tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41179931434310752802024-03-13T23:58:40.568-07:00Lead Gardenslittlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.comBlogger284125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-60843373228174460092014-05-12T07:50:00.001-07:002014-05-12T07:50:45.767-07:00Casting Season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's casting season here at the Lead Gardens. The weather has "springed up" and it's perfect for getting<br />
outside and starting on some summer casting projects. Outdoor casting has the advantage of keeping the nasty metal fumes out of the house.<br />
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I purchased three of the new 40mm Prussian molds from Prince August. I found the new moulds to be a nice change from the sometimes awkward poses of PA figures. The apparently have listened to those of us who war-game with these big guys and need a versatile figure that will paint up to most 18th century types.<br />
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Here are the wargame friendly features of the new molds:<br />
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1. The mould will cast two figures at a time, effectively halving casting time---particularly if you go for big units (mine are established at 40 figures) I got this new unit done in about 5 hours in two sessions over a weekend.<br />
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2. The moulds have two separate heads-- the basic infantry mould has both a musketeer in tricorn heads and grenadier heads in mitre two each so casting the mould will supply the optional heads as well. The officer, standard bearer, NCO, drummer molds have tricorn and fusilier heads. I bought all three moulds so I've got lots of spare heads now (to do a fusilier unit will take a lot of officer casting because the fusilier head only comes in the drummer mold)<br />
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3. The detail is more accurate for the Prussians.<br />
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4. The pose matches the older infantry advancing pose, though I hear they will be coming out with a march attack pose later.<br />
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5. The heads cast separately but are very easy to attach thanks to a nice sturdy peg cast on the head in conjunction with a plastic rod that is inserted into the mould before casting. This ensures that the hole for the peg in the body of the figure is perfectly sized.<br />
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I went with a unit of grenadiers that will represent one of the units from my Imagi-nations. I have been upscaling all of those figures from my original collection of 30mm RSMs.<br />
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The only downside of the casting session was having to do a bit of vent cutting to get the heads to cast properly. That is typical of PA moulds so not a big deal really. The only thing I had real trouble with was getting the officer's sword and had to cast (it's a separate piece)…but I think it's because I use old figures for my metal and I'm guessing if I used some of PA's higher quality casting metal, it would make things easier.<br />
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I'll be posting progress on the painting of this unit soon.<br />
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Cheers!littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-86366133642058513942014-04-16T08:01:00.000-07:002014-04-16T08:15:43.820-07:00The Gateway Drug<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If there is an "old school" of board games PanzerBlitz must be it!<br />
(with some upgraded rules and counters it's not bad at all)<br />
Here the 11th Panzer squares off with a Russian Tank Brigade</td></tr>
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Given that I had sold most of my boardgames many years ago, and the fact that I love playing with "daddy's little men" as my son calls them. I would never have thought that board gaming resurgence would have occurred here at the Lead Gardens.<br />
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But I am here to tell you that the improbable has happened. Given that I have been unable to get any gaming or painting done for almost a year not to mention blogging, it turns out that boardgames have been the gateway drug that has brought me back from non-gaming oblivion. Since there are some great new game designs out there and many are quick to set up and play, I have used them to get back on the horse ….and now after a crazy couple of months of buying and re-collecting some of the classic titles, and even attending a boardgames con in nearby Charlottesville VA, I have now started to eye my miniatures with renewed interest.<br />
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I'm about to order some of the new Prince August Seven Years War moulds now that summer is approaching and some outdoor casting sessions are becoming possible and hopefully soon some new units to paint.<br />
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Thanks to everyone who contacted me about my return to blogging and I'm really enjoying getting to look at all your great blogs again.<br />
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(The PB counters and Variant Rules can be found<a href="http://www.imaginative-strategist.layfigures.com/IMSTRAT%20PL%20Land.html" target="_blank"> here </a>and <a href="http://gregpanzerblitz.com/index.htm" target="_blank">here</a>)littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-56452002949018009472014-01-28T16:30:00.000-08:002014-01-28T16:30:50.619-08:00We Are Back!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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VICTORY!<br />
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Ok so this is a bare bones post but this is just to let everyone know that I managed to get back onto my blog after a long slog with old passwords and accounts. But as of this evening:<br />
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I'M BACK IN THE BLOGGING GAME!<br />
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-52936172905306630652013-03-02T05:13:00.004-08:002013-03-02T05:13:51.774-08:00Back to the Front<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It seems that I have been skulking in the rear here at the Lead Gardens, since my last post on Dec. 22!? ... a age ago in blogging terms. So I've resolved to quit paying so much attention to work, family and career and get back to what really matters—pushing great masses of lead around around "the Green Mile"!<br />
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I hasn't been all work over the past few months and I did get bitten by the Wings of Glory bug to the tune of a few hundred bucks...(<i>psst...don't tell the missus...</i>)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jasta 37's new machines just arrived at the front. These Albatri are destined for a repaint to make a complete unit.</td></tr>
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and my son and I have been shooting each other's spindly crates down for the past few weeks with reckless and delighted abandon.<br />
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Though mostly it's been mine that have been shot up. The added cool of having the option of playing the game solo using the excellent solo AI from Richard Bradley <a href="http://herkybird-richardbradley.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">(herkybird)</a> has made the game all the more seductive. The Richard's solo AI charts are available for free on the <a href="http://tynesidewargames.co.uk/wowrules.html" target="_blank">Tyneside Wargame Club</a> site. <br />
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For me, the best part about jumping into a new gaming period is the reading and the free offerings on Google Books of out of print texts on WWI flying have been keeping me up nights into the wee hours.<br />
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So as usual, <i>it's the too many projects, but what the hell it's fun madness</i> here at the Lead Gardens. <br />
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-35600505632820334932012-12-22T16:29:00.001-08:002012-12-22T16:29:44.868-08:00My Box of Britians<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Splendidity!"</i></td></tr>
