And "Joanie" Gets More Kit

Back in September of last year, I showed a batch of "Rugged Adventure" figures that I had painted.  One of them was Bob Murch's "Bernadette of the Resistance" whom I renamed Joanie (after Joan of Arc -  see link for explanation).  She's armed with a German MP-40 but didn't have any spare ammunition magazines.  A friend was able to donate a couple of 3-magazine packs from a plastic German sprue.  The other day I added them to the figure.

And she's now ready to dish out some firepower on the unsuspecting Boche.

Fight for the Fosse Way

In preparation for a big Very British Civil War game at the UK's Partizan convention on May 31, Pete Barfield (Panzerkaput) asked that VBCW gamers run a game using the terrain that he will use.  We were to inform him of the results so he could make a compilation and use them as the starting point for the big game.



Since I was planning on running a VBCW game this spring, using Pete's scenario made it somewhat easier for me.  So with the basics out of the way, then all I had to do was figure out which rule set to use - "Went the Day Well?" or "The Sword to Adventure."  Of course I chose one that we've never played - "Rugged Adventures" from Pulp Miniatures:  http://pulpfigures.com/rugged_adventures/ and http://pulpfigures.com/downloads/.  I made up ten different commands, five for each side, assigned a playing card to each, and had the 7 players who showed up draw for their commands.  It turned out that we had four on the Royalists side (2 Royalists [Jay and Larry] and 2 BUF [Ed and Sean]) and 3 on the Anglican Coalition side (Anglican LDF [Travis], Socialist Brewery workers [Mike], and red sailors [Phil]).  What I didn't tell anyone was that there was a command of Ghurkhas inside one of the farmsteads escorting part of the crown jewels [game master contolled].  Surprise! Surprise!



Ed and I took a lot of pictures but I only decided to use a small number.  The fighting broke down into three smaller battles over the three farmsteads.  Pete provided a table layout which I tried to follow as best as I could.

The Anglican Coalition entered from the top (red force) while the  Royalists entered from the bottom (blue force).



 

Here's my version with Brookfield Farm in the foreground.  If you look closely by the center farmstead (Grange Farm) you might spot a special visitor and his particular conveyance.



 

The two commands of regular Royalist infantry [Jay and Larry] quickly captured the Brookfield Farm.  When the East Bergholt Local Defense Force (the East Bergholt Hunt Club) [Travis] closed, the Royalists began to advance on them with bayonets fixed.

 

From the Hunt Club's perspective, those glistening bayonets didn't look too inviting.

Meanwhile on the other flank, the red sailors from the Harwich Maritime Defence Force [Phil] seized the Bridge Farm before a section of BUF Bolton Rifles [Sean] could get there.

In the center, the Brown Brewery Workers [Mike] closed on the Grange Farm only to hear a distinctly British voice [game master] asking who they were and what did they think they were doing.  Not being able to answer to the satisfaction of the Ghurkha officer, they begin to exchange fire.



 

Another section of BUF Bolton Rifles [Ed] then appeared on the other side of the Grange Farm, satisfied the Ghurkha commander as to their bona fides, and helped drive the brewery workers away.

The Hunt Club couldn't stand against the charge of the Royalist regulars and scampered for home leaving the Brookfield Farm securely in Royalist hands.

With the Brookfield Farm securely in their control, the Royalist regulars began to sweep across the battlefield only to run into a column of Anglican Coalition reinforcements [Travis' second command].

 

The red sailors were attacked at the Bridge Farm by a section of BUF Bolton Rifles [Sean] but the sturdy walls of the building kept them safe from BUF rifle fire.

With their leader killed, possibly by one of his own men (he wasn't very popular with them), the BUF Bolton Rifles scurried away from the Bridge Farm leaving the red sailors in possession of that farmstead.





The battle ended then since I had to leave for a movie and supper date with my wife.  The Royalists held two of the three farmsteads - Brookfield and Grange - while the Anglican coalition only held one - Bridge Farm.  These results were reported to Pete.  We'll find out in two months how the big battle at Partizan turns out, having done our part in setting it up.

As far as the "Rugged Adventure" rules, they worked fairly well even though we didn't do much of the "role playing" that the rule set supports.  Unfortunately Travis was assaulted by twice his number and lost his command about two-thirds of the way through the game.  But having plenty of other commands left, he brought on a section of Anglican Coalition regulars who stopped the Royalists from sweeping across the battlefield.

Bamboo Huts

Back in 2004, the editor of Minitaure Wargaming dot Com created two 25/28mm size bamboo huts with burned out versions.  You can find the article here: http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/index.php/mwg/comments/bamboo_hut_paper_models/ which includes a download link for the pdf files.

