Tag: War Gaming

2018 Hobby Activity Roundup

2018 was a busy year for me for hobbies, my busiest ever in fact.  My activities and projects were mostly involved with supporting either Combat Patrol™ games or What a Tanker© games.  So what did I do?  Well, I helped to found a local gaming club and I started running games at small conventions (and won “The Al” at HAVOC last year – photo above).  All of my hobby activity and efforts focused on creating and building what I needed for my games to be successful.  I also joined some community painting challenges which helped to focus my efforts as well and got me to try new techniques (thanks Azazel!).  I also followed many other blogs which were very inspiring.

Some of the items on the activity list below could be fairly called double-counting, but hey, no blood no foul!  I tend to count projects in terms of their distinctive nature, ie the building/assembling/creating processes to me are different than painting, as is converting figures.  I did not cast anything this year or make any molds as I still have plenty of figures to paint, and my hope is to knock out more of them in 2019, as I will not need to make as many game pieces/game aids.

This list, which is a separate page on my blog, helped me to stay focused.  The adding of the hyperlinks that you see on the items below helps me to review past projects as prologue for future ones.

Thanks for checking this out – and good luck to all in 2019!  Hope I keep you amused and entertained!

2018 Total Projects:  2,036

  • 244 figures painted
  • 0 figures cast
  • 47 figures assembled
  • 33 terrain pieces made or assembled
  • 28 terrain pieces painted
  • 10 figure conversions
  • 867 creations or components sculpted or scratch-built
  • 0 molds made
  • 807 game pieces/game aids made and/or painted

January: 91 projects

  • Creations/components sculpted or scratch-built (91):
    • 91 unit placards sculpted/made from Apoxie Sculpt

February: 645 projects

  • Figures painted (36):
  • Creations sculpted or scratch-built (375):
    • 185 blank game placards made for Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi use
    • 185 decals made for game placards or Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi use
    • 2 long arc weapon (breaching) templates for Mark III Warbot use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
    • 2 short arc weapon (breaching) templates for Mark III Warbot use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
    • 1 plasma ball template (breaching) template for Mark III Warbot use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
  • Game pieces/game aids made or painted (234):
    • 8 Armorcast ACFX034 Grenade Blasts Cinematic Effects Bits painted
    • 36 casualty cards made for the Hurraku Space Phraints
    • 185 placards made for use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
      • 50 wound markers
        • 15 1-wound markers
        • 15 2-wound markers
        • 6 3-wound markers
        • 6 4-wound markers
        • 4 5-wound markers
        • 4 6-wound markers
      • 25 stun markers
      • 10 critical hit – optics/sensors markers damage for Mark III Warbots
      • 10 critical hit – mobility damage (“STOP”) markers for Mark III Warbots
      • 10 critical hit – CPU damage (“ROGUE”) markers for Mark III Warbots
      • 20 out of ammunition markers
      • 60 jet-pack use markers
        • 20 for one use of jet pack in the game
        • 20 for two uses of jet pack in the game
        • 20 for three uses of jet pack in the game
    • 5 game aid templates painted for use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
      • 2 long arc weapon (breaching) template painted
      • 2 short arc weapon (breaching) template painted
      • 1 plasma ball template (breaching) template painted

March: 74 projects

  • Figures painted (40):
  • Figures assembled (1):
    • Critter Commandos Frogbot
  • Creations/components sculpted or scratch-built (33):
    • 33 unit placards sculpted/made from Apoxie Sculpt

April: 144 projects

  • Figures assembled (2):
  • Terrain pieces made or assembled (12):
    • 12 tea light smoke plumes made
  • Terrain pieces painted (12):
    • 12 tea light smoke plumes painted
  • Game aids made or painted (118):
    • 39 casualty cards made for the F.R.O.G. Commandos
    • 6 flame circles made
    • 25 chits for Combat Patrol™ made (pulling card forward chits)
    • 48 unit and vehicle data cards made for Combat Patrol™

May: 6 projects

  • Figures painted (2):
  • Game pieces/game aids made or painted (4)
    • 2 casualty cards made for Roberker and the second Juggerbot
    • 2 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

June: 95 projects

  • Figures painted (57):
    • 32 Texican Space Rangers from Archive Star Rovers line
      • 6 Travis B. Crockett figures (#2225)
      • 26 Armando Garcia figures (#2226)
    • 11 Robot Peacekeepers from Mega Miniatures Salvage Crew Robots & Vehicles Range 
    • 14 figures painted for my Space Dwarf Assault Squad
      • 11 Long Gone Jones Space Dwarfs from Archive Star Rovers line (Archive #2211)
      • 3 Agribot (S1L1) from Archive Star Rovers line (Archive #2204)
  • Game aids made or painted (38):
    • 32 casualty cards made for the Texican Space Rangers
    • 6 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

July: 66 projects

  • Figures painted (15):
  • Figures assembled (5):
    • 5 Power-Armored Frinx on Glyptodon from Archive Star Rovers line (Archive #2042)
  • Figures converted (6):
    • 6 Frinx riders converted with Bombshell Miniatures Arc Weapons (#36013)
  • Terrain pieces made or assembled (13):
    • 5 large Woodland Scenics evergreen trees
    • 8 small Woodland Scenics deciduous trees
  • Game aids made or painted (27):
    • 11 casualty cards made for the Robot Peacekeepers
    • 14 casualty cards made for the Space Dwarf Assault Squad
    • 2 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

