Kelroy Was Here

51. I Want My Mummy

2012-01-01T20:48:00.006-06:00

It was time for a change of pace. Although, technically, the action still takes place in the same desert as my last battle report, but any way....

These figures are from the Blue Moon Manufacturing line called "Things That Go Bump in the Night." This is Box 4: "I Just Don't Feel My Age - A Mummy Scenario." They also have vampires, werewolves, and Frankenstein's monster, among other favorites.

They are very nice sculpts, and very clean castings, too. It took me a long time to paint them because I was away from my painting table for long periods of time (days at a stretch). The actual total painting time for all these figures was around 16 hours, but that was spread over around two months. Interestingly, the bases are part of the casting; each is one single figure.

They have a slight shine to them due to me using a can of spray I won't use ever again. I've hit them twice with a matte dullcoat, but the shine is still there, although it is diminished somewhat. Sometimes, though, you just have to move on. If I spray them any further, they'll all be two inches thick with matte-y fuzzy over coats!

In this particular case, the matte spray I used (for the first time, I should add) turned out to have a "satin" sheen to it, and the matte spray I bought to replace it just can't quite seem to cover it up. Drat it all!

My usual technique after painting is completed is to use spray gloss to protect the miniature, then after that dries to use a matte spray to take away the gloss. Gloss tends to protect longer from chipping or dropping damage than matte alone, but I prefer the matte look. I then go back and touch up the parts that ought to be shiny with a brush-on liquid gloss (gun barrels, shovels, etc).

I also think spraying too much of either magnifies the highlights and reduces the painted shadows, which lessens the beauty of the paintjob. They looked much less stark before the spraying; the blending was better, if I do say so myself.

So that can of so-called matte spray goes in the trash. The gloss is close behind it.

At any rate, the box comes with a one-page (front and back) set of quick start rules for the Goal System series of rules available from Old Glory/Blue Moon. This is a very basic introductory set of rules (my box didn't include the sheet, which is just a mistake as another box I bought does include it; but it is a free download from the Blue Moon website). It doesn't have stats for every single figure in the box, and quite frankly I'm a bit confused as to which figure is which per the stats they do give, but overall it's easy enough to make work.

The Villians and the Hired Help.

A rear view.

Our Heroes and Heroines.

A rear view.

I felt the sculpting was quite good on these figures. The look of terror is very evident on this guy!

Of the two on the left, one is "Mahsoud, Evil Egyptian Priest" and the other is "Hassan, the Priest’s Bodyguard" but danged if I can tell who is who! The others are two of the "Arab Diggers."

The girl is probably the "Scholarly Treasure Hunter" because she's listed as a 'she,' plus she's got a Book Written in Blood! The man is the "Expert Treasure Hunter" because his stats give him a rifle.

Fire is probably the best weapon against Mummies, in my opinion.

The sarcophagus actually has the detail you see painted here, inscribed on it. I told you these were fine castings! The man is the "Aristocratic Treasure Hunter" because his stats give him a shotgun and he's the only figure with a shotgun.

A close-up view of the contents of the sack: priceless scrolls and gold!

They were a real pleasure to paint up, and I look forward to my next box: The Headless Horseman!

Until next time, thanks for looking, and have a Happy New Year!

50! Death in the Desert, finale (Part 2)

2011-12-26T17:50:00.000-06:00

(A full review of the Pith Helmet 2 rules can be found at a previous post here. There is also a download link on that page if you want a copy of them for yourself.)

The posts leading up to this one can be found here and here.

As Turn 12 begins, the tactical situation is as follows. The Arab forces have been almost completely wiped out as a viable fighting force. However, the French side is not home free, as there is still one full-strength Arab unit blocking the way off the table. If this unit is able to get into contact with the Professor and his native bearers, the French could lose the game.

So, we begin:

Turn 12:

Action Points: FFL, 3. Tir.Alg., 2. Professor, 4.

Spears, 3.

Professor Trouver drew a Queen for first activation, and the ability to use one Action Point. However, seeing as how his precious artifacts may have been damaged, and that pesky Arab force is between him and his escape, he decided to pass his turn.

Next, those self-same Arab Spears activated, with the ability to spend all of their AP (3, this turn). My problem, as the Arab player was complex. I wanted to get into contact with the Professor's group, but I didn't want to risk moving through the intervening Rough Terrain. I also didn't want to move around the right flank as this would put me squarely in the sights of the Legionnaires. My only option was to move around the left flank, towards the Tirailleur Algériens, hopefully forcing them to run far enough away to let me get to the native porters.

Accordingly, I advanced the Spears 9" in Mass formation around the left flank. Per the rules, I stopped at 10" from the Tirailleurs, forcing a Reaction check by them. This could work well for the Arabs, as the Tirailleurs had fewer APs than the Spears did.

Turn 12: "Who's got the fewer number of guns to shoot us? O.K., we'll head left."

The Tirailleurs rolled versus their Coolness of 75, needing equal to or less than that number. The d100 roll = 01! That's pretty darn cool. It's damn chilly. In fact, I think there was a little frost on the sand dunes just then. The Tirailleurs fired in reply to the suddenly-appearing Spears. However, only 6 men could actually see the Arabs due to the terrain, so their overall effectiveness would likely suffer.

Peek-a-boo! I see you!

With a Probability of Hit (POH) = 60 (after all modifiers), I needed that or lower to inflict damage. The d100 roll = 66. Miss!

As I mentioned in the previous write-up, merely being shot at necessitates a Reaction check, so accordingly the Spears rolled versus their own Coolness of 75. Their d100 = 11. Pretty darn cool, too. They would fire in return. However, only 1 pistol and 2 rifles had Line of Sight (LOS) to any Tirailleurs, so their own firing would likely suffer as well. Their POH = 20. Not a lot. The d100 roll = 53. Big miss.

Again, the Tirailleurs React. C = 75. d100 = 08. Very cool. The whole desert is turning into an arctic zone. Talk about climate change! What global warming?! They fired in return. POH = 60. d100 = 85. Another miss. (Both sides seem to be very Cool under fire, but terrible shots!) They now have zero AP.

And finally, the Spears are forced to spend their last AP in Reaction. C = 75. d100 = 76(!). So close, missed by one! Not only do they fail their Coolness, but since it's an even number they must Retreat 2d10" = 4", Shaken, and lose 1 extra AP (if they had any; they are now at zero anyhow).

"Run away! Run away!" The Spears Retreat.

Hmm. Well, that didn't go anywhere close to according to plan. The Arabs were successful in draining the Tirailleurs of the Action Points, but lost all of their own as well, and ended up retreating instead of driving away their enemy. What's the old saying about battle plans not surviving contact with the enemy? If the Spears had only passed their last Coolness check and fired, then the Tirailleurs might have been Shaken, which next turn could have been of benefit. But, alas, t'was not to be.

When figures Retreat I face them away from the enemy; when they Fall Back, I leave them facing the original direction.

With that little exercise in futility out of the way, I turned to the French side. They could used half of their units, for all of their AP. Since the Tirailleurs had used up their AP already, this greatly simplified my choice of what to do. I would activate the Legion! (Am I a great general, or what?)

It was time to get the Legionnaires into a better position, quickly, in order to take advantage of the Arabs' situation. The Lt. had his men reform into an Open formation and advance 9", which brought them into a better view of the Spears. They then fired from 14" away.

It's time to get some use out of these guys. Re-form into Open formation, please.

While the Legion has LOS to the Arabs, they really needed to get closer in order to capitalize on the Arabs' bad luck.

The Legion has advanced 9".

"Legionnaires, ready, aim, fire!"

Three men technically did not have LOS to the Spears so the total number firing was reduced by that amount. The end result was that their firing caused one casualty. Yes, one.

The Spears, being already Shaken and out of AP, did not React and spent no more AP.

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase, I drew cards for the one guy from the Spears in the Rally Zone. He returned, safe and sound. For the Spears' Morale check, necessary because as a unit they were Shaken, their M = 75. Their d100 = 54. They returned to Normal.

Great job, Legion, taking advantage of the Spears' bad luck. Really, really great job.

Turn 13:

Action Points: FFL, 4. Tir.Alg., 2. Professor, 4.

Spears, 4.

The Spears drew first activation. The Arabs still had hopes of driving off...somebody...with the 1 AP they were going to spend. Stuck out in the open, with only 1 AP to use, they did what any self-respecting Arab Spearmen would do: they advanced towards the Legionnaires, once again hoping to force the issue. This time, both units involved had 4 AP.

The Spears moved less than 9", stopping at 10" from the Legion.

هجوم ("Attack!" in Arabic)

Turn 13: Another view of the tactical situation, so you can see all the relative parties.

The Legionnaires React. C = 90. d100 = 34. They fire! The whole unit has LOS. After modifiers and d100s, their shooting causes 4 casualties. That's more better!

This is going to hurt.

Funny how the ones at the back always die first....

The Spears React back. C = 55. d100 = 85. They fire at half their ability. Due to their maneuvering (ie, their running away) the individual figures had gotten moved around a bit, and when I tipped over the 4 casualties I purely and accidentally tipped over the two of the figures carrying rifles. Now, I generally play WYSIWYG, so their firepower was greatly reduced. That will teach me to pay more attention next time!

They look very intimidating.

"C'mon, men, they don't look that tough!"

In the end it didn't matter much: they needed 15 or less, they rolled 96, so they missed. They then fell back 1d10" = 2".

"I guess they weren't that tough after all."

The Legion then Reacted by not Reacting and spent no AP.

I felt the Legion needed to continue to push their initiative so they fired again. This is when the Spears' gamble to burn the Legion's AP failed. After d100s were rolled, the Legion caused 2 casualties, one of which was the Spears' "Officer" (one of the die rolls ended in '1'). Now when the Spears Reacted, they had to use their "NCO's" leadership value of 60 or less instead of their "Officer's" value of 75. They rolled 52. If the "Officer" were still there everything would be fine; unfortunately, this result forced them to Retreat 2d10" = 4", Shaken, and lose 1 extra AP (now at zero).

This is the only picture I took vertically. Isn't that interesting?

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase, I drew cards for the Spears: the "Officer" returned plus 2 others, but 4 died. As they were Shaken I rolled for their Morale check: M = 67, d100 = 49. They returned to Normal.

Turn 14:

Action Points: FFL, 3. Tir.Alg., 3. Professor, 3.

Spears, 3.

The Spears drew highest card and could spend 1 AP. Feeling that the Legionnaires were perhaps a trifle too tough, and still hoping to get at the soft chewy center of the Professor, the Spears advanced 9" in Mass formation towards the Tirailleurs, stopping as usual at 10".

Turn 14: Go left, go right, go left. Make up your mind!

(As I mentioned last post, this is before I realized the alternative tactic of charging from outside of rifle range. But really that would not help here: if the Spears didn't move somewhere they would be shot by the Legion; but with only being able to spend 1 AP there was not much the Spears could do; they would not be able to just sit there and wait for the Mêlée Phase. So once again I was hoping the Tirailleurs' Reaction would get them out of my way.)

The Tirailleurs Reacted (C = 75; d100 = 93) by firing at half strength. Only six figures had LOS, so their POH = 30; d100 = 17. 1 casualty. They then Fell Back 1d10" = 7".

Uh oh.

...and now the Porters are easily accessible. Thank you, once again, Tirailleurs!

"See, we just have to swing around that little sand dune and we win!"

However, the Spears now had to React to the Tirailleurs' fire. This was crucial. Falling back and/or Retreating now would be disastrous for the Arabs. Coolness = 75, d100 = 23 meant a result of Fire, but since I only had pistols that meant the enemy was out of range; so I was able to advance the Spears 1d10" = 6", which ironically put them 11" away, thereby not forcing a Reaction. Whew.

"Just a little closer. At least those mean and nasty Legionnaires can't see us to shoot us anymore."

However however, the Spears had now "shot their load," so to speak, and had used up their 1 AP. It was now the French side's turn.

The Lt. wisely had the Legion advance 2 AP's worth, or 18", in Open formation, behind the Spears, and stop at the 10" mark.

"You know, this long war might finally be over soon."

The rules state, "A unit must stop if it comes within 10” & LOS of the enemy." They further state that a Reaction occurs whenever "An Enemy Unit Moves to within 10 Inches of the Unit." Personally, and maybe this needs to be a House Rule for me, but how can a unit React to something behind it? It has no LOS. It's funny that the Active unit can continue moving to closer than 10" if it can't see the enemy (behind a wall, for example) but per the letter of the rules the enemy unit would React anyway. At any rate, depending on the Reaction, the Arabs might not be able to do anything as they would not have LOS to the Legion. I'll have to think on this some more. Any thoughts would be appreciated in the comments section.

So let's see what happened.

The Spears rolled for their Reaction: C = 75, d100 = 57. No Reaction, no AP spent. (See? All that worrying for nothing.)

Proof the Arabs don't have eyes in the back of their heads. Otherwise they'd be really worried right about now.

And not to forget him, but the Professor, finally realizing that the men send to protect him kept removing themselves from that position quite frequently, moved 9" away from the Spears. I don't know why I didn't have him move his full 3 AP.

"We're walking, we're walking, we're walking."

There was, finally, a Mêlée Phase. Astute readers may have noticed I held back one AP for the Legion; they didn't fire immediately after moving. I wanted to ram the point home--with a bayonet! I also decided that the Spears wanted to charge the only unit they could see, which was the Tirailleurs.

Which charge occurred first might well be the game-deciding factor. I drew cards to determing the order of charges. The Spears drew a 4 of clubs; the Legion drew an Ace of hearts.

More cool action shots.

