the trojan bunny

Another week, another battle...

2011-12-24T18:34:00.000-08:00

I had another game last week to try out some minor tweaks to the rules. Went alright, though ended up being more lopsided than I had expected. Still some more tweaks to make to the rules (mainly rallying and the melee mechanics). Then I can finally start on the vehicle rules! I took lots of pics of the game, and I will do a bit of a running commentary to help you follow the action.

The basic scenario was that a platoon of Colonial Marines (5 fireteams and a HMG team) are holding a valuable cluster of crystals in the ruins of a town. Assaulting them through the mountain passes was 6 fireteams of armoured Red troopers plus 2 teams of Red power armour. I gave a maximum of 20 turns for the Reds to seize the crystals, but the game ended around turn 14.

I set-up the Marines first, then I randomly determined which side the Red teams would approach from. This resulted in 4 teams of regulars and a team of power armour deployed on the western board edge, while 2 teams of regulars and a team of power armour came from the east.

The meager red forces coming from the east.

The more substantial western assault force.

2 teams of marines plus the HMG hold the west edge of town.

Another 2 teams hold the eastern edge of town.

While the 5th team is in the center of town near the crystal as a reserve.

"Hold the line!"

The HMG would prove quite deadly.

The Reds begin the advance from the west.

The reserve team moves to reinforce the western edge of town.

A single Red team from the west moved north through the woods to hit the Marines in the flank.

The assault in the west begins to get bogged down under heavy fire from the Marines.

Both Power Armour teams preformed pretty poorly, getting bogged down by both casualties and Stress Points.

The Red team begins its flank attack.

After a few turns exchanging fire, the Reds assaulted! They killed 2 Marines and forced the surviving 2 to rout.

Meanwhile on the eastern side of town a protracted firefight developed between these two units. Neither was able to inflict significant casualties, nor have the strength to try an assault.

The HMG team pulled back away from the assaulting Red team to the north.

After rallying off their Stress Points this team of power armour rejoined the attack on the west, only to get cut down by a combination of HMG and small arms fire, eventually routing.

Despite their gains, these Reds found the Marines' firepower too much to bear and were also routed.

The surviving marines on the western edge hold out together.

The western edge of town at games end. The few remaining Red units' morale broke and the assault was over. The marines held the town!

GZG and PP Comparison

2011-12-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

Someone on TMP asked me how well GZG and Peter Pig minis fit with each other, so here are some comparison pics. As you can see, the GZG are a bit bigger, but I find they look fine on the tabletop.

Latest Playtest...

2011-12-17T16:01:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to testing out the newest version of my modern/sci fi rules. This version had some pretty big changes, so I was a bit nervous about how it would work. My trepidation proved needless however, as the new mechanics worked very nicely. There's a few things that need to be tweaked, but I think I have finally made the game I have been trying to make these past few years. I am quite excited to play again.

The scenario: A humanitarian aid mission in the form of an ambulance with medical supplies had been attacked by Zekistani insurgents in a local village. As retribution, a platoon of mercenaries was then assigned to sweep through the rocky passes and clear the village of hostiles.

A few random rolls later and the insurgents were deployed, with some in the village, some in the cliffs and some in the rocky terrain in-between. The early stages of the game went very well for the Mercs. They pushed the insurgents back to the outskirts of the village without suffering any casualties. As they moved toward the village itself things began to turn against them. Casualties began to mount up fast. After some tense fighting, a few lucky rally cards allowed the Mercs to re-new the attack and destroy the remaining insurgents. Of the 20 insurgents, only 2 escaped. However the Mercs had lost 10 men as casualties and another 7 routed, of a force of 24. A very costly victory indeed.

Below are a bunch of pictures from said game. The GZG Hammers Slammers Mercs were painted by myself, while the Peter Pig Insurgents were painted by my dad. Scenery is a mix of commercial and scratchbuilt.

My Table

2011-11-23T21:06:00.000-08:00

Just a couple quick shots to show my current 15mm sci-fi layout. The table is 5' x 3.' I have a number of scenic projects on the go that I hope to complete over the holidays which should give me quite a nice selection of scenery.

Can you ID these minis?

2011-11-18T12:48:00.001-08:00

Can anyone identify these colonial minis? I bought them some years ago at a local toy show. The standing highlander measures about 27mm from foot to eye, while the Gatling gun crew is about 32mm from foot to eye. I'd guess due to the tall slender nature of the Gatling crew they could be Stadden miniatures? I'm quite unsure about the highlanders though. Minifigs? Connoisseur? Something else?

First Hordes Mini

2011-09-19T13:38:00.001-07:00

It's been ages since the last update I know, but the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Had a busy summer, spending most of August in England and Ireland.

