruits

The Horde so far!

 Good morning. In the last couple of days I have managed to source and paint 5 additional zombie gunfighters. Again these are Wargames Foundry figures and thus they are all duplicates of figures already painted. As can be clearly seen there are only 5. The pack would normally contain 7 figures but as they were a gift from a friend it would be churlish in the extreme to whine about it. Let us be blunt when it comes to lead all donations are VERY gratefully received. So thanks Matt, he's not a blogger or known to my club but we go back years and he used to ref "Deadlands RPG" and these are the left overs. I have never played "Deadlands" as I was not living in the same part of the world at the time.

The second picture shows the horde at this stage. It is quite meagre at this time but it is slowly growing and increasing. As mentioned previously I will be using my normal 20th Century horde zombies just to bulk out the ranks and create much more of a threat. My players will already have been looking at the tufts on the bases. This is because I activate zombies in two separate phases Those with "tufts" on the base and those without. This system came about when it became apparent that players were waiting for the zombies to move and then move just far enough away not to get eaten. By having two separate activations it makes it harder for the players to act in this way. Both activations are random as are individual players so usually one or more players will act between the zombie activations.

That's todays painting. I shall be travelling to the Milton Hundreds Wargames Club Open day today (yes I will take some snaps) and The club Wild West Zombie game tomorrow so a busy games weekend for me. So with luck I will post the AAR on Monday and the open day report on Wednesday. At least that is the plan! take acre and chat again soon. Best wishes Clint.

Western Gunfight Zombies.

 Some of you will know I am planning a Western Zombie Game for the club on Sunday, the rest of you have just found out! That being the case I thought I should start painting a few more zombies. Most zombies in the game will be my "normal" horde zombies but I thought to add a few more zombies toting weapons and dressed in period clothes. They will of course function slightly differently in the game. The top two pictures are freshly painted "Foundry" castings and the Third picture has two zombies which have been shown before, just included for completeness.

7 figures to a pack armed and dressed with a variety of weapons and clothing. Quite obviously they can be used for any Victorian era setting but are most suitable as wild/weird West figures because one of them is wearing chaps. 5 are pistol armed including a couple of heavy pistols. 1 has a rifle and the other a double barrelled shotgun. They all look suitably zombie like in both pose and facial grimace. While Foundry only do 1 pack different colours on the clothing should or the skin tone should allow for enough variety especially if the figures in the same poses are on different parts of the Table.

I hope to get the opportunity either today or tomorrow to give the rules I shall be using for the game on my dedicated zombie blog (28 Dice Later ). I do not update it very often and am not looking for followers or page views as it is mostly for club and ZBA interaction.

I shall do another post on this blog on Saturday. Until then take care enjoy a quiet few days and with luck talk soon. All the best Clint.

Hakan the barbarian.

 And today's offering is a Barbarian figure by "Reaper Miniatures". I have only managed to get one figure painted in the last couple of days. Oh well!

HAKAN, BARBARIAN OF HEIMDA is the name on the pack. Obviously the figure is ridiculously muscled but we have to expect that from figures portraying barbarians. As such another exercise in painting flesh. Clearly fantasy figure, well just look at that weapon and tell me anyone could seriously wield it is such a manner. No I thought not! Still part of fantasy is always a bit larger than life, so not a serious problem as far as I am concerned.     Originally I purchased him while looking to put on a Conan game. While never intended to be Conan himself I did think to use him as a supporting cast member. I do have a couple more to fit in with this game idea so you may get to see them soon, Indeed one is on the paint table at present.

With luck I hope to have more than 1 figure to show in 2 days time. So Until then take care and enjoy yourself.  And hope to see you soon.

Pinkertons

The three figures are from the Artizan range of Wild West miniature. The actual pack was AWW025 Pinkerton Detectives 1. Each was a joy to paint and will suit any Western or Victorian game. Yes even a game with zombies werewolves and other such things that go bump in the night. The Out House is another building by Tim Wade at Frontline Wargaming. I am not sure if it is still available as he seems to has stopped producing his Western Buildings now that companies are producing laser cut wooden ones. Personally I think this is a same the resin ones do not require assembly and being heavier are less prone to movement on the table top (which should not happen but we all know it does!)

 Ok each in turn.

The first one is armed with a single pistol. I went for grey hair and bear as I wanted the figure to appear as a grizzeled veteran. There is a mended tear/rip in his duster on the right leg hinting that he would rather spend his money elsewhere than on fancy duds. And yet his grey bowler hat does appear new. Maybe either the coat is lucky or the hat is new and he would rather have town clothes than country clothes.  Whatever his story is I painted him with the name "Warm Leg Bob" in my mind as that is the name given to me by one of the players in my series of planned games in the Zombie Wild west!