The Legion would charge first.

"Fix...bayonets!"

They charged 9" + 1d10" = 15". Then the Spears Reacted to being charged. Their C = 75, their d100 = 17. The result was "fire, then stand and fight." As they were unable to fire at their attackers, what with being charged from the rear and all, the Legion crashed in with bayonets glinting! It didn't appear that the Spears would be charging after all....

This is going to be brutal and messy.

A right vicious bloodletting.

For the mêlée the Legion had a total bonus of +4 (+1 for bayonets, +3 for attacking from the rear [on the first turn only]). The Arabs had a total of +2 (+1 for having spears [on the first turn only], +1 for the Legion being in Open formation). This meant that after the first turn, both sides would be evenly matched in bonuses. Hmmm.

The first round, the Legion won 15 red to 12 red, but the Spears' "Officer" redrew. Too bad he only drew a 5. Three Spears went to the Rally Zone. The "Officer's" stick-his-neck-out roll indicated he was safe.

Round two: the Legion won 11 black to 3 black. Again, the Spears' "Officer" redrew, this time with an Ace black. Now the win would go to the Spears by 1, so one Legionnaire dropped out. However, even though the Spears won, the "Officer's" safety roll sent him to the Rally Zone! Now the Spears had only their "NCO."

Round three: the Spears won 9 black to 3 red. This meant 6 Legionnaires would drop out; the Lt. deemed this unacceptable so re-drew a 10 red, which gave him the win by 1 (to the Rally Zone). What's more, the Lt.'s safety roll was successful.

Round four: the Legion won Queen black (11) to 2 black. This would send 9 Spears to the Rally Zone; the "NCO" deemed this unacceptable so re-drew a 7 (8) black. Only three were sent to the R.Z., and the "NCO" was safe.

Round five: Tie! One from each side dropped out.

Round six: the Spears won 3 red to 2 black. One Legionnaire packed his things for the Rally Zone.

Round seven: the Spears won 10 black to 9 red. One Legionnaire dropped out.

Round eight: the Spears won again 9 red to 6 black. This was getting worrisome, so the Legion Cpl. re-drew a 4 red (becoming a 5). I hadn't wanted to risk the Lt. again, but since the Cpl. came up short, I felt I had to. The Lt. then re-drew with an 8 red (becoming a 9). The Spears still won, but only 1 Legionnaire went to the Rally Zone instead of 3. The Cpl.'s safety roll left him safe, but the Lt. was not so lucky and was sent to the Rally Zone! Talk about wasted effort.

Round nine: another Tie. One each dropped out.

Round ten: the Spears won with an Ace black to 3 black. Yikes. The Cpl. re-drew an 8 black (becoming a 9) so only three Legionnaires dropped out instead of eight. The Cpl.'s safety roll was successful.

Round eleven: believe it or not, despite all the losses the Legion had taken, they now outnumbered the Spears by 2:1, so gained a further +3. The Spears card draw was a 10 black (11) to 8 red (becoming 12), giving the Legion the win when they otherwise would have lost the round. One Spearman was sent to the Rally Zone.

Round twelve: the Spears won with a Jack red (11) to 3 red (7). The Cpl. re-drew a whopping 4 red (becoming an 8). Three Legionnaires were whisked off to the Rally Zone. The Cpl. was safe.

Round thirteen: lucky turn 13. It was a tie card draw, both Kings. However, the extra +3 gave the win to the Legion by 3 (red). The Spears' "NCO" attempted a last second save with a re-draw, but only managed a 2 red (becoming a 3). Three Spearmen, all that remained including the "NCO," went to the Rally Zone.

After all the dust had settled.

Not a lot of places for the Arabs to go....

The Foreign Legion won the mêlée! Eight men remained. The drop-outs from the Spears Retreated 3d10" = 17" in Open formation, Shaken. After 7" of movement this meant they were about to leave the table, giving them a last ditch Morale Check.

The Spears disappear into the horizon.

Their M = a dismal 25 (no leaders, as they were all in the Rally Zone, and I hadn't begun the Morale Phase yet to see if they would return); their d100 = 04! Still cool customers. They returned to Normal and remained on the table. However, attempting to retreat off the table is considered (according to prior personal consultation with the author of the rules, Don Bailey) being unable to Retreat, and what's more there was 10" of movement left when they encountered the table edge. This meant that 10 of the 5 figures were sent to the Rally Zone; in other words, all of them. (For more on not being able to retreat, see the last posting and the Rifles in the sand dunes....)

I now did begin the Morale Phase. For the Legion, the Lt. remained in the Rally Zone...again. This was getting to be a bad habit with him. As for the rest, 3 died and 2 returned.

The Spears were going to be a bit more complicated. I had drawn so many cards for the mêlée that I had to shuffle the deck in the middle of the Spears checking. Their "Officer" and "NCO" were not killed. But with the parent unit not present, the draw was different: 4 died, 2 were captured. The "NCO" and one other would return to any leader, but all the rest (6 including the "Officer") Routed and were removed from the game.

I could easily have declared victory there for the French forces, but since the "NCO" and one other figure would return to "any leader," I figured that leader could be the "NCO" himself!

So two figures returned/remained from the mighty Arab force.

"C'mon, we can't quit now. Victory is just around that sand dune!"

There were no Morale checks to make.

Turn 15:

Action Points: FFL, 4. Tir.Alg., 4. Professor, 4.

Spears, 2.

The Spears won the card draw and would be able to use all 2 of their AP. As the Arab player, I still might be able to squeak a partial win, if I could just kill a porter or the Professor. Accordingly, I advanced them in Open formation (yeah, right, like you can tell with only two guys) into the Rough Terrain 9" worth. Luckily they passed their R.T. roll. They stopped when they came into LOS of the Professor and his men (which actually put them at less than 10").

"Now, Abdul, we strike! Throw your mighty spear!"

Before the stalwart Arabs could attack, the Professor got to React. His C = 90, his d100 roll = 4. That's some serious coolness going on in the Professor. Once again, I figure he's simply concerned with protecting his valuables. He raised his trusty revolver and fired. As he was the only figure armed in his unit, calculations were simple. His POH = 30. d100 = 28. 1 casualty! Good shot, sir!

"Abdul, you did not throw your mighty spear quite fast enough."

The Spears, well, the one guy remaining, Reacted to having his fellow shot (C = 60, d100 = 10) by firing in reply! ("Yaaa, take that, infidel!") POH = 25, d100 = 58. Miss. ("Ah well, Abdul, we tried.") The Spears were now out of AP.

Professor Trouver Reacted again (C = 90, d100 = 60) by not Reacting. No AP were spent. He could tell that the lone remaining Arab was no threat.

However, the French commander (ie, me) was not convinced. The French could use half of their units (1) and spend 1 AP. Accordingly the Tirailleurs fired at the standing-on-top-of-the-sand-dune-silhouetted-against-the-sky Spearman. POH = 75, d100 = 36, causing 2 casualties (which is pretty good when there is only one target!).

"I think we got them this time."

The Spears could not React as they were all potentially dead.

Lastly, the Professor activated, able to spend all his AP. As he had 3 AP remaining, I moved his unit 3 AP worth or 27" towards the "exit" in Open formation. This very nearly took him off the table.

"We're walking, we're walking, we're running."

There was no mêlée.

For the Morale Phase I drew cards as usual for the Rally Zone occupants. Would the Spearmen return to harry the fleeing Professor, and drag out this game even longer? Or did the Tirailleurs' bullets strike true and kill the desert dogs?

For the Spears, since the parent unit was no longer present on-table, the NCO and the other Spearman were both captured.

For the Foreign Legion, the Lieutenant finally Returned safely. It's about time, sir.

"Hey, you guys in the sand dunes, consider yourselves captured."

49. Death in the Desert, finale (Part 1)

2011-12-14T16:06:00.000-06:00

(A full review of the Pith Helmet 2 rules can be found at a previous post here. There is also a download link on that page if you want a copy of them for yourself.)

Turn 5 continues:

You may recall from the previous post that I had to pause the game temporarily while Real Life ©®™ intervened. The famous French Foreign Legion had just received a bit of a setback by being forced to fall back from an Arab attack.

It was still the French side's turn, and the Legion had 2 Action Points remaining, but I chose to save them for the inevitable mêlée phase (inevitable since the Swords were within charge distance, and they had...swords).

Next in order of activation was the Professor and his porters. With a firm grip on his men's nerve, and disregarding the shabby performance of the Legionnaires, he calmly ushered his men back into the ruins that they had only so recently quitted. One AP's worth, in Open formation.

Turn 5 continued: Professor Trouver moves his Native bearers back behind the Legion, hoping the "stalwart" soldiers won't retreat again!

There are now three Arab units on the table, and their card draw allows them to activate up to half of their units and expend all available Action Points (APs). How to designate half of three? I rolled a 1d6; 1, 2, 3 = 1 unit; 4, 5, 6 = 2 units. I rolled a 3, meaning only one unit could activate, but it would be able to use all AP. I decided to do this every turn it was applicable, meaning some turns two units would activate and other turns only one.

I quite naturally chose to activate the Swords. I advanced them their maximum move of 9" in Mass formation, which brought them to exactly 10" away from the closest Legionnaire in the line.

The Arab Swords advance (apparently dragging their dead?/wounded? men with them - just kidding, I kept them together for simplicity's sake; they're in the Rally Zone).

It was weird how it worked out that way precisely, without any manipulation on my part. The rules specify that a unit must stop when it moves to within 10" of an enemy in LOS so that the enemy can react.

Now that's 10" precisely. No fudging, I promise.

In retrospect, I think I made a mistake by advancing like I did. The Swords had 2 AP remaining, and my main thought was to get them into mêlée as quickly as possible. What I forgot was that charging units don't stop at 10" and thereby prompt a reaction at that point. Granted, there is a charge reaction phase, but at least at that point the charge is on-going. I had also been worried that I wouldn't be able to reach the enemy, but I forgot that for each AP spent my unit would charge 9" + 1d10", for a minimum of 10" to 20" for 1 to 2 AP, which would have been more than enough to make contact. As it stood now, if the Legion reacted by firing well enough they might easily cause the Swords to spend their last remaining AP in reaction, thereby stranding the Arabs at 10" away!

(Note to self for the future: this means it's possible, with enough AP, to charge from outside of rifle range! This changes my thoughts on how to use this technique. Interesting, I'm only just now realizing it as I write this.)

Enough introspection, on with the game! The Swords were 10" away, the Legion must react. I rolled a 52 versus their Coolness of 90, so the calm leadership of Lt. Sylvère kept them from reacting at all; no AP was spent. Perhaps he was waiting to see what would happen next; perhaps he was still busy keeping his men from panicking.

The Swords then passed on their last activation, saving their 1 AP for the charge.

My next decision was to decided whether or not to charge the Legion against the Swords. The order of charges is determined using the same card-draw method as the Action Phase, so it's possible to have two units charge each other, but who goes first? That's what's important. However, taking my cue off the Lieutenant's non-reaction on the last reaction roll, I decided that he was still disciplining his men, or possibly just standing-to, waiting to see what the Arabs would do. So no double-charge this turn! Keeping it simple....

Mêlée Phase:

The Arab Swords charge the French Foreign Legion! (big surprise) For 1 AP, they moved 9" + 1d10" = 17" (and all I needed was 10" so I didn't really need to roll at all, but I wanted to see what I would get).

The Swords charge into close combat!

The Legion's charge reaction was a 73 versus their Coolness of 90: Stand and fight!

A more dramatic angle as the Legion holds the line.

There are bonuses added to each card draw. The Legionnaires' received +1 for being in a Supported Line, +1 for having Bayonets = +2. The Swords received +1 for having, well, Swords. Oddly enough, there are no bonuses for the initial impetus of the charge. (Also, I counted both the Swords and the Bayonets as the modifier "1/2 or more [figures] have melee weapon + shield." Obviously none of them have shields, but bayonets are scary, and so, for that matter, are swords.)

The actual scuffle is taken care of by the card-draw mechanic, with the highest total winning and sending a certain number of losing figures to either the Rally Zone or "to the rear" of the losing unit. In either case they no longer take part in the immediate fight, although those figures "to the rear" make up what's left of the unit after the mêlée is over. The number of figures lost depends on the difference between the two totals each draw, with winning red cards sending figures to the Rally Zone, and black cards sending them to the rear. Also, Officers and NCO's have the option to re-draw a losing card in the hopes of winning, but put themselves in jeopardy when they do whether or not they win. (I actually didn't divine that last bit until half way through this mêlée; I'm still learning, apparently).

I won't go through the fight card by card, as it lasted 11 rounds. On the very first round, the Legion won by 5 (black), the Arab "NCO" opted to re-draw, tied on the card draw but still lost after modifiers, then lost the jeopardy roll and was promptly sent to the Rally Zone for sticking his neck out too soon! There were now no more leader figures in the Swords unit.

Back and forth it went for four rounds, with one side or the other losing 1 figure. On round six, the Arabs won by 4 with a red card, so the Lt. felt obligated to try to save his men; he needed a face card...and got a Queen, which with modifiers meant he won (this was before I realized he should roll for jeopardy, so I didn't). Round seven, the Legion won by 4 (black). Round eight, the Swords won by 5 (black), so again the Lt. re-drew; this time he needed a nine or higher, but was only able to manage a 7; after modifiers, one Legionnaire dropped out, but the Lt. then lost the jeopardy roll and was sent to the Rally Zone. Round nine was a tie, meaning 1 figure on each side dropped out. Round ten saw the Swords win by 1; by this point the Legion line was looking a little thin, so the Cpl. felt it his duty to step up and re-draw. He needed to beat a King but only drew a 3; using the best card drawn, the original win value remained; also, the Cpl.'s jeopardy roll saw him stay safe. Finally on round eleven, the Legion won with a red Queen to a red 3 (after modifiers, 12 to 4), meaning 8 Swords figures were sent to the Rally Zone. Since there were not 8 figures left in the unit, this effectively "wiped out" the unit and ended the mêlée.

