Bob's Miniature Wargaming Blog

Reforestation efforts

2012-01-26T16:26:00.001-08:00

After much delay, I finally sat down to spruce up (so to speak) my aged trees bases. These fellows usually sit on an area marker or in a hex so are designed to be moved around to accommodate unit placement.

There are 38 of these (I think I've lost two over the years) and the base is cork with a washer on the bottom for weight and magnetic purposes. Then I put on some flock and then some trees.

I think I originally made these back in 2005 or 2006 so they have had some heavy use. Several bases were down to only a few trees. I replenished the forests with pieces I had in my terrain box.

There are basically three kinds of trees. The spruce are pipe-cleaners that GHQ used to sell. The clump foliage is on woodland scenic trucks. And the light coloured, column-linear trees are part of a dried flower that I chopped up.

These are meant to be generic trees. Most of my gaming is set in North America so I was going for a rocky east-coast look with a mixed forest. I think these fit the bill.

Up next: I have four 1/600 ships about half painted an I hope to finish these by early next week. I also have a game of Maurice with Bruce on Wednesday and there are some 28mm vampire count figures to build.

2012-01-25T06:46:00.000-08:00

Monday's mail brought me a copy of the new game 1812: The Invasion of Canada by Academy Games. The game is a Risk-style area control game with card-driven activation and dice reminiscent of Borg designs. I took it out to Bruce's for our usual "off-Tuesday" games and we managed to learn the rules and fight the game to conclusion in 68 minutes.

Here you can see the opening moves and the British have punched south through the Niagara Penisula. This was mostly to spoil an expected American attack and gain some victory points quickly. The game can end any time after the third round of play, depending on how the cards shake out and what the players do so an early lead can be helpful.

In retrospect, this may have been overly aggressive as the Americans punch back by mid game. It did, however, focus the American attention on the Niagara frontier and meant there were few troops to be spared for adventures in Michigan.

There was quite a fight on the south side of the St. Lawrence and the Americans eventually managed to capture Montreal (ack!). In the meantime, the British looped around the far side of Lake Erie and drove south. I think we were both quite aggressive in the game and the final outcome was a narrow British victory. You have to watch that Bruce because he is cagey!

Overall, an interesting game. One level more granular than Columbia Games' War of 1812. The dice mechanics are fascinating, forcing very difficult and often counter-intuitive choices about casualties. The cards work well. We both thought that this might be one of the few games that actually works better with five players (so there is some intra-team bargaining) than with two players. But the dice mechanics are very tight and compelling.

Up next: I've finished replanting my trees and they are drying. And I have some 1/600 ships ready to prime. I'll be a bit quiet this next bit as I attend to a couple of other engagements.

6mm FPW French

2012-01-23T11:24:00.001-08:00

And today the last of the 6mm, this time some 6mm Baccus FPW French.

There were a smaller number of these fellows.

There are also a few bases of skirmishers.

Up next: Work is a bit busy so maybe a game of A Few Acres of Snow and some 1/ships.

6mm FPW Bavarians

2012-01-22T18:39:00.001-08:00

I've just finished a bunch of 6mm FPW Bavarians for a commission. The figures are Baccus and are very nice.

There a bunch of formed troops. The red is not nearly as bright as it is in these pictures. I see the glue has not yet dried on the bases.

There are also a large number of these smaller bases representing skirmishers. These posed some challenges for my fat, fat fingers!

Up next: A small selection of 6mm French FPW figures is drying. I'm also hopeful I can get a game with Bruce and perhaps paint a couple of 1/600 Uncharted seas ships.

More FoW German Paratroops

2012-01-20T05:44:00.001-08:00

This is the second batch of bases for a 15mm Flames of War commission.

This bunch includes a platoon of machine guns to support the infantry. Overall a nice unit but the MGs themselves had a fair bit of flash. Hard to tell what was flash and what was detail!

I quite like the fellow with the binoculars.

There is also a mortar platoon.

These fellows were nice to do and have a couple of bases of FOs as well as a command stand.

Up next: I'm just finishing the painting on some 6mm FPW (French are done; Bavarians need cuffs and collars and details. I should have these finished by the weekend). Then onto my trees and some 25mm Star Wars reinforcements.

FoW German Paratroops

2012-01-18T19:39:00.000-08:00

Awhile back fellow I know asked me to paint some 15mm WW2 French troops for a Cassino campaign he was playing in. They turned out okay and were fairly fun to paint. Subsequently, the German opponents (paratroopers as it turned out) also came my way (consistent basing was important).

I finished the first of two batches tonight. First up we have an infantry company of nine bases plus command. The figures were in a three-colour camo pattern. Oh my, that was a challenge. What colours look good together, will darken acceptably with the wash and will still have an appropriate colour shift to look in scale? Not sure I quite nailed it but pretty close.

The Battlefront figures have a nice amount of detail. I wish the individual bases were thinner (or smaller) but they do a nice job of them overall. Below is a shot where I tried to show the camo pattern. The green looks a bit Christmas-y but there is a weird colour shift thing happening--it does not pop that much in real life.

There was also a set of guns. Normally I hate assembling artillery (and chariots--chariots suck) but these guns were very nicely made and went together quickly.

There are also a couple of command/FO bases.

Up next: Drying right now are MG and mortar units to fill out the Germans ranks. And I have some 6mm FPW that I will primer tomorrow when the glue dries on the paint sticks. Thereafter, I'm not too sure.

Club Night: January 17

2012-01-18T07:04:00.001-08:00

We had 10 guys out at the club last night, which was pretty good given it was minus 40C with the windchill. We have some dedicated gamers!

I put on a game of Battlelore. I had hoped to test out the reluctant allies rules for my MayDay game but I was happy in the end to have two players keen. Here you see Bruce as Mordred and Neal as Arthur. The actors portraying them in the movie version will be prettier! It was a narrow win for Arthur after an aggressive Mordred had him on his backfoot for much of the game.

Dave hosted Chen, Terry, Scott, Mark and Alan in a redux of his Hail Caesar Normans v Saxons game. The scenario had a few tweaks (more Normans!). You can see the pretty new Normans (actually El Cid Spaniards standing in) above.

The Saxons again refused the right, awaiting the Norman cavalry (who turned up pretty much on time).

There was much taunting and eventually (I think) the middles met (which sounds kind of dirty) with the Normans managing a win. I didn't hear Scott swearing too much so he must have done alright last night!

Up next: I have some 15mm FoW Germans which are being based (should be done by tomorrow) and then onto some 6mm FPW figures. It has been awhile since I have painted 6mm! And then I will get to work on my tree repairs, which is the last item I need for my MayDay game.

Star Wars Memoir '44

2012-01-15T07:18:00.001-08:00

The weather turned rather chilly last night (-17, feels like -31) so Jessica and I found ourselves at loose ends around the house. I couldn't face another hand of cards and she was asking to play with the Star Wars figures I had painted up last year. Instead of hauling out HoTT and reteaching her the rules, I decided to try a game of Memoir.

I bought a deck of cards over the holidays so I quickly made up some dice, found a unit sheet and made some equations and we were off. I played the game mostly from memory and it seemed to work well. No scenario--just whatever figures we happened to have handy.

I pushed hard in the centre and on my right flank; Jess was content to hang back and shoot. She eventually managed to fell both my speeder bikes and my AT-AT walker. Above you can see a band of heroes led by a Jedi--I used to leader mechanic from CCA to incorporate powerful characters.

Setting up the game drove home to me how ratty my trees have become over the years. Also, I need some pieces to indicate entrenchment.

Eventually it came down to two foot units, led by Luke and Vader. And I got lucky with the dice, managing to rub the unit out by throwing a Bantha into the fight. We will likely be playing again today and hopefully I'll be able to give the rebels a bit more effective orbat.

Up next: Some 15mm FoW Germans are underway--flesh and trousers done so onto jackets today. They have a camo pattern that will be slow going. Then onto some 6mm Naps. And the club is tuesday so I'll need to haul out Battlelore and get that prepped.

42mm Toy Soldiers

2012-01-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

One of my regular painting clients makes his own wooden toy soldiers. These are roughly 42mm figures and he sent me a batch to try painting.

These fellows represent a militia unit thus their uniforms are... errr... not uniform. Beyond blue coats and not too uniform, I was left to my own devices with a sample figure.

These were an interesting painting challenge. There are relatively few features to the figure so much was painted free hand. Also, the surfaces involved are huge, in the context of most toy soldiers. I had to find some larger brushes in my collection to get decent coverage. These took roughly three times what 15mm figure would take, but I'm guessing I could get the time down with some practice.

Although the figures look simple, there is a surprising amount of detail to paint. The faces took me a while to figure out. Some of the jackets were prepainted with what I think is an oil paint which did not play nicely with my acrylic cross belts. But in the end they turned out alright.

My daughter quite likes these. They have a quaint, throwback feel to them. I cannot believe Dale hand-made each one. The arms are fun felt but the rest is wooden.

Up next: Some 15mm WW2 Germans are crying out for paint. With the weather about to turn cold, I expect should have them done this week. I also have some 6mm Naps I need to prime. Then back to my own projects with trees and perhaps some 1/72 AWI British in the offing.

28mm Imperial Romans

2012-01-12T07:03:00.001-08:00

About five years ago, I got a sample sprue of Warlord's 28mm Imperial Romans to review. These were among the first of the 28mm historical plastics. After the review, these fellows sat on my shelf for awhile. Then I traded them to Justin. Then they were traded back to me. So I finally decided to build them.

There are six bases of legionnaires. A couple of the figures had been previously built to populate as DBA camp but the rest were brand new. Assembly was easy and painting was a snap. These are very nice figures.

As the sprue was a sampler, I did not have an decals for the shields. I decided to try painting them. The pattern is reasonable enough but was too small relative to the shield size. Oh well, a good lesson!

I also acquired a 28mm Warlords metal general figure somewhere. This angle is not very kind to the figure--he is quite nice.

Below I have tried for a side-by-side show of the Wargames Factory Republicans versus the Warlord Games Imperials. The Warlord games have superior detail and are appreciable smaller (the Wargames Factory guys are quite stooped).

Up next: I have some 15mm FoW Germans on paint sticks and I will prime them this afternoon. I also have some wooden soldiers (42mm) that I will start on shortly. Then some 6mm fellows.

More Maurice

2012-01-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

Braving almost seasonal temperatures, I treked out to Bruce's last night for a second go at Maurice. Again we played a fairly generic game. The centre was crowded with terrain while the flanks were open. Bruce had 15 units (including two lousy militia units) and I had 13 units (including two strong grenadier units).

We've not idea how Sam will deal with unit quality in the full rules so we tried making it easier for tougher units to rally off hits and harder for poorer units. This wasn't really all that effective and, after mulling over fiddling the number of disruptions a unit could take before it broke, we settled on fiddling the "conversion" roll where hits become disruptions next game. Good troops are hard to tag with hits from shooting. We'll see how that goes.

I decided to attack this game, refusing my left, loading the cavalry on the open right and sending the foot up the middle. I used the cannon to ward off Bruce rushing my cavalry but that was a poor choice on my part. So up the middle the boys went. They ran into a flanking force of cavalry and were saved by "that's not on the map!" as a marchy area appear to protect my flank. The screams of the horse and howls of indignation warmed my cold heart.

His cavalry hit me, bounced and then I had hoped to shoot him to death. But I couldn't roll worth beans all night so he eventually extracted them from their mess just shy of death. Unfortunately, there was a bit of "confusion" on his side and they charged forward into the bog (and their deaths) again (evil laughter). But things went downhill from there. The rest of the middle was a series of unit trades through firing.

