Cavemen

Here are two blisters of Reaper Miniatures Cavemen. These are really nice models with a lot of character.  Click for a larger picture.

These figures have a lot of utility. They can be used in nearly any genre to serve as any type of primitive humanoid. I'm not sure what I'll do with these yet, but I can see a few applications. In fact, some prehistoric games might be a nice change of pace. I've had my eye on some of those very nice prehistoric models at Acheson Creations. Maybe it's time for a mastodon hunt!

You can readily see the contents of the blister, as I've got two of every model represented except the female. I wasn't too big of a fan of some of the workmanship shown on the handle of her staff/club thing. It takes away from the primitive feeling of it. Also, since she's so distinctive I only painted one of her. I guess I could convert the extra model's staff and "magic bag" into something else. Not sure it's worth the effort at this point.

So now I'm thinking of expanding my cavemen collection. Copplestone Castings has some nice cavemen as part of their Lost Worlds range that are worth looking at, and I may have to get them now that I've got this idea in my head. Stay tuned!

Big and Bad: More Reaper Bones

In an effort to put a dent in my Bones collection, I worked on a few of the larger creatures that came with my Kickstarer. I haven't got around to the giants and dragons, but I've been thinking about getting them together soon.

So here are the big and bad boys: a gnoll archer, ettin, and ogre. Click for a larger picture.

These models had an amazing level of detail and were very crisp castings. I think they were all Tre Manor sculpts, but I could be wrong. The blue stuff hanging from the ettin's belt are two fish, which I though was a characterful touch. The ogre's shield is interesting, and I imagined that he covered it with tanned hide, probably human!  The gnoll is a nice addition to the other Reaper Gnoll.

I imagine these guys could serve as bruisers and tanks for my orcs and give a little variety to the force. I'm looking forward to trying them out together in a game of Savage Showdown.

After completing these models, I wanted to keep going. I have so many other projects in the pipeline, I felt a little guilty for it. However, I couldn't resist giving these bruisers something to beat on. So, here are three models that I'm planning to use as rangers.

I've actually painted these models before in metal, except for the middle one which was a new sculpt for Bones. Painting them again did not bother me, and provided a chance to re-base them and do a different color scheme. I did these in analogous forest greens and browns, trying to make them look more like a "unit." These will serve as leader and hero figures for the "good guys."

To give a sense of scale, here is the group all together.

Now you can see how meaty those big guys are! I'm pretty satisfied with these models. However, I've got to get moving on other stuff. I'll come back to my Bones collection soon.

Up next will be 1/600 scale planes for an up-coming Guadalcanal air war campaign. Check back soon for the first installment of US planes.

2D and 3D Terrain

One thing I've realized about the miniatures gaming hobby is that you need a lot of terrain unless you want to fight in the desert / plains / snow all the time. Accumulating all of this terrain is practically another hobby unto itself, with a different set of skills required if you're the DIY type of person. For me, I buy as much out-of-the box stuff as possible.

A big terrain challenge is variety. While I've collected a lot of Battlefront's excellent terrain, it's still pretty repetitive unless you buy a lot of it. That gets expensive and brings storage issues into the equation.  Additionally, if you game at more than one scale and in different genres you've compounded the terrain issues.

There's not much to do for it, except try to get as much utility from every piece of terrain in your collection. For me, at least, having every game feature that same hill and forest with the same cabin gets a little old. I'm especially tired of my GW gaming mat, which is an unvarying green felt covering.

I've been playing a lot of board games recently, and a few of them (Battle of Westros and Descent 2 come to mind) play like mini games. I realized the answer to my variety problems has been right under my nose for a while. The RPG world has a huge variety of setting and terrains suitable for miniature gaming. You just have to be fine with it being flat, 2d stuff.

Not only was I fine with it, but I was also greatly surprised with it. I've invested in a few Gamemastery flip maps as well as some wilderness "dungeon tiles" from WOTC. These provided a whole new variety of terrain for my gaming. The flip mats are good sized, 24x30" of high gloss finish. I tried to take some pictures of a game but glare ruined it. Still, the look was pretty awesome and I was able to have a fight inside a forest, which is not something I get to do too often.  I was using the "Deep Woods" flip mat.

I took things a step further and added some 3d terrain to the maps, and things looked even better.  I snapped a few pictures of a battle between Dark Elves and Beastmen that I played as part of an on-going campaign. The Dark Elves were raiding the Beastmen camp to recover an important artifact that they had unwittingly in their possession.

The photography sucks and there's a blue cast from an open window messing with the colors. I'm just throwing this out here for illustrative purposes anyway. These are all tiles from WotC's Essential Wilderness set. The tiles gave me a about a 20" x 20" play area.  Stuffed into this area were different levels of terrain, fallen logs, trees, patches of rough terrain, rocks, and a puddle / pool.  I put on my huts from Gale Force 9 and I was ready to go in just 10 minutes. Clean up took about the same time -- just whisk everything back into the box.

