Warmaster Pics from Barracks Battles

I'd never seen a Warmaster game played live. Playing Blitzkrieg Commander II, I really like the system and enjoy the thought of playing Warmaster (rather play ancients though...oh too bad, they're closed and books run $50+ now.) Anyway, fun seeing it. Their castle is the fortress from Flames of War, but painted black and gray - nice work. Oh, apparently the desert fortress is also cancelled.

I see a trend. Anyway:
Game was put on by Brian Gill -

Barracks Battles Sunday Action

Just a short video of the action that took place on Sunday afternoon at DieCon, Barracks Battles. I only was able to play in Adam's General Quarters 3 WWII naval game. Great miniatures and tremendous group of guys to play with and against:
Japanese:
James, Dave, and Kevin
US
John, Joe, and me
GM
Adam

US was killed - I messed up with my torpedo laying, almost took out one of our own ships. Didn't, but the court of inquiry will be calling me in.




Interesting, seeing some of the things that Naval Thunder does similarly, but abstracted, to GQ3. This is why it's fun to play other systems to see the evolution of gaming. I really like Adam's basing. He used some aluminum found at the hardware store that has a texture to it - like what screen doors in the US have on them - paint and highlight. Perfect texture for the ocean. If I paint anymore, I will use this method.  Nice looking GHQ 1/2400 ships.

Must Resist Another Game

Continuing from the last post where I was visiting all the cons I couldn't go to, I learned more about a couple of new games that are tempting...

Dust Warfare, mainly because the models are very cool and pre assembled. Though, I can't imagine I'll go through with it because of the scale - 28-30mm. But they are cool. The following picture is from the Fantasy Flight Website - go check it out:

The other one I learned of, Hawk Wargames (not much to see here, just a splash page), when I heard Neil's second Salute episode on the Meeples and Miniatures Podcast. HW has created a 10mm Sci Fi miniature game called Dropzone Commander. Sounds like it's going to be expensive to get started. So I may not play, but these miniatures are incredible. My 9 yr watched the video below and said, "Those would be fun to paint."
The following photo is from the Mr. Bug Man blog - go check out his post on this to see more pics.

Here's the Beasts of War interview of the creator of Dropzone Commander:



All that said, must resist the calling for another game.

Also, posting will be slim for the next 2-3 weeks because of my work with Geekway to the West as the Volunteer Enwranglement Officer + other duties as one of the board members. There's still time to register for this boardgame con featuring 4 days of 24-hour gaming fun.

3 Events I missed

Three events happened this past weekend that caught my attention - and even though I was unable to attend, I enjoyed them vicariously through my fellow bloggers, youtubers, and photographers - thank you all. I must say that I really dig this world of information we live in.

The BMHMA, Big Muddy Miniature Gaming Alliance, covering East Missouri and Southern Illinois, recently had a Game Day at Game Nite, in St Louis, MO...yes, you read that correctly. Sound like they had 9 games set up for the day - which is very good. There was quite a variety, here a few pics from the group.

Picture of Dave's Battle Cry game, courtesy of Dave S

There was Adepticon, probably not really my cup o tea, because it focuses on games I don't play, Warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy, War Machine, and Flames of War. However, based on the reports and videos I've seen, there's a lot to see and learn there. There are other games, lots of vendors and tutorials that are helpful to anyone in the miniature gaming hobby. Seeing the creative approach to the hobby is good enough for me.
Steve, from WWPD.net was there doing his thing helping out the Flames of War guys and providing some good pics and commentary.
The Garage Hammer guys provided live Ustreaming. That's pretty cool stuff for a bunch of fans.
And, of course, Shawn, over at Blue Table Painting covered it in 19+ videos.




And then there was Salute, in England. I like the sound of the Euro shows because they're typically focused on Demo games, as opposed to our participation games here in the US. I think this is because, in the historical realm, the players over there get more regular games in their local clubs. So, they go to their shows to see the latest and greatest and then to do some shopping.


And it sounds as though the demo games are played in 2-3 turns and then you move on. Here in the US, we want to have one game in 3-4 hours and have it come to a conclusion. Which is nice. But I think I prefer the short idea so that perhaps you could get 2 smaller games in the same time. Jerry kind of did this last year with Johnny Reb III at Command Con and I must say that I was moved to do the same kind of thing with BKC II and some of the other rulesets.