August: 54 projects

September:  566 projects

  • Terrain pieces made or assembled (3):
    • 1 Armorcast T-Section
    • 1 Armorcast Building Corner (#ACRB008)
    • 1 Armorcast Building Corner (#ACRB009)
  • Terrain pieces painted (11):
    • 5 ruined building corners
      • 1 Armorcast T-Section
      • 1 Armorcast Building Corner (#ACRB008)
      • 1 Armorcast Building Corner (#ACRB009)
      • 2 Armorcast Building Corners (#ACRB013)
    • 6 battle-damaged sci-fi walls
      • 1 set of 2 Armorcast High Tech Walls 2 (#ACW007), each set includes 2 walls so 2 pieces
      • 2 sets of High Tech Walls, each set includes 2 walls, so 4 pieces
  • Creations sculpted or scratch-built (368):
      • 184 blank game placards made for Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi use
      • 184 decals made for game placards or Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi use
  • Game pieces/game aids made or painted (184):
    • 184 placards made for use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
      • 72 wound markers
        • 20 1-wound markers
        • 20 2-wound markers
        • 14 3-wound markers
        • 6 4-wound markers
        • 6 5-wound markers
        • 6 6-wound markers
      • 24 stun markers
      • 24 out of ammunition markers
      • 64 jet-pack use markers
        • 22 for one use of jet pack in the game
        • 20 for two uses of jet pack in the game
        • 22 for three uses of jet pack in the game

October:  113 projects

  • Figures painted (28):
    • 28 Space Roos painted (converted figures that I cast)
  • Figure conversions (4):
    • 2 Space Roo weapon conversions to RPG’s
    • 2 Space Roo weapon conversions to grenade launchers
  • Game pieces/game aids made or painted (81):
    • 45 small (1/8″ diameter) placards made and painted for improved identification of the Mars Aliens on the tabletop
    • 28 small (1/4 and 5/16″ diameter) placards made and painted for improved identification of the Space Roos on the tabletop
    • 8 dashboards built for What a Tanker games

November:  160 projects

  • Figures painted (43):
    • 5 KV-1a Soviet tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio)
    • 2 T-26 Soviet tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio)
    • 2 BA-64 Soviet armored cars (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio)
    • 1 BT-5 Soviet tank, (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#SU021)
    • 1 BT-7 Soviet tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#SU023)
    • 2 Soviet Gaz trucks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio)
    • 1 Panzer IIC tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#GBX108)
    • 1 Panzer IIIE (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#GE030)
    • 3 Sturmgeshutz IIIA assault guns (15mm/1:100 scale), from from Battlefront Miniatures (#GBX109)
    • 2 German Panzer IVd tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
    • 1 German Panzer 38(t) tank (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
    • 3 Italian M13/40 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
    • 2 Italian L6 light tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
    • 2 British Matilda II tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
    • 2 German Hetzer tank destroyers (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
    • 2 German Panzer IIIN tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
    • 2 Renault R-35 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#FR030)
    • 3 SOMUA S-35 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#FR050)
    • 2 French Char B1 bis tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
    • 2 US M4 Sherman tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
    • 2 US M3/M5 Stuart tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
  • Figures assembled (25):
    • 5 French tanks assembled:
      • 3 SOMUA S-35 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#FR050)
      • 2 Renault R-35 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#FR030)
    • 2 British tanks assembled:
      • 1 A10 Cruiser Mark IIA (Desert) tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR023)
      • 1 Valentine II tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR060)
    • 2 Soviet tanks assembled:
      • 1 BT-5 tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#SU021)
      • 1 BT-7 tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#SU023)
    • 16 German tanks/assault guns assembled:
      • 5 Panzer II C’s and F’s) (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#GBX108)
      • 3 Panzer IIIE’s (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#GE030)
      • 3 Sturmgeshutz IIIA assault guns (15mm/1:100 scale), from from Battlefront Miniatures (#GBX109)
      • 3 Sturmgeshutz III Ausf F8 assault guns (15mm/1:100 scale), from The Plastic Soldier Company, Ltd. (#WW2V15005)
      • 2 Sturmgeshutz III Ausf G (late) assault guns (15mm/1:100 scale), from The Plastic Soldier Company, Ltd. (#WW2V15005)
  • 2 terrain pieces made or assembled (two fields)
  • 2 terrain pieces painted (two fields)
  • Game aids made or painted (92):
    • 28 casualty cards made for the Space Roos
    • 36 bonus cards made for What a Tanker©
    • 3 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

December:  18 projects

  • Figures painted (4):
  • Figures assembled (14):
    • 14 British tanks assembled for What a Tanker© in North Africa:
      • 2 A9 Cruiser Mark I tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR020)
      • 1 A10 Cruiser Mark IIA (Desert) tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR023)
      • 1 A13 Cruiser Mark IVA (Desert) tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR026)
      • 1 Valentine III tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR061)
      • 1 Crusader II tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR032)
      • 1 Crusader III tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR034)
      • 1 M3 Grant tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR100)
      • 1 Churchill II tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR070)
      • 5 M3 Stuart “Honey” tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR006) – Brits will get two,  I am saving one for future Soviet Lend-Lease, one for future captured German use in North Africa, and one as an American M3 for future captured Japanese use in Burma or the Philippines. 

 

Nice interview with Buck Surdu at BARRAGE!

Many of you who follow my blog have read about Buck Surdu, my good friend and author of multiple wargaming rules systems.  Of course, he is a fellow West Pointer so that’s in his favor!  He is a major shaker and mover in the H.A.W.K.’s (Harford County Weekly Kriegspielers) in Maryland, and has been involved with BARRAGE for years.

Little Wars TV interviewed Buck, and I thought some of you would find this interesting.

