A Year of Frugal Gaming has some quick ladder building tips. I've used HO scale model railroad tracks before. You just can't have enough ladders, especially if you play Necromunda...
Mik has more Warlands in a game we threw together this week.
Mik posted a game report of our recent Warlands night. We played two games and had fun with it. I intend to get some forces and play some more. There are also videos of two moves with rams and shooting. I may follow up and post more thoughts about it, but I'm tired and busy. Basically, I thought it was good and fun.
My copy of Aberrant's Warlands "black box" arrived yesterday, and I've taken pictures of it as it came out of the box.
The box was shipped in a plain white box by USPS Priority Mail for $5.60. I was charged $6.00 shipping, so no complaint there. Inside the box, the "black box" was padded on two sides by white pillow stuffing, and was snug and packed well.
Inside the black box, my resin vehicles were inside the firm plastic clamshells. One the one hand, they were pretty well protected from the outside world; but on the other hand, they had a lot of room to bounce around in. As you can see, one wheel of one of my buggies was broken in transit. It doesn't seem like too difficult a job to glue it back, but it was still not what you want to see when you open a box.
There are no assembly instructions. Most parts seem pretty self-evident, such as the roll cages and drivers for the buggies. I guess that the plates and packs are just decoration, and serve no game purpose, meaning I can put them wherever I want. But what about the little turret? I don't see that in the store picture. Plus, not to be too juvenile, but just what, exactly, is the floppy thing hanging out of the bazooka drivers crotch? Looking at the rules, it appears that all three of the gunners ride the backs of the buggies (which means the bazooka guy wisely has a harness-- indeed, you can see it wrapped around his waist). I either have an extra "spud" gunner, or you get an extra. I guess the truck is unarmed? No, looking at the stats again, the driver and passenger have hand weapons, which aren't represented by figures.
The rules look visually nice. The page numbers count the cover as page one, with the table of contents on page four and the content starting on page five. They end on page twenty two, with templates on the last page/rear cover (pages twenty three and twenty four). There are five pieces of promising art (three of individuals, one of the jumping buggy pictured below, and another of an action scene) as well as one diagram showing the firing arcs of individuals in vehicles. There don't appear to be rules for vehicle mounted weapons in this early version, but there are rules for running over pedestrians. I haven't read the rules yet, so I won't try to comment on the quality of the contents included.
Here are the models from the box up against some others for size comparisons. The red truck is a "Hot Wheels" style Johnny Lightning truck I picked up off the rack somewhere. The truck is definitely bigger, but still in line. I think of it as on old '50s truck vs. a modern F-150. The buggy itself could be perfectly in scale.
Here are the figures lined up against some 20mm wargaming figures. The Israeli soldiers on the right are from Liberation Miniatures; the PLO on the left from Combat Miniatures. They seem to fit in just fine with both. The LibMins figures are chunkier, but they are heavier than most figures.
All in all, I say the game looks promising. I don't really think it's a bargain at $35.00, but I feel satisfied with the purchase. A lot will depend on how well the rules actually play. Considering that you can go get a $1 Hot Wheels car and beat the crap out of it and use it as it, I'd say a lot is riding on the quality of the rules. I can't imagine too many people will be paying $5-10 for resin vehicles. Of course, their initial run has already sold out, so maybe I'm wrong. I'd say there's a market for post-Apocalyptic figures and add-ons. I may need to put an order in to Stan Johansen soon...
Wargames Factory now has their zombie sprues up for sale.
Two Hour Wargames has updated their Chain Reaction rules and released them for free. There are some really good ideas in there, everybody should check them out if they like modern skirmish gaming.
I ordered the new Warlands box from Aberrant. I love the idea of gaming with lots of modded Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. Like most guys my age, one of my first games was Car Wars. I probably still have the old Steve Jackson plastic case around here somewhere ("Kong triggered the tail guns once more...that would teach HIM not to tailgate!") along with the Midville supplement (which featured a guy standing up in a convertible, blazing away with a rifle, while still wearing his SEAT BELT!! Awesome!!). Lots of great memories of Car Wars...you just can't beat the feeling of watching those damage boxes go away as you drill through the outer armor, through the crew and internal components, and then start to wear away the armor on the other side!! Man, I remember buying a tablet of huge graph paper and making all those old arenas...good times!