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I have a box of old Britains that have been with me for the past 11 years. I got them from my former girlfriend's father for Christmas and they are still with me even though the girl is not (she ran off with an Italian chef....but I think I may have got the better deal ;)!). Her father was a collector of toy soldiers and some of his collection wound up in the huge collection of Malcom Forbes, so he was a pretty serious collector at that. I managed to get some single figures and a partial "Queens Coronation set" one Christmas from him that are really nice even if a little less than pristine collector quality. As a gamer, I always have a bit of a "beef" against the high prices that those figures are bringing these days.<br />
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As I currently struggle with my pencil, pad and calculator to figure out how to make two "Little Wars" armies of the new Spencer Smith Little Britons happen here at the Lead Gardens, I took a few of these old figures out of the box for a bit of inspiration.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Bengal lancer, ...one of my favorites!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you look close you can see Her Majesty herself.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...after many years of service, this fellow is in need of some rest...perhaps</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">in a nice RTV rubber mold</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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This fellow in the pic is an old Britians that I found at a flea market almost 20 years ago with a few guardsmen in home service uniform. I think his is a pretty old vintage as the oval bases I think are pre 1940s.<br />
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I always loved this figure because of the stalwart pose and simple lines of the sculpting. I think the figure was repainted by a prior owner. I was thinking about this guy and wondering if I might try to make a rubber mold and try to recast a unit of these. These may be a bit hard to cast at home without a spin casting set up so I'm going to have to do some research to see if is at all possible. I think the horsemen would be difficult as I think they would require a three part mold.<br />
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All the figures in pretty tattered shape but they have stayed with me
because I don't have the heart to sell them on ebay (even though I would
probably sell them if I ever got an offer...) <br />
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I'm hoping all of my readers have a peaceful and fun holiday season. I'm splitting time shopping with my wife/taking care of kids with some progress gaming and also making some organizational changes in my gaming space to make the gaming a little more pleasurable and less disrupting to the household.<br />
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It seems this time of year is really a time for reflection and remembering the good stuff.<br />
Happy Holidays!<br />
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-9027591110927735912012-12-20T15:23:00.001-08:002012-12-20T15:24:14.144-08:00New Musketeers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just finished a new company of 40mm Prince August Homecast...these fellows will do service as a unit of my Imaginations. I'm gradually scaling up my Imaginations collection to 40/42mm to fit in with my French and British so I'm taking my already named units and imaginary history and up-scaling them for my home-casting project.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">finished unit with the miscast muskets ready for repair...</td></tr>
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These castings are from the newest PA molds that came out last November. As always the PA casting is pretty easy except for some musket barrels that did not cast to the right length. So I used my flat toothpick fix that works really well for most PA musket sword casting repairs. It works as well as the round toothpick solution for wagon/gun wheels.<br />
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I also did a few minor head modifications to get better three dimensionality and some more extensive mods to make a standing flag bearer...but the PA figures (particularly the artillery castings) do well as a base for unusual conversions.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The toothpick fix...super glue works as both the adhesive and as a way to seal the wooden toothpicks.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All painted up, the toothpicks are pretty convincing!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And as a unit, the fix is almost undetectable!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the field!</td></tr>
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-89245758327089617902012-12-18T17:39:00.000-08:002012-12-18T20:09:12.934-08:00An Odd Idea<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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I was reading the classic "Little Wars" a few nights ago (something I do from time to time to get re-inspired), and an idea was rekindled in my head regarding how to make woods on the gaming surface. H.G. Wells had a set of large rectangles of wood planks that, when stacked, served as hills. Though it's not mentioned in the text (but outlined in some detail in his "Floor Games"), his approach to making woods involved having the hill boards drilled in a grid to take short branch cuttings from actual trees to make his wooded areas. You can just make out the grid of holes in the pictures in "Little Wars". I've always wanted to give that idea a try but never had the wherewithal to tackle it given that it seemed like a bit more than was necessary to produce woods. But the idea still hung around my thinking and finally ran into an opportunity to give it a try...now this is an odd idea for sure as it involves "damaging" a game I own...but I still thought it had good possibilities so I decided to give it a try.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Reb unit assaults a wood defended by Union infantry and a battery of artillery. (The game board is a bit shiny and I was thinking a quick coat of matte spray might make the whole look of the game a bit more like a tabletop wargame rather than a boardgame.</td></tr>
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Basically I took the idea of drilling the game surface to accept trees to one of my "Battle Cry" game boards to try a way of producing wooded hexes without having to use the flat tiles included in the game.<br />
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The result is kind of cool, but perhaps a bit "out there" if one wants ever to resell the game. And maybe just a bit too "fiddly"....I just drilled each hex vertices using a small bit (1/16") and sized to take the trunks of some nice little wire trees I got on sale at my local hobby shop. I forget the manufacturer of the trees but they are simple twisted wire trees with some clump foliage glued on. But when you stick them into the board surface it gives a fairly good alternative to the woods tiles. (I think this idea would work even better if you laid the gameboard on a piece of blue styrofoam insulation so the trees would hold better in the surface.<br />
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I'm still not completely sold on this idea. I just drilled a corner of one of the two Battle Cry boards I own just to experiment with it. I have to give it a few days to see if I really want to drill all of my boards this way. it just seemed to me that if I was painting the figures I should do a little more with the terrain. It kind of warps the boardgame idea...but the effect is pretty good.<br />
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I also want to do the full treatment of this idea for my 40mm homecast horse and musket stuff by doing up some layers of boards drilled to H.G. Wells specs. (...and not to mention the new Spencer Smith 42mm 'Little Britons" has got me on full alert... with calculator in hand trying to work out how to afford a classic set of "Little Wars" toys soldiers! (Many thanks to Ross for the<a href="http://www.spencersmithminiatures.co.uk/index.html" target="_blank"> link</a>!)<br />
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Nothing like some experiments to get the gaming juices flowing! <br />
