Sci Fi Corridor Tiles - some progress

When last I left this project, I had done some layouts and cut my pink foam, but had not glued anything down. Well, I got a couple of hours last night and I didn't feel like painting 1811 Spanish Militia, so I broke them out and glued them down and made some more. I'm just kinda winging this one and already its presenting some problems.

Becasue of the Industrial Edge tiles I am using, I have introduced 1/2 tiles into the way I normally would do a Hirst Arts Tile project. So its taking some getting use to. I fear I will need to make some 1-1/2 width corridors to make sure I can fill gaps that are occuring when I introduce T intersections and L corners.

But overall I am pleased with the progress.

I now have 2 big rooms (6x6), a long corridor(6x2), short corridors (3x2), L corner, 4 way intersection, and dead end or spawn point. All told 9 pieces ais a nice start. I need about 20 to play a game on. I need a couple more rooms, a coupl emore spawn/dead ends, a couple o f corners, straight halls and a t intersection. That's probably about a full day of casting to get that far..

I need to pour some more tiles and industrial edge tiles. ButI am making due with what I have poured already. I actually like the chaos of trying to put some of these pieces that are clearly meant to go vertical in as horizontal walls. Fun.

Hirst Arts. Always a fun time. I will probably make what I can from what I have and base coat them. Don't know that I will completely finish the first phase of them yet. I think then either some 15mm Fantasy or Sci Fi. Maybe take a break from Nappies for a bit. Pics have 15mm figs on the tiles. Blue Moon and Khurusan and GZG models respectively. I think the tiles look great with 15mm figs on them. Nice and spacious. Plenty of room for tactical movemnt and fire team play. Add in some Khurusan 15mm scale furniture and consloes and stuff for the rooms. And that could be fun.

The tiles work with 28mm too. Here's an older pic with some Necromunda guys on it to show scale:

And one last shot of the Workshop of Doom's only clear space. About half a cutting mat worth. You can see it littered with some of the Hirst Arts Sci Fi molds I have poured up, pink foam blanks I have already cut for tiles, and the best hobby glue ever made - Aleen's Tacky Glue. If you don't use this stuff for terrain projects you must be crazy.

Spanish Napoleonic Update

OK here's a quick non-pic update on the progress of the Spanish over the weekend.

I now have 3 completed Line Infantry units at full strength (6 stands). Each unit is 4 line, 1 commnad, 1 grenadier. I also have a Grenadier command stand completed. So, once I finish 1 more Grenadier stands, I will have the ability to put together a converged grenadier unit from the line units.

I have a transitional period line unit ready to be started next. After that, I will finish the last Line Infantry unit.

So when done, looks like it will be:

5 Line Infantry

1 Converged Grenadier

3 Cannon

2 Cavalry(Dragoon-Guard)

2 Division Officers

1 Army Officer

That's a nice little brigade that will need to loose 6 units to be broken. Or they can be added to the Thin Red Line to bolster their lines.

I would like to buy a light infantry unit, but that will probably be something I come back to when I hit round 2 on each army (British (highlanders and KGL) Spanish Lights, etc).

After that, Here come the French.

Update - 11-22-12

Here's a quick update on the goings on in the Workshop of Doom:

I have two units, plus 2 stands of Spanish Line Infantry for my Nappy Spanish Project on the table. One unit is base painted, the second unit is 3hours from completion. Once these two units are done, I will have 4 Line Units ready to go, which I can pull out a Grenadier stand from each unit to make a Converged Grenadier unit. Yeah. that's 5 Units, hopefully completed by the end of Thanksgiving Break. After that, I need to do a large Militia unit (8 stands), and the Spanish Infantry will be done. The Spanish Artillery is done. Then its 2 Dragoon Units and the Spanish Army is complete.

We had a great playtest of Gruntz the other day, so I think 15mm Sci Fi is gonna move up the list.I need to Finish the Humanist QRF(CMG Recon Infantry, GZG Hi Wheeled Mobility Vehicles, DP9 Mechs) Vehicles so I can move on and Finish my Garn (Khurusan, GW).

I am on the verge of Pulling the Trigger on painting my 15mm Fantasy Undead Army for Hail Caesar! But it's kinda either that or 15mm Sci Fi. Right now Sci Fi wins cause I think GRuntz is really workable for the group and me. But all I will have to do is pull out the blisters and away I'll go.