The latest d6 Generation episode discusses Russ's X-Cam Campaign framework. It's designed to be something between a league and a traditional campaign, and sounds interesting. You play small scenarios to accumulate Recon points. You can exchange Recon points to play a strategic scenario to try and win Strategic points, which you in turn spend to play control games to accumulate Control points, which are the goal of the campaign. Craig has posted an X-Cam campaign for Uncharted Seas.
I have been enviously eyeing Lord Ashram's beautiful house of war, including his nice display cabinets. I really like them, but at almost $300 a pop, I didn't really feel like buying one. However, my dear wife found this nice little curio cabinet at around 1/3 that price, so I ordered one. It has already shipped, so hopefully I'll have it soon and can get some pictures up. I'll have to hack in a light, and I'm hoping to add some extra shelves to it, but I'll just have to wait and see once I get it.
The Rattrap Productions forums have sections for Play by EMail (PBEM) sessions of their games. Looking through the Fantastic Worlds section, I think they look like a lot of fun, and I almost got in on the last one-- but who am I kidding, I don't have time for that. I am looking forward to getting the new FW supplement, Planet X: Terror From Across the Universe.
Just stumbled across Skankgame.com, home of 2085: Warlords of the Wastelands. I haven't taken a look at the rules yet, but based on the quality Galleries (complete with Thundarr conversions) and very useful Articles pages, it's probably worth a look. I remember seeing his high rise and rubble articles before, but I never noticed this, the absolute coolest terrain idea I've seen in some time-- wrecked cars in plaster!! Absolutely the coolest!! More here.
The ClanWebsite.org games page contains a link to Dawn of World (direct link to PDF). It's a cooperative fantasy world building game, or process, that looks pretty interesting. Check it out.
"Heh heh, oh man, my brush water is getting dirty. That's awful. It's really time to change it. Why, there's so much pigment floating around in there, it's like cleaning my brush with another paint! Well, okay, not so much a paint, but definitely a...wash!!"
Here's a light first pass. Looks good! I did a little more thorough after this, knocking the brush around and causing splatter all over the place. And best of all, when I'm done-- my brush is clean! Ish.
You could do this responsibly by starting a two stage brush cleaning system-- rinse it off first in the "wash," then actually clean it in a cleaner cup.
And when you're knocking your brush around crazily making spatter? Watch out for the back splash.
Fictional Reality is an interesting downloadable wargaming magazine. They cover a very wide variety of topics, so check it out.
Okay, I've been on a dice kick lately, but I really like this dTotal die. One single die can roll d2, d3, d4, d5, d6, d7, d8, d10, d12, d20 and d24. A few types require a reroll, like the d10 and d20. Still, it's pretty clever, and would cut down on the number of dice you had to carry around with you. It's not going to be useful for "buckets of dice" games at 25 bucks a pop, though. Still, I'm sure it looks great in your world's largest collection of dice... Update: ...and d30, d40, d50, d60, d70, d80 and d100.
Lou Zocchi of GameScience makes you hate your dice. Continues with part 2. He gets bonus points in my book for claming that "...a lot of gamemasters prematurely kill off characters who deserve to live..." by using bad dice. This man hates bad dice!
Two Hour Wargames has a free fanzine, Insight. It looks interesting.
So, I've always been somewhat enamored with solo games and solo campaigns. I do play solo games, especially just in terms of learning new rules or trying out some new figures. Solo campaigns, on the other hand, have seemed rather daunting. This plot aid card deck from Table Top Titans seems like a nice, general tool to prod your imagination along in something like that.
So, I've always been somewhat enamored with solo games and solo campaigns. I do play solo games, especially just in terms of learning new rules or trying out some new figures. Solo campaigns, on the other hand, have seemed rather daunting. This plot aid card deck from Table Top Titans seems like a nice, general tool to prod your imagination along in something like that.
Baron Vega's Solo Wargaming Page was always a nice collection of solo wargaming information, but it appears to have died. I have a mirror from 2005 I saved here.
