The wheels are slowly turning on this project. Painting time has been hard to come by of late, but the outlook is improving! I have been trying to organize the project in other ways, however, so the downtime is not without some benefit, if slight.
First off, I think that I have solved a basing problem involving single-based miniatures and my current preferred rules - Irregular Wars v2.0. This ruleset uses element basing, but I want some flexibility so I am mounting my miniatures singly, and using movement trays from Warbases. This will help with two points - firstly the basing is of course more versatile; and second is the issue of unit casualties in Irregular Wars, which uses 'Resolve' to track the ability of a given unit to fight. I dislike using markers, but I can track the Resolve of most units by simply removing figures from the tray (or adding them back) as the Resolve number changes. For example, a typical unit of foot has a Resolve of 4, which translates into 4 miniatures on a movement tray. Simple, and should work although I am thinking that some sort of plug for the missing figures will look better on the tray as the unit loses Resolve.
I am also digging around for more resources for the project - web sites, books, magazine articles, etc. My lovely wife has turned me to using Pinterest as a way to collate pictures from around the Web in support of the project, especially bird/feather colors.
More later!
.
15 April 2015
10 March 2015
On the interesting pages that can be encountered on blogs
I have a large number - but by no means exhaustive - of blogs that I follow on Feedly. I look at all of the posts, but I seldom linger for long, and it is a rare event that I leave a comment. But, today, I saw a blog entry that deserved more notice.
Over at Tin Soldiering On, there is a post about the blog's author winning a mug in another blog's give-away. Now, while it is a very nice mug, there is something that I found much more interesting in the foreground. This object is a ruler, from the old wargaming magazine Savage & Soldier, edited and published by Lynn Bodin.
Mr. Bodin was a fixture in the Seattle-area historical miniatures gaming scene in the earlier days. My association with him was limited, as at that time I started miniatures gaming (1980's) I was in Spokane, at the other side of Washington state. I would occasionally make the trip to the wet side for gaming conventions, and that I where I met Mr. Bodin. I remember chatting with him about miniatures while he was setting up his game - Colonials of course! - and I was setting up one of my own using the Seekrieg naval rules. He left on me an impression of amicability and knowledge, and patience with a teen-aged gamer.
Not long after this, Mr. Bodin passed away, in 1989 if I remember correctly, far too early for such a gentleman. He is not forgotten.
.
Over at Tin Soldiering On, there is a post about the blog's author winning a mug in another blog's give-away. Now, while it is a very nice mug, there is something that I found much more interesting in the foreground. This object is a ruler, from the old wargaming magazine Savage & Soldier, edited and published by Lynn Bodin.
Mr. Bodin was a fixture in the Seattle-area historical miniatures gaming scene in the earlier days. My association with him was limited, as at that time I started miniatures gaming (1980's) I was in Spokane, at the other side of Washington state. I would occasionally make the trip to the wet side for gaming conventions, and that I where I met Mr. Bodin. I remember chatting with him about miniatures while he was setting up his game - Colonials of course! - and I was setting up one of my own using the Seekrieg naval rules. He left on me an impression of amicability and knowledge, and patience with a teen-aged gamer.
Not long after this, Mr. Bodin passed away, in 1989 if I remember correctly, far too early for such a gentleman. He is not forgotten.
.
22 February 2015
TROLLLLLL!!!
Sometimes, one finds the unexpected during completely mundane actions...
My lovely wife and I were doing the usual shopping chores yesterday. After finding a few necessaries at the downtown Seattle Bartell's (drugstore chain), we stumbled upon a most unique, and very inexpensive (only $3) find:
The Fremont Troll (Wiki article here) is a fixture of Seattle tourism, and a pretty nifty place to visit. I had no idea that there was a Chia version! Now, I am not interested in the Chia part, but the troll itself...
The seeds will be put away just in case of some future need. The troll will make an excellent and unusual terrain piece. It would be great for any scenarios based in Seattle - Shadowrun would be an obvious choice, as any modern or post-apocalyptic game set in Seattle.
I will be using my Troll for my fantasy games, including Tékumel. Could it be the likeness of a deity, even, perhaps, She Who Must Not Be Named? The VW in its left hand is a bit small for a tubecar, but it could be an air car of the Ancients with a bit of embellishment.
One last pic:
First pic of the Troll out of the box. It is approximately 7" wide, 5" deep, and 4" tall, which scales very well with 25/28mm figures, and would be a major terrain feature for 15mm. The clay structure might pose a problem for painting - I bet it is quite porous - and that hole in the top of the head will need to be plugged.
More pics later!
.
My lovely wife and I were doing the usual shopping chores yesterday. After finding a few necessaries at the downtown Seattle Bartell's (drugstore chain), we stumbled upon a most unique, and very inexpensive (only $3) find:
The Fremont Troll (Wiki article here) is a fixture of Seattle tourism, and a pretty nifty place to visit. I had no idea that there was a Chia version! Now, I am not interested in the Chia part, but the troll itself...
The seeds will be put away just in case of some future need. The troll will make an excellent and unusual terrain piece. It would be great for any scenarios based in Seattle - Shadowrun would be an obvious choice, as any modern or post-apocalyptic game set in Seattle.
I will be using my Troll for my fantasy games, including Tékumel. Could it be the likeness of a deity, even, perhaps, She Who Must Not Be Named? The VW in its left hand is a bit small for a tubecar, but it could be an air car of the Ancients with a bit of embellishment.
One last pic:
First pic of the Troll out of the box. It is approximately 7" wide, 5" deep, and 4" tall, which scales very well with 25/28mm figures, and would be a major terrain feature for 15mm. The clay structure might pose a problem for painting - I bet it is quite porous - and that hole in the top of the head will need to be plugged.
More pics later!
.
17 February 2015
Tékumel novel available again!
As per this note from The Tékumel Foundation, M.A.R. Barker's first novel, The Man of Gold, has been re-released in electronic formats:
- Kindle,
- Nook,
- Kobo.
Base retail price is US$5.99. Although I do not usually buy e-books, this will be a very definite exception! (I use the free Kindle reader for PC)
.
- Kindle,
- Nook,
- Kobo.
Base retail price is US$5.99. Although I do not usually buy e-books, this will be a very definite exception! (I use the free Kindle reader for PC)
.
07 February 2015
Interesting naval-related downloads
Sometimes, web surfing can result in completely unexpected goodies. While bouncing through the 'Trending' topics on The Old Reader, I found a link to a very interesting PDF on ancient Egyptian maritime activities: Foundations of International Thinking on Sea Power
I have only just started to dig through the Egyptian pdf, but there is a section on maritime activities as based on archaeological findings that could be very useful.
The link above also lists a history of Japanese naval matters that could be of use.
These documents are part of a larger collection: RAN Publications. There is a large collection of documents there, with topics ranging from WW1 to the present. Most of them are concerning the operations of the Royal Australian Navy, including ASW reports and merchant ship movements in WW2. Go take a look!
I have only just started to dig through the Egyptian pdf, but there is a section on maritime activities as based on archaeological findings that could be very useful.
The link above also lists a history of Japanese naval matters that could be of use.
These documents are part of a larger collection: RAN Publications. There is a large collection of documents there, with topics ranging from WW1 to the present. Most of them are concerning the operations of the Royal Australian Navy, including ASW reports and merchant ship movements in WW2. Go take a look!
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