 

HAVOC XXXIV Recap – Notes & Photos

Finding a gaming convention that is close by to my home has been somewhat frustrating for me over the last few years.  Since I returned to the hobby, I have attended a few BARRAGE events in Maryland , but that’s it.

Imagine then that there was a con 15 miles from my home AND that they have been having it for 34 years (and I never knew!).  The event was the three-day (Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday) HAVOC convention, run annually by Battlegroup Boston.  This year was HAVOC XXXIV, and I learned of it through the New England Wargame Groups List page on FaceBook.  It ran from April 6-8, and I am really glad that I could attend, but it was a last-minute decision.  I was also hoping to let folks know about our group, The Mass Pikemen’s Gaming Club in Central Massachusetts.

Back in March, I went to the HAVOC web page, and I also saw that they were looking for game masters.  I needed to wait to see if I could attend.  Ultimately, I was able to not only attend the event, but to run two retro sci-fi games using the Combat Patrol™ system.  The first game I ran was on Friday night.  It was “Attack of the Warbots” using figures from the Archive Star Rovers line from the late 1970’s (Mark III Warbots, Star Ducks, Aphids, and Power-Armored Frinx) along with my Mark 1 Sphere tanks).  There were also some Wargames Supply Dump Robo-Sentry guns acting as stationary defenses.

In this blog, first I’ll discuss the two games I ran, then share some photos and eye candy of some of the convention.

0 warbots only
My flyer for the game

I managed to get 7 players for the game, which was great.  I did not get as many pictures as I would have liked as I was running the game.  The players really had a great time and there was a lot of action.  No one had ever seen these figures before, and the mass of the Mark 1’s surprised them all!  I used a number of Armorcast sci-fi structures as well on the board, and they worked great.

1 setup Attack of the Warbots
The Warbots make their assault.  Their goal was to recapture a Mark 1 Sphere tank behind the building on the right center (which the Frinx were attempting to repair for their own use).  A Robo-Sentry gun has been taken out by the Warbots and burns in the middle.
2 Robo sentry guns and Sphere tank burn
Frinx anti-tank fire from the factory’s 2nd floor knock out a Warbot Mark 1 Sphere tank between the slag mounds, and more Robo-Sentry guns burn.  The remaining Mark 1 prepares to use its Death Ray on the Aphids on the left.   
3 Aphid Platoon Leader attacks Sphere tank
The Mark 1’s attempt to fry the Aphids fails and its weapon malfunctions.  Seizing the opportunity, the Aphid platoon leader leaps onto the tank from the second floor and attempts to destroy it with a satchel charge.
4 Warbots advance
The satchel charge attack failed to penetrate the Mark 1.  Frinx bazookas then hit the tank while the platoon leader was on top of it.  The Mark 1 was immobilized by this AT fire, but the Aphid platoon leader was killed by the same attack.  Note the card on the tank – I use cards with pictures on them to denote casualties for infantry. 

While all this was going on, the Warbots on the right closed with the Robo-Sentry guns and the Star Ducks defending the wall.  In this game, I have the Warbots use the Japanese Combat Patrol™ deck, which has different morale results.  A morale card result caused one Warbot team to make a Banzai charge at the last surviving Robo Sentry gun, which was jammed.  This enabled the Star Ducks to hit the team with direct fire.  When the Banzai charge was over, another morale check caused this same team to flee the game, stifling this assault.  The Frinx just got their captured tank fixed as the game was out of time.  Due to the casualties inflicted by the Warbots, I called the game a draw.  The players all were highly excited by the game and loved the ease of use of the Combat Patrol™ decks for all aspects of the game.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, my game was nominated for the “Al Award”.  From the HAVOC website, this is “presented for the game with the most stunning visual appeal. Our crack team of experts (expert team of cracks) will vote on the game that made us say “Wow!”.”  I was honored to be nominated, but even more so to win!  Thanks so much for this to Battlegroup Boston!  A great con it was to be sure – and I felt very welcome here by all the club members.

000 Al Award

11a award
A true honor!  Thanks so much Battlegroup Boston!

The second game I ran was on Sunday, which was “GO FROGS RIBBIT – STOP THE BUGS”.  It was a battle between the F.R.O.G. Commandos (with Star Duck reinforcements) and two Archive Star Rovers foes – the aforementioned Aphids and the Hurraku Space Phraints.  So, basically, it was insectivores versus insects, albeit big bugs.  The Frogs were defending a wooded area between two rivers and specifically their sacred pond.  The insects’ objective was to seize the pond, and to dispatch as many amphibians as possible along the way with extreme prejudice.

8aa 04062018 HAVOC frogs phraints only
My game flyer for this game

I ended up with four players for this game – one for each attacking bug side on opposite sides of the board.  Star Ducks would reinforce the Frogs as a special event card was pulled during the game.  The Frogs would use the regular decks, while the bugs would use the Japanese decks.  The Space Phraints also had a Sith.  Here again, the players quickly adapted to the Combat Patrol™ deck.  All were new to the game.

8a set up for FROGS with me
My set up – Aphids attack from the south, Space Phraints from the north.  Terrain posed a challenge for the attacker because their long range weapons advantages were nullified.
8n me gming
The players listen as I brief – photo by Mike Paine

The Aphids got into the fray first with their Grav Cycles, while the Aphid infantry and the Space Phraints advanced.

