tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38512271025823331162024-03-06T02:08:28.804-05:00Cheatin' Steve's"If we can create a well-played game, just one, we will be able to acknowledge, without embarrassment or question, our own and each other's genuine claim to excellence."
-Bernard DeKoven, The Well-Played Game: A Player's Philosophy.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-34076800309145107042016-10-15T11:59:00.001-04:002016-10-15T11:59:38.442-04:00Kangaroo Tank WIP 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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WIP pics from the Kangaroo Tank project. The hull and tracks are finished. I chose a Commonwealth Armored Car crew for the diorama to represent the use of these tanks as reconnaissance vehicles. I think is the best possible arrangement: </div>
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I was able to recover from the two-tone paint job on display in those first two photos (Pro Tip: don't wait too long between painting sessions if you are painting the upper and lower hulls separately--even if you take good notes). A coating of dry pigment fixed with a straight alcohol wash on the front slope and underside of the tank brought the two colors together without having to repaint the whole hull.</div>
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I'm pretty pleased with the dust effects on the roadwheels--concentrated near the rear of the track where the most dirt gets kicked up into the suspension and churned around. The rear roadwheels and the idler wheels are normally where most of the dirt ends up, especially in dry, dusty conditions. The downside is all the careful work I did to make the track tension adjuster on the idler wheel look like a track tension adjuster (I even made greasy streaks) is completely obliterated by dirt. Oh well. I'll have to show off that detail in a motor pool or maintenance diorama.<br />
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Next up: The crew. Very daunting prospect as I have not painted 35mm figures since the 4th grade. For those of you who don't know me, that was more than a long while ago.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-80881053361868532262016-09-27T13:48:00.001-04:002016-09-28T11:59:44.501-04:00Market Garden Campaign, Game 1 "September Snow: Arnhem"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Our gaming club ran a pretty neat game this past weekend using the opening fight for Arnhem on 17-18 September 1944 as the scenario. I was the GM and John and Richard provided very high quality models for it. <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/wargames-table-almost-complete.html">Special mention must go to John's scratch-built table</a>, which is without a doubt the best urban table I have played on in all my years. It was super fun.<br />
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Richard provided a good write-up and some bangin' in-situ wargame photos over at his blog, <a href="http://www.warpstonepile.com/2016/09/arnhem-september-18-1944.html">here</a>.<br />
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The game had two parts. Part one (17 September 1944) was done on-line with the attacking team planning the routes and rate of march for the battalions of 1sts Para Brigade, along with the mounted reconnaissance squadron, from the landing zone to the bridge. The defenders, meanwhile, developed a concept for <i>Kampfgruppe Kraft</i> in their initial defense west of Arnhem.<br />
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The results of this initial phase were interesting in several ways. First, John Frost and 2nd Battalion never made it to the bridge, ending up (along with 1st battalion) on the eastern side of Oosterbeek, blocked by two companies of SS NCO students. On the other hand, the reconnaissance squadron managed to avoid contact and made it to secure the Arnhem bridge (and this next part is really important for the campaign) <i>before </i>the 9th Pzr reconnaissance battalion crossed to go to Nijmegen. Phase 1 and we have consigned the dustbin of history to the dustbin of history.<br />
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Part 2 (18 September 1944) was a tabletop fight pitting the 9th Pzr (reconnaissance) against elements of 3rd BN, 1st Brigade British Airborne. It was, not surprisingly, a bloody house-to-house slog. The challenges of urban combat were clear as the Germans ran into tenacious British Paratroopers the moment they entered the board. The German forces had a considerable advantage in both numbers and firepower, but the psychological effect of not knowing where the Red Devils were hiding took its toll on the speed of the German advance.<br />
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After getting hung-up mid-game (exacerbated by a flare up of "never say die" from some bypassed paratroops in their rear), the Germans finally gained some momentum with successful coordinated attacks between their tanks and their infantry, but it came a little too late in the game and the British managed to retain control of the Bridge through sundown on the 18th of September.<br />
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There are plans to continue this campaign, but students of history will see that, unlike the events of history, this campaign is still very much in the balance going into September 19th. Next up, the XXX Corps Breakout....<br />
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I will post more links to photos of the game as they come in.<br />
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Like now:<a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/arnhem-game-at-last.html"> UPDATE, John posted in-game pics here. Enjoy</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">.</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-39271735945411664242016-09-12T13:38:00.000-04:002016-09-12T13:41:21.559-04:00Kangaroo Tank WIP<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Been out of the net for a while. Busy moving to a new house. Here's a picture of Tiki Bob and a refreshing drink overlooking the woods behind my new house.<br />
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About two years ago, <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/">John</a> challenged me to do a high-quality version of the<a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/01/captured-italian-tanks-tobruk.html"> Kangaroo Tanks (captured Italian M13/40) I made for our Tobruk Wargame</a>. I'm finally getting around to the project. I selected the Tamiya 1/35 scale kit for no other reason than it was the one I could find. It comes with kangaroo decals, but I have not yet decided whether I will use the decals or freehand the markings.<br />
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For starters, I have never made a 1/35 scale tank, and I did not know what to think about such a big model. Having completed the first part of the project, I can say that I really like working in the large scale as it give me the ability to work in a lot of nuanced detail without overwhelming the model.<br />
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After the initial basecoats and some wash, I used a straightedge to replicate the scoring that you get on the sides of the hull from the treads. I wanted to try also to replicate the wear you get from the track bouncing up and down as well, but could not make it work with the lateral scoring, so I just shaded the hull between the return rollers with a darker paint to suggest wear. </div>
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I love dioramas and terrain, so I bought some British armored vehicle crew models and am trying to think of a good vignette. I originally wanted to have one of the crewmen painting a kangaroo on the side of the turret, but I'm afraid that exceeds my modeling expertise.<br />
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With 1/35 I get to make oil stains that don't look like a superfund site. The wear and tear is so much more fun to do at this scale and looks so much better than paint chipping on smaller models. Really enjoying this project so far.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-4311283268285487722016-03-20T18:40:00.002-04:002016-03-20T18:40:40.991-04:00Cold Wars 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This weekend was the Cold Wars wargaming convention in Lancaster, PA. As usual it was an awesome time.</div>
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My first game was Rorke's Drift in 15mm. Very fun game.</div>
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The British eek out the narrowest of wins from inside the great redoubt.<br />
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Then I met a very nice corgi named Gizmo.<br />
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Then there was an American Revolution game with lots of booze. Very beautiful table.<br />
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Then I met a very nice Irish wolfhound named Tyr.<br />
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Speaking of Irish, my Battle of Ashbourne went off without a hitch. Ended in a draw.<br />
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Then it was back to the American Revolution with the Battle of Monmouth. Another fantastic looking table.<br />
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My final game of the con was a Normandy Bocage fight with John as the GM. This was a very fun battle that played super close to tactical realism. Here you can see the US company commander trying to flag down a platoon of Shermans.<br />
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Excellent time as always. Already looking forward to Historicon.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-42121294549210758662016-03-11T08:05:00.002-05:002016-03-11T09:51:03.870-05:00Easter Rising: Battle of Ashbourne WIP<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Making progress on the Fingal Volunteers and the RIC. And some sheep, too, because what's an Irish countryside without meadow maggots? Here's how it has gone down so far...<br />
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Finished the basecoat on the RIC. Used Vallejo Heavy Black Green diluted 1:3 with Secret Weapon Black Green wash. The results were too vibrant, so...<br />
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I hit the RIC uniforms with a liberal glaze of Secret Weapon Light Body Black wash. That toned things down a little. Also finished the Fingal Volunteers' hats using Light Body Black, Heavy Body Black, Concrete, and Stone washes. <br />
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Finished the weapons with Vallejo Heavy Charcoal Grey and GW Chestnut Ink.<br />
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Washed the gunmetal with GW Black Ink and used a really cheap bulk Burnt Sienna acrylic, heavily diluted, to basecoat the bases. Once these dry I will drybrush and flock them and call it good. <br />
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All I have left then is the Model T trucks for the RIC. Looking like this game is going to happen next week at Cold Wars.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-37330897706731877282016-02-27T20:51:00.005-05:002016-02-27T20:52:44.625-05:00Easter Rising: 100 Years Later<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This being the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland, I thought I would make an Easter Rising game for Cold Wars. I chose the Battle of Ashbourne. A couple of key factors went into this decision. First, it was a decisive Irish victory, so that makes it really attractive. Secondly, and probably most importantly, the battle took place in a pretty rural setting, as opposed to the middle of Dublin, so the terrain challenge was not too steep. Turns out that was a really good decision.<br />
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Last Summer I decided to go with Footsore Miniatures because they have a pretty decent line of <a href="https://footsoreminiatures.co.uk/collections/28mm-irish-war-of-independence">Irish War of Independence</a> miniatures. The distributor and I ran into some challenges, and it took a really long time for me to get the minis, which was a little frustrating. Fortunately, I got the minis a couple of weeks ago, so I'm all set, but with the compressed timeline I'm now up against the wall. Thank the gods I don't have to build an urban board as well.<br />
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The forces for this game will be 44 Fingal Volunteers versus 28 RIC (actually 24 RIC and 4 British Regulars, because I just cannot run an IWI game without giving the Irish a chance to whack some Brits.) The Volunteers will be regular troops and the RIC will be Veterans in an attempt to level the playing field.<br />
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The minis are pretty neat, but they have a lot of flash and flaws, way too much for me to deal with in time for Cold Wars. SO I took an exacto to them to remove the big flash and obvious chunks, but I didn't have time to really clean all the lines off the minis. That's just the way it is this time around.<br />
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Then the humidity set in and I waited a week before I could prime the damn things. Tick tock.<br />
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Finally having the minis primed, I developed a palette for the IRA that would make them look fairly uniformly earthy, yet give a slightly chaotic look to the forces. The RIC, of course, will be pretty standardized in their green uniforms.<br />
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Here's how it looks after an afternoon. Got a lot of the Volunteers basecoated using Secret Weapon washes. I'm using a speed painting technique I developed painting <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2014/08/saga-irish-warband.html">Irish </a>and <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2014/08/saga-anglo-danehiberno-irish-warband.html">Hiberno-Norse</a> forces for Saga that is washes painted directly onto white primer. I'm pretty happy with the way they are looking. Not sure how to paint the hats. All shades of black, or various colors?<br />
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Any ideas?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-2538617569068258102016-01-31T20:01:00.000-05:002016-02-01T12:22:03.068-05:00Battle of Amiens-Aussie Awesomeness!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's a new year for awesome wargaming in the Tactical Gaming Society and we got off to a great start with <a href="http://www.warpstonepile.com/2016/02/amiens-aug-8-1918-2.html" target="_blank">Richard's</a> presentation of the Battle of Amiens. Using modified Bolt Action rules, Richard gave us some Great War action that involved an unusual amount of maneuver, much like the actual battle in 1918.<br />
