I have a high tech system for recording and cataloging the paint schemes I use on my miniatures. I scrawl them out onto a piece of paper and then stack it on my desk! It actually is quite useful, although I forget to do it sometimes. I record mixtures, or any unusual techniques I did, as well. For colors not available anymore, I'll write down the mixture for something similar when I need it again. It comes in handy when you return to a project after a couple of years away from it.
Not that it's really that interesting, but I wanted to take some pictures as a backup in case these ever got lost. I'm not sure how far back this goes, but I'd say at least five years, probably more on the order of seven.
Over at Miniature Wargaming, there's a link to IronHands.com's list of Terrain How-To Pages. It's frustratingly inspirational-- I have all the ingredients listed except for the vision, patience and the skill. It's one thing to make terrain from scrap, but this stuff ends up looking professional. I just don't see the trash anymore, even when I know what it is! Looking through their links, I see a few sites I haven't noticed before: Parasitic Studios and NetTerrain.
I just received an order in for some H&R micro-armor from Spirit Games. I ordered it on November 1, a Saturday, and got it November 13, so about a week and a half turnaround. Not bad at all, across the Atlantic! I don't get that kind of speed from some stores in the US. Spirit Games has been around a long time, and I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again. I've ordered a few times over the years, and always had really great service. Glad to see the exchange rate creeping back to our favor so it makes sense to order from them again!
Over at Junior General, there's a Ruins of Tolen Sci Fi campaign being set up which includes world development and paper figure creating. It looks pretty interesting.
I spent some time tracking down this informative thread on Sci-Fi buildings and wanted to record it somewhere for posterity.
I have found the design for my dream wargaming table. Now I just need a house large enough to fit it in.
You may have noticed my 40mm painted counter clicked up two recently. No pictures yet, but I started painted some of my Sash and Saber FIW Indians. I found a mixture that I think gives a good native American skin color. I mixed it using craft paints. It is 4 parts brown, 3 parts orange, 2 parts light grey, and 1 part white. You may want to adjust this a little bit based on the paints you are using, but it gives a good starting point.
Yes, the time when the craft stores carry Halloween and Christmas village things to use for terrain!Hobbytown USA, where I get my terrain supplies, closes at 9:00 PM. At 9:05, the sprayer on my Woodland Scenics scenic cement breaks on my second hill, shutting me down for the night!
Doesn't look too badly, does it? It's pretty simple, too. I bought a bottle of olive greenish craft paint and a cheap "chip" brush. I poured the paint on the hill, painted it with the brush, and then covered the wet paint with Woodland Scenics green blend blended turf. Let it dry, dump the excess off, and pour that back in the bottle. Then, as long as you have a functioning sprayer, mist it with scenic cement. This is basically a 50/50 or so mix of elmer's glue and water, but the Woodland Scenics brand works better, enough so that I just buy it rather than making it.
Yes, the time when the craft stores carry Halloween and Christmas village things to use for terrain!
A buddy turned me on to the "Moss Display Mats." It's basically a mesh with reindeer moss glued to it. This will do really well for the wood outlines for my SG2 game. The alternative was to cut MDF with my jigsaw out in the garage...not something I was looking forward to. Also, I found these Christmas village hills-- two identical sets! Hard to beat, although they were $13 each. That sucks when I have bunch of foam board laying around, but then, it's been laying around untouched for a looooong time. Taken out of the box, painted green and flocked, and I've got my two identical sets of hills. I can see the finish line... Also, a small Christmas tree that will become 40mm corn fields before too long.
The Kapiti Fusiliers have a nice article about using ground cloths to their full potential.
Not much. Not much that was any fun, at least. I was oncall for work, and got called in early on Friday morning. It seems our data center's air conditioning failed, and it was as bad as I've ever seen it. I had equipment so hot, it would burn your hands to touch it. One CPU outlet was registering 58 Celsius. Friday night, a major data circuit failed. Saturday, a tech at a property wiped his core switch configuration trying to do a password recovery. Plus, each kid had a birthday party to attend, but not together. Whine whine bitch moan. Anyway, I did start on some buildings...
