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Leave some comments and let Matt know what you think!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The First Viking Knarr
My friend Matt built a Knarr whilst I was working on Vietnam terrain. The Knarr is a Norse cargo ship...a seaworthy vessel used on many trading and exploration journeys. The model is 11.5 inches long and almost 4.5 inches wide at center. As you can see, it can hold many warriors and their loot. The steer-board is particularly cool! Dragon-headed attachments still to come.We intend to use this ship in an upcoming series of Viking games!
Leave some comments and let Matt know what you think!
Leave some comments and let Matt know what you think!
15MM Vietnam War Terrain
Yesterday, I made some terrain for my brother's Vietnam War collection. He's a busy guy working long hours, and a new dad, so his time for such activities is limited and he likes to spend his free time actually gaming not building terrain. Plus, i like building this stuff and if I can build stuff for him that helps him have fun in our hobby, then it was worth it.
I acquired about 35 bases of 15MM palm trees for him the other day from a good friend here that was getting rid of them...but...we're still shy of some terrain for the jungles of the Mekong delta. So...I started with some "hooches" that would ripe for a "zippo raid". Binhan made the pattern and I filled it with some textures from the internet. Binhan then assembled them after we color-printed them on my bitchin' color laser printer. I think that they look pretty darn good.
Next, I did some bunkers. This first one represents an individual hole that an enemy guerrilla would use to pop up from and ambush a patrol. Depending on the scale of the game, this could represent a small unit of men dug in in this manner.
This next bunker is supposed to represent an left over French bunker (concrete) that has been reactivated. I based it on a diagonal figuring that the bunker would offer a 45 degree field of fire and the sides of the base would be perfect for that. In the rear, but not shown in the image, is a steel entrance door.
The last bunker is a simple log bunker that offers firing to the front.
None of the bunkers can actually hold a base full of miniature soldiers, as the Vietnamese bunkers seemed quite low. So, the bunker itself would be a unit in most rules.
Next up? Rice paddies!
I acquired about 35 bases of 15MM palm trees for him the other day from a good friend here that was getting rid of them...but...we're still shy of some terrain for the jungles of the Mekong delta. So...I started with some "hooches" that would ripe for a "zippo raid". Binhan made the pattern and I filled it with some textures from the internet. Binhan then assembled them after we color-printed them on my bitchin' color laser printer. I think that they look pretty darn good.
Next, I did some bunkers. This first one represents an individual hole that an enemy guerrilla would use to pop up from and ambush a patrol. Depending on the scale of the game, this could represent a small unit of men dug in in this manner.
This next bunker is supposed to represent an left over French bunker (concrete) that has been reactivated. I based it on a diagonal figuring that the bunker would offer a 45 degree field of fire and the sides of the base would be perfect for that. In the rear, but not shown in the image, is a steel entrance door.
The last bunker is a simple log bunker that offers firing to the front.
None of the bunkers can actually hold a base full of miniature soldiers, as the Vietnamese bunkers seemed quite low. So, the bunker itself would be a unit in most rules.
Next up? Rice paddies!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Vikings Raid the New Table
Yesterday, my good friend Matt was unexpectedly available for gaming and visiting. As I consider him a very good friend, person and dad, I quickly suggested that we get together and christen the new gaming table in my office! With 28MM Vikings! He readily agreed and it was on.
First, the table. My upstairs wargame room doubles as my office when I work from home, so the table in there needs to be functional for many things. I have been looking and not finding a suitable table for some time. But, a week ago, my wife found the perfect table! It is 22 inches high (coffee table height) and is 42 inches square. A very nice size for playing games like: DBA, DBN, Legends of the High Seas, Legends of the Old West, Viking Raids, Modern Zombies, etc. Here are a couple of shots showing the table - dressed for a Viking raid on a hamlet in Engaland. The second shot shows how the table has four "stools" that slide under the table and offer excellent storage (terrain, felt, additional miniatures, etc.).
The following images are of the battle in progress. The Vikings were victorious but were roughly handled at first and Matt was nervous. In the end, some loot was gained (the inhabitants had warning of the raid and had hidden as much loot and as many animals and civilians as possible). Turns out I did not take as many photos as I had thought, but here they are...