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I'll leave the full BatRep to Richard. Here I will focus on my portion of the battle-an Australian assault platoon on the right flank. Comprised of four infantry sections and two tanks, we replicated the tough-as-nails quality of the Aussies by giving them the "Tough Fighters" special rule, which made them especially dangerous in close combat.<br />
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First things first. Check out the awesome table that Richard made for the game. His goal was to replicate the pastoral landscape of the Amiens battlefield, which was fairly unspoiled when compared with other more contended regions of the Western Front. I'd call this success. Check out the duckboarding. Mindblowingly detailed.<br />
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A few fresh craters give a preview of things to come.<br />
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Here's my platoon. Richard went with 18mm, which allowed us to play a company sized-game in a scale that made the battlefield look right.<br />
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Following a massive rolling artillery barrage. I started by advancing my tanks on the right.<br />
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As the tanks prepared to knock holes in the barbed wire, I moved my infantry squads up and prepared to assault the first line of trenches.<br />
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Which they did with frightening efficiency.<br />
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Having brushed the German defenders aside in the first trench, the Aussies prepare to assault the second trench line.<br />
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Using a downed Sopwith Camel as a guide, the Aussies continue their advance across the alarmingly open ground.<br />
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The German artillery, having recovered from the Commonwealth bombardment, starts to gain hits against the Aussie tanks, disrupting the advance somewhat.<br />
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But no worries. On the far right flank one squad uses a tank for cover to get within assault range of the second line of German trenches.<br />
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A German flamethrower team managed to set my lead tank alight, causing the crew to bail out, but the Infantry squad bypassed the burning wreck and gained the second trench line with another devastating assault.<br />
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The Germans tried to eject the hard-bitten Aussies from their new claim with machine gun fire, mortar fire, and counter assaults from two units. Nothing would dislodge the Diggers now that their blood was up and they ended the game with the furthest advance of all commonwealth forces. Kind of like it really went down in 1918.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKA6S2hsKQF4lLQM-qskYxW2CoiGu4onKmslyg56eXHx2_Q_RZ3XZSxh4EiHKzEAAJyFtWjb_87V0nLOUsM8nY3ejtjiDXbCyYuvg4UHlEbtdq961ZzGzD_kkK9jitd2HymGVuvabawfE/s1600/IMG_1488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKA6S2hsKQF4lLQM-qskYxW2CoiGu4onKmslyg56eXHx2_Q_RZ3XZSxh4EiHKzEAAJyFtWjb_87V0nLOUsM8nY3ejtjiDXbCyYuvg4UHlEbtdq961ZzGzD_kkK9jitd2HymGVuvabawfE/s320/IMG_1488.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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A very very good game. My teammates Gavin and Keith had a tougher go of things in the center and on the left, where a German MG and an improbably resilient flamethrower team had some good effects against tanks and infantry squads. Speaking of a tough go, our valiant opponents, Casey, Rhett, and <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John</a> had difficulties from the get go due to some hot artillery rolls on our part (which they were unable to match with their artillery rolls over the course of the game). Had the German players the hotter dice, our advance would have been slowed significantly.<br />
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Great game. It looked right, it played right, and it was a ton of fun with six very good players and a top-notch GM. I really like playing with the smaller scale. It looks much better than 28mm for this size battle.<br />
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Game well.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-54981540089523168132016-01-05T07:15:00.000-05:002016-01-05T07:15:56.873-05:00Water Effect Follow-Up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Back in August I took you through the struggles of <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/08/guadalcanal-table-part-2.html" target="_blank">my first attempt at blue water water effects</a>. If you remember, I was using acrylic gel medium for the first time. I wanted some real depth to the water, so I got a tub of super heavy acrylic gloss medium and slathered it onto my test panel. After a week, it looked like this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHX6DfzKOe4CQIjlvDa7dpEE8qALB9ls-O7Eykz892GdcxrKLDM7W9LDR954nk8c0y-Szyi2C0gjeLEF23ijaf1kIWwRHH_YMCz-Mt-LltqD_bPbNszCF0ViyhTrK_9ZHo6N75YPBH7F0/s1600/IMG_1246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHX6DfzKOe4CQIjlvDa7dpEE8qALB9ls-O7Eykz892GdcxrKLDM7W9LDR954nk8c0y-Szyi2C0gjeLEF23ijaf1kIWwRHH_YMCz-Mt-LltqD_bPbNszCF0ViyhTrK_9ZHo6N75YPBH7F0/s320/IMG_1246.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I promised I would get back to you with the results once the gel clarified. It is now nearly five months since I schmeared the test panel, and this is what it looks like:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9oRj74_VrT-4apxQhtphKNHS3pXshBGDtTbFGhGJfjptmtorvrJrGF0Z7KE1XwS2_8hfje4UUTsyRuoU5GJuNyWIh-lPruV15vsAjIv6BB6TEJzLv1XWknn_yfH5VlnVODQB1r0-AMQ/s1600/IMG_1435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9oRj74_VrT-4apxQhtphKNHS3pXshBGDtTbFGhGJfjptmtorvrJrGF0Z7KE1XwS2_8hfje4UUTsyRuoU5GJuNyWIh-lPruV15vsAjIv6BB6TEJzLv1XWknn_yfH5VlnVODQB1r0-AMQ/s320/IMG_1435.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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As you can see, the super heavy gel medium holds whatever shape and surface marks you make (intentionally or not), so you can sculpt turbulence and waves into the medium, but you have to be very careful and deliberate with the technique you use to manipulate the gel. Another problem is that the gel is too clear. The transparency and clarity creates the illusion of a cup of sloshing water magically contained on the surface of a styrofoam panel colored with blue and ochre pigment. Does not really evoke ocean. I'm sure a skilled sculptor could make this work, especially for a large-scale display model. For 28mm and smaller wargaming, though, this isn't going to cut it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1iBRQdNWReS8DCIwbWxpJLUrQELzP92L0ZJuqXrbnNFPXdkT_LyU5nzPO2_kkgkhloJV-DuE8NrUtdf1BJ5RkePo4_0FKRpW-xrvBFZAcTTAmzr8jSExsL5qkaCs9Jnu6As5rtyfNMk/s1600/IMG_1436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1iBRQdNWReS8DCIwbWxpJLUrQELzP92L0ZJuqXrbnNFPXdkT_LyU5nzPO2_kkgkhloJV-DuE8NrUtdf1BJ5RkePo4_0FKRpW-xrvBFZAcTTAmzr8jSExsL5qkaCs9Jnu6As5rtyfNMk/s320/IMG_1436.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Finally, there are the bubbles deep inside the cured gel. Again, a really talented sculptor could make these work. I cannot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHGTXOamHEgAGA3ocabrOR7ZAE1e_BqDIdVwJPV1SlQGO8fuialTmeueeukTCyi-uE38CYq7gTth_b_bse9NTVXkgFoYedVB0NzA2QnSL5hhP9h8Gg4-B7uPbrueNOKrxwX2XhVqgWxC4/s1600/IMG_1437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHGTXOamHEgAGA3ocabrOR7ZAE1e_BqDIdVwJPV1SlQGO8fuialTmeueeukTCyi-uE38CYq7gTth_b_bse9NTVXkgFoYedVB0NzA2QnSL5hhP9h8Gg4-B7uPbrueNOKrxwX2XhVqgWxC4/s320/IMG_1437.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, in the end, I fall in line and recommend what so many other, more experienced water effect modelers have been saying all along: Create the illusion of depth with paint or pigments applied to the board surface and then use a thin coat(s) of acrylic gloss medium to model the water surface and waves. Like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_OOAKsyIA8XIxZZyvRlTucdPv8mQ4FFh2Orio4dQahX64dlM7FRYqxilSSIXfYeYVeuxfh1_7H9_QO4lpI_sWEF9i0-oqeKxu4b34gh4ogzxbDTdhaGwfrVh4gQwGc8R1Y3bWapU6ujY/s1600/IMG_1255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_OOAKsyIA8XIxZZyvRlTucdPv8mQ4FFh2Orio4dQahX64dlM7FRYqxilSSIXfYeYVeuxfh1_7H9_QO4lpI_sWEF9i0-oqeKxu4b34gh4ogzxbDTdhaGwfrVh4gQwGc8R1Y3bWapU6ujY/s320/IMG_1255.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Game well!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-41681724273394404662015-10-28T11:11:00.003-04:002015-10-28T11:11:54.445-04:00Halloween Game--Zombies in Normandy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Check out this excellent write-up from our Halloween game over at <a href="http://roguegeneralhunter.blogspot.com/2015/10/halloween-gaming.html" target="_blank">The Rogue General Hunter</a>!<br />
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Thanks to Bob for the excellent report and to <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John</a> for the excellent game.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-1522087000826630992015-09-19T14:43:00.003-04:002015-09-19T14:43:50.276-04:00John's Normandy Game<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Go check out John and Rhett's Normandy game <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/bocage-battle-report.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Sorry I missed this one.<br />
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Game well.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-16855968413827348882015-08-30T19:12:00.000-04:002015-09-04T00:56:29.791-04:00Guadalcanal Table and Battle Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we played the long-awaited Guadalcanal game. Expectations were high for this one, and Rhett did not disappoint. He definitely delivered a very tight scenario with solid mechanics that conveyed the situations in which the USMC and Imperial Army historically found themselves in this fight.</div>
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The scenario was intended to represent the final Japanese offensive against the Henderson Field perimeter. While the wargame was definitely representational rather than literal, it certainly captured the feeling of the USMC gaining dominance on the island while the Japanese hurl the last of their dwindling, but very hard-hitting force against a tough defensive position. It was a very fun game.</div>
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First things first, though, here's how the table turned out. It was OK. If the Lungga river looked more like muddy water and less like butterscotch pudding left too long in the sun, it would have been a really great table.</div>
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The waves worked pretty well. I used snow flock to produce bubbly wakes trailing out behind each wave. Definitely lends motion to the ocean panel. I ended up applying three coats of acrylic gloss medium over the initial water effect laydown.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQix1558EsZdvS_aItQatCxoyP7TeXgxQMtyahWGQfC6q3rHZVrgsScX7C_FTI4KdA4T1IOro1E6xOx5zlRLmYU-nM4hsKN4ySyilPKqBPMGPmxfC3d_csC0aDsM98H7dlIQex47jb590/s1600/IMG_1255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQix1558EsZdvS_aItQatCxoyP7TeXgxQMtyahWGQfC6q3rHZVrgsScX7C_FTI4KdA4T1IOro1E6xOx5zlRLmYU-nM4hsKN4ySyilPKqBPMGPmxfC3d_csC0aDsM98H7dlIQex47jb590/s320/IMG_1255.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The volcanic soil turned out to be just the right color, and I like the way the the light sienna pigment produced some dusty contrast in high-traffic areas.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1VmQ6Jdyac-J3JcNrP6gkxt4A4EAJcGMAWyIkPSBWvSEuSm0qFkG6t_xBrRqydvE0QqAkiZL8fo2qlh5abMJvMer5uv_N1w1_eMowdjo3VVlVPI8KYcIJU-7sI3A2VXc1lZZj8h_ydQ/s1600/IMG_1258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1VmQ6Jdyac-J3JcNrP6gkxt4A4EAJcGMAWyIkPSBWvSEuSm0qFkG6t_xBrRqydvE0QqAkiZL8fo2qlh5abMJvMer5uv_N1w1_eMowdjo3VVlVPI8KYcIJU-7sI3A2VXc1lZZj8h_ydQ/s320/IMG_1258.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-ZFeI4940_peObiBh5Zifyvn1VEqa-gXWYZ4L_sbIlw9cBZs788z4B0R5B-SKJ2foTefwnPqMdLRpMt3UGUKNqvujFa6cJxLg-k2HTjku0xU5lkz2Aj9oSqMfbX-klj0pPW1YFvoES0/s1600/IMG_1259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-ZFeI4940_peObiBh5Zifyvn1VEqa-gXWYZ4L_sbIlw9cBZs788z4B0R5B-SKJ2foTefwnPqMdLRpMt3UGUKNqvujFa6cJxLg-k2HTjku0xU5lkz2Aj9oSqMfbX-klj0pPW1YFvoES0/s320/IMG_1259.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The go-to move of dry pigments fixed using denatured alcohol again produced amazingly realistic runoff effects.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjj-fhTlfqYngMRnMaG4B7UH9yIxW-h-p7XE42JjZNy1acHDkHRg2CwwVQLGcjClzWH8gOMWlMGXf0C4w4-pOVpaLGiTM4SKpHzJodS4zTEdrAgJ4vqt5RIGdYaVmn9xuuGSqov50kQo/s1600/IMG_1261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjj-fhTlfqYngMRnMaG4B7UH9yIxW-h-p7XE42JjZNy1acHDkHRg2CwwVQLGcjClzWH8gOMWlMGXf0C4w4-pOVpaLGiTM4SKpHzJodS4zTEdrAgJ4vqt5RIGdYaVmn9xuuGSqov50kQo/s320/IMG_1261.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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And then there was the river. The sad, cracked, lumpy, bubbly Lungga River. Well, when you are starting out not every water effect gets to be the best water effect. This was a definite miss. I will fix it with acrylic gloss and pigment if we end up taking this table to a competition, but for now I'm just chalking this up to a learning experience. I think I need to use less acrylic gel medium in water effects that are meant to be smooth.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTy2BQTLh4Y2BT5z8n2oZVGdDb4yKCxXgbXridTbUf-OjJ1_Eq0qqI84qlX25fDyhmmpeZVmBflAUkc8O-yco2IhM2O-IQ8AOBxfnU0SNss_cEXOvCktXsrjAXIg45_9MPhaCsrp0qtk0/s1600/IMG_1260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTy2BQTLh4Y2BT5z8n2oZVGdDb4yKCxXgbXridTbUf-OjJ1_Eq0qqI84qlX25fDyhmmpeZVmBflAUkc8O-yco2IhM2O-IQ8AOBxfnU0SNss_cEXOvCktXsrjAXIg45_9MPhaCsrp0qtk0/s320/IMG_1260.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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On to the game. Gavin, Drew and I played the Japanese attackers. Rich and Owen played the USMC defenders. The scenario called for two attacks on successive nights. We treated the first attack as a reconnaissance in force to see how the Marines would react to a penetration of their perimeter. We advanced with my platoon on the right, Gavin's platoon on the left, and Drew's platoon in reserve.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJUI8byTEyszmYBFKjSTvkgR17tYMLgwAyX-hhQ8HRlssn4lR-rMU7Xh85Juf1CaW5CDwxqHihOPwwPs3dnfxDIKZVora4VZHxvmDF74m0POAVMmmM77xoEQlIXw6PoNNvAozbMaQK0I/s1600/IMG_1262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJUI8byTEyszmYBFKjSTvkgR17tYMLgwAyX-hhQ8HRlssn4lR-rMU7Xh85Juf1CaW5CDwxqHihOPwwPs3dnfxDIKZVora4VZHxvmDF74m0POAVMmmM77xoEQlIXw6PoNNvAozbMaQK0I/s320/IMG_1262.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Because it was a night attack scenario, no units could be targeted at a range of over 18" unless there was an illumination flare in play. Both sides used flares to varying degrees of success.<br />