My attack was poorly planned and eventually fizzled but I was a couple of units up on Bruce so decided to risk a cavalry charge up my right to see if I could snag victory. I knew his militia would be easy meat and they were (crunchy!). Alas, this was Bruce's plan, as he used the militia as bait and then hit me with his cavalry.

Overall, I traded four units for his three and then he snagged another unit through shooting to win. It could have gone the other way at the end if I had played my cards a bit different but he clearly deserved to win for his patient trap laying. Also for not crying too loudly as I hooped his cavalry with the marsh twice early on.

Overall, we had a great game in about an hour. I'm keen to see the full rules with a bit more detail (different types of cavalry, skirmisher troops, more card play). Bruce is so enthralled his is mooting rebasing and did up a sample unit. I will be staging an intervention at the next club night and need folks to sign up to bring food and drink.

Up next: I am about to base some 28mm Imperial Romans and start the prep on some 15mm WW2 Germans. I have also hauled the trees out of storage and am mulling how to fix them up.

Last Celtic Reinforcements

2012-01-10T07:00:00.001-08:00

These fellows are the last (ha!) of the extra Celts in my paint pile (excepting some attached to an unpainted Carthaginian army) and are 28mm Wargames Factory.

I did up a couple of bases of warband to flesh out the ranks some. There are a few odds and ends mixed in here (viking heads, weapons from various sets).

I tried to send a bit more time on the shields. Some I did some Celtic knot(ish) designs. Others I simply did some wet-on-wet mixing to give the shields some extra depth. I see a couple of fellows plundered some Roman dead for equipment.

I also knocked off two light horsemen to give the fellows some extra mobility. It is fun to see stuff moved from the "to-do" shelf to join the ranks of the painted.

Up next: I have a game of Maurice scheduled tonight and some 28mm Roman auxilia rolling off the production line. I have 500 points of FoW Germans that need prep and I plan to fiddle with some old bases of trees in the interim.

28mm Celt Reinforcements

2012-01-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

As part of my 2012 plan to paint down the pile and complete some projects, here is the first installment (or two) of "the rest of the Celts". These are 28mm Wargames Factory figures that I picked up a couple of years back.

These fellows are based for HoTT/DBA with 60mm frontages and a bit of extra depth. I often find myself short of light troops when we play games like Commands and Colors Ancients so I made up three bases of slingers and two bases of bow.

I see that I also have some metal RAFM Celts sitting with the Carthaginian army (another project for this year) so I guess I'm not done with stripes and plaid just yet. I quite like the largish fellow on the right-hand stand below--sort of a self portrait, if I owned a neck torc.

For HoTT, I did a base of magicians. I think the two figures on the left are Warlord Games and the lady on the right is an Artizan Designs figure. I'm not sure what the lady has in her bowl--some sort of korma?

All of these have been kicking around the top of my desk for awhile. I also have a beggar but I'm not sure where he fits in. Perhaps he'll get added to a camp?

I also did up one command base. This fellow is for CCA, as I'm often short of commanders. Looks like he had a good day on the battlefield.

Up next: I have some more Celts that will be finished tomorrow (drying now) and I have a game of Maurice planned with Bruce for Tuesday night. I also have 20-odd Roman Legionnaires nearly painted--just need to wash and finish the shield designs. And a bunch of 15mm German WW2 paratroops arrived at my door last night demanding paint ("Schnell! Schnell!").

Second batch of Orc ships

2012-01-08T09:59:00.001-08:00

I finished the second batch of 1/600 orc ships for Uncharted Seas. Again, I was left to my own devices to come up with a colour scheme so I tried to mix up various garish colours.

I am happiest with this ship as I think it looks the most nautical with the white sails and mono-coloured hull. I tried my hand a orc runes but maybe something a bit more Scandinavian would have looked better.

This larger ship looks much better in person than in this shot. For whatever reason, the red has become super-luminous in the photo and all of the depths of the wash is lost. Also, the eye looks off-centre but it is, in fact, dead centre (an angle-thing, I think--the mast is just resting in the hole and has tipped slightly backwards and off to one side). THe owner can glue it if he wants or pack the hole with putty so the mast can come out for transport.

The ship below also looks worse in the picture than in person (arrgh). The lines in the sail look all wonky in the photo, which reflects the angle of the picture as well as the curves of the sail. Looks fine in person.

Up next: I have 20-some Celts that I am finishing the basing on. Then onto some 28mm Imperial Romans and I will start rehab on my trees. Another game of Maurice is set for Tuesday night so there'll be another battle report on it.

First play of Maurice

2012-01-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

Bruce hosted me this afternoon in our first play of Sam Mustafa's rules Maurice (the free light version here). We played a generic game (14 units each) with all measures scaled down to fit a 4x4" board. I apologize for the bad pictures--the light was a bit weird today.

Bruce started by advancing against my right flank with horse and foot. I countered, lost a unit of horse and then pulled back one unit of horse to unmask my infantry. A sharp fire fight ensured and he was down 2 units to 1 and switched to make his advance in the centre. That took all of three or four turns and at that point we had the mechanics committed to memory.

As he advanced across the centre I started to clean up the right side, turning some units to help in the centre and moving the rest forward to bag the remains of his advance. His attack up the centre was solid but I managed to get in a first fire and then charged to contact. Some lucky dice aided by good cards and were we both exhausted, having to pause to replenish our hands.

At that point, I was managed to push him over his break point by taking the remaining units from his initial advance. On my left, the units did not move. Overall, I'd say this was the best horse-and-musket set we've played over the past seven years hands down. It felt like we were fighting a battle, with discrete engagements and pauses between as we collected ourselves.

The card mechanic is genius. It forces very hard choices: do you continue to go hard at the other fellow, or do you pause to build up your hand again? Do you move you CnC closer to the action (or the action you want to happen), or do you pay the card penalty for being farther away?

This adds a whole level of command complexity and realistic pacing that other games don't often have, but without any fiddly mechanics. We also managed to play a good-sized game (with dramatic play and lots of tension) and learn the rules in 2.5 hours. Wow. I will definitely be picking up this set when it comes out.

Up next: I have some 28mm Celts I'm moving through basing and a couple of 1/600 fantasy ships. Then some more 28mm Romans and I'll make a start on fixing up my trees.

Uncharted Seas Orc ships

2012-01-06T20:24:00.001-08:00

I took an odd-ball commission this week to paint five orc ships for Uncharted Seas. These are 1/600 resin models with metal sails. I recall Neil raving about these ships when they came back from the sculptor but then never got around to seeing any.

I don't recall ever painting ships and certainly not fantasy ones. My instructions were to use my imagination so I decided to paint them one at a time to allow me to get the hang of it and improve each ship. It's not like an orc fleet would be particularly uniform, anyhow.

This blue ship is a frigate (I think--or maybe a cruiser--my memory is shot tonight). I see I need to fix the paint on the backside of the sail. Overall, a lovely model. Little flash, no assembly and great, great detail. I went with a simple two-tone blue scheme, using some layering on the sails and a drybrushing on the hull. I think the cannons are a bit too copper.

I then went on to one of the battleships, using a green scheme and a bit more elaborate work on the sail. I wonder if a bit of yellow in the middle of the sail design might make it pop some? A star or something? Again, great hull detail that drybrushed up nicely. I am going to try multi-colour schemes on the next few ships.

Up next: Well, three more orc ships are better than half-way done. And I also finished the painting on my left-over Celts. These need a wash and some basing. Then onto either some more Romans or Dale's commission (not yet here). I'm off to play some Maurice at Bruce's tomorrow.

January 3 EWG Club Night

2012-01-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

We had 14 guys out for the first club night of the year, including the return of newcomer Alan and the reappearance of old new guy (or new old guy?) Neil. I ran a four-player game of Star Trek Fleet Captains, with Chris and Bruce as the blood-thirsty Klingons and Chen and Alan as the peaceable Federation.

The game was a bit slower than a two-player version (and no one had ever played before). I was surprised at how much combat there was right off. While the Federation players eventually won (and did a creditable job of keeping their weak science ship out of the fray to earn victory points through missions), it was fun to see the Klingons get their dander up late in the game and really put a joint pasting on the Enterprise E.

Elliott and Kevin played a game of War Machine that was still going on when I left (hope they swept the floor!). It was very pretty and Elliott had models out that I don't think I have seen before.

Dave hosted Neil, Terry, Andy, Scott, Jonathan and Mark in a game of Hail Caesar. Basically it was a Hastings-like battle in 28mm with a Saxon win. I don't know that I have ever seen a Norman win of this battle with any miniature rules.

Mark has done a nice job of a battle report with more pictures. Looks like we have a bit of red-rover-red-rover calling the Norman horse over going on here.

Up next: I have some 28mm Celts underway with a slight change in how I have been handling the flesh (lots of shirtless guys) and they should be done by the end of the week. I also hope to get a solo game of Star Trek Fleet Captains in against the Borg. And Bruce left me a nice little AWI solo game to try out.

28mm Roman Auxiliaries

2012-01-03T06:31:00.001-08:00

I starting to work my way through the remainders of projects to finish off figures I has set aside. First up this year are some 28mm Roman auxiliaries to supplement my Republican Romans.

These fellows represent slightly less well equipped troops--perhaps regional troops or frontier guards. The shields are hand-painted. Not great but I have done far worse! Thanks to Tim in Saskatoon and Joe in Calgary for the inspiration.

These are some extra figures from the Wargames Factory Caesar's Legions box. I mixed-and-matched heads from several other Wargames Factory boxes and also borrowed shields to create a less uniform look. What I really need to complete this army are some generic light troops (slingers, bowmen) from the Wargames Factory Numidian box but that will need to wait until I have cleared off some more older projects.

I also did up a single command base. Most of my Romans commanders are mounted as separate units on square bases for HoTT (where they can be used as a mounted hero or a lurker). I decided to just do these fellows as a straight-up command unit on a round base.

The commander is (I think) an Artizan Designs figure that I got to review back in 2008. The standard bearer and musician are Wargames Factory figures.

Up next: I'll be running a game of Star Trek Fleet Captains at the club tonight for four players. On the painting table, I have a bunch of Celts with the flesh and metal done as well as a bunch of Imperial Romans primered.

Star Trek Fleet Captains

2012-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

Bruce popped by this afternoon and we pulled out Star Trek Fleet Captains and managed two quick games. I'm running the game tomorrow at the club so appreciated the opportunity to go through the rules quickly.

We split the games between us and each had a nice mix of exploration, combat and Trekish bits (e.g., characters on cards that affect play). Overall, it seemed reasonably balanced to me. The random nature of card-driven games means there will be freakish games but, by and large, I think there are enough ways to win that overall the game is pretty fun.

We had only one game with significant combat (Bruce won the first using science-missions before I could even get to him) and the Klingons managed to put down both the Enterprise A and E for a win (destroying Captain Kirk in the process). Interestingly, after destroying the Enterprise E, Bruce pulled replacements that totaled four small ships--a huge boon for him in terms of options.

About the only negative things I have to say is that the clix are a bit sticky and I've had two ships break. One will be an easy fix and the other will be trickier. We'll see what the guys say tomorrow.

Up next: I have some Roman auxiliaries finished and drying that I will post tomorrow. Then some Star Trek at the club. I also have some 45ish 28mm Celts and Imperial Romans primered and ready to paint. And the resumption of the post should bring me some commission work.

A HoTT New Year's Eve

2012-01-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

Dave and I rang out 2011 with a couple of games of HoTT yesterday afternoon. We'd agreed on a medieval theme and each brought armies.

Dave's army included a magician. I'd never had the "pleasure" of facing a competently generaled magician before and it was most painful.