I've been meaning to take a look at the Fast and Dirty SciFi Skirmish rules for a while. It looks like there's been some recent work on them, and it's probably a good time to do so. They also have a Yahoo group.
Steve's Random Musing has an interesting post about using points motivator software to encourage painting. Sounds interesting. I'm interested in making more work more focused, but this sounds a bit too much like turning my hobby into a second job.
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.
In addition to the great American Revolution information, Historical Miniature Wargaming also has good ideas on Piquet's Blitzkrieg supplement.
Bob MacKenzie has posted a nice reference on his micro-armor Russian tanks, mostly Heroics & Ros with some Scotia.
Task Force Productions, makers of Baptism of Fire WW2 skirmish rules, have a number of interesting things on their website including Banana Republic miniature rules in their Free Stuff section.
Kraken looks like a fun solo or one-sided multiplayer game. I saw it in issue 139 of Lone Warrior on MagWeb.
The Basement has posted TAC:Arc of Fire vehicle house rules.
Devil Dog Design has released its "Dogs of War" modern skirmish wargaming rules.
Tabletop Wargames has some very interesting information, including an SG2 WW2 adaptation.
Now is the time to start looking for Christmas Village items going on sale at your local stores. Here's some of the items I've purchased.
I found the most items that interested me at Jo-Ann Etc.. I held off on a couple of ceramic items as I spent a lot on trees and hedges, plus these two nice little fountains. The one with the birds is a little large for 25mm, and the birds are actually part of the piece and not easily seperated, but overall it seems okay. It appears to be a store brand. The trees are the "wire brush" type mounted in a small wooden "stump" and were $5.00 each retail. The bushes were two 4" lengths for $4.00. The are currently 60% off locally.
 |  |
Michael's Arts and Crafts carries the Lemax line of Christmas Village items. The large item is the "Pinewood Perch." Pop off the (28mm-ish) dog and bird, the roofs come off fairly easily, flock the base and you've got some sort of Colonial watchtower. ;-) 28mm figures fit all up the stairs and balcony, although the rooms get a little tight. It was about $25.00 retail (which I paid), and bushes were four for $5.00 or so (now 40% locally). I think the large dock was retail $15, and the other in one package for $10. In real life, you don't notice any finish difference, not sure why it showed up in the photo. I missed out on a nice bare wire-wrapped tree called grape vine maple or somesuch.
 |  |  |
Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse had some nice items, including docks similar to what I purchased. The 9" hemlock is a very nice wire-wrapped tree and I was only able to find two, but they were a bit expensive at $6.00 each, no discount. The 9" snowy pine tree was only $2.00 each, and as you see, a light dusting a green spray paint makes it look quite nice.
 |
Here's a little bit of everything thrown out on the table with some Armorcast ruins I've been painting.
 |
Manor House Workshop has a number of very nice diorama pictures.
Terrainosaur has a lot of pictures of terrain and miniatures, mostly fantasy and Sci-Fi.
DBx in 6mm is a good general 6mm site as well as having DBA/DBM info.
The guy who paints the GHQ microarmor catalog pictures has his own web site with painting tips.
Battlefront WW2 has a discussion forum dedicated to Modern Battlefront.
The Marine Corps Gazette has a listing of Tactical Decision Games that offer some great scenario ideas. Also, Armor, from the U.S. Army's Armor Branch, contains several Tactical Vignettes and Solutions.
Jonesy's Website has photos of an interesting fold-away gaming table. Check out his very nice galleries as well.
The Stronghold looks like a good site in support of WRG's Hordes of the Things.
Out-Land(ish) has a number of nicely terrained hex maps available.
From this thread in their Yahoo Group (subscription required), it appears that Devil Dog Design's miniatures will be available in the next week or two.
Old Glory now has their Darkest Africa packs in their online order system, most with photographs.
Old Glory has added the "Lost Tribes of the Heart of Africa" Darkest Africa 28mm range to its 2002 catalog.
Modern wargaming site the Basement has been updated, including a nice Arc of Fire report.
Rules Reviews has brief reviews on a number of micro armor rulesets.
