Dux Britanniarum: You've got mail

<Scene:  A back garden, about a month ago...>

So, nice weather this week meant being able to crack on with prepping the Dux Britanniarum starter armies that have been acquired.  Once again, an inability to focus strikes, as the miniatures from earlier in the week are flung aside in favour of newer shiny things. 

Firstly, the Gripping Beast figures are a joy to behold, particularly when undercoating meant a lot more detail 'popped' out than these aged eyes had been able to make out previously. 

Not quite sure why, but the decision was taken to paint all the metal bits on the miniatures first.  Being used to miniatures from more modern eras, it was a joy to be able to generously slap on various metallic paints with abandon, rather than with the usual levels of discretion exercised with moderns.  So much chain mail.  So many helms.  So many sharp stabbing swords and so forth.  After twenty-four hours of drying, the various bits of sword, chain and helmets got a coat of magic wash to seal in that metallic goodness and to offer a bit of shading.  

Thus far, the paint job looks fairly respectable, but that's bound to go south once a start is made on the clothing and skin tones...  

<Scene: A spare room/office/study.paint desk, now>

Crikey.  All my Romano-British are painted up and armed, with a basic texture base applied.  They're tabletop ready and in record time by my standards.  I've surprised myself.

Having seen the various discussions on the TFL Yahoo group, as well as the examples of others' forces, in the end I've given the Elites a uniform paint scheme, the Warriors uniform tunics only and the Levy a random mix of hopefully suitable colours.  At first the homebrewed wash/dip I used on the non-metallic parts made the miniatures somewhat muddy but the look has grown on me, and let's face it, there's bound to be a certain degree of mud in Dux.

Romano-British defend a tiny monastery; Elite troops to the left, young skirmishers to the right.

A blurry picture of the skirmishers.

Not-Arthur checks behind the monastery with a couple of spear-armed comrades.

I really should get a better camera.  The one I have just isn't up to the job of snapping minis, and it's a shame; the Gripping Beast minis have some lovely detail, as noted in the start of this post and the Arthur freebie that came with Dux Britanniarum is indeed a joy to behold, even with my painting.

Buildings and fences are by PMC, and were had for a steal from eBay.  Furthermore, when I opened the package to find one building had been smashed in transit despite the excellent packaging, PMC got a replacement to me within three days.  Top job.  As stated in an earlier post, you don't require many buildings for Dux; in fact, there's just a watch tower left on my wishlist, which may come into play at Warfare.  

Now to crack on with the Saxons.  Let's see if I can get them finished by December 31st, in time for some January Dux.

7TV: Red Storm Rising

Given how delightful today's weather has been, any chance of nipping outside to undercoat recently acquired miniatures was kiboshed.  This lost opportunity instead became a chance for me to work on slapping some more paint on villainous forces for 7TV.

Whilst the Fifth Reich (“Das vierte Reich nie bearbeitet.  Ich ziehe an um!” ) had been written up as opponents for the Man From F.R.A.N.C.E., the lead pile doesn't actually contain any of its denizens.  Instead- for various reasons- attention has turned to the Communist antagonists to be found within the 7TV canon, primarily the Iron Ceiling.  These chaps click with me for some reason! 

So from left (naturally) to right, and in various states of completion: The Iron Ceiling and sneaking in from Siberia, the remnants of the Menagerie.  Overseeing this is a lovely statue of Stalin.  At least, it's thought to be just a statue..

A close-up of the Sky-Pirates.  Basing and a matt varnish, and they're good to leap into action.

Travers on the left is at the same stage as the Sky Pirates.  The dozen security guards and two captains are catching up.

 

Cloud Commissar Rostov flanked by Cloud Captain Vodyanova on his right and bureaucratic buffoon Laszlo Minsky.  The figure used for Rostov isn't the one I initially was going to use.  However, when I popped open the pack, this chap struck me as a superior choice (he's so menacing he doesn't need to wave around a weapon, and he's somewhat more similar to Don PLeasant, the chap who played Rostov in 7TV's The Daredevils...).  I looked at various WWII and Cold War online images of Soviet uniforms, before mixing them all up.  These are nowhere near done, but Vodyanova's final look should reflect the inspiration for her colour scheme- the Night Witches! 

