Sunday, April 28, 2013

Thursday Gaming

Every Thursday night, with few exceptions, I have the privilege to game with the Basement Generals. Generally six to eight of us descend upon the Baron Von J's domicile for an evening of gaming, trash talking and camaraderie. This is a great group of guys, Thursday night is one of the bright spots of my week. The Baron is the most prolific gaming hobbyist that I have ever met. It is simply amazing what he can produce in a short time. All figures and models shown in this post are his handiwork. This past Thursday, it was a Gladiator bash and a Chariot race. This is what greeted us at the gaming table.

The Gladiator game was first, Jaye was trying a new set of rules from Two Hour Wargames. While the mechanics were easy to grasp, it bogged down. A complete review can be found on the Baron's Blog. Here is the stable of Gladiator figs:

Here two Murmulos battle forever, neither one gaining an advantage.

Once the dust settled, we tried the Charioteer rules from Two Hour Wargames. This rule set was much better. We will try this one again, since we only had time for one lap.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

X Wing skirmish

Tuesday nights are generally board games. Tonight however it was X-Wing. Darth Vader (boo-hiss) versus Luke Skywalker in a duel to the death. Actually we had time for three games in a 3 hours session. We kept the forces to 60 points.

I like this game. The mechanics are clean and simple. Movement is plotted on little maneuver dials and then the ships are moved with a matching template. For some reason, I can visualize my moves on this system much easier than I can on Blue Max.

Here is one more shot of Luke just before Vader unleashed the hounds...
The only negative with this game is the number of markers that are used to track statistics and attributes. After a while there is so much clutter on the table top that it detracts from the look of the game. (Even more than the uncovered table top)

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Dark Age Normans, some assembly required

I have started working with the Gripping Beast Dark Age Norman line of figures for Saga. Part of my faction is a group of warriors carrying cross-bows. Most of these figs are multi-piece castings that require assembly. It is necessary to pin the crossbows onto the main figure casting. In play, if these joints are not pinned, the bows will get knocked off the figure. The reason is that super-glue has great tensile properties, but almost zero for shear. A quick bump and a bow is dislodged. Pinning is not hard, it just requires a little patience. It also requires a few tools and some 1mm or smaller diameter brass rod. Special tools are hemostats, pin vise, side cutters for soft metal, small hobby files and a hobby knife.

Here is the raw figure, notice that the end of the crossbow is completely flat. This will make for a weak joint.

The parts on the model are really small, use a fine point scratch awl or needle to create a starter hole. My pin vise came with this attachment. This will prevent the drill bit from wandering.


Now use the pin vise and a drill bit that matches the size of the brass rod. In this image I have super glued a small piece of rod into the crossbow end. It is deliberately long. The next step is to dry fit the pieces together.

After some trimming, filing and test fitting, the figure is ready for primer and paint. It has a strong joint that should stand up to repeated game play.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Wargamer's A.D.D.

Like many wargamers, I am afflicted with a special variety of ADD. I can typically focus on daily work tasks, but let a new rule set appear and I am a goner. The pictures are my current projects and prove this point. In no particular order; 15 MM Ancient Greeks, I am trying to build enough stands to play C&C Ancients with figs. If you look closely, there are some 15MM ACW Cavalry that I am re-basing. Just to the front of the ACW, is 28MM Dark Age Normans for Saga. I was part of a demo game at the latest Recruits Convention and I was hooked.

There is a large mass of 10MM strips that is for the War of Spanish Succession. The Old Glory sculpts for the Marlburian range are really nice. Hand Painted flags at this scale may challenge my skills.

Behind that are some 28 MM French Nappies that I owe to Lead Addict.
Oh look, Squirrel...