Farm Animals

I finally finished up the first group of 1/72 scale farm animals that I will be using for Pig Wars and perhaps as a scenic touch while playing Nuts!.  I now have some cows, two steer, several pigs, two piglets and one stubborn donkey.  If you remember back in August of last year I posted the looting table for Pig Wars that give points to various animals and loot that my Vikings will steal.  These animals will be a nice edition to the gaming table in future scenarios of Pig Wars.  I have some ducks and chickens to paint as well but still need to find smaller washers or another suitable base for them.  As I paint more Vikings and Saxons I will also finish the rest of the animals that came in the set.

Priming Backlog

Since the beginning of the new year I have slowly accumulated a backlog of miniatures and terrain that are waiting to be primed.  I have some 1/72 scale WWII soldiers as well as various terrain items sitting waiting for their primer coat.  Unfortunately it has been way to cold out to prime anything and I have no place inside that is ventilated enough to spray the primer.  So for the foreseeable future I will be getting nowhere on any of those pieces.  The positive side to this is it gives me reason to continue work on my current painting and helps temper the urge to start new projects.  When warmer weather arrives that is conducive to painting outdoors I will have plenty to keep me busy.

Painting Update

Between work and shoveling snow lately it has been hard to find time to get much of anything done that I have on my work bench.  I'm sure my constant jumping back and forth between projects probably does not help either.  So the flavor of this week was vikings, specifically the 2nd batch of vikings I started last year and have made little progress on.  I got the mail and metal parts painted as well as going back over the flesh where it did not cover the first time.  I also painted the pants a very basic color.  The next several painting sessions I will work on the shirts, tunics, hair and beards.  I will mostly likely try to vary the color on the shirts to help the figures stand out on the table instead of all looking the same.  Also in the background I have some 1/72 farm animals primed and have begun to experiment painting them.  I have never painted animals before so I'm taking my time and testing out different colors to see what looks good.

Introduction to NUTS!

I broke out my new game mat and rule set NUTS! to give the introductory scenario a go.  I took several pictures with my camera but due to very poor lighting on my part only the first one came out any good.  The scenario pitted a few U.S. troops (played by me) against a couple of Germans in a small farm house.  My troops emerged into view at the edge of the woods north of the farm house and were immediately met by fire from the German defenders.  I ended up knocking one out of the fight and killing the other one.  I held my ground as the remaining Germans emerged and tried to set up their MG.  Thankfully I was able to knock one out of the fight while forcing the other to duck back into cover.  I then advance on the farm house captured one wounded German and made short work of the rest with several well place grenades inside of the house.  The scenario was enjoyable as there was not to much going on so I did not feel overwhelmed learning the game.  As with learning anything new I made my fair share of mistakes but it was a good introduction to the rules.  I can see why so many people enjoy this rule set for WWII skirmish gaming.  I look forward to delving into the game some more

Some quick things realized while playing the scenario.  First I am going to need to get some more WWII figures and vehicles painted soon.  Second I either need a better camera or alot better lighting to game in, actually probably a combination of both.  Finally I need more buildings, trees, and terrain items in general especially once I get more figures painted.  Now to find the time to do all that in...

Leftovers from Childhood

As I mentioned in a post before Christmas I was going to be visiting my parents and hopefully going through some toys they have been storing for me.  My hope was that I would find things that could be used with my wargaming now that I am older.  Well its was a profitable trip not only in spending time with my family but in rediscovering some of my toys that I can still play with.  I even took a bag full of figures in different scales to place amongst the toys in order to judge what could be used for what.  Below are some pictures of my finds as well as brief descriptions of what I plan to use them for. (click on the pictures for bigger images)

First up are a bunch of random plastic scenery items that I remember finding in a bag at yard sale when I was a kid.  Most all of the items will go great with 15mm figures while the barrels, rocks, and dead trees should work with 1/72 figures as well.  In the lower left hand corner you will notice two tents and a rubber raft which I am exited about using with my post-apoc figures.

Next I found several matchbox cars that were small enough to look great with my 15mm figures.  I plan on converting most of them for use with the post-apoc gaming.  I also found 3 field tents that I used with my little green army men when I was younger.  I can use those for 15mm gaming and perhaps get away with them in 1/72 scale.  I also found one plastic trees and a bridge that will be great with 1/72 WWII figures.  I will probably have to give the bridge and tents a new paint job to take away from the plastic look.

The next items my father graciously gave me as he was not longer in need of them.  They are two HO scale houses and a factory that I can't wait to clean up and use with my 15mm post-apoc figures.

Finally I filled two large Ziploc backs with more HO scale items.  The bag on the left contains a good number of fences that I will clean up and base for 15mm gaming.  The bag on the right contains HO scale trees that my father gave me.  They are from his childhood and the flocking is so old the trees are disintegrating.  My idea is to soak the trees in warm water to remove all the flocking and hopefully be left with the basic tree shape.  Then I can add my own flocking, base and have brand new trees.  If that doesn't work it might be time to get rid of them.  I now have quite a few new projects to add to my to-do list.  Good thing its the beginning of a new year.

15mm Stands of Trees

I found a cheap auction on eBay and obtained a do it yourself kit for 15mm trees stands.  The kit had everything one would need to to make 3 stands of two trees each.  So for my inaugural project of 2011 I decide to complete these from start to finish instead of just starting them and finishing them later like so many of my other projects.

I started with cutting the plastic card bases to appropriate shape and size and then mounting the bottoms of the trees, 2 per base.  I then arranged the branches of each tree to prepare them for flocking.

To add flock I coated the branches in white glue and rolled them around in a bin of flock.  After that had dried each tree was dipped into a 50/50 mix of PVA and water.  This then dried hard and keeps most of the flock from flaking off.  Next was on to basing, which of course I forgot to take progress pictures of.  First I coated each base with white glue then cover it with playground sand.  After this had dried I painted them brown and gave them a dark wash.  Next was a light dry brush with an off white color.  Then in patches I added flocking for some light ground cover. 

Here you have the final products along with a FOW jeep and some post-apoc figures from Rebel Minis.

The Workbench - Jan. 2011

Let me start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year!  Its hard to believe that we are starting a new year let alone a new decade.  I look forward to continuing to bring you this blog throughout 2011.  Since it is the start to a new month it is time to update my progress on my current projects and gaming from this past month.  Unfortunately due to the holidays I was not able to spend as much time with my current open projects as I would have liked.  However, I was able to find some time to get bits and pieces done.  Also with the extra time spent with family over the holidays I was able to get some board gaming in but no miniature gaming.

Completed Projects in Dec. 2010:

-1st batch of Post-Apoc figures (sealed)

Current incomplete projects:

-Viking stockade fort (built: started painting, still needs dry brushing, flocking and sealing)
-15mm gas station (built: needs details, painting, flocking and sealing)
-15mm ruined buildings (built: needs details, painting, and sealing)
-1/72 vikings (primed: started painting, basing and sealing)
-1st batch of 1/72 farm animals (primed: needs painting, basing and sealing)
-15mm FOW command stands (primed: started painting, basing and sealing)
-Forest/Road terrain piece (built and flocked: need to decide whether to add more woods and then seal)
-Trees (needs basing and sealing)
-2nd batch of Post-Apoc figures (primed: needs painting, basing and sealing)

Games Played:

-3 games of Carcassonne w/ expansions
-1 game of Settles of Catan w/ expansions