My interest in Hordes and Warmachine was re-kindled over the summer, so I raked out the old minis, and even bought a Circle of Everblight starter for a second Hordes force. I just finished painting up my first Hordes mini (had them for years, but never painted them), a Trollblood Axer. It was strange painting 28mm again, as I've grown so used to 10mm and 15mm. 28mm seems massive now! Anyway, here he is. As usual, comments, criticisms, and insults are welcome.

Product Tip: Simple Green

2011-07-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

For awhile I've been searching for a good paint stripping method. I had heard Pinesol worked so I tried it. While it does get the paint off...somewhat, it wasn't ideal. The paint turned into a gooey, sticky mess which was hard to actually get off the minis. This meant it took several soaks in pinesol with brushing/cleaning in-between. Quite time consuming and labour intensive. Plus, the pinesol smell stays on the minis for weeks!

I then came across a number of people recommending Simple Green on TMP. I figured it was worth a shot so I picked up a jug. And boy does it work! Just let the minis soak for awhile (I'd say at least 4 hours, if not more) then the paint is easily removed with an old toothbrush. For the small recesses you may need a toothpick or even a pin. Simple Green gets the paint off easily and fairly quickly. Far easier than pinesol, that's for sure!

Curiously, we tried it on some old GW plastic minis we got for free from our FLGS (the minis were old Necromunda plastics, no idea how many years they have had paint on them, nor what type of paint was used) and we found the paint didn't really come off them. Not sure why. Maybe the type of paint that was used bonded with the plastic? Anyone else have this issue with plastic minis and Simple Green? Though on the bright side there was sign of the Simple Green melting the plastics or damaging them in anyway, so it is safe for plastics.

So if you have any minis you want stripping it's worth it to head to your local hardware store and pick-up a jug of Simple Green. 3.7-liter jugs can be had at Canadian Tire for $14.99.

A Slight Delay

2011-06-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'd thought I'd have new pics up on the blog by now, but have been distracted by a few things. Finished school for the summer last week. Then on Monday I began experiencing abdominal pain. It lasted through the night and into Tuesday when it became localized on the lower right side of my abdomen. Went to emergency, and after much waiting found out I likely had appendicitis and had to stay in for immediate surgery. Had the op on Tuesday night and was in hospital for most of Wednesday. Now home, but can't move or walk very well (at least not without a considerable amount of pain). On top of it all I had to miss going to Vancouver with a bunch of friends to see Rush today, which was more of a kick in the ass than the surgery! So it will probably be another week or so before I get around to more painting and taking pictures for the blog.

Hope you all are well and haven't had to lose any organs lately!

A Brief Update And Some Ideas

2011-06-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

It's been months since my last post, and I apologize for that. I have been pretty swamped with classes these last few months, but after this coming week I will done for the summer. That means more time for the hobby.

There's some sci-fi stuff I want to finish up and take some pictures of, such as my Hammers Slammers force.

The Sudan collection has been added to a bit. Slow, but steadily, the forces are growing. Maybe one day I'll actually have enough Dervish for a game!

Expect eye candy in the coming weeks.

I've also started another project (not that I needed another!) in the last few months: 15mm Vietnam. I've had 25mm Vietnam minis (the sadly now defunct line from London War Room), but I want to do reinforced platoon level games with vehicles, and I don't have the table space nor the budget big enough to handle that in 28mm. The minis I'm using are a mix of Flashpoint, Battlefront and Peter Pig. I've already got a Huey done and my US Infantry platoon is about half done. Pics to follow...

I am re-writing my sci-fi skirmish rules for the umpteenth time. I am changing the initiative system/turn sequence again. This time going for a card based system like IABSM. Hopefully it will work. I am also expanding the rules to cover counter-insurgency style games so I can use them for Vietnam and modern Afghanistan and Iraq. Of course they will still work for conventional warfare and for sci-fi forces. I think I may be finally closing in on the rules I really want. Maybe.

I've also lately been temped by a few periods. The Indian Mutiny is one I've been interested in for a couple years. Dixon is really the only option in 15mm and I'm not fond of their single, static poses for each troop type. In 28mm there is the lovely range by Old Glory, as well as the pricey old Foundry range. Oh yes, and the new range from Mutineer Miniatures. Not too cheap, but they look nice. A 10mm line is high on Pendraken's request list, but even if it does happen I imagine it won't be for a good year or two at least. What to do...

The War of 1812 is a period I have wanted to do for many years now. With the bicentennial fast approaching now seems as good a time as any to finally get the project on the go. I still can't decide what scale I want to do it in. 15mm is certainly the more affordable option, with nice ranges from both Minifigs and Old Glory. But the smaller battles and interesting units makes me want 28mm. The Old Glory 28mm line looks good, and Knuckleduster is steadily releasing minis for the period as well. Plus the British regulars would be easy to do with lovely plastics from both Perry and Victrix.

With both the Mutiny and 1812 28mm seems the best bet, but again there is the issue of space and money.