A Legion victory! The tipped-over figures are in the Rally Zone, the upright "in the rear" figures are dropped out.

The Foreign Legion wins. The Swords retreat 3d10" = 23", Shaken. The Legion dresses their Supported Line and advances 1d10" = 3". (I had hoped for more, because I really wanted to get some movement going to get off the table, but 3" was all I got!)

The Swords retreat, Shaken. The Legion advances...a little.

Morale Phase:

Now to determine what happens to all those figures in the Rally Zone. This is decided by card draw, with simple variables as to resolution. A lot of it can be boiled down to: Red is bad, Black is good.

For the Legion, Lieutenant Sylvère remained in the R.Z., perhaps still unconscious. In total, two Legionnaires returned to good health, one more stayed in the R.Z.

For the Swords, their "Officer" was killed, as was their "NCO." In total, four more figures died and six returned to the unit.

The Swords get some men back, but no Leaders.

And not to forget the Tirailleurs Algériens, their one casualty shook off the pain and returned to formation.

Morale check:

Each Shaken unit must make a Morale check during the Morale Phase. This tends to either go very well, or very very poorly. There is not a lot of middle ground.

The only Shaken unit on the table was the Swords. Without any Leaders their Morale rating (after calculations) was a dismal 43. The d100 roll = 68, causing them to Retreat 2d10" = 14", still Shaken.

Going, going....

However, a straight line 14" would have them leaving the table, so they got a "last ditch" Morale check to possibly prevent this from happening. M=43, d100=50. BAM! They have routed and are removed from the game.

...gone!

The Legion says, "Woot!"

Turn 6:

Action Points: FFL, 2. Tir.Alg., 4. Professor, 3.

Spears, 3. Rifles, 3.

The Arab side drew the honor of first activation, and would be able to use one unit for 1 AP. Don't spend it all in one place.

But it was a conundrum. The Spears were too far away to do much good, but the Rifles weren't actually in range of anybody although they had a commanding view of the battlefield (and incidentally of the Swords ignominious scarpering). I didn't really want to force the Rifles to leave their most excellent vantage point, as I knew (since I am also the French commander) that the French would have to "run the gauntlet," so to speak, of the center of the table in order to win; and when they did the Rifles would have a fantastic place from which to shoot at them.

To that end, I wanted to get the Spears into a position to stop the survivors as they dragged their dying bodies towards the table edge--"Infidels!"--so I had the Spears move in Mass formation into the Rough Terrain. They easily passed their R.T. roll.

Turn 6: "Psst, guys, wake up, it's our turn."

With the immediate Arab threat gone, the Professor brought up his porters with his antiques. He had the ability to move a lot farther, but felt it better to let the Legionnaires stop the bullets rather than his breakable valuables.

"O.K., Corporal, let's go. You first."

Caporal Cendrars apparently didn't feel fully confident in himself to take immediate command while the Lt. was indisposed. In other words, the French side could only spend 1 AP on only 1 unit. Seeing as how a Supported Line can only move 3" and they had no one at whom to shoot, I decided to see what the Tirailleur Algériens could do. Luckily, their previous fall-back move had put them within 1" of exiting their Rough Terrain sand trap, and in perfect view of the competing Rifles of the Arabs on the other side of the table. "I believe a shot is in order," said I.

"Hey, there's bad guys over there!"

A quick measurement showed the Rifles at 21", just within range. The Probability of Hit (POH) calculation came up 70. The d100 roll = 79. Miss.

"Aim carefully. Fire! I told you to aim carefully!"

However, merely being shot at forces a Reaction by the shootee. The Rifles have a Coolness factor of 75, but unfortunately for them today they roll 1d100 = 96(!). Not good for them. This causes them to Retreat 2d10" = 9" Shaken and to lose 1 extra AP (leaving them 1 remaining). However, their Rough Terrain roll (which needs to be less than or equal to 7) is a 9. Uh oh. However again, being Natives they get a single R.T. re-roll, which equalled 8. This means they are unable to move at all, stumbling and falling in the shifting, sucking sand! Ohh, the humanity!

What's worse for the Rifles is this little tid-bit of the rules under the Morale Phase: "Units retreating, falling back, or advancing due to morale or reaction tests (or melee results) obey all normal movement rules. For each inch it is unable to retreat, a unit loses one figure to the Rally Zone." Zoinks! That means 9 figures go to the Rally Zone, all caused by them trying to get out of the way of being shot at. I guess they bumped heads or some Keystone Kops-kind of thing. That must have been a really withering volley of fire...or something.

Huh. Well, I wasn't expecting that to happen.

That must be some really deep sand.

"Remember what I said about aiming carefully? Well, forget it and keep missing!"

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase, I drew cards for the Legionnaires; both the Lieutenant and the one remaining soldier returned alive. No Legionnaires remained in the Rally Zone. And for the Rifles....brace yourself. Seven Red cards out of nine = 7 die, 2 return. I think the sand is more dangerous than the Tirailleurs.

"Yes, madame, I'm sorry to report that your husband died by tripping and falling down in a sand dune."

Morale checks: after calculations, the Rifles had an M = 59. Their d100 roll = 95. Baaad dice. This result forced them to Retreat 2d10" = 7" Shaken. Still in Rough Terrain, another lovely, dreaded R.T. roll was made, resulting in a 7, just exactly the minimum number needed to safely exit the sand dunes. Luckily, though, they remained on the table.

"Man, am I glad to be out of that deadly sand trap. I'm never playing golf again! It even ate all the bodies!"

"Ha ha! Look at them run, scared of a little sand!"

Turn 7:

Action Points: FFL, 3. Tir.Alg., 4. Professor, 4.

Spears, 4. Rifles, 2.

The card draw put the Professor and his minions at first activation, so he advanced them 2 AP's worth, or 18", in Open formation.

Turn 7: Heading for cover.

A broader view of the field of battle. Top to bottom: Legion, Professor, Tir.Alg., and Spears.

Next the Arab Rifles advanced in Mass formation 9", hoping to get to a position from which they could safely shoot at the Professor; he was their real target, after all. Killing Frenchmen might be fun, but their national identity demanded the restoration of the missing artifacts.

What's left of the Rifles moves into position where they can see the Professor.

"If I can see them, they can see us. Uh oh. Good thing they were only able to spend 1 AP. Wait, how'd I know that?"

Well, since the Rifles were obliging enough to move back into view, the Tirailleur Algériens felt similarly obliged to shoot at them. Their POH = 70, their d100 roll = 5(!), causing 3 casualties and a "roll again" result. They shot again, caused 2 casualties, one of which was "Officer." This is not a good day to be an Arab Rifle.

"What are those bullets made from? Sand?"

The Rifles Reacted using their NCO's leadership value, now calculated at a Coolness of 5. Yes, 5. And the d100 roll? 84. Yeah, that's not good for them. They Retreat 7" Shaken, and at 0 AP.

"Run! Just leave 'em and run! And stay away from the sand!"

A better view of the tactical situation.

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase, I drew cards for the Arab Rifles. Officer, dead. Three men, dead. Three more men who return.

The Morale check: The Rifles M value = 48. Their d100 roll = 31. They return to Normal. (A deep sigh of relief by the Arab player. Er, that would be me.)

This photo is slightly incorrect, in that the red Shaken marker should be removed after their return to Normal.

Turn 8:

Action Points: FFL, 2. Tir.Alg., 3. Professor, 4.

Spears, 3. Rifles, 4.

This card draw was a bit of a nail-biter. All three parties drew Face cards, which are all equal in value, except that Red beats Black. That meant the Arabs would move first, followed by--after the tie-breaking draw, two more Face cards for the French and the Professor--and after THAT tie-breaking draw--followed by the French, then the Professor. (The French drew three Face cards in a row. That kind of luck can't last.)

At any rate, the Arab side was able to move one unit one AP. I decided to get the Spears into a little better position, and moved them 9" in Mass formation. They passed their Rough Terrain roll easily enough.

Turn 8: Here come da Spears!

Uh, Professor Trouver, something seems to be blocking the exit.

The French side was next to activate. Only being able to spend 1 AP limited my options (I guess the Lieutenant and the Professor were arguing about what to do), so I had the Tirailleur Algériens shoot at the Spears, who so willingly put themselves "out there."

"Do you see any targets? I can't find any targets. Oh wait. Never mind."

As the Spears player, I should add that I moved them knowing they might get shot at, but with the hope they would resist being decimated or running away just long enough to be able to charge the Professor's group. That's partly why the card draw was such a nail-biter for me: who would get to activate first was very important.

The Tirailleurs' firing was reasonably effective, causing 2 casualties. Off to the Rally Zone they went. The Spears' Reaction was outrage! Their Coolness = 65, and their d100 roll = 3! That's about as outraged as you're going to get in this game. It allowed them to return fire. Of the Spears, four figures carried pistols (out of range) and two had rifles, so only two could shoot back. They missed. Apparently their outrage didn't improve their aim. The Tirailleurs' Reaction was to not React.

Finally, Team Trouver decided discretion was the better part of not getting killed, and removed themselves further behind some intervening terrain.

"Let me just go over here where I can quietly contemplate staying alive."

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase, only the Spears needed to draw cards. One died, one returned. No units were Shaken, so no Morale check was needed.

Turn 9:

Action Points: FFL, 4. Tir.Alg., 4. Professor, 4.

Spears, 3. Rifles, 2.

The French and the Professor both drew Queens, but the French's was red, so first activation was theirs. The Arab side drew an 8. It was good that the French would act before the Professor, in that I hoped to be able to drive off or clear away the intervening enemy, thereby allowing the Professor and his minions an easy escape route.

It was not to be.

The French could use one unit, one AP's worth, so I had the Tirailleur Algériens shoot at the Spears again, well within range at 15". Their POH = 85; their d100 = 80, causing 1 casualty. The Spears Reacted by keeping their cool and not Reacting, thereby spending no AP. They were not cooperating with letting the French kill them.

Next, the Professor, seeing the enemy still blocking his way, decided to not do anything, and passed his activation.

This was a bit of a mistake on my part because I didn't really take stock of the situation. By not moving the Professor I inadvertently left him in view of the Rifles (what was left of them). So I advanced them 9" in Mass formation...

What remains of the Rifles sneak around the edges of the battlefield.

...but very carefully kept them out of range of the Tirailleurs.

"Trust me, this time we won't let the sand get us. Or the bullets."

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase the one Spearman in the Rally Zone returned.

Turn 10:

Action Points: FFL, 3. Tir.Alg., 4. Professor, 4.

Spears, 4. Rifles, 2.

The French drew highest card, one unit, all AP. Once again, I had the Tirailleur Algériens fire at the Spears. POH = 85, d100 = 97(!). Miss. How do you miss when they're just standing there in the open? I guess sand got in their eyes or something....

Nevertheless, the Spears Reacted by firing back with their whopping 2 rifles. (Next time I might make it so they don't have ranged weapons; on a Reaction result like that, if they can't shoot back then they get to advance, which is good for close combat specialists.) At any rate, they missed, too. This prompted the Tirailleurs to React, by not Reacting, so no AP spent.

Frustrated, I then spent a second AP and repeated the firing process, hoping for better results (better from the French perspective; from the Arab perspective, the results were fantastic!). This time they caused 1 casualty. The Spears Reacted by firing again, missing. The Tir.Alg. Reacted by firing back, also missing. The Spears Reacted to that Reaction by firing yet again, missing yet again. Finally the Tir.Alg. had had enough, and Reacted by firing at half strength and falling back 1d10" = 7". They succeeded in their Rough Terrain roll and exited the sand trap safely.

Turn 10: "...Caporal Cendrars bravely ran away...." "Yes, well, they just kept shooting back at us, it was unsafe to be there."

Their half-strength shot very efficiently missed, but it caused the Spears to try to fire in reply; however, not having a target anymore, they instead advanced 1d10" = (wait for it....) 1". Yes, one inch. Weee.

Great job, Tirailleurs! Well done.

Bleah.

After all of the ineffectiveness on the part of the French forces, the Professor decided he liked where he was and did nothing.

Hoping to accomplish something this turn, the Arab Rifles (what was left of them) advanced 9" into yet another sand trap Rough Terrain, in Mass formation, looking to get a clear shot at the Professor et al. This time, after much mental preparation, they easily passed their R.T. roll with a 1.

"But I thought you said there'd be no sand this time. Wah! Oh wait, never mind, we made it o.k."

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase the one Spearman in the Rally Zone died.

Turn 11:

Action Points: FFL, 3. Tir.Alg., 2. Professor, 4.

Spears, 2. Rifles, 2.

Professor Trouver was getting impatient, as evidenced by his drawing a Jack versus the other draws of a 2 and a 3. But there was no where for him to go, especially since the Tirailleurs were now blocking him from seeking deeper cover, so he passed his turn.

The Rifles, finally in position to inflict damage, fired at the Professor and his porters, rolling a 59 and needing a 60 or less.

Turn 11: "At last, Infidel. Die!"

They inflicted one casualty. As it wasn't dictated to be a leader figure, I removed one Bearer. The Professor, unfazed by the possible death of a trusted helper, chose not to React. Perhaps he was busy checking to see if anything was broken when the poor man dropped it....

