Sci Fi Week

Last week I spent most of the week visiting the kids.  A (who's now 9, 10 in a little over a month) called me a month or so ago and asked me if I had any sci fi figs.  I rattled off what I had painted and raw lead and asked him why.  He told me about a video he had watched on YouTube by a Warhammer gamer about making your own buildings.  He was stoked and proceeded to cut up some a plastic bottle and glue a straw and bottle cap to it to make a storage tank.  Well, he never got around to making the building out of foam-core board, but I showed him an even easier way to 15mm sci fi buildings - spray painting some plastic electrical boxes.  We got a piece of tan foam-core board and lightly over-sprayed it with green spots.  We got some fake aquarium plants at Walmart and had an instant game board.  I painted up some Rebel Minis Earth Force figures and brought them with, along with some Scourge and some Khurasan Huntarrs, for us to play around with.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of the Scourge.  We got in three games.  He beat me each time.  The first game was very close, but when he understood the concept of creating rules, he just couldn't stop! 



Initially, the rules were very simple.  Turn order was Move, Conduct lightning strikes, Shoot.  Figures could move 6", 3" if climbing on the "mountain" or moving through/up/down inside buildings.  Range to shoot was 12" and you had to roll 8+ to hit, with a -2 if the target was in cover, and a +1 at less than 3" range.  All shooting was simultaneous.  Figures were figured to be in cover if they were partially behind something from the shooter's perspective.  Initially, I didn't intend for figures to be able to shoot multiple times, but it quickly devolved to that, with no additional modifiers. 

So, yes, this planet has a problem with electrical storms.  On a 5+, lightning struck the board.  We divided the board up into 36 equal areas, each 3-1/3" high by 5" wide (the board was 6 areas wide by 6 areas high - roll a die for each axis to determine which area was struck).  If a figure was in an area struck by lightning, it rolled for a hit, just like shooting.  On an 8+ it was dead.  The nails sitting on the board are lightning rods.  If the figure was within 2" of the longer nails or 1" of the shorter screws when lightning struck the area, the figure was safe.  (The lightning strikes were A's idea, needless to say!)  We didn't have any figures die from lightning strikes, but there were a few close calls where it struck an area adjacent to the figures or struck an area where figures were near a lightning rod. 

We had a lot of fun shooting each other up and moving figures around on the board.  With eight figures a side, games were short and bloody. 

The upended figure at left is dead from opposing fire.

A private and corporal (from left) rounding a building.

Enemies square off on a roof top.

A Huntarr (you know what this really is).  We used them in a

game but the rules we used didn't work too well.  The boy

wanted two hits to kill the good guys and three to kill

the Huntar, but the Huntarr had to be visible to attack or

 shoot, and could only shoot 6".  He died faster than he

could kill his opponents.

A pair of soldiers looking for the Huntarr and sticking close

to a lightning rod, just in case.

The mastermind himself, along with one of

the board set-ups we used. 

 

 

We had a grand time, but I have to paint up some new figures now as I left the ones I painted with him to play around with.  We also got in a game of Settlers with sister J.  I won that one.  And we played our first game of Flash Point, a cooperative fire fighting/victim rescuing game.  We used the basic rules to get a feeling for the game, and it was close.  J was pretty lucky for most of the game and there wasn't much fire on her edge of the board.  A and I kept running into more and more fire and at the end of the game, most of the house was on fire with the exception of J's corner where it was still mostly under control.  We did lose three victims, though, so getting the seventh out safely was a necessity.  Fortunately, nothing bad happened and we were able to rescue her.  A and I also watched The Empire Strikes Back.  All in all we had a great time.  Next week, J comes to stay with me for three weeks.  Wondering what we'll get into then!



An American Rout

We played the Battle of Hubbardton last night using the 1776 rules.  They are an old set, but we like the feel of them.  I've had the figs for this for a LONG time but we just got around to playing it finally.  Doug and I were the Americans, while Perry and Steve were the British.  The British entered down the military road from Ticonderoga with the light infantry in the van to find the American picket blocking the saddle.



The main body of the Americans, holding the fence in the field. Unlike the real battle, the fight never got to the field in our game.

 

The full British force marching through the saddle after pushing the picket back.  The light infantry are deployed for skirmishing in the lead

 

 

The supporting companies move up to block the British advance, but are chewed up by the British machine in turn!  Here, the light infantry have turned off into the woods and formed a skirmish line (the end of their line is at top center of the picture, just above the grenadiers), while the grenadiers are formed to attack against the scattered Americans.