I had intended to scratch build the buildings, but decided I just didn't have the time, so I poked around for some 15mm buildings. There wasn't a lot, but I decided to use some from Dream Pod 9 for Heavy Gear. They're a little small next to the figures, but the ground scale works out nicely. Putting the buildings in scale with the figures makes them almost 50 yards long. I kept my scaled-up test for a large warehouse, and will print out several smaller buildings to accompany it. They go together quickly, and I will probably base them on thin plasticard (tip: you can get cheaper plasticard in the form of For Sale and such signs at hardware stores).
Neil Shuck (a.k.a. Earthquake) of the Meeples and Miniatures podcast has a nice roundup of 40mm miniature manufacturers.
Really incredible terrain like this is just disheartening for me. I'll never do anything a third this cool.
I also recently bought the SuperSystem 2007 Annual. It's definitely worth a measly $2.50 if you play the game. It has 19 pages, 10 characters, 4 powers, 1 rule (super club breakage), 3 scenaros, 1 linked "role-playing" scenario (2 scenarios, 3 characters), a fast play sheet and lava templates to cut out. Not bad at all for $2.50!! All of which reminds me, I still need to buy the Mecha Gor. Oooo, and look, new figures! Heh. I believe I'm entering what is traditionally referred to as "the manic phase."
...and you know what else, Gloire is based on .45 Adventures, a pulp ruleset. I've also been sitting on Pulp Figures Rocket troops and Zeppelin Troopen. Maybe it's time to slap some paint on them, build the airship, and get to playing!
I just bought Gloire and its pirate supplement, Under the Black Flag. I saw Gloire in action at last year's Historicon. It was a very small game (it looked like two figures vs. two figures), but everybody always seemed to be having fun. By the time I decided I'd try to get into a game, it was too late. I've been sitting on the Wargames Foundry Treasure Island characters for a while (the full set, including Squire Trelawney, who was dropped when Foundry reshuffled all their packs to sneak in another price increase) and about twenty pirates, so when I saw the Under the Black Flag rules were released, I decided to go ahead and grab them. I've also had my eye on Old Glory's the Black Cutlass, which would make a pretty cool addition and isn't badly priced as an OGA member. Plus, all those cool OGA pirate figs trickling in over the last year. I do believe I have officially kick-started a new project...
We've been poking around with War Engine lately. The rules are very simple, but there are several "gotchas" you have to keep track of in character generation. So, I made an online character generator. It's still fairly rough-- there are certain legal characters you just can't make yet, and I'm not checking for every single gotcha, but it's still a real asset when creating troops. If you find a bug or are missing a feature you really need, let me know.
The War Engine rules, the core of the old Shockforce game, are freely available now. I bought the 2.0 book on the strength of the many recommendations of members on TMP and they look appealing, but I've never gotten around to trying them out. That will hopefully change soon. There's also a Yahoo group.
Saxe-Bearstein has a very interesting article called Terrain Selection Concept, a fun and interesting looking method of two players establishing the terrain for a game. Personally, I have used the mechanisms in Theater of War a lot, but Command Decision has an improved version of it (which I use for Field of Battle!) I'm still looking for Warplan 5/5, though...if you have a copy you'd like to sell, let me know!
Historifigs is reprinting old articles by Joe Morschauser from their old Table Top Talk magazine. The Classic Solo Wargame looked like an interesting article. Definitely a classic article now, it's 40 years old!
Here are the 5150 rules for Star Wars I wrote up with input from my buddy Mik. It's mostly from ANH and ESB as those are the figures I have. I'd love to have any additions you come up with, as I probably won't stat up anymore than this since this covers most of my figures. After watching Clone Wars, though, I could see myself getting clone trooper and droid forces down the line... Anyway, you can see some pictures here of some playtest games Mik and I played.
IMPERIALS (Star Army QRS):
Stormtroopers:
Leader: 1-4 Rep 4, 5-6 Rep 5
Squad: 1-2 Rep 3, 3-6 Rep 4
Equip: Hard Body Armor, Laser Carbines/RF Laser Rifles, thermal detanators
Skills: All Stormtroopers are Crappy Shots.