The Arabs were only able to spend 1 AP, and had now spent it. Activation passed to the French, who were able to spend all AP on up to half of their units, which in this case is the same as one unit. After seemingly hours of inactivity, the Lt. saw an opening in which to act. He advanced and pivoted his men 3" in Supported Line formation, then fired at the Rifles (what was left of them, anyway).

"Le advance! Le pivot! Le fire!" (That's French, in case you were wondering).

This caused 4 casualties.

"Ow, ow, I think I got sand in my bullet wound."

The Rifles had a fair chance of replying, since each man had a rifle. In point of fact, they Reacted by firing, but missed pretty substantially, with a roll of 92 to a needed 50 or less. Still, this did prompt the Legion to React, firing again, causing 3 casualties.

"I feel rather exposed up here on top of this dune."

The Rifles wanted to React--really, they wanted to--but with zero AP remaining they were unable to. They rolled against their Coolness and succeeded with a very cool 2 on a d100, meaning what was left of the unit was not Shaken. That's a couple of brave dudes!

The Legionnaires then spent another AP, firing again, causing 4 casualties. As there were only 2 men left, this essentially sent the entire unit to the Rally Zone. Can you say 'wiped out'? I knew that you could.

"Do you have any reaction to being wiped out? What? No comment?"

Therefore, the Rifles had no Reaction to make since there were no more Rifles.

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase the bad news for the Professor was that his faithful porter Ajiba, with sixteen children, two wives, six chickens, one cow and a big screen TV, was now dead. To the Professor personally this was distressing in that he now had to re-pack all the antiquities and spread them around to his other bearers; what a lot of unnecessary work Ajiba caused by dying, the rotter!

For the Arab Rifles, things were a bit worse. With no parent unit still on the table, any "returning" Rifles were harder to come by. After the dust settled (I draw cards really fast!), the 'NCO' was dead, 3 men routed (out of the game), 4 were captured, and 1 returned to any leader (so he got added to the Spears.)

There were no Morale checks to make.

So ends Turn 11. As this is rather long, and I don't want to overwhelm you my dear reader any more than I already have, I will end this now, to be continued at a later date, so that this one single blog entry doesn't exceed all my previous verbose blog entries combined.

I really do appreciate you taking the time to stop by, whether you read my ramblings in depth or just skim to the photos: thanks!

48. Death in the Desert

2011-12-03T15:54:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned previously, I'm playing a game in honor of Inter-Galactic Solo Wargaming Day (IGSWgD). I've kept it simple. One squad of French Foreign Legion, assisted by a unit of Tirailleurs Algériens, is to make contact with a noted Professor/Archaeologist and escort him and his artifacts to safety. The Arabs would like to stop that from happening.

I played this using the "Pith Helmet 2" rules by Don Bailey (although since all three games I've played using these rules involved the French Foreign Legion, maybe I should rename them "Kepi").

Pith Helmet 2 is written more from the perspective of gaming with British troops against their many enemies. There are provisions for using German, Sikh, Gurkha, Japanese, U.S., Boer, Other European, and Egyptian troops; as well as Punjabis, Imperial Chinese, Native Levies, Zulu, Pathan, Boxer, Dervish and Other Natives. So as you can see there is no real option for French Foreign Legion and Arabs/Berbers/Tauregs/other North Africans. As I did in my previous games, I will use the FFL "as British." To represent the Arabs, I decided on using them "as Native Levies." I wavered between Native Levies and Pathans; I wanted to be able to see the determination of the Arabs but still show their general lack of organization (more a mob than a squad). In the end, I opted for Native Levies, as their stats were, I felt, a good compromise between the two choices. I was also leery of making them too tough for the FFL, since I was planning on taking 60 Arabs versus 30 Legionnaires (and allies). I wanted a fighting chance for both sides, after all.

My table layout is shown in a previous post here.

Pre-Game Setup:

The situation is as follows: a French Archaeologist, Professor Trouver, while attempting an unauthorized dig deep in the desert, has sent word that he needs rescuing from hostile locals. He has "acquired" many valuable historical relics from an ancient ruin, but he fears for his safety in getting them out of the country.

In response, the local constabulary has requested aid from the French garrison. The officer commanding has ordered a squad under an upwardly-yearning Lieutenant to extricate the errant Professor as quickly as possible, with as little fuss as possible.

The Arabs would like to stop them.

In game terms, the French must travel to the Objective area (the Ruins), make contact with the Professor, and escort him and his Bearers off the same table edge by which they entered.

The view from the Legion starting position. At the far end of the table is the Archaeologist, behind the trees.

The Archaeologist--the famed Professor Trouver--and his Native helpers, ready with the historical relics he has stolen, er, liberated.

The French Foreign Legion (Légion Étrangère), led by Lt. Sylvère, assisted by Cpl. Favrel.

A unit of Tirailleurs Algériens, led by Cpl Cendrars, for added firepower.

A view from Prof. Trouver's position.

The same view, but with the Legion in focus, so you can see them. That's a lot of open ground to cross. Then again, it is the freaking desert.

Before I began the game, I wanted to build-in the element of suspense. I originally diced for where the three Arab units would appear, then diced individually for which turn they would arrive. However, I didn't like the perfect fore-knowledge this gave me; instead I wanted their arrival to be "imminent" but unpredicted. I finally settled on a suitable compromise.

I decided to add the Turn number to a d6 roll. On a 6+, all three Arab units would enter at the same time (I liked that better than them arriving piecemeal) at a d6-rolled table edge (divided into sectors, numbered 1 through 6). I then arbitrarily determined to not allow the first three turns. This pretty well guaranteed an arrival very quickly, but not so soon that the Legion couldn't at least get onto the table.

There are three units of Arabs, 18 men plus a leader and a sub-leader figure. (As you can tell, my figures are built to conform to The Sword and The Flame, but I don't know how to use those rules solo.) One unit is armed with Swords, one with Spears and one with Rifles. Some of the figures (but not all) in the Swords and Spears units also have pistols. This gives the units a ranged attack, of a sort.

Turn 1:

I knew the Arabs were out there, coming closer; I wanted to get the Lieutenant to the Professor as quickly as possible, take him under my wing, and get off the table. I didn't know exactly how long before the Arabs would show up. Luckily, my Action Points allowed me to move almost halfway onto the table.

Each turn I rolled a d100 for each Unit, compared that to their Initiative and came up with 2 to 4 Action Points.

Action Points: FFL, 3. Tir.Alg., 4. Professor, 4.
Swords, Spears, Rifles: Not on table, no roll, no AP.

I then drew a card from a shuffled deck of normal playing cards, to determine which units could act first. This is divided into French (FFL+Tir.Alg.), Professor, and Arabs (all three units).

The Arabs scored highest, but were not on table so no move. The Professor scored next but chose to pass. The French were able to act with half of their units and use up to all AP. Lt. Sylvère had the Legionnaires advance 3 AP worth of movement. "Quick march, double time!"

Turn 1: The Foreign Legion advance, in column, three moves worth (27 inches!).

There was no mêlée, and no Morale checks.

(I realize that it may seem odd to draw cards for units that are not on the table, but I like to stick to a certain amount of continuity. It helps me keep my place if I get interrupted or confused, especially with stopping to take pictures. If I always do the turn sequence the same way, then I never have to think about it.)

Turn 2:
Action Points: FFL, 4. Tir.Alg., 4. Professor, 4.
Arabs: Not on table, no AP.

Professor Trouver drew highest, but passed as he continued to wait. The French drew next highest, 1 unit, up to all AP. Lt. Sylvère ordered Cpl. Cendrars to bring up his Tirailleurs Algériens three APs worth of movement, in order to keep them close to the Legionnaires; and then to reform them into Open formation.

Turn 2: Not wanting to get too far from our support, I brought up the Tirailleurs Algériens.

Turn 2: I then ordered the Tirailleurs Algériens to reform into Open formation. I wanted them as a screening/scouting force.

There was no mêlée, and no Morale checks.

Turn 3:
Action Points: FFL, 3. Tir.Alg., 3. Professor, 3.
Arabs: Not on table, no AP.

The French drew first action, 1 unit, all AP. Sylvère advanced the Legion squad 2 APs worth of moves, then, fearing the imminent arrival of unfriendly Natives, formed them into a Supported Firing Line. The Professor passed; he is not going to come out to meet me, and risk losing sight of his precious artifacts. The Arabs are not on table yet.

Turn 3: I advance the Legion as far as possible.

Turn 3: While I would have liked to move the Legion even closer to the Professor, my limited Action Points forced me to stop a little short. I felt the more pressing need was to re-order into a Supported Firing Line; the dust clouds of the approaching Arab force were plainly visible in the near distance!

A view from the Legion's table entry edge.

Only twenty men, but a formidable firing line, with the glint of bayonets.

There was no mêlée, and no Morale checks.

Turn 4:

I rolled 1d6=2 + the turn number 4 = 6. The Arab forces appear all at once, as early as possible!

Turn 4: The Rifles arrive to the left of the line of retreat, behind sand and more sand.

The Spears appear to the right at the far corner of the table -- ready to block the line of retreat.

And finally, the Swords appear just to the extreme right flank of the Legion, as they face back the way they came. They are the closest immediate threat. "Allahu Ackbar! Allie allie oxen free!"

An all-in-one view: Rifles to the upper left, Spears to the upper right, Swords to the lower right; Tirailleurs Algériens in the center, the Legion at the bottem.

We are about to be well-and-truly engaged, and soon. And the Lieutenant hasn't even made contact with the Professor yet!

A slightly better view of the tactical situation, and the relative distances involved, between the Tirailleurs Algériens, the Legion and the Swords.

I love to savor this moment of tension just before battle begins.

Action Points: FFL, 2. Tir.Alg., 2. Professor, 4.

Swords, 3. Spears, 3. Rifles, 2. (Oddly, out of six d100 rolls, I rolled an 89, 3 times!)

The carpet represents deep, sifting sand; or in game terms, Rough Terrain. It affects LOS in that units can see into but not through it, and it can make movement slower. The [poorly] sculpted sand dune functions exactly the same, and has the same Rough Terrain movement characteristic. There are four such areas on the table.

The French drew first action again, 1 unit, 1 AP. Whee. Apparently the Lieutenant was taken by surprise by the sudden arrival of the enemy, and was unable to give coherent orders. I detached the Lieutenant from the Legion, leaving it under the command of Cpl. Favrel. I opted to not consider the Lt. "a unit." He moved 1 AP worth, 9", toward the Professor.


Lt. Sylvère finally gets the Professor's attention. "I'm here to rescue you. I've got your R2 unit. I'm here with Ben Kenobi!" Wait, wrong rescue scene....

I then had the Tirailleurs Algériens move into the sand dunes. In order to do so, I had to roll a 7 or less on a d10; I rolled a 4, so the Tir.Alg. successfully navigated the shifting sand.

The Tirailleurs Algériens advance into the Rough Terrain sand area. Units can see into but not through Rough Terrain, so I judged that LOS was blocked until a unit is within 1" of the edge (to represent the hiding capability of the deep sand). Therefore the Tirailleurs get closer than 10" to the Swords before being forced to stop, due to the fact that they did not have LOS until much closer.

Normally units must stop when within 10" of, and in LOS of, an enemy unit, forcing a Reaction check. However, the Tirailleurs were in LOS-blocking terrain until within 1" of the edge, and that edge put them closer than 10", so the Reaction occurred at less-than 10". No worries, it's all legal.

The Arab Swords react to the sudden appearance of an enemy by Firing! at them. Only eleven model have pistols out of the twenty swordsmen, but they roll well enough to cause 1 potential casualty. The Tirailleurs react to this poorly, firing at half their capability and then falling back. Their shots miss, but they make their Rough Terrain roll and promptly fall back in good order 4". (Any time a unit 'falls back' I left them facing the direction from which they came; if they 'retreat' then I faced them in the opposite direction.)

Turn 4: The Tirailleurs are forced back, losing LOS. The casualty would normally go "off-table" into the Rally Zone, but for simplicity's sake I just tipped them over this game; same result.

By falling back, the Tirailleurs broke LOS with the Swords. The Swords reaction, then, was to Fire! but since they were unable to fire (owing to not seeing the Tirailleurs anymore) they advanced 1d10=3" towards the Legion. They then spent a normal Action Point and advanced 9" towards the Legion. This brought them to 10" from the French, prompting a Reaction.

The Arabs advance in Mob formation, ignoring the Tirailleurs.

A tactical view of the Swords and the Legionnaires.

The Legion reacts by not reacting, so no AP is spent. The Caporal is cautious....

Meanwhile at the other end of the battlefield, the Arab Rifles advance 9" into sandy Rough Terrain. They must roll a 7 or less on 1d10; they roll 10! However, all Native troops may re-roll a failed terrain roll once; they then roll 3, and move into position.

The Rifles move into cover behind the sand dunes. Are in they in range?

The Professor, feeling safe enough to venture out from his ruins, advances his Bearers in Open formation 9" to join up with the Legion, the Lieutenant at his side.

"Professeur, nous devons aller!" "Eh, bien." Finally, the Native pack bearers are under the protection of the Legion. Now maybe we can get outta here.

There was no mêlée. For the Morale Phase, I drew one card for the Tirailleur in the Rally Zone. He would remain there, his survival undetermined.

Turn 5:

Action Points: FFL, 4. Tir.Alg., 3. Professor, 4.

Swords, 4. Spears, 2. Rifles, 3.
A lot is riding on the next draw of the cards.

