Diabolical Terrain Dreadroad Ambush and Brite Minis Trees

 My arbitrary commitment to myself is to finish these revolting peasants, allowing only terrain items to interfere with this challenge. I picked all of this up at Historicon this year - the three standing trees, I think, at the Trainwreck 3D booth. 

First up are two scales of the same tree, simply labled "Tree" from Brite Minis. They come in a pale orange, but paint up nicely. 

They are probably supposed to be flocked, but I'm always looking for scary tree models

This mix below is from Diabolical Terrain and is from a nice box set called "Encounter Box 6: Dreadroad Ambush." It also comes with a (horseless) medieval wagon and a low flat bridge, which I will get to anon. 

The fallen trees are intended to block a road. They can be used anywhere, of course. I guess the rocks hide ambushers. And of course they can be used wherever.

This is by no means a layout - I just want to see it amongst other terrain items. Renedra outbuilding and a Perry Medieval Cottage in the background.

I sprinkled in some of the fallen/dead tree items from Monster Fight Club for comparison. There's plenty of cover for any skirmish-sized game. Again, I would never set it up so unnaturally for a real game.

Part of what makes a scary forest scary is a deep dark canopy and undergrowth that hides whatever monstrosity your imagination can conjure up. While each of these pieces is sinister by itself, they lose what makes them frightening in big groups like this. I have enough to do a small cluttery table with dead, fallen trees and stumps, but I'm going to transition to more thickets of impassable but obscuring terrain. Still, having a large variety of scatter options is always useful. 

And as always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858

25mm Mujja's Forge - Wooden Fence Set

 

I found these (unpainted) on Etsy for $6. Not awful, though these particular prints had a lot of spider webbery material. 

6 with shipping is probably too much for them, but I got some other odds and ends at the same time. 

They are a smidge smaller than I was hoping, however. 

Some Silver Bayonet figures for scale comparisons. I spose one could trip over them, but they aren't really substantial enough to hide behind (unless you're the goblin). They might be better to fence off a small grave instead.

Cute little things I guess - this is the pic they sold me on

All in all, they are fine: 10 inches of dilapidated fencing for a lonesome country road. It took very little time to paint and base.

As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858

28mm Renedra Medieval - Wattle & Daub Outbuildings

Two more buildings from Renedra. I've got to get more medieval buildings in play, but I've not decided yet on what I need. Pretty sure it will be 3D prints of some kind as I've not been thrilled with the resin or laser-cut wood ones. I've liked the Gripping Beast ones but they are out of stock. 

These are outbuildings, not dwellings, so they'll be on the table somewhere, but not centrally. 

 

These are Old Glory 25mm peasants for scale comparisons

As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858

25/28mm Northern Crusades Miniatures: Medieval Ruined House

 I picked this up at an HMGS con last year, I think. It was not from the manufacturer, as this particular one had all kinds of printed buildings in a jumble. 

Still, serviceable little thing, useful almost anywhere, though drybrushing really brings out the print lines. I notice I was also charged $6, when the manufacturer charges $5.

Warlord French infantry with Wargames Atlantic zombie heads for scale. 

It took just an hour or so over the course of a couple of days, picking out individual stones, drybrushing, and finishing with some speed paints. 

I'm still working on the Warlord O'er the Hills and Far Away, British, but needed something small to do in between all the details and flippin' straps. I've also boosted the box contents by an extra sprue, swelling it up a bit. This has taken many, many sessions, as I'm, even with AP Fanatic, having to go over and do the two thin coats virtually everywhere. I really want a solid foundation as I've never done British Napoleonics in 25/28mm before. There are easier and faster ways I know, but I'm doing my traditional layering approach. 

As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858

Cold Wars 2026- Saturday Morning Observations

 I made a point of checking my expectations before Number 2 and I headed out into some of the most unpleasant chills in years to see what was happening at Cold Wars Saturday morning. Since I've noticed the quality of conventions declining steadily, I wanted realistic expectations going in, so I wouldn't end up frustrated or bringing in a lot of negative energy. Expecting a small but friendly con, we stepped into the short line at Registration.

