Mexican Adventure: The Egyptians

Our final foreign contingent is the Egyptian Battalion:

The figures are from the Freikorps range (available from QRF), painted by Roger, based by me and with a flag from Warflag.

Musketeer BUF

My order from Musketeer Miniatures cam through today and it had their new BUF figures:

Now all I need to do is make up my mind what colour scheme to use. Given that they are in a hypothetical uniform anyway it does give a little latitude though. I was thinking of going with caps and jackets with dark grey trousers but am not sure whether to go with grey, black or khaki puttees...

Pulp Figures - New Gallery

I've been a fan of Pulp Figures for a while. They produce a great range of, surprise surprise, figures for the Pulp genre in 28mm. Whilst I was sorting out my figures I took the opportunity to photograph the majority of my Pulp collection with the intention of putting these on individual character cards for .45 Adventure. In any case I've put a link below to the new picasa gallery:

Pulp Figures

Review: Figures in Comfort Multi Storage Case

The Multi storage cystem is one of a range of purpose made figure carrying cases from Figures in Comfort, a UK based company.

The case can be ordered with a bespoke set of trays from the large range made by Figures in Comfort either half or full sized. The half size trays are 355 x 265 x 35mm overall and vary from 35mm to 70mm deep. I ordered my case with a combination of the following tray types:

Tray No. 4 - 35mm deep and has 36 slots, each 26 x 55 x 25mm.

Tray No. 5 - 35mm deep and has 20 slots, 16 are 65 x 55 x 25mm and 4 are 26 x 55 x 25mm.

Tray No. 12 - 35mm deep and has 143 slots, 135 are 14 x 21 x 25mm and 8 are 21 x 30 x 25mm.

Tray No. 13 - 57mm deep and has 15 slots, each 88 x 38 x 47mm.

Unlike the Slotafoam tray from Charon Productions these are formed from two pieces of foam with the upper layer stuck to a lower 10mm thick base. The adhesive fixing the upper and lower parts of the trays is certainly noticeable but does not appear to affect the contents in any significant manner.

The Multi opens at the top and the front and uses velcro to secure these flaps. It is not inherently rigid, as is the Charon Scoutpack or Deluxe Skirmishpack, but rather relies on the velcro to be closed tightly around a full complement of trays. The case lacks a carrying handle as a result and so only a shoulder strap is provided; however this is firmly secured to the sides of the case. A front A4 sized pocket is provided for carrying rules etc.

In use the case is easily loaded, though to access lower trays the upper ones must be removed as there are no internal dividers.

Tray No. 12 was of limited use as the majority of the slots are extremely restrictive though I later got the revised tray for 20mm figures which is now being produced and is a substantial improvement. Whilst having usefully sized slots for 20mm vehicles Tray No. 13 is not double the thickness of the thinner trays and makes the stacks uneven. Fortunately the retailer advised me of this at the time of ordering and added an additional foam sheet to make up the difference. I presume Figures in Comfort do the same but cannot confirm this for certain.

The Multi works fine provided that you neither stress it or try to fit any irregular items into it (e.g. within egg box foam etc.) as the lack of rigidity can allow some figures to become dislodged. The cover is also less secure than the zipped arrangements of the Charon cases and so if items do "escape" they can get out of the case unless it is vertical. I found that with prolonged carrying using the shoulder strap the case would often deform. The lack of a separate carrying handle is understandable considering the construction but disappointing.

Overall, I found the Multi less satisfactory for transporting figures than the Charon or KaiserRushforth systems.

Figures in Comfort Storage Cases

Review: Charon Productions Storage Cases

Scoutpack

The Scoutpack is one of the range of purpose made figure carrying cases from Charon Productions, a Canadian based company. The Scoutpack looks very much like an normal piece of luggage. It is made from a black fabric similar to a laptop case, with two external pockets, a carrying handle and a detachable shoulder strap. The interior is accessed by unzipping one size of the case. On the inside are a zipped mesh pocket, a foam cover sheet and five 'Slotafoam' trays. The Scoutpack is 370mm long by 300mm high by 180mm deep and weighs 1.2kg unladen.

Each Slotafoam tray is 355 x 265 x 28mm overall and has 32 slots, each 48 x 27 x 20mm. It is formed from a single piece of foam. This gives the Scoutpack the capacity to carry 160 25mm figures.

The Scoutpack is well constructed with reinforcement in all four sides to maintain the shape of the case. It is about the same height and width as a laptop case but is slightly deeper. Fully laden with 160 25mm figures it weighs in at 2.9kgs and so is lighter than some laptops to carry.