While painting tonight I got a few ideas for some rules for 19th century conflicts like 1812 and the Mutiny. I'll need to flesh it out a fair bit, but I think these ideas should make for a good game. And more importantly allow a small British force to take on a large, well armed Mutineer or Sikh force and actually win. Thinking about these rules has got me wanting minis for these conflicts even more.

What are you working on, gaming wise, dear reader?

Old Crow Vehicles For The Reds

2011-03-17T20:34:00.001-07:00

Here are the first 2 of my recently arrived Old Crow vehicle order. I have another tank to paint (though I buggered it up by gluing the track on the wrong way!) and 2 more APCs. Then its onto the Hammers Slammers vehicles.

Anyway, these two are painted for my red/grey faction. I used a spray technique I got off a buddy of mine. More info on that here.

I think his actually came out better than mine, but then he is a better painter than me! Still, I'm pretty satisfied with how they came out. I went for a rather dirty look, as though they have been in the field for awhile.

GZG Alien Mercenaries

2011-02-26T17:26:00.000-08:00

Here are a bunch of pics of my GZG Alien mercs, on my recently built rusted refinery. Sorry some of the pics are a bit blurry. I think the blue skin colour gives them a nice alien look. Could also be used as mutants I suppose.

Future Plans...

2011-02-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

Just some thoughts on my hobby plans for the near future...

Make more ruined buildings. I want enough to cover a 4' x 4' board. I might buy some more of JR Minatures' great buildings too. Along with these I've still got lots of sprues of Platformer and Chemical Plant sets from Pegasus. I want to do some more industrial type terrain, so these will come in quite handy. Thinking of some ponds of toxic waste, wrecked cars, desert type bases of rocks and junk.

I plan on ordering some more stuff from GZG, once the new NAC power armour is out. Jon said that will be very soon, I assume once he is caught up on orders as apparently GZG is getting swamped with 15mm orders! And there is some more stuff I want from Khurasan.

Still have a bunch of stuff to paint. Khurasan post-apoc gangers, the Alien king and queen, two predators, Alien eggs. And with my vehicle order coming in the mail from Old Crow that will mean lots more stuff to paint! I think there are about 10 or so vehicles coming if memory serves.

This will also lead to beginning to properly write and test vehicle rules for my sci-fi ruleset. I've got some rough ideas, but nothing too concrete. The infantry rules seem to finally be about done so it's nice to be making progress with the rules.

At some point I want to re-visit my 10mm Sudan project as well. I need far more Mahdists. And another brigade of Imperial Troops wouldn't hurt. Still not too sure about rules. Black Powder is the main contender, though the new set A Good Dusting by David Bickley seem rather intriguing.

So what are you working on, dear reader?

Post-script: I forgot to mention in my last post where I got the inspiration for the red and grey paint scheme. So, credit where credit is due! I got it from this fine blog: http://crowmag99-the15mm.blogspot.com/

GZG NSL Platoon

2011-02-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

Another batch of photos! This is my GZG NSL platoon, consisting of a mix of regular armoured infantry as well as two units of power armour. I thought I would do them in a rather striking red and grey colour scheme, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm thinking of using them as a Russian faction. Or maybe Japanese. Armour for them is currently on it's way in the mail from Old Old Crow...

The first two pics are from their first game (as well as the bugs' first time on the table) and I'm sorry to say our brave red lads were beaten! Only a single fireteam managed to escape the horrid beasts. The remaining pics were set-up just for photographing.

10mm Sudan Close-Ups

2011-02-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some close up pictures of some of my Pendraken 10mm Sudan collection.

I must say, I was rather disheartened by the fact that seeing them this close really highlights all the imperfections in my painting!

Khurasan Aliens

2011-02-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

Well it's been far too long since the last post. I've gotten lots of new stuff painted and work on my sci-fi rules is progressing nicely. Tonight after (and during) a test game I took a load of pictures.

First up is Khurasan's excellent 15mm Aliens. These are really lovely minis.

How I painted them was as follows:
1. Black undercoat
2. Light spray of Testors metallic blue spraypaint
3. Dip
4. Very light drybrush of silver/blue mix
5. Dullcote

I'm quite pleased with the results.

Still need to paint the King and Queen...

Still alive...

2010-09-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been awhile since the last post, and for that I apologize. I was away for several weeks, and have also just been distracted by various other things. I have painted all the 10mm Sudan units I currently own, except for the pack camels. Pics to be posted within the next week or so (hopefully!). More minis will need to be ordered to complete the forces. I have also painted 16 of GZG's excellent 15mm Alien Mercenaries. Once again, pics soon.

While in England I picked up a copy of Black Powder. I must say it's a beautiful book, and the system seems quite elegant. I think I may have finally found a set of rules for my Sudan minis!