Ah, the backroom boffins (actually, what is the Soviet/Russian equivalent?  The UK has boffins, the USA has Geeks, so what do our Russian chums say?).  Hovering at the back are some of the Iron Ceiling's infiltrating Aero-Drones, with a whole bunch of Iron Comrades lined up in front of them.  Right at the back are some Matryoshka, which I won't need to elaborate on if you've seen the first Austin Powers film.  Honeytrap-tastic, and a darn sight more lethal.  Of course, all this clockwork kit doesn't mainatin itself, hence the toolkit-toting minion in the centre, and treacherous Dr Vostok's cabal of scientists in the foreground.  Lastly, to the left is a minion who has got what appears to be a portable barbecue kit on his back (clearly an optimist, given the 'summer' weather the UK's had recently...).

Lastly (and sneaking in from one of the Crooked Dice pdf-only offerings), the minions of scarlet-clad Soviet psychic, Grigori Morov.  Snuffling for subversives we have his Grunts, and behind Morov we have his augmented gorilla (Humanzee?) sidekick and a Mutoid waving a tentcle.  Quite.

In all, there's about 1000 Ratings worth of Extras, Co-Stars and Stars.  Madness, but to use an apocryphal quote of Comrade Stalin's, "quantity has a quality all of its own"...

Yes.  I really should sort out a camera suitable for these kind of pictures and close-ups...

NVA: Faaahsands of 'em...

Just a quick post, but the painting up of NVA infantry for Charlie Don't Surf has come to an end.  So in some respects, the cunning plan to retire Charlie for a while and thereby focus on painting up various Vietnam related kit from the lead pile is working.

However, Charlie will now come back in July for an appearance at Devizes and District Wargames Group's show, Attack.  I also discovered that my 15mm NVA infantry run into enough numbers to allow not one, but two companies to be fielded.  A firebase assault scenario definitely beckons for later in the year...

Shiny...

The plan was to use free time to continue add to the painted Zanzibari force for nineteenth century Africa, and to paint up some more NVA for Vietnam (the VC have been subbing for some time now).

However, ever the megalomaniac, Doc Neodynium came up with a bit of an epic wheeze about a month ago (well, by our paltry standards), and we had our second natter about it yesterday, the main point being whether we could actually complete his grandiose vision, and what we could do to keep on schedule.  Anyway, the Doc is doing all the work at present, so it was a mixture of guilt and inspiration from what he'd built so far that prompted a magpie-like fluttering onto the following models (work in progress shots, unfortunately)...

Hm.  What in 7TV requires figures like these?

...it was always difficult for the Hunter/Killers when they bumped into embarrassing old Uncle K1...

...with Federation Security and redshirts in front of him, "Grief" Travers felt quite safe from harm...

Umm...hello again/Wotta Lotta Lard

Hm.  Quite.  Let's cut to the chase.

Life got jolly busy all round, and I naturally invoked the annual "forget/not get around to updating the blog" clause."

However, let's look at what I have been up to gamingwise over the last eighteen or so week:  The 7TV campaign came to a successful conclusion, with the S.P.A.C.E. Man emerging as the victorious TV series, and the whole affair being wrapped up in a six-player game set around an expanded version of club member Overlord's superb volcano-rocketbase lair that you may well have see in action at the 7TV/Crooked Dice stand at Salute 2011 (let's not dwell on the fact that my entire cast- admittedly four figures- were wiped out by the end of turn two).

It was then all hands to the pumps for our (Abingdon Wargames Club) own show, Overlord 2012 (the coordinator of which is naturally club member Overlord).  We enjoyed a well-deserv'd curry after setting up on the Saturday, enjoyed our highest footfall for over a decade on the Sunday itself, which was fantastic, and we managed to raise about £265 for this year's chosen charity.  I put on a participation game of Charlie Don't Surf on behalf of the club and that seemed to get a good reception; or, at least, the author of the rules commented favourably on the kit being used...