Imperial Stars:
Darth Vader
Rep 6
Equip: HBA, Lightsabre
Skills: Terrifying (1d6 melee, charge tests; FM target), Wary (+1d6 In Sight), Resiliant (1st OOF => KD), Nerves of Steel (No Fear), Hard as Nails (1st OD => KD), Knifeman (+1d6 w/ LS), Combat Artist (!< 1d6), Born Leader (all 2" do as he does)
Greedo/Mos Eisley Thug
Rep 4 (1 Rep 2, 2-4 Rep 3, 5-6 Rep 4)
Equip: SBA, Laser Pistol
Skills: Crappy Shot (-1 rep when firing), Coward (treat duck back as hunker down), Wuss (roll only 1d6 for rally, charge/being charged tests)
IG-88
Rep 5
Equip: HBA, Laser Pistol, Laser Rifle, Thermal Detanotor
Skills: Ambidextrous (no penalty for two weapons), Nerves of Steel (No Fear)
Bossk
Rep 5
Equip: SBA, Laser Carbine
Skills: Pyscho (Must fast move and fire towards enemy who has Fear, Hard as Nails [1st OD => KD], Nerves of Steel [No Fear])
Dengar
Rep 5
Equip: SBA, Laser Carbine
Skills: Nerves of Steel (No Fear), Cold as Ice (Never Outgunned)
4-LOM
Rep 5
Equip: HBA, Laser Carbine
Skills: Fast (+2" Movement), Stealthy (cannot be seen >12" if motionless in cover. Multiple dice ranged weapons -1d6 to min 1)
Boba Fett
Rep 5
Equip: HBA, Laser Carbine, Laser Pistol, Flamethrower, Vibro blades, Jet Pack
Skills: Crackshot (+1 1st shot), Brawler (3k2), Combat Artist (!<1d6), Resiliant (1st OOF => KD), Nerves of Steel (No Fear), Hard as Nails (1st OD => KD), Wary (+1d6 In Sight)
REBEL REPUBLIC (PDF QRS):
Rebels:
Leader: 1-2 Rep 3, 3-5 Rep 4, 5 Rep 5
Squad: 1-4 Rep 3, 5-6 Rep 4
Equip: Soft Body Armor, Laser pistolCarbines/RF Laser Rifles
Rebel Stars:
Luke Skywalker
Rep 4
Equip: SBA, Laser Carbine
Skills: Agile (no Fast Move mod), Resiliant (1st OOF => KD)
Princess Leia
Rep 4
Equip: SBA, Laser Pistol
Skills: Born Leader (all 2" do as she does), Runt (-1 Rep in melee), Stealthy (cannot be seen >12" if motionless in cover. Multiple dice ranged weapons -1d6 to min 1)
Han Solo
Rep 5
Equip: SBA, RF Laser Pistol
Skills: Crackshot (+1 1st shot), Wary (+1d6 In Sight)
Chewbacca
Rep 5
Equip: SBA, Laser Carbine
Skills: Brawler (3k2), Combat Artist (!< 1d6)
R2D2
Rep 4
Equip: HBA
Skills: Slow (-2" move), Cold as Ice (never outgunned)
C3P0
Rep 4
Equip: HBA
Skills: Slow (-2" move)
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Rep 6
Equip: SBA, Lightsabre
Skills: Wary (+1d6 In Sight), Resiliant (1st OOF => KD), Nerves of Steel (No Fear), Hard as Nails (1st OD => KD), Knifeman (+1d6 w/ LS), Born Leader (all 2" do as he does)
WEAPONS
Basic Weapon Range Targets SB HB AB REF DIS SHIM EXO BTA
Imp. Blaster 24 2 4 3 Sp Sp Sp 4 2 1
Imp. Rifle 48 3 4 3 Sp Sp Sp 4 2 1
Reb. Blaster 18 2 4 3 Sp Sp Sp 4 2 1
Reb. Rifle 36 3 4 3 Sp Sp Sp 4 2 1
Laser Carbine 24 2 4 3 Sp Sp Sp 4 2 1
Laser Pistol 12 1 4 3 Sp Sp Sp 4 2 1
RF Las. Pistol 12 2 4 3 Sp Sp Sp 4 2 1Melee Weapon Range Targets None SB HB AB REF DIS SHIM EXO BTA
Unarmed X 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 NE NE
Lightsabre X 1 6 5 4 5 5 5 5 3 2
Vibroblade X 1 4 3 1 1 3 4 1 NE NE
Jet Pack: Characters with a Jet Pack may, instead of moving normally, make an aerial move of up to 12". The character counts as Fast Moving.