I had downloaded the files but had not done anything with them for a long time.  Then Lori Brom announced the theme for Colonial Barracks 2014 as "And Two Battalions of Marines."  So I thought, dust off my Between the Wars "China" Marines and see what sort of scenario I can devise.  I decided on a rescue mission as the Marines go in to help some missionaries fleeing from a notoriously unstable warlord.  For that scenario I needed a trading station along a river as the end point in the rescue.  Ah ha! I'll use those bamboo hut models.  Crank up the printer and pull out the glue, let's get building, boys!

The two bamboo huts were quickly printed and construction began.  I used artist's matte board sandwiched between the outer and inner walls to stiffen them.  The walls, floor, and roof were all printed on 110-lb card stock.  The outer floor supports were made from Q-tip sticks (cotton buds for my European readers).  The smaller hut (3" x 3" roughly) would be the traders' living quarters and the larger (3" x 4" roughly) would be the trading post itself.

The smaller hut with the walls all glued together.  I made two sets of walls and glued one inside the other to have a passable interior.  The white box underneath is part of the foundation and will be painted to disguise it.  The two figures are 28mm Foundry Darkest Africa explorers mounted on washers that have been glued to 1" square 3mm bases.

The foundation has been painted and the outer floor supports are installed.

Glued to a masonite (hardboard) base and some added scatter for grass.

The larger hut is not quite as far along as I ran out of time before my game to test the scenario last Saturday.  It has a stair added and will get an overhanging front roof section to provide cover for the trade goods.

The trading post along the river with a docked steamboat and a beached amphibious plane.  The smaller hut is to the left and the larger to the right.  The steamboat is one I made from plans in an old Foundry article.  The amphibious plane is a actual 1936 Keystone Loening amphibious plane that was issued as a coin bank.

Here's another view of the smaller hut with the Keystone plane (and an unusual visitor!).  The plane is very useable for all sorts of Between the Wars and Pulp settings.

I made the roofs on both buildings removable so figures can be put inside.  At some time I think I'll make corrugated metal roofs for both so I can vary their appearance.  These were easy to construct and look very realistic.  More later as I get the trading post building finished and the bases with better scenics.

The Buddha Head - Part 1

My wife (bless her!) goes out walking with her friend from across the street (another veteran's wife).  They ramble throughout the neighborhood and occasionally make forays around the local area.  They pick up aluminum cans so her friend can sell them to The Can Man for a little pocket change.  They also look into the various trash dumpsters (dust bins to my British readers) along the way.  Over time they have come home with good clothes, some still with store tags, that have been thrown away, toys, and other stuff.  Most of it is cleaned and goes to a local non-profit's thrift store.

But the other day, she found this very nice, undamaged porcelain head.  I took one look at it and thought, "Its a long forgotten head of the Buddha!  I can use this in a pulp game."  And so work begins on "The Head of the Buddha."

The head hasn't been touched other than to be washed and then glued to a foam base.  Posing with him are a doughty explorer and his Ghurkha batman.



He'll get some weathering and a drapery of vines and other vegetation.  Soon he'll be the "beau of the jungle" just waiting for a doughty explorer to find him.

EDIT:  Thanks to Bluebear Jeff for correctly identifying the Buddha head.  I thought it was one but wasn't quite sure.

Pulp Figures Film Crew

Over the weekend I finally completed painting and basing my 28mm Pulp Figures film crew.  Bob Murch did a great job with the sculpting.  I just hope my paint job does them justice.

Posed in front of my British Union of Fascists propaganda truck, we have (from left) the script girl, director, camera man, and clapper.

I haven't assigned names to them yet so I'm open to suggestions. 

I plan on using them for various games in the Interwar period such as Pulp actions, Back of Beyond, and Very British Civil War.

Final Painting of 2012

Yesterday I completed a small batch of disparate figures that had been sitting around my painting desk for far too long.

First some Miniature Figurines American Revolutionary War figures:

An American general, using the MiniFig General Washington figure, painted from scratch.





And a Hessian general, using the same figure.  This was a repaint of a previously painted figure that I purchased.



New figures for Bland's Dragoons (American).  I previously had inherited a unit of nine of these from my friend Doc Ord.  With the acquisition of three more, they are now part of a six stand regiment.  The newly painted figures are the officer on the front stand and two of the four figures on the back stands plus three of those four horses.  I think I did a fairly decent job of matching Doc's paint job.