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-76467308352323729132012-12-09T16:50:00.000-08:002012-12-09T16:50:57.443-08:00Inspired <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This week has been very productive here at the Lead gardens both because I am approaching the end of the teaching term and have a bit more time and because of the trip my wife and oldest son took to New York this past few days has given me the run of the house with my youngest daughter who is pretty easy to take care of. I managed to get some pre-dreadnoughts built and painted and had a few fun games to get me into the "holiday mood". This afternoon I made good progress on painting up the Union figures for my Battle Cry game. Late today I was ruminating on the "Memoir of War at Sea" rules and had an, <i>"oh wait, I have something that will work for this!"</i> moment. So I went out to the garage (where my "gaming stuff" is stored) and I unearthed a box of 1/600 sailing ships that I had built more than 20 years ago when I was first living on my own after my first marriage went <i>kaput. </i>In those few months I spent in a sparse apartment without much in the way of furniture, and lots of time on my hands, I bought a bunch of Airfix 1/600 "Victory" and Heller 1/500 "Le Superb" plastic kits and set to building converting and scratchbuilding a small French and British fleet of sailing ships.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gB1nKAhTL9s/UMUjcZaG0_I/AAAAAAAAEuA/6oWt0judGeY/s1600/IMG_0800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gB1nKAhTL9s/UMUjcZaG0_I/AAAAAAAAEuA/6oWt0judGeY/s320/IMG_0800.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original 1/600 Airfix kit</td></tr>
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I really got into it and the results were very satisfying even if I had no really good rules to use for solo gaming in the period.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WNvORzb04g0/UMUjdd24dYI/AAAAAAAAEuI/zE0_CWwxP4Y/s1600/IMG_0801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WNvORzb04g0/UMUjdd24dYI/AAAAAAAAEuI/zE0_CWwxP4Y/s320/IMG_0801.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the Heller 1/500 Le Superb unfortunately I think out of production, and I've got only four unbuilt kits left. The Victory is still available.</td></tr>
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I learned a lot about scratchbuilding back then and I still have a few kits left unbuilt. The scale is great for small actions.<br />
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So I'm thinking a <i>variant of the variant</i> "Memoir of Battle at Sea: Age of Sail" is in order...and this afternoon I sat down with pencil and paper to do just that. As soon as I get a draft up I will post it and see what my readers think.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the smaller ships were entirely scratchbuilt...and unfortunately are in need of some repair</td></tr>
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The scale of 1/600 is really beautiful for sailing ships and a good size if you want to do some basic rigging. The scale works also because ratlines can be simulated with a triangle of window screen cut to the proper size.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A big French three decker...the 120 gun <i>"Orient"</i></td></tr>
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I tried to model each of these after a real ship and for this rule variant I thought a nice goal would be to make a simple game that still was able to account for different ship armaments. I've got some simple formulas cooked up based on the broadside weight to rate the ships for number of battle dice to roll and and the tonnage to give a damage value. Next I'm cooking up some sailing rules that will hopefully keep everything really simple and in the spirit of Bob's variant on the M44 rules approach.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZkqniIVL3M/UMUjkkr4d-I/AAAAAAAAEvA/WOjN9sjTAss/s1600/IMG_0808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZkqniIVL3M/UMUjkkr4d-I/AAAAAAAAEvA/WOjN9sjTAss/s320/IMG_0808.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the smaller ships are pretty damaged but I think in time I can bring them back to full glory! This is the British 44 gun frigate <i>"Sprite"</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole collection.</td></tr>
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I'm pretty excited about this new direction, but of course, as always, the specter of being spread over too many projects looms on the horizon...but what the hell, I never let that stop me before!littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-18293259136786023102012-12-08T19:59:00.000-08:002012-12-08T20:08:10.112-08:00The Admiralty's Response<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5EaPN_KNeJQ/UMQGHcKKN7I/AAAAAAAAErU/CyMdxT64W1c/s1600/2012-12-06+10.56.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5EaPN_KNeJQ/UMQGHcKKN7I/AAAAAAAAErU/CyMdxT64W1c/s320/2012-12-06+10.56.10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two new British cruisers (small) are added to my British fleet</td></tr>
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After the "world turned upsidedown" debacle on the high seas, the British Admiralty has ordered two new cruisers to be constructed to accompany the sister ship of the now sunken "London" to hunt down the Brandenburg and disable or sink her.<br />
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Some pics of the finished cruisers and my attempt to make believable smoke using pins and cotton balls.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-07OYprm2sik/UMQGNR3rCdI/AAAAAAAAEr0/tLDGn3v1QCs/s1600/2012-12-06+14.14.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-07OYprm2sik/UMQGNR3rCdI/AAAAAAAAEr0/tLDGn3v1QCs/s320/2012-12-06+14.14.14.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
...And here they are in action in confined waters....made using new hex blocks I just got in the post to enhance my M44 and Battle Cry games from <a href="http://rdoxx.com/price_files/2.1Hex.html" target="_blank">RDOXX Inc.</a> They worked pretty well to make headlands at the mouth of an estuary that the British are attempting to leave while the Brandenburg lurks in the distance.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qouasu1-THc/UMQGOwMc5jI/AAAAAAAAEr8/YvMAnpkfFtU/s1600/2012-12-06+14.47.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qouasu1-THc/UMQGOwMc5jI/AAAAAAAAEr8/YvMAnpkfFtU/s320/2012-12-06+14.47.32.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was interesting to see if the large ships could be played on a very small table ("30ish" inches diameter...small and simple is always my goal..)<br />
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Again, these hexes are too small for the scale of the ships, but that will be remedied soon...but still it was an interesting action and the simplicity of the <a href="http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/memoir-of-battle-at-sea-lastest-draft.html" target="_blank">"Memoir of Battle at Sea"</a> Rules made playing it solo easy even with my little ones clamoring for attention.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hex blocks are exactly scaled to M44-C&C game hexes and are very nicely made and well worth the reasonable price... my hexes are just a bit bigger, hence the gaps.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Brandenburg barely skirts the headlands to make her escape</td></tr>
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This time the battle was a draw with the Brandenburg escaping after heavily damaging a cruiser and the battleship and taking heavy damage herself, so the British commander decided to break off try again another day.littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-21966858504822543812012-12-06T17:29:00.000-08:002012-12-06T17:29:49.721-08:00Encounter on the High Seas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MJ7ikJpyVCM/UME6CjmzTWI/AAAAAAAAEpA/aDrk5gYABaM/s1600/IMG_0778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MJ7ikJpyVCM/UME6CjmzTWI/AAAAAAAAEpA/aDrk5gYABaM/s320/IMG_0778.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HMS London and SMS Brandenburg closing range.</td></tr>
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<i>The newspapers are unclear as to why this incident occurred, but word from the admiralty has it that German ambitions in East Africa were in need of a stout pounding!</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An early critical hit slows the Brandenburg but she still packs a dangerous punch</td></tr>
