Saga and the Zulu Wars

Played the fantastic Colonial Wars variant last weekend which was published in the Wargames Soldiers and Strategy magazine a few years ago. Figures are replaced by bases of 2-3 infantry and games can be up to 10 points. Mark Piper and I played a 8 point Zulu Wars game using scenario IV (pg. 113) from 'The Crescent and Ceoss' book. Zulus swarmed down from the hills and massacred the British force, fantastic variant which I heartily recommend for a different feel. Figures and terrain are from Mark Piper's excellent collection.

                                            British have walked into a trap

   

               

                                        Each base of 2-3 figures replaces the single figures of normal Saga

     

                                   British forces heading towards a quite Zulu village

         

            

    

 

   

Making a Zone Mortalis board cheaply

Tim from the Eye of Horus podcast threw out a challenge a few months ago about creating a Zone Mortalis table cheaply. Ok challenge was quickly accepted and I went about planning how to create a workable table and how much I wanted to spend. Budget I decided would be $200 which included materials, paint and a 6x4 Ship Interior FatMat from Frontline Gaming. I picked up my FatMat from Issac Baxter from the Warrior Lodge gaming group in North Brisbane for $100. 

      

I discussed my philosophy about designing a table on episode 62 of the EOH podcast especially emphasising how you will design your terrain to fit the look and outline of your Gaming mat. The FatMat has a large number of clearly defined rooms, corridors and a large open area that could be a landing bay or ship bridge. Now onto the materials used to create the walls and the doors.

Materials (essential)

2 x A1 sheets of 10mm thick foamcard (800mm x 600mm) $10-$15 a sheet

1 x A1 sheet of 5mm thick foamcard (800mm x 600mm) $8-12 a sheet

1 x sheet of 3mm MDF (600mm x 600mm) $8-$10 a sheet

1 x sheet of mounting board (thin cardboard for edges and detailing) $4-$6 a sheet

White glue used for woodworking $8-$10 a large bottle 

Tamiya Modelling tape (used to keep pieces in place whilst the glue sets) $8 a roll

Cheap Spray paint to basecoat walls (I use cans from Supa Cheap Auto) $3 

Materials (optional)

Airbrush to paint walls and add markings

CNC widgets to add details to walls and doors (pictured below) $16 for 39 pieces

Starting your build:

1. Decide how high you want your walls to be. I went with 8cm to match some MDF walls that I had bought from Battlefield Accessories.

2. Plan your room sizes using the Mat to guide you but ensure you identify where your doors will go. 

3. Remember when planning your rooms that you need to store and move these sections (I use under the bed plastic boxes). The larger rooms are made in several sections that use MDF pieces to connect the walls.

Test room build: 

Below you can see a small room section of our FatMat measured and cut from Foamcard. The MDF sections are doors which will be discussed later on.

           

Larger room marked out, cut and placed out ready for construction. Notice that the door frame is two pieces of MDF which has yet to be cut to allow the insertion of the door (thinner foamcard or MDF).

Larger room below which will be made in two pieces to allow storage. The MDF door frames will allow the walls to join together.

Board under construction and nearly there.

Another board in progress shot

Notice how all the walls and doors mirror the design of the Mat. Removable walls in the larger room breaks up the open areas and provides lots of cover.

Notice the door frames have been cut and await doors which are simply slotted in when gaming.

Planning out how to break up the open areas in some of the rooms.

MDF pieces (30mm wide) are added to provide strength, weight, shape and walls joints are added to the Foamcard walls.

Foamcard walls nearly done however these still lack the very important thin cardboard strips along the exposed foam edges. The foamcard needs to be covered otherwise the spray paint will melt it and plus it looks much better. 

One of the many separate door frames to slow down and provide cover for our combatants.

First outing of the basic table after adding some yellow markings to the walls. More work on weathering and the adding of MDF CNC widgets needs to be done however.

    

Team Yankee 20mm

Had a great game of Team Yankee at the club last weekend. We played the last scenario from the rulebook where a Soviet tank battalion is trying to deploy from a small forest trail and suprise the American forces. The scenario was played twice with a win either way however in the first game I got hammered by the Yanks and left my tanks burning everywhere.

          First tanks deploying from the trail are quickly knocked out.

         Flanking force of 5 T72s actually last longer than I thought and take out a couple of Abrams.

Soviet tanks try to get through the woods into open country.

A10s

Soviet tanks finally break into open ground but their numbers are too few.

Lots of burning Soviet tanks.

40mm American Revolution

Hey guys I am back after a years hiatus in historical gaming, during this time I have been dabbling in the dark places of GW and 30k Heresy (which has been loads of fun). Back to historical gaming today with a cracking 40mm game of AWI with my gaming buddy Mark Piper. We played a large scenario using the new 'Land of the Free' rules which I rather quite like. Fun game with great figures and terrain and after a hard fought battle victory went to the forces of the King (me). Enjoy the photos of Mark's great collection and I will be back Monday with photos of a large 20mm Team Yankee game we are playing at the club.

          

                                      

               

   

Flames of War: Great War trial

Mark Piper and I meet up tonight for a brief runthrough of the new Great War supplement for Flames of War. Mark has a very large and nice collection of 28mm miniatures for the late war period and we used those instead of 15mm figures. We modified the ranges and movement by an additional 50% and placed 3-4 figures on larger temporary bases to signify units. The game played quickly and was fun and most importantly looked and felt right.

 Mark is going to buy a load of the irregular bases from Warbases to move the figures around and next game we will use his gaming boards that are perfect for the Western Front. We both like Flames of War rules but usually play with 20mm figures, so using 28mm models was a new experience. I know lots of people dislike FOW due to the wall to wall armour but the game is fun to play with a balanced scenario and a step away from the competition mentality.

         

               

           

      British troops on tempoary rectangular bases but the irregular shaped ones looked much better

      British troops on irregular bases. Mark is thinking of buying the bases with 4 slots from Warbases.

           

                             My female tank recieves 3 hits and I fail all 3 armour rolls, BOOM.

War of the Ring

Have been playing lots of different games over the last few months but very few historical games and when I do I have always forgotten to take photos. The one Fantasy game that I do play is the now defunct Lord of the Rings game 'War of the Ring' published by Games Workshop. It is a great system that does need some sensible agreement with your opponent prior to a game as it can very easily become over powered and rather silly. I have been a Tolkien fan like many gamers since I was 12 (I am now 45) and this game really brings the world to life. We have 4 local gamers (including myself) who still play the game and like always I have way too many figures. Here are some pictures I took a few months ago using my Isengard and High Elf and Dwarf figures but I am playing a large 2100 game this Sunday and I will ensure I take more photos.

Don't despair about this spread of non historical gaming as I have been taking a break to re-charge my batteries and I am raring to go in building some new 28mm ancient armies. I am also playing a WWI 28mm tomorrow night using the new Flames of War rules by just increasing movement and ranges by 50%.

                                                         Dwarves move forward

          

                                                                  Isengard pike block

                

                                                     Slimy Orcs in the service of Saruman

                                                                   More Orcs

                    Orcs in trouble about to recieve a volley at pointblank range