Industrial Scenery

Yet again old scenery damaged by time and mouse, plus a little too much moisture in the shed.

Larger pieces of MDF warp.

Originally built almost 20 years ago these tired pieces needed help, which I gave them about 8 years ago.

I'd used pringle boxes for the cylinder shapes, foam board for square building or folded cereal packet cardboard, heavy duty black power cable for the pipes, (bends and keeps shape), square chicken/pet mesh for the fencing, Camembert cheese containers for the large disc shaped containers, lumps of polystyrene, the polystyrene packaging from a new shower pump and finally some of you will see the polystyrene insert from a GW £5 models box, broken and leaking as two sump pools.
(£5 now that is an old GW price for 5 models!)

If it ain't fixed down in my house it ends up as scenery!

Time to rebuild, I decided to rebase in smaller elements but keeping to a multiple of x" so that I could pack them densely together if I chose.

First salvage what you can.

I did so want to salvage the boards too, but their warp was such that I felt I was creating work, so in the bin it went.

As we all know more is better so whilst refreshing the old I decided to build in some more, I was revisiting 40k 4th ed at the time and also had in mind club requirements for infinity player.

New bases all multiples of the small square at the front. It allows you to fit them all together should you wish.

All the salvaged materials re-based.





I use builders caulk all the time. It's a glue, a filler can be sanded and using a wet finger can be smoothed easily.

New ruins using thick corrugated cardboard, masking tape joins the corners, Caulk fills the corrugations in the cardboard.













PVC plumbing pipes for the chimneys.


I've cut polystyrene discs and surrounded with thin card to replace the old Camembert containers. Their thin wood surround was not salvageable and I didn't want to wait whilst I bought more cheese.

What to add for variety? Take a look at some industrial complex photos, especially chemical/petroleum.


Plastic balls from a ball pool stuck onto sections of towel roll tubes.




All painted up and in use.

The Infinity players in our club love the quantity of cover provided.

Mixed in with some of my alien trees

Re-basing my Warmaster Orcs for PV

I know the phrase 're-basing' brings dread to many, further the idea that Warmaster models might be reused for another game might appal some, but none have been damaged.

However if you have an army that you are going to play in fundamentally a very different way regarding the removal of elements of a unit, then why not go for it. Some will prefer to use sabots, temporary bases to place them on, but foolhardy or not I've decided to go and redo the lot.

Further as I've been playing in 6 mm and 10 mm with bases that are larger than the quantity of models, each can become a little diorama and one thing that was obvious in Warmaster was the lack of space to fit that many models on three bases of 30 x 20 mm, a total footprint of 30 x 60 mm or 90 x 20 mm; ouch! We are basing our 10 mm models (inc WM) to a frontage of 100 mm with a varying depth of between 50 and 60 mm and I think they show off the models very well indeed.

When describing the new PV game in Post Velamentum - 2 I talked about rebasing the Orcs, with a delay of many months, I removed them in July 2018 , I re-based today.

The full army now looks like this:

And in Warmaster rules that's 3425 points.

When I was initially calculating PV/HC! points it seems 250 PV/HC! points equals 1000 WM points.
So that's about 800-900 points, that's a big game. I still have a few bases of Baccus gobos and some WM Boar riders to paint/& base as well as a rock lobber, Giant, Troll unit and 4 Ogres not MW legal however we will see where PV takes us.

Close up of the units.

The Boss and his support staff (SLT)

The Hard as nail Black Orcs (I use GW Orcs)

The core units of Orcs as stated before these are BoFA models

. Obligatory Goblins (Baccus)

Boar Boys and Chariots

Wolf Riders (more BoFA)

Rock lobbers, Giant and Ogres

Finally the Trolls

.......earlier

Home Counties 1897 - War of The worlds - No place like home.

For me the biggest problem with a new army is painting the first units.
I just can't it must be like authors block or stage fright.

I will literally do anything else. Have been known to do chores, not often enough in the opinion of some, but it makes the point.

So while I research the uniforms and consider how to paint them, prep them and undercoat them, I'll find something else to do (hobby wise).

