Saturday, March 31, 2012

The 15mm modern table tiles!




Howdy all!

Okay... last night I took the one piece of MDF that I had, and decided to paint it up to act as a modern tile!

I only really need one to play a game, so I think I'll be setting this guy up on the table and I'll put my unfinished buildings on it and playing... that I think will give me incentive to work on them!:)

There are a few shots here.

First up, some of my 15mm US troops along with their humvee.  It isn't glued down to its base, but I think I will glue it down; I think it will look good.

I also took a few shots of my insurgents.

Anyway... I think they turned out pretty cool.  I also think the tile turned out nicely.  My real ones will be smaller, but for now I can use this.  I first painted it with sand paint.  I then gave it a

Friday, March 30, 2012

3 eras, 1 photo


From L to R... 10mm Napoleonics, 15mm ACW, and 15mm Moderns on my first new tile.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

15mm Modern Insurgents finished!


My first set of 15mm modern insurgents are done!

I painted these guys up using pretty simple colors... browns and blue for the blue jeans.  The belts and web gear is mostly black, with one or two tan pieces there, undoubtedly taken from enemy supplies.

I painted the headwear in a mix of black, white, and red, with one polka dot one.

Weapons were simple; all black, with sections of wood.  I wish that I had some heavy machine guns... sometime in the future, maybe:)

My "Osama" looking guy is a conversion from a 15mm FOW German artilleryman... he looks sharp in person, although in the photo you can ALWAYS see the mistakes:)

I wanted to keep these guys simple, and I think I succeeded... and they look really good:)  Can't wait until they can go to war a bit!

Next up I think I am going to make a few IED markers... simple stuff, but I think it will look good:)

So stick around!

15mm Insurgents painted and ready to dip


Here they are!

They were pretty simple to do... man, 15mm moderns without all the Napoleonic uniforms and straps and all of that nonsense are pretty damn easy!  The commander looks fine... not too much highlighting or anything, but he'll look good when he is dipped.

So now I have to dip them and they'll be ready to go!  I am pretty happy with how they look so far!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

15mm Modern Insurgents based and converted


Hey all!

Well, I got my first group of insurgents based up.

They are a mix of fellows armed with AKs and RPGs.

I have already puttied the bases and undercoated them... I'll post a photo later.

The guy in front is a conversion based on a 15mm FOW German... I needed a "commander" figure for my insurgents because I knew one game type I was going to do was a "hunt the terrorist leader" game.  Some putty for a beard and a turban, and a robe, and voila!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Chateau is packed and ready to go!

Very sad!

I packed the chateau up for shipping!  A gent down in Texas is interested in giving it a home, so it has got to go!

It does make me sad, though... I do have an idea that some day I'll be in a place with a MUCH larger wargames space, and I will be sad that I don't have this guy!  Oh well... I guess I can always make another, but it won't be the same; I put a LOT of work into this one!

Here is a photo of it in its glory!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A great Normandy assault on the iPad



Howdy all!

Well... REALLY enjoying Battle Academy for the iPad.

Played the first Normandy scenario (there are a TON of scenarios for this damn game... dozens and dozens spread across eight or something campaigns).

You just landed on the beaches and have to break inland.  There are several objectives right at the beaches that need taking, two inland causeways that need capturing, and finally there is town that is held by paratroopers that you must relieve.

A LOT of damned fun.  Taking villages is a brute... you've got to bring armor up and pound the hell out of any position you think enemy infantry might be lurking in... then, if you can, flank with your infantry and assault the houses.  If you try to roll tanks right down the street you are doomed.

Tough to use the naval bombardments... they take a few turns to reach the target, so I am still trying to make sure the enemy hasn't LEFT when the rounds arrive!  I did have a great moment where I had some airborne troops holding a bridge against a wave of German armor... just as they were about to be overrun the naval shells thundered in, throwing back the Germans and destroying a bunch of them.  It was pretty excellent.

I did end up winning... just as my airborne guys were about to be overrun on the edge of the town I managed to roll a column of Shermans and Stewarts right in the back of the town and attack them from the flanks.  Victory was mine!

A really great game... HIGHLY recommended for ANY wargamer with an iPad and a couple of bucks to spare.  Between the dozens of missions, the open ended play, and the apparently easy multiplayer (I haven't tried it yet) it definitely seems worth it.

Monday, March 19, 2012

FINALLY! A true wargame for the iPad!

FINALLY!

I have long thought that the iPad was the IDEAL platform for wargames.  Not only is it portable and light, but you can almost move the figures around with your own hands... VERY wargaming!