Many more games of Charlie were to be had, as we were also due to run it at Salute 2012; the first time we've actually run a participation game at Salute (although no doubt a club member is emailing a correction to me even as I type).  Other than dashing off to pick up some scenery/figures for 7TV from our chums at Crooked Dice and Ainsty (as well as some M113s for Charlie from Peter Pig), I saw nothing of the show, but the rest of the club seemed to have suffered no pain in piling into a minibus and having a gander around.  I can also use this forum to publicly acknowledge the sterling support of my fellow-conspirators Doc Neodynium and Mr. Smallridge in running the game and fielding public interest.  Thanks again, chaps, and not least for the Leninade and wooly Cthulhu.  It was also rather jolly to have an all-too brief few words with various members of the Too Fat Lardies Yahoo group who swung by.

With Salute out of the way, it might be thought my copy of the Charlie Don't Surf rules could get a rest (they're on the verge of collapsing through ungentle over-use).  However Overlord had cunningly booked us a table at Campaign 2012, hosted by the wargaming chaps of Milton Keynes this Saturday past.  Out came Charlie again, and again it seemed to be enjoyed by the wargamers AND non-wargamers who had a crack at it.  Lovely stuff.

In case you believe none of the above, I shall attempt to put a photos up to prove otherwise, if I get a moment.

Now, as my Rabbi- Mr. Burns- oft says, "the best-laid plans of mice and men aft gae googly" or some such.  Nevertheless, what are the gaming intentions for the immediate future?  

Well, various Darkest Africa games are taking place in preparation for a club campaign based around the same.  I've gone for Zanzibaris, on the grounds they're the only non-colonial force I actually can field in strength.  They are looking somewhat Persil in their white robes at present, but a good dose of Magic Wash should sort 'em out.  Counting chickens before they've hatched, there's a subsequent plan to bring A Very British Civil War to Oxfordshire- or North Berkshire, as it would have been back in '38.    This will possibly involve me recycling my Darkest Africa Brits as part of JOSHUA Force...

In both cases, the rules proposed are distinctly Lard-light.  In fact, I found it very difficult to get my head around the rules after my Lard-rich gaming.  However, I'm looking on this as a chance to focus on the painting/building side of things, so hopefully later in the year I can Lardify another element of my gaming.  At the very least, I might have a crack at some river terrain and Brown water units for Charlie, or have do a bit more work on my Bag The Hun Battle of Britain forces, or sort out some mounted assets for They Don't Like It Up 'Em, or...let's be honest, I've about as much focus as a monkey with the keys to three different banananana plantations.

Ah, almost forgot.  I've discovered a British-made chorizo.  Patriotic porky perfection.

Incoming!

Despite the recent deluge of 7TV posts, I have been keeping my hand in the Lard, so to speak in the meantime, metaphorically nibbling away at the leadpile for Vietnam and Charlie Don't Surf.

Firstly, the Peter Pig door gunners for an under-strength aero-rifle platoon are now all painted and ready to be attached to the four waiting Revell 1/100th Hueys.  Just need to check that there's nothing more that needs to be done to the Hueys.  Once they're sorted, the Hogs and Cobras can be attended to.

Likewise, a start has been made on three firebase terrain pieces from Frontline Wargaming.  As is usual with these things, on the day the Frontline parcel arrived, Timecast released some more goodies for Vietnam firebases and similar military installations!  This is not a problem though, as this means a less uniform look can be generated by mixing the various manufacturers' pieces- everyone's a winner!

Lastly, green stuff has been applied to the gaps in some paddy field I've attempted to make, in an effort to increase the likelihood that I'll have a crack at slapping some paint on them over the winter hols.

This level of (relative) organisation really is most perturbing.

Oh, and there was a black pudding and roast parsnip jumble for lunch today.  Good-o.

Paint! Paint like the wind, my friend!

Sunday 30th November: "By normal standards, it'll have been a productive week if 3 sections get completed!" 

