The Madness Continues

Well surprisingly enough I have managed to keep some steam up painting my 15mm Napoleonics and WWII Americans.

I have painted enough British Napoleonics now to fight a reasonable sized battle using Lasalle. I can field enough to fight either a defensive or offensive battle with an extra attachment. With a little more painting this will be jumped up to 2 more attachments.

The way the army builder works for the game is that you get a number of units depending on the theatre/time period based on the type of command(Infantry, Guards etc,) and then the players decide how many extra attachments they will get, both sides receiving the same amount. The attacker also receives a slight boost in the number of base units. 

I have also continued painting up my Flames of War Americans. These are relatively easy to paint compared to the Naps. I have the 1st platoon and Company HQ painted and the 2nd platoon on the bench.

I am also painting up a few figures for Infinity, 6 figures to be exact.

The reason behind this is I want to get enough figures painted to field small forces in some demo games that Ed I will be running at a local convention, Hal-Con in Halifax. It is a Sci-fi/fantasy convention with a fairly large boardgame component. Last year Ian, from The Aethervox and I ran some well attended Malifaux demos and this year we are going to expand this to include other games. I will most likely be doing demos of Flames of War, Lord of the Rings by GW, Infinity, Dust Warfare as well as Malifaux. Because of the convention theme I will not be doing any historical games besides from FOW. I might bring in some pictures of other games in progress just to show people some of the other games out there.

Tristan and I also played a game of Battlelore which we haven't played in quite awhile and I forgot how easy it is to pick up and fun to play and if you are wondering Tristan won the game, 6VP for the win against my 4.

Anyways back to painting and skimming rules!  

My entire force so far. I have more yet to paint.

The infantry.

The cavalry attachment.

The artillery.

The force from the side.

The 1st American platoon and Company HQ. Bases will be done later.

Company HQ.

1st platoon.

Infinity demo force 1, PanOceana. Painting required.

Infinity demo force 2, Haqqislam. More painting required!

15mm Madness!

The cooler weather is starting to set in and that means gaming season, at least for me. the evenings start to get dark earlier, the air is cool and heading towards just plain cold in a month or so, so this is the time of year I like to start playing games again.

I plan on starting up a role playing campaign using Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3e continuing off with the adventure that was started some time ago over the annual Malifaux Weekend event, minus a couple of characters so it should be a more manageable group(at least by numbers!) of 4 players.

I also want to get in a number of miniature games probably starting with Force on Force with my friend Eric but I would also like to get in some games of Flames of War as I have yet to try out the 3rd edition rules, Dust Warfare, Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40k(I haven't played the newest edition here either), Infinity, Lasalle, Trafalgar, Bolt Action WWII and perhaps some others. Of course I realize I am not going to get all these in, after all there is only so much time to game and there is always other stuff to do.

I have also gotten back into some console gaming mostly F1 on the PS3 and Battlefield 3 on the 360.

I have played a few board and card games with the family. We went camping and we played a few rounds of Once Upon A Time, a card game by Atlas Games in which you try to empty your hand of cards by telling a story that uses the words written on the cards. The cards have names of places, people, items, events and aspects(words of description). The other players can interrupt your story by playing certain cards and take it over spinning their own tale and taking yours in a new direction. The rules are very basic and the game plays fast and is a lot of fun.

We also played Gloom, another card game by Atlas Games. This is another story telling game but has a little more structure. The idea is to make your family of misfits as unhappy as possible before they meet an untimely death. You do this by playing a number of events on your family members that will make them miserable while you can play happy events on other families. The game ends when one family is all dead and then everyone counts the "miserable" points on their dead characters(only dead characters). The most miserable family wins!

Tristan and I also played a game of Rune Wars by Fantasy Flight Games. I like this game a lot and have played it quite a bit. Tristan won, getting his 6th rune while I only had 4. I was in a position to get my other 2 runes within a couple of turns so it was a close game.

I have done a little painting as well. One of the things I like to do when I am not gaming is modelling. It is one of the reasons I like wargaming because when I can't get together to game I can always work on some other aspect of gaming like building and painting the models, making terrain, reading rules, researching a period, making army lists or any number of other activities.

Anyways I have been working on some 15mm soldiers, a little smaller scale than I usually paint and they require a slightly different method of painting. When painting 15mm figures I usually block in all the colours on the figures and then apply a wash coat, done. I painted up a couple of units of Napoleonic British. I used a white undercoat when painting these so the colours would be nice and bright before the wash was applied. I have also started painting up my Flames of War Americans. I used my traditional black undercoat for these as this gives a good base for the earthy colours of their uniforms. Both projects are coming along fine and I plan on painting up some cavalry next for my Napoleonic force. This will give me some options to field using the Lasalle rules.

I hope everyone is enjoying some games and if I get in the game of Force on Force soon I will take pictures and perhaps write up a battle report.

See you then.  

15mm Napoleonics by Battle Honours. Colours blocked in.

A closer look.

A unit of 4 bases with Army Painter Shades applied. Flags still to be attached.

The same unit.

Battlefront 15mm American infantry primed with the painting just starting.

The company CO underway.

Games While Camping, Hinging My Land Raider Doors

The family went camping last week, we packed up the car and the tent trailer and headed to one of the national parks, Kejimkujik. While packing up I found room for a couple of board games.

So between the hikes, biking, canoeing and trying to relax (impossible with a 3 year old in the family) we managed to play a few games. We played a couple of games of Carcasonne by Rio Grande Games, a game we usually bring with us when camping. Even the youngest, Galen, likes to play this trying to get all his meeples out first.

