Fear The Squirrels

 For Christmas this year I received a pretty decent sized set of various filament printed terrain.  In terms of presents, it was easy for family to acquire (Amazon is easier to navigate) and I didn't have to send them exactly what I was looking for. Unpainted Review The scale is generally 28mm or so.  Some are a little smaller, some a little bigger.  But nothing seems so crazy that I wouldn't put 32mm or 25mm on the table with them.  I sized them up, but forgot to take pictures so will try to grab some at the end, with MESBG LoTR, Age of Sigmar, 40k, Highland Miniatures and Beastarium Minis.  Nothing was so far out of scale that I wouldn't place them together. Almost no cleanup was required, just a few stray filament strands or print lines that didn't quite stick.  Probably the whole set took 10 minutes of cleaning.   Print lines are very noticeable on the rock ruins, but given that they are rocks, it didn't really bother me and I actually li...

  Black Armor - Base coat VMS Hull Red - Stipple VMS 70.982 Cavalry Brown - Stipple Black.  Used standard GW Chaos Black, for these - Stipple GW Layer Dark Reaper - Stipple GW Space Wolves Gray - Stipple GW Base Leadbelcher - Wash with 1:1 Agrax Earth : Nuln Oil - Edge highlight metallic silver Boots / Gloves / Belts / Pouches - Base coat VMS 70.872 Chocolate Brown - Wash with 1:1 Agrax Earth : Nuln Oil - Highlight with VMS 70.872 Chocolate Brown - Highlight with VMS 70.872 with a touch of Ivory Pants - Base with GW Base XV-88 - Wash with GW Contrast Skeleton Horde - Highlight with XV-88.  Mostly stippling the highlights back on Tabard - Base with GW Base Hobgrot - Wash with GW Contrast Skeleton Horde - Highlight with GW Base Hobgrot - Highlight with GW Ushabti Bone - Highlight with GW Screaming Skull Highlights were done with a mix of regular lines and stippling.  Stippling was mostly on the screaming skull and ushabti highlights Shoulder Pads - Base with GW Base Io...

The sculpts are by Khurasan.  They aren't bad, but the faces were a little rough.  Definitely below the quality you'd expect from the rest of the Dark Age line that I've seen from them. Also, I think I'll go open hand cast on them from now on.  Not a ding on Khurasan as I knew going in what I was getting, but compared to the nice straight spears on my knights, these look like my front line is throwing wet spaghetti. Little unhappy with the paint job, but its not bad for table top quality. 15mm Dark Age Javelin Elements

So similar to my post about 15mm terrain, what sort of terrain can I use for 6mm gaming.  I'm putting the same general constraints on this terrain as I put on the 15mm side, namely: Usable from Ancients to Sci Fi.  But for right now, emphasis on SciFi. Would be nice to split duty with 15mm gaming No major cash outlays True LOS is out at this scale Still have to game with it.   Travels well So what do we end up with: Hills Hedges Brush Roads Woods ( WIP ) Scrub Brush Buildings Rough Terrain Industrial Areas

Good bye to green felt templates!  I ended up with a scrap piece of 1/4" ply wood from some home remodeling.  And while I had an urge to do some buildings for 15mm, I haven't been playing a lot of 15mm gaming lately.  So, I decided that some woods would work for both 6mm (Dirtside 2 and Strike Legion) as well as 15mm sci fi or 15mm anceints gaming (ADG). I started by: Sketching out some rough circular shapes on the 1/4" ply Cutting them out with a jig saw.  I didn't follow the lines exactly, just tried to keep near them Power sanded down the edges to give them a bit of a gradual slope Glued 3"(For 15mm) or 2" (for 6mm) around the edges, with one or two in the middle for support.  I mostly left them open as these are for gaming, not for display.  I need to fit the figures in there!  This was done with liquid nails.  I put about a pea worth of liquid nails down, pushed the nail in and gave it a bit of a twirl.   Left me with the foll...

