Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween


Here's some pics of decay:
















Gruntz 15mm...for Fantasy?


So the Baron and I have been musing of late about fantasy games. He picked up the MAyhem rules. I hope to play them soon. They have gotten good reviews. But he also mentioned something I had thought about before. Playing Fantasy warband skirmish with Gruntz - The 15mm Sci Fi game. What?


Not too far fetched really. From what the Propaganda Architect tells us, Gruntz is just a nicely modded version of Warmachine/Hordes. Really? Ok. Well then I am pretty sure its doable then.

You have a Shoot or Assault stats, plus Guard(to be hit = Agility) and Soak (to be wounded = armor).

thats pretty simple.

Roll 2d6 plus shoot to shoot your bows. Beat the targets Guard Skill. Then add weapon dmg to a 2d6 roll to beat the Soak(armor). Simple.


Now you could make numerous modifications to that basic formula and still maintain simplicity. Some things I always consider when we are doing Medieval/Fantasy stuff is:

Is the Target Mounted or dismounted?
Is the Attack missle fire or hand to hand?
Does the weapon have a special purpose for defeating armor?

The list can go on and on. The best thing would be to just give bonuses to the roll based on circumstance. i.e. Mounted, armored knights, being shot at by bodkin armed archers would get a +1 for shooting at mounted - (vs. guard stat), and +1 for bodkins - (vs. soak stat).

And the great thing about the rules is the builders for Units, Specialists, Mechs and Monsters can easily be used for fantasy opponents.

Its certainly worth a try in this gigantic Dwarven Forge Dungeon.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Come on Baby Light My Fire!


So the football teams' campaign has ended. Ground was lost. Time to head to winter quarters. We had a rough season. But huge strides were made by all. It was fun coaching those kids. And just like an athlete needs to work in the offseason to be a better player, I need to work to be a better coach. But, I enjoyed the ride. I may take the team and be head coach next year. We'll see.

I am working on a large downtown redevelopment master plan at work and it is taking all of my time and late nights. That ends in at the end of November. So, soon enough I will have time to work on getting some figs done. But the age old question looms...

WHAT WILL I DO?

Since I have been out of doing anything for a while, the muse has left me. I am ambivilent to painting anything right now. A real case of the blahs. Happens every year. What I need is a spark, and then a flame and then a fire to get me going. Just not sure what that is right now.

Things I am interested in:

Agis' new Planetfall (coming soon I hope) rules really lead me to painting 28mm Sci Fi Guys again. I have 3-4 forces painted. I have about 6 more I could do.

Spartans new 10mm Armored forces Sci Fi game Planetfall looks great. Love the figs. But that would be a brand new adventure. I need that like a hole in my head.

Yes I know they are both named Planetfall. I assume Agis will change his.

My Dwarven Forge prepainted dungeon tiles arrived last week. I have many monsters to paint. I have a good couple of dozen adventurers done.

And I love Paul Hicks Portuguese Nappies that Brigade has. I think I will be getting those for sure.

And as fall is covering us in her cold decaying embrace, my thoughts go to the apocalypse.

I think I feel the Winter 13/14 list coming on:

Basing for 28mm Napoleonics
-Spanish
-British

Napoleonic Portuguese - 4 Units

Fantasy 15mm - Undead

Post Apoc - Terrain
-3 buildings
-Giant Monsters
-Town Square

28mm Sci Fi
-Tau
-Orcs
-Pig Iron Kolony and Rebels

Fantasy 28mm
 






Friday, October 25, 2013

Vote for Proxie Models to get a leg up!


So Carmen at Carmens Fun Painty Time (a blog you really should read), put this up today about a favorite small manufacturer of mine:

"My favorite bases of all time, Proxie Models is looking for a small-business grant from Chase Bank (that offers the Main Street Grants program.) To be considered, the business needs at least 250 votes.


How to do it

Here is the TMP link (which will have the link to the bank.) Scroll down to where it says "How the 2013 Program Works." Click on "Consumer Voting" (You'll need to login via Facebook.) Fill in the business name: "Proxie Models," and press return- that should be it! Here's the direct link if you don't want to read Ken's plea (or any other information that might crop up later) on The Miniatures Page."

So instead of rewriting what he said I copied and pasted it above. While I am a fender washer and thin plywood base guy, I will tell you that the 15mm buildings and terrain pieces that Proxie is doing are fantastic. They are super versatile and go perfect with any post apoc or near future sci-fi setting you need ruins or rubbled buildings. Just look what an old favorite that has been lost to the vapor did with them Tiny Solitary Soldiers. All images below are from Space Jacker. (where are you pal?) Beautiful stuff and shows just how versatile and useful Proxies stuff is. 


So go vote for him to get a leg up in this world!


Thursday, October 24, 2013

Dungeon Tiles have landed...with an 83 lb THUD!

The new Tiles are here! The new tiles are Here!

The Dwarven Forge Dungeon Tiles arrived yesterday and were waiting for me as I arrived this morning. All 83 lbs of them.


Those in the office were curious. I just told them more toys for my toy soldiers.


Here's what 10 sets of painted Dungeon Tiles and 6 Add-ons looks like. Very pleased. And thanks to the Propaganda Architect who convinced me we should go the painted route so its one less thing to paint. Good Call!

So me and 3 other BG's went in on the 10 sets painted deal for the kickstarter. Great deal. We'll divide it up next week. Mine are going in a big Rubbermaid box. They are pretty durable, so I am not worried at all about scratches.

Work on our dungeon bashing rules is ongoing...Me and the Baron are gonna playtest in November.

And as an aside, I backed out of the Bones II Kickstarter. I still have my $1 in so I can buy a couple of models, but I don't need all those models that will never get painted.

Enjoy your gaming time...

LA

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Happy Birthday Baron!

Today is Ze BAron's Birthday.

Happy Birthday Cake With Candles (click to view)

Happy Birthday to my best friend and cause of all this wargaming and miniatures madness. Thanks.

Have many a nice craft beer for me as I shiver in the cold at practice tonite!

Head on over to the Baron's blog and give him a shout out for his birthday.

And here's some obligatory birthday cheesecake for the Baron.




Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Bones II

So. Reaper just put up Bones II and 47 minutes in (at 9:47 central US time) its already at $265,000.00 with a goal of $30k. Obviously the 30k is a way low point. But almost 10x goal in 45 minutes. Sheesh.Reaper Miniatures Bones II: The Return Of Mr Bones!

Good looking all in at this point with this as base set so far:


So they are doing things a little different. $100.00 entry point minimum. No smaller pledges. They are also limiting pledges on a first come first serve basis and its tied to shipping. So the first 2000 that pledged, got the first shipping slot, which is Sept 2014. the next 2000 got Oct 2014. Etc. They got 17,000 pledges last time, so Reaper learned a lot about fulfilling one of these mega Kickstarters. Easier on their staff and encouraging early pledges.Smart. Really smart.

They are Halloween themed right now. But I think they may be hinting at doing big terrain pieces. That would be awesome.

Oh, and a summary of the first Bones KS:

Material is bendy when its thin.
Does not prime well unless you use the right paint.
Bases on most are warped.
Mold line are easily scraped.
Material is easily cut and can be bent with hot water.
For price, access to big figs is amazing.
I dont need all the character figs, but to get the monsters and such gotta get them.

Overall, I will never paint all of the bones I already have, but for me having 25 orcs for 20 dollars, its awesome.