I brought out a mixed army (bow, blade, riders, hero) with a dragon (having never played one before). Dave quickly put me down in game 1. I must play more HoTT this year so I can give him a run for his money. The dragon did not appear in game 1 so the picture above must be from game 2.

Game 2 was also a beat down based on Dave totally pooching my left flank through careful deployment and me rolling a pair of one's for pips that I was never able to recover from. I hate being outplayed! The dragon did show up, though!

Game three was a mess. Again, the damned dragoon watched from the sidelines. I managed to quick kill his magician with my hero and the withstood a couple of bad rounds of general-on-general combat. Eventually my hero behind the lines (bottom picture) managed to block a recoil and I (narrowly) won. Good thing HoTT/DBA allows players to win 1/3rd of the time no matter how badly they play!

Lessons for me include: (1) play more so I'm better at the game, (2) bow stay in the woods except to flank, (3) dragoons are too gimmicky for me (dragon for sale!), (4) I might like to try a paladin and a cleric, and (5) I should have had a lurker or two in my ranks. Given the turmoil of DBA 3.0, I expect I will be playing a lot more HoTT this year.

Up next: A bunch of 28mm figures are on the hop. I have some 28mm Roman auxiliaries underway (mail and flesh done--onto cloth and shields) and a bunch (maybe 20 or 22) Celts are ready to be built today. I always find myself short of bows and skirmishers so that will be their fate. And then some Warlord Imperial Romans. Tomorrow Bruce drops by for Star Trek Fleet Captains.

Painting Plans for 2012

2011-12-31T14:25:00.000-08:00

I’ll have fresh battle report for you on January 1 as Dave and I duked it out medieval HoTT style this afternoon (%^*%#ing dragons). But I wanted to make one final quick post before the year was out.

Last year I painted 2870 figures, which was almost double my 2010 total and far more than I thought I would. In 2012, I’m aiming for only about 1000. That should allow for a fair bit of commission work plus a chance to paint my pile down to nothing.

First up are a bunch of plastic 28mm ancients that have lingered for several years. I have 16 Roman republican foot to do, a few mounted, maybe 30 Imperial legionnaires and a couple of sprues of Celts (who seem to be breeding while I’m not looking). Following them will be some 28mm Carthaginians, although I may do some 15mm Ancient Spanish first to fund the completion of the Carthaginian army.

Thereafter, there are some 1/72 British AWI reinforcements but they are a low priority as I have a huge number already painted and based. So likely I’ll return to 28mm plastics and try to finish off some medieval pike and then some renaissance foot.

My big push this year is to get my terrain up to snuff. My trees are crying out for refurbishment and I could do with some roads, walls and some large buildings for superhero gaming. I also have thoughts about painting my Battlelore figures, but I think that would be an autumn project, if at all.

I guess we’ll see how far I got with these projects in a year’s time. Now off to do some skating before the end of the year.

More Flames of War French

2011-12-31T09:16:00.000-08:00

And these are the rest of the 15mm Flames of War Goum infantry that I completed as a commission over the holidays. These will be the last new figures of the year bringing my painting total to 2870 figures, mostly 28mm and 1/72-scale figures, although a bunch of 10mm figures helped the total some.

We start out with the HMG unit.

There are a couple of bases of officers.

And four bases of gunners.

Then we have the LMG squad.

Again we have some officers. This fellow was my favourite of the batch--looks like he may have fought in WW1 and re-upped for the second go.

And four bases of gunners.

Then we have the mortar platoon.

There are two nice bases of officers, including these fellows with their map.

And there are five bases of mortars. All told, just over 600 points and exactly 100 figures.

Up next: Dave is dropping by for some HoTT today and Bruce will be dropping over for some Star Trek Fleet Captains on Monday and then it is back to work for me. I'll also be running a four-player game of Fleet Captains at the club on Tuesday. On the painting table are some 28mm Republican Romans--the metal is done and I hope to move onto the flesh and blocking in the clothing and the shields. After that, perhaps some 28mm Imperial Romans that have been lingering for years.

Epic Battlelore

2011-12-30T07:49:00.001-08:00

Craig brought the girls by for a playdate today and while they had fun in the basement, we played a couple of games of Epic Battlelore. The last time we played Craig walloped me good so I was out for revenge.

We set up a playtest of my MayDay game to see how it ran. I think I'm going to run the "reluctant allies" version for MayDay but we just played a two-player game. In game one, I managed to win on the right, with the horse eventually outflanking him and starting to roll up his line. Good command cards plus a lucky bit of lore play really helped me out.

We had enough time to play a second game and we kept our same sides.

In the second game Craig formed a solid (and very intimidating) line in the middle. I (uncharacteristically) fell back in the middle and marshalled my forces. Again, lucky horse play on the right helped and I was able to use my cavalry in the middle to tip him over the break point.

Overall, I'd say the game will work for MayDay. There are lots of units, a bit of interesting play with the lore deck but nothing too complex for first time players. I might well shorten the river on the left and move the ford closer to the far side of the board to change things up. Need a bigger playtest with four guys to see how the reluctant allies variant affects play.

Up next: More FoW French tomorrow. Dave is also stopping by for some HoTT. I have some Roman auxilia on the painting table and Bruce is coming over Monday for some Star Trek Fleet Captains. And the club is Tuesday! This is a good gaming start to the year!

15mm Flames of War French Troops

2011-12-29T07:26:00.000-08:00

I've just completed a small commission for some 15mm Flames of War French infantry. These are Goum troops who wear funky robes over top their uniforms.

First up is a rifle platoon. I see the colour is shifting to the yellow (didn't let the lights warm up enough, I guess). From what I can tell, this basing is roughly consistent with the Monte Cassino campaign--rough stone with a yellow tinge.

I tried to follow the pictures I was sent in terms of the colour scheme. While the figures were lovely, the large and deep bases for each figure made it tricky to base them--hence the rocky terrain the Goum favoured operating in.

There are a couple of bases of officers with this rifle company. And, below, there are also two bases of snipers.

Up next: The support weapons are drying as we speak (lots of MGs and mortars). Craig is dropping by today for some Battlelore and I also have some 28mm Roman auxiilaries that I need to prime if the freezing rain will stop.

2011 Gaming Wrap-Up

2011-12-28T09:51:00.001-08:00

I swung by Mission Fun and Games Boxing Week sale today and picked up the 4th and 5th Commands and Colors Ancients Expansions. The store was reasonably crowded given it was the third day of the sale.

As I was driving home I got to thinking about how much more gaming I did in 2011 than in 2010. I started tracking games this year, in no small part due to the gaming Jess and I do.

In 2011, I played 235 games, of which 117 were serious games. The rest are short, family style games (Bendomino, Noisy Noisy Hippos).

At the top of the list of serious games were various Richard Borg designed: Battlelore (18 plays), Commands and Colors Napoleonics (12 plays), Commands and Colors Ancients (6 plays) and BattleCry (1 play where Jessica crushed me). Following that there were 20 plays of DBA/HoTT and six plays of Borg-derived AWI/1812 games by Worthington Games.

I expect we'll see more serious games in 2012 as Jessica becomes able to play and win more complex games. I'm chuffed to play more Battlelore and the epic versions of both Battlelore and CCA at the club.

Up next: I have 100 15mm WW2 figures that I should finish basing today between family events. And I have 16 28mm Roman auxilia built and ready to prime. Tomorrow Craig will drop by for a playdate (and some Battlelore for us) and Dave is set to bring the girls by on Saturday (with some HoTT for us). I've also made great strides in cleaning the hobby room and putting together a list of projects for 2012.

Hexagonal walls and camps

2011-12-26T09:13:00.000-08:00

As I work my way through older terrain projects and odds-and-ends, I ran across three sets of walls I'd picked up more than a year ago. These are resin walls and are designed to fit on four-hexes.

They came with some resin hex towns and fit around them to represent fortified towns. They can also be used on their own to represent "camps" in CCA.

Another piece of terrain I need to figure out are some 60mm-long fortifications for CCA/Battlelore. I think I'll likely use skewers set in blue tack on some vinyl floor tile. And alternative would be some air-drying clay as the base but i think that would be too light and tippy.

Up next: I'm working on some FoW French (flesh and uniform colour done--now onto painting a stripy camo pattern on the smocks). After that, I have some more towns to paint and then maybe some 28mm Romans.

Last of the Egyptians

2011-12-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

I've finished the last of Craig's 1/72 Egyptians and he can take them home when he drops in for a playdate with the kids next week. I'm keen to have them out of my hobby room as getting it cleaned up is one of my holiday tasks.

Sorry this group shot is soft. I could swear the camera was autofocusing on the front row of figures bit it seems drawn to the pattern in the backdrop (which is super crisp!).

I was quite happy with how the figures turned out. The flesh has enough depth (since there is a lot of skin in this army) and the armour drybrushed quite nicely. These were very easy to assemble, which is not my usual experience with chariots.

Up next: Well, the inlaws are en route and I have a lot of drinking to do before they get here. I finished up some stone walls that I will show off tomorrow. I also have 600 points of Flames of War French Goum infantry built, glued to sticks and primered. That is a lot of stripes to paint! We'll see how far I get on them but that is the next big project. Then perhaps some tree repairs and some 28mm Roman auxiliaries.

28mm dark ages cavalry

2011-12-23T09:44:00.001-08:00

I discovered a half-finished box of Conquest Games 28mm Norman knights on my shelf and decided to complete these as generic dark age cavalry units.

I swapped out most of the Norman heads for Wargames Factory Saxons and Vikings and use round shields (instead of kite shields) to make them less Norman looking. Overall, a workable result that gives some of my dark age armies some additional punch.

This also fleshes out the orbat for my MayDay game of miniaturized Battlelore. I have a few more items to finish up, including some terrain. I also hope to get a playtest in with Craig on the 29th.

I see a bunch of WF Romans that I reserved to paint up as auxiliaries so that will be my next shelf cleaning project.

Up next: I am working through my terrain box and have some hexagonal walls (which fit over cities or stand along to represent camps that are drying. I also have Craig's NKE chariots almost finished (just need to flock) and I have opened and started cleaning a bunch of 15mm FoW French for a commission.

New rivers

2011-12-22T11:18:00.001-08:00

I've been playing a fair bit of Command and Colors Ancients and Battlelore lately and plan to put on a large Battlelore game for our MayDay convention. I think I will be using 28mm miniatures on my 4" hex mat and I wanted to have a nice river to use. In general the next year will be about improving or replacing old terrain more so than painting new figures.

These river pieces are all 60mm wide and either 100, 200 or 300mm long. This fits nicely in the hexes I have and can also be used to other systems like DBA and HoTT. There is roughly 10 linear feet of river all told.

In addition to the straight sections, I have done some curves (and I may do a few more) as well as two bridges and two ford. I've pictured one of each above with some 6mm AWI troops. The bridge is a Timecast bridge I have had laying around.

The rivers are reasonable functional on the table (pardon the colour shift due to crappy winter light). They will look better when there are other terrain features in play. I've built rivers like this before and they are quite durable over time.

Up next: I have some 28mm dark age cavalry through the basing process and drying. I also have some 1/72 Egyptian chariots that I am almost finished painting. And there are a bunch of 15mm Flames of War French infantry that I will start cleaning tomorrow. After that--maybe some 28mm Roman auxiliaries and perhaps I will look to rejuvenate my trees.

EWG Club Wrap-up for the Year

2011-12-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

While I don't collect stats, I do find that it can be interesting to do a quick tally of how the EWG went during the year. We meet twice a month and here are some basic stats:

About 229 gamers came out over the 24 sessions, this we have an average of 9.5 gamers per night.