So whilst this should be about painting the Brits it is instead the buildings.

I have some 6 mm from Battle Scale and they are lovely but Normandy or Russian, the Greek Orthodox Churches will be a miss, but the hovels will do nicely, peasants need to live somewhere and the Victorian times weren't all that enlightened. If in doubt read some Dickens!

I had some more 6 mm buildings unpainted that would do and as I was at the Joy of 6 I went to see what was on offer.
I'd seen Leven Minatures, before but this time I was in 'buy mode' It's so much easier to find what you want when it's in packets in front of you and at only £3 ish a model you get good value for your money, however £50 can exchange hands quite quickly, some wasn't in stock but was receive post free quickly after the show and I've made a similar purchase since and will again.

6 mm isn't cheaper than 28 that is a canard. What you find is that rather than buying a couple of 28 mm farm buildings for £52, you sepnd the same and get 4 farm buildings plus a town, a vicarage etc. and they do have more impact.

I intend to base a few up together, farmsteads and streets, but for the moment they're painted up.

As everyone is hiding on has run away, there are no lights to be seen in the windows!


P.S. I mentioned I had more 6 mm buildings - these went in the bin, I've seen more work from the same store and TBH there are too many pits and lumps and after seeing Leven's work I'll focus my spending with him.

Home Counties 1897 - War of The worlds - No place like home 2

Previous article

Home Counties 1897 - War of The worlds - Assembling the forces 1

The Tripods



So we start with a picture from Pendraken's site .

How on Earth, or indeed Mars do you assemble a 50mm high Tripod?

Consider I don't want to base them as I want them to be able to walk over the scenery.





















Plan 'A' was lots of blu tac models upside down and a good amount of Gorilla epoxy, I don't want to be forever repairing. I did consider pinning, I may have to.

Yes it worked but for repairs it was easier to stack some MDF bases tapped with masking tape and blu tack them on that, additional blu tac as required to stabilise or hold in place.
















The six legged crawlers had to be done that way and because of that it did suggest how to repair the others.
















Assembled and curing. I guess I've repaired 4 so far superglue in one case as the gorilla glue had created the shape, the socket for the ball so to speak.








Had to show them off on a sample latex mat from Magister Militum.

(These small latex mats are all different and I love them I use them to define woodland or scrub areas. They go very well with my 'Grass' cloth from Tiny Wargames.)

Striding over Leven Minatures' 6mm Victorian terraces.












For scale I've placed some 6 mm Baccus troops.

I feel I have got what I was imagining.





Painted up, I hope the Varnish will brighten the Green glass windows/eyes

Packed safely away in their Commission Figurines' mdf tray.



Now do I face the idea of painting 6 mm Brits or duck it and go to those rather tasty Leven buildings?








No place like home!

Previous Post

Home Counties 1897 - War of The worlds

At Salute last year I saw a game called Tripods and Triplanes and it made me think about the book War of The Worlds by H.G. Wells (1897)

I decided I'd like to have a go at setting up a game based on the book, with the Victorian army facing off against the Tripods.

Whilst still dithering over which rules to use would it be, Black Powder, Future War Commander, my own (to be written) rules or a hodge podge of the first two. I decided to ignore such niceties and see what models were on the market, this could determine the ruleset, it would certainly determine the scale.

I have a predilection for doing big games in smaller scales and so began at 6mm.

If it were 6mm the the army choice was simple Baccus' but which army. The British army of that time was using a Spiked helmet at home and a Pith helmet in various parts of Africa and India

Home Service Helmet

Pith Helmet

The home Service counties helmet and Pith helmet aren't that different.
In battle the helemt was often covered

The origins of such a helmet and who might have used it first is presented here at Straight to the Point: The History of the Spiked Helmet  but Russian or Indian in origin they all seem to hail from early Mongolian headgear.

I  digress, at 6mm the two are the same and who needs a spike anyway? So I decided on British Colonial Zulu wars, with a few Germans from the Franco Prussian war for the limbers. 

The scale however still depended on the Martian Tripods, a few questions on various FB pages and GWs Spindel Drones are suggested to me.

