Although, not wargaming related, I thought I'd pass along the good news. This is our first child.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
New Miniature!
My wife and I are new proud parents of Paige Alizabeth Elder who arrived May 23, 7 lbs 3 ozs, 19 inches.
Although, not wargaming related, I thought I'd pass along the good news. This is our first child.
Although, not wargaming related, I thought I'd pass along the good news. This is our first child.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Elephant Grass Terrain for 10mm Wargaming
For my Ia Drang Vietnam scenario I read there was elephant grass in the battlefield, so I did my research how I was going to create the long grass. It seems that the best way to represent long grass or wheat people are using is using faux fur. I struggled to find faux fur at my nearby fabric/hobby stores. I ended up finally finding it at a decent fabric store in town (Denver Fabrics). The sales clerk got a kick out of me buying the fur during a snow storm that day, saying I could use it to keep warm leaving the store.
The fur itself is too long for my 10mm scale battle, so I had to figure out how to trim it. Also I did not find much help online regarding painting, but figured spray paint would work. So I gave it a try originally with Krylon Camouflage ultra-flat olive green but found it was too dark.
Below is what I came up with. I might add some more shades to the current green, but it is start.
The fur itself is too long for my 10mm scale battle, so I had to figure out how to trim it. Also I did not find much help online regarding painting, but figured spray paint would work. So I gave it a try originally with Krylon Camouflage ultra-flat olive green but found it was too dark.
Below is what I came up with. I might add some more shades to the current green, but it is start.
Piece of faux fur cut as a terrain feature.
Hair trimmer with a 3/8" attachment to trim the fur.
After trimming.
Krylon emerald green gloss spray paint used on fur.
The faux fur after spray paint. I did spray a lot of paint trying to cover all beige colour.
It starts to get glossier the longer you spray the fur, which I think is okay because it is supposed to be grass.
Elephant grass with 10mm NVA figures. I might try adding some lighter green spray paint patches to tone down the uniform green colour.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
War of 1812 Research
I figured I'd pass along news of what I've been up to wargaming wise. I've been researching like no tomorrow for a historical War of 1812 (North America) skirmish battle hopefully using at least some of my painted 28mm figures.
I have this love-hate relationship with the War of 1812. The love part is this was a war that took place close to where I grew up, interesting history, and I've visited a number of the forts. I have enjoyed painting up the figures whether 15mm or 28mm. The hate part is I can't figure out the rules to use and a historical battle that fits that does not need lots of 15mm or 28mm figures. I have painted up the 15mm figures for the Battle of Crysler's Farm using the Generale de Brigade ruleset. It worked okay, but I think I lost interest in the ruleset. After that I researched similar sized battles to Cryslter's Farm and could not find the right ruleset to work on a 6'x4' table. I gave up. Then I discovered that probably the best approach was just paint up 28mm for skirmish battles. This works just fine for hypethetical battles, but doing hypethetical battles really isn't my thing. I prefer historical battles which have the correct terrain and units in the battle. I went ahead and tried my hand at 28mm painting and succeeded to my liking. I discovered there are napoleonic rulesets that have figures representing less than 1:50 and that peaked my interest again in War of 1812. I had forgotten that The Sword and the Flame ruleset is actually 1:10. Not saying I will use the ruleset, just noticing that there are rulesets out there that may work out for a historical battle with a low ratio. I'm looking at trying to keep the number of figures that I have to paint up low, but still have a good 6'x4' table battle. The latest two battles I've been looking at are the Raid on Black Rock and the Battle of Ogdensburg. Ogdensburg, NY is only a one hour drive from where I grew up (Ottawa, Canada). I think both battles would use some of my painted figures.
So hopefully soon I will have a battle and ruleset picked out for my War of 1812 figures. I will be buying Americans and more British/Canadians/Native tribes. I don't mind painting up more 28mm figures, now that I know I can do it and I like the uniforms. Iroquois Warriors have been ordered from Conquest Miniatures.
There has been discussion that 25/28mm buildings are too big on the wargaming table. I somewhat agree. The concept would be to use 15mm buildings with 28mm figures. I'm going to have to look more into this if I use the 1 figure represents 10, 15, 20, or 30 soldiers.
Rules I'm leaning towards:
I have this love-hate relationship with the War of 1812. The love part is this was a war that took place close to where I grew up, interesting history, and I've visited a number of the forts. I have enjoyed painting up the figures whether 15mm or 28mm. The hate part is I can't figure out the rules to use and a historical battle that fits that does not need lots of 15mm or 28mm figures. I have painted up the 15mm figures for the Battle of Crysler's Farm using the Generale de Brigade ruleset. It worked okay, but I think I lost interest in the ruleset. After that I researched similar sized battles to Cryslter's Farm and could not find the right ruleset to work on a 6'x4' table. I gave up. Then I discovered that probably the best approach was just paint up 28mm for skirmish battles. This works just fine for hypethetical battles, but doing hypethetical battles really isn't my thing. I prefer historical battles which have the correct terrain and units in the battle. I went ahead and tried my hand at 28mm painting and succeeded to my liking. I discovered there are napoleonic rulesets that have figures representing less than 1:50 and that peaked my interest again in War of 1812. I had forgotten that The Sword and the Flame ruleset is actually 1:10. Not saying I will use the ruleset, just noticing that there are rulesets out there that may work out for a historical battle with a low ratio. I'm looking at trying to keep the number of figures that I have to paint up low, but still have a good 6'x4' table battle. The latest two battles I've been looking at are the Raid on Black Rock and the Battle of Ogdensburg. Ogdensburg, NY is only a one hour drive from where I grew up (Ottawa, Canada). I think both battles would use some of my painted figures.
So hopefully soon I will have a battle and ruleset picked out for my War of 1812 figures. I will be buying Americans and more British/Canadians/Native tribes. I don't mind painting up more 28mm figures, now that I know I can do it and I like the uniforms. Iroquois Warriors have been ordered from Conquest Miniatures.
There has been discussion that 25/28mm buildings are too big on the wargaming table. I somewhat agree. The concept would be to use 15mm buildings with 28mm figures. I'm going to have to look more into this if I use the 1 figure represents 10, 15, 20, or 30 soldiers.
Rules I'm leaning towards:
- modified The Sword and the Flames by Bill Molyneaux
- Rocket's Red Glare
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)