Historicon 2014 Report

I left Columbia, South Carolina Thursday morning at 7 am and arrived at the hotel just after 1 pm.  It was definitely nicer to stay at the Hampton Inn next door; it made short trips to drop things off or take a break possible.  After checking in I made my way over to the convention center, picked up my badge and found my first game, ‘Necronomawhat?’  It was a 28mm skirmish game for 6 players with various dark age Britain warbands (I played Bran Mac Morn and his Picts) searching for the infamous Necronomicon.  We played on the Miniature Building Authority table loaded with great-looking terrain.  The rules worked well, the game flowed quickly and was a lot of fun.  Various Lovecraftian monsters appeared around the table as we searched for the evil book, and once it was found, factions turned on one another in an effort to claim the book and carry it off the table.  My treacherous Picts made a late play for it but didn't manage to capture the dark tome from King Arthur, who ended up it.  Great fun!

View of the table at setup.  My Picts are in the lower left corner.

A nasty surprise awaited us in the church graveyard!  I decided to skirt around the church and enter from the other side to search for our objective.

I've moved up into the wheatfield.  Various monsters are now on the board.

After meeting my friends Mike, Jenny, Keith and Mike upon their arrival from Columbus, Ohio and grabbing a bite to eat, I tagged along with Mike to his game and filled an empty spot.  “A Very British Battle’ was set in the fictional 1930s British Civil War.  I’ve never played a VBCW game before but they seem to be popular.  My Anglican League managed to enter the Catholic church first and discover the gold hidden in the crypt below.  Unfortunately I was being attacked by Fascists on one side and Communists on the other.  My remaining troops sought refuge with another faction that had broken through the front of the church and exchanged gold for protection.

Friday morning I played in the Saga tournament.  It featured 4 rounds, each round using a different scenario from the Saga rulebook.  I played Scots, which are my favorite army and also the first I painted for the game.  I won my first 2 games (Clash of Warlords and Battle at the Ford) and lost the last 2 (Escort and Sacred Ground), ending up in 4^th place.  The 2 players who beat me finished 1^st and 2^nd, and I was the only one to beat the 3^rd place player.  It was an enjoyable, well-run tournament.

First Saga game vs.Vikings after turn 1.  My Scots are on the bottom.  My unit of Warriors in the upper left of the picture have driven off the Viking levies and are about suffer 60% casualties in a fight with Viking hearthguards.  The rest of my force went on to kill the Viking warlord and most of his troops.

Second Saga game vs. Vikings as we approach the river.  My Scots are on the left.  I held off the Vikings at the upper crossing and captured the lower crossing.

Third Saga game vs. Bretons.  My Scots are on the bottom.  I managed to kill the Bretons and baggage on the right and destroy one of the central Breton units, but suffered heavy casualties in the center and couldn't catch the other 2 baggage units before they moved off the board to win.

Fourth Saga game vs. Anglo-Saxons towards the end of the game.  My Scots are on the bottom.  I have captured the right-hand hill but was unable to maintain a presence on the left-hand hill.

Friday night I played in ‘They Used Hitler’s Brain…A Doctor Who Adventure’.  I was interested to see how another GM ran a game with the DWMG rules (http://www.drwhominiatures.co.uk/).  The scenario featured an unholy alliance between Nazis and Daleks, with the Allies and Renegade Dalek factions both attempting to storm a castle and stop their nefarious experiments.  My other friend Mike also signed up and we had the British Special Forces squads.  It was a fun scenario, with lots of action going on in different parts of the table.  True to form, the Doctor snuck into the castle at the last minute and foiled the villains’ evil plan.  Back at the hotel, we played a game of ‘Seven Wonders’ which I narrowly won for the first time; the 5 of us were all within 10 points at the end.

I spent Saturday morning running a flea market table, selling a fair amount but not everything I brought.  Mike and Jenny brought a bunch of boardgames for the table as well.  I roamed the dealer hall in the afternoon, then played in ‘Fireball – Showdown in the Zombie Apocalypse’.  It was an adaptation of the WWII Fireball Forward rules, which I had read about but never played before.  The scenario featured American Marines in the Horn of Africa trying to locate an IED and clear the road for a convoy.  The Insurgents (including me) were trying to stop them and the Zombies just wanted to eat everyone.  I liked the rules, they were easy to pick up and ran well for a convention game.  The addition of zombies made the scenario less real-world and more enjoyable as a game for me.  I don’t play modern games all that often but this was fun, and the GM and players all had a good time.