Professor Trouver, while amenable to letting himself be "rescued," is nonetheless a bit bull-headed. He doesn't completely see that he, an elder in society and a respected Académicien, should blithely follow some young pup's orders. He has his own ideas about how best to get his historical relics to safety--after all, what could be more important than his unearthings? (In game terms, I kept the Professor and his Natives as a separate card draw for Action Points. He consistently, turn after turn, rolled extremely well for Action Points, indicating to me that he was a bit headstrong.)

The French won the card draw, with the ability to use one unit and all their AP.

The Swords threaten.

I judged the Swords to the most imminent threat and fired the Legion at them. They caused 3 casualties, one of which was the "officer."

The Legion looses a volley. Arabs fall.

The Swords reacted using their "NCO's" Coolness number, and did quite well, firing back and causing 2 casualties to the Legion.

The Legion, thoroughly unprepared for such stubborness, reacted poorly, firing at half their capability and falling back. Their shots missed, and they fell back 1d10=8", right through the Native Bearers! Even with an 80 out of 100 chance, sometimes you roll an 89.

The Arabs loose a volley, too. Legionnaires fall. And for some reason, they fall back, in good order, through the Native bearers. "Je ne vais pas mourir à leur place!"

The Swords reacted to being shot at, and didn't like it much either, also firing at half their capability and falling back. As the Legion was now out of pistol range, the Arabs simply fell back 1d10=1". One whole inch.

I actually had to pause the game here, for quite a long time, while work called me away, except for a couple of days when I was sick and just didn't feel up to the book-keeping necessary to make a solo blog report. It's given me plenty of time to mull over the situation, though, to be sure. That "strategic withdrawal" by the Legion put a definite kink in my plans. It was exquisitely delicious torture trying to decide what to do next. This was a most unexpected development. It just goes to show that even the best of troops can sometimes lose their nerve, and it will always be at the most inopportune moment!

It was still the Legion's turn, and they had 2 Action Points remaining...what to do? You'll find out in the next write-up; this one is getting pretty long as it is. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it at least a little.

Here are some further "action shots" of the battlefield.

A better view of what the Rifles can see.

In this photo, it almost appears as if the Lieutenant is ordering the Native to lead the way!

47. Inter-Galactic Solo Wargaming Day

2011-11-07T23:57:00.003-06:00

You may recall I played a solo game in appreciation of International Solo Wargaming Day, due to the fact that it was January 1, 2011 (or 1-1-11). Well, as it turns out, there is another date with even more 1's coming up (and another date that is already past: November 1, 2011 or 11-1-11). The one coming up is November 11, 2011 (or 11-11-11). [Even though it consists of 1's, you could argue that it is actually eleven's and is disqualified. But if you want a good excuse to play a game, then don't argue.]

11-11-11 is being widely circulated as the definitive solo wargaming day, and I have therefore christened it Inter-Galactic Solo Wargaming Day. (It is also Veterans Day, or Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, but as these are real and sobering things, they have no place in a day of warGAMING. I will honor those fallen, separately from my gaming; my flag will proudly fly outside my house.)

Today is only the 7th, and I won't actually be able to play on the 11th, so I am going to play a game "in honor of" IGSWgD. It will probably take me much longer than one day to finish it, since I will have to play in quick snatches of time stolen from Real Life's uncouth interruptions, so I likely wouldn't have been able to play it in one day anyhow. But I wanted to show everyone that I am serious about playing. The table is set up, the dice are warmed up, and I am ready to go.

Here follows the general table layout and scenario.

Looking from the Objective area, facing the direction from which the troops will enter. The Professor and Bearers are at the lower left.

Looking from the Entry area towards the Objective.


On the Left: French Foreign Legion, 20 men, with bugler (le clairon), Caporal and Lieutenant. On the Right: Tirailleurs Algériens, led by a French NCO.

Arabic opponents: Spearmen and Riflemen, 20 each.

More Arabic opponents: 20 Swordsmen.

A slightly closer view of the Objective area: an Oasis, some ancient ruins, the Archeologist's hut, and the Professor (l'Archéologue).

An even closer view of the Objective area, and in fact, the Objective: the Professor who must needs be rescued.

The scenario is simplicity itself. (Especially when playing solo, I like to keep the game simple: no fancy motivations for the enemy, no complicated mission objectives. I want to play, and I don't want to put any more hurdles between myself and playing than necessary.)

The rules I will be using are Pith Helmet 2, by Don Bailey (available here). You'll have to scroll down to find them.

The situation is as follows: a French archeologist, attempting an unauthorized dig deep in the desert, has sent word that he needs rescuing from hostile locals. He has "acquired" many valuable historical relics from an ancient ruin, but he fears for his safety in getting them out of the country.

In response, the local constabulary has requested aid from the French garrison. The officer commanding has ordered a squad under a upwardly-yearning Lieutenant to extricate the errant Professor as quickly as possible, with as little fuss as possible.

The Arabs would like to stop them.

In Game terms, the French must travel to the Objective area (the Ruins), make contact with the Professor, and escort him and his Bearers off the same table edge by which they entered.

The Arabs will be controlled by the mechanics of the game, using the Reaction System built into the rules. Their arrival will be determined by triggering events (yet to be determined), and their sole aim will be stopping the French, either by killing/driving them off, or by capturing or killing the Professor. They will win a minor victory if they stop the Bearers from escaping but everyone else escapes.

I will have more details in a future posting: exactly how I will rate the Legionnaires and the Arabs, the triggering events, etc.

Thanks for reading, and for keeping me honest! I will play a game, finally!

46. Shhh, Be Vewy Vewy Quiet, I'm Hunting Dinosaurs....

2011-09-22T16:39:00.001-05:00

I recently played a game of Two Hour Wargames' "Adventures in the Lost Lands" (AitLL) with a friend. We were a bit rushed, and I was a bit rusty with the rules, but it was fun. We encountered two herds of plant-eaters, I shot one of them, saved the carcass and was in the process of leaving the table when a couple of vicious predators showed up. My friend was closer to them than I was so I high-tailed it out of there, while Tom got charged and eventually eaten (serves him right for abandoning me, long, long ago [scroll to the very end for the grisly story]).

Nevertheless this left me wanting more, so the next day I dug out my brand new copy of Saurian Safari. I'd read through it once, and after only a second quick skim I was ready to play. This time I was solo, but the game is perfectly suited to solo play. Since this was a first-time test of the rules for me, I took a single Victorian-era Hunter, wielding a Martini-Henry bolt-action rifle, and went a-huntin'. I played the first scenario, the very basic Jurassic Park hunt. (I started to take the fabled Dinosaur Gun, but the chance of it knocking me down scared me away from it.)

First I rolled up my Hunter's stats. Believe it or not, and I swear it's true, the dice were very good to me. I gave them a very thorough shake before rolling. Sometimes I get lucky. Sometimes.

My Hunter:

Shooting: 100

Awareness: 100

Agility: 7

Strength: 6

Martini-Henry rifle: 1 shot/turn. Misfire chance 3%. Black powder. Penetration: 5. Damage Factor: 8.

Turn 1. I roll for my Movement on 1d6 = 6". Dinosaur encounter roll = 50%. No dinosaurs are encountered.

A view of the general table layout, largely unchanged from the "Adventures in the Lost Lands" game. I decided on a veldt terrain rather than a jungle terrain but it does make my other terrain pieces stand out. Then again, I guess a river bank would be green even in an arid land.

Turn 2. I roll for my Movement on 1d6 = 6". Dinosaur encounter roll = 51%. No dinosaurs are encountered.

I decide heading for the safety of cover is a good idea.

Turn 3. I roll for my Movement on 1d6 = 3". Dinosaur encounter roll = 35%. No dinosaurs are encountered.

I manage to enter the depths of the cover. From here I should have a good view of the whole table.

Turn 4. I choose not to move. Dinosaur encounter roll = 62%. A dinosaur is encountered! It is a Stegosaurus (Move 4", Toughness 7, Damage 12). It comes on the table at coordinates 7 x 3 (long [left to right], by side [top to bottom]), facing 4 o'clock. On my 6' x 4' table, this puts it roughly 49" x 14" in. It is in the open and I self-rule that it did not emerge from cover (what cover?).

What luck! I swear it was randomized with the dice, but you'd think I just put him there, right in my line of sight.

I decide I would like to shoot at said dinosaur.

Steady. Steaaady. Fire!

The Stegosaurus is more than 12" away, but not more than 24" so I take one -10% modifier to my Awareness of 100 = 90. I roll percentage dice (d100) = 43%. I am aware of the six ton monster. I roll to see if my gun misfires; I roll 82%, far more than the 3% chance. It does not misfire. I shoot: I take the same -10% penalty to my Shooting score (100), no other factors apply; I roll d100 = 37. I hit! But did I do damage? I roll 1d6 + the gun's penetration value = 1 + 5 = 6. I compare this to the Toughness of the dinosaur, 6 vs 7. It bounces off his scaly hide! Drat!

According to the rules, Stegosauruses (Stegosauri?) are not very bright, but they will charge anyone shooting at them. I am in his front facing, so he can see me, even though I have a cloud of black powder smoke around me, and I am in cover. Nevertheless, he will charge me at his fearsome 4" per turn!

Turn 5. I choose not to move. Dinosaur encounter roll = 11%. No other dinosaurs are encountered. The Stegosaurus moves 4" closer to me.

He may be big and slow, but he won't stop. Keep shooting!

I decide to shoot again. The same modifiers apply. My Awareness roll = 61 vs 90. I am aware. My misfire roll = 48 vs 3. No misfire. My Shooting roll = 78 vs 90. I hit! Damage = 2 + 5 = 7 compared to Toughness of 7. No effect!

Uh oh.

I decide to stand my ground.

Turn 6. I choose not to move. Dinosaur encounter roll = 54%. No other dinosaurs are encountered. The Stegosaurus moves 4" closer to me.

He's getting closer....

I decide to shoot again. I will take down this dinosaur, or run at the last second! The same modifiers no longer apply. The Stegosaurus is now closer than 12" from me! My Awareness roll = 97 vs 99 (100 is always a miss). I am aware. (I actually had to re-roll this, as the first time I rolled 97 vs 90, not realizing the dinosaur was now only 10" away. After I re-rolled, I rationalized it as the clouds of powder smoke clearing....) My misfire roll = 54 vs 3. No misfire. My Shooting roll = 97(!) vs 99. I hit! Penetration = 5 + 5 = 10 compared to Toughness of 7. A hit! Was it a critical? I roll d100 = 76, no critical, so I deduct the rifle's Damage Factor from the Stegosaurus's Damage Value; 12 - 8 = 4.

According to the rules, if one shot removes more than half its remaining Damage Value, it is stunned.

The Stegosaurus is stunned! It falls over. Huzzah! That's good, because he was getting pretty close.

The ground trembles as the multi-ton monster falls over.

Turn 7. I choose not to move. Dinosaur encounter roll = 38%. No other dinosaurs are encountered (which is probably a good thing, since I'm having so much trouble with just one). The Stegosaurus has fallen over and does not rise (I forgot until just now that it should have had a chance to stand, 4+ on 1d6. Oops. Oh well).

I decide to shoot yet again. My Awareness roll = 54 vs 99 (seems a little silly to roll for Awareness of a downed, motionless dinosaur at which I've been shooting continuously for 3 turns, but them's the rules). I am aware. My misfire roll = 35 vs 3, no misfire. My Shooting roll = 3 vs 99. I hit! Penetration = 3 + 5 = 8 vs Toughness 7 = I hit! Was it a critical? I roll d100 = 77, no critical. I deduct the rifle's Damage rating from the Stegosaurus's Damage Value; (now)4 - 8 = -4. It's dead!

Turn 8. I decide to run off the table. I roll 2d6 = 7". Dinosaur encounter roll = 55%. No other dinosaurs are encountered.

Turn 9. I decide to run off the table. I roll 2d6 = 4". Dinosaur encounter roll = 43%. No other dinosaurs are encountered, which is good since it's taking me longer to RUN off the table than it did to WALK on at the start.

Turn 10. I finally run off the table, 2d6 = 7". Dinosaur encounter roll = 68%. A dinosaur is encountered! It is another Stegosaurus, but since I have now left the table I don't go any further with the results. (This was partly because I was time-crunched in real life, too).

Verdict: A successful dinosaur-hunting expedition. I bagged a dinosaur and survived. I may have acted somewhat overly-cautious and dare-I-say-it cowardly, but my only other experience is with AitLL, where the ferocious dinos are ferocious indeed! Plus, I didn't have a lot a time to play as thoroughly as I would have liked, but the mere fact that I was able to play A GAME in 30 minutes, at all, is a "good thing" in my opinion.

I will definitely be returning to these rules sooner rather than later.

Thanks for reading!

45. Familiar Beginnings

2011-09-15T17:47:00.001-05:00

I've recently taken an interest in dinosaur hunting. You may recall I did some a year or so ago (here and here), using Two Hour Wargames' "Adventures in the Lost Lands" rules. While those were perfectly satisfactory, I am an inveterate rules-buyer. I really enjoy reading different rulesets, and seeing the different mechanisms authors use to achieve basically the same end results. For example, d6 vs d10 vs d20 vs 2d6; staggered turn sequences; written orders; solo options; and so on. All of it is absolutely fascinating to me.

So I've been on a dinosaur-hunting-ruleset hunt. I've just read through "Saurian Safari" and have "Tooth and Claw" on order. I've also found several free rulesets, too. I might go into more detail after I've had a chance to read through them.

One of the natural by-products of gaming, for me, is feeding that fascination with a particular topic through reading regular books. For Colonialism, I've read more historical accounts of the British in the Sudan, the Zulu war, and Afghanistan in the last three years then I had my whole life previously.