This play area is a lot smaller than I usually use. However, I've found that in my solo campaigns I basically have mostly wasted space on the tabletop. Preparing terrain for areas that won't even be the focus of the battle makes little sense to me. Most of the battle with my small sized forces only focus into a small section, about the size you see here.  With all the terrain in the way, there was a lot of maneuvering and the small area felt a lot larger.

Well, you get the idea by now. If you like variety and don't mind 2D terrain, you should investigate game mats and dungeon tiles. While these are almost exclusively targeted for fantasy games, I can see many of them being "genre neutral." If you pepper in a few 3d pieces, you'll have some pretty sharp looking tables for your games.

Oh, and if anyone cares, the Dark Elves wiped up twice their number of beastmen. Frenzied Witch Elves, while fragile, are really scary in combat. I'm using Savage Worlds for the game, which easily accommodates Warhammer stats. Anyway, the Beastmen eventually broke and ran off the board.

Solitary Soldiers Campaign Progress

As I mentioned a few posts back, I've been getting in some solo or co-op games following along with Britton Publishing's Solitaire Soldiers campaign book. There are ten missions, which I'm going through in order, which start from D-Day and follow a squad of 12 men through three months in 1944 with the 29th Infantry Division.

I've just completed the fifth scenario, this one solo (my son is my co-op partner, and he's in and out). I've been using Savage Worlds (Savage Showdown, actually) as the rules set. These rules are awesome for these kinds of scenario driven games. They have their downsides, but overall I think they fit the bill.  Showdown is incredibly deadly, and solo/co-op friendly.

Seeing how I'm halfway done, I thought I'd share a peek into the campaign diary I'm keeping. I take pictures during the game and jot down notes so I don't loose anything later on. When all 10 scenarios are done, I'll probably print the diary and bind it. I'll also link it up online, but doubt anyone but me would find it interesting.

So right after this, will be the excerpt from the diary. There are three parts to each entry. There's the set up that I copy right out of the book. Then there's a POV after action report I do as the player character. (The writing is pretty lame; I don't put much effort into it, since it's just for me really). Finally, I'll record casualties, victory outcomes, and any other notes. Right now, the diary is up to 23 pages, but that's with lots of pictures.

Be warned, there's lots of reading ahead! 

Mission Five: Self Propelled Gun

Something startles Kiefer from a deep sleep. He brushes the dirt from his face, closes his eyes and settles back into a rhythmic breathing pattern. Suddenly, more dirt falls on his cheek and he swats the air. This time he sits up, annoyed that his sleep has been interrupted. He holds his breath to listen for the source of his discontent. He hears the birds and a few insects, but nothing more. Then dirt from the top of his foxhole breaks off all around the perimeter, and he feels the ground begin to tremble. Then he hears the distinctive sound of clanking treads. The continued tremor from the massive weight of several armored fighting vehicles causes him to peer out of his cover.

Kiefer rises and whispers, “LT?” With no response, he says it louder, “Lieutenant, I hear enemy armor!” The men begin to scramble for their weapons and one soldier yells, “Tiger!” As the squad scans the road, a large self-propelled gun is observed following a half-track. Closer examination reveals a Sturmhaubitz 42. The half-track most likely contains a security element. They seem to be unaware of the squad’s presence and are moving to establish an artillery position that will enable the SP gun to fire on the Battalion CP.

As the Panzergrenadiers disembark and take up defensive positions, the StuH 42 comes to a stop just to the left of the half-track. The tank commander opens his hatch and stands up tall in the cupola with his binoculars. He scans the horizon and calls out coordinates to his gunner.

After Action Report (POV is PFC Dickie Summers)

The early morning sun was at our backs, and probably made it hard for the Germans to see us. They had cruised past, one Tiger and a halftrack.  Hollis told me later it was an infantry gun called a StuH. They all look the same to me.  We were on patrol in a hilly patch of land, following a road and scouting for Gerry, and he ended up driving right past us.

 Lt. Freeman (we still haven't taken to calling him Curly to his face) lined us up behind a hill and sent Jay Shannon up it to see what the Krauts were about. We call Jay "Shy Shannon" on account of his not saying much, but he had a lot to say after he had a look. The StuH had stopped on top of an outcrop and the halftrack was unloading a squad of Panzergrenadiers. 

Lt. Freeman broke us into a fire and maneuver team.  The maneuver team included me, Shy Shannon, Kiefer (with the rifle grenade), Cpl Becker, and Allen Owen. My job was to kill the tank commander and hopefully stop that tank from taking action. Keef and the others would lay down fire on the Panzergrenadiers and hopefully chase them off.  The LT and Sgt Markham would take the rest of the squad to a ruined farmhouse and create a firebase to cover us while we tried to flank the Germans. 

Sounded like a plan from boot camp. What could go wrong?