8b Aphid Grav cycles start
Aphid Grav Cycles prepare to jet across the river

8c game begins

8d Grav Cycles attack
The Aphid Grav Cycles charge into the two 2nd squad Frog positions (two teams by the yellow dice).  The Frogs prepare to respond with Frogbot’s chain guns, their assault rifles, and a flame thrower.  The Aphids attacking on the right have begun to take heavy casualties.
8h Aphids taking flamethrower hits
Aphid attacks are torched.  The leader of the one on the right lost all of his troops and ended up committing ritual suicide from a morale check card.

The Aphids however did effectively draw the Frogs to their attack, weakening the side facing the Hurraku Space Phraints.  This would have consequences.

8e Phraints advance
The Frogs 1st Squad maneuvers towards the Hurraku
8f Phraints advance by hill
1st Squad’s assault rifles inflict heavy damage on the advancing Hurraku Space Phraints.  The red beads represent morale checks for the Hurraku
8g taking flamethrower Phraints advance by hill
Then the Frogs used their flamethrower on them…

At this point, the Hurraku gambled and turned the tide of battle.  Linda (the Hurraku player) decided to take advantage of her Sith’s power of “Rage”.  This ability causes a Banzai attack. This also removes all stun markers from her troops while they charge at the enemy and engage solely in hand-to-hand combat (or just melee as we are talking about bugs and Frogs).  The Hurraku also all have the same activation number until the banzai charge ends, resulting in a true mass attack.  Here (in melee) the Hurraku have an advantage as they are very tough fighters.  They also move fast normally, and the “Rage” improves that movement by a factor of two.

8i BANZAI BUG ATTACK
BANZAI!  TO THE POND!
8j BANZAI BUG ATTACK
The other flank is swarmed
8k BANZAI BUG ATTACK
The Frogs are devastated by the assault.  Cards denote dead Frogs.  Blue beads represent morale checks for the Frogs, which were mounting up quickly.  During a Banzai charge, attackers do accrue morale checks, but are not stunned.  They also activate all at the same time.  The attackers would end their charge after a special card is pulled from the Action Deck – so it can go on for a while.  In this game, it never ended.

At this point, a Star Duck squad jet packed in as reinforcements, but it was not enough.  They jet-packed in to defend the pond.

8l Star Ducks arrive
Star Ducks reinforce Frogs for a last stand
8m BUGS WIN
A Hurraku Space Phraint reaches the sacred pond and wins the game

The players here had a good time and were good sports.  The tide swung from one side to the other.  In the end, the “Rage” Banzai charge was decisive.

I will now share some photos of the two games I played on Saturday morning and afternoon (I did not play Saturday night).  I played a Bolt Action scenario run by Friedrich Helisch.  The scenario was a 1941 German attack on a Russian-held village.  David Shuster was on the Russian side, while Friedrich and I played the Germans.  This was my first try at Bolt Action.

5 bolt action start
The battle begins as Germans move towards the village

5a bolt action mid

5b David Shuster bolt action mid
David Shuster moves his Russians up
5c David Shuster bolt action mid advance
View from the Russians side
5d first building assault
Germans successfully storm the first building

5e first building seized

5e second building seized
Germans successfully take the second building
5f stug hit
The Sturmgeschutz is hit

This was a points-based game, and our taking of the second building allowed us to win by 1 point, so it was very close.  As for the rules, I am on the fence, but more than willing to try them again at some point in the future.

The second game I played was a Gaslands scenario.  I had heard this was an interesting game and thought I’d try it out.  In this game you get so many points to choose and arm 2-3 vehicles (performance car, regular car, and pickup truck).  The goal is to run over (3 points) or shoot (1 point) pedestrians (in homage to Death Race 2000) instead of the usual zombies on the game board.  You can attack your opponents, but their destruction does not get you points (you do eliminate the competition).  The movement is very much like X-Wing.

I played with two other players, who chose to max out two vehicles, while I did three lesser-armed vehicles.  I chose to go after the competition and eventually had one of two vehicles to be the last on the tabletop.  However, at this point the game masters deploy invulnerable  Monster trucks to hunt you down and end the game.  I just missed my last pedestrian which would have tied me for first.  The game masters (Michael Eichner and Erich Eichner) did a nice job, and this was a fun game.  The table looked great too.

7 Gaslight start
The game starts – I had the red cars
7a gaslight start
After using a flamethrower on a white car, I t-boned the orange one, but flipped over the structure
7b gaslight playing
Game play – photo by Mike Paine

I thought that I should share some photos of the rest of the con.  I did not get to see as much as I would have liked, but there were a lot of very cool games.  Kudos to all the folks at Battlegroup Boston, as well as the GM’s and players!  Please share your thoughts in the comments section – thanks for reading this blog!

6 the HAVOC on Sat AM
A view of the con Saturday morning. There were two rooms.
9b 3d deathmatch from above
Tim Allen had a magnificent home game using Legos
9 3d deathmatch from above
The Deathmatch Arena 3D game
9a 3d deathmatch from above
Characters from Deathmatch Arena 3D
12 Lion Rampant
Lion Rampant game (big game!) run by Richard F. Wareing – photo by Mike Paine
13 Chain of Command Hurtgen forest
Thomas Ballou ran a Battle of the Hurgen Forest scenario – photo by Mike Paine
14 Silent Death Smash
Bruce Carson ran a Silent Death Smash game – photo by Mike Paine
10j hanghai game
Mike Paine’s immense game – spectacular!  Eye candy for this below, some I borrowed from Mike Paine with permission

10 hanghai game10a hanghai game10b hanghai game

10c hanghai game
Game play – photo by Mike Paine
10d hanghai game
Nice sampan -photo by Mike Paine
10e hanghai game
Beautiful terrain, so complex – photo by Mike Paine
10f hanghai game
Photo by Mike Paine
10g hanghai game
Game play – photo by Mike Paine
10h hanghai game
Chinese bombard – photo by Mike Paine
10i hanghai game
 Nice American gunboat – photo by Mike Paine

 

 

 

If you are going to Cold Wars, here are some great options!