The busiest night saw 15 gamers and the slowest 5. The summer was particularly slow this year which is a change from previous years. All time attendance record is still (to my memory) 18 guys.

There were 64 individual games played (so 2.6 games per nights) this year. The most number of games running on a single night was four (happened several times) and the fewest was two (I think). By genre, the most popular were:

1. Fantasy (11)
2. Board games (10)
3. Sci-fi (9)
4. Ancients (8)
4. WW2 (8)
5. Napoleonics (5)

A couple of (related) trends. We often miniaturized board games (where this happened, I allocated them by genre, not to the generic "boardgame" category) and we played a lot of Richard Borg games (CCA, CCN, Battlelore) this year. If you were to combine board games with miniaturized versions of board games that would be largest category by a long shot.

Here is to more gaming in 2012!

December 20 club night

2011-12-21T06:43:00.001-08:00

We had 10 guys out to the last club night of the year despite the driving sleet storm and there were four games played. Scott and I played a game of CCA using the Telamon scenario. I won't reprise the four tries we had other than to say Scott inflicted a beat-down on my that would be more appropriate to the biblical era than 225BCE. Wow, what a thrashing.

Kevin brought out a game of Conflict of Heroes. THe production quality of board games sure has improved over the past 20 years.

He also added some micro-armour vehicles to replace the counters which looked pretty slick.

Dave hosted Chen, Guy and Chris in a game of Condottiere. Very pretty but no idea how things went.

In the midst of things, Bruce and the guys presented me with a gift for my years of service to the club: a copy of Star Trek: Fleet Captains. Now a gold watch would have fetched a higher price on eBay last night, but I did alright given that the plastic wrap was still intact... :). Honestly, I was touched. And a bit overwhelmed by all of the components and a new set of rules to learn before the first club night of year.

Bruce also brought out a game of Swashbuckler (I think that was the title--by Yaquinto from 1980) and some minis and played a couple of rounds of putting someone's eye out.

Up next: Some rivers for Battlelore/CCA are drying. Then onto some painting, including some NKE chariots and a Flames of War infantry company.

Last of the Egyptian foot

2011-12-19T06:56:00.001-08:00

These are the last of the foot for Craig's 1/72 New Kingdom Egyptian basic impetus army. These are Caesar figures.

Overall, lovely figures to work with. I have the chariots built and primered and will tackle them this coming weekend.

So far the chariots have been the least frustrating chariots I've out together in any scale, just narrowly edging out the lovely Wargames Factory Celtic chariots in 28mm.

Up next: I spent the weekend building a river system for varoius Richard Borg boardgames that I play using miniatures. I just need to drybrush and flock the bases a bit. I also have six 28mm cavalry underway and then onto the NKE Egyptian chariots.

I also have a couple of commissions en route and the club's last game of the year is this weekend. Any, most exciting, two expansions for Battlelore arrived in the mail today. I hope to get a game of Epic Battlelore in with Craig over the holidays to playtest my MayDay game.

1/72 New Kingdom Egyptian Bow and Skirmishers

2011-12-18T07:46:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more of the Egyptians I painted for Craig. These are 1/72 figures produced by Caesar.

First up are three bases of skirmishers. Most are armed with spear but there are a few slingers in the mix.

Then there are four bases of bow. These are nice figures with a good mixed of poses and clothing. I'm pretty happy with how the flesh came out.

Up next: Some light Egyptian foot are drying, I'm working on some river terrain for CCA/Battlelore for my MayDay game and I have a couple of 28mm mounted dark ages guys underway. It is also the last club night of the year on Tuesday.

1/72 New Kingdom Egyptians

2011-12-17T08:03:00.001-08:00

Craig passed me a couple of boxes of Caesar New Kingdom Egyptians to paint and I have managed to finish off the foot. The chariots I will do over Xmas, I think.

First up are four bases of heavy foot. Sorry this group shot is a bit soft--not sure what the issue was. And Thanks to Dave for the refresher on Impetus base sizes as well as the army lists.

These are based on 120mm frontages and I think these fellows are 40mm deep (heavy foot). The Caesar figures are very nicely done.

I'm not a huge fan of ring hands and separate shields in 1/72 (although the effect is lovely) but these guys went together far nicer than, say, Italeri kits with similar assembly.

Up next: Some skirmishers are drying, then four bases of bow and four bases of light infantry and that completes the foot. Add in four chariots and Craig has the minimum army needed to play. I see he has quite a set of boxes of opponents sitting in his basement. I also have some 28mm mounted dark age fellows for my MayDay game.

A few Acres of Snow

2011-12-14T06:54:00.000-08:00

I dropped in on Bruce last night and we had a third go at A Few Acres of Snow. Again the French won through settlement but we had a few new experiences. The French besieged Halifax as soon as the British occupied it, which put the British back a bit. They eventually re-took it (they are better able to play militarily. Ambushing also played more of a role. I thought the game was quite close until the final count came in clearly for the French.

I've been reading on line a discussion (or as close to a discussion as people have online) that the British can win an entirely military game (thus the game is "broken"). I wonder about that as a strategy--can the French counter by ambushing and raid 12 cubes away from the British? I also wonder if the British game is not to grab the settler cards early and slow the French way down. We'll have to try that.

Up next: I have some 1/72 Egyptians underway--need to do some trim work and the base them. I also have the last of my 28mm mounted dark ages underway to fill out the ranks for my MayDay game. I await delivery of my epic Battlelore expansion--hopefully in time for the club on Tuesday.

Gaming with Jess

2011-12-11T07:49:00.001-08:00

While I have been continuing to paint, I'm well past my 2011 goals so I've been trying to play more. Now that Jess has turned 8, she has become a formidable opponent.

We still play simple games like Bendominos. Above you can see that she has become more aggressive, turning the ends of the lines back on themselves and (a first for us) completing a "circle" thus ending the game prematurely (and catching me with a butt-load of points still in my hand).

More exciting is that we've graduated from Forbidden Island to Pandemic. We've played four times and won twice on the intro setting and split the two games we've played on the normal setting (which is better than the boys at the club did last week...). Next up is playing Battlelore with the lore rules.

Up next: I'm working on my MayDay game (epic Battlelore, perhaps Mount Badon) and need to create some new terrain and finish off a few mounted units. I also have 100-odd 1/72 Egyptians on the go--finished their flesh yesterday and will start on their robes today. Then onto looking at some terrain to represent Gotham, which will be my major 2012 project.

FS 15mm DBA War of the Roses Army

2011-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

My club had its annual fundraising auction this past week. In the flurry of bidding, I ended up buying a painted 15mm DBA army (IV/83a War of the Roses English). I quite like this army but I don't play DBA in 15mm so, after some soul searching, I'd like to pass it on to someone who would use it.

The army includes two 3Kn and one 3Cv stands. The knights also have dismounted bases with flags that match the mounted so you can tell who is whom. There is also a 3Sp base.

The figures are Essex and are base don a thick card with appropriate sized bases.

There are three bases of 4Bd (above) and six bases of 4Bw (below).

There is also an artillery piece.

I'd like $65 plus shipping (about $15 in Canada or the US). I will individually wrap each bases in bubble and then pack them carefully. Offers to bob.barnetson@shaw.ca.

28mm sewer rats

2011-12-08T06:59:00.001-08:00

Last summer I squirreled away some odds and ends from a GW skaven set with the idea of creating a warband opponent for my superheroes. Sort of a sewer-rats group that could play the henchmen role for supervillains.

I finally painted and based these guys (another box emptied! yay!). First up is this posse of generic bad guys. I think skaven fit the sewer bill pretty well with scavenged clothes and home-made weapons.

There is also a gun-toting skaven hero (not sure what he'd shoot--goo? disease?) that I've put with Bats and Robin to give you a sense of scale. And below we have a two-man team--perhaps they are out to poison Gotham's water supply?

Finally we have a mutant (that I need to make a larger base for) rat. You'll note that Robin headed for the hills when this guy showed up at the photo shoot. After what happened to the last Robin, you kinda can't blame him.

And while I did promise the end of the supers for awhile, I found and finished this Dr. Doom figure so threw him into the mix.

Up next: I have some 1/72 Egyptians underway--need to glue shields on and prime them. I'm also sorting boxes in the basement and may dig a 15mm Ancient Spanish DBA army that I picked up at the club.

EWG new venue

2011-12-07T07:30:00.001-08:00

We had 15 guys out last night for our first evening at the new venue and autumn auction. The new digs are very nice.

Terry hosted Chris and Dennis is a game of Merchants and Marauders. I was looking forward to playing in this bit ended up running a game of Pandemic instead.

Guy, Craig, Justin, Bruce and I managed three games between us, each time loosing the world to one contagion or another. Glad I chose labour relations and not public health as a career!

Dave, Chen, Scott and Kevin ran a four-player game of Saga. No idea what happened there.

We also held out annual auction, with Mike (MIKE!) and Alan-and-son dropping in to see what was what. We raised $390 (plus whatever dues were) so we are solvent into the future. I will post a treasurer's update when I get time to count the dough. Thanks to everyone who donated items as well as those who bought them.

Up next: Some 28mm skaven for the sewers of Gotham are drying on their bases and I will be prepping a bunch of 1/72 New Kingdom Egyptians.

Epic Battlelore

2011-12-05T06:08:00.000-08:00

Craig and Arlene invited Jessica and I out for a playdate. While the girls played upstairs, Craig and I duked it out playing a game of Epic Battlelore. Frankly, this was awesome--taking Battlelore to a whole new level.

The scenario was part of the For Troll and Country expansion and was really big (to my eyes). Lots of units, lots of separate clashes and my first chance to play the epic rules. I played the Scottish/dwarf side and quickly moved my stout fellows to take a line of hills on my right. This was perhaps my best play of the night.

Craig rushed his goblins forwards on the left (I never did get anything going there) and we then saw a grinding series of battles where I couldn't seem to decisively defeat him.

His troll was all bark and no bite throughout the game, stuck against some dwarven crossbowmen on a hill.

At one point I was sure I had Craig's troll, caught between two of my heavy cavalry but he used some lore to squirt out of that trap. Then I rushed forward with three cavalry units on one of his medium infantry and managed to only to take half of his troops. He then reversed the attack and pounded the snot out of my heavy cavalry for the win. A good and dramatic end to the game.

Overall, epic is a much superior game to regular Battlelore. The common pool of cards, extra troops and greater room to maneuver makes it seem more like a battle. I can't wait for my expansion to arrive. I also leaned a few things about the rules that are helpful to remember.

Up next: The club is tomorrow night, I have some skaven underway on the painting table and then I have a stack of 1/72 New Kingdom Egyptians that I'll be starting on.

Last of the Superheroes for awhile

2011-12-04T09:08:00.001-08:00

These are the last of the 28mm superheroes for awhile. I'm looking to switch up my painting some and get back into something a bit more historical for a few weeks.

These fellows are most of the Justice League of America from when I used to read it (in the mid-1980s). First up we have Superman, Hawkman and Hawkwoman.

Then we have the Human Torch (a Marvel extra that I did when I had the red paint out), Firestorm and Zanata.

Yet another round of Batman, Black Canary and Green Arrow. I'm sure I have a Green Lantern somewhere to join them.

And finally The Elongated Man, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and someone named Ice who must have joined after I stopped reading.

Up next: Some skaven are currently underway and I'm off to play a game of Epic Battlelore with Craig this afternoon. Then I'll be back to either some renaissance guys or perhaps some Roman auxilia. There is also the club and our auction on Tuesday.