 

Here is the light infantry moving through the undergrowth with the formed grenadiers in the background.  In the foreground, the Indians are giving the American militia fits with their fast movement through the woods.

2nd New Hampshire managed to gather its scattered forces and line up to hold the brook. 

The light infantry moving down the hillside clearing the woods and pursuing the militia.  A couple of supporting companies were able to harry the light infantry's flank and killed a couple of figures, but the formed battalions of light infantry and grenadiers were pretty much unstoppable.

Three of the American companies routing or retreating away from the grenadiers.  The Hessians haven't deployed yet - they are on the road behind the grenadiers.  The light infantry can be seen in the distance heading down the hill after the militia.

 

 

Steve and Perry masterfully handled the British and Hessians.  Here the British are just about fully in line: from top left, the light infantry, the Corps of Marksmen, the grenadiers with Simon Fraser and Peters' Corps right behind them, then come the Hessians with the jaegers at the brook, while the Hessian grenadiers and light infantry have crossed to pursue the retreating Americans, along with a detachment of the 24th Foot.  The 2nd New Hampshire is lined up to receive them. 

 

3rd New Hampshire is racing along behind the 2nd to try to hold its flank.  I didn't expect the light infantry to be on me so quickly and should have reinforced much sooner.  I could have wheeled the 2nd back, but it would have taken time and I would have been facing the full weight of both the light infantry and the grenadiers.  It's my own fault for waiting so long to reinforce the line.

At this point we called the game.  Doug had to go and it was getting late.  It might have been different if I had moved up another regiment or two from the fence.  I think the picket and the supporting companies should have fallen back faster, rather than trying to stand toe-to-toe and giving ground slowly - basically, it might have worked if they had led the British into the field.  At any rate, it was a fun - if frustrating - game.  There were few casualties for the number of shots fired.  The vast majority of them were low percentage shots because of being in the woods and most of the units were in skirmish order.  Perry was in unusually fine form, however, single-handedly doing the most damage with a (for him) rare performance of dice handling.  He killed several figures and at one point the Americans had three units in rout, although at the end, two of them began to improve their morale.  All in all, though, a good time.  Unfortunately, at this point, I have to paint more figures to do any more Rev War battles. 

The HMPS in Norway

Had a small battle with an unusual force three or four weeks ago.  Here's the set-up:

Two HMPS trawlers (His Majesty's Patrol Service - made up of fishing trawlers converted for M/S and A/S work) are anchored on opposite sides of a narrow inlet in a fjord, when they are surprised by a Ju-52 fly across the inlet - almost directly on the line between the two trawlers.  In the few seconds they have, they open fire with their Lewis guns and are quite surprised to see the Ju-52 begin to smoke as it clears the second mountain range and disappears from sight.  They think nothing more of this, aside from gloating that it was their fire that hit the plane, but a short time later, a Norwegian fishing trawler sails up, hails the boats and announces that they saw a German transport crash and asks if the Brits would you like to investigate the wreckage.  The HMPS sends six armed men (five with rifles and one with a Lewis gun) from each trawler, all under the command of a lieutenant, on the Norwegian boat and it takes them to the site of the crash (on an island in the fjord), where they hope to capture the pilots, if they survived.  It chugs up to the shoreline near the plane, which, aside from having skidded some distance on its belly, appears to be amazingly intact. 

As they begin to disembark, all seems eerily quiet around the plane and they are disappointed, believing that the pilots must have died in the crash.  (This was a real event - described as closely as I can recall it.)

As the HMPS men get halfway up the beach, they see German heads disappearing from sight over the crest above them and begin firing. 

The Germans return fire with gusto and the British sailors, stalwart though they are, find themselves stonewalled, and eventually, they begin to get Out of the Fight results at an alarming rate as the firepower of the MG34 begins to tell.

As it is the British are outnumbered 3 to 2, but since the Germans completely misread the situation and set up two-thirds of their force on the plateau above, and only one-third on the crest, it looked like the sailors might have a chance.  Unfortunately, in the end, the British are almost wiped out to a man advancing towards the crest and trying to take down the German half-squad that they can see, while the Germans only lose most of the men on the crest.  The Germans had two more half-squads, plus the three aircrew (one of whom was wounded) from the Ju.