For a recent game the case was fully packed and taken by car, train and on foot without a single figure being displaced from its slot.

Only minor quibbles. The elastic mesh on the outside seems rather more decorative than useful and the outside pockets are simple slots and not zipped. The interior mesh pocket is not sufficiently large to take an A4 booklet and zip closed.

All in all the Scoutpack is well made and very functional. Unfortunately, Charon don't currently seem to have a UK distributor and consequently the shipping costs add significantly to the overall cost of this case.

Gamer's Satchel (and Satchel Inserts)

The Gamer's Satchel (and inserts) are other products from the range of purpose made figure carrying cases from Charon Productions. The satchel is supplied with a single satchel insert and a small basic calculator. The Gamer's Satchel is made from a black nylon type material and opens via a large top flap which covers the top and the front and is secured by a velcro strip. The flap contains a zipped pocket. The rear of the satchel contains a plastic reinforcing sheet. On the inside are two spaces to fit the satchel inserts, a full depth pocket secured by velcro tab, a smaller zipped pocket, two pen holders and a small mesh pocket. The centre section for the inserts (or books) is secured by a strap and plastic clip.

The inserts are self contained pouches with the Charon logo in which on the same black material. They are secured by a zip and contain a single slotafoam tray with a foam covering sheet and two plastic reinforcing sheets to maintain the insert's shape.

The Gamer's Satchel is 400mm long by 320mm high by 140mm deep (when full). The inserts are 385mm x 300mm x 50mm.

The Slotafoam tray is 355 x 265 x 28mm overall and has 32 slots, each 48 x 27 x 20mm. Unlike other similar trays the Slotfoam tray is a single piece of foam. This gives the Gamer's Satchel the capacity to carry 32 25mm figures with a single insert or 64 25mm figures with two.

The satchel can be a problem to close when it contains two inserts and care has to be taken with the inserts as they have no side reinforcement and can be squashed.

The satchel is primarily aimed at role players and so the balance between a single insert and space for rule books etc. works well. For wargamers the addition of a second insert allows figures for a sizable skirmish game to be accommodated.

Deluxe Skirmishpack

The Deluxe Skirmishpack is yet another of the range of purpose made figure carrying cases from Charon. Like the Scoutpack, the Deluxe Skirmishpack looks very much like an normal piece of luggage. It is made from a black fabric similar to a laptop case, with a single external zipped pocket, a carrying handle and a detachable shoulder strap. Unlike the Scoutpack all the varieties of the Deluxe Skirmishpack come with a large logo emblazoned on the front (in this case the "Northern Wasters" club logo - a result of them over ordering and Charon disposing of the surplus at a significant discount - we are in the process of disguising the logo as you can see from the pictures). The interior is accessed by unzipping one size of the case. On the inside are a zipped mesh pocket, a foam cover sheet, a divider and ten 'Slotafoam' trays. The Deluxe Skirmishpack is 580mm long by 400mm high by 200-240mm deep (depending on whether the external pocket is full).

Again each Slotafoam tray is a single piece of foam measuring 355 x 265 x 28mm overall and has 32 slots, each 48 x 27 x 20mm. This gives the Deluxe Skirmishpack the capacity to carry 320 25mm figures.

Like the Scoutpack the Deluxe Skirmishpack is well constructed with a frame which reinforces the case and makes it very robust. Fully laden with 320 25mm figures it obviously weighs in substantially heavier than the Scoutpack but is still easy to carry with the handle or shoulder strap as with ordinary luggage.

The Deluxe Skirmishpack does not close quite as tightly as the Scoutpack and occasionally figures can be displaced if it is handled roughly.

Again there are only minor quibbles. The exterior pocket looks light a bit of an afterthought, it doesn't seem to fit with the rather pleasant aesthetics of the remainder of the case (logos aside). It is on the underside when the case is opened and, whilst the sides are pretty rigid the front and back reinforcement deflects so the trays can be deformed slightly.

All in all the Deluxe Skirmishpack is another well made and functional product.

Charon Productions Storage Cases

Getting Organised

I've just taken advantage of the KaiserRushforth launch offer for their new aluminium cases as I needed some more figure storage. Knowing how much more space I'm getting has finally allowed me to sort out the figures in my other storage cases (a mixture of Charon, Figures in Comfort, KR and CDRowe) in to some semblance of order. I then went to the unprecedented lengths of actually labelling the boxes - woohoo! I may actually get around to popping up some reviews of the cases too.