However, I've been disappointed that there hasn't been a good wargame for the iPad yet.

Well, no more!  Finally there is, from the folks over at Slitherine... Battle Academy!

It performs exactly as you would expect on an iPad, and is a ton of fun.  It covers almost every part of the Western Theatre, including Africa and Europe, and includes a ton of units.  Very intuitive game controls, and good game mechanics... suppress the enemy and then engage them on the flank!

One downside?  The cost... it is 20 bucks.  Now, that is NOTHING compared to XBOX games, but is more than most people expect to pay for an iPad game.

Honestly though, it is worth it!

So go out there and buy it!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Some finished Middle Eastern scenery for the 15mm Moderns


Hello, blog readers!

You know, I am glad so many people do check the blog.  I am sorry that I have wandered from the primary interest areas of Napoleonics and ACW, and into such areas as my video games, 28mm Vikings, Space Wolves, Al Swearengen, and now 15mm Moderns.  It is funny, because I was always a real traditionalist of a collector... it was all black powder collections.  But I've since enjoyed doing some other small "projects!

I hope everyone has found stuff to enjoy on this blog.  If the current stuff isn't your interest, I hope you can do what I do... read over old 10mm Napoleonic battle reports!:D  I love reliving that stuff!

Anyway... here is the latest!

First up, some 15mm Jersey barricades (*sigh*) to line the roads (top).

I just gave them a spray of the basic ground undercoat... maybe I'll do a touch of highlighting, but I am not convinced they need them... they look GOOD drab!

I also did a single market stall, just to test the palate.  Did a brown-gray, followed by a white highlight, to do the bleached woods.  Thoughts?

Finally... what do I do with this Gamecraft Miniatures fountain?  I was thinking of putting in on a blank wall of my mosque... Or should it be on an individual piece?  Thoughts?

Thanks for coming by, all, both for this post and the rest!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The World's Largest Zombie wargames project?


Howdy all!

Thought I would share... my buddy is working on what might be the largest 15mm Zombie board ever done.  He is still neck deep in city construction, although he has a lot of the figures painted.  He still has a LOT of zombies to go, though, and a ton of city to construct.

When he gets it nearer completion I'll share the story of how it came to be... it is tied into Fall In in a funny way!

Anyway, stop on by his blog and take a peek!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

15mm painted ACW collection for sale


Sold to a good home, thanks!

250 bucks for the collection!

Hey all!

Well... with the baby here, and money always needed, I thought I'd delve into my storage closet and send some of my soldiers off to homes where they will get more chances to fight for glory!

So!  With that said... I am selling off some 15mm ACW figures, fully painted and ready to go!

This was a small collection I put together to help aim my overall collection play Western theatre games, but honestly you could use them for anything.  The Rebs are a bit more ragged and varied, and the Federals feature a lot of Hardee hats and the like.  And of course slouch hats abound!  There is a single unit of zouaves (14th NY); even though they did not serve out west, I really loved the miniatures and wanted to paint them up!

Here are the totals:

FEDERAL
6 units of 5 stands
2 units of 4 stands

A total of 38 stands of 152 painted figures.  Two of the units (one 5 stand one 4) don't have flags, as they were originally the second half of a larger unit.

CONFEDERATE
6 units of 5 stands

A total of 30 stands of 120 painted figures.  Again, a couple don't have flags as they were intended as second parts of an original unit.

Everything is as it appears in the photo, except for ONE point; looking at these guys now I realize I didn't black out the edges of every stand!  So I'll do that... they've got to look uniform!:)

It kills me to sell these guys, as they are great wargames figures and honestly are a real historical set for me, personally.  However, babies are expensive.

So!  I hope these guys will go to a good home!

I figure 20 bucks a unit is a pretty good price, so these guys are yours for 280 bucks, plus whatever shipping is.

Not bad for a lovely little wargames collection to get you started, or to expand what you have!

Any questions?  Just let me know!

My email is grenadierguardscampaigns AT yahoo.com

Thanks all!

To base the humvee, or not to base?


That is the question?

Downside of base?  I don't love the look.

Upside?  It gets the humvee more in line with the infantry as far as the visual proportions.  It also does tie everything together a bit.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Humvees assembled and undercoated

Hey all!

The hummers are assembled and undercoated... the gun turrets have to dry separately, but here they are.

I would normally NEVER do this, btw... but should I put them on bases?  I just ask because with the infantry being on bases it makes the guys a bit too big for the humvees.... if they were on bases everything would look scaled correctly.  Thoughts?