 The next figure Not intended for the Weird West is one of the few figure I have for this period who is wearing spectacles. Rather than painting them black or blue I decided that red-pink was exactly the right colour. The rose tinted spectacles will help with the glare of the sun and give the figure a very specific character. Spurs can be seen below the brown duster and the '73 Winchester rifle makes me think he's been tracking down don heinous villains out in the old west. This is one of the joys of this period all the figures are very characterful and as you paint them you make your own story up as you go. Obviously who ever picks him up and commands the figure on the table can and probably will make up their own reasons for the clothes and armaments.

Lastly for today probably the figure I liked the most prior to painting. (Now of course I like them all). This detective has obviously spent some money on duds and gives the appearance of only wanting the best of things. The hat the coat the bow tie all look new and in good condition and while he also has spurs on the fact that he wars a monocle suggests he's more used to a civilised setting. Finishing his look is a gold watch chain and gold monocle chain which hopefully should make it look like his the most successful Pinkerton of the three.

That's it for today. As you can tell I have really enjoyed painting these three and I think they will add considerably to my growing Wild West setup. there are of course more to follow and with luck and a bit of work they should be ready for Tuesday's next blog post. So until them take care and have fun. All the best Clint.

Crocs and Trolleys.

As my self imposed "figure fast" draws to a close on Saturday I do not see myself heading into a "Figure Feast". So first up today is the second Croc from Michael over at 28mm Victorian Warfare who sent me them to flesh out my TAR7AN game, which I really do need to spend some more time finishing. I had one finished before so here is the second one as well, both together. So one very small step closer and again my thanks to the gentleman Michael. Thank you Sir very much appreciated.





Obviously these are not at all related to the crocs, except that they might be considered as articulated if coupled together. These are very well priced at £5 for the set. Ainsty Castings.  (the link will take you to the right page.) On the Ainsty site these trolley Cart train is painted silver. While I did like the silver look as being very science fiction or Spy-Fi I wanted these to stand out on the table top and yet still fit into either setting. As a result I went for a bright yellow main colour with a series of red, brown and a very very dilute black washes. The black applied only into the joins on the cylinder tanks but quite heavy on the grey trolley bases. Given the boldness of the cylinder tanks I settled on a simple grey for the wheeled bases which carry the cylinders as I wanted the tanks to be the focus and not the wheeled bases. I have no immediate use for them but in any science fiction setting or scale I am sure they will get some game action. As we all know cover is cover and a welcome  addition in pretty much on every tabletop game. I must say for the price these really are a good addition and I am strongly considering getting more.

Thanks for reading today. Next update will be on Sunday. So until later take care have fun and blog like crazy! All the best Clint.

6mm Baccus Wss trial figures.

It has been many years, (probably close to 15-20), since I last painted any 1/300th scale or so called 6 mm figures. So I thought it wise (others may say foolish) I should start small (no pun intended) and with a very limited type and amount of figures. As such I have completed 2 units. Completed is the wrong word as I have yet to add the flags. The flags are commercially available from Baccus and thus I will purchase them in due course as it saves mucking about trying to make my own.

The first unit is painted to represent Sir Edward Derings Regiment of Foot, Captain General John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough, at the battle of Blenhiem during the War of Spanish Succession. The colours were taken from The War Office. web site. While I am staying close to the colours in many games they will not represent the actual units as they will need to take many roles in a few different eras and theatres.




The second unit has been painted to represent the  Welch Regiment of Fusiliers. Again colours and markings taken from the War Office as mentioned above.

Each unit has been based to match Tim's troops so that if we attempt big games there will be no disparity in sizes. With 3 bases to a unit they will also be usable for "Beneathe the Lily Banners" rules as well.
 While Tim was able to fit 12 "Irregular"figures to a base I was only able to squeeze 8 figures in the same area. Baccus figures are slightly wider and many people say they have big heads. They are most definitely better quality than "Irregular Miniature" and indeed with larger heads, but as they cost more one would hope for better quality. I do appreciate "Irregular Miniatures" and would be willing to get more at a later date but for now Baccus is the way forward for me. I think these may be the re-start of my War of Spanish Succession project despite the fact that I have purchased an army in 15mm as well. 6mm will at least dovetail with Tim's figures which will stop me having to buy two armies and will in the long term save money ..... well maybe, it might just mean I buy more! You know what it's like

I have kept the bases simple with just a paint finish as putting any texture on them would have cluttered them considerably. The base sizes are only 22mm by 12mm so once the figures are attached there really is not much room at all for the little extra bits which make them visually more appealing.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading this and I have several things started on the painting table so I really have no idea what will be finished next. However I have offered to put on a Wild West Zoimbie game in 10 days time or so. Therefore you may expect to see some figures for this game in the very near future.

Best wishes Clint

They don't like it up 'em.

 Tim, Graham and myself had a Sudan game at the  club yesterday. Tim took the Mahdist's forces while Graham and myself were given a supply column and troops of her majesty's most glorious empire. The rules used were "A Good Dusting" Tim supplied everything, troops terrain and the rules and scenario.