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Rich and Owen use a flare to illuminate the lead squads of the Japanese attack.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeypfX24Sjxzn00Yjd8drl0PU55aTNz4X63YWdEmjprRzYFYPTsGdFXd57bwycaxm93d7rUdU7jC5XEBbsdHxNDSjZ_POM01flOXMdEF8Yuv6BuAOQ-2wdbnJIUZwl6tst05PRjIEEbyE/s1600/IMG_1263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeypfX24Sjxzn00Yjd8drl0PU55aTNz4X63YWdEmjprRzYFYPTsGdFXd57bwycaxm93d7rUdU7jC5XEBbsdHxNDSjZ_POM01flOXMdEF8Yuv6BuAOQ-2wdbnJIUZwl6tst05PRjIEEbyE/s320/IMG_1263.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Marine firepower took a pretty good toll on the Japanese as they advanced, but not enough to knock out any squads.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmZUxNngi463GeyQtqoQXLi1CsJTVPukmeIHAOnVkAUU5vbEQqgVxwgIwqTM2-xI1yqKjp39WHBat81Tv5X5F7Vz1LySYvZw9LG0oc8RiM0JxSywZ2Qot605QURgqeqa2zSMQSo6RmJk/s1600/IMG_1264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmZUxNngi463GeyQtqoQXLi1CsJTVPukmeIHAOnVkAUU5vbEQqgVxwgIwqTM2-xI1yqKjp39WHBat81Tv5X5F7Vz1LySYvZw9LG0oc8RiM0JxSywZ2Qot605QURgqeqa2zSMQSo6RmJk/s320/IMG_1264.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have to say that Owen was rolling hits and wounds like a Boss today. Definitely had the hot hand.<br />
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The first wave of Japanese assaults hits the USMC line. Once in close combat, the Japanese were devastating and Marines started to fall like wheat before the scythe.<br />
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But the Corps had an answer for that shit: flamethrowers. They would take a decisive toll on the attackers over the course of both attacks.<br />
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Our support position on the ridge south of the airfield did not play a decisive role in either of the attacks. Very hard to get after the Marines in buildings and hard cover. A few pin markers, but only one or two casualties.<br />
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The Japanese sweep the Marines from the perimeter. In the center you can see a single Japanese soldier attacking the building with explosives, which causes sufficient damage to cause secondary explosions inside the structure, killing the Marines inside. Boom.<br />
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This is how the first engagement ended. The Marine perimeter is compromised, but forces are repositioning to meet the threat. Here, the lone remaining Japanese troop, armed with explosives, is hauling ass toward the remaining structure to blow it up. But the Marines deployed another flamethrower team and, well, that was that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0-Xr7c0ph5z3ZX2x06rwOziqXjVNg155qMaQ0p_StZvnEUgH6rIpxUkHQNOMeKg9vjQc0wXYP8efnh9vWszeoYCNQchvcpE99gcMy4YNI7_yZNg3qzq11j47YVMt6kHP1H7cUo2Xagg/s1600/IMG_1271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0-Xr7c0ph5z3ZX2x06rwOziqXjVNg155qMaQ0p_StZvnEUgH6rIpxUkHQNOMeKg9vjQc0wXYP8efnh9vWszeoYCNQchvcpE99gcMy4YNI7_yZNg3qzq11j47YVMt6kHP1H7cUo2Xagg/s320/IMG_1271.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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During the following day, the Marines got busy restructuring their defensive perimeter.<br />
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The Japanese launched their second attack form the same place, but narrowed our front to limit our exposure to the USMC direct fire. Which worked very well...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEN-JqR_uf6Hp3KPjm9n18mYkOGU7umfq6kmqsfdkfyEYiJb1YBVzypB_WjZxHrvfzn0EE_F-uGJS_Dv_b2sQWIW_zVGbzoU7DtdYInJZXWiGRrJj_7Cm9KK4uqgToqOwNeJq0WMOS4zY/s1600/IMG_1274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEN-JqR_uf6Hp3KPjm9n18mYkOGU7umfq6kmqsfdkfyEYiJb1YBVzypB_WjZxHrvfzn0EE_F-uGJS_Dv_b2sQWIW_zVGbzoU7DtdYInJZXWiGRrJj_7Cm9KK4uqgToqOwNeJq0WMOS4zY/s320/IMG_1274.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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...but did not work very well with regard to indirect fire. The Marines surprised us with artillery support in the second attack, which played holy hell with our densely-packed attack column. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIH49NgRqLt6Le_fZtqa1nGAK-KEjeIf40yam1cl1v70kwXbENXWBZ_olcPyZ5nPIVxrc9ovXVLLJTije0QtfAUA4emoUKM_BON5Wr6uIoga9NhtVrF-U0rU5Wb3VgVwwTOGGSBFnIUA/s1600/IMG_1275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIH49NgRqLt6Le_fZtqa1nGAK-KEjeIf40yam1cl1v70kwXbENXWBZ_olcPyZ5nPIVxrc9ovXVLLJTije0QtfAUA4emoUKM_BON5Wr6uIoga9NhtVrF-U0rU5Wb3VgVwwTOGGSBFnIUA/s320/IMG_1275.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Even with the addition of infiltration teams (our game 2 surprise) flanking along the river to the West to take advantage of the Marines repositioning to meet our main attack, the second game was never really in question. The initial Japanese assault hit very hard and again cleared-away the first line of USMC defenders, but the Marines had more than enough capability left to recover and deal with the attackers. Flamethrowers. Daaaaaamn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifDmie1q8WJ8DVX0vlkwErGcEqdQMdT8ZTRycXni3j6oogITtQ7hQyc5VFfzrBkiVxUmkuIc6svJK-jYnK4uI1_stjEFy3yQjm8GerZtzxlsPmGANHexoCiO8dMhMWDlZwcSj5eZkKpPs/s1600/IMG_1277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifDmie1q8WJ8DVX0vlkwErGcEqdQMdT8ZTRycXni3j6oogITtQ7hQyc5VFfzrBkiVxUmkuIc6svJK-jYnK4uI1_stjEFy3yQjm8GerZtzxlsPmGANHexoCiO8dMhMWDlZwcSj5eZkKpPs/s320/IMG_1277.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The victors and the GM. Well-played, fellas.</div>
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All in all this was a very fun game with finely-crafted special rules. Big props to Rhett for a high-quality event. During the post game discussion we talked about the challenges GMs face in developing scenarios that remain true to history while at the same time keep players emotionally invested in the outcome. As Gavin rightly pointed out, no battle is ever balanced and fair. Any general that seeks a fight with even odds is doing war wrong. Turing that imbalance into a fun wargame is our art form.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-5997302703790480082015-08-28T11:40:00.000-04:002015-08-28T11:45:19.169-04:00Things that Matter in Wargaming<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was looking for a pirated copy of <a href="http://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/shop/wss-magazine/digital-back-issues/wss-issue-78-pdf.html" target="_blank">WSS #78</a> so I could share the full text of <a href="http://phildutre.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Phil Dutré's</a> excellent article, '<i>The irregular - It's the figures, stupid!</i>'. While searching (and failing), I came across <a href="http://gloriouslittlesoldiers.blogspot.com/2015/05/love-hate-relationship.html" target="_blank">this gem</a> posted on <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609" target="_blank">Big Andy's.</a><br />
<br />
Always fun to encounter those with a healthy perspective on the range of possibilities our shared hobby offers beyond the tournament. <br />
<br />
<br />
Back to Dutré's article, reading it reminds me of one of the most distrurbing trends I encountered while slogging around in the 40k scene: people building an army tooled-up for the current edition and then discarding it on eBay once it was no longer the 'it' army build. I understand the constraints of budget, especially with regard to obscenely overpriced GW product, but this practice occupies the same piteous place in my heart where I contemplate destitute unfortunates selling their blood to buy food.<br />
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I do believe that people for whom the miniatures are simply a means to an end are missing out on one of the greatest elements of our hobby.<br />
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And <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609" target="_blank">Andy</a>, I'm with you, Sir. Wargaming without umpires is like drinking beer without beer.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-84115440567991719922015-08-21T21:05:00.000-04:002015-08-21T21:30:49.858-04:00Guadalcanal Table Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, things are not going real well.<br />
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I tested super heavy acrylic gloss gel medium, and I thought it would work great, which it would, if I had three months to let the gel dry and clarify. Not going to work this time around (although I am excited about the prospect of working in heavy gel medium in the future.)<br />
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Here is what the test panel looks like with a thick schmear of super heavy gloss gel. I'll show you another picture in late Autumn, it may have dried by then.<br />
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But now I am out of time. I could go small and lame and douse the water with varnish and call it good. But that's not my style.<br />
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I really want to make the spot where the muddy water of the river mixes with the clear ocean water work, and the only way to do that is with a medium that gives some depth to the water effect. I went back to the art store and bought some Liquitex medium acrylic gloss gel and a tub of acrylic gloss medium/varnish. I mixed about one part gel to two parts varnish, and rolled the dice.<br />
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I kind of sucked. Applying the gel totally disrupted the modulation pattern I had carefully laid down with the blue pigments and turned the whole ocean part into hodge-podge impressionist seascape. <br />
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Nothing to do but move forward.<br />
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I next mixed about 1 part gel with 4 parts varnish and about a half-tablespoon of light sienna pigment, and carefully poured the river. This went OK, but I am very nervous that it will dry with a concave surface (if it dries with any body depth at all). I have also accepted the reality of bubbles in the river due to mixing the medium, but I'll worry about those later (I went through and popped the big ones).<br />
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Thoroughly dissatisfied with the way the ocean looked, I scooped some medium gel medium directly onto it, sprinkled the lumps liberally with snow flock (foam and bubbles), and stirred them into waves using a toothpick and a "sideways tornado" stirring motion to replicate water turning in waves. Finally, I filled the lagoon with acrylic gloss medium. I have absolutely no idea what I am doing at this point. Here's how it looks right now:<br />
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If I am very lucky, the waves will dry and clarify by game time next Sunday. The river and lagoon should dry in a couple of days, so I can go back and fix them if they are too assed-up to live with.<br />
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<i>Alia iacta est</i>. Tune in in early September to see how it turned out.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-16954585355881423622015-08-16T20:15:00.000-04:002015-08-17T10:40:28.096-04:00Guadalcanal Table Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been working on a table for Rhett's Guadalcanal Game for a couple of months. Compared to the <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/06/north-africa-wargaming-table-project_3.html" target="_blank">North Africa table</a>, this one has been pretty straightforward, with the exception that I need to figure out how to make a good blue water pacific beach.<br />
<br />
I started out with three 3'x5' wood panels and glued 1' thick pink foam to them. Then I carved out the beach, a lagoon ("alligator creek") and the Lungga River using a wire brush. I had some spare hills lying around, so I glued one to the table to represent the high ground near Henderson Field.<br />
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Studying satellite images of the island, I went with a dark green textured paint as a base color to represent the dark volcanic soil.<br />
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I then applied dark pigment for the roads and slightly lighter pigment for the soil. I used ochre colored pigments for the riverbed.<br />
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Fixed the pigment with denatured alcohol. Great stuff.<br />
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I Let all that dry in the basement for a good long while while I went on vacation in Maine with my family.<br />
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Back from Maine, I added flock to the panels. I used some Woodland Scenic stuff that has been in the basement for years, and I cannot remember what colors I bought, but I used dark green for the jungle areas and a light green (burnt grass, maybe) for the open areas near the airfield.<br />
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Layered and blended blue pigments on the ocean parts, leaving the runoff from the Lungga River flowing into the sea.<br />
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I used ochre pigment to replicate vehicle wear on the roads.<br />
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Now I am faced with a water effects project the likes of which I have not tried yet. Going to do some testing with acrylic gloss gel medium and then go for it later this week. This needs to be dry and ready for the game in two weeks. Stay tuned.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-35865067558937641652015-08-04T11:20:00.001-04:002015-08-14T17:58:08.972-04:00WIP: Virtue for the 2015 NOVA Narrative<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
NOVA 2015 is fast approaching, so it is high time I got to work painting the exciting new Virtue model created for the NOVA Narrative. Thanks <a href="http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mike</a>!<br />
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Cleaning the model did not go well, as I uncovered a gaping air pocket in the human's head as I scraped off mold lines. Unfortunately, the resulting hole obliterated the model's right eye, which is beyond my sculpting skills to repair, so I am just going to proceed and pretend it is not there (and take pictures from the left side).<br />
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I am going to use an additive layering technique for this model, which is something I have not tried since I was a kid. We will see whether my application of the technique has improved at all over time.<br />
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I started the model off with the basic palate of blue and brown undercoats and will build from here. I want the human to represent, literally, earth (his warm palate will blend with the earth tones planned for the base) while the Virtue warrior will provide a cold contrast of blue and silver metallics to signify the other-worldliness of the Virtue.<br />
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Here's the model with the undercoat.<br />