A few more superheroes and villains

2011-12-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

I finished a few more 28mm superheroes today and based them for Power Legions. I ended up with a bunch of duplicates so some of these you will have seen repainted before.

The first bunch includes the Huntress, Black Canary and Green Arrow. Not sure why the pictures is so soft?

Then we have the Hulk. Not really the same universe but he got mixed in with the DC figures so I knocked him off while I had green on the palette.

Then some villains for the streets of Gotham: The Joker (with fish guns), Harlequin and the Riddler

Then the Penguin, Poison Ivy and Bane. I'm not thrilled with how the wash pooled on the Penguin's coat (us fat guys can never get a break with the way clothes look) so I will go back and fix him. And finally Catwoman, Man-Bat and the Mad Hatter.

Up next: A few more JLA re-paints and then a bunch of Skaven to create a group of minions who arise from the sewers.

FS 28mm HoTT Superhero Army

2011-12-02T05:58:00.000-08:00

I have for sale a painted 28mm HoTT Superhero army featuring your favourite heroes from the Marvel Universe. Imagine your buddy's reaction when you agree to an age of heroes game and you plunk down the Hulk. The 14 base army comprises about 32 AP.

I've tried to keep the various superhero teams together in this army and we start with the Fantastic Four. First up is The Thing. You could play him as a behemoth but I think he would be better as a hero.

We also have Mr. Fantastic and She Hulk (who apparent was part of the Fantastic Four for awhile). I'd play them as blades.

I would categorize Invisible woman as either a lurker or a sneaker in HoTT.

The Human Torch seems to me to be a flyer, although you might use him as a shooter. We then turn to the X-Men and the Avengers to fill out the ranks.

First up is the Scarlet Witch and (I think) Psylock. Both seems to have projection-based powers, so I'd call them shooters. The red outfit the Scarlet Witch is wearing seems to cause my camera problems--she is nicely painted in the flesh and the red is not so overwhelming.

Again, as shooters we have Cyclops and Hawkeye.

I think Dr. Xavier would be a good cleric in HoTT.

The Wasp is clearly a flyer, but perhaps also could be played as a lurker.

Storm you could use either as a flyer or a magician. I think the latter is a better fit.

Colossus and Wildcat I would play as warband.

I would also play Wolvesbane and Beast as warband.

Same goes for Spidey and Black Cat as well as Elektra and Dare Devil. Again, pardon the too-vibrant red my camera has introduced--they look just fine in person.

And finally we have the Hulk who is clearly a behemoth.

These are Heroclix figures I have collected, repainted, washed and based on 60mm frontages. I'd like $75 OBO for this army (including shipping in Canada or the US). Offers to bob.barnetson@shaw.ca .

10mm AWI Cannon

2011-12-01T06:11:00.001-08:00

And the very last items of this commission are some American cannons. These are presently winging their way to Ontario.

These were larger than the British cannon but I think the uniforms for artillery crews on both sides are close enough that you could likely mix and match the guns as needed.

There are also three limbers with horses.

Up next: A 28mm HoTT superhero army is drying. Perhaps a game of Battelore this week and then I don't know what. The basement needs a bit of a cleaning and organizing.

10mm AWI Foot

2011-11-30T06:39:00.001-08:00

The last of the foot for this AWI commission. First up is the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion. These are 10mm Pendraken.

I also did a bunch of generic militia.

I was told to make these guys look like farmers called up to fight so there is quite a lot of variety in their clothing and colours.

Up next: Some cannons and limbers and then I'm done! I should have these guys in the mail shortly (just need to finish wrapping them). Then some HoTT superhero action!

More 10mm AWI

2011-11-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

With a bit push on this weekend, I have finished the 10mm AWI commission and now the final bases are drying. Today I have 30 bases of American riflemen.

I tried to mix the outfits up some, giving a few the buckskin look that everyone uses and then used a variety of dyed linen colours for the rest.

I think they convey the "army of farmers" look that the owner was after. I see a couple of fellows have added some grass to their hats for camo... .

Up next: A bunch of foot and some cannon. Then a HoTT Superhero army (which is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!).

A Few Acres of Snow

2011-11-23T06:06:00.001-08:00

I popped out to Bruce's place last night for a second go at A Few Acres of Snow. We'd played last week at the club and I loved the game (despite not really knowing what I was doing) so I was keen for a rematch.

With some sense of a strategy, I started out trying to exploit my temporary military advantage by taking back Halifax from the enterprising British and got stomped pretty badly. So I gave up and instead sought to create some depth in my strength (to stave off an expected attack on Louisburg) and then settle and fur trade my way to victory.

You can see below that the French can expand to the west (right) more quickly than the British can move north. I think this gives the French a nice advantage in points at the end of the game. I also Indian raided the pants off of Bruce, snagging a goodly number of settlement blocks and sending two regiments to be refitted. So, basically, I repeated what I did last game and got kind of lucky.

Bruce did eventually move on Louisburg, hoping to jump from there to Quebec for the win. But I (luckily) managed to defend Louisburg and stall him while pumping up the population of my villages. I managed to win in the end, although I fear Bruce is one game away from a strategic revelation which will beat me senseless on our next encounter.

Overall, a good night of gaming. We both discovered a few opening moves that do not seem to pay off and I think I have the hang of fur trading now. I expect some snooping on BGG will give us both some ideas for our next game. I'd say this game has something to teach about the struggle for the new world and the very asymmetrical strategies and abilities that were at play.

Up next: Some superheroes are on my list. And I continue to paint on the last of this AWI commission. After that, who knows. Maybe some 28mm Romans auxilia?

2nd Pennsylvania

2011-11-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

Just a few more 10mm AWI that I have finished up the basing on. These are 10mm Pendraken and are painted as the 2nd Pennsylvania for Monmouth Courthouse.

The uniform is a bit of a guess based on the owner's request. I have the remaining four units (including a buttload of riflemen) on painting sticks with the flesh done so I'm aiming to have this commission finished by the end of the weekend.

Up next: I'm off tonight to play A Few Acres of Snow with Bruce and I have a few 28mm superheroes to be finished.

10mm AWI American Foot

2011-11-21T10:37:00.001-08:00

Another unit of 10mm foot are finished. These fellows are the 2nd Massachusetts and are 10mm Pendraken.

I had considerably more trouble with the American foot having weak ankles and incomplete casts. If you look at the snap below, you can see the fellow on the left is missing some of his left leg (our right). I fixed a number of these with glue but looks like I missed this one.

Up next: Another regiment of foot and a game with Bruce. Then perhaps some superheroes.

10mm American dragoons and limbers

2011-11-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Back on this commission and we're into the home stretch. The last four units are on painting sticks and will get primered tomorrow. Meanwhile these fellows are rolling through the basing process.

First up are some American dragoons. The camera went a bit mental so the shots are poor.

I also finished off three British cannon limbers once someone explained to me (in small words) how the horses were positioned relative to the limber. Obvious in retrospect but my mind was stuck on making a side-by-side arrangement work.

Up next: Two line battalions of 10mm AWI, perhaps a game with Bruce and then a few more superheroes before more AWI.

A Very Spidey Christmas

2011-11-19T13:36:00.001-08:00

I recently came into a large lot of 28mm superheroes that I am painting up and selling off. Today I have a group of Spiderman friends and foes.

The figures are plastic and 28mm. I have repainted, sealed and based them myself. The bases are metal washer with printed paving stones--you can remove the figures from the base if you'd prefer to attach them to something else. Spidey has a very dynamic pose--one of the better sculpts I've seen.

He's joined by Dare Devil, Elektra and the Scarlet Witch. Pardon the bad colour balance here--my camera freaks out a bit when I shoot all-red figures like these. They are painted a more normal-looking red colour!

Opposing Spidey are six villains. Up first are Sandman, the Vulture and Doctor Octopus.

They are joined by the Hobgoblin, Kingpin and Mysterio.

Here is a close-up of the hobgoblin to show off some of the painting.

I'd like $40 OBO for this lot and that includes shipping in Canada or the US. All figures bubble wrapped individually. These would be a great gift for a fellow gamer or as a way of introducing someone to the hobby. Offers to bob.barnetson@shaw.ca .

Club Night November 15

2011-11-16T07:05:00.001-08:00

We had about 10 guys out last night with three games running for our last evening at the Warriors of Time.

Bruce hosted me in a game of A Few Acres of Snow, wherein the British and the French compete with each other to colonize the New World during the 18th century.

This is a card-driven game where you build your hand in an attempt to advance your strategy. The French chose a settlement strategy and eventually figured out how to make the fur trade work for them to help offset the British financial advantage. The British adopted a military strategy (eventually taking Louisburg) but it was too late to stop the French from winning.

Jason ran a game of I Ain't been Shot Mum for Jonathan but I did not get a good picture of that.

Dave hosted Chen and Scott in a game of Blitzkreig Commander, using his new Picoarmour to recreate the great battles of the desert.

Up next: I'm away for a few days and then will have more 10mm AWI to post.

10mm Sci-fi Army 2 for Sale

2011-11-13T12:01:00.003-08:00

This is the second of two 10mm sci-fi armies I'd like to part with. The army comprises 22 bases on 40mm frontages. I'd like $50 plus shipping ($15 in Canada or the US) but if you buy both armies, I'll eat the shipping costs. You could use this army with rules like HoTT, FUBAR and other sets. You could also use the figures with 6mm figures.

First up we have the infantry. There are 14 bases in four types (number of stands in parentheses): extra-heavy (2), heavy (2) medium (8) and light (2).

There are two tanks that accompany the infantry.

The real weight of the army in the walkers. Ther first set of three includes two which are flyers (have wings) and one which is armed with a chainsaw.

We also have three heavier walks, with a mixtures of guns and missiles.

Offers to bob.barnetson@shaw.ca. All figures will be individually bubble-wrapped for shipping.

10mm Sci-fi Army 1 For Sale

2011-11-13T11:53:00.001-08:00

I have for sale two 10mm mech armies. This is the first one. I'd like $50 for it plus shipping ($15 in Canada or the US) but if you buy both armies I will cover the shipping costs. This army comprises 23 bases all on 40mm frontages and could be used for HoTT, FUBAR or other systems. The figures could also work with 6mm sci-fi armies.

First up we have 11 bases of infantry. There are four types (number of stands in parentheses): extra heavy (3), heavy (4), medium, (2) and light (2).

We then have some combat vehicles. There are (left to right) two tanks, a wheeled recon vehicle and two lightly gunned hover craft.

There are four support vehicles, including two armoured personnel carriers and two mobile missile batteries.

And finally we have three walkers: one with a cannon, one with a bladed weapon and one mobile missile battery.

Offers to bob.barnetson@shaw.ca . All will be shipped individually bubble-wrapped and insured.

3rd Massachusetts

2011-11-13T07:49:00.001-08:00

Some more of the 10mm commission. This unit is the 3rd Massachusetts.

This unit has a very large mix of uniformed and non-uniformed troops. Perhaps it was called up at the last minute or the supply donkeys never arrived? I wonder if the 1st Massachusetts will have more blue coats?

Up next: Some AWI are on the painting table (human and horse flesh done) but I expect I will have a couple of mecha armies for sale by the end of the day. And Tuesday night is club night.

3rd Pennsylvania

2011-11-12T07:32:00.000-08:00

This unit represents the 3rd Pennsylvania at Monmouth Courthouse.It is hard to find really good data about who wore what so the owner gave me two generic colour palettes and told me to apply them as I saw fit.

The other two Pennsylvania units will follow a similar scheme while the three Massachusetts units will be far more eclectic! Those in uniform have yellow cuffs and trim but many are in hunting shirts.