Gaming Weekend - March 08

Lenin paid a visit this weekend and we managed to get plenty of gaming in. It might not have gone quite as planned (no change there!) but it was excellent fun none the less!

Before "discovering" the benefits of the .45 Adventure system we had tried one or two of the scenarios from the Dragon Bones supplement using Savage Worlds (another of our favourite rule sets). We decided to try them using the rules they were made for and the two games went very well. Strangely enough the results were the same as when we played using Savage Worlds!

We also gave my eBay copy of Quebec 1759 a go. It was the first of the Columbia Games block games and certainly has a pretty simple set of rules; however, the game gives you plenty of things to think about. I took command of the French and was utterly trounced by Lenin playing the British - obviously my usual dice luck had some effect but it was more down to some poor deployment on my part and a well co-ordinated two fronted attack on his! Now that I have some idea what I'm doing I'd certainly like to give it another go.

Next we improvised a Back of Beyond game using Lenin's superbly painted Copplestone figures (along with a couple of Pulp Figures) using Savage Worlds as the rules. More than anything it was a test to see if Savage Worlds could be used for a game of this type and size. Lenin has a very sizeable collection of figures for this period and we have tried a few other sets of rules but haven't been happy with them. The result was a Russian victory - having repulsed the Chinese attack on the Russian dig site - and a decision to use Savage Worlds for future games of this type.

Having majored on 28mm we swapped down to 20mm for the next game, a WW2 scenario using Nuts! A simple take the bridge and hold until reinforced for a small Para jeep mounted unit facing a unit of German engineers (who had been ordered to destroy the bridge) - with a few pesky refugees to get in the way! It was an object example of taking and holding the initiative taking the day with the Paras having it pretty much their own way (it also demonstrated the power of automatic weapons to keep people's heads down under Nuts! - the "outgunned" rules).

Our final tabletop game was another improved Savage Worlds game - this time using 28mm Gripping Beast Normans/Crusaders/El Cid figures. Having seen that Savage Worlds could handle a large 20th Century game, we really wanted to see if Savage Worlds could cope with a melee heavy scenario. We probably didn't have enough variety in the troop qualities and so melee did tend to bog down a little (but this wasn't entirely unexpected or a-historical) but overall SW proved that it could manage to cope. With properly prepared unit cards and a little more unit variety I think we're on to a winner again.

We finished the weekend off with a couple of board games - the Crimissos River (341BC) scenario for Commands and Colors: Ancients and the first two player scenario for Friedrich (The War in the West - France vs Hanover with a little help from Prussia). The C&C:A game was a pretty close run thing but finally going to Syracruse (though not by anything like the margin they enjoyed historically). Friedrich turned out to be a lot of fun with plenty of challenging decisions for both sides. The French were doing well but the Hanoverians managed to cut their supply lines; however the French recovered and went on to capture their objectives just in time. An excellent game that I can't wait to play 3 or 4 player.

I've posted a few photos from the weekend below:

Gaming Weekend - Mar 08

Dark Ages

We've only played one Dark Age game since I started photographing them. It was a playtest of Strandhogg rules. So I dug out some of my Gripping Beast Vikings and Saxons along with some of their buildings and livestock and my Grand Manner fort. The rules have some neat ideas but some of the concepts, whilst nice, can be a little fiddly. We need to try them a few more times before making a final verdict though.

Dark Ages

Science Fiction

The science fiction gallery currently covers five games and some shots of some of my other themed figures. Of the games three are set in the same SF universe which is a fusion of the GZG background, Aliens RPG and other associated sources with some Cthulhu Mythos influences. The figures used in these are generally 25mm (and I mean real 25mm) from GZG and Denizen.

The other two games are 28mm, the first being a near future Covert Drug Op which runs into an unexpected enemy and the second a Dr Who adventure.

Science Fiction

Modern

The modern album covers two games. The first was a 28mm skirmish using Two Hour Wargames' Chain Reaction 2.0 rules and Mongrel Miniatures excellent BAOR figures (Ireviewed there in an earlier post). The scenario started with terrorists taking an Ulster farmer and his wife hostage and a routine British Army patrol passing and spotting something suspicious.

The second game was a 15mm playtest of the Metal Storm rules using a US vs warlord scenario. The rules are derived from the Peter Pig AK47 Republic rules but with some significant additions - like the use of differing sized dice. The rules played fine but we weren't convinced the additions added value as were as the complications - they need another outing to work that out. The figures were from Peter Pig.