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Primer: P3 spray white <br />
Virtue: P3 Coal Black/water/flow enhancer 4:2:2<br />
Human: P3 Umbral Umber/water/flow enhancer 6:3:1 <br />
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Updated picture: 6 August, basecoat<br />
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All paints diluted 50% with water.<br />
Virtue armor plates: P3 Pig Iron<br />
Human uniform fabric: P3 Thornwood Green<br />
Human armor plates: P3 Cryx Bane Base<br />
Human pouches and straps: P3 Cryx Bane Highlight<br />
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Updated picture 13 August, highlights and finish<br />
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Virtue-<br />
Armor highlight 1: Reaper Honed Steel<br />
Armor highlight 2: Vallejo Model Color Silver<br />
Armor finish: Very dilute glaze of P3 Coal Black with additional coats in shaded areas. Went back and hit select plates with silver over the glaze to add some variety and movement to the plates.<br />
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Human-<br />
Uniform highlight: P3 Gun Corps Brown<br />
Armor highlight: P3 Traitor Green<br />
Pouch and Straps highlight: P3 Trollblood Highlight<br />
Flesh: P3 Midlund Flesh with Citadel Leviathan Purple wash<br />
Hair: Citadel Chestnut <strike>Wash </strike>Ink<br />
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The base is a mess of Secret Weapon pigments fixed with mineral spirit. Violet pigment on the bottom and in the cracks; my own mix of dark green pigment on the slate tiles; yellow, clay, and bright sand pigment on the pillars.<br />
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This may be as far as I get with this one. If I have time I will touch up the base and add some icons to the Human's armor, but I'm probably going to call this done and move on to another looooong neglected project.<br />
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Updated update...I had to fix that base...<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-51382185102179559202015-06-23T11:53:00.002-04:002015-06-23T11:53:58.572-04:00So this happened...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Over 30 years after I gave away the best game ever in a fit of youthful ignorance, I finally got another copy.<br />
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<span id="goog_729027884"></span><span id="goog_729027885"></span><br />
<br />
Looking forward to once again campaigning across the haunted glens and blasted wastes of Minaria.<br />
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Anyone want to give this a shot at Historicon this Summer? <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-43495238191873834832015-06-18T19:58:00.001-04:002015-06-18T20:57:54.999-04:00W+200<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So here it is. To observe the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo and the beginning of the end of the Napoleonic wars, I am officially taking up the hobby of Napoleonic wargaming. It's on like d'Erlon.<br />
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Here are my first two brigades. 4 minis/stand, 6 stands/infantry battalion. Cavalry is 2 minis/stand, 10 stands/squadron. Artillery is 1 gun/stand, 1 stand/battery.<br />
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<br />
So I chose to go with AB Napoleonics 18mm. I'm a little concerned that they are too large, because I want to scale my games at the battalion level at a ratio of around 20:1, and 15mm or 6mm seem more practical for that scale. That said, I think AB Napoleonics are excellent miniatures and also a good compromise for my inclination to go with Perry 25mm, which would be pretty unwieldily in battalion scale games. Can you imagine how cool it would be to play Quatre Bras at the battalion level with perry miniatures though...?<br />
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Then there is the (unanswerable) question of rules. I have played, read, and rejected <i>Napoleon at War</i>. I have also played and rejected <i>Shako</i>. I have read <i>Black Powder</i> and <i>Napoleon's Battles</i>, and have ordered <i>Volley and Bayonet</i> because I will be playing two games using those rules at Historicon. Still, I'm no closer to knowing what to do for rules that will enable big battles at the battalion level.<br />
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The bottom line is that I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm doing it. What is the consensus out there? If I'm building battalion sized units, what are the rule sets out there that will enable a large scale battle?<br />
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I'm stupidly excited about this. It's been coming for years.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-28675800303152698152015-06-06T08:21:00.000-04:002015-06-06T08:21:56.763-04:00Omaha Beach, The Cocktail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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"Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,<br />
But he'll remember with advantages<br />
What feats he did that day: then shall our names,<br />
Familiar in his mouth as household words<br />
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,<br />
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,<br />
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd."</div>
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June 6, 2015.<br />
<br />
At 0630, 71 years ago, the 116th Infantry Regiment, comprised mainly of Virginia National Guardsmen, assaulted prepared German defensive positions at Omaha Beach in Normandy near the towns of Vierville, les Moulins, St. Laurent, and Coleville. They charged from their amphibious landing craft headlong into a storm of fire, smoke, and steel. These men were the first wave of the Allied invasion that opened the second front in western Europe. The 116th took horrific losses, but they fought hard and gained the high ground beyond the beach, paving the way in their blood for the rest of the invasion force to launch the liberation of Europe.<br />
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I am proud and fortunate to have served in the 116th in combat (Afghanistan). Each year around Veterans' Day, veterans of the 116th gather in Staunton, Virginia, to celebrate the regiment's proud history and honor those D-Day veterans whose bravery and sacrifice is beyond measure. We call this event the 116th Regimental Muster. I look forward to the muster each year for the chance to talk with the D-Day veterans and thank them for what they have done. The first year I attended the muster there were a couple dozen D-Day veterans in attendance. Last year, 2014, there were three.<br />
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At the muster, the tables of the D-Day veterans include an exclusive libation-a bottle of Calvados-the regional spirit of Normandy, distilled from apples. I can imagine that my predecessors got into a few bottles of Calvados as they fought their way inland through the Bocage, the dense hedgerows of Normandy, in the days and weeks following their assault on Omaha Beach.<br />
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Here, then, is my small tribute to these great men and a salute to their bravery. The ingredients of this cocktail are not necessarily the best available in their class, but each carefully-chosen ingredient is symbolic in some way of the experience of the 116th Regiment on Omaha Beach and beyond. Enjoy it, and remember the 116th on Omaha Beach. Ever Forward!<br />
<br />
<u><b>Omaha Beach</b></u><br />
1 shot Virginia Gentleman bourbon<br />
1 shot Calvados<br />
1/4 shot La Belle Orange <br />
3 dashes aromatic bitters<br />
Twist of lemon peel<br />
Dash of salt<br />
Dissolve salt with bitters in old fashioned glass. Add ice and all the
booze. Stir. Twist lemon peel over the top. Serve and remember the
116th Infantry Regiment's assault on Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944. Ever
Forward!</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-82045123111007029792015-06-04T06:35:00.002-04:002015-06-04T06:35:41.398-04:00Bolt Action Battle Report: Sollum, January 1942<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Been looking forward to this battle report for a while. I'm not going to capture the whole fight in detail, but I will relay the critical bits that I saw as the GM.<br />
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This past weekend our gaming group played a North Africa scenario on the <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/05/north-africa-wargaming-table-project_14.html" target="_blank">table </a>that <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John </a>and I built over the past few weeks. At the risk of sounding self-congratulatory, the table looked really good and I was eagerly anticipating this game.<br />
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Here are some shots of the table set-up for the game. The South Africans would enter and advance from the high ground on the left of the photo. Their objective was the port on the right side of the photo.<br />
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We used a scenario generally based on the 8th Army assault against the besieged Deutsches Afrika Korps garrison in the small frontier port of Sollum in January 1942. It was one of the final acts of Operation Crusader. Our scenario was designed to capture the flavor of a small, desperate force trying to hold out against a larger attacking force.<br />
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The defenders represented a single platoon from the 300th Oasis Reserve Battalion defending in urban terrain. <u>Their mission was to interdict the 8th Army forces attacking toward the port.</u> The DAK platoon was comprised of a platoon HQ and four infantry squads:<br />
<br />
HQ:<br />
Veteran 1st Lieutenant<br />
1 Veteran Rifleman<br />
2 Veterans with SMGs<br />
1 Veteran Light Mortar Team<br />
<br />
1st Squad:<br />
Veteran NCO w/ SMG<br />
2 Veteran LMG teams<br />
3 Veteran Riflemen<br />
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2nd Squad:<br />
Veteran NCO w/ SMG<br />
Veteran LMG Team<br />
5 Veteran Riflemen<br />
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3rd Squad:<br />
Veteran NCO w/ SMG<br />
Veteran LMG Team<br />
5 Veteran Riflemen<br />
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4th Squad<br />
Veteran NCO w/ SMG<br />
Veteran w/ SMG<br />
Veteran LMG Team<br />
4 Veteran Riflemen <br />
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The DAK team consisted of one assistant GM acting as the Platoon Commander and four players, each taking the role of a Squad Leader. <br />
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To enable the kind of game play intended for this scenario we gave the DAK some game-specific special rules. Each DAK player could break his squad into any number of 2-4 man teams. Each of these teams would generate an activation die (this was the fundamental mechanic we used to balance the difference in activation dice between the South African company and the DAK platoon). Each 2-4 man team had special rules that allowed them to move quickly and unseen around the game board. In addition, 2-man rifle teams gained the sniper special rule (24" range) and also had the ability to snipe the enemy with a low chance of being detected. Finally, small teams were allowed to break contact, which gave them the chance to shoot first, and then run away using an ADVANCE order. The intent was to create a defense force that lacked mass, but maximized mobility, protection (buildings), and surprise. A "death from a thousand paper cuts" kind of approach.<br />
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Which is exactly what the DAK team planned. They devised a scheme with three squads forward and one in reserve with the platoon HQ. The forward squads would engage and then break contact to fall back toward the port, sniping the enemy as they withdrew.<br />
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On the other side of the board was a company from the 6th Infantry Brigade, South Africa. <u>The mission of the South Africans was to clear a route through Sollum to the port to enable the Brigade main effort (in this case a company of Valentine tanks) to assault and seize the port</u>. In an effort to balance the nimble, unseen, and hard-to-kill snipers of the DAK defenders, we gave the South Africans an "Overwatch" special rule. This allowed them to use an AMBUSH order to focus on a specific target area no more than 6" in width. If an enemy unit fired from or moved within the target area, the Overwatching unit got to fire at that target, adding +1d6 to hit for each weapon shooting. This rule was intended to give the South Africans powerful "hammer" to use against the "thumbtacks" of the small DAK teams.<br />
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The attackers were broken into a company headquarters and three platoons. The company commander would be played by an assistant GM, and the platoons would each be controlled by a player. In addition to the infantry company, we also added a tank company to represent the brigade main effort, positioned to roll into town as soon as the infantry cleared the way for them. The tank company was controlled by two GMs, and would not actually engage in this scenario (though it was this GM's hope that the tanks' presence would frustrate the South African players, much like that scene at the end of<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1EsDkm_r3o" target="_blank"> <u>A Bridge Too Far</u></a> where MAJ Cook berates a XXX Corps tank officer for refusing to enter Arnhem).<br />
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Company HQ:<br />
Captain<br />
3 LMG Teams<br />
Engineer Section (attached)<br />
Morris Truck<br />
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3xInfantry Platoons:<br />
HQ (2nd Lieutenant, Rifleman, Light Mortar, AT Rifle)<br />
2x Squads (NCO w/ SMG; LMG team; 8 Riflemen)<br />
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The South Africans devised a radical plan to accomplish their task. Instead of advancing along the intercoastal highway (as tasked in their order), they planned a sweeping maneuver around the outskirts of the city followed by a penetrating assault straight through to the port. Casey's platoon would provide support-by-fire while Mike's platoon conducted the assault. Dan's platoon would escort the engineers to deal with obstacles following the assault. Rhett task-organized the company to best accomplish their assignments, loading Casey down with LMG teams and giving Mike a ton of riflemen to use in the assaults. He would need them. Dan had an economy of force with one squad (plus PLT HQ) to escort the engineers.<br />
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Rhett also consolidated the mortars into the company HQ, which proved critical to success as the assault proceeded.<br />