We also played a game of Tribune by Fantasy Flight Games  after Galen had gone to sleep. We played this in the dark by the camp fire under the light of our lantern. We called it after a certain point as it was getting late. Tristan was declared the winner with the most victory conditions though in one more turn I would have been able to pull out the win anyways.

I also brought a rpg to play, The One Ring by Cubicle 7 but we didn't get a chance to play. I always think it would be great to role play while camping but I never actually get to. I brought along Death Angel  by Fantasy Flight Games as well but didn't get that out either.

And that's been it for the gaming. I've been keeping busy with other things and have not managed to fit in any miniature games but I have been doing some modelling.

In an effort to field a slightly larger British Napoleonic army for Lasalle, besides the basic defensive force, I have started painting up a couple of extra infantry units to allow me to go on the offensive and a attached cavalry force. Lasalle has army lists consisting of a basic force which is modified when you are the attacker. You can then pick additional attachments, each player picking the same number. After that I will pick away at units as I have quite a few minis still in the bags. They are all 15mm Battle Honors.

I have started to repaint some 15mm German vehicles for Flames Of War. I had originally done the camo pattern with a brush but wasn't happy with the look so I decided to redo them with the air brush. I always imagine the air brush is more work than it actually is.

I continued working on my scratch built Trebuchet and my Land Raider Crusader.

Adding Green Stuff details like steel rings around the weight basket...

and metal pivot points.

The first unit of Brits under way. I am painting these up with the intent to dip them.

So I used white primer to brighten up the colours before the get toned down with the dip.

The camo pattern applied by airbrush. Much more satisfactory than the one I applied by brush which you can see in a previous post.

The whole group I did.

How I hinged the Land Raider Doors.

First I cut out the center section of the two exterior hinges.

Here they are cut with a hobby saw.

I then finished the job with a hobby knife and then filed the cut smooth.

I then cut off to small sections of plastic tube.

And then made sure they fit into the cut out sections.

Next I cut off two pieces of paper clip the length of the total hinge section.

I then drilled straight through the hinges.

The paper clip pieces were then pushed into the hinges as indicated by the tool.

The hinges were then glued in place applying a small drop of glue to each section of white tube where it will contact the hull.

After the glue has dried. The door opens...

and closes!

Well that's it for now, hopefully I will have a game report next time.

Balls in the Air

Well its been fairly quite here as far as actually getting games in lately. I have got in a few, a game of Malifaux, Arcane Legions, a really short trial game of Infinity as well as a family game of Pandemic.

Mostly I've been doing planning and prep. I am planning a Malifaux weekend for about 6 people towards the end of June at my house with all kinds of Malifaux goodness. I will have 3 tables set up with games going on Saturday through Sunday with an appropriate movie thrown in, a BBQ and perhaps a trip to the pub.

Another friend of mine hosts a board game weekend at his cottage and that will be coming up in May and though this will only be my second time attending it will be a good time. Lots of games, food and friends and my older son will be coming as well. To top things off an old friend I haven't seen in some time is hoping to be able to fly in for the weekend...great!

A group of like minded individuals including me have got together and are attempting to get a local miniatures game group together with the first couple of trial nights already booked in a community room. My friend Shawn has been doing most of the leg work on this and hopefully it will take off.

As far as my own game related activities go I've been putting together some Infinity models and I will soon put up some pictures on my WIP page. I have a mixed opinion on these models. There is perhaps a little more work involved in putting them together than other metal  miniatures I have constructed but the sculpts are very nice looking. I have some Napoleonic naval vessels to get to the shipyards(commission work) as well as some new 15mm Napoleonic recruits to get ready for the Lasalle rules. I am also getting my paint scheme worked out for the 25mm ECW figures by Warlord Games. This unit I plan on selling after I have them finished.

So although I haven't accomplished much I have a lot of balls in the air, I hope I don't drop too many!

Arcane Legions, Rome vs. Egypt. I like the game but the collector aspect really stops me getting into it.

Forward units close in. The terrain is very abstract.

The figures are about 1/76. Not great quality but a paint job really helps and they are very cheap.

Before my friends complain here is the results of the few games that I did get in. Arcane Legions vs. my son-win, Malifaux vs. Eric-loss, family game of  Pandemic (co-op) win, though there was a screw up with a deck shuffle which I am sure helped out the cause. Almost forgot the Infinity game vs. my son-loss. We were using the quick start rules.

Lasalle Game

Just this week I manage to play a couple of small games of Lasalle. This is a Napoleonic miniature game by Sam Mustafa. I have always loved this period just for the look on the game table but other than a game I used to play in the 80's which I do not remember the name I have never found a set of rules that I enjoy playing. Now just to get this out of the way I only have a passing knowledge of the era and its tactics. I seem to spend all my time rebasing figures to try another set of rules which should be THE set of rules for me. I've tried Shako, Piquet, General de Brigade and a few others I can't remember off hand.

So how did I enjoy the rules? Well I actually enjoyed them quite a bit. It played fast and the mechanics were fairly intuitive. The rules seemed to make you play the tactics of the period without resorting to a bunch of complicated rules, but remember this is coming from someone who does not claim to be a scholar in this period. The key thing for me perhaps though is would I actually like to play this game again, yes. Finally I will be able to keep my figures based this way for awhile and maybe even get my 15mm Napoleonic troops to the gaming table once in awhile.

French Cavalry

The French center(a little blurry)

The British advance

The lines at the start of the battle. The brown bases represent rough ground.