View of the whole table.  The Marines entered along the road at top left, while the Insurgents entered from the bottom edge.

The Marines are moving towards the trucks to search for the IED but are in danger of being overrun by Zombies.

A close-up of my Insurgents trying to cover the truck with the IED.

Overall I had a great time at Historicon.  Wegman's provided delicious food as usual and the improvements to the gaming areas (carpet, more dividers, better chairs) reduced the sound and produced a better overall experience.  I look forward to returning to Fredericksburg next year.

Stuff I bought:

2 pieces of post-apocalyptic terrain for use in the upcoming game 'Across the Dead Earth':   http://www.deadearth.co.uk/

A 28mm Sci-fi Porta-potty from Miniature Building Authority, also for AtDE.

Revolt on Antares:  an old TSR mini-game, one of my favorites to play as a kid.

A copy of the 'Guns of Liberty' AWI rules for use in my AWI project.

6 bottles of paint by Iron Wind, Howard Hues and Army Painter.

2 Irregular 28mm Highland Cattle and 2 Pigs for use as scenery in Saga.

2 Civil War coloring books, a Star Wars battle droid and an animated Transformers DVD for my kids.

A 28mm Welsh Chieftain Gripping Beast figure won in the Saga tournament.

A Robocop figure (for my son) and a 28mm Adric (Doctor Who) BTD figure given to me by my friend Cade.  I look forward to Adric dying in a game soon (he was not my favorite companion).

A bunch of assorted Renaissance Ink bases given to me by my friend Jenny.

A 28mm Acheson Creations Large, half timbered and stone barn with thatched roof purchased during their sale earlier this year and delivered by my friend Mike.  It will be used in my Saga games.  I'm waiting for 2 more buildings to arrive so I can paint them all at the same time.

A 15mm Mongol DBA army by Pass of the North.  I received this in the mail the day before and didn't open it until I was in Fredericksburg so I'm listing it here.  I don't play DBA much anymore, but they are fantastic new figures and I've always wanted some Mongols.

Game Report - Doctor Who

Here are some pictures of the Doctor Who Miniatures Game scenario I ran at Siege of Augusta on 18 January, 2014.  All were taken with my iPad.  I used a modified version of the 'Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Daleks' scenario written by Crooked Dice (creators of the DWMG rules).  It is set during the last 2 episodes of David Tennant's first season as the 10th Doctor, 'Army of Ghosts' and 'Doomsday' while the Daleks, Cybermen and Torchwood are engaged in a life-or-death struggle for London.

Below is the table setup.  It was my first attempt at a city game board.  There are a variety of buildings, most of which were acquired for use in this game.  I used a mix of manufacturers including Demo's Laser-Cut Designs, Ainsty and Paper Terrain.  For the base, I used 6 2x2 foot pink insulation boards with a coat of primer, 2 coats of medium gray and 1 heavy wetbrush of light gray.  They turned out a bit lighter than I wanted, so I am considering how to darken them a bit.  There are styrene strips with a sidewalk pattern lining the streets and painted the same light grey but they don't show up well in the pictures.  Perhaps I will try an ink wash so the pattern is more distinct.  The TARDIS and the Doctor are visible at the top left.

An early game picture.  The Cybermen have set up their machines to convert humans into Cybermen in the 3-story factory in the middle of the board with the antenna on top.  The 2 good factions are approaching the factory, the Preachers from the left and Torchwood from the right.   The Daleks are advancing along the street on the left.  I was short 2 players so dropped 2 other factions (Police and Geezers).

Dalek Caan is picking off humans as the opportunity presents itself.  A dead Preacher is in the bottom left corner.

Inside the factory, 2 Cyberman (1 converted from a human captive) defend the 3 cyberconversion machines from Torchwood and the Preachers.  The Cybermen had a rough game, they often avoided being killed due to their armor but rolled terribly on their attacks.

A street view outside the factory.  A dead Cyberman lies in the street, killed while taking a captive to be converted.

Dalek Caan moves to capture the Doctor.

The last Cyberman vs. a Torchwood trooper and Rose Tyler.

The other humans are going after the Dalek.