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Below, the battle begins with a toast between Mike and Dan while Casey moves his forces onto the board. You can see the tanks of the brigade main effort on the left. It didn't take long for their presence and inaction to frustrate the attackers. Heh, heh.<br />
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Dan moves his breaching element onto the board while Mike fortifies himself for the assaults ahead.<br />
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Mike moves his platoon to his right flank to position for the assault.<br />
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South African infantry advancing down the escarpment toward the town.<br />
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It was right around here when Drew took the first shot of the game, dropping Casey's lieutenant with an undetected sniper shot.<br />
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Mike continues to shift his platoon to his right.<br />
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Rhett, the South African company commander and assistant GM, reacts to one of his lieutenant's requesting additional forces. At least that's how I'm imagining this scene.<br />
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The South Africans are poised to start the assault. Mike's forces are mobbed up on his right (our left). Casey's forces are slightly forward in the center, providing overwatch. Dan's forces are still on the escarpment in an attempt to keep the engineers (in the truck) safe until they are needed. Drew's snipers, now visible in the center building, prepare to break contact.<br />
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At this point the DAK started to increase the volume of their sniper fire. Here is how we handled all the hidden setup and movement on the DAK side:<br />
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This is a screened battle board with the buildings drawn onto it. The DAK team used it to maneuver their hidden units. If you try this mechanic, which works well, I recommend numbering the buildings so the DAK GM can call-out the overall GM where the shots are coming from. We spent a lot of time going back-and-forth between the table and the DAK battle board to make sure we understood what was going on. The buildings with dark outlines are sewer nodes, which DAK forces could use to redeploy quickly from one part of the battle to another.<br />
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Below, the DAK snipers are forcing the South Africans to seek cover. What the DAK commander wouldn't give for an air strike right about now.<br />
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Gavin and Sean started to pour in sniper and LMG fire from the right of the DAK defensive line, drawing the attention of Dan and Casey. Drew continued to pepper Mike's advancing assault force form the DAK left, and then suddenly the South Africans were all up in the DAK's grill.<br />
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In the picture below, Mike's assault on the right sweeps Drew's DAK teams out of the front line of buildings. On the left the South African commander uses smoke from his mortars to screen a secondary attack by Dan and Casey into the town.<br />
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The DAK were caught flat-footed by the SA assault and several sniper teams died before they could break contact. The effective use of smoke by the South Africans allowed assaulting forces to penetrate deep into the town. On the DAK right flank, Gavin sprung an ambush on one of Casey's squads, while Dan, in turn, plastered Gavin's ambush with an overwatching squad. Sean did a lot of shooting and running around, which concerned the South Africans hardly at all. Bad dice. </div>
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But the DAK defenders recovered and fought back hard. Keith and Drew annihilated one of Mike's squads as they assaulted their final objective without the benefit of obscuring smoke. Birger dropped a perfect mortar shot and totally disrupted the South African attack through the center of the town. Mike's final squad made an assault, away from the company objective and across the town center, and got cut down by one of Gavin's teams. With Mike's platoon down, Casey and Dan assumed the assault role, with only marginally better results. Using the sewers to redeploy undetected, Keith, Birger, and Gavin surprised the South Africans' second assault against the "hotel" with three times as many defenders as they expected to find. This move caused more than a couple of "WTF" reactions from the South African players. Thing of beauty.<br />
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Here, The
South Africans' last assault squads are poised to continue their rampage onto the "hotel" that became the de facto final
objective for both sides. They are about to discover that there are more DAK defenders inside than the two dudes on the ledge.</div>
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In the end, the South Africans succeeded in gaining control of the hotel, but at a terrible cost; only 2 of their 9 infantry squads remained combat effective, and the remnants of the assault were in danger of being isolated deep inside the town. Meanwhile, Dan's engineers were able to remove a couple of obstacles, but they started to take losses from DAK snipers still hidden throughout the town and would be unable to continue until additional infantry arrive to provide security for the breaching operations. The South African commander would have had no choice at the end but to request reinforcements so he could fight his way back into the city to extract the remnants of his company before they got cut off entirely. Meanwhile, the brigade main effort is backed-up on the intercoastal highway, unable to proceed until the route is cleared of mines and anti-tank obstacles. The impending conversation between the South African company commander and the battalion and brigade commanders will not likely go well.<br />
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On the DAK side, they were severely bent, but not broken. Each of their 4 squads took substantial losses. Although there was not much fight left in them, they still possessed a few key weapon systems in good positions. They would be able to prevent the existing South African forces from breaching any more obstacles, and might succeed in isolating and destroying the remnants of the assault element in the hotel, but another company attack would likely prove too much for them without diverting reinforcements from another part of the town.<br />
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Both commanders will have some tough decisions to ponder tonight as they prepare for the next battle.<br />
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Below you can see the remnants of Dan's lone infantry squad on the South African objective at the end of the game while a nearby DAK squad prepares to cut them off from their comrades. Dan's other squad, the engineers, remained behind (and unprotected!) to try to locate and remove mines on their own. They quickly learned that the DAK still had weapon systems covering the obstacles. One of Casey's squads is deployed in the background outside the town, while his last remaining squad is barely visible on the building to the far right of the picture. Behind them, you can just make out the radio operator from the South African company HQ behind a building. The square panels represent minefields, which the South Africans hilariously (for me at least) managed to avoid against all odds during the game.<br />
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This shot says it all. Lots of intact obstacles on the road to the port with some lonely engineers in the backgroud, while the brigade main effort sits stalled on the highway in the distance. It will take another company attack to rescue the remnants of the attack, and still another to clear the route, though the DAK resistance against follow on attacks will be greatly reduced.<br />
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This was a fantastic game. Both teams enjoyed some degree of success. While the South Africans failed to accomplish the mission assigned to them, the manner in which they executed their own rogue plan was pretty well-done, and they deserve some credit for that, at least. Their coordination of direct and indirect fire support and obscuration allowed the assault element to get on top of the DAK defenders before they could initiate their withdrawal. On the DAK side, redeploying teams to critical points late in the game allowed them to slow and disrupt the South African attack. The DAK almost blew it early by waiting too long to reposition their forward squads, but they had just enough <a href="http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/not-out-of-schlitz.jpg" target="_blank">Schlitz </a>left at the end of the game to force the South African brigade commander to change his plan. Tactical success for the South Africans, operational success for the DAK. The 8th Army will have to divert resources to complete this mission.<br />
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There was a lot more to it than that, and I'm sure I do not have all
of the facts straight, but this report gives you a general picture of
how the game went down. Bottom line, by cheating/breaking/making rules to fit this
specific scenario, the GMs gave the players a format that allowed for some
fun and dynamic play between two severely imbalanced force
organizations. Going by Bolt Action army composition values, the attackers enjoyed a better than 2:1 point advantage (not counting the tanks). After seeing the way this game went down, I would go back to a 3:2 point advantage for the attacker. A couple of dismally unlikely assault rolls at the end of the game prevented the South Africans from sweeping the DAK off the table, resulting instead in the annihilation of Mike's platoon. So as a GM, I got lucky with the way it worked out.<br />
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Great game, Gentlemen.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-2803126486197675012015-06-03T06:17:00.000-04:002015-06-03T06:17:56.558-04:00North Africa Wargaming Table Project Part 4: All's Well That Ends Well<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In the end, I spent a couple of weeks trying to destroy the table while <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John</a> made some absolutely amazing buildings to finish it. I'll let him tell you all about those and how he cast the windows and doors and other architectural accoutrements. The results, well, you be the judge...<br />
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I think we both learned a lot from the project. Our next project will be even cooler, and hopefully fraught with less peril. Where do you think should we go next time? Tunisia? Sicily? Italy? Normandy? Russia? Germany?<br />
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Comments and critiques welcome.<br />
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We couldn't help ourselves. The morning after <a href="http://whiskey40k.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mike</a> and <strike>Tiff</strike> Brittany got married, John and I dragged out the table and played a game. It was awesome.<br />
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I love this table.<br />
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Some final thoughts for future projects:<br />
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Adhering foam to wood=wood glue.<br />
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Adhering foam to foam=tacky glue.<br />
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The plaster mix is very brittle and chips too easily for use on table panels that are meant to be transported. The chips are very easy to fix, but a bit of an annoyance. I think scoring the entire surface of the foam with a wire brush as mentioned in the first post would help. I also think that <u>adding silicon to the plaster mix</u>, a-la incomparable wargame terrain guru <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMRsyhqjs9o" target="_blank">Steve the Kamloopian</a>, will give the plaster some flex and more durability.<br />
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<u>Check your silicone caulk for the expiration date</u>. All that keeps this table from standing among the best examples of wargaming terrain out there are the oil stains that will forever seep through the plaster from the botched caulking job I did.<br />
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<u>Protect your foam from Heat Fun</u>. 'Nuff said.<br />
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I cannot wait to unveil this table to the group! Tune in next time for the a report on our first game played on this board.<br />
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Game well, my Friends. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-11596991434912173722015-06-02T06:28:00.000-04:002015-06-02T06:35:27.699-04:00North Africa Wargaming Table Project Part 3: Heat Fun, or, Keep Out of Reach of Children<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was all so magical at the beginning.<br />
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In a single day <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John </a>and I had transformed <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/05/north-africa-wargaming-table-project_14.html" target="_blank">four panels of wood and pink foam </a>into a very high-quality 1941-1942 Libyan port for North Africa wargame scenarios. When we parted ways that evening we were both riding high on the knowledge that we were Gods of Wargaming Terrain. Then I started tinkering with things, and before too long I had a Magicians Apprentice kind of thing going on where my "improvements" to the table <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/06/north-africa-wargaming-table-project.html" target="_blank">started to get away from me</a>.<br />
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Then things got worse, much worse, but not right away. In fact for a while things were going pretty dang well.<br />
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I came home from work to find my order of EZ Water Heat and Pour on the front porch, so I headed inside to finish up the waterfront.<br />
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I built a containment dam, painted up a sewer pipe, and heavily stippled/sprinkled a bunch of pigment (dark brown, green, and yellow) on top of the existing EZ Water to look like sewage discharge. Prior to that, though, I had given all the pilings a liberal wash of heavily thinned oil paint. This process had left a few "pools" of thinned black pigment to dry around the bases of several of the pilings. I decided to leave them there and see what the second layer of EZ Water would do when it hit these "oil slicks."<br />
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Here you can see the sewer discharge dry pigment on top of the first water effect pour. You can also see the containment dam, which is a Home Depot yardstick wrapped in aluminum foil.<br />