And the whole regiment together.  They will be used to help oppose my British cavalry - 17th Light Dragoons, Queen's Rangers, and the Loyalist York Dragoons (an "made-up" designation).

An Old Glory Darkest Africa figure:

This is the leader from the Old Glory bearers set.  I needed a senior leader for my Zanzabari units and he seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  He is a slightly taller figure than the rest of my Zanzabari so he'll stand out as their leader.



My Chinese Back of Beyond forces needed some additional leaders so I added the Pulp Figures PYG-14 Chun King warlord command pack.

The warlord in the center and the standard bearer will lead the entire Chinese force.  The two figures on each end will join one of his warlord infantry units to replace some leader figures who are getting promoted.  The bald-headed guy in khaki will lead my German uniformed Chinese forces.  He's armed with a submachinegun and looks rather nasty so he'll be a good guy to keep them in check.  The basing details correspond to the units that are already done to which these guys will be added.

And my early 20th Century "Pulp" forces got some additional stalwarts to increase the strength of the "Knights of the Cresent Moon."



Three Tommy Gun toting "Knights" from the Brigade Games line of figures.  They'll join the ones I already have painted.



To make a fairly heavily armed band to help protect the treasures of the Near East from those ravenous "tomb raiders" who plague that part of the world.



And finally, Bob Murch's Pulp Figures of "The Sergeants Three and Gunga Din."

Those three brave and rogueish sergeants plus the bugle tooting Gunga Din.  The bases aren't completed yet but they are ready for adventures.



Hunters and a Mighty Gorilla

I have painted up some recent purchases.  They will eventually be used in a safari game later this year.

First we have some white hunters with their faithful gun bearer.  These figures are from Brigade Games and were developed to complement Howard Whitehouse's The Lion Eats Tonight rules.

The mighty hunter draws a bead on an unsuspecting target while his female companion watches intently for her own trophy.

Supported by his gun bearer, another hunter advances at the ready.

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Purchased from my friend Ken H. at Bayou Wars earlier this month, these two "famous" characters will join my Darkest Africa forces.  They are both Foundry figures from packs DA1 (Explorers) and DA14 (European Ladies).  Also pictured is one of Foundry's "special" animals from pack GPR024.

The Lord of the Jungle and his mate, Jane, survey their domain.

"Red Eye" the Silverback peers cautiously from the jungle as he watches the two-legged intruders.

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And finally, another "Knight of the Crescent Moon" joins the Justice Union League.  Detective Inspector Achmed was also purchased from Ken H.  He is another Foundry figure, from pack DA234 (Belgian Officers and NCOs).

The newest addition to the Justice Union League joins the "Knights of the Crescent Moon."

Bayou Wars - Part 3

In Part 3 of my Bayou Wars report, I will post some pictures taken during the game in which I was Assistant Game Master.  This game originated in a program that was presented very early in the year at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History about the finding of the "lost mines" where the Mayans got the jade that they used in their various religious and statuary products.  About the same time the Bayou Wars Board of Directors decided that they would go with a Mayan related theme since the world is supposed to end this year with the end of the Mayan calendar.

I suggested the idea to my good friend Bill H. and together we ran with it, building a "Mayan" temple, some other ruins, and additional jungle terrain.  We both supplied about half the troops for the game.  We used the Two Fat Lardies I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! rules, suitably modified for 28mm figures and simplified for convention use.

The actual discovery of the source of Mayan jade happened in the fourth quarter of the 20th Century.  So we decided to move it "back in time" to the 1930s and have a German expedition attempt to "locate" the lost Mayan jade mines.  Opposing them would be American and British forces.  In this scenario, some local Central American banditos had kidnapped an archaeological team that had located the jade source.  They were to sell them to the German Nazis (Zeppelintruppen and Marinentruppen) and their local hired mercenaries.  The American Marines and Rocketeers, aided by part of the garrison from British Honduras, were to rescue the team and thwart the nefarious scheme of the Nazis.

Later on, I'll post some pictures of our building of the temple and the various ruins, the finished products you can see in the following pictures.

One of the jungle giant trees Bill H. built using PVC water pipe wrapped in glue-soaked toilet tissue.  They looked excellent and really added another dimension to the jungle terrain.

Bill H. explaining the scenario and rules to the players.

 I Ain't Been Shot, Mum uses a technique called "blinds" to generate some uncertainty into where the various players' troops are located.  Bill used flock covered CDs with labels and, where appropriate, national flags as his blinds, as can be seen the following pictures.

American Rocketeers advance towards the temple.  Behind the temple, some of the German Zepptruppen are deploying.