Up next: The 3rd Massachusetts is next. I have three more AWI units on the go as well as some more superheroes and the club is on Tuesday.

10mm AWi American Generals

2011-11-11T07:01:00.001-08:00

I'm back to working on the remainder of a 10mm commission I took on. I've started on the Americans. First completed are the American generals.

This is the CnC stand, where there is a bit of a conference going on among the generals. "No old boy, it's just a reordering of propertied relations to favour local capital over foreign." "Oh, jolly good then!" or so I imagine... .

There are also three individually based generals. It may have been that I was to put four mounted figures on the CnC base but I just could not make them fit in an intelligent arrangement.

I also tried to follow the sculpt as closely as possible in terms of what folks were wearing. The early colonial army wasn't exactly standardized and at least one fellow was wearing some fetching hunting clothes.

Up next I have the third battalions from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts finished up and drying. These are a real mixed bag, with Massachusetts clearly having some supply problems. However, the instructions were to make them look like an army of farmers so there is a real mix of blue coats and civilian garb as the sculpts dictated. I also have three more units on paint sticks: two line units and a unit of dragoons.

More clix repaints

2011-11-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

While I do have some more 10mm AWI underway (basing up three units--should be ready for tomorrow), I have continued to repaint and base the huge box of Heroclix I got recently.

I continued on some of the Marvel characters. From the Fantastic Four, I finished two each of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Women, She-Hulk (whom I didn't know was in the Fantastic Four) and the Thing. I also have a couple of Human Torches in the box that I will dig out.

From the X-Men, I redid Jean Grey, Colossus, Cyclops (x4), another Colossus and Wildcat (x2). Below you can see some miscellaneous figures, including two gun-toters and another Scarlet Witch.

Up next: Three AWI units are being based up and should be ready to show the next few days. After that, more AWI and likely some more Heroclix. I think I have enough to do some HoTT Superhero armies!

DBA Army for Sale

2011-11-09T06:00:00.001-08:00

My buddy Dave has put this 15mm Seljuk Turk army up for sale to help fund repairs to our gaming space.

Opening bid is $1!

Marvel heroes and villains

2011-11-08T05:56:00.000-08:00

While my paint brush has returned to 10mm AWI, I'm still moving some 28mm heroes and villains through the basing process. Up now are some Marvel figures. I was never a Marvel fan but these characters have quite a lot of charm.

Up first we have the Hobgoblin, the Vulture and Kingpin. I recall the Vulture being bald but the last Spiderman comic I read was in the 1970s so what do I know.

I also repainted Sandman, Mysterio and Dr. Octopus. The Mysterio figure is very nice, with a clear helm and a misty base.

I also did some heroes. The Scarlet Witch (and Avenger), the Hulk (a lovely model) and oddly a newer version of DC's Robin. Below I have DareDevil, Spiderman and Elektra. The Spiderman sculpt is one of the most animated I've ever seen--it is lovely.

Up next: Some 10mm American AWI figures. The first units are line and some generals.

Huntress, Dead Eye and some cops

2011-11-07T07:05:00.001-08:00

I finished a few more Heroclix repaints last night. First up we have the Huntress. It was tricky to re-paint her as she was so dark to begin with.

I then turned to Dead Eye (a foe of Batman) and a lady of the evening.

Finally I turned out the rest of my Gotham police--most decked out in SWAT gear (do they know something we don't?).

Up next: Some Marvel heroes and villains and I have the next set of 10mm AWI underway.

More 28mm heroes and villains

2011-11-06T07:23:00.001-08:00

I'm quite enjoying a diversion from 10mm AWI this weekend. In addition to rebasing dozens of figures, I've been painting up some more heroes and villains.

Here we have a very active Batman, which is the pose I think I will keep in the long-term.

Some foes include Poison Ivy (whom my daughter loves--in a video game we've played Poison Ivy's special power is to kiss others and render them senseless for a time) and Bane (whom I'm not familiar with).

And below we have have Deathstroke who is a foe of the Teen Titans. I was quite happy with the way his repaint turned out--the original blue-on-orange scheme was pretty bad. Some highlighting and washing really helped.

Up next: Some more heros, villains and a bunch of Gotham's finest.

28mm Superheroes: More rebasing...

2011-11-05T10:05:00.001-07:00

After some more thought, I've decided to make another change in how I'm basing the Heroclix repaints I've been doing in anticipation of Ganesh releasing their Power Legions game.

Earlier, I scrapped a parkland base on a washer for some Black Cat urban bases. That was an improvement. But the Blackcat bases have major quality control issues (variable depth and a poor proportioning being my concerns). So I decided to move back to washers with a stone-pattern printed decal. You can see the difference above and below: left is Black Cat and right is the new standard.

I'm overall quite happy. The new approach is cheaper, much faster and seems to fit the slender Heroclix sculpts better. The washers also allow for magnetized storage.

I then repainted Bat Girl and put her on the new base. I think the effect is nice. I was quite happy with how her cape came out as well.

Up next: Some more Heroclix repaints and then back to some 10mm AWI.

10mm Queen's Rangers

2011-11-04T06:14:00.001-07:00

I finished the last of the 10mm British last night. These are the Queen's Rangers. Again, 10mm Pendraken figures. These are based up as skirmishers.

I sorted through the Americans and selected three units to start on next week: some Pennsylvania and Massachusetts troops and some Generals. The ankles on these fellows are a bit weaker so the prep will take more time. I expect to start painting Monday or Tuesday.

Up next: I have again re-thought basing for my superheroes and am working on a (third!) approach to try to get the right look. I have a few new figures painted and based and will post tomorrow. After that, more supers, I think!

More 10mm AWI

2011-11-03T07:16:00.001-07:00

I moved two more units of 10mm AWI British to completion today, leaving just one more unit of British drying.

These fellows are the 17th Foot. The figures are 10mm Pendraken. I think it is a credit to the sculptor that the camera recognized the guy below on the right as a "face" in the picture.

And this unit is the 44th Foot.

Again, the camera recognized the sergeant below (pointing) as a face. I don't think you could ask much more for a sculptor than that. Imagine how good these would look if I was a better painter!

Up next: The Queen's Rangers are drying then I'm going to take a week off from 10mm AWI before tackling the Americans. To cleanse my palette, I will be doing some more 28mm superheroes--a huge box of which arrived today.

Club night November 16

2011-11-02T07:01:00.001-07:00

We had an astounding 13 guys out last night with three games running. Dave hosted a large Black Powder game which attracted most of the attention.

These are Dave's 28mm ECW figures, including a significant number of plastic Warlord figures.

It sounded like the fellows on the hill managed to hold off the attackers, winning with a dramatic cavalry charge.

I didn't get a picture of the War Machine game for some reason but I did snap Andy's amazing porn-star moustache.

Scott and I played two games of War of 1812, with the British and the Americans each winning a game.

Up next: A bunch of 10mm AWI figures.

More 28mm heroes and villains

2011-11-01T07:01:00.001-07:00

As I wait for some 10mm AWI to dry, I finished a few extra 28mm superheroes and villains.

This fellow's name escapes me (Gizmo maybe?). What I like is his jet pack. The flame was just orange when he arrived. I added in some red and yellow and a wash to bring it to life. Ihave left him on his Heroclix base for now.

I also finished two gun-toting goons and a cop (lady in the middle holding up her shield).

And, of course, there is the Penguin. The dip pooled on me on his coat so I may go back and re-do this.

Finally we have Green Arrow and Green Lantern. Green Arrow is one of those minor characters that I quite enjoy (and who won't be completely overwhelming on the tabletop). I'm not so keen on Green Lantern thus he stays on his Heroclix base,

Up next: Tonight is club night and I'll be playing a War of 1812 boardgame with Scott. I also have the last three British AWI units drying and will soon start on the Americans. I also have a buttload of superheroes set to arrive shortly.

More 10mm AWI

2011-10-31T06:09:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll with this commission--here is yet another unit of 10mm British AWI.

I believe these guys are the 42nd Foot, but I wouldn't swear to it (the unit numbers are on the bottom of the bases but they are all downstairs).

Up next: I finished the last of the British this week and have three units almost through basing. I will turn my attention to the Americans shortly. I also have a set of 28mm supers which are done and may be posted tomorrow.

10mm AWI Dragoons

2011-10-30T07:57:00.001-07:00

I completed the British 16th Dragoons as part of a commission I'm working my way through--almost half way now!

Again, 10mm Pendraken. I think the horses are nice. There are a few issues with the details not quite filling out (toes of boots, tips of sabres). The fellow below seems to be brandishing a carving knife, for example. It is hard to tell if this was a sculpting fudge or a molding failure. Nothing too terribly noticeable though.

I lightened the base colour of the horses from my usual dark brown and am quite happy with the results.

Up next: A unit of foot, some superheroes and club night. Then back to more 10mm AWI!

10mm AWI: 42nd Foot

2011-10-29T08:01:00.001-07:00

I finished off another couple of British AWI units. This is the 42nd Regiment (The Blackwatch, I think) in kilts.

The figures are 10mm Pendraken. The figures were nice but it took me awhile to get the tartan right. I started off with blue and green but could never get enough contrast to make it how up in 10mm. So then I added in some white checks on the kilt and the band of the tam. It looks a bit polka-dotty up close but looks fine on the table.

I couldn't find a good reference for the fabric over the back of the shoulder so I went with a green and black plaid pattern.

Up next: The 15th foot and the 16th dragoons. I also have the last three British units on paint sticks downstairs. I'll then turn to the Americans. I also have some more 28mm superheroes underway.

28mm Knights

2011-10-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

I finished up three 28mm plastic knights I picked up on eBay the other day. These knights were give-aways from an Ex Illis event last year. Ex Illis is (was?) a miniature game using computer-moderated rules. I recall the company being taken over soon after it launched and then lost track of what became of the game.

Terry brought a box of these to the club one night last year and they looked pretty good at the time. The miniatures were easy to assemble--the horse and rider legs come as two pieces that fit crisply together. You then mount the torso, add the arms, shoulder plates, head and shield. Not much room for customization but they went together quickly.

The shields have embossed emblems and I believe each sprue came with five options, include a blank shield. I mixed up the shields and colours to add some variety. I will use these as heroes in my HoTT medieval armies.

One of the sprues didn't have a head (or I lost it while cutting the pieces free) so I used a GW Bretonnian head. It is a bit big and the crest looks a bit over the top.

You can see a comparison between a GW plastic Bretonnian (perhaps with a modified sword hand) on the right and the Ex Illis on the left.

Up next: I have three units of 10mm AWI being based. And I will get some more Brits on painting sticks. I may also sort through some 10mm mechs I have and make up a pair of FUBAR or HoTT armies.

Full Thrust Star Trek

2011-10-26T06:37:00.001-07:00

I dropped by Bruce's last night and brought out some 1/3700 Star Trek ships. We used a modified version of Full Thrust.

Both games went to the Federation player. I wonder if a few more Klingon ships might have evened the game a bit.

We saw some spectacular crashes through asteroid belts (two Federation and one Klingon) as speed increases made maneuvering more difficult.

Up next: Some 28mm knights and the back to some 10mm AWI.

A few more superhero re-bases

2011-10-25T06:17:00.001-07:00

I finished rebasing the last of the superhero villains that I'd put on parkland bases this summer.

I quite like this fellow. I believe he is the Holiday Killer from Batman but would not swear to that!

Also a couple of high-tech henchmen above and another dude wielding a pipe below.

Up next: Bruce and I will be playing a bit of Star Trek Full Thrust tonight and I've made some good progress on some more 10mm AWI.