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Having recovered emotionally from my earlier caulking disaster, I felt pretty confident about this pour. And I was right. When I poured the molten resin into the harbor, some of the pigments glopped together to form solid chunks of skunge suspended in the resin. Other chunks rose to the top where I used a toothpick to spread them out to create the effect of murk flowing along with the tide.<br />
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The oil effects left over from staining the pilings worked perfectly. Well beyond my expectations. This will be a go-to move for me in the future.<br />
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The pour did not quite cover the tire in the center. I think we need a third pour, but I will wait until John sees it, assuming the table is still intact when he finally sees what I have been doing to it. You can see the suspended sewage and murk pretty well in this shot.<br />
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Here is the sewer pipe with the many layers of suspended grossness in the water. It's so awesome!<br />
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One of the keys to producing a nice even water pour was my new heat gun (AKA Heat Fun!)<br />
<br />
I had the pour pan in one hand and Heat Fun in the other, and was able to melt bubbles quickly to produce a smooth water surface and even some wave swells. In another instance of accidental brilliance, I was "fixing" a mass of boiling bubbles caused by pouring molten resin over acrylic gloss coat when I realized that the bubbles were perfect to represent the boiling surf where the beach meets the water. I was able to stop Heat Fun before I obliterated the surf foam completely, but not before I had reduced the number of bubbles significantly. Still, it looks OK, as you can see below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzUL2SmCyAw_84XI25m8AuN7sVu0DZqgc61GPRBCWStyVk491rS1XuumD0dSZGDy6RFHQYgVR2xWFCFDl6SfaWyUrAkHkB2u7lGGLYTOtQggJOIfVzkgKoEbnA5Dzuxvc_hyRitCINuY/s1600/IMG_0902.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzUL2SmCyAw_84XI25m8AuN7sVu0DZqgc61GPRBCWStyVk491rS1XuumD0dSZGDy6RFHQYgVR2xWFCFDl6SfaWyUrAkHkB2u7lGGLYTOtQggJOIfVzkgKoEbnA5Dzuxvc_hyRitCINuY/s320/IMG_0902.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
I will definitely use the hot resin over acrylic effect for foamy surf in the future. Might even see what happens with tinted acrylics.<br />
<br />
OK, I know you've been waiting patiently for the other shoe to drop, so...<br />
<br />
-THUNK-<br />
<br />
Here we go...<br />
<br />
Heat Fun is really good at its job. It can crank-out a continuous blast of 1350-degree Fahrenheit air when I need it to. One of the problems I ran into on the secondary pour for the EZ Water on the harbor panel was a major leak along edge where the containment dam met the first layer of water effect. Because this is an irregular edge, the molten resin flowed through the tiny gaps onto the tabletop and the water did not end up as deep as I wanted it.<br />
<br />
In order to avoid a repeat on the second layer of water for the beach panel, I decided to build the containment dam and then melt a handful of resin pellets along the edge of the dam, then let them cool to form a seal with the dam and avoid leakage. Seemed like an OK plan to me. So I popped the pellets in and went to work melting them with Heat Fun. It took a lot longer than I thought to melt the pellets with directly-applied superheated air, but after several minutes of blasting away at the highest setting I had the seal I wanted. You can see where this is headed, can't you?<br />
<br />
I let the seal cool and then heated up the rest of the bag of EZ Water pellets (way more than enough for the beach job). Once they were molten I poured them in. And poured, and poured, and poured. Something was definitely wrong--I was dumping way too much resin into the basin, and the level was hardly rising at all. I could not detect any leaks (my seal was working great!), but I could not figure out where the molten resin was going. Only after I had poured the entire pan (it should have taken less than a quarter of the pan) did I feel I had added enough additional water effect to the beach panel. I went to work with Heat Fun smoothing out the surface bubbles, completely perplexed as to where all the molten resin had gone. <br />
<br />
I let the resin cool and removed the containment dam and immediately saw the problem. Heat Fun had melted away a huge slab of pink foam, leaving a thin shell of plaster in an area slightly larger than my hand. No painting over that. This had not been a problem on the harbor panel because we had lined the foam harbor walls with rock sheets cast from Merlin's Magic, creating a nice thermal barrier between Heat Fun and the foam. The beach panel had no such barrier and I was staring at the cavernous result. The EZ Water had flowed into the cavity and cooled directly onto the bare wood. In essence I had made an underground grotto. The ultra-thin plaster layer crumbled easily at the slightest touch.<br />
<br />
It was bad. I am confident that a 20mm plastic figure placed on the thin plaster would have easily fallen through.<br />
<br />
I really only had one move at this point, two if you count 'rebuild the panel' as an option. I got out a bag of pumice rocks and a tube of tacky glue and, very carefully and slowly, filled the accidental grotto as best I could. Then, feeling smart about writing down the base plaster recipe, I masked the water effect in the area with tape, whipped up a fresh batch and frosted over the rock/glue filling.<br />
<br />
It worked better than I thought it would. Much better. So, I had a huge scare, but it mended pretty well. Still, I'll be using Heat Fun in tandem with thermal barriers from here out (that, or I'll be making my terrain boards out of rocks instead of foam from here out.)<br />
<br />
It could have been much worse, as I had no idea I was obliterating the foam while I was melting pellets to seal the gaps in my containment dam. Lucky I stopped when I did.<br />
<br />
Surprisingly, I stopped taking pictures while I was freaking out about melting the foam, but here is the repair job (dark plaster is still wet.) I put another layer on the adjoining harbor panel to tie the two spots together.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZnQS3mJ-tUxRrcQOdV4TZhLI5pljbq4IclKG6txvPYRmrEZOO-XJiXs1DKBTQF4-JQ9o9geHnJtCnG80aQl2217Nu7JX2Fb32lZkYa44uIqeryRJMi1iq-_GMA475Rtp-y8KqLhEEZ4/s1600/IMG_0903.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZnQS3mJ-tUxRrcQOdV4TZhLI5pljbq4IclKG6txvPYRmrEZOO-XJiXs1DKBTQF4-JQ9o9geHnJtCnG80aQl2217Nu7JX2Fb32lZkYa44uIqeryRJMi1iq-_GMA475Rtp-y8KqLhEEZ4/s320/IMG_0903.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Once the plaster dried, you could hardly tell that anything was ever amiss. The wet sand effect in the picture below is a coat of acrylic gloss.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_K3QZm_f-duHc04TuUA2UsI5w-_X7zyP21Mp_UURCQmcglRlD7TSzZCWi4QvnILt_3-Cztb5qgvqabk9npbdCl44YStKRynwbIl1hqc8k1HR0O-A58R_54XpFVEHkKz8C824s5fyA5c/s1600/IMG_0905.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_K3QZm_f-duHc04TuUA2UsI5w-_X7zyP21Mp_UURCQmcglRlD7TSzZCWi4QvnILt_3-Cztb5qgvqabk9npbdCl44YStKRynwbIl1hqc8k1HR0O-A58R_54XpFVEHkKz8C824s5fyA5c/s320/IMG_0905.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I'd rather be lucky than good.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-36633637743668563172015-06-01T05:52:00.000-04:002015-06-01T15:41:32.918-04:00North Africa Wargaming Table Project Part 2: Caulk Blaulked!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John</a> and I <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/05/north-africa-wargaming-table-project_14.html" target="_blank">took a large gaming table from pink foam to playable terrain in a day</a>. What we had so far was good enough, but we were shooting for
spectacular. We knew that there were still some tweaks required
to turn this into a top-shelf terrain board. So <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John </a>helped
me move the panels back down to the basement and then headed home feeling
pretty damn good about things, while I immediately set to work, trying my
hardest to destroy the project.<br />
<br />
We
already knew that we needed more water effect, so I ordered some.
There were also a couple of major faults (literally) with the project as well. This was my next big lesson: chink seams with caulk or drywall tape before
applying the plaster/sand mix. We assumed that the plaster would fill
the seams between the foam panels. It did not, and as a result there
were linear grooves across the middle of each panel where the foam
sheets came together. These had to go. So I grabbed some silicon caulk
that had been laying around the basement for a few years and got to
work. While I was at it, I ran some caulk along the edges of the roads
to give them a raised spoil from grading and use.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQ4F5bOMfiL5ZJ7OE7oR_v-sDH8mUeg9O-Xhe2cXHeyMaL-BHRwdWF8syjYMQLu4lY6MG84DgwblqA9uKg4_Pdgj74g7-uZ-AuoSgmz-ADPj-YVu0CWNJVH9JdbbB_vwgwBbXrdVuF-Q/s1600/IMG_0883.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQ4F5bOMfiL5ZJ7OE7oR_v-sDH8mUeg9O-Xhe2cXHeyMaL-BHRwdWF8syjYMQLu4lY6MG84DgwblqA9uKg4_Pdgj74g7-uZ-AuoSgmz-ADPj-YVu0CWNJVH9JdbbB_vwgwBbXrdVuF-Q/s320/IMG_0883.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgrtXI2yT0s70xZ-vyxgUfQ41lYG4njCgEBMRSoUQ5NT9CfKc1jQU9maF_Gnt2l2LW6C3cQo5Wo15njbT0at-P9D3R1Yc3q3SQDEXrlyoaL0D5Ghlm3vb0Y-NCrm3oFROM_wzaQIlBBk/s1600/IMG_0884.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgrtXI2yT0s70xZ-vyxgUfQ41lYG4njCgEBMRSoUQ5NT9CfKc1jQU9maF_Gnt2l2LW6C3cQo5Wo15njbT0at-P9D3R1Yc3q3SQDEXrlyoaL0D5Ghlm3vb0Y-NCrm3oFROM_wzaQIlBBk/s320/IMG_0884.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjbSr4zBsR3B-nt-Mmgvly3B-TmJHZfPdEVIZVaCNWEHCZiygeoEcVkYSH86gRNgsNMj6BAQ2Um8HaXSaNcKgJ6bu6fNzFhr3snWOEWMNgWUwmozNoJ4WUu0VFIpjQTxqBwqV5gjJh64/s1600/IMG_0886.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjbSr4zBsR3B-nt-Mmgvly3B-TmJHZfPdEVIZVaCNWEHCZiygeoEcVkYSH86gRNgsNMj6BAQ2Um8HaXSaNcKgJ6bu6fNzFhr3snWOEWMNgWUwmozNoJ4WUu0VFIpjQTxqBwqV5gjJh64/s320/IMG_0886.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Those
careful readers who have some experience in home renovation or general
contracting doubtless have already spotted my next lesson. For the rest
of us, here it is: Silicon caulk has a shelf life. The caulk I used
had an expiration date of 2008 (for those far future readers just
getting to this post, it was 2015 here on Earth at the time of the
caulking in question.) Turns out that seven years is enough time for
silicon caulk to go bad.<br />
<br />
I should have suspected
something was amiss when the caulk came out. Instead of being soft and
sticky and hard to work with like melted plastic, it was thick and
chalky. This made it a dream to work with from a terrain-sculpting
point of view, so I happily caulked away and let it dry overnight. The
next day I re-surfaced the caulked areas of the harbor panel with a fresh layer of
plaster/sand mix. This was when I notice the first real problem; the
caulk had not cured. It mixed with the plaster and turned the plaster
mix into a pasty white substance that quickly hardened into rock that
was not at all the color of the rest of the table. It also did not
adhere very well to the existing surface It also obliterated the nice
spoils I had raised along the roads. Oh well, that's life, could be
worse. So I covered up the new white surface with a bunch of pigment
and stopped for the night.<br />
<br />
The next day I awoke
refreshed and hustled down to the basement to check on the products of the
previous days' work. In all the places where I had caulked the night
prior, dark oil stains now shown through the plaster and pigment. The good news was I no longer had
an (easily fixable) problem with seams between panels. No, now I had a
problem that might require stripping and resurfacing the entire table. I
didn't tell <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John </a>about any of this.<br />
<br />
I took a couple of days off from the project to think of a solution. <br />
<br />
The
only real good idea I has was to not plaster over the uncured
caulking on the other four panels. I have a thing for the obvious. I gave it a few
more days, hoping the caulk would dry. It didn't.<br />
<br />
I gave up
hope and scraped the caulk off the other three panels, then mixed very
thick plaster to fill the joints between the foam sheets. Then I
resurfaced these areas. It looked passable. I waited anxiously
overnight for the plaster to dry, and was very relieved when I woke to
find no oil stains on the remaining panels (though it is since emerged).<br />
<br />
Well, maybe I can cover up the oil stains with more pigment. Yeah, I really thought that.<br />
<br />
So
I did. I went back over all the surfaces, re-doing the roads with a
slightly darker mix, darkening the wadis and draws, layering the
pigments deeply with pretty heavy-handed application, and using a couple
of different blends for the highlights to make sure our desert floor
had some nice, interesting color variations. It looked good. Except for the dark oil stains that had grown even darker with the application of more
pigment. I was flailing. I didn't have the bandwidth to cope, so I dropped the oil stain problem and
tried to solve a different problem--pigment fixing.<br />
<br />
On
our initial build, John had applied pigment raw and not used a fixer.
We discussed whether to fix the pigment or not. The raw pigment gave
the table a beautiful dusty look, because, well, dust, but we ended up
conceding that unfixed pigment would be too messy to deal with. So I
wrestled with the logistics of fixing pigment covering a 6'x8' surface.
What to use? How to apply? John wisely vetoed my idea of using a
spray bottle to apply the fixer (he still had no idea how much damage I
had done to the table since he left, but I think he was starting to suspect that things might be amiss.) I decided to go with mineral
spirits, which is what I use to fix pigments on my models. It worked
fine. I used a <a href="http://painting.about.com/od/artsupplies/ig/Intro-to-Art-Paint-Brushes/Brush-Mop.htm" target="_blank">big fat mop brush</a> to dab a couple of quarts of mineral
spirit onto the table panels. It got a little messy and pigments got
mixed, but for a terrain project of this scale the sloppy pigment
mingling actually worked well to tie all of the colors together. And
then the coolest thing happened...I ran out of mineral spirits before I
finished the fixing job.<br />
<br />
All I had left in the house was denatured alcohol, so I figured, "What the hell," and continued the fixing job with it. <u>Totally</u>
different from the mineral spirits, denatured alcohol lacks that really
awesome capillary action that you find with mineral spirits. It runs
across the surface of the board like water. Which, when you are
covering a terrain board with dusty pigments, creates an erosion effect
that is mind-blowingly true to life. <u><b>Accidental Brilliance</b></u>.