 

In the background, the banditos with the captured archaeologists have linked up with the Germans and are ready to hand them over for their reward.  The American blind on the temple is revealed in the next picture.

 

As the American Marines deploy on the temple the German Zepptruppen and joined by their Marinentruppen comrades.  Also in the area are the German-equipped Central American mercenaries (in khaki) and the banditos.

 

Frau Doktor Martha deploys her Germans to breakthrough the British (right) and American (left) troops deployed to block her path back to the Zeppelin that will take them back to Germany.

When the gaming time block ended, it was very apparent that the Germans would not be able to break through the British and American forces and make it back to their Zeppelin.  It appeared that everyone had fun.  We had an unusual mix of players in this game -- Doc Ord and his wife Martha (opposing each other with British and German troops), our fellow gamer "Electric" Ed, two father and son pairs, and another teenager.

Where There Is Smoke ...

There is fire and police.

After completing preparations for my Bayou Wars game earlier this month, I took a short break in painting, partly because I have had both viral and then bacteriological sinus infections.  But as I am finally recovering from them, I completed some fire and smoke markers and a few British early 20th Century police.

The fire and smoke markers are made by Litko Game Accessories and I have had them for a number of years.  I finally decided to glue them together and then to steel washers to make them easier to store and use.

The sets come with small flame markers in two colors and tall and short smoke columns.  I mixed the flames and smoke pieces together to get ten small and ten tall markers.  I then glued them to steel washers (3/4" or 20mm) and painted the washers a charcoal color.  I'll primarily use these with my 1:2400 pre-dreadnought ships and my plastic Renaissance galleys.

Here are a couple of Japanese battleships, the lead ship showing that a single fire has been started and the trail ship showing that a massive, critical fire has gained on the damage control teams.


I also painted some heavier armed police for my British police flying squad.  I'll use these in pulp fiction games and as my contribution to our WW2 home army games using I Ain't Been Shot, Mum rules.

The detective inspector (in mufti) is an old out-of-production Ral Partha police detective while the three rifle armed constables are from the Artisan Design Thrilling Tales line.  The detective inspector was originally painted as a gangster in a very bright blue suit (a la Dick Tracy style).  But I repainted him in a more neutral charcoal suit although he still wears a red carnation boutonniere.  They will join four other bobbies that I painted back in December.

The British police flying squad can quickly respond to any crisis and swiftly put the Hun infiltrators in their place!

Newly Painted "Pulp" Figures

I just finished a batch of various "pulp" era figures.  Some of these had been laying around for a while and a few were brand-new arrivals.  Without further ado:

A group of four British "bobbies" led by a sergeant.  Three of the four are armed with "night sticks" while the fourth has a "new fangled" electric torch.  I cannot recall the manufacturer so anyone with an idea, please leave a comment.

Three of these four figures are from Artizan Designs "Knights of the Crescent Moon" pack and are armed with a pistol (2) or a submachinegun (1).  But the leader is from a different manufacturer and if anyone can place him, please leave a comment.

Maude, the missionary's wife (left), and Charlotta, her adventurous sister (right), both from the Copplestones "female archaeologists" pack.  My good wife provided the fashion advice with the color schemes.  As usual, she got them both just right.

But when danger threatens, they immediately assume their "alter ego" guises, armed with high-powered semi-automatic pistols.  You just don't fool around with these sisters!  They are also from the Copplestones "female archaeologists" pack.

Another look at Maude in her two guises.

And at Charlotta in her two guises.

These three ladies are very dangerous dames.  On the left is Elle Woods (from Legally Blonde) in her big game hunting outfit.  In the center is "Cara Loft," that well armed and dashing "tomb raider."  And on the right is Fiona (Burn Notice) with her high powered rifle, looking for someone to shoot.

And finally we see all of them together, joined by the missionary (center) and the huntress Ruby Maye Loveless.  Together they constitute the Justice Union League against International Espionage and Terrorism (JULIET).

I thought I would have a little fun with these rather disparate figures, grouping them into a 1920s/1930s predecessor of such 1960s organizations as CONTROL and U.N.C.L.E.  Some of them will see play in my 1930s back of beyond China game for Bayou Wars this summer.  Others may appear in other games during the year, maybe even in Bill's and my "Mayan Adventure" game planned for Colonial Barracks in November.

Maybe over the coming year I can obtain some opponents for them, such as a 1920s/1930s CHAOS or THRUSH.  Hummmm, some of Copplestones excellent Russian Civil War Soviet character packs would work.  We'll just have to see.