Contemplating what my next Side-Side Project is (there's always one). With Nappy's and 15mm Sci Fi going strong, I will need to take a break I am sure. So the leading contenders are Pulp Eldritch Horror(a little Cthulhu action), Some Fantasy Chaos Warband stuff (old Marauder and Citadel lead) to fight the Brettonians and Undead warbands, Or maybe some Epic units. Side-Sides are just for breaking the tedium of big projects that really don't have an end point.

I printed out the Dropzone Commander free downloadable buildings. They are great. Expect some quick cobbled together goodness for my Mechwarrior Repaints for Robofire!

Enjoy the long weekend and keep painting!

Blog Formats, Type Styles, and Colors

There was a simple discussion on TMP that has spread to several of the blogs that I read, and that applies to me and the LA blog. It was about a black background with white or light type. How horrible they are to read, and how much they hurt the eyes. And there was much grousing(as usual for the grumpy grognards on TMP) about only children and the GW fanbois who love their black and skullz do their blogs that way, how unprofessional and what a basic mistake it is from a design sense. Etc. 

So here are a few thoughts.

I don't write code. I am not illiterate, but I use blogger so I can blog, not deal with learning sioftware and computer languages so I can make it exactly what I want. I live with what looks good to me. 

Pics are eveything. If you are reading my words, well then I am just damn flattered you bothered to spend the time. And pics look best on a black or grey background. Period. even marginal pics look ten times better on a black or neutral background.

I have a feeling some of this is about the aging of the gaming base in general. Us old farts eyes don't work like they used to. YES its easier to read dark on white. But after a while (like 40 hours a week), it feels like a flashlight is being shined at my face. So a dark background is ok for a gaming blog cause everything else I do on my computer is black on white.

And just like all the idiots during the election, I am so tired of generalities, sweeping statements that classify whole categories of people, and general BS of people who don't like specifically what you are doing, when you couldn't give a crap in the first place. So shut up about the Skullz and 40k and go grind your anti-Evil Empire axe somewhere else so the adults can talk about stuff. I know of three highly thought of and non FanBoi blogs that have given reasoned and rational thought about this issue. Imagine that. 

An Award and Thanks

My old blogging friend Space Jacker handed my a Liebster Award. Not sure where it originated from, but Thanks! and I'll play. The Liebster rules are 1) Link back to whoever gave it to you. 2) link to 5 other blogs with less than 200 followers that should be getting seen by more people.

Since I can't nominate Tiny Solitary Soldiers(it would have been my first choice), here's some I fancy to look at everyday:

The Baron's Blog - Well you guys knew this was coming. He is my bestest buddy and bestest gaming pal as well. He really has a great blog, and hosts the best game night every thursday, and has for 10+ years. He is the Founder of our gaming group, the Basement Generals, great painter, and terrific artist as well.

Dropship Studio - An active blog, that features a lot of GW content new and old. Content is great and I enjoy his painting and focus are also hallmarks of great army projects that get completed(sort of).

Miniature Miscellany - Another GW centric blog. His focus on EPIC over the last year(s) has really been a great thing to watch. He really knows how to paint and his 6mm stuff is crazy good.

Spaceman Spiff's - If you want Mech Zaniness and Inspriration, look no further. A dedicated Sci Fi gamer with a Mech slant, Spiff is a modeler, scratchbuilder and painter who loves all things with a targeting lens.

The Guns of April- A blog that chronicles the combined efforts of some stellar painters and gamers for their annual huge Con game. Last Year the Game was a Penninsular Nappy affair. You can see why I liked it. This year it is an American Civil War joint. All in 28mm, all with beautifully painted figs and terrain. Its as close as gets to the stunning English Club Demonstration Games that are legendary to those of us in the States. When you are done reading their blog, look at the blogs of the individual Guns. Great stuff.

There are more of course, Cluck Amok, the Orky 15mm, The Occassional Ambush to name a few.

And thanks again to Spacejacker. Keep Painting and Playing my friends. And Happy Turkey Day to those in the States.

Gruntz, Pike and Shotte, SAGA, and Mutant Future Weekend Gaming 11-8-12

Had a great weekend at the BArons gaming Thurs-Fir-Sat.