Crikey.  An entire company of Peter Pig early WWII British painted, along with support weapons in the form of 2" and 3" mortars, Boyes Rifles and even some ATGs with associated crew.

Painted in a week no less.  That's a miracle for a painter of my habits. 

Clearly the Lard works in mysterious ways, and I Ain't Been Shot Mum is still inspiring painting in these parts...

Of course, they still all now need to be based, and a better camera than the one on an iPhone might be useful.

Slowly but surely...

Amidst prepping for work next week and making like Agent Orange to clear up the garden (fortified against the cold and rain by some rather nice cabbage and bacon), a little bit more work was done on the lead pile today, with continuing inspiration coming from IABSM.  

The Peter Pig Early WWII Brits have now been inked and blacked, ready for the detailing going on.  To be precise, twelve sections, four ATR teams, three 2" mortar teams, two 3" mortar teams and four ATGs (with some crew) are in line for the detailing.  By normal standards, it'll have been a productive week if 3 sections get completed!

Fuelled by a lava-like flow of tea, I even began to black some of the PP Late WWI Germans.  Slowly but surely indeed.

In other news,  Doc Neodynium has passed on some snapshots he took of Friday's Charlie Don't Surf game at our local club, Abingdon Wargames Club.  Sadly, the Combat Engineer mission marked the end of Captain Bowman's tour of duty...all will be revealed once the pictures have been cleared by the censor!

It's Aliiiiiiiive....

..clearly the weekend before Hallowe'en is an auspicious time for digital Necromancy.

Glossing over the extended hiatus in a few words in no particular order (domestic building project, China, technical gubbins and work), it might be asked why the Tao of Lard has revived now?

Here's the answer:

The tenth anniversary edition of I Ain't Been Shot Mum! I first bought IABSM about six years ago, even though there wasn't any WWII kit in the lead pile, and browbeat various club ne'er-do-wells into letting me use their kit to try out IABSM.  The rules were/are thoroughly enjoyable, and (to my limited mind) are positioned perfectly to marry historical simulation with entertaining games (even if there are some who treat those concepts as mutually exclusive; Yesthatphil and toofatlardies amongst others challenge the "It's only a game" mentality in this TMP discussion).

This was my introduction to the world of Lard, and since then Charlie Don't Surf, They Don't Like It Up 'Em, Algy (currently being revised) and Bag The Hun have been bought and- most importantly- played.  To be fair, other Lardy goodness has also been bought but only read.  So far. 

Too Fat Lardies have gone for broke with this release, providing all one could need to play IABSM (assuming you already own the necessary toy soldiers) in a variety of bundles.  Here's what was in the preorder bundle, alongside the softback rulebook and a PDF copy of said rules:

At the back of this poor quality photo you can see three examples of the IABSM card deck available (104 cards, enough to field two infantry companies, five armour platoons, eight Big Men, three off-table support units for the Allies and again for the Axis, as well as all the bonus characteristic cards).  In the foreground are the IABSM tokens also now available.  From left to right:

• Low ammo marker
• Artillery aiming point marker (which came in handy for the Free World in last night's game of Charlie Don't Surf)
• Pinned marker (likewise for these; two on a squad indicate that it is suppressed)
• Reduced Actions marker (you might be able to make out the wee 1 on it)
• Lieutenant Hugh Jarce! (Limited edition figure; not sure if he's still available from TFL.  He'll probably end up in my 7TV games as a "Mad Mitch" sort of chap)
• AFV Reduced Movement/Immobilised markers (the green and red spanners respectively)
• AFV Main Weapon Damaged/Out Of Action markers (the green and red targeting pieces respectively)

I've already begun hawking the rules around to try and persuade others that they really want to give IABSM a try, but without solely relying on their kit.  I'm sure they'll come round to my way of thinking after they play a few games, not just one.  By now, the Lead Pile contains some 15mm Early WWII British from Peter Pig, so I've begun to have a crack at them.

Of course, whether I continue to make progress is another thing, particularly when I've also got these chaps vying for attention at the other end of the desk...