They do look the part.

However not enough I want them stepping over buildings.

In the above image I've positioned them behind 6 mm Baccus archers and 10 mm Pendraken ones, 6 mm works better, but there's a little voice saying,  "These are not the drones you're looking for."

Then some genius says have you looked at the Tripods on Pendraken's site, well I thought I had, obviously not. I looked but as I wanted to be sure of their size I sent a question to Pendraken on a Sunday, Leon's immediate response was

Image from Pendraken's site

Thanks for the message, the height of the tripods is:

Small = 40mm high
Large = 60mm high

I'll check on the crab walker when I get to work on Monday, I think it's around 30mm or thereabouts.

And that on a Sunday, brilliant service, I bought, they arrived swiftly and they are big, even better they are exactly as I think thy should be, courtesy of  Jeff Wayne's album cover.

Next phase

Hail Caesar! basing for 6 mm and 10 mm games

We all do it differently. I play this game in 6mm with occasional 10mm.
I'm not about to tell you how to base, rather how I do, you can use this as a comparison. All sizes in millimetres.

Infantry
Standard base is 80x40
Small 40x40
Skirmishes 80x40
Warbands are 80x50
Artillery 40x40 

Horse
Standard Cavalry is 80x50 deep
Small unit 40 x50
Light horse small unit in open order 80x25 whilst formed they are 40x50 , future models will be based 40x25 and position as needed, however current models are both as I have the unit twice once in each formation.

If I did large units I'd probably do 100x50 or 100x60

Tiny units elephants for example 30x40or 50

That's our club's preference

Further we like to represent the unit with a different quantity of models or formation

Infantry

Usually about 12 men to a rank

Heavy  4 ranks  warband the same about 48

Medium 3 ranks

Light and archers 2 ranks

Horse

Cataphracts square block 6x3

Heavy horse 2 lines of 9 'V' formation

Medium horse 2 parallel lines of 9

Light horse usually in small units with just 5 postion depending on open or closed order

I've done 5 on a 80x25 or on a 40x50, when I start a new army there will be 3 on a 40x25, giving me 6 in a line or square.

Examples of 6 mm basing for HC!

Cavalry Roman and Samatian
Cataphracts, Medium, Heavy, Medium and lights

Roman and Dacian Infantry
Skirmishers, Legionaries, Warband, Medium, lights and light artillery at the back of the picture.

Command bases,
The largest is rarely used, only if there is an over all General with two legions

Examples of 10 mm basing for HC!

As the models are a little bigger we have reduced the model count and made a small increase to the size of the bases as a result it plays and feels like the 6 mm games we played, with fluid movement and movement options. Things we feel you don't get in a 28 mm game if like us you play on a 6' x 4' table.
We went down this route like all gamers because we could :) in addition we all had fantasy 10 mm models we wanted to play with so are creating a home made Warmaster - Hail Caesar mash.

Early Imperial/Marian Romans
Both three ranks and 10 wide, lights would be two ranks

Orcs mixed units based for a fantasy HC game
Note it's the same number of models that were in the Warmaster units.

Undead based for a fantasy HC game

Undead based for a fantasy HC game

Undead Commands based for a fantasy HC game

It's been a while but I'm back and WW2 NWE beckons

I've never really done WW2, the plethora  and variety of machines and men, and resultant variations on the tabletop have to a degree put me off. I'm not a great one for looking at charts to see if A has hit and subsequently damaged, destroyed or tickled B. Give me a hit on 4 and destroy on their failed 4 anytime. You can get away with this is ancients, less so in Black Powder BP and onward .

So after a hiatus of some considerable weeks, due to a serious accident which derailed me big time and from which, whilst medically recovered is still creating a different view on what I want to do, messing with my mind I find I now look at the effort I've put in to Post Velamentum and know that I will get back to it, but my interests are changed.

I've been playing a lot of Blitzkrieg Commander recently too. (V2) and version IV is out this April, it is less worried about the version of the Panzer IV that is shooting/being shot at and the variation of the Sherman at the other end of the barrel. There is also a degree of hit on 4 save on 4. So it allows for a broader paint brush of divisional responses as opposed to squad games, which I've discovered is my preferred go to.