I cannot make Cold Wars this year – but these are some great options for those attending!  See below!

From Buck Surdu’s Blog

Buck F: 215: Hold as Long as Possible (1) Friday, 9:00 AM, 4 hrs, Players: 6 GM: Buck Surdu & HAWKS Sponsor: None, Prize: None Period: World War II, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol™: WWII. ItisthePhilippinesinearly1942. The Americans are retreating slowly toward Bataan. A platoon of infantry, along with a handful of Stuart tanks, must […]

via Combat Patrol (TM) at Cold Wars 2018 — H.A.W.K.S.

Barrage January 2018

This gaming convention was held January 19-20 in Havre de Grace, MD, which is close to Aberdeen.  It was a blast and well-run by the HAWKS gaming club.

I played many games over many time periods and genres.  Mostly I played a lot of Combat Patrol™ games!

  • Second Boer War (modified Combat Patrol™)
  • Poland 1939 (Combat Patrol™)
  • Napoleonic Era -Bridge at Vittoria (Fate of Battle)
  • Civil War skirmish (Brother vs. Brother)
  • Star Wars (modified Combat Patrol™)
  • Moro Insurrection (modified Combat Patrol™)
  • Tavern LARP (Blood and Swash)

You can see many more photos here of all the games, including the LARP that concluded the 1.5 days of gaming.  I’m here wearing a Boston Bruins sweater or a West Point sweatshirt in these photos.

The first game I played was a Second Boer War scenario where the British were attacking the Boers defending a hill and farmstead.  I played the Boers.  The Brits needed to kill or capture the Boer leader, which they failed to do, so this was a good start for my day.

Boer War 1
The British advance
Boer War 2
The British advance on the Boers.  Their objective was the Boer leader in the farmhouse at the rear of the hill.
Boer War 3
Boers defending a wall
Boer War 4
The Boers defending the wall in front of the farmhouse.  These were fairly shot up by the Brits, but the Brits failed to capitalize on their marksmanship
Boer War 5
Dave Wood runs the game
Boer War 6
Boers on the left flank get shot up in a field
Boer War 7
The Brits halt
Boer War 8
The Boer leader survives

The second game that I played in was a scenario involving a German attack on the Poles in 1939, run by Buck Surdu.  I was on the Polish side with two other players.  The Germans had 4 Panzer 38(t)’s, and several squads of infantry, including some antitank rifles.  The Poles had about the equivalent amount of infantry, but fewer machine guns.  For armor, they had two TKS tankettes, one with a 20mm gun, and one with a machine gun.  They also had 2 Wz. 28 armored cars.  The surprise of the game was that German armor was decimated by the TKS with the 20mm (killed 3/4 of the panzers before being knocked out by the last panzer).  In the end the game was called a German victory, but I felt we acquitted ourselves well.

Poland 1939 1
Polish infantry moves through the woods
Poland 1939 2
A Polish armored car is knocked out on the first turn
Poland 1939 3
The TKS tankette that could…
Poland 1939 4
TKS tankette that knocked out 3 Pz 38t
Poland 1939 5
Polish infantry advance behind the armor.  They were to be decimated by German machine guns in the woods to the left.
Poland 1939 6
The last stand of the TKS tankette

The next day I first played a Napoleonic scenario run by Dave Wood.  I played on the French/Swiss side against a Portuguese and British attacking force.  Their objective was the Vittoria Bridge.  Eventually we were routed.

Vittoria 1

Vittoria 2
British and Portuguese attack from the right
Vittoria 3
Initial French defenses on the hill – bridge is on right.
Vittoria 4
British advance
Vittoria 5
French troops hold the town, but were bypassed
Vittoria 6
French cavalry charges to no avail
Vittoria 7
The tide of battle turns
Vittoria 8
The bridge is lost after the Swiss are dispatched
Vittoria 9
The French survivors are surrounded

I then played in a Civil War skirmish for a short time between games using the Brother vs. Brother rules.  It ended up being a draw.

I then moved on to a Star Wars Combat Patrol/Frostgrave mash up scenario, where I was on the side of the Droids vs. Clones of the Republic.  We were supposed to grab crates of goods and move them off the battlefield.  Our sides leader was killed on turn 1, and later the game had to be halted due to GM Greg Priebe’s refrigerator blowing up at home…sorry Greg!

The last game was a Moro Insurrection scenario involving US and Moro troops trying to seize cattle from a pen.  We had about 6 players.  Buck Surdu ran this game using the Combat Patrol™  rules.  I had a squad of US infantry that got caught in the open by the Moros, and got pretty shot up.  It was a very bloody affair, with the Moros winning by getting the cattle.

Moros 1
Both sides head for the steak dinners…
Moros 2
My squad before getting shot up and failing morale
Moros 3
The Moros assault my squad
Moros 4
Another squad shoots up the Moros and helps mine, but too late
Moros 5
Moros head off to a feast

The last event was a LARP using the Blood and Swash rules.  Three teams competed for a treasure chest.  I was a Man-at-Arms, and got involved in a pretty close battle with Buck Surdu, another Man-at Arms.  I nearly killed Buck, but he managed to kill me first.  The good news for Buck was that his side won.

I had a great time, and want to thank all the HAWKS for a great gaming convention!!