I tend to get really interested in a subject, sometimes with only the slightest impetus, and it absolutely consumes me. Right now, that subject is Lost World-type stories. It all started with "Adventures in the Lost Lands," but it simmered below the surface for the last year, and it only really ignited with my last post about my Cavemen and Cavewomen. While I was tracking down images of Raquel Welch in "One Million Years B.C." I was reminded of the great old movies that I had watched in my youth, and not again since then: the aforementioned Raquel Welch film, but also "The Land That Time Forgot" from 1975 and its sequel "The People That Time Forgot." (Interesting footnote: Michael Moorcock is co-credited as screenwriter in "The Land....")

Reminiscing about the movies got me thinking about the books from which they originated. I didn't recall that I had ever read them, so mere moments later I had Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World," Edgar Rice Burroughs's "The Land That Time Forgot," and Jules Verne's "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" all downloaded for FREE on my Kindle. (I also then discovered that "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" is not a translation so much as it is a rewrite. A truer original translation is to be found in the version called, "A Journey into the Interior of the Earth." I've been reading both, side by side, one chapter at a time, and it's fascinating how the story is the same and yet different. Alas, that's a topic for a whole 'nother time...)

The thing that struck me first, though, as I perused the beginnings of each book, were their similarities. "Duh," I hear you say, "they're all about lost worlds." True, but I mean something much more specific.

To wit:

"The Lost World," Chapter 1: "But who--who in all this wide world could ever have imagined the incredible shape which that deed was to take, or the strange steps by which I was led to the doing of it?"

"The Land That Time Forgot," Chapter 1: "It seems incredible that all that I have passed through--all those weird and terrifying experiences--should have been encompassed within so short a span as three brief months. Rather might I have experienced a cosmic cycle, with all its changes and evolutions for that which I have seen with my own eyes in this brief interval of time--things that no other mortal eye had seen before, glimpses of a world past, a world dead, a world so long dead that even in the lowest Cambrian stratum no trace of it remains."

"A Journey to the Centre of the Earth," Chapter 1: "Looking back to all that has occurred to me since that eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality of my adventures. They were truly so wonderful that even now I am bewildered when I think of them."

"At the Earth's Core," Preface: "In the first place please bear in mind that I do not expect you to believe this story."

Hm, well, they seemed more similar before I copied them all here. It seemed to me they all began in the same way: "I've had an amazing trip, and seen things no one will believe, and how could it only have taken X months?"

Memory is a funny thing. The actual beginnings are sort of similar but not as much as I believed.

Oh well, they're still great fun to read!

44. Nudity! I Knew That Would Get Your Attention.

2011-08-29T21:11:00.004-05:00

So after all my "dipping" I decided to take a short break and paint normal. I still wanted to get something finished fairly quickly but I was ready for something different, too. Thus, Snowmen Monsters from Copplestone Castings. And their Evil Penguin Masters. Mua-ha-ha-haaa! (Or whatever sound an Evil Penguin would make when it laughs evilly.)

Moe, Larry and Curly. Or is it Huey, Duey and Louie? Or is it Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dumber? The penguins are Frik and Frak.

They were fun-fun to paint, and just so bizarre that I can't not smile whenever I think about plonking them down on the table. They were also incredibly fast to paint. I started with a black undercoat, then highlighted by drybrushing first black+black+grey, then black+grey, then grey, then grey+grey+white, then grey+white, then a final light pure white highlight.

. . .

O.K., I'm totally kidding.

After them, I decided to get a small clan of Cavemen and Cavewomen together for my Adventures in the Lost Lands games. I continued with my Copplestone figure lineup. I really like the tattoos on the figures in the painted example photos on the Copplestone website, but at the same time I didn't want to just copy them outright. I opted not to paint tattoos for two reasons: 1, I didn't want to copy, as I said, and 2, I think it obscures the figure to some degree. I really wanted to work on the "skin tone" on these figs so I didn't want anything to cover it up.

The four major hair colors are well-represented in Caveman hair salons.

Of course, considering how my skin tone turned out, tattooing may have been the better option. Perhaps totally blue, all over, from head to toe. Then again, I could have taken the middle road and just put a small tattoo somewhere, but quite frankly by the time I thought of it, I was ready to be finished and move on to new figs.

My patience for painting is seriously short these days. I used to be able to spend 8 to 12 hours on a single figure, getting the details just right, and not think twice about it. Now if I spend 8 hours on 10 figures I feel it's taking too long! I ain't getting any younger, y'know.

And in case you're wondering about the nudity mentioned in the title of this post, of course I meant that the SNOWMEN are naked. And the penguins.

You pervert. What, you were expecting something else?

. . .

O.K., I'm just kidding again.

I got a couple of topless Cavewomen here too. I should remark that I prefer my Cavewomen ahistorical, and more in line with Raquel Welch in "One Million Years B.C." without any hint of shame or self-reproach.

Raquel Welch. Homina-homina-homina.

. . .

I'm sorry, where was I? I seem to have lost my train of thought....

In the interest of complete disclosure, I should add that I also prefer historical Cavemen to the ahistorical type. Not in that way! For their historical accuracy, of course. Yeesh! See below for an example.

Oh look, Raquel's in that picture too, how funny.... Anyway, Cavemen should be wild, woolly, dangerous and dirty. Cavewomen, on the other hand, have their fingernails and toenails painted, and wear eye shadow.

Hey! My gaming is my escapism! You go do what you want with your figures, and I'll paint mine how I want.

On to nudity! Well, two topless Cavewomen, anyhow.

These are very stylish Cavewomen. This is my first attempt at a leopard pattern, and a tiger skin. I'm happy with the leopard, not as much with the tiger skin. A trifle too orange, I think. But then I think, who's looking at her loincloth?

Here is a gratuitous rear view, because I don't want you thinking I'm only interested in them being topless. They look good coming or going. You'll notice I have not included a rear-view of the Cavemen. You may thank me now.

Sadly, right after I took these pictures, I dropped the Cavegirl on the far right and broke off her axe. I was able to glue it back, but there is a join line that wasn't in evidence before the accident, and I didn't have time to repaint it before I had to go to work. It's not too bad, and as little as I play it will never be a problem.

So I got my "paint normal" urge satisfied. The four Cavemen took me roughly 6-7 hours, and the four Cavewomen took about 8 hours total. Like I mentioned earlier, I got no time for spendin' 28 hours on a single miniature like them thar professionals you see online. I gots mountains of lead figures jest waitin' for paintin'. I gots to go!

An example of my non sequitur gaming style. The Clan of the Cavepeople don't know what to make of this intrusion into their idyllic lives...but surely hard flint weapons will soon sort these beasties out!

Thanks for reading, and you can put your eyes back in your head now. Raquel has left the cave.

43. I Continue to Game in Public

2011-08-27T20:58:00.000-05:00

In August a couple of weeks ago, I attending a local one-day miniatures mini-convention near where I live: Skirmish. It's put on a by local group called the DFW Irregulars who themselves are part of the Lone Star Historical Miniatures group. I first attended two years ago but was not able to attend last year. This year's con was slightly larger than 2009's, in that they had expanded from one large room to include a medium sized room as well. It's been reported that they had 92 attendees and 26 games across three time slots. There were several local vendors as well: Texas Toy Soldier (also dba The Terrain Guy), Grenadier Books, Portsmouth Miniatures, and Frontline Games.

I think originally, Skirmish was intended as a Historical miniatures gaming convention, but (wisely, in my opinion) they expanded the selection to allow non-historical games. Dr. Who, zombies, and other fantasy and sci-fi games were in strong evidence.

I invited four friends who have an interest in gaming, but who don't game for one reason or another. Of the four, one accepted and came for two of the sessions. I think he had fun. This is an improvement on 2009 for me, when I invited two friends (different to this year) and neither of them came. But one of them was kind enough to call me during the first session to tell me I could come with him to a new game group to play Descent that afternoon if I wanted to....

Any area's miniature gaming aficionados are, by virtue of the hobby we love, a small group of people. You see the same faces time after time, at one game store's open gaming and another game store's open gaming. So it pays to have thick skin and not make enemies. I'm definitely seeing many of the same faces the more I game locally, which is a really good thing, and I can wholeheartedly say that I didn't have a problem with any attendee or GM at Skirmish. What's even more amazing is that our "area" is a very large geographic area, encompassing all of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex, and a lot of these guys drive an hour just to get to the convention. I think that shows more than anything else how small and insular our hobby is: 92 people came to play, out of a combined city-wide population of 6.4 million and 9,000 square miles! So if you find someone with whom to game, with whom you like to spend time, HOLD ON TO THEM!

Your Honor, I give you Exhibit A: Exhibit Hall A, that is. Heh heh, forgive me, your Honor. What? Contempt of court!? Why you...!

Did I forget to mention they had Flames of War and Field of Glory tournaments running from 0900 to 2245? Well, they did. In fact, here they are.

Overlooking our Sudan game in room B.

Anyway, here are some select pictures of my games. I took a lot with my phone again, but won't subject you to them all. I've not included anyone's last name, as I didn't ask permission before posting on my blog here. Privacy, don'cha know.

My first game was a The Sword and the Flame (modified) game in the Sudan, run by Greg W. From the Event description: "December, 1885. Khartoum has fallen: Gordon is dead, but so is the Mahdi. The Khalifa is now the leader, and has concentrated thousands of warriors around the Nile town of Ginnis for a possible invasion of Egypt. To counter this threat, the British, in a surprise move, have concentrated their forces North of the village of Kosha, with a plan to take both towns."

And that's exactly what happened. I set up my 3 artillery and one unit of rifles, and the British pretty much rolled in and ran us out of town! It was a fun game, ably run by an experienced GM, although either our setup or the general disposition of forces unbalanced it slightly. Note the left flank British player who never made contact the entire game. And our reinforcements, to which he was reacting, were too long in arriving (ie, they never made it on the table). More details in the pictures with pertinent highlights. (Edited clarification: I wasn't the only Dervish player. There were 3 of us and 4 British players.)

The Locals' disposition. My rifles occupied the black rock (the hill in the foreground) next to a cannon.

Before the battle, showing the British deployment. Yes, they started that close to us. It represented the surprise attack factor.

In my first real die roll of the game, my brass cannon (the best of the three) managed to first misfire (rolled a 6) and then explode (rolled a second 6). Ahh, yes, a special way to begin a full day of gaming.

The Fuzzy Wuzzies stream out to attack. Too bad for them they all get killed, pretty much without ever making contact. There was a British gunboat behind us (out of the picture to the right) blasting away unanswered. The problem was compounded by the front groups rolling poorly for movement and blocking up the rear groups, who rolled really well for movement. Bummer.

One of my other cannons, that did not misfire. I got a few good hits in before it was over-run.


The Egyptians storm the black rock. Bring it on!

The Egyptians are seen off by the defenders (noble, heroic) of the black rock. Yay me, and my dice rolling skills (for once).

Unfortunately, the Egyptians have more than one method of accomplishing Britian's will. Their shooting saw off the defenders (cowardly, dastardly) of the black rock. That was pretty close to the end of the game, anyhow.

Daily wins/losses: Me 0, The Other Side 1.

The second session had my friend and I playing in Doctor Who, Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150 AD. From the description: "They've bombarded us with meteorites, subjected us to cosmic rays, smashed our cities, destroyed whole
continents of people! Some of us they've turned into living dead. Robomen. But I tell you this, the wheel's turning full circle. Our day's coming! Take control of the Doctor's most frightful enemy, the Daleks, or play the resistance and fight back against the motorized dustbins and take back the streets of London. The scenario loosely covers that battle between humans, Daleks, and Robomen before the arrival of the Doctor as the rebellion matches tyranny with courage against technological superiority."

We used the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) rules, GM'd by Jamie M. They had fantastic urban rubble terrain, and Dalek miniatures are always cool. My Robomen didn't fare too well, and my friend Carl (who was playing the Resistance) got the first Dalek kill of the game, and a nifty real 20mm cannon shell as a reward! The game played so fast with only four players (2 per side) that we switched sides and played again. This time, my side still lost; however, I completed my unit's individual mission: I retrieved the stolen plans and got them off the table. (Of course, it took the sacrifice of both the UNIT soldiers to do so, but that's the level of commitment required to fight Daleks.) And at the end of the game, all the players received a prize: yes, these guys are the coolest. I got the First Doctor, from Black Tree Design. Yay! Also, I didn't realize it at the time, but these rules are actually free to download.

The ruined landscape of London.

Classic Robomen. Hey, I think that guys owes me money. Yo, pay up, being a Roboman is no excuse.

The fearless Robomen open fire at the Resistance. Fearless doesn't mean bulletproof, unfortunately.

Daleks prowl the streets, attended by Robomen.

The three pictures above illustrate what happens when you try to take on Daleks single-handedly. "The Last Hope of Humankind" (who appears to be Charlie Manson!) merely draws their attention to himself. He was actually able to run away around the corner, but then came back and ended up in the third picture, mano-y-Daleko. Mano lose-o.

The Doctor does not appear in this game, but his TARDIS does.

The second game. I'm the Resistance. I had to get into this particular building in the middle of the board, get the "attack plans," and get them off my table edge. I had two UNIT soldiers and one Resistance fighter. Here, a UNIT soldier takes aim at a HUGE group of approaching Daleks and Robomen. Holy cow!

A UNIT soldier blasts a Roboman.

Daily wins/losses: Me 0, The Other Side 3.