That's pretty much what happened in the real battle as well.  All of the sailors were captured or killed, except for two who jumped back onto the Norwegian trawler as it pulled away from the shore just after the fighting started.

In the pictures above, you might notice a couple of Germans in light brown coveralls - those are Peter Pig German aircrew.  The British Lieutenant, highlighted in the picture below the trawler, is a repurposed Peter Pig U-Boat officer.  The HMPS sailors are Eureka Early War US Marines.  I cut the American canteens off their heinies, but otherwise painted them up as is and they worked wonderfully as sailors in civilian clothes (the 'uniform' of the HMPS) and enough kit to get themselves in trouble with.  The Tante Ju is from Armaments in Miniature and the trawler is an HO scale resin model. 

A Hornisse in their Midst

A couple of weeks ago we played our first all out NUTS! game, based on a real situation that took place in Russia around 1943.  Three Hornets were helping defend a small village against Russian counterattacks.  If I remember correctly, the village had changed hands a couple of times and they had been fighting over it for a few days.  At the point where the Russians were finally going to overwhelm the German defenders, two of the Hornets pulled back, the third having been disabled.  They had knocked out several T-34s amongst the attackers.  Concerned that the Russians might be able to fix the Hornet, or have another one that they could use to cobble together one functional vehicle, the crew volunteered to sneak back into the village that night with satchel charges and completely put the Hornet out of action.  With a covering force of a squad of grenadiers, they snuck in and blew up the Hornet, while the covering force had been discovered and got involved in a firefight with the Russians. 

The village included half a dozen buildings and two knocked out T-34s. 

The Russians only knew to expect a counterattack so set up in a 360 defense around the village.  Just by chance, they set up a full squad in the yard where the German objective was located.

The Russian HMG was located in the back of a smashed church on the opposite side of the village.  It ended up not playing a role as the Russians didn't know what to expect and kept it in place even after the attack started expecting an additional attack from another direction.

Half of a Russian squad set up in a demolished building.

The Russians in the other half of the demolished building.

The Germans made a direct assault with one MG section and the Hornet crew against the wall. Most of the game was trading shots back and forth across the wall (see below).  They shot at each other without hitting anything for a long time.  Then the Russians got the idea to prep grenades.  The Germans beat them to it and one grenade cleared the wall. 

 That solved most of the Germans problem.  The Russian in the Hornet pulled a grenade but was shot before he could throw it, dropped it in his death throes and rolled a 2, destroying the Hornet in the resulting detonation of the vehicles ammo.  Game over.  Since the Germans then retreated, both sides accomlished victory conditions of sorts.  It was a fun game and we'll definitely be doing NUTS! again. 

Painting, Part I

I finished up the truck and 20mm AA guns.  This will be pretty easy since Perry wants them in early war gray.  First, I prime them with whatever's handy.  I used to mostly use Testor's gray primer, but it's hard to cover with some colors.  I can't tell you how many coats of white I had to put on to cover my AWI figures.  Flesh tends to be a problem with the gray primer as well.  I was out of Krylon flat black, which I also use to some extent, especially with aircraft and microarmor, but I had some Rustoleum brown so I used that.

Then I gave everything a good solid basecoat of Vallejo German Grey.

Even so, I find as I paint along that I often have to touch up spots I missed with the base color as I go.  After the base coat, I add some white to the German Grey and drybrush the equipment to lighten up the color and highlight the details on the model.  Couldn't get a good picture of this so we'll just move on.  I think you can see it to some extent in the last picture.

Since Perry likes the 'lived in' look that I give my vehicles, I dabbed some Vallejo Green Ochre in the wheel wells to look like dried, caked on mud.

I then painted the tires on the truck and the AA gun trailers Vallejo Black Grey, and the guns themselves Gunmetal Grey.

 

I then dabbed some Green Ochre on the wheels and chassis to simulate splatter.

Finally, I picked out the details on the truck, such as the seats, the driver, the tarps, Jerry can, and other stowage in various appropriate colors.  When finished, I sprayed them with a matte fixative.  I think I used Grumbacher Matte for artists, which seems to work pretty well.  I've used Krylon's clear matte and Testor's also.  The Testor's tends to be a little finicky.  I haven't had too much trouble, but I did have a batch of ACW I was painting for on commission turn white on me and I pretty much had to start over.  That was frustrating as all get out.

Next, I'll finish up the Sdkfz. 7/1 in the same way.  Perry and I tentatively talked about crews for the AA guns, as well, so I might have a Painting, Part III, showing how I do the figures. 