Mark III Warbot Platoon & Juggerbot for Combat Patrol

Followers of this blog may have wondered where I have been, why have I not been posting?  Well, I have been working on building a platoon of Archive Miniatures “Mark III Robots” (#2323).  The platoon will be led by Archive Miniatures “Juggerbot” (#2331).  Both of these sculpts are from the vibrant imagination of Nevile Stocken, who was way ahead of his time with his work.  Given that these figures were from the late 70’s and early 80’s, I have to think that they were inspired (especially the visors) by the original Cylons from the 1978 TV series Battlestar Galactica.  I loved that show when I was a kid!  So, I had to make them shiny!

 

Cylons-rock
Mark III Warbot inspiration?

 

These will be used in upcoming games using the Combat Patrol™ set of card-based rules.  The figures are effectively 25-28mm, being large robots (larger than humans).

This long project started with making a mold and casting 38 out of the 40 Mark III Robots as described previously here.  I wish that I could have just bought them, but my time machine is broken…and that made purchasing them an impossibility.  The platoon will have 4 squads of 10 (5 per team), plus 4 squad leaders, and Juggerbot – so the platoon is composed of a total of 45 figures.

The original Mark III’s (there were no Mark I’s or II’s!) were from the Star Rovers line of figures made by Archive in the 1979-1981 timeframe.  They are very tough to find on eBay or anywhere else.  I managed to acquire two originals, but only one was fully intact, and it became the master for my recasting efforts.  The other original I converted with another weapon.

I found the Juggerbot kit on eBay, and decided that it would make an excellent platoon leader.  For squad leaders, I have four War Games Supply Dump Khang Robots that were previously described in this blog here.   Each Khang is color-coded (red, green, blue, and purple), and each squad in my platoon follows that scheme.  Each Mark III Warbot Squad consists of the Khang Squad Leader, and two teams of five Warbots.

I converted one Warbot per team with a special weapon.  Each squads’ Team 1 had a conversion with Bombshell Miniature’s “particle beam weapon” (BOM36016).  I gave the Team 2’s two different weapons each.  Two teams got Bombshell Miniatures large “arc weapon” as their conversion, while the other two got a large War Games Supply Dump retro sci-fi weapon from the WP01 “Weapons Pack 1”.  All of the conversions I did were with these weapons, which are no longer available from either Bombshell or the now-shuttered War Games Supply Dump.

Conversion of these figures, as well as cleanup in terms of cutting and filing were major efforts in this project.  I use mostly tin (about 67%) in my casting, and this made sawing away and filing pieces from them tedious as they are not as soft as a higher-lead alloy would be.  Still, I was able to convert 7 of my castings plus the extra original for a total of 8 conversions.  In most cases, I needed to bend the arms to accommodate the new weapons.  My concept was for Team 1 to have one Warbot with a higher rate of fire weapon, while the Team 2’s would have specialized breaching or anti-armor capabilities.

 

1 Archive Mark III Warbot - Copy
My original Mark III Warbot with weapon intact.  I had one other with a broken weapon, which I converted to another weapon.

 

1 Juggerbot
Juggerbot as received from eBay – obviously cast from a mold in the post-Archive era
2 Juggerbot
Juggerbot contents – needed some TLC…glue, and pressure while the glue set
3 Juggerbot
Assembled and straightened Juggerbot

 

0000 Arc Weapon sprue 36013
Bombshell Miniatures arc weapon sprue -I used two of the ones on the far left
0000 Particle-Beam-Weapon-Sprue
I used the far left particle beam weapon for each Team 1 conversion
0000a Catalog Closeup
From the 1981 catalog
000 Archive Star Rovers juggerbot
Juggerbot drawing from the 1981 Star Rovers game rule book
000 Archive Star Rovers Mark III Warbot a
Mark III Warbot drawing from the 1981 Star Rovers game rule book

After cleaning up the figures, I made a plan to complete the conversions.  I also wanted to try a few new things in making this platoon.  I wanted to use my new airbrushes and spray booth, and I wanted to use poster tack on specimen bottles and grocery store coins to have greater ease of painting with both the airbrushes and traditional brushes.

01 Warbot Platoon with Juggerbot
After cleanup but before conversion – I ended up using 2 arc weapons (far left), 2 of the WSD weapons (2nd from left), and 4 of the particle beam weapons (far right) in my conversions
02 Warbot first conversions
After conversion – arc weapon on left, particle beam on right
03 Warbot second conversion
War Games Supply Dump weapon conversion
04 Assembled platoon on washers
Mounted on steel washers and ready for the poster tack and the specimen jars

After all of my conversions were complete, I mounted the figures on steel washers for eventual magnetized storage.  I had to use a bigger washer for Juggerbot.  The platoon was then affixed to outdated grocery store bonus coins and specimen bottles or just to the bottles themselves with poster tack.  In the future, I will not use the coins, as it was just easier to use the bottles minus the coins.  I used an Aztec airbrush to prime the figures with gray Vallejo “Surface Primer”, giving the figures 24 hours to dry.  I had read that doing that is desirable so that this primer paint can harden.

06a primedAssembled platoon on coins and bottles
Primed on the specimen jars

I then used Createx “Wicked Aluminum” airbrush paint (very sparkly) to base coat the Warbots using an Iwata Eclipse air brush – and I found this brush to be a much easier tool than the Aztec.  I used Vallejo Model Air “Gold” to base coat Juggerbot with the airbrush.

08 Juggerbot primed
Juggerbot base coated
09 Close up primed
Close up of Warbots base coated

I saw that the Createx paint had given the Warbots the appropriate shiny starting point for further development of the paint scheme I wanted, which was to be very retro sci-fi metallic, and reminiscent of the Cylons.  Then I went back to the regular brush!