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I managed to get my first two pre dreadnoughts at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4117993143431075280#editor/target=post;postID=9151074038468339469" target="_blank">this larger</a> scale painted up in late Victorian livery, and decided to give them a go with a single ship to ship action set up the hex board I made a week ago out of the back of a Christmas tree mat. The hexes are M44 sized and I plan to get/make a larger hex mat with 5" hexes soon but until then, I just assumed the ships were located in the bow hex and it all worked out pretty well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CJh1E1w5KNw/UME6GBfA89I/AAAAAAAAEpQ/wBErd0Oe4oo/s1600/IMG_0780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CJh1E1w5KNw/UME6GBfA89I/AAAAAAAAEpQ/wBErd0Oe4oo/s320/IMG_0780.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The London changes course to close range and sustains a hit in her forward turret.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d_Su7B4ot8o/UME6HmVwEgI/AAAAAAAAEpY/kXkfqKfJiYo/s1600/IMG_0781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d_Su7B4ot8o/UME6HmVwEgI/AAAAAAAAEpY/kXkfqKfJiYo/s320/IMG_0781.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "iron dice" are rolling hot for Brandenburg's gun crews and the London begins to take significant damage as the range closes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at 4.000 yards both ships run parallel courses and trade pounding broadsides.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both ships are approaching their "break off" point with the London taking another hit on her guns.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final turn of the game finds the London battling a fire and attempting to escape, but the Brandenburg gets in a final broadside that completely disables the London and she starts to list and the captain reluctantly orders "abandon ship!"</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<i>"Londoners were shocked at the news in the morning papers..."</i>-<br />
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I'm really enjoying Bob Cordery's <a href="http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/memoir-of-battle-at-sea-lastest-draft.html" target="_blank">"Memoir of Battle at Sea"</a>...and the great potential for adding "chrome" to the basic rules. The ships painted up pretty well and look the part so I started a couple of British cruisers to beef up a retaliatory strike on those overly ambitious Germans!<br />
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And finally to the stout fellows who graciously honored me with a Liebster Award for my blog please know that it was really appreciated and I'm working on posting my favorite 10 blogs that I think are tops...(I know, not the exact rules of the game...but I follow and enjoy 160 blogs on a regular basis and I thought that it would be good to honor the top ten...maybe I'll do a "Lead Gardens Top Way Beyond Cool Gaming Bogs Award" ...suffice to say I'm compiling that list right this minute and hopefully will be my holiday "shout-out" to all my favorites who give me so much pleasure and inspiration...Thanks Everyone!littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-91510740384683394692012-12-04T19:21:00.001-08:002012-12-04T19:21:40.439-08:00Getting the Steam Up: Part 2 Predreadnoughts<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5AqJyxn8oA/UL6xe2KSWQI/AAAAAAAAEl0/_YMGVWhXry8/s1600/IMG_0765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5AqJyxn8oA/UL6xe2KSWQI/AAAAAAAAEl0/_YMGVWhXry8/s320/IMG_0765.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rescaled plan of the HMS London...the original scan from Janes Fighting Ships 1905-6 is on the upper left, the rescaled version is on the right.</td></tr>
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Much-inspired by some great links sent to me after my recent post on some homemade pre-dreadnoughts I have moved into a "Homemade pre-dreadnoughts Mark II" phase. In particular, I am enjoying the look of the really cool pre-dreadnoughts on the <a href="http://oldadmirals.blogspot.com/2012/11/dogger-bank-memoir-of-battle-at-sea.html" target="_blank">"Old Admirals"</a> blog, and Bob Cordery's <a href="http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2012/03/hms-empress-joins-fleet.html" target="_blank">stylized wooden predreadnoughts</a>. I decided my small scale pre-dreads were a bit too small and I was taken with the idea that the ships could be larger and carry a bit more detail while remaining entirely scratchbuilt from inexpensive materials and, most importantly, quickly built.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SMS Brandenburg</td></tr>
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My approach was to take original scans from a copy of Janes Fighting Ships 1905-6 that I recently got on ebay (for a really great price) and manipulate the scanned image to give me a new template on which to base the hull shape. I wanted a more abstract look to the models, and just a bit stylized so I settled on a 1.5 inch width by about a 5 inch length to make my battleships. This size would work with 4" or 5" hexes and give me the look and the size that would allow some more complex detailing on the models. Most importantly I could use round toothpicks and readily available wood shapes for turrets and gun barrels and everything would still look believable to the eye. So the scanned image was resized in Adobe "InDesign" to get the shape that I was looking for...so shorter length and wider beam was the watchword.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bS29R7yeqvI/UL6xg-vyGVI/AAAAAAAAEmE/m5x0BcfZ9f4/s1600/IMG_0767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bS29R7yeqvI/UL6xg-vyGVI/AAAAAAAAEmE/m5x0BcfZ9f4/s320/IMG_0767.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HMS London</td></tr>
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The result is pretty satisfying, even if they are not true scale models, they are fairly faithful to the general look of the historical ship (which is what my earlier efforts had missing). They have a nice heft and plenty of room for deck details.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tL7wJCk1USU/UL6xiSfq76I/AAAAAAAAEmM/ByDrH3AT29I/s1600/IMG_0768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tL7wJCk1USU/UL6xiSfq76I/AAAAAAAAEmM/ByDrH3AT29I/s320/IMG_0768.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HMS London in it's raw state...still working on the masts.</td></tr>
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I used balsa for the main hull and wood toothpicks for the gun barrels. Some plastic tube and metal pins make up the rest...all really cheap available materials.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JQ1U_kGIvT8/UL6xjHeSIAI/AAAAAAAAEmU/RAIfKgMrNPE/s1600/IMG_0769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JQ1U_kGIvT8/UL6xjHeSIAI/AAAAAAAAEmU/RAIfKgMrNPE/s320/IMG_0769.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SMS Brandenburg..the models are very raw at this point...sanding and priming will hopefully take care of the imperfections.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--42PAPJmtMQ/UL6xkFUzoyI/AAAAAAAAEmc/Gw3b_O2W-TY/s1600/IMG_0770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--42PAPJmtMQ/UL6xkFUzoyI/AAAAAAAAEmc/Gw3b_O2W-TY/s320/IMG_0770.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First coat of acrylic gesso to seal and give a good primer coat to cover imperfections in the balsa hull</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u5de26sEXHs/UL6xlObNsTI/AAAAAAAAEmk/GaQBrg18R2k/s1600/IMG_0771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u5de26sEXHs/UL6xlObNsTI/AAAAAAAAEmk/GaQBrg18R2k/s320/IMG_0771.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the London and the Brandenburg...a first pass at a new fleet of pre-dreadnoughts</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Finally a few pics from the internet to make the visual comparisons easier...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p2nGyQqkd_E/UL678J4MKzI/AAAAAAAAEnw/MYdxmggL0Sk/s1600/SMS_Brandenburg_%25281891%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p2nGyQqkd_E/UL678J4MKzI/AAAAAAAAEnw/MYdxmggL0Sk/s320/SMS_Brandenburg_%25281891%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SMS Brandenburg during the late 1800s...she was refitted in WWI so some of the barbettes were no longer visible in later pics. She was part of the German fleet during the Boxer Rebellion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uQxLRZD3oEg/UL67-BWF6uI/AAAAAAAAEn4/diJvWw2PdLI/s1600/fritz_relaxin_sms_branden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uQxLRZD3oEg/UL67-BWF6uI/AAAAAAAAEn4/diJvWw2PdLI/s320/fritz_relaxin_sms_branden.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "business end" of the Brandenburg</td></tr>