The mission was to take the supplies from one table edge to the opposite side. the carts could not cross the hills but everything else could. So we planned the best route and set of moving at the speed of our infantry (4" a turn).

There were two obvious "pinch points" which we would need to take the wagons through. And then the Mahdists turned up. My cavalry scouting ahead trying to secure the first pinch point was met head on by the native cavalry who managed to get the charge in and melee was joined. A melee that was to linger on and on and on. I won each round of combat but the heathens just would not break no matter how hard I tried. My infantry were the advance guard and ever so slowly caught up with the meleeing horse. First I tried a firing line behind them thinking my own might run before the native fanatics then I fanned out to either side to counter the approaching Beja.

My second unit of cavalry were caught in the open and shot up thus retreated and let the foot-sloggers get involved. Eventually they dismounted and formed a skirmish screen on the columns left flank to counter more Mahdist troops streaming in from that side. (Mahdist troops were set up randomly by use of a scatter dice with a chance of more arriving each turn.)

Madist camel troops and a very few fuzzy wuzzies turned up behind the column but Grahams troops made very short work of them. While a horde turned up on my left flank and my cavalry skirmish screen had to edge backwards each turn giving fire and ground in equal measure.

Eventually the Mahdist Cavalry died to a man having refused all decency and not routed and the pinch point opened enough to get some wagons rolling through. But seriously it did take all day to get that result they just would not run the blighters! So I swung my now free horse into the flank of the closest Beja and launched a bayonet charge with a foot unit at the same time.

We ran out of time but it was clear that Her majesty would have been pleased with the action in the Sudan this day. All my troops had taken losses but none had actually broken and disgraced themselves.

There were a number of issues that the rules and situation bought up. I think the British had about twice the number of troops they should have and the fact that the Mahdists turned up in dribs and drabs which meant Tim would never be able to make a strong concerted effort. Which did not lead to a very balanced game in the end which is a shame as I would like to do more of this period. A string of emails have been sent both ways with ideas and suggestions and Tim has amended some of the rules to suit our club more even sending updated quick reference sheets to Graham and myself. I can't say I out played Tim in any regard despite the clear win it was just that at no stage did the poor chap manage to get enough troops on the table. Then when he did get troops into the game they were so scattered that the long range of the rifles (30 inches when foot move 4 inches a turn) meant they could be severely weakened to the point that they could not really impact. So Other than the native horse I initiated the charges with my infantry. We all like a bayonet charge after all!

A slightly disappointing game I have to admit, but lessons learned so with luck next time we play a more even result has the potential to emerge. That's it for today thanks for reading and I will blog again on Wednesday. Best wishes Clint.

Bicycle Boys!

 A couple of old Foundry figures from their Home guard range. I hasten to add that I am still working through my old lead pile and at present have no use for these chaps. I am sure I will find a use for them but what that will be and when is anyone's guess. Painted more for fun and pleasure than anything else following the WW1 figures I was finishing off last week. For now I'll put them in the same box and maybe use them as WW1 dispatch riders.

Not really a whole lot more to say about these two figures.  Something a little different but only a little. I used the same colours as the WW1 figures as British army uniforms did not seem to change colour too much between the wars. That is of course the time for someone to jump in and contradict me. And if the colours are very much different I have an eye test in September so let's not worry about it.

I may have originally got these when VBCW was planned in 28mm but now the club is doing 20mm these might never get used. Oh well never mind, sooner or later they'll either get used or put on a bring and buy.

Changing the topic, I am due to play a Sudan game at the club on Sunday so with any luck an After Action Report on Monday. So until then, take care and hope to see you soon. Best Wishes Clint.

6mm Buildings (2)

 Well here are the other two buildings. Both from the same source as the ones I showed a couple of days ago. Again they have a wide variety of construction techniques displayed on each model (stone work, brick work, timber framed, weatherboarding etc etc.. ) Traditionally Weatherboarding would be white washed but I thought the blue just looked better. If we are being strictly accurate then weatherboarding is a Kent (and Kentish.....you have to be local to appreciate the difference) contextual feature which would mean the building (or Builder) was base in (or from) Kent.  I can already hear the snores so I'll move on.

The third picture shows some of the side views as opposed to straight elevations. This is to show that the details extend to all sides. I really like this approach as when on the table top we would never see a simple facade.  It also goes to show how much fun they are to paint.

Of course now I have these painted up there is no excuses not to do some of my 6mm troops. While I have none on the paint table at the moment, I have as mentioned previously now found them and even had an email back from Tim at Frontline with the sixes of the bases he has used. So perhaps I need to stop procrastinating and get on with it.

As you can see from the last photo here are all the building together. I knew someone would ask for one so just to save you the effort of asking.

So here we go again another blog post over and with luck I shall look forward to hearing from you or to the next post which should be on Friday. All the best Clint