Jedi Defense: Jedi are consider to have Jedi Defense in their ability to block and deflect shots with their lightsabre. Whenever a shot hits a Jedi, roll a d6. On 1-Rep, the shot is blocked and there is no further affect. In addition, Rep 5 Jedi may deflect the shot back at the attacker (out to 12") at -1 Rep, and Rep 6+ Jedi may deflect the shot at anyone (out to 12") at -1 Rep. If Rep 6+ Jedi do not have their lightsabre, they may still block shots but may not deflect shots. Yes, this means you can not shoot a Rep 6+ Jedi. If the Jedi fails to block the shot, roll as normal for whatever type of armor he is wearing (usually, SBA)
Jedi Force Push: May attack any person or object within 12". Roll a 2d6 vs. the Jedi's Rep and consult the Jedi Force Push Table:
Jedi Force Push modifiers:
Rep - 1: Target is object larger than Jedi (machinery, etc...)
Rep - 2: Target is object much larger than Jedi (X-Wing, etc...)Jedi Force Push Table:
Pass 2d6: Target knocked back (see distance table) and knocked down.
Pass 1d6: If Target's Rep is less than Jedi's, target is knocked
back (see distance table) and knocked down; otherwise,
no effect. If target is an object is larger than the
Jedi, no effect; otherwise, object is knocked back d6"
and knocked down, if applicable.
Pass 0d6: No effect.Jedi Force Push Distance Table:
Tiny Object (blaster, lightsabre, etc...): 12"
Small Object (Astromech droid, etc...): 10"
Medium Object (Humans, Wookie, etc...): 6"
Large Object (Speeder, large machinery, etc...): 4"
Very Large Object (X-Wing, etc...): 2"
If the object being pushed is another Jedi, the target Jedi may oppose the push. Both Jedi roll 2d6 vs. their Rep.
Opposed Jedi Push Table:
Wins by 2d6: Other Jedi pushed as normal.
Wins by 1d6: Other Jedi pushed half distance, not knocked down.
Wins by 0d6: No effect.
If the object strikes a model, make a Melee attack at Rep 2 for tiny, Rep 3 for Small, Rep 4 for Medium, Rep 5 for Large and Rep 6 for Very Large. The object passes directly through the target model whichever one wins melee. The object may only attack a single model.
Jedi Save: If a Jedi is forced over an edge, roll on the Jedi save table to see if they can grab the edge at the last minute.
Jedi Save Table:
Pass 2d6: Grabs edge and flips back up. Place standing at edge.
Pass 1d6: Grabs ledge but is hanging by a hand. Counts as prone.
Pass 0d6: Unable to grab the ledge.
Falling damage: Treat as a melee attack with an Impact of the distance fallen -2. For example, a character falling seven inches would roll on the Melee Damage table as though they had been struck by an Impact 5 weapon. Rep 6+ Jedi take no damage from falling any distance.
Jedi Leap: Jedi may leap Rep inches in a straight line in any direction.
I bought some more Star Wars singles (PRE 10/1, of course) from Dragon Justice. They had good prices, cheap shipping and great service. Recommended.
LotR: Battle Companies adds an experience-based campaign framework to GW's LotR rules.
Alan Emrich has several interesting items related to classes he's taught covering game design.
The Abingdon Wargames Club has a pretty complete set of HotT Campaign Rules on their site.
Paper Terrain has some nice looking paper buildings in a variety of scales.