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I'm finding the wealth of info on the web to be a scratchbuilders dream...that spherical turret on the Brandenburg is way-cool and not just a little "steampunk" as well!littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-30585999128597548962012-11-30T16:11:00.002-08:002012-11-30T16:11:27.859-08:00Finally Got Up the Steam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of those long untended areas here at the Lead Gardens is my project to paint up the plastic figures of my Battle Cry game. But I recently got re-energized by an ebay purchase of a second copy of the original Hasbro/AH game and doubled my figure count and opened up the possibility of doing more ambitious battles like Gettysburg in a more "grand manner".<br />
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I finished the first set of Rebs last night and was pretty happy with the result. Though they are still a bit too shiny in these pics...I think another coat of flat spray will do the trick.<br />
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I also think I managed to find the ideal solution to the plastic figure painting problem. I did the usual soap wash and then followed with an undercoat of black acrylic gesso mixed with "Weldbond" PVA glue. Weldbond is very tough and flexible and dries very tight to the surface and I think enhances the already great adhesion of just straight acrylic.</div>
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I followed with a classic triad of base block colors, plus ink wash (I use "Didi's Magic Ink" from "The Warstore"), followed by a light drybrush of white. I coated the figures with Krylon triple thick gloss which gives the figures a very durable top coat. I then made a pass with Krylon Matte spray to get the shine to "flatten", but with only some success in getting to a satin finish. I'm going to try again tomorrow but I think the figures are at least a bit better than unpainted.<br />
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You can see in the pics that I have to go over the bases again because pulling them off the paint sticks peeled the paint around the edges of the bases but that should be easy to fix.<br />
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I think in general these guys came out too dark so in the next set I'm going to try to lighten the colors so when the wash is applied it should not darken things too much.<br />
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I also replaced the game flags with paper flags downloaded from the various free flag sites.<br />
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Ultimately I want to be able to throw these fellows back in the box and not loose any paint to chipping...so we will see...<br />
...But, I may eventually base these guys up and go to marking hits on a stand instead of the individual figures.littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-83249104312863638682012-11-25T17:22:00.000-08:002012-11-25T17:28:51.931-08:00Exciting Holiday Find<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I don't normally love the holiday season because here in the states it can get a bit crazy. But one thing I always look forward to is the holiday decorations that can be turned to good use for wargaming. Today I found a Christmas tree rug 30" in diameter with a nice green grass surface on one side and a smooth black rubber surface on the back. it was under 10 dollars and I bought one and headed home with my gaming wheels turning!<br />
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I got home and gave the rubber backside a coat of blue acrylic loosely applied letting some of the black show through...making a nice ocean texture. Then I got out a hex "template" that I had saved after punching out a Battle Cry boardgame a few years ago...(my wife calls me a hoarder but it's for just such a moment that I save things.<br />
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I got a hole punch and punched the vertices of the leftover hex sheet giving a good sized template to use for laying out some ocean "terrain" for my predreadnoughts. I just used a white gel pen to mark dots at the vertices and then freehanded the sides of the hexes...(a little drawing ability helps here...) The result is loose but effective. And the board is 12+ hexes across ...and at the game scale I think works with my ships, (1 hex to 1000 yards)which would be extreme engagement distance for ships of that era. Ships are allowed to use movement points to turn more than one hexface since the scale of the hex allows even the largest ship to turn within the hex. This is a variation of Bob Cordery's Naval version of his Memoir 44 based rules.<br />
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I enjoy the way the circular board gives a sense of there being a horizon. It also reminds me of the "battle board" in the old Avalon Hill Bismark game...which I think I still have somewhere in my garage.<br />
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Now what to do with the grassy side....<br />
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PS, I found this mat at Lowes. littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-84254110436160062862012-11-23T15:16:00.001-08:002012-11-23T15:16:48.065-08:00My Son's New Blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My son started a new blog called <a href="http://bensbotcreations.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ben's Botcreations</a> he's really enjoying taking things apart and reassembling them. I promised him I would give him a little "press" here on Lead Gardens so if any of my followers have youngsters he'd love it if they check in on his blog.<br />
I think he is a scratchbuilder in the making...Thanks everyone!littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-31643244715594842962012-11-20T10:19:00.000-08:002012-11-21T14:06:28.795-08:00Home Brewed Pre-Dreadnoughts<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-dreadnoughts painted British style.</td></tr>
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I've been following a few blogs where homemade wargaming minis feature particularly <a href="http://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">"Wooden Warriors"</a>, and I was also looking at the <a href="http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/wargaming_on_a_budget/messages" target="_blank">yahoo group, "wargaming on a budget"</a> this morning and it reminded me of a little project I started a year ago that was my shot a wargaming on the cheap.<br />
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These pre-dreadnoughts are made of precut wooden shapes that can be had by the bag at typical craft outlets here in the states such as Michael's or AC Moore. I make the turrets from discs cut out of craft foam sheet using a paper hole punch. guns are from the ends of round toothpicks or in some case the ends of decorative toothpicks. The hole punch also works for punching thin sheet styrene. Sections of toothpick, styrene tube rod, and a wee bit of brass wire and you're all set.<br />
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The hulls are built-up using a stack of two or three of the same size shape with each layer shifted just a bit to give the impression of a pre-dreadnought bow of the period.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The German-ish fleet</td></tr>
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The ships are stylized and a bit cartoonish, but the overall effect is belligerent in a 19th century "big stick" sort of way and to my eye pretty convincing. I've been trying to work up some rules that would not involve record keeping (...to me the toxic part of naval gaming...as well as spaceship gaming for that matter...) Just a few hit markers or such. Perhaps a system a bit like the old SPI Dreadnought game. I was also thinking these might work on a gridded field using a more abstract movement system of some sort.<br />
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I just used British and German color schemes from the late 19th century to give everything the right feel visually.<br />
One thing that makes this project go quickly is having a "Chopper" from Northwest Short Line. It's perfect when you need a bunch of wood cut to the same length (perfect for those toothpick gun barrels).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Chopper"</td></tr>