My main opponent is determined to fight over the Russian steep, but armies I've acquired are from 1944 NW Europe. This was also the period I first played BKC2 against a group of Madgamers.

As stated I have had for a while a 10mm Late British NW Europe army, I also have a less complete German army to oppose it, gaps in the both armies are being plugged with metal from Pendraken.

Now as you will all realise if you've read anything I've previously written that I do scenery so I'm now looking at what I will need. I have some Normandy houses and church. Just need a few more and the odd barn or two and apparently a hell of a lot of hedges.

I found this article  https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/battle-of-normandy/tactics/hedgerow-warfare


I can see a game here where a force of Brits has to dislodge a much smaller group of Germans. As that fits in with my current models, I'm now off to prepare for making hedges, several meters worth.

Post Velamentum 2

...Continued   You may need to read my previous blog, Post Velamentum

Things have advanced, not as fast as I might have wished, but it is an interesting learning curve.
Having absorbed a lot of the Shadow Storm ideas, I started.

Magic

I've looked at each army re-written the magic so it relates to a unit rather than a stand and made it comply with the Hail Caesar rules.
One point of interest was that the ranged magic attacks in WM counted successful hits as contributing towards the combat results. I didn't think this was necessary. Unlike WM where unless the damage removes a stand it is cleared after the shooting magic phase, in HC! the damage stays on the unit  adding to its loss of stamina.
To reinforce this decision, consider that in WM any wounds caused by closing shots are counted towards the combat (so just like ranged spells) whilst in HC! they are not.

Racial traits, Army Rules and Special Rules.

I'm always looking for the HC! special rule that could be applied and in many instances I've managed to find them, but they don't deal with the undead, Orcs and Skaven so some special rules have been created but I'm trying to keep them to the minimum and am still working to see if I can ditch some of my creations as in my view the less additional PV rules the better.
So one by one I'm going through the army lists, creating each unit, dealing with army traits, special/unique weapons and applying existing concepts where applicable. I've found the addition of each army and its units can cause a rethink of how I've dealt with a previous army so by the time I was doing the 8th army it required checking balance with the previous seven and I determined that a  complete rethink of the stats creations mechanism was required and also at this point a lot of Shadow Storm ideas/concepts were dropped.

One rule I found myself following was always go back to the Warmaster Rules. In many instances this resolved confusion and difficulties caused by my absorbing the Shadow Storm rules and I
found myself ditching almost 80-90% of them as they didn't fit what I was wanting to do which was convert Warmaster to play HC!.
Please don't take this as a criticism of the Shadow Storm rules as if I was looking for an alternative to WHF then I'm confident I'd be going down this route. .

What next?

When I've created every army I'm going to reference back to the army lists for HC!; 'Biblical & Classical' and 'Late Antiquity to Early Medieval'. Whilst I am aware of period supplements; 'Shield Wall', 'Britannia', 'Germania' and others, for the moment I'm leaving them out of the equation.

Other Progress

I've play tested a small 8 units per side game and we both liked the result, the Magic was as good/bad as it used to be in WM and the combat worked out satisfactorily.
I re-based elements of my Orc Warmaster army for this and though friends have based their existing bases on top of MDF, either directly or using recessed MDF to hold the stands as a unit. I'm very unlikely to play WM again as I am convinced PV will work so I'm going for it and have stripped the WM models off their old bases and put them on the new.

Above with their new basing (those done so far)

Above - as they were

 Their right wing

 Their left wing

Centre

I've just noticed the Orcs to the left of the Wyvern in the image above have turned their back's on the camera, I will be speaking to them later.

When I started ny Warmaster army I had access to a large number of Battle of five armies Orcs, I based these up and then realised the size difference, so bougth Baccus goblins and play GW Orcs as Black Orcs. This kept the size comparison realistic.

Post script - After this I received a rather nasty head injury, that altered me in more ways than I realised. It was some 6 months before people felt I'd returned to my old self so a lot of t hings went on hold PV being one of them. I will return.


Continued ...
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