Modern

Gloire

I picked up a copy of Rattrap Productions' Gloire rules at Salute last year. They're an adaptation of their .45 Adventure rules for Swashbuckling Adventure in the Age of Kings. We decided to give the sample scenario a go with my Redoubt Enterprises super-heroic 28mm figures and they played very well - enough so for me to go off and get a copy of .45 Adventure actually!

Gloire

Colonial

Lenin has a frankly astonishing number of the Wargames Foundry and Copplestone Castings Darkest Africa figures - I wouldn't be surprised if it was all of them actually! Anyway, the ones he has managed to paint (and it's a surprisingly large number of them) don't see the table anywhere near often enough as they're very nice (as you can see). So we decided to kill two birds with one stone and try out the Antwerp Fusiliers' Afriboria rules with them.

Colonial

The rules are inspired by the Commands and Colors system but give a different type of game. We enjoyed it but there was rather too much of people being surprised by animals and eaten for our liking (not enough variety in the event cards!). It certainly has promise though.

Russo-Japanese War

Lenin picked up a load of 15mm figures for this period when he was in the States and, as you can see, has made a fine job of painting them. We had previously tried a modified version of Fire & Fury for an earlier game but they didn't quite give the feel we were looking for. So I suggested making some small tweaks to the Too Fat Lardies' Triumph of the Will rules and cobbled together the Battle of Yalu River, 1904 as a trial. The results were pretty good.

Russo-Japanese War

Renaissance

As with many period it can be quite different things that get you interested. In this case it was the figures more than anything else. Vendel Miniatures produce a number of excellent 28mm figure ranges and whilst I couldn't justify their Greeks I managed to convince myself that I needed their Border Reivers.

Renaissance

I have since extended the period with the acquisition of some of the Vendel Elizabethan Irish which I am in the process of basing.

I've tried a number of rule sets with these figures including Vendel's own Hot Trod & Red Hand, Fyre and Sword and the Antwerp Fusilier's Renaissance Raiders; however, for skirmish I think I may fall back to Two Hour Wargames' Black Powder Battles (with suitable adjustments). I'm still trying to work out which rules I will use for the Elizabethan Irish games though...

Steampunk

I have been slowly collecting some interesting miniatures to use for Steampunk or Victorian Science Fiction if you prefer. The album shows my 25mm Parroom Station Masked Minions and an Ironclad Miniatures steam tank on the surface of Mars.

Steampunk

Lenin's Library

My regular opponent and the source of my many excellently painted minis, Lenin, is just creating his own website with blog. Lenin's Library, as he has named it, will be where he will blather on about his own (and sometimes our shared) projects, hopefully post pictures of his extensive collection of beautifully painted miniatures (plus some ones of girls with guns I suspect!) and general gaming stuff.

If you're vaguely interested in my gaming witterings then, since we share a lot of the same interests, you'll probably find something to interest you there too!

Review: .45 Adventure

.45 Adventure is a set of miniatures rules by Rattrap Productions for Crimefighting Action in the Pulp Era. These rules have spawned several supplements and versions for other periods including Fantastic Worlds (Pulp SF) and Gloire (Swashbuckling Adventure).

Each figure is assigned various stats familiar to anyone who has played RPGs; however, these have been allocated names suitable to the genre - shivs (melee), heaters (shooting) etc. These are allocated to one of four hit locations (head, torso, arms and legs). When hits are taken in these locations the stats are reduced and eventually the figure will be disabled or killed. Each location is also allocated a damage rating (DR) which is taken into account to determine whether a hit is effective or not.

In addition to the stats the figures may be allocated specific attributes or skills which may improve stats or provide special abilities.

The game only uses a 10 sided dice (d10) which makes is less confusing for new players than Savage Worlds, which we have typically used for this period in the past. The mechanics used are based on stat tests where a player will roll a d10 and add the relevant stat (adjusted by an appropriate modifiers) and if it equals or exceeds 10 then they are successful.

On a game turn initiative is rolled and then players activate figures alternately within each Dodge level. Each figure can then conduct a single action (unless they have a special ability which permits more) which include moving, aiming, shooting and the like. Moving and shooting is permitted if appropriate but with a significant modifier.

Figures also give the player Hero points which may be used to improve dice rolls or allow dice to be re-rolled. This contributes significantly to the Pulp feel as along with the better characters being more robust you can use the hero points to avoid results which would spoil the "feel" of the game.

All the usual combat situations are dealt with along with rules for appropriate period weapons and vehicles.

One of the key features of the system is the approach to the terrain. Rattrap have clearly recognised that most games end up being fought in a relatively small area of the table no matter its size. Consequently their scenarios are based around a 2' x 2' area. Obviously the rules will work with larger tables but the more compact approach certainly speeds up game set up and reduces the costs!