For my color schemes of red, blue, green, and purple on the Warbots, I went with DecoArt “Festive Red”, “Peacock Pearl”, “Crystal Green”, and Craftsmart “Amethyst” respectively.  These metallic paints are great, but thick, and not easily thinned.  Still, they worked well and I put these colors on the ankle, knee, and wrist joints for ease of tabletop play.  I chose to use them as well for the visor interior colors, with Vallejo Model Air metallic “Black” for the outer parts of the visors.  I then used “Gold” for the Warbot voice boxes and weapons tips on the unconverted troopers.  “Black” was my choice for the rest of the weapons, offset with Vallejo Model Air “Steel” and Martha Stewart Crafts “Duckling” (this was a nod to my friend Buck Surdu, whose love of all things ducky and his take on the Mark III Warbots helped me plan out my approaches here).

For the common weapon barrels, I employed Vallejo Model Air “Copper”, and complemented them with Vallejo Model Air “Medium Gunship Gray”.  Juggerbot had several lights on him, so Vallejo Model Air “Arctic Blue” and “Signal Red”, and “Aluminum” helped me with these details.  I used these as well on the conversion weapons.

I then used several applications of Citadel “Nuln Oil Gloss” and “Black” on Juggerbot to shade the recesses of the figure.  Moving back to the Warbots, I used “Aluminum” on the bodies, then similar to what I did with Juggerbot, I shaded with “Black” and “Nuln Oil Gloss”.  Interestingly, I found that the inks really rolled off the figures, and the “Black” paint really helped with the shading.

I then added a healthy coat of Citadel “Ardcoat” to all visor and lighted surfaces.  As a final highlight for Juggerbot and the Warbot weapon tips, I used Citadel “Retributor Armour”.

 

10 Juggerbot basecoated
Juggerbot mid-stage
11 Red original Mark III base coated mid stage
Early stage painting of Red Squad Warbot
12 Purple cast Mark III base coated mid stage
Early stage painting of Purple Squad Warbot
14 Green cast Mark III base coated mid stage
Early stage painting of Green Squad Warbot

I decided that I wanted to be able to differentiate between the two teams within each squad.  To do this, I experimented with kneadatite (green stuff) and Apoxie Sculpt and some numbered stamps.  I found that the Apoxie Sculpt was easier to form, stamp, and once dry, cut.  I applied these numbers to the figures’ bases with Gorilla Glue.

16 numbers applied
Figures with the numbers applied

I used Citadel “Imperium Primer” on the Apoxie Sculpt numbers, then added Citadel “Martian Ironearth” to them.  Then, I built up the bases with Citadel “Martian Ironcrust” with a light sprinkle of Army Painter “Black Battleground” for more texture.  After using both “Ironearth” and “Ironcrust”, I dried them to a crackly surface with a hand-held hair blow dryer.  I highly recommend this technique.

After a day of drying, I dry brushed the bases with Armory’s “Red Brown” and  “Brick Red”.  I filled the numbers in with “Imperium Primer” for all troopers, with the team leaders getting “Retributor Armour” on theirs.  Then it was back to the paint booth for two coats of varnish, this time with an Iwata Neo airbrush, allowing for adequate drying between applications.

17 varnishing in the paint booth
Juggerbot ready for varnish
18 varnished group shot
The platoon all varnished

I now needed to remove the figures from the bottles and coins.  The poster tack was easier to remove when I did not use the coins.  I lightly painted the underside of the bases with Craftsmart “White” so I could use a black fine-tipped Sharpie to write information on the figures’ bottoms.

25 Red Team Mark III Warbot conversion with Bombshell Mini particle beam
Red Team 1 conversion with particle beam weapon – this is the other original Warbot that had a broken weapon
26 Green Squad Mark III Warbots with SL
Green Warbot Squad with Khang Robot Squad Leader
27 Green Mark III Warbots with conversions
Left to right, regular trooper, particle beam weapon conversion, and arc weapon conversion of Green Squad
28 Purple squad Mark III Warbots with SL
Purple Warbot Squad with Khang Robot Squad Leader
29 Purple Mark III Warbots with conversions
Left to right, regular trooper, particle beam weapon conversion, and War Games Supply Dump weapon conversion of Purple Squad 
30 Blue Squad Mark III Warbots with SL
Blue Warbot Squad with Khang Robot Squad Leader
31 Blue Mark III Warbots with conversions
Left to right, regular trooper, particle beam weapon conversion, and War Games Supply Dump weapon conversion of Blue Squad
32 Juggerbot right side
Fear the Juggerbot!
33 Juggerbot front side
Coming at you
34 Juggerbot left side
Mr. Universe pose
34 Juggerbot rear view
The back view
40 Assembled Mark III Warbot Platoon, front view
Assembled Mark III Warbot Platoon, front view
41 Assembled Mark III Warbot Platoon, side view
Assembled Mark III Warbot Platoon, side view

I cannot express enough how much I like this platoon!  The figures started off pretty rough, but in the end, I was able to make a nice unit for tabletop gaming.  It did take me a couple of months, but it was worth it.  They will be in action this upcoming weekend, as they make their tabletop debut – stay tuned, and let me know your thoughts below!

 

 

 

 

Khang Robots

This post is about another group of miniatures that I acquired in March from the recently closed Wargames Supply Dump (thanks so much Roger!).

These are DG-08 and DG-09, Khang Robots.  One model is tracked, the other has legs.  I purchased 2 kits of each type of robot.