British 2nd Guards

2011-10-24T05:56:00.000-07:00

This unit is the British 2nd Guards Regiment from Monmouth Courthouse. These are 10mm Pendraken AWI figures.

I'm always surprised with these figures how they go from being a small clutch of figures on paint sticks to a formed up unit during the basing process. The owner will add his own flags when he gets these--that will help make the command stand look the part.

These are the last of the AWI for a few days as I pause to paint some more. RIght now the Blackwatch (in kilts), some more foot and the 16th Dragoons are about half painted.

Up next: Some superhero villain rebases should be finished tomorrow. I'm gaming with Bruce Tuesday night and Wednesday I should have some 28mm mounted heroes done.

10mm AWI artillery

2011-10-23T09:26:00.001-07:00

Some more of this large 10mm AWI commission rolled off the assembly line last night. These are British artillery (perhaps 6 pounders?).

These were nice models--assembly was fairly easy. I have run into a small glitch with the limbers (can't figure out how the horses relate to the limber) so I will finish them later when that gets sorted out. I expect these fellows will cause the American militia some concern once the battle gets rolling.

I dropped in on the Kingsway GW store yesterday to pick up some static grass. That will be my last trip there: the store reeked of BO and the service was more than vaguely hostile. This was not my first bad experience there but it will be my last.

Up next: The 2nd Guards Regiment for the British are just drying and I have some more guys underway. I also have three 28mm knights about to be based up (heroes in HoTT, I think) and some more superhero-types to get rebased.

10mm AWI grenadiers

2011-10-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'm continuing to move 10mm AWI guys through the painting process. These are some 10mm Pendraken British Grenadiers.

These were labelled "generic" grenadiers so they may be extras and not actually represent units present at Monmouth Courthouse.

I was quite happy with how the details come up (the vest above and the cartridge boxes below, for example).

Up next: Some AWI artillery and guards are drying. I also have some 28mm knights that I've started and a few more superhero bad guys to re-base.

28mm heroes and villains

2011-10-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

While more 10mm AWI move through the basing process, I knocked off a few more Heroclix repaints.

First up is the Elongated Man and Robotman. I think the latter was part of the Doom Patrol, but I'll need to go check that!

I also did three police officers to create from "levies" for the good guys. A female detective also got painted but had her leg amputated when I tried to cut her off another base. When I find the leg, I will get her patched up. Similarly, I did a couple of more goons for the bad guys.

Up next: Some AWI guards, grenadiers and artillery. I also built and primed three mounted horse from Ex Illis that I picked up on ebay. Interesting sculpts--we'll see how they paint.

10mm British Light Infantry

2011-10-20T06:14:00.001-07:00

These 10mm British AWI figures comprises the 1st Regiment of Light Infantry from Monmouth Courthouse.

Not sure why the pictures are a bit soft. I tried to base these in irregular formation but one that could also represent a line.

Uo next: More 10mm AWI should roll out this weekend. I also have a couple of 28mm superheroes I'm working on and I may have time to complete a based of 28mm knights.

October 18th club night

2011-10-19T06:28:00.001-07:00

We had 10 guys out at the club last night with four games running. I also took receipt of a good few boxes of auction items, with some fascinating odds and ends in them.

Dave the Younger and Scott played a game of Saga, with the Normans folding up at the end. "For those about to die...".

Dave the Elder and Chen played some pick-up DBA. No idea who won here.

Terry hosted bruce is a game of Merchants and Marauders. I'd like to give this one a try so perhaps Terry will bring it back.

New comer Jason kindly came out and hosted a game of Crossfire. I can't recall the last time I played (three years ago?). We played a NW Europe scenario, with Americans trying to dislodge some determined (and lucky!) Germans. Below you can see the Americans pinned into a corner after a lucky close combat allowed the Germans to turn their flank.

Up next: I have some 10mm AWI light infantry done and some more fellows under way. I am also chipping away at a few superhero repaints.

10mm AWI British Generals

2011-10-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

The bases on some 10mm AWI British mounted generals are finally dry!

First up we have the CnC and his clutch of mounted flunkies. I will fix the bit of metal showing on the base edge this evening.

This fellow has a highlander in kilt beside him. I would have done more like this, but, you know, there can be only one. And the fellow below looks to be leading the grenadiers.

Up next: I'm hoping to play some Crossfire at the club tonight and should have some British light infantry done by Thursday. I also have more 10mm AWI on the way, including artillery.

10mm British AWI 1st Guards

2011-10-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

I took on a reasonably large painting commission last week. These are 10mm AWI figures from Pendraken (I think). The first unit I finished is the British 1st Guards Regiment for the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse.

These fellows were very nice figures. Only a tiny amount of flash to carve off the bottom of the bases and they took paint well. The usual approach with black primer, block painting and a wash. The owner will add flags when he receives them back.

These are the first 28 of 400 and some so I'm still getting my eye in. There are based on 20x20mm bases (which are tiny!).

Up next: I have three bases of mounted generals and a unit of light infantry with bases drying. I also have three more units primered and underway. It is also club night on Tuesday.

WW1 HiTT Artillery

2011-10-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

I finished off the artillery for my WW1 British HiTT army. These fellows put me over the 2000-figure mark for the year!

There are two bases of Emhar artillery (below) with tin hats.

There is also one base of Airfix horse artillery (with caps).

Up next: I need to finish two bases of gas to complete this army. I have also been diligently painting 10mm AWI British and expect to roll out two or three units in the next week. The club is Tuesday and then more 10mm AWI!

FS: 1/72 Macedonian DBA armies

2011-10-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

The Edmonton Wargame Group games at a local venue called The Warriors of Time. This is a private venue from which several local clubs rent space. The Warriors of Time provides eight 4x6' tables, access to large quantities of terrain and painting space at a low price. The venue was renovated in the summer of 2010 and, with a very wet spring, suffered some water damage in the summer of 2011.

The various clubs are raising money to fix the leak and replace the damaged flooring. As part of this, the Edmonton Wargame Group will be hosting a silent auction on December 6th. I am supplementing this auction by selling the following DBA army--all money raised by this sale goes to fixing the venue in order to keep it open.

This 1/72-scale army comprises 18 bases. It allows you to field all options of the following DBA 2.2 armies: II/12 (Alexandrian Macedonians), II/15 (Alexandrian Imperials) and II/18 a-e (Macedonian Early Successors, all options). All of the figures pictured here are included and I will bubble-wrap each base.

There are six bases of 4Pk, three with pikes lowered and three with pikes raised (to facilitate double-ranking). These are Zvezda figures. There are are also three mounted bases: one 2LH and two 3Cv/3Kn. I think these are Revell figures but I would not swear to it. There is also an elephant (made by HaT).

Rounding out the army is one Art base and two 2Ps bases, four 4Ax bases and one 4Sp unit. All of these are HaT figures. All figures have been primed white, painted with acrylics, washed and sealed. They come from a smoke- and pet-free home if that is of concern to you.

I'd like $85 (including shipping in Canada or the US). As I said, all monies to the club for renovations. If you wanted to add an element or two to further morph the army, I have some extra pieces and would be happy to do so at a nominal charge. Offers to bob.barnetson@shaw.ca.

Up next: I have a bunch of 1/72 British WW1 artillery for a HiTT army almost finished (just need to grass the bases). And I'm working on the first units of a 10mm AWI commission.

Oops, lost the Civil War... my bad

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Bruce hauled out The Price of Freedom last night. This is a card-driven board game that addresses the American Civil War. This is not my favourite gaming genre but I like the mechanics and the level of play.

I played the north and didn't keep my eye on the various victory conditions so found myself in the second last year of the war needing to prevent a southern political victory. Thus I ran a lightening southern campaign (capturing the Mississippi and the Gulf Coast in rapid succession) and almost bagged Atlanta (rolled a 1 at the wrong time!) but did not pull it off.

That said, I did have a lucky first half of the war, including shooting Lee out of the saddle at Richmond (Bruce took that better than expected). We also played the reinforcement phase incorrectly but that likely affected us equally. All told, an interesting game. I think we've played four times and this was the first southern victory.

Up next: I have a bucketload of 10mm AWI guys who will be getting cleaned up and primered today. I also have a few bases of 1/72 WW1 British artillery to finish up.

More 28mm superheroes rebased

2011-10-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

I spent a few minutes this weekend rebasing some of the superheroes I did this summer onto more urban bases in anticipation of (1) me building some urban terrain in 2012 and (2) Ganesha games releasing Power Legions sometime thereafter.

First up with Batman and Robin. These are repaints of heroclix.

I also rebased a bunch of Teen Titans, including Speedy and Wonder Girl.

I also did some Justice League of America figures and a bunch of nemeses for Batman. There are a few more generic bad guys to be rebased and then I'll turn my attention to some more figures.

Up next: I have a game scheduled with Bruce this evening. And a large package just arrived (10mm AWI?) that I will sort through at lunch.

Remainder of the Macedonians

2011-10-10T07:25:00.001-07:00

I completed the remainder of the 1/72 Macedonians DBA army I was working on this weekend. Painting over a white primer means the army is brighter overall, but it took a lot longer to finish up all of the painting.

First up are three bases of pike, from Zvezda.

I also did two bases of cavalry. I was fairly happy with these guys and they had quite a bit of detail.

There is one base of light horse. I'm not sure of the manufacturer. Maybe Revell or Italeri? And there is an elephant below.

I believe I have enough pieces here to morph this into three armies (Alexandrian Macedonian, Imperial Macedonian and all of the Successor armies). This army will go up for sale later this week with all of the proceeds going to help out wth some repairs at the venue for our club.

Up next: I built the remainder of my 1/72 WW1 British HiTT army last night and will prime them today. I also rebased a bunch of 28mm superheroes last night. I'm expecting a large 10mm AWI commission to arrive shortly.

I love it when the children write home...

2011-10-09T09:33:00.001-07:00

I received this picture from Brent. These are some 6mm ancients that I painted and sold to him awhile back (summer?). They are being used here to play Command and Colours Ancients at Southern Front. Neat to see these in use!

Up next: I'm finishing the basing on a 1/72 Macedonian DBA army and awaiting a pair of commissions to arrive. Finishing up the autumn garden work and getting the Xmas lights up is occupying much of my free time but I may get ambitious tonight and build two or three guns for a WW1 British HiTT army I'm working on.

More 1/72 Macedonians

2011-10-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back to painting some 1/72 Macedonians for a DBA army. I finished three bases of pike and the artillery piece last night.

These pike at Zvezda. Pretty figures with lots of depths but a fair but of assembly and the pikes are too long to game with. I chopped about half off these pikes to make them workable.

That said, the figures are nice enough looking. I have three more bases to do--one more with pikes down and two with pikes up to facilitate ranking them.

I also finished a HaT Greek artillery piece I bought a long time ago. This was a nice sculpt.

Up next: I have the rest of this army, including an elephant (thanks Mark), three bases of cavalry and the remaining pike built, primed and underway so I'm hopeful to post the finished results during the weekend. These fellows will be contribution to the EWG/Warrior of Time auction. I'm not sure what is after that--perhaps the remainder of a WW1 British army? Then back to the renaissance.

EWG night FUBAR and Saga

2011-10-05T06:55:00.001-07:00

We had 10 guys out last night at the club with two games running.

Bruce hosted Chen, Jonathan, Craig and me in a game of 15mm sci-fi FUBAR. He will be putting on a version of this game at Fallcon in a few weeks and we playtested the scenario.

After a slow, slow start, the attackers managed to get down the table only to have their large tank roasted by these spindly walkers. But vengeance was swift and eventually the defenders were the victims of some hot rolling. I'm always surprised by how quickly FUBAR plays and how easy the mechanics are to internalize. The unit cards Bruce uses make sit easy to keep track of who does what.