The primary time I have to play FUBAR will most likely end up being lunch, when both me and my co worker are free.  To that end and to keep each battle from just becoming a slog fest, scenarios seem like the ideal way forward. Ideally each scenario should take one to one and a half hour(s) to play.  This play time starts from the first initiative roll and ends when the victory condition is met.  I'm not including terrain set up in this, as terrain can be set up in advance and left for lunch.  This would also include any pre game unit set up. But how many turns can be expected in that time frame?  Based on the first game, a reasonable assumption of eight minutes per turn average could be expected (11 turns/90 minutes).  Some will be faster, some a little longer, but I think eight minutes will be a good rule of thumb.  Working with this number, lets assume 8 turns minimum, 12 maximum, 10 being a good average to work with (And nicely rounded to boot)....

In fairness, not quite initial impressions as I played many a moon ago.  But its been so long, with so many other rule sets in between that I feel like I was playing anew. Opponent: Co-worker who apparently decided that he has too much time and money on his hands and miniatures gaming would be a good way to deal with all that.  Not a power gamer/WAAC or rules lawyer which was good as this game definitely doesn't allow for that. Setup: As this was a beginner match, we kept it to 3 sections of five men (total of 15 miniatures) on each side.  Each squad was rated as seasoned and armed with an infantry rifle.  So, activating on a 4+, rolling one dice each and hitting on a 5+. The table played on was 6'x3', with us playing from the short edges (Long edges on the flank).  Terrain was a mixture of what we had, but was medium density.  Initially we rated the three woods as soft (Providing a +1 mod) and blocking LoS.  Linear walls were rated as...

I've always gamed at a club or a store where there was a ready supply of terrain, but lately gaming at a friends house we both came to the conclusion that we are woefully unprepared with terrain.  So I've been trying to think of a list of terrain for 15mm gaming that I should start working on. First up, some limitations and constraints Usable from ancients to sci fi - We've been playing Field of Glory and Tomorrow's War, so I'd prefer the terrain to be usable to  Mostly geared to 15mm - See above, I haven't been doing too much 28mm gaming lately and I don't see it changing No major cash expenditures - Kitchen remodel sapped my wallet.  So, no fancy pre made terrain.  I'm not at zero for expenditure, but the more I can save the better. Doesn't have to be true LOS - At 15mm most terrain is abstract, so don't have to worry about providing terrain that works with true LOS rule sets Terrain would generally fit in a eastern european battle fie...

Bit happier with the white one, but like the dirt on the red one a bit better. In the end, went with neither of these two designs.

First off a comment: I'm not really liking these sculpts.  Maybe I just had a bad set, but they feel under quality compared to other plastic kits from GW.  Most of the issue I had was in the shoulder joins and the beard and how it draped.  I'm actually hoping I just got two kits confused and thats where the issue lay. I'll upload pics later. Skin Base Calthan Brown Wash Ogryn Flesh Highlight Tallarn Flesh RMS Tanned Highlight for final touches (Which I forgot to do to the hands in these pics!) Chain/Weapons Base Runefang Steel Wash Badab Black Highlight Runefang Steel Leather Trimming Base Ratskin Flesh Wash Badab Black Edge highlight Ratskin Flesh Bronze/Gold Bits Base Vallejo Brassy Brass Wash Ogryn Flesh Highlight shining gold if going bright, brassy brass if dark Shoes Base Mournfang Brown Wash Devlan Mud after basing (So not done here as they are unbased) Yellow Beards Base Tausept Ochre Wash ogryn Flesh Highlight ...

Flesh: 1) Orkhide Shade 2) Badab Black Wash 3) RMS Muddy Olive 4) RMS Olive Green Pants: 1) Iyanden Sun Yellow 2) Devlin Mud wash 3) Forget the highlight Red: 1) Merchite Red 2) 5:1 Future:Vallejo Hull Red Wash 3) RMS Blood Red highlight Rusty Steel: 1) Mithril Silver 2) Ogryn Flesh Wash 3) Badab Black Wash 4) Mithril Silver highlight