Decidedly less dramatic hills

     Having spent (way too many) hours repainting the dramatic hills so that the sedimentary layers matched from hill to hill I gave them a coat of Grunge Wash (see the posting below for the "formula") to tone them down from the slightly garish colors. This dulled them down in a pleasing manner.

Still More Silliness with Blue Board

     This morning before work a threw a coat of "grunge wash" on The Head. Grunge wash is a mixture of the crud that has accumulated in the bottom of the paintbrush cleaning cup, a shot or two of Future Floor Wax and a touch of black. This was liberally applied to the entire surface of the model. I have to say that I was happy to see the wash running in leggy streams over the surface of the model as I finished, much like a sweet Port will leave "legs" on the inside of a glass when swirled. I was excited to see what it looked like when it had dried. Upon my return home I was confronted with this:

More Silliness with Blue Board

     When I was a little kid my mother would often ask of me in exasperation when I had done something particularly daft, "What has come over you?" . Being a might bit simple I would answer, "I haven't a clue", which often earned me a spanking (my poor mother thinking that I was being a smart-aleck). This sort of thing still happens to me from time to time (the being daft, not the spanking). Witness this, I was sitting in my basement bored to tears of painting sedimentary layers on the "dramatic hills" (more on that in a bit) when I was overcome with the desire to cut foam.

       Casting about for something to carve I remembered that we have been slowly gathering steam for a new GorkaMorka campaign and were also building a table-sized Mektown (more on that in a bit as well) and it occurred to me that even Orks need a place of worship. Inspired by this thought I grabbed a stack of circular off-cuts and began carving away at them, the result being this;

not finished yet but moving along

The Hazards of Coastal Travel WW2 1/600 naval game

      When I first saw this listed on the game schedule at Battlefields I knew I had to play. I have always been intrigued by the small-scale naval fighting that took place in both World Wars. Tiny ships, usually hilariously over-armed, banging away at each other in narrow seas or shallow water, I mean what could be better?  The game was hosted by Jim Casey and used the Flaklighter II rules and 1/600 scale miniatures both from PT Dockyards . The rules were easy to pick up and fun to play while the minis were very good looking and just the right size to show good detail while leaving plenty of tabletop to play on.

the level of detail is on a par with similar scale plastic kits

here we see the German E-boat, fast but lightly armed

Plastic Soldier Company Panther 1/100 15mm

     I finally made it over to Michigan Toy Soldier when they had the new PSC Panther in stock, these apparently have been selling like hotcakes.  Having taken a look I can see why, as is to be expected you will find another detailed and easy to assemble model when you open the box. I know that I can tend to get on about details and how much better plastic is compared to metal or resin but these are simply beautiful. Molded in a Panzer Yellow plastic there are five kits in the box, complete with different upper hulls to make the D and A models. OldSarge has found some details that need fixing if you wish to make an early D model, find his hints here 

box art

Battlefields SAGA Demo games

     When I first looked up the schedule for the convention the first thing that caught my eye was the listing for a SAGA demo game. I had heard many things about the rules in the British glossy magazines but the descriptions always left me wondering just how the game played. Here at last was a chance to get my hands dirty (bloody?) and see how the rules really work. Jeff Przybylo and Dan Joyce undertook the task of studying the rules, gathering the minis, setting up the terrain and then answering a zillion questions from gamers eager to learn the rules. I must say they a stand-out job.

     The central concept behind SAGA is that the battles were small affairs and, as such, there is little need for hundreds of figures on the table. What is needed is that the individual characteristics of each army is properly modelled. This is a subjective thing based upon the understanding of history possessed by the rules writers, to my mind, they have got it darn near spot-on. Vikings are aggressive and dangerous when charging, Saxons are steadfast and hard to move. Leaders are hugely important to the outcome of battle, no dry administrators here, they are in the forefront of the fight swinging a sword and crying "Havoc!" I found it all most satisfying.

for once, a slim rulebook

Battlefields in Dearborn Michigan, general notes

      Well the Battlefields con has come and gone and a fun time was had by all. The Pro or Con gang did a great job once again of providing a quallity gaming experience complete with food and beverages (sadly no beer even though it was Saint Patrick's Day!) and an array of beautiful games to play/observe. I played in a naval game in the AM session (report due later) and closely observed the series of Saga games in the second session (another report coming on that soon). As usual there were many games that I could not play in, or even get a full look at, so here are a few that caught my eye (camera lens) as I was walking about.

I took a shot of this table after it was set up,

 but never got back to get a "game in progress" pic,

it was lovely all the same

Warlords Colonial British Infantry 28mm

      As a companion peice to the recently released Zulu Unmarried Warrior Regiment Warlord Miniatures has released British Line Infantry in 28mm. These are dressed in the iconic red jacket and pith helmet and beautifully reproduce the defenders of Rourke's Drfit (as well as the ill-fated, and worse led, British troops from the battle of Isandlwana). In fact they would cover a very large portion of the troops that England fielded at the height of the Empire. Well cast in a medium gray plastic they models exhibit no flash or significant mold-lines. Included in the pack are four very characterful British officer figures which I will review in another post.

the box front

And Then, Things Just Happen......

     There are times when you see something and just know that you have to buy it. You aren't sure what for, or why, but you just need it now. This happened recently when I was walking through a Michaels Arts & Crafts store recently and spotted these little gems;

Russo-Japanese Naval Battle

     Last Saturday we dusted off my twenty-year-old  Russo-Japanese War ships and rules and played a game. The scenario was that the Japanese were blockading a port when a Russian force showed up intent on escorting a steamer carrying what would be termed today a "High Value Target"; to wit Prince Vladimir, the second son of the Tsar (totally fictional, of course, but it gave flavor to the game).

     The Japanese had two armored Cruisers and two light cruisers, the Russians had a battleship, a monitor, a protected cruiser and two light cruisers; a formidable force indeed. The Japanese. leaving their blockade positions, were closing in from both flanks and the Russian were trying to shoot the gap. In table-top terms this meant that the Russians had to travel from one corner to the opposite while the Japanese arrived in the two remaining corners trying to block their path of travel.

     My rules reward the greater skill and seamanship of the Japanese while penalizing the unhandy ship design and general land-lubberliness of the Russians. I thought it would be a close-run thing, except that had I left out one thing; dice. Lady Luck rebuffed the Japanese and was clearly infatuated with the Russian that night.

right from the beginning the Russians scored hit at maximum range,

the Idzumo takes significant damage in the midships batteries

Warlord Games Zulus, 28mm Plastic Zulu figure reveiw

     I have always (well, not always, but since the very first time that I saw the movie Zulu) wanted to do a massive Zulu army. I was excited when Wargames Factory brought out theirs, but that excitement was short-lived due to the level of fugly that those minis displayed. When I heard that Warlord was going to do the minis I was heartened but cautious, some of their earlier stuff was less than thrilling. When I saw the box at Michigan Toy Soldier I grabbed and got permission to take a look inside. Frankly I was thrilled, these are some damned fine figures! Take a look (as always, click on the picture for a larger veiw);

good box-art, it provides clues for painting

Too Much?

     The next step in the  dramatic hills is painting. I have already covered them with my mix of wood glue and wallboard compuond and then given them a base-coat of house paint (the weak beige color that is faintly shiny) and I started adding the layers of sedimentary colors. They strike as too loud by half, hopefully a good dirtry wash and then some drybrushing will blend them a little better.

and yes, somebody has already advised me that the sedimentary layers should all be the same at each layer (counting up from the bottom), hey I am a wargamer, not a geologist!

     Thoughts, ideas and comments are welcome!