If you need any shipping containers, this site has them in a variety of designs and scales. Click on the "Download" link.
Wargames Central has several sets of free rules, including Vietnam skirmish (with Battle of Bin Phouc'd report), modern micro armor, cowboys, pirates, and more.
Castle Kits sells pre-cast Hirst Arts parts and kits.
The Colonial Steamboat Company has some very nice products, including a very nice selection of 15mm colonial/modern Africa.
Amera Plastic Mouldings has some futuristic bombed out buildings that look like they would be great for modern multi-story buildings in an urban environment. They appear to be designed for 28mm, but Rolf of Liberation Miniatures says, "...they are spot on for 20mm." Gobano [in French] has several 6mm buildings for download intended for use with MechWarrior.
The Back of Beyond Times has some spectacularly painted Pulp minis from Copplestone, Pulp Figures, West Wind and others.
Conquest Miniatures has some very nice French and Indian Wars Indians, including Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook (wish they had him with that huge war club!) They also have some nice Egyptian terrain.
Shock & Awe is a post-Vietnam wargaming bulletin board, sister site to Fields of Fire specifically for Vietnam.
Karl's Seraglio has rules for adapting Warmaster to Napoleonics. March to the Sound of Guns is another, from the Hong Kong Society of Wargamers. As previously noted, you can download Warmaster here.
Games Workshop has released their Warmaster and Inquisitor rules for free via their Specialist Games range.
Jim Wallman has several interesting pages, including free wargames for download.
I've updated the Professional Wargame Scenarios entry with the new location for the Armor Magazine vignettes. Check these out if you're interested in modern warfare.
Andrew Thomson's Vietnam Wargames Site look very interesting.
I've been looking at 6mm Sci-Fi stuff lately, and whipped up a quick summary.
--==> DIRTSIDE 2 LINKS <==--
The Dirtside 2 rules:
http://tinyurl.com/2sljb
Dirtside 2 vehicle generator. You can use this to design vehicles and
print out a stat card.
http://www.cowell.org/~andy/min/ds2/gen.html
Ground Zero Games, the author's company:
http://www.gzg.com/
--==> 6MM RESOURCES <==--
There are two main 6mm yahoo groups which have some nice pictures in
the photos and file sections (all eras, not just Sci-Fi):
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm-Miniatures/
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm_Miniatures/
Some general websites with pics:
http://www.wayneolivant.karoo.net/hws_ds2.htm
http://www.users.bigpond.com/derekfulton/Gallery/Gallery.htm
http://www.voidgamers.com/channel/sci-fi/slammers/b.26.html?sort_hits=1
Some really nice GW Epic pics:
http://aofk.co.uk/mercenarybrush/ea.shtml
http://aofk.co.uk/mercenarybrush/articles/articles.shtml
A great scratchbuilder:
http://www.warfactory.co.uk/gallery/scifis/galpic4.html
http://www.warfactory.co.uk/scenery/turret.html
--==> MANUFACTURERS <==--
Adler Dark Star
http://home.clara.net/adlermin/
http://www.historicalminiatures.com/admasf.htm
http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm_Miniatures/lst?.dir=/Sicarii%27s+Science+Fiction&.src=gr&.order=&.view=t&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/
Alternative Armies
http://www.flintloque.com/acatalog/ALTERNATIVE_ARMIES_6mm_SCI_FI_157.html
Amazon Miniatures
http://www.amazonminiatures.com/amazonfantasy/scifi_am.htm
Baccus
http://www.baccus6mm.com/
http://www.heritage-studios.com/ (in the USA)
Brigade Models
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/
C-in-C
http://www.pfc-cinc.shoppingcartsplus.com/page/page/295095.htm
http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm_miniatures/lst?.dir=/C-in-C+Sci-Fi+Microarmor&.order=&.view=l&.src=gr&.done=http%3a//photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm_miniatures/lst%3f%26.dir=/%26.src=gr%26.view=l