Matt gives a good review of what he saw over at The Wargames Table blog.
Ray over at Don't Throw a 1 blog posted his thoughts on Salute.
Neil over at Meeples and Miniatures has released a podcast (looks like more to come as well) about his experience at Salute!
And finally, below is the creator of Gruntz!, 15mm future sci-fi skirmish miniature rules, with his video:

More 20mm Modern Miniatures - Somalians

Second Submission from timmy!  This post he's sharing his work on  the Somalian forces for his Somali Game at Recruits.  He's co-running a game for Ambush Alley's Force on Force supplement book titled,"Day of The Rangers," at the Recruits con, in Lee's Summit, MO, on March 31, 2012.

I'll let timmy! take it from here:

The first pic is of some of the lot that I got from Elhiem.  These figures are from Elhiem's Day of the Rangers 1/72 miniatures line.

I normally prime my figures brown but because I am in some what of a hurry I primed them black. This will help with any lines or areas that I might miss during the base coating. I prime my figures with a brush using Floquil Enamel paint.

Because of the quick deadline I chose not to paint any of these figures in camouflage. I choose two to four different colors to use and mix and match them for shirts and pants.  After the base coat is done I wash the entire fig in Raw Umber.  One of the most popular pots of paint from Games Workshop is called Devlin Mud.  Raw Umber IS Devlin Mud!!

After drying highlights are layered onto the figure using a "wet" style.

All of this is done with God's own paint brush, Winsor and Newton Series 7.

Q. What do you mean by "wet" style?

My palette is made very similar to the foam that comes in blister packs.  Most of the paint that I use is Vallejo which has a built in dropper.

 

When I'm painting highlights and shadows, I drop one or two drops of color onto the foam and or sponge. I then drop two to three drops of Vallejo Glaze Medium*, then two to three drops of water.  I mix this with another brush. This gives you a very thin layer of paint, almost translucent which can be applied in layers.  So that's why I call it "wet" style.

Now for base coating I really do not thin the paint at all, just drop it on the pallete and paint away. Sometimes I might add water depending on how thik the paint is.  The water is put into a bottle that Reaper sells that is very similar to the Vallejo bottles, the drop or hole size is the same.

It works wonderfully!!!! 

Of course though God's paintbrushes are a must!!  Believe me on this one.

btw - the pipe in the last pic is a custom made LOTR pipe made by Tom Johnson, of Luna Pipes, based in Washington state.

Another btw, from me, Itinerant: I told my wife recently that I would like to get a pipe, not to smoke, but just to have - you know, just because they look cool. She said to go for it. But I'm not going to smoke it, so it would be somewhat silly.

 *Here's a great tutorial and discussion of Glazes and how to use them.

Third btw, I'm going to have to learn some HTML, I don't like the way that blogger is formatting things.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Thanks timmy! for the contribution. Any of readers have questions? I'll make sure timmy! gets them so he can answer you directly or here on the blog.

Modern 20mm Gamer Interview with timmy!

Want Bigger? Click it.

As I've recently posted, I've virtually met a local gamer (within 2 miles) that plays mainly in 20mm, but also dabbles in 6mm and others. He's know as timmy! on various forums around the webs and  He's considered starting his own blog.  Until he's ready to do that, I've invited him to contribute stories here.  We're still working through how this might work. 

As before: Click It.

In the meantime I've asked him some questions about his work on 20mm modern miniatures for Force on Force!, by Ambush Alley Games. He's worked pretty closely with Sean, the creator of Force on Force. In fact, these first two pics are in preparation for an upcoming Force on Force supplement on Fallujah. 

Here's the forum where timmy! goes into a few more details.

Here you go, the first official interview for The Itinerant Hobbyist:

From Ambush Alley Forum

Q. What scale are these models? 

A. 20mm

Q.  Force on Force, correct?

A.  These pictures were taken for the set of rules called Force on Force by Ambush Alley. It is a supplement book strictly on Fallujah Iraq. Title unknown to me at this time. This is the third book where my models will be pictured. The first supplement book is titled Day of the Rangers:Somalia 1993.   The second book is called Bush Wars:Africa 1967-2010. 

