Some toasters

Another batch of battlemechs, which my wife christened "toasters" because of their resemblance to the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica.

These guys were simple and quick to paint: Gloss black spray primer, and sucessive drybrushes of metallic black, metallic gunmetal gray, metallic silver, and metallic white (all craft paints).

I applied some color-shifting black to the cockpit canopies, then picked out a few weapon muzzles in metallic red to give that Terminator vibe, and I was done.

From left: Commando, Wolverine, Shadow Hawk, and Locust.

Some UrbanMechs

As you may have noticed, I recently got back into Battletech--or more accurately, Alpha Strike. The game plays extremely quick, and I really like the look and sizes of the plastic minis from Catalyst Game Labs. 

I've got nearly four dozen battlemech figures, but not enough of the light 'mechs, so I decided to pick up an UrbanMech lance to supplement the more substantial combat walkers in my collection. 

Painting was super-simple, thanks to my set of speed paints: One solid color for everything but the weapons (black) and windows (just craft paint pearlescent white with a blue wash). Now I have another quartet of units for Alpha Strike!

6mm civilian vehicles

Having recently returned to Battletech via the more streamlined Alpha Strike rules, I find myself in need of some 1/285 scale terrain suitable for the battlefields of the future. But even the 31st century has a need for construction equipment and delivery vehicles.

 

These castings were originally player tokens for Monopoly City that I had acquired in the process of building my Monopolis. For some reason, likely to resell them on eBay, I put them aside years ago. They came to light a couple of weeks ago as I was cleaning out my game room, and I noticed they fit in perfectly with the new battlemechs from Catalyst Game Labs. 

Some spray paint and a few details later, here we are! Anyone else using these minis?

Still around

 I know it's been awhile--OK, a year since my last post. I have fallen out of the blogging habit, with no real motivation to post more regularly.

Don't worry, though! I am still gaming and still painting miniatures. As proof, here is some sort of giant model I picked up at a flea market last year. I think it's from a Vikings boardgame.

This figure was very easy to paint, thanks to the sculpting and to the Army Painter speed paints I was using.

I was planning on using him in Oathmark, D&D, or Frostgrave, but instead my wife took him to put on her desk at work. I'm flattered she likes my work that much!

Who knows, maybe I will start blogging more soon. Meanwhile, happy gaming.

A different kind of convention (for me anyway)

Earlier this month, my wife and I went to our first ever science fiction convention: ArmadilloCon here in the Austin area. 

My wife did confess that at first she thought I had talked her into attending a game convention, and wasn't sure about going. However, once we got there and she realized that it was more of a book fans' event than a comicon or wargames show, she got into it.

While the con did have open gaming (which we did not take advantage of)--and a dealer room and an art room, both of which sucked away some of our money--the main attraction was all the authors who participated in readings, discussion, panels and book signings.

My favorite panel was the first one we attended, "Spotlight on Southwest-Themed Sci Fi and Fantasy," which had four Texas authors talking about (mainly) the Lone Star State and its influence on speculative fiction. 

I enjoyed that all the panel members were from or currently living in parts of the state where I had resided at one time or another. I also got a kick out of the fact that two of them were originally from my old stomping ground in West Texas, and their discussions about that region took me back there. They also name-checked several Texas writers, including Robert E. Howard and Elizabeth Moon.

Other panels were just as interesting (like the one on "What have Texas Infrastructure Failures Taught Us About the Coming Apocalypse?") and had may authors from around Austin as well as other parts of the state. We also heard from local horror author Gabino Iglesias, and went home with a couple of his books as well as his autograph.

The highlight for us was special guest Cory Doctorow reading an exceprt from one of his upcoming books, The Lost Cause. His writing captivated my spouse and I, and his take on the future, which can be described as "hopepunk" is one I enjoy.

So that was our first science fiction convention. I think we'll be going again next year.

Back and there again: Battle of Five Armies with Oathmark

Some time ago, I discussed gaming the Battle of Five Armies using Hordes of the Things. I want to return to that theorizing, but since my friends and I have been playing Oathmark for the past year or so, let's talk about using that ruleset to recreate the scenario from the book version of The Hobbit.

For convenience, we'll go with a figure scale of 1:20, meaning one miniature represents around one score of participants in the battle. Single figures represent certain leaders or other characters along with their bodyguards/companions/retinue.

BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES

  

Dwarfs

Dwarf King (Thorin & Company)

Dwarf Prince (Dáin Ironfoot) with 9 Dwarf Linebreakers

15 Dwarf Soldiers

Men of Laketown

Human Captain (Bard) with 9 Human Soldiers

Elves

Elf King (Thranduil) with 19 Elf Warriors

20 Elf Spearmen

10 Elf Archers

Others

Human Spellcaster 5 (Gandalf)

Indrik (Beorn)

5 Gargoyles (Giant Eagles)

5 Gargoyles (Giant Eagles)

Goblins

Orc King (Bolg) with 4 Orc Warriors (huge goblin bodyguards)

20 Goblin Soldiers

20 Goblin Soldiers

20 Goblin Soldiers

20 Goblin Archers

10 Goblin Wolf Riders

10 Goblin Wolf Rider Scouts

10 Wolves

5 Gargoyles (giant bats)

Set-Up

Use hills to make a L shape, with each leg about 36" long with the apex to the north. Put some rough ground about 8" across in between the two legs of the L (about 15" from the apex) to represent the ruins of Dale. Place the elves and Gandalf on the left (western) leg of the L. Thorin and co. are at the apex, behind a defensive fortification. The rest of the dwarves are on the right (eastern) leg closest to the middle, and the men of Laketown on the outer end of that hill. All units are facing inward, and the ground behind them is considered impassable except as noted below. Beorn and the Eagles are not placed at this time.

Goblins deploy in the valley within 12" of the south edge of the map and at least 12" away from any elevation.

Special Rules

To represent the vast hordes beseiging the Lonely Mountain, any Goblin unit (except Bolg and his bodyguards) that is destroyed may attempt to come back the following turn. If the destroyed unit activates, it uses one action and may take one action after placement. Units may not be placed within 3" of an enemy unit. Roll to determine location:  

1        no placement this turn

2-4      south edge of map

5        left half of western hill

6        right half of western hill

7        left third of eastern hill

8        middle third of eastern hill

9        right third of eastern hill

10       player's choice

Beginning on turn 5, any unit of Giant Eagles may be placed on the western edge of the map with a successful activation roll and may then take two actions.

Beginning on turn 7, Beorn may be placed on the western edge of the map south of the hill with a successful activation roll and may then take two actions.

Outcome

The game lasts until either all characters on one side are destroyed or until the Goblins move at least two non-flying units into the fortification where Thorin is initially located.

***

I think that pretty much covers everything except Gandalf's spells. I don't see him using fireball, so I wonder what magic I should give him for this battle. Any suggestions?

Solo wargaming

After watching a number of videos discussing this book on the Joy of Wargaming Youtube channel, I decided to pick up The Solo Wargaming Guide by William Sylvester.

While I'm fortunate to have a regular gaming group, I found some of this publication's ideas about creating solo campaigns intriguing. Although the book mainly focuses on historical wargaming, he has some suggestions for more modern and fantasy settings as well.

And the ideas around the solo campaign (create a map, dice for each side's plans, and see where they end up) can also help create scenarios that aren't your usual matching points, line 'em up on opposide sides of the table and have at it.

In addition to the traditional historicals or imagin-nations, this book will prove useful for campaigns of Oathmark, Ogre, and even Full Thrust.

Has anyone else read this book?