I’m currently planning on building out a series of different squads and platoons for use in retro-sci-fi skirmish games using the Combat Patrol™ system of rules.  I have described previously here in this blog my casting work on making a platoon of Archive Miniatures Mark III Warbots.  I thought these Khang Robots would be great as leaders for that platoon.  They look so very retro!  The tracked version really evokes the old “B9” from the 1960’s TV series Lost in Space.

00 b9

Additionally, I eventually will be painting up a unit of WSD Khang troopers, and I can use these four robots to augment those forces as well.

The kits arrived, and I washed them with a light scrub with soap and water, and let them dry.  Once dry, I assembled them with super glue.  I tried to glue each robots’ arms so that they would each have a different position for better aesthetics.  After they were together, I affixed them to 1¼” steel washers using Loctite glue for ease of eventual magnetic box storage.  Then, I used poster tack to affix the models to popsicle sticks for ease of painting.  This is now my new favorite tactic as it is very easy to remove after painting.

I then primed them (top and bottom) with Krylon “Ultra Flat” white matte spray paint.  This allows me the option to write (with a fine-tipped Sharpie) on the washer bottoms with info that I’d like to have on them, such as the model’s name, the date of completion, my name, and any unit identification.

After the primer dried, I gave the models an aggressive wash with Citadel “Nuln Oil”.

 

1 in bag robots
The kits as they arrived

 

 

2 unassembled Khang robots
The Khang Robots unassembled and drying after cleaning

 

 

3 assembled Khang robots
Assembled and based awaiting priming

 

 

4 primed Khang robots
After priming

I used Vallejo Model Air Metallics “Steel” as the primary base coat for the models’ helmets, shoulders, belt, and claws.  I painted the waist/ribbed chest area with Citadel “Mechanicus Standard Gray”.  Then, for a shiny rubber-like look on the ribs, boots, and legs, I applied a coat of Armory “Gloss Black”.  For the front of the tracked bases and the chest-mounted cannons, I used Vallejo Model Air Metallics “Gun Metal”.  Then I highlighted the shiny parts on the shoulders and helmets with Vallejo Model Air Metallics “Aluminum”.  For the voice box (cannot really call it a mouth!) I added a light coat of Citadel “Spiritstone Red”.

Moving on to some of the details on the helmet, arm sockets, “ears”, and back components, I found a great solution with Vallejo Model Air Metallics “Copper”.  There were several lights on the front and back of the robots, and for these I used a spotter brush with Citadel “Yriel Yellow”, Vallejo Model Air Metallics “Signal Red”, Craftsmart “Sapphire”, and DecoArt “Crystal Green” – varying the lights a bit in the front.

For the vents in the front of the tracked figures, I used “Gloss Black”, with “Steel” on the vents.  I then extensively used Vallejo Model Air Metallics “Gold” and Craftsmart “Onyx” on bolt straps and bolts respectively throughout all the models.  I also used “Onyx” to highlight the “Gloss Black” painted parts.

I then chose some bright-colored metallics to theme the robots and make them easier to identify on the gaming table.  My four choices were: DecoArt “Crystal Green”, “Festive Red”, “Peacock Blue”, and Craftsmart “Amethyst”. I painted with these as you see below – as highlights on  the robots’ helmet crests, “ears”, belts, boots, and backs of the lower chassis (all depending on the models).  I did a lot of highlighting!

This completed my initial base coating and highlighting.  For the bases, I thought I’d use Citadel “Martian Ironcrust”.  This texture paint has a nice crackling effect if you use a blow dryer between applications (as I did) to dry the paint.  I also added some Army Painter “Black Battlefield” into it when it was still moist – and this worked well to give a realistic texture.  For the tracked models, I tried to make a track and chassis impression with the “Martian Ironcrust”.   I also tried to show the accumulation of dust on the tracks and boots with this texture paint.  I think it worked well enough.

 

 

5 mid stage base coat on Khang robots
Early base coating, front view

 

 

6 mid stage base coat on Khang robots back
Early base coating, back view

I then moved on to serial washes with Citadel “Agrax Earthshade” on some lighter parts and “Nuln Oil” on others such as the ribs.  For the robots’ claws, I found that Citadel “Seraphim Sepia” gave a unique metallic tone to the claws.  On the bases, “Agrax Earthshade” really enhanced the cracks and gave a lot of depth to them.  I used a lot of washes to give depth to the figures.

 

 

16 Khang Robots prevarnish
Ready for varnish

 

 

17 Khang Robots prevarnish base closeup
Close up of my attempt to create track and chassis marks, and accumulation of dirt

I then waited  a day or so for the humidity to go down and for the temperature to be adequate for varnishing.  I sprayed the models with one coat of Krylon “Clear Matte”, followed by two coats of Testors “Dullcoat”, allowing for adequate drying time between applications.

 

 

21 3 way red
The Red Khang Robot

 

 

25 3 way blue
The Blue Khang Robot

 

 

29 3 way green
The Green Khang Robot

 

 

33 3 way purple
The Purple Khang Robot

 

 

35 group shot 2 top
Nice view of the tops of the Khang Robots

 

 

34 group shot 1
Group shot!

These are pretty cool figures – and the downside is that pretty cool figures have a lot of details!  The upside is they give the painter a tremendous opportunity to create a nice visual product.  These are really fun retro sci-fi figures – and I hope that I did achieve success with these four.  I really like them, and am motivated to get going on the Mark III Warbots to complete the platoon – and to use my new airbrush to prime, base coat, and varnish this my next project.  Stay tuned, and let me know your thoughts in the comments section!  Thanks!