It’s all Greek John to Me

Having moved back to my home town last year I’ve started bumping into old chums who never managed to travel the vast distance involved to see me where I lived previously. One of these is Greek John who I’ve known from when we were all skinny, lithe limbed and stupid. We were both adorers of Art,  both high and low, including table top gaming. To cut a waffle short he said he hadn’t painted a figure for decades, so I chucked him a couple and what he came up with was pretty appalling. Being the eager otter he is he asked for more to try, so I gave him some more and they were appalling again. Neither of us were daunted by this so I slipped John the figures here, mainly Blue Moon Manufacturing gangster ones which are great for VBCW civvies.I do think he’s cracked it, aside from the girl with the opthalmic disorder, so a big “HURRAH!” for that. What he’d really like to know is what you think of them, especially as he’s interested in painting figures for folk but obviously not if you think he’s awful at it. S0 please oh please oh please leave a comment on this one.

Rack and Ruin

There’s not many console games which I ever play for very long, typically five minutes in I decide it’s not for me. Most often it’s the content, sometimes the double declutching controls and rarely, but increasingly so, it’s just too damn fast for my bones. Fallout 3 is one of a trinity of games which I adore, the subject  entertains while it’s style is outstanding and the level of detail is stunning. So to make a piece for table top gaming inspired by a game is a first for me with the ruin piece above. It was a fun build, especially in trying to replicate the 1001 grains every pile of rubble in Fallout has.

To get a castable model was slightly more long winded, as all the holes in the 1001 grains had to be filled. This actually took longer than the original build. I added to the delay by not adding quite enough hardener to the rubber so instead of an 8-12 hour set it took some four days. However I think from the casting above it was worth it.

The detail starts to stick out with a coat of paint. Excuse the glossly look but it’s still wet. I’m thinking of doing three pieces to add to this – to make a complete ruin. Then we’re offer it up for sale. Although it’s originally influenced by the Post-Apocalyptic it’s suitable for a wide range of periods.

Last Ditch Effort

Regular browsers of this humble blog made have noticed just how quiet it’s been recently and for that I can only apologise as I have been busy as a hive of bees making masters to cast from. I really don’t want to corrupt the purity of this blog by trying to sell you things at every turn, but I will share what I’m working on purely from a willingness to illuminate fellow gamers and other chums. Pompous sermon over – so on with the serious business of gaming waffle.

Above is what was meant to be a simple aid for my modelling which set me on the slippery slope of all things trench.  Twenty-five seamed sandbags which I made from Greenstuff seemed enough to be able to make sandbag bits for the rest of my life… how wrong I was.

Making a wall from 64 individual pieces can limit the fun factor so I made a master, which then had to be properly filled, to cast from.

But then I also needed ends to cap the tessellated walls.

Now having created the opportunity of endless sandbag walls I realised how I didn’t fancy making miles of planking for walkways. So two sections of 40mm wide and one of 35mm, the larger for main trenches, the smaller for access trenches. Both bigger than the actuality, but this is for gaming.

That did involve looks of shaping and scribing totalling over a hundred feet. The calculation being made while facing the tedium of actually doing it.

They paint up rather well, these are just propped up rather than a finished piece hence the gaps, but it gives an idea of the finished product. These are available from us via the blatantly commercial place.

World’s Biggest Spraybooth

For the modern Luddite lacking an airbrush spraying from a can is a regular reality but breathing in the fumes of both propellant and paint is not the best exercise an ageing gamer can take. So here’s a handy mini-project which will solve your solvent worries by creating the biggest spray booth in the world but with minimum storage requirements.

First find a stick and a flat piece of plasticard, fix the plasticard onto the stick in the style of a fly swat before the invention of the hole. Above I’m about to spray the wheels for a Slug Industries Fred.

Then attach whatever you wish to spray to the pre-hole flyswat. I used blu-tac but other sticky gummy products are available.

Then approach a window and open it.

Then hold the stick end of your new device and stick your arm out of the window. Take care not to fall out of the window.

Then spray away to your heart’s content, while the wind carries away any fumes or excess paint. Why not build one yourself?

Chance is a fine thing

Here’s both the turn and chance cards which we used for the Big Demo Game Kent. I really like turn cards because should a player get a few turns in a row it presents the opportunity for a player to manage something historic. I’m not sure anyone else agrees with me but they put up with it when I’m running a game. The Zulus at Islawana very much had a few turn cards in a row, while at Rorke’s Drift it was the British for whom the cards fell neatly. Having justified my position in the vacuum of the blog with no one to disagree on with the freebies.

Simply click on these images to take you to the high resolution version and save those to print out. I hope they might be of some use to you… bear in mind one of them involves buying me a pint, and I must insist that doea apply wherever you might be playing – probably best to put it in the wood for me, or buy a can so it doesn’t go flat.

Canterbury or Bust!

A quiet morning in Canterbury with the birds chirping unaware of the drama of the coming day.

Although some hushed activity is stirring at some pipe laying works down in the park.

A loudspeaker starts blaring out an over-dramatic speech barely masking the hum of several rowdy engines.

This brings forth brave volunteers to man the city edge against the coming attack.

Shop keepers, clerks, policemen and retired armour majors with a tank in their back garden rally to the cause.

With one disgusiing itself as a water feature in the park.

St Peter’s militia decide to rush the flank in a bid to thwart the BUF’s advance.

Meanwhile the Choir, a Belgian elite led by Tin Tin on a heavy machine gun form up on the centre.

Across the fields another group of BUF advance.

A strange 20th century siege tower follows behind a push down St. Dunstans Street.