Models built...

Yesterday I started a small commission job for a friend of mine.  I had really envisioned the blog as just a place to put games played or items of interest, and I've been tempted to put up pics of minis I've painted, but just focused on the games.  But he asked if I could do a step-by-step of the models I'm doing for him so he could get an idea of how I do it since he has a pile of miniatures, but is pretty much a beginner when it comes to assembling and painting.  I'm going to do this as a two part series so we'll start with cleaning and assembling in this post, then do the painting in the next post.

He brought me a Krupp 4 x 2 Boxer, a package of 3 Flak 30 20mm AA guns, and an Sdkfz 7/1 - that's the real flashy one with the fold down sides and the quad 20 on the back (the Flak 38).  These were all by Quality Castings/Battle Honors sold by Old Glory 15s.  The Krupp and the 7/1 went together surprisingly easy (still working on the quad 20 for the 7/1).  The Flak 30s took me a little bit of time because there were no instructions (such as Old Glory 15s instructions are) and I had to study some on-line photos to make sure I had a handle on how to assemble them.  There were three Flak in the box and we decided to do one in travel position and two in firing position. 

First, we need a work area.  My work area is the last foot or so of the dining room table.  My computer and job search stuff occupies the adjacent one foot edge so it's handy for when I get frustrated and need a break. 



Second, we need our tools.  I have a couple of sets of hobby files, though the best ones I've found are the Xacto set.  I just can't afford it at the moment.  I also have a flush nipper, three different pairs of tweezers, single edged razor blades, a craft knife, superglue of one brand or another, toothpicks and miscellaneous other items. 



With this, we can get a start on cleaning and assembling the models.  First thing I do is use an appropriate file to clean flash and molding lines off the models as much as I can.  Sometimes you really have to look and poke and prod, because some of the stuff that needs to come off can look like it belongs there - until you start to paint it and you suddenly realize that you should have filed this or that bit off - and some of it can look like it should come off when it doesn't.  I always like to check out photos of the real thing so I have an idea of what belongs on the model and what doesn't.  I also try to fit the pieces together to see how well they go together and to see if I know where they go as well.

EDIT:  From a comment left for me on TMP, I should add here that after cleaning up the parts, you should check the fit of the parts to make sure they go together properly.  Sometimes you have to file a piece down a bit to fit properly.  Thanks for the suggestion, Marcus!

Here are the truck and AA guns cleaned and ready for assembly. 





I put the wheels on the undercarriage first (as can be seen above).  Turned out to be a mistake as the one wheel was too far to the inside for the cab to fit over it.  I actually had to break the wheel off (Shhhhh!  Don't tell Perry!) then glue it back on once the cab was in place.  The gun barrels went on the frames pretty easily.  One I glued all the way down for the travel position, the others, I tried to point skywards at various elevations within the limitations of the molding.  They don't look too bad and you get the idea that they are shooting upwards.

I didn't glue the guns down to the ground mount for the two in firing position, but I did glue down the one that goes on the trailer, but first I glued the ground mount to the trailer because it actually goes under the trailer.  After the glue dried, then I glued the mechanism to the ground mount.  With that the AA guns are actually done since on two of them there was only one thing to glue.

The cab and truck back went on pretty easily. They just glue down to the chassis. There is a slot in them that fits the chassis fairly well. 



After the cab and back were secure, I glued in the driver and the windshield and the Krupp was done.



Next we assemble the 7/1.  First thing is to clean the pieces. 



Then we assemble the halftrack body and the the gun platform. 



Once the two separate pieces are dried, I glued the platform to the back of the halftrack. 



Finally we add the details to the halftrack and assemble the gun.

Glue the two gun halves around the center console.  I keep trying to glue this so that the guns can elevate, but so far, I've been too heavy handed with the glue and always glue the guns to the console.

Then we glue the gun assembly to the floor plate.

Next, we add the gun shields and the ammo handlers' seats.









Voila!  We're done with assembly.  Next time we'll work on painting the models.