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littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-12687540924875792392012-11-18T14:19:00.000-08:002012-11-18T14:19:07.078-08:00The Full Monty, (or Cunningham)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Late in the game, the 15th Panzer in control of the field with swarms of Commonwealth infantry scrambling to hold the line after the heavy British tank losses. German infantry still cling to the airfield at Sidi Rezeg on the left of the pic. Italians still hold Bir El Gubi at the bottom right, and the South African Brigade is left facing German armor in the center.</td></tr>
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I got a copy of the Memoir 44 "Breakthrough" boards in last Friday's post and I had some time today to set up the "Crusader" scenario. I had also recently purchased the new "equipment pack" with lots of special figures to add some spice to the M44 stew. In this big game I am going all-out with all optional rules and added a few extra units to the original scenario as well as some adjustments to the map to make it look "more like the actual battle" to my eyes.<br />
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Playing a desert scenario of a battle this large demand the inclusion of such goodies and rules like scout cars, supply trucks, 88s, big guns, mobile artillery, command cars (to represent Rommel) and the air pack. I also used the Churchill tanks included in the equipment pack to represent Matildas and treated them using the "Tiger Tank" rules (since they were really hard to kill given the light guns of the time) and reduced their move to 2 hexes since they were slow infantry tanks. And finally the grey French figures in the new equipment pack served nicely as Italian infantry and the Japanese tank minis from the Pacific served here as Italian armor.<br />
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The Lufwaffe really took a toll in this first game since with his free order Rommel was able to keep the air assets up and flying for several turns in the center sector where all the British armor was concentrated. The supply truck rules allowed units to withdraw to resupply and recover a hit. This made the game ebb and flow just like the real battle. With 12 medals required for victory the the game was long enough to support a withdrawal and return to the fray. For such an abstract game this was really not a bad representation of the battle.<br />
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-77620656941435165622012-11-16T07:54:00.004-08:002012-11-16T17:54:07.855-08:00Spencer Smiths for Sale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I selling a venerable unit of 30mm Spencer Smiths on ebay since my collection is upscaling to 40mm. Find the link here: <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160923658629">http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160923658629</a><br />
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-11483045638719726242012-11-14T21:40:00.000-08:002012-11-14T21:40:59.443-08:00New Prince August Molds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just getting home and tucking into an afternoon martini after a tough day at work is usually enough for me to feel good, but today was <b><i>extra-good</i></b>... my mailbox was stuffed with a box from Prince August with a fat box of some much needed molds! These arrived here in Virginia in record time...a mere week across the pond. I think the folks at PA have made a nice effort with their new website and new molds to step up their business and I really hope all the PA fans out there encourage them. Also included is a nice new catalog with good illustrations of all the available figures.<br />
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I also realized that I had forgotten that I had submitted an order for 2, 40mm Karoliner "914" molds in loading poses so I now combined with the firing poses I already have, I've got the ability to cast up some "freikorps" light troops in half the time! I was also inspired to add a sapper/engineer company to my armies and have some base figures for conversions so the new artillery figures will do well in that regard.<br />
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<i>...Now where are those bloody olives... </i><br />
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-67325696769897862902012-11-13T16:48:00.000-08:002012-11-13T16:55:00.292-08:00Airfix Treasures<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three 24 figure units of Germans, two guns, three MGs and a Commander...a basic beginning to wargame force!</td></tr>
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One of the unsung charms of "breaking old school" is the possibility of resurrecting older figures and putting them to use again. I was doing some garage cleaning this afternoon and found a couple of cool treasures of the Airfix kind. I found a box of Airfix WWI figures Germans and some British 18lbrs (I think Emhar?) that I had painted 15 years ago. I also found a big bag of French Foreign legion that can do service as Early WWI French as well as some early war British in peaked hats. So I think I may try to paint up the rest and see what I can put together by way of a Featherstone style game. If you look closely in the fist pic towards the back of the box I have some German 77mm field guns scratchbuilt using Airfix ACW guns.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plastic prep: ready for the soap bath!</td></tr>
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I also found a bag of Airfix ACW artillery that I needed to rekindle a big box of classic Airfix ACW. I got all this stuff at a convention at least 11 years ago(...how time slips by...) <br />
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I was thinking I might just base them up to recreate the two small ACW forces seen in the example battle in Don Featherstone's "Battles With Model Soldiers" I'm missing cavalry but I can maybe find some on ebay.littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-88661762177406818562012-11-11T21:51:00.001-08:002012-11-12T20:15:12.461-08:00Northwest Frontier: "Big Battle" Style<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Re-set my gridded table to 1878 for a little Northwest Frontier action Portable Wargame style, this time using <a href="http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2012/11/portable-wargame-website-updated.html" target="_blank">Bob Cordery's "Big Battle"</a> 19th century revisions to the rules. In recent months I've managed to add a few units to both sides of my NW Frontier collection so this battle proved to be pretty big.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The happiest Pathan commander I ever encountered...(actually she just was there for the photo op...Hot Wheels cars are more her taste these days)...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Headman of the Waziri's village.</td></tr>
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I also used some simple cardboard buildings I built a while back using
boxes from the local "Michaels" craft store...You can see a tutorial for <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4117993143431075280#editor/target=post;postID=5364633291912694579" target="_blank">making them here</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">British begin to deploy for battle</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Highlanders and Punjabis advancing on a Pathan held ridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Piper, sound the charge!"</td></tr>
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I'm also using my added "heroic action" rule in this game where an attached individual leader figure (except the CinC) can force a re-roll of any close action dice and taking the second outcome...while risking a D6 4-6 roll to eliminate the leader for exposing himself heroically in the action...The British typically have one or two leader figures for each 3 stand "Battalion", and the Pathans have one leader for every 5 units.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The CinC of the British force and an artillery leader figure. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pathan cavalry make an early charge on an advanced guard of the 12th Bengal Horse.</td></tr>
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The figures are a mix of Jacklex 20mm and Ral Partha 25mm...and after some initial trepidation at the slight scale difference, I've grown accustomed to it and the units all seem "in scale" to me now. Especially since I mixed figure scales in the Pathan irregular bases. It surprisingly looks just fine. <br />