Where I had layered the pigments the flow of the alcohol served just
like water eroding soil and distributed the pigments perfectly like
runoff. I would not recommend denatured alcohol for models because it
is hard to control, but for terrain there is no better Pigment Fixer/Magical Erosion Effect Juice.<br />
<br />
Here is what denatured alcohol does to heavily layered pigments on terrain boards. This is approximately a 6"x4" patch. The dark bits are roads.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0TfBo-AIYbgqyTjMnLQTTm6uNfMpaTPaJZ_rYL9NBSdZzRYBDlmmbPjAr7QnKx3qw866I6D8UVraIvMKzxuWOTzhmgTXgilrVnvX-G56gdbMt96UFwsUwrkaysw910lhCaYJzR8jpcY/s1600/IMG_0943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0TfBo-AIYbgqyTjMnLQTTm6uNfMpaTPaJZ_rYL9NBSdZzRYBDlmmbPjAr7QnKx3qw866I6D8UVraIvMKzxuWOTzhmgTXgilrVnvX-G56gdbMt96UFwsUwrkaysw910lhCaYJzR8jpcY/s320/IMG_0943.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
Here you can see the right-side panels still wet from mineral spirits. Don't do this inside. It will kill your brain. Trust me (or ask my Wife, who gets to deal daily with my shredded memory).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqGcGdarASjebMbBKWwtGW5V8T1uFCk3beUEwbJPbPefXm0iDaqJSBcisxOglJRkbz5IzlLVcqGWQULRbXJhd0CyIQqJxnOfOXXXQ-xNfQclDOCc-WjYwkraZmcMnhyZ95Ny-PRZPkT4/s1600/IMG_0888.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqGcGdarASjebMbBKWwtGW5V8T1uFCk3beUEwbJPbPefXm0iDaqJSBcisxOglJRkbz5IzlLVcqGWQULRbXJhd0CyIQqJxnOfOXXXQ-xNfQclDOCc-WjYwkraZmcMnhyZ95Ny-PRZPkT4/s320/IMG_0888.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
At this point I was
nearly overcome by the fumes in my basement so I moved the project out
to the back porch to finish the pigment fixing.<br />
<br />
<br />
Fixed pigment on the right, unfixed pigment on the left. I was saving this picture to freak-out John, but then I tried to destroy the table for real (more on that later) and didn't think it was so funny anymore.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIE5C4KEDBu9cS4cRTTmO_VCa_Y9V2A6tWkCv4MK_imdHZGB2sAkzcZ8v2E9m5cV7Hspol_Bq3qJYeV7RHo5LLF4H9Xr6-96W049KT0ZOHjdUGbKarcSaR7mCVoqLGqPeeSk5I-ogsB8A/s1600/IMG_0890.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIE5C4KEDBu9cS4cRTTmO_VCa_Y9V2A6tWkCv4MK_imdHZGB2sAkzcZ8v2E9m5cV7Hspol_Bq3qJYeV7RHo5LLF4H9Xr6-96W049KT0ZOHjdUGbKarcSaR7mCVoqLGqPeeSk5I-ogsB8A/s320/IMG_0890.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
So
things started out a little rough, but I felt I had the chaos pretty
well under control now. The colors on the table were fantastic. The denatured alcohol was a terrain pigment fixing miracle. Sure,
the oil stains were still there, but the cool erosion effects made the
rest of the table look so neat that some of the oil stains were starting to look
like they were there on purpose. John would never have to know how
close I came to wrecking our project. In fact he might even congratulate me on some perfectly-executed oil spills. No, not really.<br />
<br />
But I was doing some brilliant stuff
with the table. Yes, mostly on accident, but I had dodged a bullet or
two and was feeling pretty confident now. I had this terrain stuff
down; what could possibly go wrong?<br />
<br />
Two words: Heat Gun<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-89390901335320289492015-05-14T13:27:00.001-04:002015-06-01T15:06:56.244-04:00North Africa Wargaming Table Project Part 1: We Are Really Good at This<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Not long after our gaming group's<a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/02/tobruk-1941-battle-report.html" target="_blank"> inaugural wargame</a>, <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">John </a>and I set to work planning the next step in our North Africa WWII wargaming odyssey. We wanted a coastal city so we could build a port and play with water effects (neither of us had done this in any significant volume before.) We also needed it to be modular for ease of transport. Our goal was a transportable table that offered flexible playing area while meeting the highest standards of appearance. Being relative novices in the realm of high-end terrain construction, much of the project took us into uncharted waters, and we had many accidental triumphs that have become standard procedures, as well as many failures that can provide cautionary tales for those who follow us. Did we succeed? Read on and judge for yourself... </div>
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We kicked-around a couple of ideas and decided on four 3'x4' 1/4" plywood panels, because that's what I had in the basement. This would give us a nice, big 6'x8' playing surface made of lightweight panels that fit into the trunk of my car. I framed the panels with 1"x1" lumber to prevent them from warping. The frame also allows us to clamp the panels together once finished. I then topped the panels with pink foam and subsequently sculpted the foam using wire brushes to give us the topography were were after. This is very messy-but I think the results are worth it. Many thanks to my wife, Sacha, for generally putting up with the pink snowstorm in the basement. </div>
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Here you can see the harbor cut to fit on one of the panels. In the background you can see the framed gaming table panels.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsEpyfK8b8CwiNoF0uRs7J-EBvaZQMGUADXcoxnRo0yZuLuFNitZTWFIZMdShBNCpbOXoRYyunz1J1uPL6F51ME5sDhyphenhyphenqXGDDiVonQrvXRlD4APCjG0fhpwA_Q0ajz__EgzhC0IneaBM/s1600/IMG_0660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsEpyfK8b8CwiNoF0uRs7J-EBvaZQMGUADXcoxnRo0yZuLuFNitZTWFIZMdShBNCpbOXoRYyunz1J1uPL6F51ME5sDhyphenhyphenqXGDDiVonQrvXRlD4APCjG0fhpwA_Q0ajz__EgzhC0IneaBM/s320/IMG_0660.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Lehman Russ tank added for reference.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FgjquV_tGWS_usxSDLydt8u3804mumwmxpxRcqq1sngEZBWEpSp3TCfN3jtdLAcPYnOrdsaaFwHchxToHGjZpj6s6fEBhoeLSG3Rbi0tBB0X2p29ioD9zI9QoFeK2ylu9I6ViApl38g/s1600/IMG_0661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FgjquV_tGWS_usxSDLydt8u3804mumwmxpxRcqq1sngEZBWEpSp3TCfN3jtdLAcPYnOrdsaaFwHchxToHGjZpj6s6fEBhoeLSG3Rbi0tBB0X2p29ioD9zI9QoFeK2ylu9I6ViApl38g/s320/IMG_0661.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I needed some weights to hold the foam flush with the wood while the glue dried. There is no problem that alcohol cannot solve. Here are the two coastal panels side-by-side.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeFkXWZqaAmjSJ0vCO-y7HvtH6bzIKQggpODlgRfGJ7zxHKqLthh8CSmKMOe7a2Eabt-llfrlGnZ8-4xT4JhUA1nJVtKzHXh0nRwyPanpD96DiqTlO22rzpbgjCX9LrjECADl9kGKAb8/s1600/IMG_0693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeFkXWZqaAmjSJ0vCO-y7HvtH6bzIKQggpODlgRfGJ7zxHKqLthh8CSmKMOe7a2Eabt-llfrlGnZ8-4xT4JhUA1nJVtKzHXh0nRwyPanpD96DiqTlO22rzpbgjCX9LrjECADl9kGKAb8/s320/IMG_0693.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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A close up of the beach area shaped using wire brush. I used two brush sizes: 1.5" for bulk foam removal and a .5" brush for finer details. I would also recommend lightly roughing the entire surface of the foam (not just the shaped contours) using a wire brush to give the plaster (see below) a stronger bond with the foam. I did not do that for this project, and the plaster tends to break off a little too easily from the smooth, unshaped foam surfaces.<br />
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In addition to the port, we wanted an escarpment to give us some high ground. Here you can see the two escarpment panels taking shape.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrIpTbFDWnmFiSVxNnqrlUIIV-6tIzHIVhBmdmbMwZJaTGdvRRNOsUKqUHU93CLPe5XV1I5NAAmLD2CaKNWQrOhowkrlGdufxc6XiiN5RoDSXG3mGr9fJKiLvF6ft5DTLPhiGAv-0-Grc/s1600/IMG_0859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrIpTbFDWnmFiSVxNnqrlUIIV-6tIzHIVhBmdmbMwZJaTGdvRRNOsUKqUHU93CLPe5XV1I5NAAmLD2CaKNWQrOhowkrlGdufxc6XiiN5RoDSXG3mGr9fJKiLvF6ft5DTLPhiGAv-0-Grc/s320/IMG_0859.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I didn't like the boxy look of the highest hill (above), so I carved a road into the ridge line and cut a road defile into the highest ground to break-up the square edges a little. The lesson learned here is to cut your foam in the shape you want to avoid straight lines. That may be obvious to you all, but I needed to make the mistake in order to understand it. Lots of that going on in this project, as you will see.<br />
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Speaking of lessons, here was my first big one. Glue is important. Use the right glue for the right job. Wood glue worked great for binding the foam to the wood panels, but was not the best for binding foam to foam. The bond is pretty brittle and the foam slabs started to separate as I moved the panels around. <a href="http://www.joann.com/aleene-s-original-tacky-glue-4-oz/2018091.html" target="_blank"> Tacky glue</a> retains some flex and bonds better to foam than wood glue, so use that instead. Also, a corollary to the Tacky Glue law is using screws to hold the foam together while the glue dries. This prevents any "drift" while the glue forms a permanent bond and ensures that the foam slabs do not separate while the glue dries. Above and below you can see dots where I used sheet rock screws in the foam. When you do this, be sure to countersink the screws so the heads are flush or below the level of the foam, but be careful not to over-rotate the screws and strip the holes. You need the threads to remain engaged with the foam. <br />
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So the table was all foamed and carved and glued and screwed and ready for finishing. We decided to use <a href="http://waterputty.com/" target="_blank">plaster</a> and <a href="http://www.earthpigments.com/light-sienna-pigment/" target="_blank">pigment</a> to coat the table. The weather was perfect so we were able to move the project outside. I cannot recommend doing what happened next inside-working with the plaster and pigment was extremely messy. We fiddled around with mixture levels, mixing different ratios of plaster, sand, water, and pigment until we got the consistency we wanted. The base layer that worked best for us was 10 Tablespoons of plaster, 10 Tablespoons of sand, 1 Tablespoon of pigment, and 15 tablespoons of water. This starts out pretty runny, but thickens quickly. You have about 3 minutes to work with it until it is no longer spreadable. While it is still wet, you can use a cloth (or gloved hands) to smooth out any brush/trowel marks. Sanding the surface after it dries is an option, but you will probably want to re-surface the sanded bits again with plaster. Kind of depends on what you are after. For our desert terrain we liked the rough texture of the plaster/sand mixture.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2H_djXuByVhwCsRegsdzTwdcVOqEyJPPq-tBQlqBY430NQDItkqd4Wl7bnk94CdoTIFlWzcwzp_v0BdOrIID_hSgJEqY80RfAy1dYG1xDwfCYa-8O3l8ywVKoDqCx-D6M1CeR0NrzNQ/s1600/IMG_0864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2H_djXuByVhwCsRegsdzTwdcVOqEyJPPq-tBQlqBY430NQDItkqd4Wl7bnk94CdoTIFlWzcwzp_v0BdOrIID_hSgJEqY80RfAy1dYG1xDwfCYa-8O3l8ywVKoDqCx-D6M1CeR0NrzNQ/s320/IMG_0864.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Once we got the surface on, John did a little bit of highlighting and road making with pigments, and, Viola!<br />
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A ready-to-play gaming table:<br />
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Ok, there was a bit more to it than that. I wish I would have taken more (any!) pictures of the finishing work, but dealing with the plaster is a pretty frantic experience. Once you start mixing it, you just have to go all-out until you have finished coating the panels. Before we knew what had happened, 8 hours had passed and we had a gaming table. <br />
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We started by plastering 2" tall bands of cast rock (Merlin's Magic) around the edges of the port and then sinking dowels into the sea floor to use as pilings. Everything got a layer of plaster coating (though we left a good bit of the cast rock sheets exposed.) John finished off the port area by cutting balsa wood planks to make
the docks/wharf and added a couple of collapsed piers to complete the job. He then <a href="http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"></a>used a <a href="http://www.earthpigments.com/light-yellow-ocher/" target="_blank">light pigment</a> on all the horizontal desert surfaces, which offset them nicely from the <a href="http://www.earthpigments.com/light-sienna-pigment/" target="_blank">darker base pigment</a> in the plaster. Next he sketched-out the roads using dark pigment with light borders. Finally, before we poured the water effects, John used <a href="http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_19&products_id=136&zenid=fa7110cdc6e172af909384dcdc590d29" target="_blank">dark brown</a> and <a href="http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_19&products_id=149" target="_blank">green</a> pigment to shade the bottom of the port area. The initial results were pretty neat. <br />
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Our initial pour of <a href="http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/c1206/page/1" target="_blank">water effects</a> was limited to what we had on-hand, and we realized that we would need to pour more at a later date. We were pretty happy with the way the water effects combined with the pigments-good depth illusion due to the dark pigment around the edges. John also cast a bunch of tires for use as pier bumpers. These, plus chains, ropes, and other port detritus are scattered around on the seafloor. The yellow tint of the EZ Water combined with the brown and green pigment to make the water look very polluted. The overall effect gave the impression of a derelict port in the developing world. Exactly what we were shooting for.<br />
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The pilings were lengths of dowel cut and coated with the plaster mix to make them heat resistant (this is important for any project in which you use heat and pour water effects.)<br />
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Sea vegetation--Woodland Scenic foam submerged in EZ Water. You can also see some of the "cake icing effect" caused by the plaster drying before we could contour and texture it. Once this happens, your only recourse is to chip it into something you like. Doable, but a little tricky with water effect so near.<br />
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Some scattered brush here and there.<br />
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And there you have it--a fully functional table with some tanks sprinkled around for effect.<br />
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The table was beautiful. The tanks looked great on it. We were thrilled.<br />
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But we weren't done yet. Not even close.<br />