Ban the Man vs. The Duc, Duc, Duc

Played a game of the skirmish at Gloucester Point using 1776 on Saturday evening.  In this action, Tarleton and his men have been out foraging and as they're returning to the encampment, they are set upon by the Duc de Lauzun and his men.  The goal for the British is to get the wagons off the board.  The goal for the Allies is, of course, to stop them.  The sides are pretty much even - both have 12 figures of cavalry, and about 24 figures of infantry, give or take.  At start, Tarleton is set up in a field to the west of the road, and he has the 17th foot and some of the Queen's Rangers infantry in a wood to the east of the road.  The British also have a battery of 9-pdrs in a small redoubt about 1/2 or 2/3 of the way across the board.  The wagons enter on turn one, followed by the Duc on turn 2, then the Legion Etranger infantry and some Virginia militia on turn 3.  The British infantry shifted laterally towards the road on this turn while waiting for the bigger action.

On Turn 2, the cavalry squared off letting the wagons gain some ground up the road and the British infantry in the woodline shifted towards the road again.  Trading shots, the French cavalry took two casualties to one for the British.

Here you see the British infantry in the woodline, the

wagons on the road, and Lauzun's Legion facing the

British Legion in the distance.

The Queen's Rangers riflemen watching the wagons pass.

The cavalry lines, just before the charge. 

On Turn 3, the both cavalry declared charges, but the pre-charge morale test resulted in the French Halting for 1 turn, while the British Legion charged.  The American infantry entered and exchanged shots with the Queen's Rangers riflemen to no avail - no damage on either side.  When the charge melee was resolved, however, Lauzun lost and routed.  Unfortunately, again, since they were so close to the board edge that they routed right off the board.  Since the infantry had no hope of catching the wagons, it was game over in the British favor.  I just realized that I miscalculated the melee numbers for the British - I based their numbers on 12 figures, but they only had 11.  I don't think it would have mattered though, as they rolled low enough to beat the required roll.  I once again forgot my camera so thanks to Perry for the pics!  Over time he's become our de facto game group photographer.

All of these figures are Essex, and they don't make some of the specialty figures needed for this battle.  All of the French are Revolutionary Era figures.  The British Legion are Napoleonic Era dragoons, with the chest cordage filed off - you can still see the stand up collar and waist sash, though.  The Queen's Rangers are actually modified American light infantry.  I cut off the bayonets, filed off the cap brim and glued bits of string to the hats for the decoration.  If I'd had photos from the battle at Spencer's Tavern a couple of weeks ago, you would have seen the Queen's Rangers in all their glory.  With all the good lines of AWI in 15mm available now, I guess it's time to start replacing my old Essex with newer, nicer figures.  Maybe a unit at a time or so...

Went to Cold Wars last week.  Lots 'o' fun.  Spent most of the day in the flea markets and the dealer hall.  Picked up three sets of rules and five or six books for about $20.  I call that a stellar day!  Unfortunately, the game we really wanted to play - Pirate Raid on a Spanish Convoy, by Rick Stakes, was cancelled due to lack of participation.  He wanted twelve players, needed six at least and we three were the only ones to show up.  It looked like a blast and we spent a good half hour or 45 minutes talking to Rick anyway.  He hand builds all of his sailing ships.  They are beautiful, though comparatively simple since they are for gaming rather than display and he uses his own rules, which are also elegantly simple but very well done.   (We heard a LOT of games were cancelled due to a lack of participation.  Seemed to us attendance was way down.  It was not crowded at all.  No doubt, HMGS will be raving about another record turn-out in no time, though.)  We ended up in a game that sounded good on paper, but turned out to be rather mediocre at best.  CAUTION: **RANT AHEAD** 

In the PEL the game was billed as a historical battle, but when we got to the table it wasn't: the forces had no resemblance to the actual battle at all and the terrain only resembled the actual battle in the vaguest Picaso-esque way.  OK.  Once I adjusted to that, the rules were computer moderated.  Now, I've always been rather dubious of computer moderated rules, but now - having played them - there was nothing that I saw that would interest me in purchasing, or even playing, them again.  I might try a different set, but certainly not this one.  EVERYTHING in it seemed to be random - and I don't just mean combat results or morale tests - I mean EVERYTHING!  At the end of the game, looking at the disposition of forces, it looked very much like the enemy had won.  According to the computer, though, we won.  Things happened in the game that we couldn't make heads or tails of, and we're fairly well read in this period of history - in fact, this particular period was my major area of study in grad school.  The computer and GM had units doing things that would NOT have happened in this war let alone in this battle.  Oh, well.  After another bad experience a few years ago, I swore I'd be more careful in picking games.  We should have joined Patrick Hreachmark's shoot-out on the riverboat.  Patrick is another outstanding GM - never had a bad game with him.  I'm sure that would have been a blast!