A rather large quantity of Peter Pig's Late WWI Germans (luckily all the British are done).  Even before the arrival of IABSM, I'd been poring over my copy of Through The Mud & The Blood, also from TFL.   I'd been lucky enough to spend some time around Albert and Arras in France recently, helping my folks with their ongoing family history project, and spending a few days retracing my great grandfather's steps during the Battle of the Somme and ultimately his death in 1917 at the Battle of Arras rekindled my interest in WWI, and my thoughts turned to the various TFL WWI rules like Mud & Blood, If The Lord Spares Us, as well as others to be found in various Lard Winter ans Summer Specials.    

However, IABSM arrived and my train of thought was redirected...

It's like I've never been away.

Resolving to be unresolved...

So, with plenty of snow over the last fortnight, attendance at AWC has been lower than might be expected. Nevertheless, the Sunday Dr Who game saw Overlord and New Andrew pit wits over four games each, each with very different but always plausible* results.  The two final AWC meetings of 2010 saw an evening of Pandemic (I was too knackered/full of head cold to sort out something myself, and Mr. Manning kindly proffered an empty seat to his game) and then an evening of Flintloque.  New Andrew had recently expressed an interest in trying out the rules, and the fortuitous temporary return of Rob Alderman meant we could indulge in a game set in the world of Valon, a Yule/Solstice tradition of ours**.

December saw no other wargaming, amidst the festivities.  A flying visit to Kenilworth and Rob (a budding sculptor of Flintloque/Slaughterloo miniatures, incidentally who has his own blog here) saw him break out various boardgames he'd owned for a long time but had yet to play.  One was Bugman's Bar Brawl or some such, and the other was War On Terror.  All good fun (I hesitate to say clean, given the content of both...).  As for New Year's Eve, a posse of workmates came over for a Western-themed murder mystery party, and no-one seemed to suffer any pain as a result (except the murder victim of course, and those foolish enough to over indulge in both grain and grape).

However, most importantly the last two weeks has seen my 15mm US Company for Vietnam games completed! Three platoons plus four MG squads, or 128 figures.  No excuses for me not to roll out Charlie Don't Surf  at AWC, particularly as it may offer a nice alternative for any members not involved in the WH40k campaign being set up (16 AWC members have signed up for this, which is being organised by Wily Nick).

So, a New Year and the knotty issue of resolutions.  I've never been any good with these, so instead here are some aims:

• Get some pictures on here.
• Be in a position to copy this brilliant idea by December 31st, 2011...
• Finish my 15mm WWI late war Brits for Squarebashing by November
• Finish my 1/600th German Battle of Britain aircraft by May

  Have all my Vietnam kit ready for a CDS game at Overlord 2011 (failure is not an option; the committee'll kill me otherwise).
• Paint some 28mm stuff, anything really- didn't touch any of the 28mm lead pile in 2010.
• Pick a period in the Lead pile that will distract me from completing one/some/all of the above...

As for pig-product, I received my share of the ridiculously oversized Christmas ham prepared by my folks, whilst some barbecue glazed mini pork sausages complemented the Murder Mystery's sippin' whiskey.

*Yes, I know we're dealing with Dr Who here. 

**At least, Rob and I consider it a tradition long-standing since 2009.  Let me know when it's appropriate to define something as traditional.

It is the end but the moment has been prepared for...

Term has ended, so my US company for Charlie Don't Surf has been arrayed on the worktop and is ready for two week's worth of attention, barring Christmas festivities and so forth.  As ever, the good intentions are based around getting one stage of painting done per day, so ideally these should be done and dusted soonish in plenty of time for Overlord 2011.

In the meantime, it's Club Sunday tomorrow.  Checklist time:

• Dr Who Miniature Game rules?  Check.
• Various Daleks, Robomen and Human Resistance miniatures?  Check.
• Dalek Invasion Of Earth 2150AD tournament scenario?  Check.
• Prizes?  Check.
• Inordinate quantity of snow?  Most definitely check...

 As for dinner, that ham hock in the larder definitely has possibilities.

What The H**l Just Happened?

