What Price Scenery?

I've been having a debate with myself (I recommend this practice, as one is always guaranteed an excellent and stimulating opponent) as to the merits of splashing out large sums on scenery for the wargames table.

A case in point are these river sections I bought myself as a birthday present last year. I bought a large bag of JR Miniatures 28mm rubber river sections from the local hobby store in Calgary, Sentry Box West. I think the price tag was about $70 Cdn and I thought it seemed a good price to get a decent sized water feature on the wargames table. I believe it's item 3224 in the JR Miniatures catalogue if you're interested.



Previously I had experimented with making my own river sections using some sort of clear polymer caulking material that I had bought from a building supply store, Home Depot, for one tenth of the cost of the JR product. The results of that effort can be seen here. I was somewhat satisfied with that experiment at the time, but was never sure how to paint it (green? blue?) so it didn't look like shiny plastic sitting on the table.

I think what swayed my thinking at Sentry Box West was that I have precious little time and would rather devote it to painting figures than to creating scenery. Besides, buying the river sections gave me an incentive to finish painting this bridge, also a JR Miniatures product, which I had bought on a previous trip to Calgary. The bridge is 15mm scale, intended for my WW2 collection. In that spirit, I grabbed two half-finished Staghounds from my painting table to illustrate the scale.



Around New Year's I took Mrs. Padre back to Calgary to shop at her favourite camera store, which, conveniently, is a few blocks from Sentry Box West. Leaving her to browse the tripods and filters, I dashed back to SBW and saw a JRM river section with a ford which I bought to expand my river system. A ford is always useful, and my get me to drag out my LOTR kit for a Fords of Isen scenario, with heroic Rohirrim holding the ford against the hordes of Sauron. Here are some LOTR stand ins.



So I was doing fine with my purchases and looking forward to getting them into a battle when I came across this post on Ross Mac's wonderful and well-visited blog, Battle Game of the Month. Yes, you guessed it, the "Bluegene River" is made of exactly that, old torn denim jean pant legs. Seeing Ross' pictures made me second-guess myself. Had I opted for an expensive and unnecessary purchas when, with a little audacity and imagination, I could have put down some old denim and said "voila, there's a river?"

I suppose it comes down to what we want to achieve. For me, after years of graduate school and clerical penury, I have some spare cash and the desire to make the wargaming table look pretty, something closer to the colour pictures one sees in the hobby magazines. Beung able to do something like that makes me happy. The table for the Plasterville Mills skirmish I blogged here in November is one of the nicest I've ever done. But that's me. A gamer like Ross, who I respect more than I can say, has his own style, something more consciously old school, perhaps, and that's the charm of his blog, because he achives that look consistently and does it well.

So perhaps the debate is settled for now. I will continue to do some scratch-built scenery (trees and hills, particularly), and buy some when it's pretty, and try not to feel too guily about it one way or the other. What about you, gentle reader? Do you have this debate with yourself? And if so, how do you resolve it?

Forks vs Feet - Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Ed's note - I'm going to let his post remain here because it amuses me. It was intended for my other blog, what Richard Clarke of Too Fat Lardies once called "The God Blog". That blog is where I follow my other interests, including running. The post below got sent here because it was my first time experimenting with a blogging app for my iphone. During that experiment I discovered that trying to copy and paste links on an iphone is rubbish. - MP+


This archived piece from the Globe and Mail website on the "Forks vs Feet" debate conducted at the U of Ottawa last May just spurred my resolve to run more in 2012. Executive summary: the more you run, the more calories you burn. Diet alone won't make you thinner. This may not be news, but I found it helpful.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Just Finished: SS Mortar Platoon

Over Christmas break, in between painting ACW guys, I found the time to finish a project that has been languishing half finished for over a year. These chaps are from the Battlefront Miniatures 15mm late war German mortar platoon blister. There were several other fellows, riflemen and leaders, that will get based later. For now, these four bases will go to strengthen my 12th SS troopers, worthy opponents for my Canadians. They will also make a great incentive for me to break out my copy of Too Fat Lardies' I Ain't Been Shot Mum, Third Edition.

ACW Splitrail Fences In Progress

I spent a few hours the afternoon of Christmas Day in between company, watching the Dr. Who marathon on the Space Channel and trying, in vain, to figure out exactly who River Song is (yes I know she is Amy Pond's daughter, but not exactly sure how). Oh well. It gave me a few hours to put some more fence rail sections together for my American Civil War 28mm collection.