Dark Realm
http://darkrealmminiatures.com/
http://www.heritage-studios.com/ (in the USA)
Force XXI
http://www.midiowa.com/colsten/
Games Workshop
http://www.specialist-games.com/epic/catalogue.asp
Gladiator Games
http://www.gladiatorgames.co.uk/1_300th_science_fiction.htm
Ground Zero Games
http://www.gtns.co.uk/store1/commerce.cgi
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/3877/dsgallery.htm
http://www.tonsha.uklinux.net/bif00_5.html
Cygnus X1 - 6mm Gallery
Hall of Ancient Warriors (just found these guys, don't know much)
http://www.users.bigpond.com/brianhallhaw/HTML_pages/haw_scifi.html
Iron Wind Metals-- Battletech
http://www.ironwindmetals.com/
Irregular Miniatures
http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm-Miniatures/files/Irregular%206mm%20sci-fi/
Monday Knight Productions
http://www.mondayknight.com/mkpindex.htm
NavWar
http://www.navwar.freeserve.co.uk/
Old Crow
http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/6mm.htm
Peter Pig
http://www.peterpig.demon.co.uk/range12.htm
Riveirsco/Tin Soldier Days of Empire
http://www.tin-soldier.com/doe/doe1.html
Scotia
http://www.scotiagrendel.com/scotia/scotiasf.html
http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm_miniatures/lst?.dir=/Sci-fi+-+Scotia+6mm&.order=&.view=l&.src=gr&.done=http%3a//photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm_miniatures/lst%3f%26.dir=/%26.src=gr%26.view=l
Stan Johansen
http://www.stanjohansenminiatures.com/micro.htm
Steve Jackson-- Ogre
http://www.sjgames.com/ogre/miniatures/
Timecast
http://www.timecastmodels.co.uk/range_20/range_20.html
Here's an old piece I wrote on wargaming figure scales and the Barrett scale.
Click the above image for a larger picture (300 dpi). From left to
right, here are:
- 2mm: Irregular horse and musket infantry in two ranks. Barrett scale: 2M.
- 6mm: Irregular colonial British infantry standing. Barret scale: 7M.
- 15mm: Peter Pig regular officer in beret. Barrett scale: 15M. Based on half inch diameter washer.
- 20mm: Esci 1/72 Vietnam War: North Vietnamese. Barrett scale: 22L.
- 25mm: Ground Zero Games Kra'Vak infantry. Barrett scale: 24H.
- 28mm: (Scale alternately called 28mm, 25/28mm, 30mm, 32mm, and heroic 25mm). Games Workshop Catachan Guard Lieutenant (converted). Barrett scale: 26H. Based on GW plastic "slottabase."
- 54mm: Tamiya 1/32 U.S. Modern Army Infantry. Barrett scale: 53L. Based on 1 inch diameter washer.
A note on the Barrett scale:The Barrett scale is a less subjective way to rate miniatures size, with terms like 25mm becoming a very vague definition anymore. From the Courier magazine, which uses it in their figure reviews:
"The Courier uses the Tobey Barrett Measurements System (BM) to simplify the comparison of figure sizes one to another. Briefly the number is the height in Millimeters from the bottom of the figure's foot (top of the base) to it's eye. The letter refers to the "heft" of the figure: L = Light; M = Medium; and H = Heavy. H will fit well with other H and somewhat with M but not at all with L even in the same scale. thus a 27 M is a larger 25mm figure of Medium Heft."
Note that the heft portion of the scale is still subjective, but overall the Barrett scale does a pretty decent job of classifying sizes. All my ratings on this page should be considered approximate.
Good info on figure scale:
Bob MacKenzie's great moderns site has an interesting article on scenario design.
The Skirmish Campaigns guys have published a Vietnam book, Screaming Eagles at Hamburger Hill by Mark Fastoso.
The Franco-Prussian Wargame Campaign 1870 site is devoted to an interesting solo 6mm Franco-Prussian wargaming campaign. It has info on an interesting hex-based terrain system, as well a solo orders generator.
Whitley Manufacturing has a number of floorplans for modern buildings which look very useful for gaming, such as laboratories, office buuldings and eventually prisons.
