Why the Little Guy is Actually a Lion from Clockwerk Warriors

Good story on the Local Game Store.

I love visiting them and I think it's good for the hobby to have shops where people can see and touch these products to encourage a purchase. The web alone, I don't believe can grow this hobby.

We need that community element and visibility of the product.

Yes, they can be friendlier, better placed to grab the lookers, and more inviting to those who don't ft the majority demographic. But without them, I think the hobby would be hurt.

http://clockwerk-warriors.blogspot.com/2014/05/why-little-guy-is-actually-lion.html?m=1

Brookhurst Hobbies

Stopped by this shop in SoCal on our recent trip. It's jam packed with stock. Both miniatures and boardgames. They sell online as well. Go check out the Brookhurst Hobbies website. 

2 Tennessee Game Stores PT 1 - The Game Keep

I was recently on a trip and stopped by a couple of game stores.

The first one was outside of Nashville, in Hermitage, TN.  It's called Game Keep and was started by Karl after he bought it from the previous owners. I don't believe it was called Game Keep when he bought it.

Anyway, he got into the hobby painting miniatures for DnD and has never looked back. 

It's pretty cool because they have historical miniature nights, warhammer nights, rpging, boardgaming and other events.  He had a nice variety of product and was very nice to chat with.

The Game Keep

3952 Lebanon Pike

Hermitage, TN 37076

www.thegamekeep.com

See photos and video below:

The minis that started it all.

Miniature Market Sale

Not that they need my help, but Miniature Market is having a clearance sale and are moving a lot of stuff for very low prices - some I saw were 40-50% off of boardgames, collectible minis and table top minis. The one I saw was dystopian wars starter set for $28 - if only i wanted to play that set - Wings of War stuff are almost half off.

Anyway, go check 'em out.

Full Disclosure time - they've been a sponsor of the boardgame convention of which I'm a board member.  But I/we get nothing for this kind of thing.  I just thought it looked like a great sale.

2012 Gun's of August Pics

Here are some pics of the evening session of the BMHGA's one day con called, Guns of August. It was held at Game Nite and seems to have had a good turnout.

Here are a couple pics of the games:
Chris Fawcett's Lorraine WWII, Operational game:

What would've been a cool Brit on German WWII Naval battle in the Fjords of Norway...but it fell through and didn't happen - but I did get a couple of good pics:

Another boardgame adaptation by Dave. This time using Battle Cry and Severed Union miniatures from Gordon and Hague.

Napoleonics by Mark Johnson

And finally Boer War, by Blake

Blake's already posted some pics on his blog, Blake's Gaming Adventures - go check 'em out -

Go check out the Picassa album for more Guns of August Pics.

Another visit to TableTop Game and Hobby

Some of the great looking models painted up in TableTop Game and Hobby in Overland Park, KS. There's a lot more painted up models and again, a great selection and a fun looking store. This is just my second time there, but the thing I noticed this time, great lighting and space. Very welcoming atmosphere to the gamer and non-gamer. Looks like they're working on their website - these can take a lot of time and I'm sure it's tough for a small business owner to spend time working on this part of the business simply because of the time investment and the potential return.

The staff, on both visits is very nice. Good stuff. I wish they were closer (about 3+ hours away). If you're driving through the Kansas City area, check them out. They're only about 3 minutes off 435 highway - easy to find.

Priming, Painting and another P Word

Experimenting with ways of brushing on german camo

After the camo job, with the paints used - it looks okay, a little too washed, but okay

After the wash and gloss coat, next - decals and flat - oh yeah, tracks

After that, finish the Bren and 6PDR - something has to bring that monster down

Hobbytime one day - Litko mini splashes, GaleForce Nine bases, FIB infantry, CDTOB markers

Wargamers Cave in Granite City Illinois

Wargamers Cave in Granite City, IL Forged in Battle Goodness!

Some photos from recent hobby stuff.
Just about done with the Airfix Stug III, 1:76 scale. Just need decals, which I've not done in ages - 30 years. Matte varnish and tracks on. I like the camo job I did on it, though it could be a bit more pronounced.  A second, less watered down layer would do the trick.

Next up is finishing the Bren and 6 pounder. It is fiddly as all get out. Funny, I just read that on someone's blog about the plastic kits found in the Battlefront Achtung box set. That they are less fiddly than the airfix. That would be nice.

I also finished some order cubes for Command Decision, Test of Battle. They turned out okay, If I need too many more, I'm tempted to buy the order cubes they sell.