Thursday was a mega Gruntz game. We had 8 players and 35 units a side. And it was the first time we have played it. It was a lot of fun. We played for 2 1/2 hours and with one more turn we would have had a full conclusion. It was a simple meeting engagement. armor, ifv's, mechs, specialists, power armor, infantry. On one side, the Aliens fron the Korden Quadrant, a hegemony of vicisious mercenary worlds. On the other, The Quick Reaction Force of the Humanist Protectorate. Lots of carnage. Pics below:

A lot of fun was had and Gruntz got a lot of positive reviews from the BG's. We will definately be playing more. And based on how monster a game this was, compared to all the other examples and battle reports I've read, I was impressed that by putting gruntz on a single base speeds up play. I am based on Flames of War bases so no individual bases for us. I can't fathom moving single 15's in a game this big. No way. Figs are a mix of GZG, CMG, and DP9. Terrain is homemade, Kato, and AT-43.

Next up was Friday Night. Just me and the BAron. That never happens. It was pretty fun. We played a game of Pike and Shotte with his gorgeous Italian Wars stuff. It was quick and deadly. And fun.Pics:

Pike and Shotte is quick like Black powder so you need a ton of troops. The BAron has a ton, but we didn't want to go crazy just yet. HE is also in the middle of the great rebasing, so no finished bases.

Once we finished Pike and Shotte, we broke out SAGA to give it a whirl. Honestly I had never read the rules, didn't understand them very well, although the booze at this point may have been clouding my judgement. I think they are a good set, I need to read them. They seem like a set that rewards you mightily for knowing your troops, the rules, and the game boards. Not a pick up and go sort of game for multiple people, or those who haven't read the rules. It was fun to see my horde of Vikings finally get on the field. Couple of Pics:

Finally, on Saturday we played Mutant Future. It is the Retro-Clone RPG of Gamma World nuttiness. We had a couple of new players, so we had to fold them into the story. Hope they enjoyed the chaos. I know that most of you are not interested in tales of RPG gaming, so I won't digress too far. In summary, the group, consisting of a Mutant Anteater, A Mutant Wolf-Eagle hybrid, A Mutant Sunflower who is a badass, a mutant human, and a Pure Strain Human, rescued a Mutant Bat-Fox hybrid and released a deactivated Combat Engineering Synthetic from his slumber since the 'big one'. They detroyed a hungry, floating, gamma ray shooting, Gamma Eye that was hunting them for food. Also they got further dragged into the territorial disputes of the goose stepping, jack boot wearing, facist, hated Pig Men Cabals. Fun was had by all. 

For me, as much as I love classic D&D(red cover basic, blue cover expert, or Labrynth Lord), I find myself falling back into easy tropes while game mastering. Mutant Future keeps me on my toes. And my great love and the vision I have in my head of the Post Apocalyptic setting really forces me to be creative. Its a lot of fun if you give yourself over to it. My style is no-prep. Everything is on thefly, with maybe a few whispy plot threads dangling around. A sandbox. Go play.

So it was a fun weekend. Much gaming. I am off gaming this week and next, until schedules for basketball settle down and the rhythn of the holidays is in full force. Happy Gaming.

Gruntz 15mm - Upcoming Playtest

We have a mini con starting on thursday at the BAron's Chateau. So I offered up some flavor for the BAsement Generals to pick from to take some of the hosting duties off the BAron. Well they took the bait and looks like we are playing Gruntz on thursday night.

The BAron and I did one playtest with my unpainted Eldar army vs my unpainted Pig Iron army. It went fine, but we didn't really do some things right and we went too big to start. But I like the basic mechanic, even though I have most of 15mm armies mounted on FoW bases.

I playtested the rules this weekend solo, and I still like the basics. So we'll see how things go. Here's some pics of the forces that will be engaged, Aliens vs Humans:

 

R'lyeh Calls

I have been having fevered dreams and unwaking journeys feeling the strange call of R'lyeh. I don't know which of the Basement Generals feel this strange pull, but it is very hard to resist. Cthulhu you are truly a source of agitation.

I haven't sought out doing Eldritch Horror, but man some great stuff is out there. And I have seen some great figs and a lot of people who like the Strange Eons game as well.

So I dug through my existing stuff, and fiound I have some suitable stuff to get started in a reasonable and sensible way...But if we know oner thing, the Lead Addcit is not a reasonable or sensible person. So I spent some time sunday night cobbling some terrain together to scratch this odd itch. Here you go:

three Arcane Sources of Eldritch Power

Obelisk of Power

 

rear shot

 

Sacrificial Altar or Eldritch Gateway?



Rear shot

 

A gift from the Stars

Its always nice for me to get a quick burst of terrain stuff in. I am going to scratch this itch occassionally. I am going to get a few horrors and a few 'investigators' and also pick up the Strange Aeons rules. Enjoy.