GrenadierGuard.com has free Power & Paradox modern rules, which appear to be 1:1 skirmish scale.
Cannon Fodder Miniatures in Australia now has Rangers to go with their Delta Force and African and Afghan militia miniatures.
The Scale Card has a very interesting Wargamer's Scale Card.
TheAssaultGroup.com looks like a promising manufacturer of 28mm modern miniatures.
Earthquake's Skirmish Pages has some pictures of a new range of Maisto die cast modern vehicles that seem to fit will with 25/28mm figures.
The Wargames Journal looks to be a very interesting subscription-based online wargaming magazine.
GHQ's listing of new items now includes the Toyota Crew Cab Technical with MG in their Third World line.
Devil Dog Designs has several packs of modern US and Afghanistan/Al Qaeda figures.
The Land of Counterpane is a nice new website that includes reviews of several rulesets.
Glen Brooks is releasing a new range of 28mm modern miniatures, starting with the British and the Taliban soon to follow.
Frontberichten has information on two classic wargaming rule sets, ShamBattle and H.G. Wells' Little Wars.
The Strategy Page is running an interesting Military Assessement of the Al Qaeda Training Tapes.
Camouflage Uniforms of the World is a good modern uniform reference.
Earthquake's Skirmish Pages have been updated, including NVA and VC painting guides.
http://www.specialoperations.com/ has a page devoted to SEAL actions in Operation: Enduring Freedom.
Gildas Facit has some info on 2mm wargaming, as well as a number of scans of Heroics & Ros 6mm Medieval and Renaissance figures.
The Little Brush Miniatures Gallery has a few interesting guides, not just to painting figures but also taking pictures and selling them on eBay.
The Piquet Heretics have a new location, http://members.aol.com/piquetheretics/.
I've added photographs to my miniatures gallery, look under Super Heroes for Four Color Figures Superfigs and Modern Middle East for Yom Kippur War micro armor.
The Society of Twentieth Century Wargiaming has a new website and domain, http://www.sotcw.org/.
GlobalSecurity.org has a lot of interesting information, including a nice World Military Guide.
There are a great number of Solo Wargaming links available on Baron Vega's Solo Wargaming Page.
IanH's Wargame Pages has a great number of tips for 6mm modelling as well as playing Crossfire.
Earthquake's Skirmish Pages is a great modern resource. It has many pictures of modern ranges such as Brittania's Somalia range, Baker Company Vietnam, and more, as well as other resources such as rules reviews.
I played a game tonight of Frank Chadwick's playtest Men Under Fire rules. It was WW2 Western Front, Operation Cobra. I thought the rules played pretty well, although from the title's similarity to "Men On Film," I couldn't get the images of Blaine and Antoine out of my head! ;-) Read on for a quick review.
The first thing to stand out from the rules was that rifle fire was less effective than in most games, while automatic weapon fire was much more effective, being able to keep suppressive fire on large areas of the board. Casualties are card based and very similar to Larry Brom's the Sword and the Flame, and tend to end up with troops being suppressed. Command and control is very important, as each squad was required to have orders from the platoon leader, who could only change one squad's orders a turn, and then only when within 6" or Line of Site. Unsuppressing troops required a superior officer, which made letting your squad leaders get suppressed a very bad idea. This kept the platoon leader pretty active! All in all, there were several concepts in the rules that I thought were pretty realistic, and it gave a fun, stort-to-average duration game (we played essentially two platoons and a tank to a side in about four hours).
TWFigurines has some really nice pictures of painted Foundry Cowboys and Celtos figures.
The Strategy Page has a very interesting article on the history of wargaming.
Howard Models has civilian vehicles in a number of scales, as well as some nice trees, especially the canopy trees.
If you are looking for tactical symbols for your maps or unit labels, check out the Microdem Military Icon Composer.
Wargames at Data Source now has wargames rules available to print on demand, including Fistful of TOWs and Battleground WW2.
Xyston is a great new range of historical Greeks and 1/600 Greek ships. They're not available yet, but apparently soon.
I sometimes need a nice blank hex map, and Generic Wargame Maps has one, as well as several pre-printed hex maps.