For the last session, I played on the same table (the terrain was re-arranged) a game of 7TV. This was The Man with Silver Hands and the Silver Nemeses. The description: "Remember all those bad films that played on Saturday Afternoon in the early 90’s and late 80’s. Have you ever thought, why doesn’t that bad guy just kill James Bond? This is that game. Everything you loved
about the Prisoner, the Saint and pulpy spy television is here. In the year 2000 two individuals fell back in time, the insane Doc Grinder (cybernetic fiend of tomorrow) and the mysterious man with silver hands. Now in 2011 the endgame has come. Doc has unleashed his horde of the “silver nemeses” on a small town taking the inhabitants as subjects for experimentation. The man with the silver hands and Department X must stop Doc Grinder before he unleashes his sinister plan for world domination. The rules are very simple to learn. Be prepared for a general level of campy-ness and puns."

Interestingly, these rules are very nearly the same as DWMG, as they're written by the same folks, so the concepts and execution are very similar. Doc Grinder was actually an NPC, so I took the role of a group of Metal-nauts, intent on showing the world that the cyber way of "life" is better than the squishy way most humans live it. My squad of baddies (so-called, quote-unquote) technically lost (since they all died) but my sacrifice bought Doc Grinder the time he needed to activate his time machine and escape, thereby winning the game, and winning for me a real 20mm cannon shell! Yay!

This game was GM'd by Brian G., and was a lot of fun. I enjoy campy games, and this had lots of camp. He also awarded prizes, and I received two miniatures: Tweedy Mattison & WPC May Killan (aka, one of the newest Doctor Who's and companion). Very cool.

Not-necessarily-London. The Man with Silver Hands (TMWSH) must get from left to right. My Metal-nauts must stop him.

Certain select humans were "honored" by Doc Grinder by being put in stasis, in anticipation of being turned into Metal-nauts. TMWSH got points for freeing them.

Doc Grinder's Metal-nauts. Hey, I think that guys owes me money. Yo, pay up, being a Metal-naut is no excuse.

A very cool, removable-roof building, highly detailed. My Metal-nauts aren't doing very well at this particular moment.

Metal-nauts fire at a Department X operative...and miss.

Somehow or another, I got two Metal-nauts into contact with TMWSH (center right of the picture). And somehow or another, I had his neck in my metal vice-like grip. I almost was able to kill him. If you think this is out of the spirit of the game, let me draw your attention to the Event Description: "Have you ever thought, why doesn’t that bad guy just kill James Bond?" Well, that's what I was attempting to do.

As it turns out, I was not able to kill TMWSH. In point of fact, he killed my Metal-naut. But I had slowed ALL of the so-called Good Guys down long enough for Turn 10 to arrive, and then I rolled exactly what I needed for Doc Grinder to escape (I think it was a 6; the same as I had rolled to start the day when my cannon blew up; I could be mistaken. But it was a very difficult roll to make, one that would become easier as Turns progressed.) That blue star in the lower right is the gadgety machine propelling the Doc to safety. Bwa-ha-ha-haaa! Yay evil!

Daily wins/losses: Me 1, The Other Side 3.

In the end, a good time was had by all (well, by me, at least). My thanks to the guys of DFW Irregulars for putting this on each year.

Thanks for reading!

42. I Game in Public

2011-08-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

As the title says, I game in public. This may be hard to believe for those who know me in person, but I assure you it's true.

Back at the end of June my job put me in Columbus, OH, on the opening day of the Origins Game Fair, June 23rd. It was purest coincidence but a wonderful coincidence at that. I was able to attend only that one day, and it was literally last minute. I dragged myself out of bed extra early and headed over. Unbelievably my hotel was a mere ten minute walk away. By the end of an hour, I had registered and signed up for two games. I am usually a planner but this was all done on the fly. I wandered the exhibit hall until it closed, bought some cool things, then headed over to my games.

Here are the pictures I took with my phone. I took A LOT of pictures, but despite my phone having a higher megapixel count than my home camera it doesn't have the light sensitivity it could, so many photos came out blurry (it does very well in sunlight and static scenes; not so well with indoor lighting and movement, but it's a PHONE not a camera, so oh well). I have not included all the pictures I took; I wouldn't inflict that kind of torture on you, my voluntary blog-reader!

One thing I confirmed for myself is that I won't do conventions alone any more, at least not by prior choice. That's why I stayed home from Gencon this year: no one to go with. It's really not much fun wandering the con solo. However, next year's plans are already in the works. Fear not for my mental health.

The Welcome sign at the Exhibit Hall entrance.

Looking to the left of the Welcome sign near Badge Registration: the stairs. What I found cool is the projected images on the stair steps. I'm not sure where the projectors were. I thought it was pretty neat.

Inside the Exhibit Hall, near the paint & take tables. I couldn't get an in-focus shot of the Hall very well. It was a good-sized Hall for Origins, and there were a lot of big name vendors there, as well as some new names I hadn't heard much of before. Apparently the Hall was sold out: good news indeed in "this economy."

A really cool tapestry/rug by a vendor (sorry, don't remember who).

A cool VSF model. I can't remember which booth it was at, or for which game. I should have taken more notes; now it's been two months and I've forgotten everything.

The other side of the above picture, same booth. It is difficult to make out, but it's a 3D VSF battle scene.

Victorian Science Fiction is making a huge come-back (has it been and gone already?), or perhaps that should read, is really getting popular now. A booth of foam (but real-looking) swords, and various costumes. One booth of about four, as I recall.

I love large gaming artwork. I'm sure I've got a wall that would fit it, but I don't have a wife who would allow it.

Another booth of VSF costumes. It seems the VSF crowd is more of a LARP-type of gamer, or at the least someone who likes to dress in costume, even if they don't play. I wonder if the VSF gamer and the VSF costumer ever overlap?

A selection of rather pricey hats. $80 for something I can ONLY wear at a game convention? How do people justify the expense?

I almost bought the Beholder hat, but just couldn't quite convince myself to do so.

I got to play the first convention demo game of Tomorrow's War, by Ambush Alley Games, published by Osprey. It was at the Osprey booth, and it was a verrrry simple scenario. I have to admit it didn't do a lot to tell me about the game, but I have to give the presenter a little slack, in that it was THE first game so he was a trifle rusty on the rules. From everything I've read about the game, it's one I will be picking up when it's published in October.

More VSF goodness: prop hand guns.

A view of the right half of the Miniatures Gaming Hall. There were a lot of tables, and while possibly 30% to 50% were empty, keep in mind it was only the first day of the con.

What follows here is a selection of the tables in the Miniatures Gaming Hall.

Very large table of naval gaming.

Some of the ships from the previous game's vendor. Where would you store them??? How would you get them home???

A scratchbuild 'Mech terrain board.

A very cool layered depth table.

I overheard that the space dock was scratchbuilt. Very cool.

The second game I played, a demo of a then-as-yet unpublished game called Leviathans by Catalyst Game Labs. It is available for purchase now, I believe. In this photo, it was so new they didn't have all the ships models yet. I liked it. VSF strikes again!

Another 'Mech-type table. More cool SF terrain.

This was a very large table, or perhaps it's just that the miniatures were very small. It was either Microarmor, or some other 1:6000 scale game. There are a lot of tanks on that board!

My last game, and the one that took the longest to play: Isandlwana, using the PIQUET: Din of Battle Supplement.

A grand scale battle, beautifully painted figures, lovely terrain.

I played the "chest" portion of the Zulu attack. Part of the reason I wanted to play was because I have never been able to play this battle, but I was also very interested in the rules. I have heard differing opinions of them and wanted to see for myself.

Now, there may be certain rules mechanics that are simplified for a convention game, but in the final analysis I don't think I will buy these rules for myself. It was a well-run game by an umpire with plenty of experience, but the mechanics lacked what I felt was necessary for a sweeping, horde of warriors. In the end, the British retained their position, and the outcome was never truly in doubt. I am very glad I played, and if any Piquet defenders want to chime in and change my mind I am willing to listen. I also realize one should not make a decision to like or dislike a set of rules after only one outing, but I don't see myself being able to play again...possibly ever. No one near me plays them at all!

One of my biggest concerns was not buying too much. I wanted to buy a lot more than I did, but not because I couldn't spend the money, but because I had no way to transport it home! I hadn't packed in such a way to carry loads of gaming goodness with me, so I was very tight on space afterwards. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

That's it for my (very late) Origins 2011 report. It doesn't really show you what you missed so much as it helps me to remember what I did. But thanks for reading, anyway!

Next up, a shorter report on a smaller con: Skirmish 2011.

41. The Quick and the Dead...Quickly

2011-08-06T16:03:00.000-05:00

Following on from my last post, regarding my success with "dipping" my Arabs, I mentioned that I was going for a change of pace and would try dipping some 28mm Zombies.

Here are the final results.

"Huurrrr," shamble, shamble, shuffle, "Braaiins."

I did 25 Zombies from Victory Force miniatures in 7 hours! For me, that's an all-time painting speed record. Granted, all I did was a very simple one-color coat, then dipped, then drybrushed some highlights back on. But even so, it was extremely fast; faster even than the Arabs (10 hours for 20 figures).

The preparation time was relatively minimal: some filing was necessary but not extreme. The most difficult part was getting the feet tab to fit into the slot on the base: they required quite a bit of hard filing to get them narrow enough.

And as I mentioned last post, while I don't really like zombies, these are nice sculpts. They are fairly benign insofar as the "that's disgusting" factor is concerned, and really just look like ordinary people who ended up on the wrong side of the zombie apocalypse. There are also a couple of famous persons who have been zombified (you can see them in the pictures below).

Just click on all photos to enlarge them, assuming you can stand to look that closely at rotting walking human beings.

The following pictures show the progression of painting, starting with the flat single coat before dipping. All I did was "stay within the lines," and even with the many different colors used it was still pretty fast.


Zombies 1 - 5. You may have had Names in Life, but now you're just a Number....

Zombies 6 - 10


Zombies 11 - 15

Zombies 16 - 20

Zombie 21 - 25. The lovey Ladies.

These next pictures show the final results after dipping, highlighting and finishing the bases. One crucial difference between these dips and the Arab dips is that I used the Classic Black Minwax water-based wood stain for the dipping (and NOT the Coffee color Minwax water-based wood stain which I used on the Arabs). (I have a more in-depth explanation of that process a couple of posts back). I felt the black was more in keeping with urban undead than a brown would be.

Zombies 1 - 5

Zombies 6 - 10. The Famous Zombies: Jughead, Hitler, Jim Henson (that's a Kermit the Frog on his shirt, hand-painted), and either Elvis or Evel Knievel; and some not-famous lady to make it 5 figures).

A closer look at the three big famous-ies: Hitler (I realized his uniform's color is probably not historically accurate, but I felt the need for artistic license: he's a frikkin zombie, for crying out loud); Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets and Kermit the Frog; and either Elvis Presley or Evel Knievel the daredevil motorcycle stuntman). I don't really know if Victory Force intended these guys to be who they are, but that's who they looked like to me, so that's how I painted 'em.

Zombies 11 - 15. As I was painting this group, I realized I had unintentionally painted the second-from-left zombie as Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. His shirt was originally a plain maroon, but when I realized what I had done, I added the black stripes on his shoulders to match the TV uniform. The only trouble is the figure is quite obviously wearing tennis shoes, so maybe he is a Trekkie convention-goer.

Zombies 16 - 20

Zombies 21 - 25. The Ladies of Zombie.

The square shapes on the bases are pieces of masking tape. I had to cover the holes on either side of the feet where the miniature's tab fit into the slotta base, and I had originally intended to use my usual technique of gluing sand on the base to cover those pieces of tape. But after thinking about it, I didn't feel green grass was entirely appropriate for the walking dead, so I painted the bases a "sidewalk grey" and I think the random squares help add to that perception.

Now the next thing I need to do is paint some Survivors. They will necessarily require a bit more personal attention than the hordes of shambling undead, so my dipping days are at a (temporary) end. Except for the fact that I want to go back to my Arabs and knock out some more squads for The Sword and the Flame; my French Foreign Legion is spoiling for a fight! I am becoming addicted to getting units painted and ready for the table. This is not a feeling to which I am accustomed....

My next big challenge is actually getting to be home long enough to paint something at all. My job keeps me away for long periods, but it also allows me to buy new toys so I guess it's a marginally fair trade.

Thanks for reading!

40. My Dipping Results

2011-07-20T18:37:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned last post, I'm traveling a lot, so I haven't had much time to paint. However, the dipping process is so fast that I now have two sets of 20-man Arab units finished! The hardest thing for me now is finding time to take pictures and get a blog post written.

So here are my Arabs. They are Old Glory, from their Sons of the Desert range. All pictures are clickable.


SOD-06 Arabs Attacking with Spears

SOD-05 Arabs Attacking with Swords

Each pack contains 30 figures in 10 poses. To construct a 20-man unit, I took two of each pose to have the maximum figure variety. I then painted parallel figures in "opposing" colors; that is to say, if the body was dark brown with light sleeves on one, I painted the second figure with a light body and dark sleeves. I used the same limited color palette on all of them, primarily two colors of brown, with an occasional third just for variety. I did all this "in general," and felt justified in varying as I wanted.

For the unit leader, I gave him a red turban/headdress to help single him out on the table. For the unit second-in-command, I painted some part of him in a light purple/lavender color; nothing too bright, just enough to help him stand out a little.