Matched by the motorised speed of the other flank.

With the BUF making as much use of the cover available.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s the appearance of SuperFascist in his home made costume, his mum will be furious when she realises he’s used her new curtains for a cloak. Although effectively useless as a combatant his endless sloganeering at loud volume does give the BUF a serious boost to morale.

This boost speeds the advance to the river Stour under the destructive defensive fire of the Anglican League.

Tin Tin observes the massive attack with some trepidation and discusses it with Snowy.

Synchronised hedge breaching becomes the order of the day.

Suddenly the defenders open fire and start seriously damaging both armour and infantry. One light tank destroyed and an armoured car immobilised.

Meanwhile the siege tower is joined by what had appeared to be an old shed. Behind them a squad of FAF have become entangled in a clothes line.

The Anglican commanders feel confident. boosted not least by some medicinal treacle from Boots.

Uneffected by treacle the bridger gets into position and soaks the socks of the lone driver. Vehicles group for the crossing while the dithering AL militia are reduced to delivering condemantion from a damp vicar.

The BUF storm Westgate Tower and start shooting down below.

While Charlie and one of the Boys are severely damaged.

Suddenly Winston Churchill appears at a window with a Thompson machine gun he purchased from nearby Greenfields.  His appearance offers a much needed boost to the defenders.

Suddenly the mysterious pipeworks is revealed to be a fiendish fire throwing device invented by some chap called Levins. The result is massively damaging to the massed attack, and singes even the dampened militia.

A truly terrifying weapon to be at the wrong end of.

The BUF pushing up the centre get decimated by the grenading Choirboys, the rifle fire of the Belgians and Tin Tin on Hmg. the single man left has decided that now would be a great time for a cup of tea.

A long range tank shot silences the Mosley loudspeaker drone.

And confusion starts to slow down the BUF. For the second time today the elite FAF squad gets entangled in a washing line. Perhaps they should have stuck to the fields.

But the BUF on the tower send some firepower into the brave defenders…

…decimating them and even having time to change the flag on the tower, much to the dismay of the people of Canterbury.

They then take a defensive stance against all efforts to repel them.

A militia which has done very little thus far finds itself in position to pour fire at the politician Winston Churchill – killing him in a hail of bullets. A sad loss but it’s not like he’d ever be Prime Minister is it?

Having attrected a fair amount of damage the centre stills holds.

On the flank the BUF failed to get a single man across the bridge, so the AL use it to push back the stalled advance.

A scene of confusion settles over the battlefield as the day comes to an end, even if the play doesn’t.

A good day’s play was had by all. Left to right, Wobbly Steve,  Fascist Child Killer Tony, 6mil Phil, Slug, Daring Dan and front and centre Captain Stinky (proud commander of Tin Tin et al). The chance card from this battle are available here.

I Bike It

If you’ve been living under a motorway flyover you may have missed Warlord Games purchase of Uncle Crouchie’s BEF Miniatures. Aside from the pause in availability of the bulk of the BEF range while those cunning Northerners refiggle moulds and get it all ready for a massive relaunch, one thing has slipped out of near release. Namely it’s Crouchies long awaited motorcyle and side car for his early WW2 Belgians. With Antwerp’s Crisis show looming these would very likely have been launched there by the man himself as a follow up to last year’s wildly successful, if totally unexpected by the Belgi brussel sprout munchers, release of the Belgian miniatures.

Generous as Uncle Crouchie naturally is, just ask the boy Slug, he very kindly gave me a set of the prototypes which rather sadly have languished unpainted and only remembered when someone mentioned it in passing over at GWP.  Well here the bugger is, and rather delightful a model, although folk hoping to set it loose on British roads might notice the side car is set up for the continental way of driving. If you like it enormously why not email those top chaps at Warlord and beg them to get a move on.

Thanet Thrasher

There’s no certainty as to whether this vehicle for VBCW is a monster truck too far or not, as us loyal bunch of VBCW gamers do seem to have a unique strange arms race of our very British own. It’s one of the Slug Industries “Fred” vehicles, with some tracks from Ramshackle Games, plus the front off a steam roller which was just too damned small for 28mm. It’s early days with this yet, and I’m not sure it’ll be completed in time for the Very British Big Demo Game at Legion at the end of the month. What do you think?

My Old China

These two china buildings turned up at a boot fair for a whopping quid a piece.

And although simple, perfect for a quick hack with some paint and flock.

Not much had to be done , I liked most of the paintwork and it fits with the colours I use on our table.

Yhe thatch came up well.

and after some flock looked finished.

They fit neatly with figures too.

Slugging it to ‘em

Many of you, my online game chums, will have noticed how me and the boy slug started making gaming bits for sale. I didn’t really want to clog things up here on the world’s greatest 6mm blog which doesn’t get 6mm posts, so that’s all over at the Slug Industries blog, my humble effort at a web catalogue. It’s all a bit messy and not as graphically enhanced as it could be, but hey-ho it’s a start. I’ll post products on there but only rarely mention them on here. That’s my corporate marketing strategy.

It just seemed the right thing to do, especially having been lucky enough to make chums with Kent’s answer to the 2 Ronnies – The 2 Ians, one from BEF Miniatures and the other from Fenris Games. Their combined fanaticism is the same as my own, and so they’ve been a great encouragement – Thanks!

Meeting great folk like the 2 Ians  in the literal sense is just one benefit of the quite incredible internet circles the gaming hobby community is creating. There’s also all the cyber buddies from various forums who’ve helped out by buying or swopping the new resin bits from me – Thanks!

It’s only fair to warn you – this is just how Games Workshop started.