This is interesting. Frank Hammond is involved in starting a new wargames company, Mongrel Miniatures. Frank seems to pop up on every modern wargaming mailing list I'm on, and always seems to have something interesting to say, so I'm pretty excited to see what happens. They are currently producing Cold War figures in 28mm, and note they will be coming out with some 3rd World figures! Cool.
Squadron UK is "THE British Superhero Role-playing game. Originally published - to critical acclaim - under the title 'Golden Heroes' the game has been out of print for almost 20 years." Sounds cool.
I've recently found some very nice, relatively cheap toys for use in wargaming. Read on...
The first was the dinosaurs used for the howdahs. These turn out to be 1:40 scale dinos from the Carnegie Safari. They were all in the $9-12 range locally, except the sauropod who was around $20.
I also picked up an unknown scale gorilla which would go great for a Mighty Joe Young style ape. It is made by Safari, Ltd. He was $9, I think, but I saw him online for $3!
CCIC is a role-playing site but it has a bunch of real world information like building and vehicle floorplans that would be useful in any wargame. It also has some interesting paper stand-up miniatures.
Gisby's Unofficial Foundry Page has the very interesting series, Warfare in the Age of Exploration, 1855 - 1876; Some Scenarios for Wargaming "Darkest Africa" by Chris Peers.
I found a great random name generator based on US Census data. In can give results based on the names frequency of occurance in the census data, thus giving common or obscure names as you desire.
As a long time fan of Blood Bowl, I have to say Futbowel looks pretty appealing. What, no other races but Orcs? Sounds like room for a supplement...
Seekrieg has some photos and plans for their naval wargaming table.
Wargame Academy is another listing of free wargaming rules.
The Drunk Dwarves have a gaming table plan with removable sections. Agyris shows off an elaborate RPG table.
The Star Trek Miniature Maker is an extremely cool paper miniature maker.
Lazarus' Lair has, among other things, paper armies for Hordes of the Things.
The Arc of Fire website has optional rules to download for Colonial, Vietnam and WWI games, as well as 2nd printing edits and two WWII scenarios.
BattleGroup Boston's Bunker has Peter Mancini's Arc of Fire countersheet and Hostage Rescue/Counter Terrorism rules.
Finney and Smith carry a wide range of civilian vehicles in approximately 1:100 scale.
I've started a miniature wargaming wiki, the Little Lead Wiki. Please feel free to contribute and maintain your areas of interest.
Great Hall Miniatures has pictures of most of the Peter Pig AK-47 line as well as other items suitable for Modern Africa and WW2.
Warp Spawn Games has a number of interesting free games.
Low Level Hell is a Vietnam site with helicopter rules and wonderful game, scenery and terrain pictures.
Mike's Own Wargames Pages has some interesting modern board and counter games involving MEU, Airborne and Ranger incursions into a hypothetical 3rd World Nation in revolt.
TMP has a current thread with a scant bit more info on the new Gripping Beast/MOFO moderns.
Gripping Beast is somehow related to a new line of MoFo 28mm Moderns. Here's what Frank Hammond had to say about seeing one in the flesh:
"have also placed an order from Gripping Beast for one of everything in a new range of 28mm Moderns, which are better than anything I have
ever seen. They are not on general release yet and I only saw one painted sample at a convention last week (Triples Sheffield) on their stand, but it was enough to make want them ! :-)) Lol !
These figs make Devil Dog figs look like **** ! Honest ! :-)"
The WargamesJournal info is mirrored here:
New Modern figure seen at GB stand
We’re not sure if anyone else spotted the rather nice 28mm scale modern figure that was lurking around on top of the Gripping Beast stand at Triples in Sheffield. We believe that one of the sculptors at GB was responsible for the figure and that a complete range of modern figures will be coming out soon under a non-GB name.
Well we got some more details. This is what GB had to say:
“MoFo Ultra Moderns - Gripping Beast is proud to present preview packs from MoFo, a new company specialising in Ultra Moderns - come to our stand on the Ground Floor at Salute and see why we're so excited to be distributing them..!!!"
Here's a recent WW2 rules discussion from the modmil Yahoo group which was interesting and informative.