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The Jacklex cavalry actually works better for this basing style (40mm squares) since I can fit 3 cavalry to that size base.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Highlanders and Punjabis scale the ridgeline</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a mountain gun in support</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bengal cavalry and Ghurkas in a wild melee on the plain with Pathan cavalry.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Finally, I did find the Portable Wargame Big Board rules to be "cleaner" than the earlier versions. I particularly liked the simplified activation die rules. I did find myself "tinkering" with the Close Combat rules. They seemed to be a bit indecisive in that units could "lock" into close combat and not be able to get an outcome for several turns (particularly cavalry since it only takes a hit on a "1" in close combat so two cavalry units would stay locked in close combat for several turns without a result). So I tried the following rule change:<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Units hit <b><i>in close combat only</i></b> translate "hits" as follows:</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Elite Units 1or2= unit destroyed 3,4,5,6=mandatory one square retreat and lose 1SP</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">Average Units 1,2,3= unit destroyed 4,5,6=mandatory one square retreat and lose 1SP</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">Poor units 1,2,3,4=unit destroyed 5,6=mandatory one square retreat and lose 1SP</span><br />
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This rule adjustment served to both speed up the game just a bit and to make Close Combat more decisive...sort of a balance I think between Bob's intent and Morschauer's more "bloody" basic combat resolution approach where hits always eliminate. It also serves to differentiate fire combat results from Close Combat and at least it gave the Highlanders a reason to charge that heavily defended ridgeline!<br />
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But regardless, it produced a fun Sunday's diversion, and some thoughts about a possible campaign using a "squared" larger map that is scaled to my tactical table size of 18x18 grid squares so each grid square on the map would be a "table". The battle rules are clean and fast so running a campaign could actually work, and I can spice it with some skirmishes using "Sword and the Flame" if needed.<br />
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<br />littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-78021504038263293462012-10-27T21:07:00.000-07:002012-10-27T21:07:38.530-07:00More Musings on Gridded Games<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Taking advantage of having my table all set up for a somewhat abstract gridded game, gave me an opportunity to try out <a href="http://gameofmonth.blogspot.com/2012/10/hats-of-tin.html" target="_blank">Ross's "Hats of Tin" rules </a><br />
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I reset my "WWII Italy" terrain and set up a two on one battalion attack scenario using Ross' rules. They worked well after I had made a few mistakes initially. I'm still trying all these rules using my weird "made in China" plastic-generic WWII/Modern collection.<br />
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The "Hats of Tin" rules worked just fine but I changed the initiative D6 rolls rule to go something like: Each battalion command unit got a D6 roll and applied it to units under its command...and the overall CinC could additionally order one unit. This is a rule change from "Hats of Tins" that worked better for the scale of units I was using...(three stands =a company...9 stands= a battalion).<br />
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The approach of having units take 3 hits before being eliminated worked better than the "old school" "one hit eliminates" Morshauer basic rules approach and I was able to enjoy a longer and more complex battle with the rules.<br />
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The really fun part of having to "cobble" together some plastic wargames armies for these experimental games....was that just today I found a place on the web where I could purchase 292 plastic minis from China for $12.95 USD!??...the really odd thing was that a quarter of the figures are pretty cool sci-fi infantry and the other are WWII vintage. I'll post a review if this turns out to be good...<br />
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I'm still looking for a way to get cheap plastic armor into these games...though the <a href="http://theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/" target="_blank">"Plastic Soldier Company"</a> 15mm stuff might work well for this scale of game.<br />
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I'm really enjoying the "quick-tiny game approach" ...it seems to fit my busy life these days....<br />
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...and finally, I'm contemplating heading up to "Fall In" this coming weekend. It's been forever since I attended a gaming convention, so I am thinking I'm overdue for the opportunity!littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-55197145888867069502012-10-25T17:01:00.001-07:002012-10-25T17:03:30.334-07:00More Crazy Tiny Wargames<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm continuing to tinker around with <i>very tiny wargames</i> using the Portable Wargme Rules. Even my wife was, "wow, that's really tiny!..." so I guess that's something to be said...<br />
I also took a cue from the blogs out there in that I put the "Diceshaker" app on my ipad and used it to generate the die rolls. It actually works really well and is a sort of no nonsense die rolling app that works just fine for this.<br />
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I played Quatre Bras out a couple of times with the British winning the first go and the French the second...so fun all around. Such a small game is pretty cool because I just kept it set up on the kitchen counter and played a few turns over my coffee this morning before the kids woke up and I headed off to work...and without the tell-tale clatter of dice, I was able to keep the wife slumbering too!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">French columns assault Gemioncourt Farm</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">French columns take a drubbing from disciplined Brit volleys...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A second game experimenting with a gradual arrival of Brit reinforcements as in the historical battle...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The French get the better of the British left in the initial stages of game 2.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Black Brunswickers held strong in Gemioncourt Farm in both games despite heavy assaults from French columns. </td></tr>
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And finally I had a few minutes this afternoon after work to dig out some old plastic minis from a Parker Brothers Battle Cry game from the 60s...the board is long lost but I still have the minis so I pressed them into service. This is a hypothetical layout of Gettysburg at a very abstract level without ridges (that I am going to make this weekend) to see if I can stretch Bob's portable rules to their limit on a 7" square?!littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-65002166632341878182012-10-21T19:10:00.001-07:002012-10-21T19:10:34.763-07:00Battle on a Postage Stamp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ok, so it's Sunday night and my daughter and I spent an hour in our garage (oft referred to by my bemused wife as..."daddy's game storage room"...) and turned up some interesting finds. It seems several years ago I had contemplated a "Really Tiny Wargame" using an old portable chessboard....I had painted over the chessboard using "green chalkboard spraypaint" and then for lack of figures and rules...had stashed the board away for a future inspiration. Fast forward to this afternoon and we opened an old box and what was sitting on top but the little green 7" by 7" chessboard! Now immediately my synapses started firing and thoughts of how cool it would be to have a Really Portable Wargame using Bob's rules. So this evening I marked off a 7/8" grid, 8 squares by 8 squares, and dug out some of my 6mm Adlers and picked out 2 armies of 12 elements and set up the ultimate tiny wargame!<br />
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The battle is Quatre Bras, I think referred to in history as the "Battle on a Postage Stamp"...I thought it appropriate that this super small sized game would model one of the great but really small Napoleonic battles of the war.<br />