My idea for these was to make modular sections on large, flocked bases that enhance the look of the table. I had made four sections two years ago, and always wished I'd bitten the bullet and made more at the time, since in a large ACW game you can never have too many split rail fences. You can see these earlier sections on the left of the photo below.



The fence sections are made of cedar shims bought in packs from Home Depot, split up with an axe (very authentic, I think) then trimmed with a hobby knife and glued together on the base. The bases, as mentioned above, are sections of MDF board, covered with wood putty mixed while wet with different types of model railway ballast for texture, then painted and drybrushed, my standard recipe for bases. Once the fences are painted, I'll flock the bases and add some accent pieces such as rocks, strands of taller grass, etc.

When I get these new sections finished I'll post some shots of them next to some figures. The fence sections are probably too thick and long for real life, but I like the substantial look of them. It's always nice to have these nice big fences between you and that enemy firing line, if only for pyschological benefit!

Great War Padre Figure

Last year I was reading Sidney Roundwood's stonkingly good blog, which is mostly dedicated to First World War gaming in 28mm, and came across his AAR of a battle which had a role for a British army chaplain, a fictional fellow called "Capstan Charlie" based on the famous padre of that war known affectionatey by his troops as "Woodbine Willie". For Capstan Charlie, Sid used a Great War Miniatures figure which comes in a set of personality figures including a Tommy kicking a football into the attack, a motorcycle dispatch rider, a sniper, etc. I bought this pack and could feel it's gentle tug at my sleeve to start a Great War skirmish collection. Thus far I have resisted the tug. However, I did paint the padre figure, since I collect chaplain miniatures, of which there are damned few.

Here's the finished product. I've based him as a display piece, using a surplus Games Workshop round plastic base, and he will adorn my desk at work in the new year. The painting isn't as good as Sid's but I'm happy with the way the face has turned out. It was the first time I've painted a figure wearing glasses.





The two pictures above were taken using Mrs. Padre's expensive SLR camera, and I haven't really figured out the macro settings to my satisfaction, so this next picture is taken using an HD app I bought for my iphone camera. I need to see them side by side online to decide which one I like better.




Sid tells me there is a Great War padre produced by Woodbine Miniatures / Gripping Beast, so that may be a present to myself in the future.

Thanks for looking. Blessings to your paintbrushes. MP+

The Bluffsburg Campaign: Kriegsspiel Started

Today marks the start of the kreigspiel described in earlier posts here, and set in a fictional county in NW Mississippi in 1862. I have to be careful what I report here, because I don't wish to compromise the fog of war and time lags that the players are labouring under. As brigade and divisional commanders, operating miles from their subordinates and from the enemy, without radios, knowledge of movements and results of actions will take a while to percolate, and I don't want to spoil that experience for them.

What I can say is this:

The first game day is Wednesday, 25 June, 1862. The sun rose into a clear sky at 5:47am and the temperature close to noon is nearing 90F. There does not appear to be any sign of rain in the offing. It may be a hard day for marching troops.

Confederate sympathizers report Union troops leaving the town of Jefferson City with throaty cries of "On to Bluffsburg!", but their number and their immediate destination is unclear. General Moore, reviled by some as "The Shilo Shirker", appears determined to redeem his reputation.

Meanwhile, the Bluffsburg Mercury printed on its front page this stirring message from General Hatcher, the overall CSA commander:

"we need every spare hand that can assist us with the defense of our great state. This is not just the fight of the military but of every citizen. We must defend every acre from the depredations of the vandals that wish to sack our homes. Every eye must watch, every ear must listen and together we shall overcome the multitudes that are arrayed against us."

More as I can report it.

Skirmish At Plasterville Mills: A Terrible Sharp Sword Test Drive

For the last few days my gaming table has represented a quiet and idyllic part of Virginia known as Plasterville Mills. The name Plasterville comes from the this sweet little HO model railroad kit, a hydrocal old stone mill from C.C. Crow that I bought years ago somewhere. A while back I found the nerve to put it together, which was a bit nerve wracking as the wall and roof sections were cast from single pieces of hydrocal, exquisitely detailed but rather delicate. A further fiddly step was cutting balsa pieces for the upper story just under the roof peak. A unique and lovely model just begging to be used as American Civil War scenery.