I bought some of the Litko mini splash markers to use for Naval Thunder. Litko has some cool stuff. I wish they weren't the only US company making bases - wait, there's also Gale Force Nine, and ???  I bought them at Wargamers Cave in Granite City, IL. The markers are cool looking and were $6 for 10. And I got to use them...more on a later post.

While at the Wargamers Cave, I also bought some Forged in Battle 15mm Russians and German infantry. timmy! recommended I look there for these. They're both platoon packs with 40 some figs.  First some thoughts on FIB figures:

• $17 for 40 figs makes about 12 infantry stands for CDTOB, 4 Inf Cmd Stands, a Battalion Command Stand and a couple MG stands. (though it appears I may have been slighted a MG stand. There's one firing and one with the soldier carrying it down facing. .. I would rather have two firing. They show two firing in photos on site...)
• nice sculpts with nice detail 
• looks they'll need minor clean up - though I can feel they'll need a good hot water and soap bath
• price seems decent - though you still have to buy stands for them - though I would anyway. I say all that because these are obviously designed for the Flames of War player in mind. FOW soldiers come with stands. Though they Showed me some cool rubble stands at the Cave.
• not a lot of variety in the figs - not that big o deal, but I can see it turning some people off

Second, on the store - he can get a ton of stuff special ordered. But he stocks a lot of FOW alternative stuff which I think is cool. He has a great selection of the Forged in Battle product. Pretty small shop, just room for three tables, but that's okay. Though I was surprised it was empty for a Sunday afternoon. Next time I will shop online or via phone and have it shipped for $6. It's about 60 miles from my house, so it's worth it to have it shipped.

I was tempted by the FIB figures and the Plastic Soldier company ones. However, the fact that you have to assemble the plastic figs kind of freaked me out a bit. Silly, I know, but I'm used to 6mm, where I've not had to assemble much. Modelling just isn't my thing. But hindsight, PSC may not be a bad option. First 130 figs for about $30. And they're slightly thinner than their metal counterparts which would make the next purchase:

Gale Force Nine 20mm magnetic bases. Bought these at The Fantasy Shop. 20mm is very small. However, Jerry says his CD are based on 5/8" squares - which is smaller than 20mm! So I'm going to try them out.

At the Cave he can also get the Old Glory line of figures...some of them anyway. I need to send him an email to see what he can get and what cost.

My only concern with this set of minis is that there's a lot of what I need to get to fill out the infantry. Accoring to CDTOB, this set nearly makes up the basics for a Russian battalion, however, there's a lot to get. So, something like Command Decision Old Glory are nice because you buy a bunch of different sets to round things out.

All this is why I don't blame anyone new to the hobby getting into Flames of War. They make it very easy to get involved in miniature gaming. You know your base size, your miniature size, and how to make up units. Great visuals, and even in packs that have exactly what you need. Spoon fed, maybe, but you can get in and get going. And, in many rulesets you can use these as is.

Anyway, that's it for now - in the future:
A Naval Thunder play.
A quick Black Powder ACW test
An Aces at Dawn play
Planning an army
Plans for the year...need a focus and a plan

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. 

Cool Game Stores & Distraction Alert

Saw the above displays at Valhalla's Gate in Columbia, Missouri. It's a great board game, miniature, and RPG store in the SouthEast part of town. Whenever I'm passing through between KC and St Louis, I try to stop by. They even have some 6mm terrain. They have several cases of painted minis like these Dystopian Wars Prussian and Rising Sun land models. I probably should've bought the JR minis roads I saw there. Instead I picked up 4 D10inD10 dice to use with Command Decision, 30 5mm dice (casualty markers for Blitzkrieg Commander), and a 50% off Heroclix box for the boys.

About an hour and a half before that I discovered, Tabletop Game and Hobby, located in Overland Park, Kansas. Similar stock as Valhalla's Gate. Both stores also had ample gaming space. And, they also had some 6mm items. I bought a pack of JR Miniatures buildings there. By the way, I just saw the picture of the building I bought on the JR site... based on the photo I probably wouldn't have bought it, but in the package it looks better than the photo - it comes unpainted of course.

And, a week before that I was in Independence, Missouri, and visited, for the first time, Game Cafe. Very helpful manager. He stuck with us for a long time as the boys picked out some specialty HeroClix from behind a cabinet. There was a magic tournament going on and it was crazy there. Lots of board games and card games. Some GW minis were there, but that's about it for minis. I  did pick up the black wash to give it a try. The board games were chaotic and quite disorganized. Stores like this I wish I could help out.

In all 3 stores I saw non-gamers (so it seemed) come in and say out loud, "We're looking for a game." Not that any of them wanted it, but not a soul helped them out. Sad.