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The "table is a 7 x 7...inches that is...! The Adler 6mm figures are just the ticket to pull it off, and the "Portable Wargame Rules" will be the rules of choice for this one. It may be a stretch...but it will hopefully be a fun experiment.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the French side towards Gemioncourt Farm...Quatre Bras off in the distance.</td></tr>
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I have a few resin cast 6mm houses, but houses from a Monopoly game would work as well. I'm thinking of making wooded square bases to place on the grid instead of bits of clump foliage.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 7" by 7" wargame</td></tr>
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I'm contemplating how to make hills...and streams at such a small scale...<br />
The squares are only 7/8" so not much room for terrain, but still, it looks like a wargame.littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-27340487212707922142012-10-19T14:59:00.002-07:002012-10-19T15:01:41.182-07:00Two Gridded Games: Part 2<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Americans approach the outskirts of San Lorenzo</td></tr>
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Knowing that In my second gridded game this week that my table size might stretch "The Portable Wargame" rules a bit far, I decided to play them with doubled range and movement distances. I think this did not affect the game unduly and gave a sense of the game's scale (a battalion level attack on a town) that was similar to my last game using slightly altered Memoir 44 rules.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DKjTPknQlZA/UIHJAfJ7FeI/AAAAAAAAEOQ/inlApQbHifs/s1600/IMG_0643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DKjTPknQlZA/UIHJAfJ7FeI/AAAAAAAAEOQ/inlApQbHifs/s320/IMG_0643.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Under heavy fire the GI's advance. This time US armour tries to outflank the town rather than drive headlong down the main street</td></tr>
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In this game both side put all their initiative "eggs" in one basket and devoted their moves and firing to the struggle around the town...the units on the ridge never moved in the game though some mortar rounds were exchanged to no effect.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still they lose a tank unit to Panzerfaust fire from heavily defended buildings</td></tr>
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One change I made to the rules was the addition of infantry AT markers that are added (single figures with an AT weapon) to a square allowing infantry in the same square to destroy tanks at half range (in this game, two squares). Normally infantry and MGs are not allowed to destroy armor at a distance.<br />
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Also I used my "heroic leader figure" rule that allowed a single leader figure "stacked" in the same square as an infantry unit to call for a re-roll of the opponent's hit die and regardless of the second outcome the leader must roll a d6 less than 4 to survive the "heroic moment". That rule actually worked to the German's advantage when one of their company commander's got a good re-roll negating a hit on a significant unit...unfortunately the next turn the unit was destroyed and the leader as well so the "Amis" captured the town by result of a series of good rolls in the final turns.<br />
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Again, the "Portable Wargame" and M44 prove that <i>complex can be simple</i> if designed correctly!littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117993143431075280.post-18717322993039277512012-10-17T16:45:00.000-07:002012-10-17T17:03:55.249-07:00Two Gridded Games<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Valley of San Lorenzo</td></tr>
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Inspired by the new edition of Bob Cordery's Modern version of the <a href="http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-portable-wargame-modern-wargames.html" target="_blank">Portable Wargame</a> I dug out my generic WWII plastic figures and a couple of odd scaled plastic tanks all of which came from dollar store sets from China. I set up a scenario set in 1943 Italy where an assaulting force attempts to capture a village surrounded by a rough semicircle of ridges.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Army Tan playing the role of the Americans</td></tr>
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The idea was to play out an experimental game first using Memoir 44 as is on a square grid with a few added rules for MGs and Mortars. ( MGs get a 4-3-2-1 rating and count as 3 hit infantry and mortars a 3-2-2-1-1 counting as 2 hit artillery) Then to reset the battle and use the Portable Wargame Rules. Not so much to compare their merits, but to just enjoy gaming with both of them.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Army Green playing the role of Germans</td></tr>
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I'm also keen to put my homemade<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4117993143431075280#editor/target=post;postID=1601784871689855350" target="_blank"> Spanish Village</a> to use and since my SCW collection is still under construction, these odd little plastics will serve in their place. They are just a basic color spray coat with the helmets picked out in a darker color...pretty effective for a "quick and dirty" set up.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First game using Memoir 44 </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the table is a 4'x4' gridded with 2 1/2 " squares 18 by 18</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Americans approach the town</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">US armor assaults the outskirts driving back the defenders temporarily</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U62A11B_rn0/UH855Ft2gvI/AAAAAAAAEMg/v83npDg8SlQ/s1600/IMG_0637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U62A11B_rn0/UH855Ft2gvI/AAAAAAAAEMg/v83npDg8SlQ/s320/IMG_0637.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tough German defenders inflict damage as the tanks outrun their infantry support</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the right flank the GIs fight their way up the steep slopes of San Lorenzo Ridge</td></tr>
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I just used d6s to count hits and I counted plowed fields as "rice paddy" terrain as per M44 specs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APnS76LCIIw/UH859vHy4uI/AAAAAAAAEMw/-HMUfZl7-mk/s1600/IMG_0639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APnS76LCIIw/UH859vHy4uI/AAAAAAAAEMw/-HMUfZl7-mk/s320/IMG_0639.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The advancing US infantry take casualties from the Germans who have re-occupied the outskirts of the town</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--4M0LaOXgW0/UH85_5nReCI/AAAAAAAAEM4/YMzlwDOLOWY/s1600/IMG_0640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--4M0LaOXgW0/UH85_5nReCI/AAAAAAAAEM4/YMzlwDOLOWY/s320/IMG_0640.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The battle swings in the defender's favor as one of the American armor units is destroyed by close assaulting infantry</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hkFOGR8Cvek/UH86B4LWYGI/AAAAAAAAENA/CyEddMkcCqQ/s1600/IMG_0641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hkFOGR8Cvek/UH86B4LWYGI/AAAAAAAAENA/CyEddMkcCqQ/s320/IMG_0641.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though the Americans manage to clear a portion of the ridge, their attack stalls and the Germans hit their 6 victory points and get a win.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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So all in all a simple, somewhat crude looking game but fun nonetheless...and in keeping with the abstract level of a gridded game. The M44 rules worked just fine using a square grid (I did not allow diagonal range counting) and playing solo I just dealt each new command card face down and then played the opposite side before turning it up. A fun game for sure!<br />
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So on to the next game using the Portable Wargame rules.littlejohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02469282002961211617noreply@blogger.com3