I got off my shot and the German TC slumped over in his cupola. The rest of the crew bailed out. Keef and the others didn't do as well. The Krauts were in a cluster by their halftrack, but Keef's rifle grenade went wide. They spotted us right away. To make it worse, we were on the hill with no cover.

Despite the fleeing StuH crew, the Panzergrenadiers went to work. They turned their halftrack around and used it for cover, while a team of them slipped into the hedgerows along the road to get a firing position on the hill.

 

With all the German MGs we were torn up pretty bad on that hill. We had to hit the dirt. Owen went down right away. He didn't even cry out, just collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Sgt Markham and the BAR weren't doing much to relieve pressure on us. Their position didn't give a good view of the Germans, though they managed to snipe a Kraut officer hiding behind the halftrack.

The hill was a goddamn nightmare.  The entire German squad had us pinned. Keef fired a few grenades, but both went wide. Too much lead whizzing overhead to line up a shot.  A bullet grazed my helmet and I went blank from fear. I actually thought I was dead. I'm sure it wasn't long, but in that time Corporal Becker was rolling on his back while Shy Shannon lay face down with blood pumping into the grass. Only Keef seemed to have it together. But that wasn't going to last. I started saying my prayers, hoping someone was listening to me.

 And He was. An M10 TD showed up. Sgt Markham had friends in the tank destroyer platoons, and I suppose somehow he managed to have one in the area. I don't ask too many questions about lucky breaks.  That it showed up when it did is a miracle.

The StuH crew, seeing how well the Panzergrenadiers were doing, decided to jump back into their tank. Our TD had a shot at its rear armor. That TD was flying ahead like it knew just where to go. I kept down, but raised my head enough to see the TD take a shot and miss.  The StuH started to lumber around to face its gun toward the farmhouse.

Doc Anderson had sprinted across the open field for us up on the hill. Looking back, his brave run probably saved his life. The Krauts were more aggressive now that their tank was back.  Corporal Becker raised his head to shout something to me.  I crawled back to hear him over the noise. My shoulder and left leg burned with fire, and I felt like Joe Lewis had used me for a punching bag.  Becker screamed and rolled down the hill.  Keef dragged me back down the slope, while Doc worked on the others. He was a true hero, standing out there while the Germans shot at him, working on the wounded like nothing more than mosquitoes were flying around him.

The StuH lined up a shot on the farmhouse and blew the top floor to pieces. Charlie Mayer and Hollis Woodard were up there. Charlie had the BAR and so drew the StuH fire. The halftrack crew used their MGs to keep up the pressure, and Sgt Markham got hit as well. I thought we were going to break off, but we held.

Our M10 angel came through for us. I could hear the TD commander shouting for his gunner to hurry up. The moment they lined up their shot, I heard a gigantic clang and the StuH went up in flames.

The Krauts decided they had enough with a fresh M10 and no anti-tank capabilities. They pulled out, firing as they went. Lt. Freeman wisely didn't pursue them. We didn't have the fire power to handle them, and so Gerry slipped away. 

Without that M10 to shift the tide, I don't think I could be giving you this report. As it is, I'm going to be laid up for a while as these wounds heal. I'll never know the name of the place where we fought, but I won't soon forget that hill and all the blood my buddies and I left on it that day.

 Casualty Report

KIA: Sgt Paul Markham, Pvt Allan Owen, PFC Charlie Mayer,  Pvt Jay Shannon

WIA:  Cpl Gene Becker

WIA (fit for duty): PFC Richard "Dickie" Summers, Pvt Hollis Woodard

Mission Outcome: Draw (2xp) StuH eliminated, 2 enemies killed

Notes: PFC Richard Summers awarded Purple Heart and promoted to Corporal.  Congratulations, soldier!

Now only three soldiers survive from the original D-Day squad.

Savage Considerations

I've been leafing through my Savage Worlds book recently, and I've given some thought to trying it. I could use the game as-is, but have also considered their tabletop miniatures adaptation Showdown. My first thought was to do do something in a genre that I have no other rules to match. Spies and modern adventure came to mind. At the same time I had this idea, I was reading the Danger Girl comic collection. Say no more, my concept had arrived!

I planned to create my own team of Danger Girl operatives and use Savage Worlds to play these as a tabletop game. I didn't need to look too far for suitable models. Reaper's Chronoscope line has plenty to fit the bill.  So I ordered five blisters and painted them up.

Painting these models was a refreshing break from military drab colors. I seem to be endlessly painting military models these days. Anyway, the green and black model is my homage to the team's Danger Girl origins.  Otherwise, I just did whatever felt right at the time.

I've cooled off a bit on the original idea of getting these on the table. But now I have models ready for whenever I pick up again. The biggest challenge I have is collecting appropriate terrain and other models to be the "bad guys."  Since Danger Girl faces the neo-Nazi Hammer Empire, I thought my Dust Tactics Axis models could fit the bill. That gives me some incentive to get painting those too.

Well, back to military drab!