For the spearmen I had to create the spears. I did not buy the pack of spears from Old Glory because I had read about making them yourself -- more inexpensively. Naturally, I had to buy my item twice to get the effect I wanted, but it still ended up being cheaper. I first used 20 ga. florist wire but this was a trifle too small in diameter and would bend. So I next used 18 ga. florist wire and it worked a treat (as my British friends say). I snipped the wire at around 1.25" long, and tried to give the "pointy end" a pointy end. I had read where some people would take a ball-peen hammer and give the spear tip a hard hit, thereby producing a flattened spear blade. However, and oddly enough, this florist wire was very hard, and would not flatten easily. So I contented myself with making the cuts at an angle as much as possible, and the end is pointy enough to draw blood from my finger. If you look closely at the back end of the spear, it's pretty pointy too, but paint draws the eye and makes it all o.k. For the end result, I think they look fine.

When I came to the unit with swords, I ran into a problem. The metal Old Glory uses for these figures is very soft, and many of the swords did not survive the bag. Most of them were bent, and several were broken off. Naturally they broke at the hilt, so simply supergluing them back in place was not an option. I ended up making a couple of new swords out of the same metal rod I used to make the spears. Of course this meant that the swords are not flat, in fact they're more a sort of club, but the effect I wanted was achieved: from a distance, everyone has a sword. I also was not able to keep to my standard of "two men of each pose" as so many of the swords were broken, and I did not want to take the extra time to mend them. Instead I went with as many figures as possible with unbroken swords, then fixed the fewest number I needed to. This led to three-of-a-pose in two cases, and I also ended up repairing swords after this as well.

Nevertheless, dipping -- and painting with the mindset of dipping -- is remarkably fast. I just keep telling myself that these are not my pride-of-place miniatures, so it's O.K. to be in a hurry. 'Gotta keep reminding myself of that fact. I think they look pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. For the two units, each group of 20 has taken roughly 10 hours of actual painting time, including the bases. That's about 30 minutes per figure. This does not include the prep time, though, but I don't think that took me more than 2 hours at the most per group of 20. I don't usually keep track of prep time, but I do track my painting time, so that's the only real comparison I can make with my previous painting time and style. For me, this is extremely fast. Your mileage may vary.

I also painted these two guys lying down from the swords package. I don't really plan to use them, as I consider "lying down" figures about the most useless figures possible. "Here, let me advance my fast-moving, Arabs charging with swords into your flank. But just ignore these two guys, they're having a little lie down, got a headache don'cha know." I mean, I can appreciate them for a more diorama feel, but how am I supposed to attack with guys on their stomachs? I know an army travels on its stomach, but they didn't mean it literally! But, I wanted to go ahead and paint them while I as at it, as I likely won't be back around to that package of figures ever again. Maybe if they'd been shooting, kinda like snipers or something, I could find a use for them, but as it is, well.... And just how do they fit in with the "swordsmen" when all they have is a knife and a rifle? Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it.

"Do you see anything?" "No, I don't see anything, do you see anything?" "No, I don't see anything, do you see anything?" "No, I don't see anything, do you see anything?"

Glamour shot of my Arabs, attacking over some sand dunes I attempted to make recently. This is the first chance I've had to photograph the hills. I'm not totally happy with how the dunes turned out.

Next up, I'm taking a quick detour down Zombie Lane (sorry, no picutures yet). My bird-like attention span was saturated with Arabs, and I want to try out the dipping technique on something else. I had previously bought 50 zombies from Victory Force when they ran their "50 Zombies for $50" special (which they do from time to time; keep watching as it's a really good bargain).

Now, normally I'm not a huge fan of zombies. How can you tell someone that their lovingly painted, intricately detailed figure of an undead, intestine-trailing, limbless rotting human being "looks good"? I appreciate the zombie genre, but I don't live for it (pun intended).

However, I have to say these zombies have a surprising amount of personality to them. They are a nice selection of normal people who have had the utter misfortune to be turned into the walking dead (and I do mean walking, ZOMBIES DO NOT RUN; sorry, got sidetracked there), with a few recognizable historical/fictional persons thrown in as well. More on that aspect next post.

I'm currently prepping 25 zombies for priming, filing down their mold and flash lines. The metal Victory Force uses is much harder than Old Glory, and shinier too for what that's worth. The figures are reasonably clean to begin with, but because the metal is harder it takes just a little longer to get that mold line removed. (And I WILL remove all mold lines, I don't care if they are ugly, rotting, limbless, intestine-trailing figures, I will not paint a figure with mold lines showing.) But that's fairly easy; the hardest part was removing enough of the "foot tab" for the figure to be able to fit into the slot on the plastic base (included in the order, BTW). However, before I last left home, I was able to get all 25 prepped and glued in place. When next I'm home, I will need to fill the gaps left between the foot tab and the edges of the slot, and then they'll be ready for spray priming.

I hope to use a simple color palette and painting technique on them, as well, to speed them up as much as possible. I plan on using more modern day colors: blue jeans, brighter shirts, etc, and then a very pale/almost dead white skin tone, and then a dip in the Classic Black stain instead of the brown. But we shall see, as it's all subject to change after the first one gets it's bath.

Thanks for reading!

39. My Nerve...Restored

2011-07-05T17:44:00.000-05:00

Good news, everyone! I no longer consider myself a painting coward.

It came about like this: After my failure at the tree, er, sorry, my failure to man up enough to "dip" my figures, I was faced with the option of what to do.

Because the whole point of dipping is to save time and money (but mainly time), I decided to throw money at the problem. I went right out and bought another can of Minwax's Water-Based Wood Stain, and this time I very carefully considered the color samples in the store. Here are a couple of pictures I took with my phone, using ambient lighting.

You can see that the Classic Black has some brown in it (which is why I went with it the first time); the American Walnut is less dark and more brown, and the Coffee is lighter still. I opted for Coffee.

Here are the results of my first attempts.

After washing in Coffee stain, no highlighting.

I was afraid that it was still too dark. I began to wonder if there was something even lighter brown than Coffee.

Left: washed with Classic Black stain; Right; washed with Coffee stain. You can really see the difference in colors this way.

However, before I spent another $11 + change, I decided to try the Future Magic Wash.

I took the darkest brown paint I have, and liberally added it to the Magic Wash. I then washed this mixture on the two figures on the right (picture below). The two on the left are washed with Coffee stain.

Left: Dipped in Coffee stain; Right: washed with Magic Wash.

I added what I felt was a sufficient quantity of paint, but it barely even stained the figures, as you can see. Apparently I need to add a lot more paint.

So I got to thinking: the point of using either Polyshades or Future is to both wash and seal the figure in a protective clear-coat layer all in one step. That is part of the time-saving feature. However, I don't like Polyshades and the Future didn't work for me, so any time advantages I might have gained I would have to give up.

I realized that I am less interested in the time-saving aspect than I originally thought. I still want a good-looking figure, but I could just as easily have taken my brown paint and washed the figures instead of diluting it in the Magic Wash. I still don't like non-water-based agents, which is a shame because you can get a pint of Minwax Polyshades for around $7 which is more than enough to cover all the minis I have; instead I had to buy a quart (because the color is custom mixed) and it cost me around $11. So now I have two quarts of two different brown stains, plus a bottle of Future floor polish (mostly unused) which originally cost me around $5. In other words, I've spent roughly $27 plus tax, and for $30 I could have had one of The Army Painter's Quickshades (although, again, they're non-water-based and only about a pint in size).

But, y'know, sometimes I enjoy the discovery process. And I like to be reminded that more often than not, time-saving shortcuts are not.

Therefore I finally committed to the Coffee stain, and through trial and error on the amount of stain-on-brush to use I got the following results.

Washed with Coffee stain.

In the end, I ended up going back over the figures with a quick dry-brushed highlight, then spraying a clear-coat protectant like I do for all my normal painting.

Simple drybrushed highlight over the wash.

I'll have to double-check my records when I get home, but these twenty men took me (I think) about 10 hours start to finish (that is, from first paint application to finishing the bases; it does not include filing the metal).

The two on the right are the same two that I earlier Magic Washed.

That works out to 1/2 an hour per figure, which for me is pretty darn fast. I expect it will go even faster on the next group, and the next, etc. Unfortunately, with 6-8 more groups of twenty to go, and the ability to paint only 10 days out of the month (and spread out, not ten in a row), it will still take me forever to finish....

...sigh...

Still, I persevere!

Thanks for reading. Here are some pictures of the first group of 20 men completely finished. You can click them to enlarge them slightly.

Red turban for Leader, light purple/blue tassles for Second in Command.

Update: It's taken me so long to even get around to posting this, I have almost finished my second group of 20 figures. The good news is it's still averaging around 30 minutes per figure. I had hoped to finish them before I had to leave for work again, but I wasn't able to. Pictures will appear when I am next home! I do think the dipping is a time-saver, but I might be slightly biased into believing it because I want to believe it. But after this group, I am going to take a break from Arabs and "have a go" (as the English say) at some zombies. I think the dipping will help with them as well. Will report soon!

38. My Nerve Fails Me....

2011-05-30T13:13:00.002-05:00

A while back, I shared with you the fact that I had bought a whole lotta Arab-type opponents for my French Foreign Legion (you'll have to scroll down to the bottom to see it). I explained that in order to paint so many figures, I was going to "dip" them, or "magic wash" them, depending on which method I used. I bought a bottle of Future Floor Care as well as a container of Minwax's Wood Stain.

Most of the information I've read about the Minwax dip method said to use their Polyshades (stain & polyurethane in one step) line. Most recommended was their Tudor color, or Bombay, or lastly Antique Walnut. However, I personally have an aversion to anything that can't be cleaned up with water. It simply makes things far more difficult than I would like, so instead I bought a quart of Minwax's Water-Based Wood Stain, which can be tinted to almost any color at the store. I chose to have it colored Classic Black, which, if you carefully compare the color samples, appears to have some brown in it.

Naturally, Minwax does not have the exact same colors in both of its lines of stain. That would be too easy. However, to the best of my ability, I compared the Tudor and the Classic Black samples, and to me they look very, very similar. So I went with Classic Black, as I said.

I also have a bottle of Pledge Floor Care with Future shine. I am given to understand that you can tint it any color you wish, using either acrylic paints or acrylic washes. My plan was/is to tint it to a dark brown if necessary, something more "muddy" than the Classic Black if it turned out I didn't like that result.

My intention was to try one method, and if it was horrible, to then try the other method.

There were a few projects that I wanted to finish first, so I am only now getting around to trying this out. I have painted up 10 Arabs (from Old Glory), in basic flat colors as my guinea pigs. I have tried to be neat, but not unduly so. I know that the dip will cover most seam lines, and will darken the whole miniature, so I used lighter colors overall. I did no highlighting or shading at all; merely a one-step process of a few colors for variety. Ten men took me about 1.5 hours to paint to what you see here.

I did take a few pictures of the process, so I could compare how dark they are before and after the dip.

And then...the moment of truth came. I opened up the can of Classic Black. And by golly, it's black, alright. I tested a brush stroke or two on paper, then on a primed mini. It's black, alright.

And then...I lost my nerve. I couldn't go through with it. I'm second guessing myself, in that I should have gotten either the actual Polyshades, or a more brown Water-based stain. I realized I haven't actually put that much time and effort into my ten men, but I still don't want to have to go back and repaint them.

I realize now that what I should have done was prep a true test figure or two, one that was never meant to be played with, so I could try both methods without fear. Alas, I didn't think of it in time. I told you, this is my first time with this method.

I'm away from my table for a few days, and when I get home I have to address this. I either have to go buy another can of Minwax with a more brown color, or try the Classic Black, or try the Magic Wash method.

Indecision is a terrible thing. I'm actually rather embarrassed about this, that I should be so concerned over the color of the wash. But I want to do this right the first time, and not wish I had tried something else 100 figures later.

For those of you in the know, what color would you recommend? In my mind's eye, I see a dark brown shading, representing the dirt of the desert. As for the Magic Wash, do you color it with regular acrylic paint or do you prefer adding a wash to the mix?

Thanks for reading, thanks for your patience and thanks for any tips.

(And you know, there's a litte part of me that says, They look pretty good as is, just finish off the bases and they're tabletop ready....)

37. Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month

2011-05-22T14:23:00.004-05:00

Back in January, I reported how I played a solo game in recognition of International Solo Wargaming Day. It was on 1-11-2011. I said it then, and I'll repeat it now, 'cause it makes me chuckle: "January 11, 2011 was International Solo Wargaming Day, a day when all solo wargamers could come together and game separately. Wait, that doesn't sound right.... A day when all solo wargamers could play together, alone. Ahhh, nevermind."

Anyway, I thought that was the end of it, until I came across this blog: Solo Nexus. He's promoting commitment to Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month, a whole month of solo gaming, occurring in November 2011, or 11-11 (and topping itself off, I guess, on 11-11-11).

In his own words: "...make your pledge to yourself (and to us so we can keep you honest) by specifying to the best of your ability what momentous solo tabletop event you are planning to undertake this November!

Plan to use the whole month to finally paint those minis in the box on the shelf or try that rule set you bought last year or complete a fully-documented solo RPG adventure or design your own solo CCG with that software you've had your eye on or create the best after-action report of a solo battle ever or - well, you get the idea."

I'm always one to jump behind a movement that doesn't really require much effort, and any solo gaming project is only as onerous as I make it, since only I am involved. So I hereby pledge to do some momentous solo event in November. Just exactly what it will be, I'm not sure yet, but as soon as I get a good idea of what I think I can finish, I'll report it here.

(I think it makes more sense for January 1, 2001 to be the big day, but unfortunately we missed that date. Sure there are a lot of ones in 11-11-11, but are they ones or elevens? Depends on whether we count in binary, I suppose....)

So pledge now, either here or at the mother site, Solo Nexus.

Good gaming!