Cool tool I found

I saw this tool while watching videos on Youtube, the Amenitee Universal Angularizer Ruler

Immediately the video caught my eye as something I can use for terrain building. Here's the video:

It's now on it's way to me from the good folks at Amazon. I like to give local businesses a chance, even big box stores, but Home Depot didn't have it. So Amazon it is. 

AMAZON LINK

Cheers, Xin

Oldhammer Necromunda-esq Kickstarter

I came across this Kickstarter the other day. Looks pretty cool. I think I'm in for $50 or $60 bucks worth of figures.

Sandstorm Wars

Lots of warbands in there. I think I'm picking squat looking guys.

Check it out: Sandstorm Wars

Cheers, Xin

Icons of Pulp Fantasy Kickstarter

I just came across this small little Kickstarter. These guys look vaguely familiar but I can't put my finger on it.....Hmmmm.

I like to support small Kickstarters, as opposed to the huge ones that are really pre-order systems. This is what Kickstarters are about. Getting something made that would not normally see the light of day.

Also, who doesn't need a good Conan figure? The cool thing is these are already sculpted and molds are made. Not some CAD Renders which I've seen on some KS's.

I invite you to jump on board for some of this Pulpy goodness.

Link Here



Xin/Jeff

Painting up some old Imperial Guard

I will be doing the Old World Army Challenge again in a few months. I think starting in January. Until then, to keep the kids occupied we did a 2 month Sprint Challenge. One 40k unit with support. An easy to finish goal, and get some old lead painted.

I don't play 40k anymore, well not since 2nd edition. But like all good hoarders....er Wargamers I held onto my old figures. I went digging into the boxes of shame and came up a unit of Imperial Guard, Ice Warriors of Valhalla. Not new in box, but in good condition. I picked them up for a cheap price at a flea market years ago.

Out of the scattering of old 40k figures I have they were the most complete unit. I found a 10 man squad plus a Mortar Team, 2 heavy weapons and a Commander. More figures than I needed to paint for the challenge, but better to paint now than having 3 figures left over. Plus I might be able to use them for Kill Team or Rogue Trader.

 I didn't go with the standard paint job. I tried a couple of different paint schemes before landing on this one. I am very happy with the colors I ended up with. Sometimes picking colors is the hardest part for me.

I also I didn't go with snow covered bases because I have no other snow covered figures to use with them. I tried to "cheat" and just give it a blotchy light grey dry brush. It looks a little snowy. Also not out of place in city ruins. It works well enough for me.

It was a fun little challenge and nice to get paint on old figures. Now the real trick is to get them on the table. Lately I do more painting than playing, and that's not alot.

Cheers,
Xin/ Jeff

Middle-Earth awaits....

My order arrived today. Can't wait to dive in. I'm gonna make an effort to find others in the area to game with.

Unfortunately, just buying the box set doesn't make it magically paint itself. I've been trying that for 25 years. Damn.

Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Games Workshop is updating the Strategy Battle Game. The new version is getting renamed to Middle-Earth, Strategy Battle Game. There will be a new rules manual, a new starter box set and new figures. It can be pre-ordered now, and I think shipping next week. This is a major commitment from GW for SBG which has been on life support for years.

The Starter box set comes with 84 models and 2 brand new sculpts, Theoden foot and mounted. The rest of the box contains, Army of the Dead and Rohan vs a Troll, Nazgul and Orcs. You also get the full hard backed rules manual. Not some skimpy mini version. 

There will be 2 books covering the armies. One for the LOTR era models. and One for the Hobbit era models. The LOTR book will be available on launch day, and the Hobbit one will be out later this year. There is a PDF to tide you over till the Hobbit army book.

Even though I have most of the figures in the box set, I have already sent in my pre-order for the set and the army book. Can't wait.

Xin

Amazons for Frostgrave and more

I like to theme my warbands for FGA. One of the Warbands I used for my Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago game is Amazons! Made by Crocodile Games during a Kickstarter, they are now available in their webstore.

I didn't get in on the Kickstarter but stumbled across some images of them on a forum somewhere. As soon as I saw them I wanted them. The game they are made for is a big battle game, so not really sold as Warband size, however I did email them and they would do a special order if I wanted for a small number of figures.

I didn't go that route cause I loved the figures so much I orderd the Starter set, and 2 or 3 more units. I want an army of these brilliant figures. They are still processing the Kickstarter so not all the figures are up on the website, I know they have cavalry models as well.

With the sales pitch out of the way(not cause I have a vested interest, just being a massive wargaming nerd) Here are the pics.

 My FGA warband. I only used 8 figures to keep the 10 player game simpler.

My Heritor.

 My Warden.

 Specialist Freebooter.

 Specialist Archer

 For standard crew I used 4 Swordswomen. After the convention Historicon, I painted up the rest of the figures to make a full 10 figure unit.

The figures are very detailed and are a joy to paint. If I wasn't trying to work on 37 projects at once I"d be painting more right now.

Cheers, Xin

Making some Easy Peasy Movement Trays

I am play testing a set of rules. It's a big battle set, with blocks of troops on square bases. The figures I will be using are my Lord of the Rings figures, which are all mounted on round bases.

The first game we did was a little cumbersome trying to keep the lines of troops with all the round bases, so I thought maybe I could make some simple movement trays. Since this is a play test I needed quick and simple given I might not use them very many times.

 I had some scrap foamcore lying around, so that's the base. I took a piece of balsa wood and cut 1/4 inch(about 6mm) strips.

 It was pretty quick work just to Hot Glue the strips onto the foamcore. Since these were semi disposable I didn't worry about exact fit, as you can see the gaps.

 Here are my Amazons on one of the trays. Worked perfectly.

 Now just to crank out a bunch more.

 The rules use 5 man frontage for units, with 25mm being your standard base size. The LoTR cavalry are mounted on 40mm base so I have to fudge that a little.

 I'll put 3 on a tray and just call it 5. For a play test it will work.

 I make 16 trays. That is enough for a small to medium engagement. One tray is 10 guys. A unit is 10 or 20 guys. I can have about 8 units or a few less if I go double strength units, per side.

Slap on some green paint and call it a day. About 2 hours worth of work on a Saturday afternoon. I'm pleased with the results. If the rules get published and I can get some other players, I will dive in with Laser cut sabot bases for all my round mounted LOTR figures.

Cheers, Xin

Building Frostgrave Archipelago for Historicon, Finished!

Historicon 2018 is over, and it was a great time. I took all my crafting supplies with me to the con and finished the table on Thursday and Friday. I was done at 3pm on Friday, enough time to go back to the room, shower up and then head back to the convention to set up the game. That is cutting it close.

My problem is I can never stop adding on. While working on one piece, I'm thinking about what more I can add to the table. It's a sickness, that I have to actively fight. 

Before we get to the pictures, I want to thank friends and family for direct and indirect help with this project. Alan, Bob, Lou, Caitlin, Tim and my wife, thank you. 

No fancy post, just a huge picture dump of the game. Set up before the game and some in game action shots, and if I can figure out how to post a video, a video.