And since I first started coming to HMGS conventions over 25 years ago, I've always been a day tripper. I think I've spent the night once at a Historicon one year, but generally, I like to swoop in, hit the dealer hall, poke around Wally's, then get some inspiration from the best tables. I'm typically done by afternoon. Imagine my surprise when admission for the two of us for said purpose was over 80 dollars! I don't think I've used a single swear word in this entire blog, but fuck off. I can't imagine a better way to kill participation than this foolishness. In fact, I don't think I'm gonna bring any family members ever again. I may skip Cold Wars myself. Purest enshitification move ever: offer markedly less, and then charge significantly more. This follows trends seen in so many aspects of American life, from onscreen entertainment, publishing, music, to restaurants and grocery stores. I hate to see my hobby go this route, so I say again, fuck off. 

Of course, there are two possibilities. One is greed. Could be. The other is worse, the math doesn't math. Not enough demand. Folks who insist the hobby is as strong as ever need a check. On the historical side, it is in trouble. The growth seems to be elsewhere as there are tons of new paints, new Sci-Fi, and Fantasy stuff. In my lifetime, I've seen the embrace, then the utter rejection of a whole scale - 15mm! I've not even seen a Warlord Epic Game that wasn't put on by the manufacturer. Was there a 15mm vendor in the dealer hall? Maybe some buildings? Wally's is full of 15mm armies at every convention.

Too bad, as there were some great conversations and great tables - Cold Wars is a fun place to be for a few hours. I'd put it at a $30 dollar value for the two of us. Number 2 doesn't game or paint, but inexplicably still likes to hang out with her dad on these excursions. She's an extra pair of hands, too, when the credit card begins to buckle as it frequently does three times a year, But, because of the size, we had shopped and seen everything there was to see by about 11:30 and were done. Brigade Games was the only real draw for me this weekend, and I spent some at Your Hobby Place too, a  regional chain with a location some 20 minutes from my home. Indeed, the online pictures of buildings at Diabolical Terrain exactly matched the ones on display. About half the time, a vendor will tell me they didn't bring this and that, so go ahead and order it online when you get home, bah!  

Because of the cold, we didn't go down to the barn to see the tournament games. They have mostly been the same kinda thing every year.

The mood was positive everywhere, like I said, lots of friendly conversations. Lots of enthusiasm around existing tables, too, but I think overall it felt very underattended. Maybe less than at the Eisenhauer last year? Super Bowl weekend must have suppressed turnout to some degree as well, I'll wager.

I'm glad to see Pillage maintaining a foothold. Wally's was so underlit that it was easy to move through it quickly. And as is typical, my documentation only covers Saturday morning, so there may have been some games/events I never saw. 

Still wrankled by the admission charges, I was less enthused about documenting everything I was shooting. So this will be a more potpourri presentation with less captioning than normal. Grats to all the GMs and players - lots of beautiful and fun-looking games! In no particular order, here are the tables that caught my eye: 

Some Blood and Plunder - always cool!

I love this, but I'm gonna do it in 15mm!

Planters! Love it!

This table greeted us as we entered the Ballroom

I'm sure I've shot this teddy bear fur mat before but it's so excellent. And it has my favorite Crescent Root Studios stuff on it. Let's linger a spell ...

ahh ... wasn't that nice? 

I love the aridity of this presentation - I need an icy glass bottle of Coca-Cola just looking at it. You know, the kind with condensation all over it, the sun shining through its caramel-y goodness!

Are these those kits from Sarissa Precision?

You remember the Alamo, don't you? This is one of two Alamo games set up for Saturday.

Pillage with 12 players! I couldn't get in close enough ...

Quite a few 15mm games going on - that's one reason I like going to these smaller cons. 

This may be my favorite of the show. Really well done!

Not my cup of tea, this one, but I am attracted to shiny lights!

This is a Russo-Ukraine battle! Too soon? They even have little drones in play.

This year's theme was Wild Wild West! Tons of great set-ups - much to enjoy, but not at these prices. Looking back, I wrote about Cold Wars last year, and then not until 2012. So I missed it for over a dozen years in the past and will likely do so again in the future. It's an almost three-hour drive, and if I can't bring the girls, I'm gonna skip the whole thing entirely.

What did you all think? How do you rate this Cold Wars compared to past ones?

As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858