I'll write a blog posting soon about the Viking Raid rules we use, as we think they are quite fun and interesting. I'll also post about the campaign Matt and I wish to run.
First, the table. My upstairs wargame room doubles as my office when I work from home, so the table in there needs to be functional for many things. I have been looking and not finding a suitable table for some time. But, a week ago, my wife found the perfect table! It is 22 inches high (coffee table height) and is 42 inches square. A very nice size for playing games like: DBA, DBN, Legends of the High Seas, Legends of the Old West, Viking Raids, Modern Zombies, etc. Here are a couple of shots showing the table - dressed for a Viking raid on a hamlet in Engaland. The second shot shows how the table has four "stools" that slide under the table and offer excellent storage (terrain, felt, additional miniatures, etc.).
The following images are of the battle in progress. The Vikings were victorious but were roughly handled at first and Matt was nervous. In the end, some loot was gained (the inhabitants had warning of the raid and had hidden as much loot and as many animals and civilians as possible). Turns out I did not take as many photos as I had thought, but here they are...
I'll write a blog posting soon about the Viking Raid rules we use, as we think they are quite fun and interesting. I'll also post about the campaign Matt and I wish to run.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The War Cabinet
We took delivery today of a display cabinet that my wife bought for "my little men". It is upstairs in my office. The office is actually undergoing a little bit of a transformation - getting rid of the old crappy computer desk - adding the display cabinet - adding a 3.5' X 3.5' table for small gaming. The new desk won't arrive for about 10 more days. When completed, I'll post more images. In the fall, my mother is coming out and will help me choose a wall color and do some wall painting.
For now, here are some images of the display cabinet. I am filling it with miniatures that play well in a small gaming setting. The top two shelves hold the 28MM pirate collection. The next two shelves hold the 28MM Old West collection. The fifth shelf in the top half hold some of the 28MM dark ages collection. The remainder will be stored in the closet. The bottom half has no shelves at present, as I used them all in the top half. So, we'll get some glass cut for additional shelves in a few weeks. I think that those shelves are reserved for the 28MM American Civil War miniatures. However, they don't play well in the small gaming environment. So I may keep them otherwise stored and place 28MM zombies and 15MM Napoleonics on the remaining shelves. I have a few weeks in which to decide...
The mirrors on the back have a nice effect...
For now, here are some images of the display cabinet. I am filling it with miniatures that play well in a small gaming setting. The top two shelves hold the 28MM pirate collection. The next two shelves hold the 28MM Old West collection. The fifth shelf in the top half hold some of the 28MM dark ages collection. The remainder will be stored in the closet. The bottom half has no shelves at present, as I used them all in the top half. So, we'll get some glass cut for additional shelves in a few weeks. I think that those shelves are reserved for the 28MM American Civil War miniatures. However, they don't play well in the small gaming environment. So I may keep them otherwise stored and place 28MM zombies and 15MM Napoleonics on the remaining shelves. I have a few weeks in which to decide...
The mirrors on the back have a nice effect...
Thursday, June 24, 2010
More 28MM ACW
Well, the ACW miniatures that i sent off to Sri Lanka successfully arrived there last week (yay!). They should be arriving back here at my house in early August...man, I cannot wait! Gonna be playing some Black Powder and having some fun!
While looking at the miniatures I already have painted myself, I realized that I was short on Confederate command elements. So, I decided to paint up three of such elements. The miniatures are actually a mix of Old Glory series 1 and series 2, Foundry and Redoubt. The Confederate battle flags are a graphic I got off the web several years ago...cannot even recall where...and, I think they're pretty awesome. The Texas flag is made by me (and available on this blog in an earlier post).
While looking at the miniatures I already have painted myself, I realized that I was short on Confederate command elements. So, I decided to paint up three of such elements. The miniatures are actually a mix of Old Glory series 1 and series 2, Foundry and Redoubt. The Confederate battle flags are a graphic I got off the web several years ago...cannot even recall where...and, I think they're pretty awesome. The Texas flag is made by me (and available on this blog in an earlier post).