I've been tempted by a number of new periods lately. War of 1812 is something I have wanted to do for years, and I find myself again temped. Knuckleduster is bringing out new 28mm minis for the period, though I don't know if I would do it in 28mm for cost and space reasons. Though 54mm plastics might be fun...

Getting to visit the site of the Battle of Hastings certainly got me wanting to start putting together Saxon and Norman armies. But again, the issue of scale. I seem to remember hearing that Gripping Beast will be bringing out plastic Saxons. Maybe Normans will follow?

A couple nights ago I saw a one man play of the Seven Samurai. It was hugely entertaining and re-awakened my interest in the period. Bought and watched Kurosawa's Ran today which further got the gaming juices flowing. I've since been browsing different ranges online. The Baccus 6mm range is quite tempting, though I have never painted anything in that scale. It can't be too different from painting 10mm, can it? We also already own a large number of 1/72 Zvezda plastic Samurai and Mongols. And some 28mm Perry Minis. And 28mm Clan Wars. Hmm.

I haven't worked much on my sci-fi rules lately, but I've had a few new ideas which I hope to tryout soon.

To finish up this post, here is a picture of Arundel Castle I took last month...

15mm Colonial Marine Platoon

2010-07-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

I finally got round to taking some pictures of my 15mm colonial marines platoon. The figures are GZG NAC troops, mounted on pennies. For the paint scheme I used the excellent tutorial from the Dawn of the Lead site. it can be found here: http://dawnofthelead.com/2010/05/24/very-tough-hombres-a-colonial-marine-painting-tutorial/

I am pretty happy with how they turned out, though I did have an issue with the dullcote. I don't know why exactly (bottom of the can, too old, not shaken enough?), but the dullcote left white residue in some of the recesses on the figures. It's not that noticeable, but still quite annoying to me. I've never had this happen to me before, so if anyone can shed some light on the matter it would be greatly appreciated.

These troops have seen a few battles now, mainly while I was visiting my buddy in Vancouver a few weeks ago. We had a few test games of the latest version of my skirmish rules. My marines got slaughtered both games (isn't that always the case with newly painted minis?). But on the bright side I am now (almost) totally happy with the infantry rules. I think maybe a few minor tweeks, but it seems to work quite well. Vehicle rules are the next big thing to tackle...

Anyway, here are the pictures. Feedback and suggestions on my painting is greatly appreciated.

New stuff!

2010-05-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I have painting and modeling up a storm! I have painted 2 more units of British, a few stands of Mahdists, and made a village and several pieces of rocky terrain for the 10mm Sudan stuff. For my 15mm stuff I made 2 ruined buildings and painted 5 resin buildings from JR Miniatures.

The Sudan village didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but it will do for now. I made the buildings out of cereal box card, folded into shape, glued together then applied a thin coating of paper mache mix. The flash on the camera shows the unpainted insides of the buildings, but in normal lighting you can't see inside them.

The ruined buildings were made from foamboard, then I covered them in a sort of paper mache mush, and threw on some rocks and sand to taste. I am pretty pleased with the results.

The rocky outcroppings are not pictured because I am not very happy with them. They look decent enough, but the card bases warped quite a lot from the paper mache and subsequent painting. I am going to re-make them in the future, with use for the bases (as I should have done in the first place).

Currently working on another ruined building, a unit of naval brigade for the Sudan, and a platoon of 15mm sci-fi troops from GZG. Production will come to a brief halt, as I will be away for a week to Maryland Deathfest, then visiting a gaming buddy in Vancouver.

Anyway, here are the pics. Yes, I know, I really need better backdrops for my pictures, and I need to work on lighting, focusing etc. Feedback on the minis and terrain is appreciated.

My First 10mm Sudan Unit

2010-05-02T10:21:00.001-07:00

I've finished my first unit of 10mm British infantry for the Sudan, so here are some pics! These are the first minis I've painted in a about a year, and my first time ever painting in this scale. I used quite a simple and fast painting method:

1. Block paint all the colours
2. Wash of Minwax Polyshades Tudor Satin Polyurethane Stain
3. Base the minis, sand and paint bases
4. Spray with Testors Dullcoat

They won't win any awards, but I am pretty pleased with how they have turned out.

Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest. I'll have to practice a bit more with taking pics of minis.

The blog is back!

2010-05-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

After accidentally deleting my old blog a few years ago, I never bothered starting a new one. I lost interest in gaming for the last couple years, but in recent months the fire has been re-kindled. I have started on an entirely new project: Sudan in 10mm. I've ordered a bunch of figures from Pendraken Miniatures and painting is under way. Pictures of the first unit will be up soon. Rules will be home brewed. I've got some loose ideas right now, but need to work on them some more.

I'm also working on a 15mm sci-fi game, which will eventually be put out under the Tea Time Games name. More info on this to follow...