Monday 28 December 2015

Bringing it back...terrain that is...

Merry Christmas folks.

So I recently took a look at the banner for my blog...and I realized that I really haven't said much at all about terrain.  I mean, afterall, I even put it in the description...and I have had very few terrain related posts...

Consider my head hung in shame...<feels shame>...so with that in mind.  Terrain, I'm bringing it back baby...

Randal Graves approves the bringing back of terrain...


Funny thing, when I first started in the hobby I went pretty heavy with constructing buildings and terrain pieces, but over the years I slowly moved away from that and start purchasing more of the pre-built, pre-painted variety...I do enjoy the 'pro' made items, but there's still a lot to be said for the world of DIY.

Take care and see you in the New Year.

Some of my past glory...

this was the first table that I put together...the only pieces that I did not make were the Battlefront Eastern Front buildings...anything grey, I built...welcome to Stanisgrad

The next thing I needed were some walls to block movement, etc...

vicious hand to hand fighting in the factory...the factory took me approx. 2 months to build and paint and is approx. 24"x24"...all pieces inside the factory were handbuilt...I even put in a sewage pipe, complete with 'brown stuff' and a body or 2...

some commission work that I did, desert and eastern front minefields

 
And now, a mix of scratch built and pieces that I painted...

a couple of resin bunkers that I bought from a LGS...I went with a very quick and dirty paintjob
 

Some craters that I bought at last years Cangames from 6 Squared Studios.  I do not know where the open bottomed one came from, it was given to me...added a stand of CEF troops for scale...
 
 
Some city debris trenchlines that I had put together quite some time ago, but finally got around to painting them over the past couple of months...they will join about 6 more stands of city trenchline...I have similarly made about 6 stands each of desert trenchline and Eastern Front fieldworks. 
 

 
VC recoilless rifle stand added for scale and perspective... 


Sunday 13 December 2015

The Nameless Drifter...Dead Man's Hand style

Hey folks,

I recently had the chance to try out the Dead Man's Hand ruleset at Mike's place...we played 3 games out of one of the 'campaign' style scenarios from the main book.  I certainly enjoyed painting up the minis and I was really happy to finally give the game a shot.

As always, Mike did a great job of hosting...even if his sass factor was way out of control...at least he admitted to rolling with rigged dice.  I did in fact get my Stetson handed to me in the end...it was a very quick, fun game that I will be more than happy to try again...and of course, Mike laid out a great table.

Hopefully I've put the pics in the correct order and my notes didn't get to jumbled up...we'll see what Mike thinks of the reporting, lol.

Take care.

Scene 1...a nameless drifter comes into town...a group of local drunken arses decide to give him a welcome...

Showdown in front of the saloon... 
Shotgun Pete is the first one to shoot, but is also the first one down... 
Confederate Joe quickly falls after the drifter gains some cover from the street sign...ala Tom Arnold in True Lies...I guess... 
Bandito Slim turns tail and runs outta town... 
 
Scene 2...the drunken arses aren't happy...less so after they sober up...this time the larger gang contemplates how they're going to get the drifter...the local citizens, stirred by the action, come out to see what is going on... 
The locals out and about...a reporter takes some pics...a lady from the oldest profession surveys the scene... 
the undertaker heads to the general store... 
The gang shows up...half near the saloon... 
the other half at the opposite end of town... 

a quick exchange of shots and one from each gang is down... 
same scene at the other end of the street...this was the last pic I took of this Scene...the drunken arses were run out of town... 
I was no better at taking pics as we got into Scene 3...this time, all gang members are on the street...
Mike was doing some incredible rolling for hits...he made short work out of my boys in the middle of the street...and ran the boys behind the half-built barn...

His rifleman, boss, and the Drifter do very short work of the remaining members of my gang...I did not fair very well...in the end, a very good and enjoyable game. 

My God...the Northern city...

Afternoon all,

While I have not had a chance to game the cold setting of Frostgrave, I have nonetheless been inspired by what I've seen and read to date.  I think I've said before, I have never really given fantasy a try...in all actual fact, it is the historical side of wargaming that led me to this hobby.  BUT...my God, you won't believe what one can pack into the Northern City...

I've decided to mix what I liked about WOW online and see how I can bring that into Frostgrave and just refer to the whole idea as "the Northern City"...it helps me compartmentalize my gaming.

I recently picked up some Reaper Bones figs that I thought looked really cool...gave them a try.  I tried some new painting strategies and colour schemes...in the end, I really like how they turned out...

Enjoy the pics.  Take care.


This 'treasure' chest is a sure way to a quick grave for even the most stout-hearted of adventurer...I thought I'd base it as if the chest had to force it's way through the floorboards.  It was a fun model to paint up...the entire time, all I could think of is the psycho book from Harry Potter...


"What did you find in the Northern City?" the teacher asked little Adventurer Johnny..."RATS, BIG, GIANT RATS...with..."...lol.
 
Poor Johnny...maybe not entirely accurate, but in the Northern City, there are festering plague rats...mean buggers, with tempers, and hideous boils all over their bodies...

Friday 4 December 2015

Some progress on the 'nam...Main Force Vietnamese

Howdy folks,

One of the many tasks that I had been procrastinating on was completing the basing for my main force Vietnamese guerillas.  Why you may ask? M'eh...it seems to be one of my strongpoints, lol.  Anyway, I thought I'd just get my progress out there in the online 'verse.

I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out...the flock and colours look great and I think they could fit in pretty much anywhere in the Nam...as well, the army painter jungle clumps look really cool...and, I'm getting much better at using them.

Cheers.

The overall force so far...not enough for some Flames of War, but I think enough for a game of FoF Ambush Alley...

The Battalion command with recoilless rifles...

First 'company'...RPG teams with AK-47 teams...more to come!!

Second company...just the RPG teams so far.

Thursday 3 December 2015

Great War - Canadian Expeditionary Force - first platoon

Hey folks,

I kinda turned to you all at the end of last month and laid out my tail of whoa and heartache and the disappearance of my gaming mojo.  It was truly sad and horrible...sometime over September and early October...Mo...my mojo, just went away.

And who suffered...well, the fine body of little soldiers inspired by the real world heroism of the Canadian Expeditionary Force from World War 1.  My overall goal was to use Battlefront figs to properly represent Canadian forces that fought with my focus on Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele.  I started September full of steam with a platoons worth of figures basecoated and ready to go...

Like many plans...this one did not survive first contact...for some reason, the painting at hand was soul sucking...I blame my Death Knight project...anyway...in the revival era of October, I put sand to base and finished painting up the remainder of the platoon and then made and painted their bases.

I was very surprised and happy that the bases came up as quick as they did...I tried very hard to emulate the wet and rainy battlefield of both these battles.  I took the time to 'sculp' craters that the troops had to slog through...I used sand for my bases so the 'sculpting' took some time, patience, and buttload of glue...but I'm very happy with the results.

Hope you enjoy the pics.


An extra command stand that I painted up...
 
The Platoon...
 

Command stand in the front...follow me...
 
Group shot from the front...
 
Rear profile...I like this shot because it showcases the multiple craters that I made up...after some online searching of battle shots and movie captures from the "Passchendaele" by Paul Gross, I settled on Vallejo Green/Brown with light dusting of Tan Earth and Army Painter Strong Tone on the edge.

 
 
The Lewis teams took extra effort making the berms work, but I'm very happy with the results