Ambush Alley Forum - WIP

Q.  Did you create any of the terrain yourself or did you buy it all? - if you made it yourself, which parts?  

A.  The buildings and roads are done by Gamecraft miniatures. (Side note from TIH: Gamecraft posts some interesting videos. Being from the marketing world, this technique is great. Show the customer how to assemble and paint your product - tremendous. Especially in video form. Don't wait for your customers to do it.) The figures are done by Elhiem Miniatures. Various terrain pieces were scratch built.

Q.  What materials were used?  

A.  Color and black and white print outs shrunk down for signs and newspapers/trash. These were glued on clear plastic sheats that I cut. I sculpted trash bags and built the fruit stand.  The trash bags will be available for sale along with refrigerators and dumpsters on Combatwombatminiatures.com.  All scratch built by myself.

Ambush Alley Forum

Q.  Do you have a particular scenario/game you're preparing for or is this general terrain building?  

A.  Again this is for Fallujah. It is in no way finished. It will be highly detailed with several blocks for house to house fighting.

Q.  How long have you played Force on force? 

A.  I would say almost two years.

Q.  Why modern? As opposed to any other era? Why Fallujah?  

 

 A.  Fallujah has always been an area of interest of mine. I was planning on building a section anyway so it worked out well. I do a lot of modern gaming, especially in Iraq. I in 04 and 05 I was a contractor providing PSD/ executive protection for several companies. So I try to take my experience and put it in a game.

Ambush Alley Forums

Q.  What's your history with miniature wargaming? 

A.  At the age of four I started watching my father paint Airfix plastic figures.I stood there for hours!  The bug has always been there. I really got into official gaming when I was 15. A store called Epic Gallery moved close to my house. There is where I spent most of my teen years. Though I always did some sort of gaming with home rules with buddies of mine. Ive been playing with toy soldiers since I can remember.

Q.  What era and scale did you start with? 

A.  At the age of 15 I really didn't have a lot of money for things. I was very very fortunate to have a friend who would buy me armies for GW Fantasy.  I also played WW2, Napoleonics and Civil war.  Heck I play anything but my time is now devoted to painting and playing with 20mm and scratch building.

Ambush Alley Forums

Q.  Your GMing at Recruits, correct? 

A.  The founder of Ambush Alley (Sean) and myself will be running a Somalia scenario for the debut of their new supplement book Day of the Rangers.

Recruits Game Convention looks like an awesome Midwest convention in Kansas City/ Lee's Summit, Missouri. Just $5 to get in and it looks like a great time with lots of vendors and games being played. I was planning to go this year, but most travel plans had to be cancelled. We'll shoot for next year.

Readers, let me know if you like this format and what other questions I should be asking gamers, etc. What do you want to know about? 

Command Con Vendors

Here's a quick video I took of John, from The Game Room, in Washington, Illinois.  I surprised him by asking him on the spot if I could interview him. He did great. However, I wasn't confident how I'd done with it so I didn't interview the others. In hindsight, it turned out ok and I should've interviewed the rest.


The vendors at 2011 Command Con were:
The Game Room
108 Washington Sq.
Washington, IL 61571
www.gameroomil.com

Wargamer's Cave
3665 Nameoki Rd
Granite City, IL 62040
618-560-4348
 This is a fairly new business, and seems to specialize in mainstream miniature suppliers. Has room for gaming in his store.

George Knapp's Books and Figs
2600 24th Street
Leavenworth, KS 66048
913-758-1846
No website, but you can email him at gknapp@kc.rr.com
He has an eclectic collection of books, rules and miniatures for sale. He was also demoing a large hex map game of his own.

Recreational Conflict
Richard Brooks
1230 Locust Street
Owensboro, Kentucky 42301
richard@recreationalconflict.com
270-683-1086
They had paints and a large collection of white metal minis. Sci Fi, Fantasy and historical. His son (I believe) painted a lot of the minis on display and for sale. And they look great. Some cool unique figs you could use in one offs, Rpg, or skirmish games. He even had some 6mm terrain! Painted very well. The pic at the right are some of their inventory for sale. 