In addition to the terrain the scenarios are expected to include encounter markers which trigger events or allow figures to discover equipment, clues or whatever is required to move the story along.

The rules come with a decent number of character archetypes (which are further expanded in the various supplements) and rules for creating your own. Two sample scenarios are provided along with guidance for making up your own (the supplements go on to build in both of these areas).

Whilst .45 Adventure doesn't have the absolute range of Savage Worlds (particularly in the area of magic for example) it is much more straight forward and provides a really fun experience.

Given the minimal requirements to run a game these rules are recommended. They are available as both a hardcopy ($16) and a .pdf download ($8).

All Things Zombie

Last weekend Lenin and I played a game of ATZ by Two Hour Wargames. It's another of their rule sets based around the reaction system and with rules to govern the zombie movement and action it works really well solo.

The scenario was based in a ruined world following a catastrophic series of meteor strikes. Lenin had a small squad out searching for survivors and resources. His squad entered the table in two Vietnam era trucks (borrowed from the National Guard) and managed to get about a third of the way in before finding the road blocked by a bus. Failed attempts to start the bus attracted a zombie and from that point things went downhill rapidly. With more and more zombies being attracted by gunfire the squad managed to hold them off for a while but then began to struggle. After losing a couple of the team the others boarded one of the trucks and made a run for it with a huge number of zombies in pursuit. Unfortunately the driver lost control after barging a car out of the way and the truck crashed killing another of the team and injuring the driver. They managed to give the main horde of zombies the slip but ran into another couple on the way to a stronghold they though might hold the local police. Managing to evade them they crossed the bridge to find that the police had succumbed to the zombies and only just managed to get off board.

Lenin thought he'd done pretty poorly having lost half the team, two trucks and not having recovered any resources. On the contrary just managing to get anyone off the table alive in an ATZ game is a win in my book!

See my earlier post for some photos of the game.

Which is more Important: Your Morale or Your Troops' Morale?

We played a Late Roman skirmish last week using Pax Romana and the game raised some interesting questions for me. One related specifically to the rules, and more of that later, and the other to the issue of morale. Crazy Dave was playing the Franks raiding inland from the Medway and I was fielding the Romano-Brits defending (later ably aided by Gav and Ben when the reinforcements arrived). The game started slowly with Dave picking his way through the early morning fog and eventually spotting my settlement but not before I'd spotted him and nipped off to inform the local garrison. Dave advanced his veteran troops towards my village, which was only defended by armed farmers and it looked like it was all going to be over pretty quickly. But when my lone archer loosed a couple of shots Dave decided to retire to the woods to regroup. By the time he'd got himself organised a patrol from the garrison had arrived and the fight looked like it was going to be a little more even. Unfortunately for Dave his reputation for unpredictable dice rolling was well earned and getting into the village was pretty heavy going for him. But he'd awung some of his troops in a flanking manoeuvre which surprised us from the rear and despite the patrol it started to swing Dave's way. Then more reinforcements arrived from the garrison and we all thought it was over for Dave. But despite the odds Dave moved onto the offensive and charged into the approaching units some of which broke and Dave's vets made their morale rolls. After a lot of heavy fighting Dave was eventually beaten but at a huge cost to the locals.

This all made me think, the game would have been quite different if Dave had used his aggression when advancing on the village in the first instance and had someone else been playing his troops later when the reinforcements arrived they could have simply run for the hills (which given the odds was what we were expecting!). It really highlights that no matter the morale rules for the troops the morale of the players is just as if not more important. It also goes to show that no matter what the odds any game with dice can go either way!

As to the rules one of the things that helped Dave was his veteran troops which get more actions than the less experienced troops. On reflection we were concerned that the veterans were getting rather too much of an advantage from this which was difficult to justify logically. Ben suggested using alternatives including getting several activation cards and being able to choose the highest thus allowing them to react faster. Bronze is now pondering so there may be a revised version coming.

Chain Reaction 2.0 - Available Free!

The Chain Reaction 2.0 rules are now being offered as a free .pdf download by Two Hour Wargames! These are the basic rules upon which the majority of Two Hour Wargames other sets like Nuts! and FNG are based.

The rules cover all the reaction test mechanics and provide stats for a variety of weaponry, so they make a great set for any modern skirmish.

If you haven't tried the Two Hour Wargames style rules I'd give them a go (you can't complain about the price!). They do have a learning curve but once you're over that they are excellent.