Subj: Re: [modmil] Hello Everyone...
From: Fred Cartwright
To: modmil@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 02:02:29 PDT
-- /blue/homes/cowell/Mail/mhl.format --
--- spikenog
> Hello.
> I am just getting into WW2 gaming and I was wondering if people
> could help me decide on a rules set to use. I would like to use
> skirmish level rules with a 1:1 ratio for tanks, and either 1:1 for
> infantry or one base of guys for a squad.
> My first impression was to go with Microarmor, but I wanted to get
> the opinion of those that play before I made any decisions.
Hi Erich,
First thing you need to decide is what you mean by
skirmish! If you want to play 1:1 with individual
based figures then you are looking at about a platoon
per player as a maximum. If you are going to use
multibased figures then a company per player is quite
managable. Figures go from 6mm to 36mm! As for rules
there are loads to choose from. For a 1:1 individual
based figures:-
Arc of Fire
Battleground WW2
Kampfgruppe Eins/Zwei/Drei
Face of Battle
BAPS
Combat Commander
Stalingrad
Arc of Fire and Battleground WW2 have a similar feel
with AoF playing faster. Combat commander has a
similar feel to Warhammer 40k. Kampfgruppe Eins etc.
are heavily morale orientated, but give a good game. I
don't know much about BAPS, Stalingrad or Face of
Battle. From an economic point of view BAPS and AoF
are the cheapest as they have all you need in one set
of rules. Kampfgruppe Eins covers infantry, Zwei
vehicles and Drei heavy weapons and engineering. Both
Face of Battle and Battleground WW2 have supplements
to cover additional forces and rules. Both are
expensive to get comprehensive coverage.
For multi based figures upto company level actions:-
Crossfire
PBI II
Mein Panzer
Take Cover
Piquet - Point of Attack, Blitzkreig
Both Crossfire and Piquet use initiative based
systems. Crossfire is a very clever set, but some of
the concepts around pinning and group moves are very
difficult to get a grip on. Piquet can be quite boring
if you are on the receiving end of a long run of
initiative from your opponent as all you can do is
take the odd op fire shot. PBI II uses squares to
regulate movement and firing and a motivation/action
points system which emphasises the role of junior
leaders. Don't know much about take cover or Mein
Panzer.
> As for me, I have been gaming and modeling for the past 13 years
> (most of the time with various Games Workshop products), and I have
> always wanted to run scenarios set during WW2. I live in Rhode
> Island USA, and work for the Hasbro company as a prototype toy
> painter.
No chance of getting Hasbro to do traditional toy
soldiers and matchstick firing guns is there? I fancy
some Little Wars type action and can't afford the
prices that "toy soldier" firms charge!
Cheers Fred.
Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 21:46:03 +1200
To:
From: "Phil Yates or Fiona McLaughlin"
Subject: RE: [modmil] Hello Everyone...
Hi Erich,
Take a look at Flames Of War www.FlamesOfWar.com. It's 1:1 in both tanks and
infantry with figures based by the fire team. Each player commands about a
company. Players used to Warhammer 40K should pick the game up quickly.
Phil (the author!)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: spikenog [mailto:spikenog@yahoo.com]
> I am just getting into WW2 gaming and I was wondering if people
> could help me decide on a rules set to use. I would like to use
> skirmish level rules with a 1:1 ratio for tanks, and either 1:1 for
> infantry or one base of guys for a squad.
Upgrading Your Games Even Further is an article on upgrading traditional games. It has some interesting points on game design.
Rhys Batchelor has a great WW2 Crete mega-game report page. Of particular note is his Village Construction game.
Tom Mouat's MapSymbs has several military symbol fonts available to download, along with other interesting wargaming related items.
Chris of Norwich Rearguard Wargames Society has a nice page on wargaming Vietnam in Piquet. I like his ideas on markers.
Liberation Miniatures is a great source of 20mm modern miniatures.
Cyberboard is an Play by E-mail game resource, with a number of games already converted for it. Berthier is a campaign management tool that can be used as well, see Sullivans Island
Revisited for an example campaign run with it.