This year I didn't buy anything from the vendors - not much in the support side. Again, hindsight, I should purchase to support so they come back.  Even if just a little something. 

Stuff from con

Below is the great little bridge that Bill Gaynor built me...just cause. Made out of balsa wood and pink foam, this bridge saw action as a railroad bridge during my Con Game as a railroad bridge. I made a gap in my embankment and it fit perfect. Thank you Bill.

Below are some pre-painted Tigers, King Tigers, and SpKz 250/9 (with the 20mm gun)

Command Con Day 3

More pics. End pictures are of my introductory play testing with Norris Dale (? correct me if I'm wrong someone) of Johnny Reb Civil War rules. My first ever Civil War Minis game. More enjoyable than I was prepared for. Rules were very similar to Command Decision to me. Many steps and lots of modifiers. Not too bad, but they're there. I would play again. And, I can't imagine painting an army. We used 15mm - and they were great. Acquired 5 painted Tigers, 2 King Tigers, and 3 250/2s(The ones with the 20mm gun on them.)

Command Con Day 3

And here are pics from that 3rd GM I mentioned yesterday, Blake. His games usually had a lot of noise coming from them.

Blakes pics on flickr

More of Blakes pics on flickr
 Photos of Zulu War Game and 28-mm Modern Afghanistan using Ambush Alley. Blake

First pics from the Con Game

US players to left planning their strategy.

The beginning of the US demise.

Basically, the scenario was designed too historically accurate and I hadn't adjusted the victory conditions enough to help the US out a bit. The 43rd Armored Division was lost, just like in real life. 2 of those lost because I forgot the arty rule that it only hits full AFVs on 6. By the end the German players had a better grasp of the game than me. Which is odd, 'cause I thought I had it down.

Also lack of clarity on spotting, LOS, how units are targeted, etc.

Also, it took a looooong time to get through the turns because some of the commanders were getting multiple rolls, a lot to think about for all the players, a lot of maneuvering, ??? Will have to look into it.

US player morale suffered greatly as game wore on and they just couldn't move beyond the town.

We got 3 turns in out of 8. Unfortunately, it soured me on scenario design. Unfortunately, because I would like to design more for the 12th AD. Soured me just cause it's tons of work that needs more work. Basically, I'll get over it.

Now, there were three games that I heard yelling (excited, cheerful, happy) coming from tables. In the past, I've played in two of the GMs games that were running these happy places. And, they're both good GMs. Says a lot. One ruleset is well tested and one is a major modified Rapid Fire. The other was Ambush Alley/Force on Force. Don't know the GM but both his games have generated shout and hollers.

Now, I've heard grumbling about some other games either from the GMs or players. Not terrible, just that the games didn't go well, scenario wasn't up to snuff, benign. But still not excitement and hooting and hollering. So, I'm not alone.

This leads me to a few quick thoughts - which I shouldn't be doing at this hour:

• Design a smaller scenario or use a smaller scenario
• Do like Jerry and Ed and design a small one and have two playings of the scenario happening at the same table. And the games last short enough that each player takes command of each commander in 3 playings of the game. For example, in their game there were 2 Unions Commanders and 1 Confederate. Basically, each player would play one command and then when the game was done, they would move to the next command. They had two playings just to get more players in. Really, it's supposed to be a big game. Take 4 hours. It appeared they had just a small part of a scenario or a well designed small one.
• People suggested letting everyone have at least one command every turn with one possibility of doing something. (I'm not sure this is a problem because I allowed mulligans, so there weren't many first time failures.)
• They also suggested I just let everyone have their turn and that's it. No friction - Hmmm. But it would limit the number of turns someone can do something. I could also limit the number of actions. Or, I believe Hail Caesar and Black Powder have changed the command structure. I should buy them just for this reason.

I'll still have to think about this. One thing I do wish: that I could get out there and do another one quickly to keep up the momentum and to keep growing and improving what I'm learning. 'Cause I think I like GMing more than playing.

Command Con St Louis BMHMA

1st Day at Command Con at the Crestwood Mall in St Louis.