Just as the last Preacher (Mickey Smith) got in range of Dalek Caan, an event card brought Dalek Sec in the game.  He only stayed for 1 turn, and I don't seem to have gotten a picture with him on the board.  His assistance turned the tide in favor of the Daleks.

End of the game.  The Cybermen are all dead, but the Daleks have captured the Doctor and exterminated all their nearby opponents.  Doubtless the Doctor will devise a cunning plan to escape and defeat the Daleks in the next episode!

I had a good time running the game.  I plan on running it again in June at StormCon, a new convention in Charleston, South Carolina.  I may make a few changes to the terrain, including adding some signs to the buildings and perhaps altering the color of the boards/sidewalks.  When I get the buildings out of storage I will take some individual pictures of them.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

Items For Sale

Note:  I am marking items SOLD as they go.

Trying to dispose of some things I no longer want/need.  Postage at cost.  Email me at miros@sc.rr.com if you want to buy something.

SOLD
1. 12 x 28mm US Army (Old Glory).  I think these are 82nd Airborne: $12

2. 28mm British mortar and 3 crew (The Assault Group BRT018): $6

SOLD 
3. Harold Godwinson and his Brothers (Gripping Beast) for SAGA: $11

SOLD 
4. 6 x 28mm Norman archers (Old Glory): $6

SOLD 
5. 4 x 28mm Norman Cavalry (Old Glory): $8

6. 10 x 28mm Dark Age Cavalry (Old Glory).  Can use for Scots, Welsh, Strathclyde, etc: $20

SOLD
7. Assorted 25mm Doctor Who figures: 2 x UNIT soldiers, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (baton is broken off), Davros and the Master (FASA): $2 each

SOLD
8. More 28mm Doctor Who.  The new series John Simms Master (Heresy, comes with a blaster and a 2nd hand holding a pistol) and K-9 (Black Tree): $2.50 each

SOLD 
9. Regimental Fire and Fury ACW Rules.  Brand new, never read: $25

SOLD

10.  Doctor Who Region 1 DVDs: The Ribos Operation (Special Edition, new); The Androids of Tara (like new) and The Armageddon Factor (new): $7 each

Terrain in Process

After getting bad cuts on 2 of the fingers on my painting hand (don't get in a fight with a meatslicer, you will lose), I have been working on terrain recently.  I need to build up my stock of 28mm urban terrain for a couple of Doctor Who scenarios I want to run in January.

First are 2 near-identical pieces of ruins I bought at a convention flea market sometime in the last 2 years.  They were already based and painted, though only a light grey with no shading.  I gave them a thin coat of black paint, then drybrushed successive coats of Ceramcoat charcoal gray and hippo gray.  I glued ballast to a few thin spots and added more static grass then sealed them with matte varnish.  They will be useful terrain for anything from Dark Ages to modern.  You can glimpse a primed checkpoint barrier from Ainsty in the background.

Next some items in process. From left to right, a large box from Ainsty, an antenna tower from Demo's Laser Cut Designs and 4 28mm Daleks from Black Tree Designs.  All were sprayed black, though the can turned out to be semi-gloss.  A quick brushed-on coat of black paint took care of that.  The Daleks will feature in one of the Doctor Who scenarios and be painted as the Cult of Skaro (gold and bronze paint scheme).  The antenna tower is made of laser-cut wood pieces.  It glued together very easily with Aleene's tacky glue and was a test before I built the items in the last picture.

Last are 4 stores, also from Demo's: http://demoslaser-cutdesigns.weebly.com/
I bought them with the antenna at the 2012 Little Wars convention in Chicago.  It took 2 1/2 hours to put together all 4.  The parts fit together very well and I am pleased with the result.  If you want a piece-by-piece look, check out Captain Apathy's excellent overview:
http://captainapathy.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/28mm-laser-cut-storefronts/

I still have to glue them to their bases.  They come with store signs, but I am waiting to put those on until after I have painted them.  I bought a can of flat black spray so I will proceed with priming and painting soon.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Doctors and Companions

After a long hiatus, here are some pictures of the man himself: the Doctor.  Well, two versions of him anyway.

First up are the 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee, 1970-74) and his last companion, Sarah Jane Smith.  Most of this Doctor's stories are set on Earth, where he had been exiled by the Time Lords.  This was also UNIT's heyday and provides a lot of scenario ideas.  These are both Black Tree Design figures and were painted in 2011.