More 10MM ACW
I managed to get a few more 10MM ACW fellows painted. Pictured below are an artillery battery, a corps commander, a division commander and Wheat's Tigers. The troops are Old Glory and are based for Repique:Zouave.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Dungeons?
Desmond, a friend of mine has been collecting the Dungeons & Dragons miniatures for a while now. You know the ones, the pre-painted plastic ones. Really, they're pretty awesome. Well, years and years ago, we used to play a lot of D&D but have really not played it in a long, long time (although he has much more recently than I). We tried playing some of the D20 system that comes with the miniatures, but something just wasn't there for us with the game system.
We're both fans of the Two Hour Wargames (THW) rule systems, having played the All Things Zombies (ATZ) system. The reaction stuff is very cool. The coolest part is that you can play solitaire or cooperative...yeah, cooperative. Hey, that is fun. While I love bashing my opponent's troops from time to time (or, more likely, having mine bashed by the opponent), I do like a good cooperative game too.
At Colorado Military Historians, we have played a lot of ATZ games lately. In fact, Binhan is wrapping up a zombie campaign in which we have been playing several linked-scenarios. Tons of fun. I love zombies, that is a lot of the fun for me, but also the cooperative nature of the games provides a lot of the fun for us all.
Anyway, why not play some dungeon delving games using that system? Well, THW has a free set of rules on this system for medieval melee games called Chain Reaction - Swordplay. They also sell a set of Ancient/Medieval wargames rules called Warrior Heroes: Armies and Adventures. So, we bought a copy to check out. Well, it was darn near perfect for what we wanted...it even had some charts built in for random dungeon exploration!
Of course, the random dungeon stuff was not exactly as we imagined (gee, what ever is?). And the game was very light on magic and monsters. So, we have been creating our own variant add-on to the rules (for our personal use only, and the add-on obviously requires the purchase of the rule set - I think it is important to support THW! Ed's rules - and I have bought several different sets - have provided me with a lot of fun times!). We're using the D&D miniatures and have converted many monsters and magic stuff from the D&D stuff we own to work within the THW system. And, most importantly, we have had fun cruising through some dungeons, battling monsters, and (hopefully) improving our characters.
Below are a couple of images. As you can see, this has also created the opportunity to create some simple dungeon terrain tiles. We hope to acquire some dungeon furnishings as we go on too. If any CMH members are interesting in a fun, challenging, cooperative game, let me know!
We're both fans of the Two Hour Wargames (THW) rule systems, having played the All Things Zombies (ATZ) system. The reaction stuff is very cool. The coolest part is that you can play solitaire or cooperative...yeah, cooperative. Hey, that is fun. While I love bashing my opponent's troops from time to time (or, more likely, having mine bashed by the opponent), I do like a good cooperative game too.
At Colorado Military Historians, we have played a lot of ATZ games lately. In fact, Binhan is wrapping up a zombie campaign in which we have been playing several linked-scenarios. Tons of fun. I love zombies, that is a lot of the fun for me, but also the cooperative nature of the games provides a lot of the fun for us all.
Anyway, why not play some dungeon delving games using that system? Well, THW has a free set of rules on this system for medieval melee games called Chain Reaction - Swordplay. They also sell a set of Ancient/Medieval wargames rules called Warrior Heroes: Armies and Adventures. So, we bought a copy to check out. Well, it was darn near perfect for what we wanted...it even had some charts built in for random dungeon exploration!
Of course, the random dungeon stuff was not exactly as we imagined (gee, what ever is?). And the game was very light on magic and monsters. So, we have been creating our own variant add-on to the rules (for our personal use only, and the add-on obviously requires the purchase of the rule set - I think it is important to support THW! Ed's rules - and I have bought several different sets - have provided me with a lot of fun times!). We're using the D&D miniatures and have converted many monsters and magic stuff from the D&D stuff we own to work within the THW system. And, most importantly, we have had fun cruising through some dungeons, battling monsters, and (hopefully) improving our characters.
Below are a couple of images. As you can see, this has also created the opportunity to create some simple dungeon terrain tiles. We hope to acquire some dungeon furnishings as we go on too. If any CMH members are interesting in a fun, challenging, cooperative game, let me know!
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