Dave, Kevin, Scott, Mark and Terry played a four-player game of Saga.

I believe Dave won a narrow victory and everyone seemed to have a good time (except Scott, seen above cursing the Gods).

Up next: I have some 1/72 Macedonians that I am basing on and will be doing the cavalry and elephant next. I hope to have this wrapped up over the weekend. We'll also be running an EWG auction to help out with repairs at the Warriors of Time venue in (perhaps) late November. I believe my Macedonians will be part of that auction.

HoTT Mech Army 1 For Sale

2011-10-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is the first of two HoTT (Hordes of the Things) Mech armies I have for sale. It is roughly 6mm in scale and is based on 40mm frontages. There are, I think, 22 units in the army and the AP value depends on how you classify each base.

First up are two large mechs. You could play them both as behemoths, but I think the guy on the right might well be more of an artillery piece or a hero.

These three walkers I would play as blades.

There as multiples of the units in the picture below. On the left we have a flyer (x2). The middle (x3) and right (x3) bases I would play as riders.

I would use these tanks as knights.

There are also seven infantry bases. Quantities (working left to right are one, three, two and one.

I'm asking $100 OBO for this army plus $15 shipping in Canada or the US. I would, however, prefer to sell these as a matched set so, if you buy both, I'll cover the shipping and I'll throw in a 2x2' GW gaming mat (the new fabric kind) that matches the flocking on the bases. Offers to bob.barnetson@shaw.ca.

HoTT Mech Army 2 For Sale

2011-10-03T19:29:00.001-07:00

This is the second of two HoTT (Hordes of the Things) armies I have for sale. It is roughly 6mm in scale and is based upon 40mm frontages. It comprises 21 units (I think) and the AP value varies depending on how you classify each unit.

Up first are four walkers. I would classify these as blades. The detail on these are pretty remarkable, with clear windows in the cockpits.

There is also a larger walker I would play as a behemoth. Most of the walkers have posable arms and some of the bodies twist so you can reposition things somewhat.

There are 3 tanks (I would play as Knights) and one mobile field unit I would play as a cleric.

There are two hover tanks (flyers?) and two wheeled gun buggies (riders)?

There are also eight bases of infantry. There are seven of the base on the left and one of the base on the right. I'd play these as warband.

I'm asking $100 OBO for this army plus $15 shipping in Canada or the US. I would, however, prefer to sell these as a matched set so, if you buy both, I'll cover the shipping and I'll throw in a 2x2' GW gaming mat (the new fabric kind) that matches the flocking on the bases. Offers to bob.barnetson@shaw.ca.

Star Wars Hott

2011-10-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

Many of you scoffed when I said I was making Star Wars HoTT armies "for my daughter" last year but, indeed, they are for her. And this weekend Obi-Jess Kenobi gave them a try.

We started with some very simple and small armies. She played the rebels as was her preference and put a nasty beating on me two games in a row. We played a very straight up HoTT game with Stormtroopers as blades, dewbacks as knights, speederbikes as riders and the rest as warbands or heroes.

Her initial success meant she wanted to try out more cool stuff so we added in a laser cannon, an AT-AT and some snow speeders (artillery, behemoth and flyers respectively). Those damned wookies were a real pain in the butt as warband!

She then lost as more stands meant relatively scarcer pips to move them. Jess then decided she'd rather play imperials so we switched sides. Here she is refusing the centre... I managed to eek out a win but her behemoth general proved hard to kill.

Not so Darth Vader who got surrounded. Apparently "I am the master now" is less funny when you say it while taking a poor eight-year-old-girl's hero off of the table. A fun game and how many wargames games can you teach an eight-year-old in an hour?

Up next: it is club night at the EWG tomorrow and I am also working on two sci-fi HoTT armies. Then back to more 1/72 Macedonians.

1/72 Macedonian DBA units

2011-10-02T08:51:00.001-07:00

I received a package last week from Tim in Saskatoon which contained the pieces for several 1/72 DBA armies as part of a trade so I thought I'd dive in. First up are the the lighter foot elements of a Macedonian army.

This is a 4Sp unit based on some HaT figures. Two sprues arrived primed white (ack!) and partly painted so I finished the job and decided to do the rest of the army with a white primer (I usually prime black).

I think the figures turned out alright but I might well have used different tunic colours. Anyhow, done is done and I think the wash helped add some depth to the figures.

I also put together four bases of 4Ax. These allow the army to morph between Alexandrian Macedonians, Imperial Macedonians and the various Successor lists. Why make a one trick pony is my approach with 1/72 as they are so cheap.

Again I was pretty happy with the wash although I'm not sold on the white primer. And I did two bases of 2Ps.

Up next: I'm currently locked in mortal combat with a box of Zvezda Macedonian pike (what the hell was the sculptor thinking!?!) and have troops for three bases painted and washed. I also have a Greek catapult built, painted and washed. Next up are the cavalry and three more bases of pike. And then maybe an elephant and I think that completes the army!

I will be putting this project momentarily on hold to base two sci-fi armies for HoTT that I picked up at the Red Claw swap meet. But that should only take a day or two then back to the Macedonians!

28mm Renaissance Crossbow and Shot

2011-10-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

As promised, I finished off eighteen 28mm crossbow and shot figures figures this weekend. These are Perry plastics and are part of an early renaissance army I'm working on.

The first up are 9 crossbow. There is a fair bit of duplication of poses as I decided I didn't want to use the arm options that had the poor fellows reloading as I charged them to their deaths--I'd rather have more aggressive poses.

As per the feedback earlier this week, I tried to make the outfits slightly more colourful but not so much I could not slip them into a late medieval army. I see the glue on the shields is not quite dry yet.

I also did 9 shot figures. I'm partial to the figures third and fourth from the left.

I've painted a few shot before (some Old Glory I got in a trade, I think). I like these plastics have more depth to their poses.

Up next: I've finished most of the light troops for a 1/72 Macedonian DBA army and the bases are drying. I got these in trade from Tim in Saskatoon. I have assembled some of the pike as well as an artillery piece and they are currently under way. I hope to have this army finished by next weekend. I'm painting over a white primer (something I normally don't do but a few of the figures had been started this way) and the effect is nicely different.

28mm Renaissance Pike

2011-09-29T07:20:00.001-07:00

With cooler weather and sunset coming earlier, I've been spending more time in the basement painting. These 28mm pikemen (from the Perry Late Medieval box) are the first to roll of the production line in awhile.

I've tried to paint these as early renaissance German pike (are these landsknechts?). Thus a slightly less flamboyant colour palette and fewer feathers and whatnot on the helms than these more Italian fellows.

I think the pikes would benefit from one of them having a colourful banner attached to the top so I may add a tinfoil banner to each base later on.

I appear to have gone a bit overboard with the flower motif. Perhaps a flashback to the wall paper in my dad's foyer during the 1970s. I am continuing this motif with the next set of figures though for consistency.

Up next: I have 9 crossbow and 9 shot figures almost painted to flesh out the orbat of this army. Add in the mounted and artillery (here, here and here) I did earlier and a few skirmishers and I think the basics are here. And I still have a huge set of GW Empire to make a more Italian army.

PIck-up DBA

2011-09-28T06:46:00.001-07:00

It has been a slow week on the blog as very nice autumn weather and few gardening demands have distracted me from things gaming. But I swung by Bruce's place last night for some pick-up DBA. I am building a 1/72-scale Macedonian army with some figures from Tim in Saskatoon and wanted to give the army a try so Bruce pulled out some old 15mm figs he had.

First up we played Indian versus Alexandrian Macedonian. I believe I won this game by mowing down Bruce's pike with my elephants although I think he bagged my general in the process. Nothing like an ugly win to whet the appetite.

In game two, Bruce demolished my cavalry and then set upon my elephants. At the same time, I had his general in the soup for several turns (door closed, fighting in woods, being shot at in woods, being shot at from behind) and I could not freaking kill him!

We then switched to an Imperial Alexandrian army versus some Persians. I got lucky and drove two of Bruce's cavalry stands of the board to secure my left flank and managed to avoid complete destruction on my right. Then my pike and elephant block finally engaged his spear and won the game for me.

Up next: I have some 28mm renaissance pike that are based and drying while I am working on some crossbow and shot units to join them. After that perhaps I'll start on this 1/72 Macedonian army. I'm closing in on 1900 figures painted and would be keen to top 2000 by year end.

Last of WW1 British for awhile

2011-09-22T08:56:00.001-07:00

I based the last of the WW1 British figures I will be doing for awhile. I still have a fair number to do but need a quick change of pace so I don't bog down.

These are support bases for the 1/76 WW1 Airfix figures I have. There are three MG stands. Not bad models given they are 40 years old!

I also did one base of mortarmen. Most of the artillery in this army will comprise onboard artillery pieces or army-level artillery barrages (modeled with explosions--maybe steel wool?).

Up next: I am painting twelve 28mm Perry late medieval pike as early renaissance Germans. And I've build another 18 crossbow and shot troops that I will prime this evening.

September 20 Club Night

2011-09-21T05:46:00.000-07:00

We had 11 guys out with four games running last night at the club. Dave hosted a game of Victory without Quarter, an ECW ruleset he has been reading up on. The gist was the attacker had overwhelming numbers but a traffic issue while the defender had to trade space for time to get reinforcements on.

We used Dave's lovely 28mm figures and Terry attacked while I defended. The card draw initiative system meant I watched quite a lot until my reinforcements showed up. I figures I was hooped early on but managed to sneak a narrow win. Very narrow, in fact. Terry was a pretty good sport about it given how he controlled the game throughout.

Behind us, Mark pitted his Night Goblins against Scott's Daemons in some WHFB. This sounded like it was going to end in the Daemons' favour after one of Mark's fellows ate some poisoned mushrooms.

Elliott and Kevin played some Warmahordes using some lovely Gale Force 9 terrain.

And Bruce hosted Chen, Andy and Jonathan in a refight of Cheaspeake Bay using Man of War. I believe we're seeing a collision between two of Andy's ships in this picture while Jonathan's ship squirts out of the way.

Up next: Some WW1 support weapons and then onto some 28mm early renaissance.

Even More WW1 Brits

2011-09-17T09:48:00.001-07:00

Well, when you're on a roll, you want to let it ride so I continued to paint Airfix WW1 figures, finishing off most of the infantry bases for my 1/72 HiTT British army.

First up are four bases of two-man sniper teams. These would be classified as lurkers, I think.

I also did three bases of standing rifles, each with four figures.

And I did two four-man kneeling rifle bases. There are a few other figures laying around but this gives me 11 or 12 bases of infantry so I think I'm good.

Up next: I have three WW1 MGs and a mortar team painted. I just need to wash and then base them. Underway I have a box of Perry 28mm late medieval pike, crossbow and shot troops. Should be enough for three bases of each type and will add some depth to my early renaissance German armies. The pike are built and the rest are ready to build. I thought a change of pace would be in order after all of this WW1 foot. Then I will likely return to the Great War for artillery and some German foot.

More WW1 Brits

2011-09-16T12:01:00.001-07:00

I moved a few more bases of WW1 British off the painting table last night. More of the old Airfix figures organized into monopose units.

I have five more bases of rifles currently under way as well as four bases of snipers (lurkers?). I also put the base coat on a small box that will be a command bunker (i.e., a camp) for both sides. I just need to see about putting together some additional features to make it look realistic.

Up next: More 1/72 WW1 British. Maybe I'll put together the artillery I have for each side this weekend for a distraction. And the club is Tuesday night.