The fourth Doctor (Tom Baker, 1974-81) was the longest running, the first one I saw and has always been my favorite.  These are his first group of companions, Sarah Jane Smith on the right and Harry Sullivan on the left.  These are also from Black Tree Design and painted in 2011.

And these are two of the 4th Doctor's later companions: Leela of the Sevateem and the robot dog K-9.  Leela is from Black Tree and K-9 is made by Heresy Miniatures.  The body is sold as a 'D-06 General Duty Robot' and the head is sold as a 'Security Upgrade'.  Both were painted in 2011.

I am planning on returning to my Doctor Who project in the near future in order to prepare a scenario I want to run at Siege of Augusta in January 2014.  Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Villains

This post covers some of the villains I have painted for my Doctor Who project.

First up are the 'KGB Men' and 'More KGB Men' packs from Copplestone.  I use them as generic bad guys.  There are 3 miniatures in each pack, however I have mixed them up for these pictures.  They were painted over a couple of days in January 2012 for use in a game I ran at that year's Siege of Augusta.

Below are 2 packs of 'Guards in Hard Hats', also from Copplestone.  I had a difficult time painting these figures for many reasons.  The miniatures themselves are fine.  I decided I wanted to paint them in orange jumpsuits to be generic guards for a factory, refinery, evil mastermind's lair, etc.  While I had a dark orange paint I liked for the base color, I tried many lighter colors before finding a bottle of Ral Partha/Iron Wind Orange at the Little Wars convention in April 2012.  After finishing the painting, I applied my usual wash to add some shading but for some reason I don't think it looks as good as normal.  I was then struck by the infamous 'matte spray fog' and had to repaint sections.  In the end, I don't like them very much.  I'm not sure if it is how they look or because of the long process.  I will still use them in games though!

Next is a group of 6 Ogrons.  From Wikipedia: "Ogrons are low-intelligence, ape-like hominids who live in scattered communities on an unnamed planet on the outer fringes of the Milky Way, far from the central spaceways. The dominant lifeform on their home planet is a giant slug-like lizard named the Eater, and the Ogrons both pray to and are preyed on by it.  Ogrons are hired mercenaries. Those who have employed their services include the Master and the Daleks.

Ogrons appeared in 3 stories of the 3rd Doctor: Day of the Daleks, Carnival of Monsters and Frontier in Space.  Here is a picture from one of the episodes:

                                          

And here is my take on the Ogrons.  These are Black Tree Design miniatures and I painted them in the spring/summer of 2012.  There are 2 different poses, but only the position of arm with the gun varies.

Last, but certainly not least, are 2 versions of the Master. Below is a picture of all the Masters from the show in order of appearance.  The first 3 in the top row are from the original era of the show, the 4th from the 1996 movie, and the 5th and 6th from the newer shows.  I have miniatures of the 2nd, decayed one and the 6th but have not painted them yet.

                                                   

On the left is the original Master, as portrayed in the 1970s by Roger Delgado.  On the right is the 3rd version, played in the 1980s by Anthony Ainley (my favorite as he was the first one I saw).  Both are by Black Tree Miniatures and were painted in 2011.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

Saga Project - Anglo-Danes

I've started on another Saga army, Anglo-Danes.  I'm working on a 4 point starter army from Gripping Beast.  Below is a picture taken earlier this week after priming and painting the bases and metal.  I've since done the hair and am working on the flesh highlights.  The warlord is in front, with 2 units of Huscarls on the left and 2 units of warriors on the right.

I have a few more units for the Anglo-Danes but they are still being cleaned and assembled.  My plan is to complete the starter army, then work on the other units perhaps alternating with some Normans if I need to do something different.

Long live King Canute!

Jason

Saga Scots WIP

It says WIP in the title, but the army (7 points of Scots for Saga) is actually completed.  I experimented with a new basing style for this army.  I added static grass last night to a couple bases to see if I liked it; I liked it enough to go ahead and do the entire army at once.  Here is a picture after finishing the bases.  I started them in late August and had the goal of finishing them by my birthday (5 November), but life interfered towards the end.  I'm very pleased with how they turned out though!

I have a game scheduled for Saturday, so they'll see action soon.  I'll take some pictures of the units and post them and maybe some in-game pictures as well.