After laying out a rural American table with the appropriate mill stream , I wanted to try out the Too Fat Lardies ACW skirmish rules, Terrible Sharp Sword. I'd never played it before but was encouraged by all the AARs posted in the Lardy blogosphere. To create an element of surprise, borrowing on the Platoon Forward system, I gave each side four blinds, with one a dummy to be diced for randomly as they were spotted. Also, for each side I have given the three groups under blinds a variable number of men depending on a 2d6 role as the blinds came off and the troops went on the table. The Federals were rated as Average troops with Polished Drill and Poor Shots. The Confederates were Average troops and Average shots. Also, both sides have a Level 1 and Level 2 Big Man, whose locations are to be determined randomly.

The premise of the battle was that Plasterville Mill was stuffed full of tasty vittles which the rebel quartermaster wanted badly. A Union patrol had come across the rebs at the mill and was determined to drive them off. The game would end after the Blank Card came up ten times, and at the time whoever controlled the mill would be the winner.

Here is the table with the initial placement of Union and Confederate blinds. A fourth rebel blind was out of view to the left of the frame below, but it was quickly revealed as the rebel dummy blind. The Union plan was to drive up the road and take the hill in the centre, while on the far side of Plasterville Creek the fourth blind would try to get up to the stone bridge and come in from behind the defenders of the mill.

The first spotting rolls are successful. Eight rebs with a Level 2 Big Man, Lt. McComber, are located in the barnyard watching the road. Coming up the road toward them are 11 Yanks under their Lvl 2 BM, Lt. Sam Skeffington.



Lt. Skeffington, a contemplative sort, regards the rebs in the barnyard. "They look fixin' to be stayin', reckon we'll have to drive 'em off", he drawls. He is a Redoubt figure, painted as an artillery officer. Reckon I need to paint up some more single based leader figures if I want to play more TSS. Beside him are some ancient Minifigs, and his sergeant is a RAFM figure.



"Give 'em thunder, boys!" Lt. McComber has had his troops shift left to take advantage of that nice stone wall, and now they fire their first volley at the right oblique. Two Yanks drop, and the shock begins to add up on Skeffington's group. That barn is a Hovels miniature, which I am quite pleased with.



The second Yankee group emerged from the tree cover on the hill facing the Mill, and never got farther. They were too far away from Lt. Skeffington's range of influence to move, and could only trade fire with the defenders of the mill on the Sasparilla Card. Those are more Minifigs on the hill, by the way.



Unfortunately for the Yanks on the hill, they were facing twelve determined rebs under Sgt. Branston (Lvl 1 BM), also hiding behind a stone wall. This cover advantage halved the fire of the Union troops, and in the unequal duel that followed, the Yank casualties began to add up.

On the Union right, the outflanking plan was going slowly. The fourth Union blind, which turned out to be Sgt. Bill Haney (Lvl 1 BM) and 12 men, had missed several chances to move and time was running out. Finally the Feds got lucky and the fourth blind pushed into the field of .... hemp? doormat? As they emerged, they were automatically spotted by the last Reb blind, nine men who immediately opened fire. Their muskets dropped two of Haney's 12 men, but he pressed on.



As the Union's time for victory ebbed away, Lt. Skeffington urged his troops on the road to push on and clear the courtyard, hoping that Haney would come through on the other side of the stream. The odds were against him. A Random Event meant that his men were moving slowly in the infernal heat, their canteens empty. Worse, they were now down to 8 men and the shock was piling up. The Yanks stumbled forward after Skeffington, but not fast enough. Sgt. Branston, seeing that the bluebellies on the hill were no threat, shifted he men right to bring fire on the Yanks stumbling forward. Had the game continued, it's doubtful that Skeffington's men would have stood.



It all came down to Sgt. Haney. He led his men forward in a charge, but rolled an abysmal "3" on 2d6 and came up short. The rebs fired, but their musketry missed! Haney was set to move again, but never got the chance. Time was out, the final Sasparilla card came up, and both sides fired a final volley at the other.



The rebs firmly held Plasterville, and had lost only one man to the Union eight. Johnny Reb would eat well tonight.

In retrospect a great game and very clean and fairly simply rules. I need to read the Bonus Card section more carefully (no Bonus cards were used in this game). Also, I failed to realize until late in the game that Polished troops could skirmish, which may have given the Yanks an advantage. I need to try these rules again shortly, which, seeing as they'll be some small unit actions in the Bluffsburg campaign, will be soon I am sure.