Sweet Mother of Invention, where does the time go?  In the case of the day job, that's easily answered by Y11 and Y10 controlled assessments, and the marking of said assessments.  So...I've been bad at updates.

News in brief therefore:  The VC company are all painted (and rebased where necessary) now, for Charlie Don't Surf and Men of Company B.  I've foolishly offered this as the club game at our show Overlord (10am onwards at FitzHarrys School, Abingdon, Oxon, Sunday March 6th, 2011).  To be perfectly honest, hopefully it'll serve as some reasonable eye-candy to draw in some punters who can be brainwashed persuaded into joining Abingdon Wargames Club.  Another bout of jungle terrain building has thus been embarked upon, thanks to a timely and generous resupply of plastic palm trees (Thanks to Overlord, nom d'email of a fellow AWC member who happens to organise our show; yes, he's Overlord, the Overlord overlord...).  Now to pick a suitable scenario from Surf's Up and get in some more practice games.

Popped to Warfare.  First time as a punter, having usually gone to the show with a participation game.  Stocked up on essentials (paints, brushes), a couple of Kaiser Rushforth storage cases and some Skytrex goodies.  My Google-Fu failed me in the search for a Vietnam-era combat 'dozer, so I've commited heresy and will substitute a British WWII era 'dozer whilst the search continues... 

Got in a playtest of 7TV, the latest wheeze from the suave criminal geniuses behind the Dr Who Miniatures Game.  Jolly good fun- it may have been unrealistic, but as a simulation of cult TV like the Avengers,  Adam Adamant and the Man from UNCLE, it was on the button.  Having Doktor Zermitz wave an ineffectual fist in the last turn as agent Bonaparte Singleton escaped via jet-pack gadget was the icing on the cake!

Obligatory pig-product references- a rather nice chilli using chunks of pig cheek, a chorizo and chestnut soup (just as it snows, too) and naturally pork scratchings at the recent committee meeting. 

Plus some Haggis on St. Andrews Day.

Betwixt wadi and jungle with rod and gun...

With a now semi-complete utility room, I've been able to transfer the sordid business of miniature painting and terrain creation out of the study.  Subsequently (and with the aid of the customary splurge at Colours), there is now a production line of sorts taking shape, of CD-based jungle terrain* and rows of miniatures awaiting undercoating before the inevitable painting procrastination. 

The magpie flitting from project to project seems typical of many wargamers, and I'm acutely aware of it at present.  On the one hand, the introduction of They Don't Like It Up 'Em with my Peter Pig Sudan collection to other club members has them keen on a second encounter.  Opinion is divided as to whether it'll be a different one or simply the last one but playing as a different side.

On the other hand, I'm also personally keen to crack on with upgrading my Vietnam kit (also predominantly Peter Pig).  Reading rules is no substitute for playing them, but repeated reading of Too Fat Lardies' Charlie Don't Surf (CDS) prompted me to undertake the insane step of rebasing miniatures for the first time, even though it isn't strictly necessary.  With the onset of the recent school holidays, this was undertaken with a vengeance, with both Mr. Neatherway and the Div kindly acting as the player guinea pigs to my refereeing.  With Asian take-out and beer consumed, plus an appropriate soundtrack on the iPod, havoc could commence...

Player work commitments meant the game unfortunately had to be curtailed earlier.  This was annoyingly at the point where US Lieutenants Monterey Jack, Bayley Hazen and "Blue" Vaquero had received a harsh drubbing, but would now be unable to take advantage of the fact that the VC (Lieutenants Banh Cahn and Cao Lau) had shot their bolt.  This was exacerbated by players and referee cocking up things as they played new rules, and the fact the action was squeezed on to a very small playing area.  Nonetheless, both Mr. Neatherway and the Div said they'd be willing to give it another try, now that they had a better idea of how CDS plays.  This is encouraging stuff, from players who are at the game end of the game-simulation spectrum.  

Torn therefore between wadi and jungle, it looks like the wadi wins out this weekend, as I attempt to get some Highlanders and Royal Marines ready to take on the Mahdists for September 24th's planned game at the club...

*No prizes for guessing the inspiration of this.