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Read what happens next when I get ta thinkin'</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-55507218376086105502015-04-27T12:12:00.000-04:002015-05-05T13:29:22.099-04:00Bolt Action Battle Report-16 December, 1944. The US Army is poised to resume their offensive into Germany...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our wargaming group played a large Battle of the Bulge scenario this weekend with Sean as the GM. I'll try to tell the story as best I can, but this was a pretty wild one. Apologies up front for the disorienting pictures, I was snapping them pretty quickly while trying to keep up with some really dynamic game play. Props to Sean for the best GM led game we have experienced thus far. He really maximized the ability of the GM to introduce tension and surprise into the game.</div>
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The scenario was the opening of the Battle of the Bulge on December 16, 1944. The Americans (Gavin, Keith, and me) were occupying hasty defensive positions while we waited for the weather to clear enough for us to resume our attack East into Germany. Unbeknownst to us, the Germans (Drew, Owen, and Mike), were about to launch a major attack in an attempt to penetrate our lines and capture our supply depots in order to fuel a German drive toward Antwerp.</div>
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The battlefield included three separate battle areas. In the foreground below is the Right table, which represented a piece of the American front lines. The center table represented a traffic control point (TCP) several kilometers to the West of the front lines. All American reinforcements had to flow through this checkpoint. In the background is the Left table, which represents another section of the American front lines. </div>
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The Right table looking westward along the German line of attack toward the American positions. Drew and I would face each other on this table.<br />
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The TCP in the center. Keith would man this with a squad of MPs. His job was to decide whether Gavin or myself would receive activation dice when drawn. He would also be responsible for ensuring that American reinforcements made it to the correct table.<br />
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Gavin's sector on the left where he would face-off against Owen. With the heavier woods and frozen stream promising to slow down enemy armor, we elected to put our lone bazooka team in my sector where it would have better fields of fire.<br />
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Speaking for forces, here is what we had. 2 regular infantry platoons equipped with BARs (my platoon got a bazooka team). One MP squad. The reserves consisted of two regular infantry squads (one with AT grenades), a Hellcat tank destroyer, and a Sherman medium tank.<br />
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The Germans also had two infantry platoons which were a mix of regular and green troops to reflect the Volksgrenadier concept that dominated German force composition in the late war. Their reserve included a Panzergrenadier squad with a Hanomag half track, a Panzer IV medium tank, and a Jagtpanther that we played as Jagt Tiger super heavy tank destroyer. To reflect the force overmatch employed by the attacker, the Germans were allowed to bring their squads back onto the table as soon as they got destroyed. Our gaming group really needs to paint more Germans.<br />
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The action opened on the left with Owen advancing his infantry platoon. The Americans benefited from hidden setup, so Owen was probing through the forest trying to identify Gavin's defensive positions.<br />
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On the right, Drew advanced on my right flank, clearly seeking to use the woods as a covered and concealed route to get around my flank. He flushed-out the bazooka team I had positioned in these woods, but they were able to use the intervening woods to keep from being detected by the advancing Germans.<br />
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Gavin springs an ambush and annihilates one of Owen's squads while Mike, acting as the German commander, looks on.<br />
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Over on the right, Drew has maneuvered very well and is positioned to roll my flank. I am concerned. <br />
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On the left the Germans fight back, hitting Gavin's ambush squad hard, but not before he takes down another German squad. You can see Gavin's other forces revealed along the river now as they are exchanging fire with the advancing Germans. At this point, Owen started to make some progress against Gavin's defenses, aided in part by some questionable activation die allocation by Keith. <br />
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On the right, Drew advanced one of his squads too far around my flank. I had to spring the ambush, but I also caught him largely in the open. His squad of green troops was annihilated and I was able to stave-off disaster. Here, his remaining two squads prepare to use the forest to better advantage to get after my flank.<br />
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Keith kept handing me activation dice, much to Gavin's dismay, but since it allowed me to fight-off Drew's attack, I was fine with that. Here you can see me revealing a second squad to move against Drew's attempt to flank me.</div>
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Then things started to go pear-shaped for us. With Drew starting to run into trouble against my position, the Germans decide to bring in all their reinforcements against Gavin's position, which was now significantly weakened as a result of me getting most of the early activation dice in the turn.<br />
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Gavin is really taking it in the shorts at the hands of the overwhelming German attack at this point. "Sure sucks to be him," I'm thinking.<br />
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Because, look! Keith just directed a tank reserve through his TCP onto my table! Both Drew and Gavin would suffer because of this, but hey, what did I care? I was kicking some serious ass at this point and now I had a tank. Woo-hoo! Drew was bringing on more infantry squads, but I had him in a pretty good kill sack now, and I felt confident I could hold him off for the rest of the game. Things were going really well for me--I totally have the right flank in hand.<br />
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So you know that moment at the beginning of DOOM 3 where you are taking care of some administrative business like signing into the Mars base and getting your personal stuff squared away, and its not a really big deal, then things start to go slightly awry but you don't necessarily notice it at first, and then you do notice it, and you think its kind of bad, but then you realize that it's more serious than you thought, and you think you really ought to do something about it, but when you start to do something about it you realize that, in fact, all hell has broken loose?<br />
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That moment is exactly what Sean and Keith took BOTH SIDES through in their recreation of OPERATION GREIF. No one saw this coming.<br />
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So Keith had made some questionable decisions about die allocation, but since it all benefited me, I was happy to let it go. Gavin was less happy, as he had borne the brunt of the German attack and was in danger of being completely defeated at this point. I just chalked it up to Keith having a bad day and not having his head in the game (which, for those of you who know him, is very uncharacteristic.) Then, as one of our reserve squads approached the TCP, Keith said, "and now I'm going to fire at that squad." We all heard him, but initially dismissed it as a continuation of whatever bizarre affliction kept impeding his game play. But then he started counting out dice, and then he started rolling them, and suddenly he was taking models, OUR MODELS off the table.<br />
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Both sides were completely stunned ant first. Then, as the realization of what had just happened finally dawned on us, the Germans were as happy as the Americans were devastated. Keith had been playing perfectly, misdirecting resources and generally causing havoc without anyone knowing what was going on.<br />
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Turns out that Sean and Keith had worked-out this mechanic weeks ago and now had pulled it off in spectacular fashion. The fact that the Germans were as surprised as the Americans made it even more impactful and historically accurate. All of us agreed that it was the high-point of the game. Well-done fellas!<br />
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Keith's "MPs" reveal themselves to be German special operations forces and annihilate the American reserve squad.<br />
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Having sprung their trap, the German agents melted away in the Ardennes, and Gavin and I got control of our dice and our reserves, but the damage was done. Below, Gavin gets a reserve squad and a Hellcat on his board, but it is too little, too late, and Owen and Mike destroy his forces to a man.<br />
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Over on the right, I'm feeling less smug about the wrecking job I am doing against Drew's forces, and make preparations to withdraw.<br />
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"You die, the girl dies, everybody dies." Mike as the German commander seemingly could not fail a roll with his armored juggernaut, while the outgunned Hellcat could do nothing against the massive Tiger tank destroyer. It was worse than it looks in this picture.<br />
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So I stopped taking pictures.<br />
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This is how the game ended. Burning American vehicles and unscratched German vehicles.<br />
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It had the potential to be a really cool ending. To reflect the Americans conducting a fighting withdrawal, Sean reapportioned the forces based on the outcomes of the two battle zones and had both sides roll onto the center table at the TCP to determine the winner. We ended up with a Sherman, a Hellcat, two squads,a bazooka team, and a lieutenant. The Germans had a squad in a Hanomag, a Panzer IV, and that stinking Tiger tank destroyer. I felt that we had a chance at first, but then Bolt Action happened and through extremely unlucky activation draws and poor deployment we ended up placing all of our forces on the board first-shooting gallery style. This allowed the Germans to completely control the fight, and Gavin and I stood there and watched while our forces got systematically destroyed. We had a couple of chances for some revenge kills, but the bazooka and Hellcat were completely ineffective. With the loss of our last vehicle, we surrendered the remnants of our force to the attacking Germans. Counting up the victory points, we forced a draw due to the sheer numbers of German squads we destroyed in our battle zones. As usual, the specific victory conditions were unknown to the players, which helped keep the game play focused on realistic tactics. It worked very well.<br />
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It was a very fun and well-run game. Sean and Keith really made everyone's day with OPERATION GREIF. The ending was a bit of a wet firecracker, but that was due mainly to the Bolt Action activation mechanic. We had a good post game discussion about whether to limit chain activations. While I understand why some players would prefer to mitigate the potential for sudden disaster by placing limits on activations, I think the fog of war and uncertainty that the Bolt Action activation mechanic brings to wargaming is one of the best things going right now. Then there is the ambush order question over whether you prefer to retain the ability to react at the expense of the likelihood of getting an activation. Decisions over how to set conditions for the activation dice are a big part of the game. I am willing to suffer through an ignominious defeat due to bad fortune, knowing that I have and will continue to benefit from good fortune in turn. It is all part of the game, and contributes to a dynamism and tension that predictable activation lacks. Not knowing who goes next is huge. I guess it is the closest we can come to experiencing some degree of fear in our games, which is an interesting component of warfare vice wargaming to consider. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00020849169035190011noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851227102582333116.post-91703330953677931202015-04-20T19:38:00.001-04:002015-04-21T05:55:00.414-04:00Cold Wars Bolt Action Tournament: BEST ARMY!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So this is really late, but here are some pics of the Australian 24th Infantry that I took to Cold Wars last month. <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/03/tournament-gaming-is-bad-for-table-top.html" target="_blank">I don't normally play in tournaments</a> at gaming events because, well, I really (really) hate the kind of games you see in tournaments, but I did it anyway because it was a great group of guys and Bolt Action is fun, even when you are playing a fakey tournament game.<br />
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The tournament delivered as advertised. I did not enjoy the ways that my games played, but I did enjoy the chance to meet some cool gamers and have a good time playing on some excellent terrain. Lots of really beautiful armies and the tournament organizers did a great job with the terrain and the format. Still, the event confirmed <a href="http://cheatinsteve.blogspot.com/2015/03/tournament-gaming-is-bad-for-table-top.html" target="_blank">my opinion of tournament gaming</a>.<br />
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I played terribly, because, well, tournament, and escaped with a 1-2 win/loss ratio. The only reason I won the last game was because I pulled a totally douchy non-tactical ploy with a recce vehicle on the last activation of the game and snatched the win from Paul, who had pretty much dominated me the entire game. Neither of us enjoyed that. I should have stuck to actual tactics and taken the draw/loss.<br />
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But THEN prize time came and I won Best Army! How about that? <a href="http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/wagase.html" target="_blank">NWS Online</a> provided some sweet prize support and I walked away with a brand new British Army Box! How cool is that? Thanks to everyone who voted for me and BIG thanks to Christopher at <a href="http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/wagase.html" target="_blank">NWS Online</a>! You Rock!<br />
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Here's the Army that won. It was totally the kangaroos on the captured vehicles that pulled out the win for me. Everyone loves kangaroos.<br />
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