All Packed Up for Historicon 2012

As of 12:07am, July 18th I am all packed up and ready to go to Historicon.  That's good because I'm leaving on the afternoon of 7/18 for the 2 hour drive to Fredericksburg.

I'm looking forward to the new venue and hosting another Hail Caesar game on Friday.  The other big news is that I will be competing in my first tournament on Thursday (Saga).  Lots of new experiences and the con is always a fun event.

I've packed up over 700 figures for the Hail Caesar game so the armies are growing to a respectable size.  All of the units have movement trays to speed the turns along - we'll see how this year's game goes.

See you in Fredericksburg!

More Progress on the Dacian Fort

 I made a good bit of progress on the sectional Dacian fort for my upcoming "Hail Caesar" game at Historicon.  I've got five feet of fort sections finished (except for some detailing) and will be trying them out in a few test games over the next few days.

 Here's the fort sections as the stood early Saturday morning.  I used pink foam as filler materials for the rear of the fort and to also make the berm in the front.

 In this photo you can see the defensive stakes behind the berms.  The stakes where made out of 1/8 inch dowels and where sharpened using a pencil sharpener - it was surprising how well that worked.

 The front gate actually swings open and closed.  Brass wire was used to make the "hinge" for each gate section.  The holders where thin plastic tubing - it was the tubing that comes with a new brush.

 Making the sections was very messy business and took awhile to clean up.  You can see a can of Army Painter strong shade in the picture.  I experimented with that for coloring the wood but decided to go with brown umber paint.  I think I need a few dry brush passes with a lighter color to soften the tones.

 Another shot from the front of the fort.  I need to add a roadway through the gate and will use either Durham's Water Putty of a piece of plastic cobblestone roadway from Plastruct.  One of the good things about being a former Model Rail Roader is that I have a lot of scenery material lying around waiting to be used.

Here's a picture looking over the wall at the assaulting Roman army.  There's a good bit of work to do to tweak the scenario before the con.

More Saga Normans and No Power

 Due to a freak thunderstorm last friday night, most of the region is still without power and that's impacted my prep for Historicon.  I don't have power / access to my workshop so terrain making for the Historicon game is on hold for now.

I've switched to focusing on fleshing out my Norman Saga war band which will compete in the Saga tournament at the con.  Recently completed are 1 unit of 4 mounted hearth guard (first picture).

 The second unit completed is a 12 figure bowmen levy unit.  This brings my Nroman's up to the six points that are needed to compete.  The war band consists of:
- 3, 4 man mounted Hearthguard units
- 1, 8 figure warrior spearmen unit
- 1, 8 figure warrior with crossbows
- 1, 12 figure Levy bowmen
+ my Warlord who lacks a suitable silly name as of this moment

I'm debating replacing the either the levy bowmen of the warrior spearmen with a second unit of warrior crossbowmen - ahh decisions, decisions.

As for the Hail Caesar game - the base for the Roman Onager was finished and sealed so that unit's good to go.  I still need to test play the scenario a bit but I think it's in good shape.

28mm Fort: Part Two

 A bit more progress on the 28mm Fort that will be used in my upcoming Historicon game (Hail Caesar rules, Romans vs Dacians).  I'm now at 5 feet of fort, which is the width of the table sections I'll be using.

 Here's a close up of the gate sections.  There are three separate pieces which gives some flexibility in how to place the gate.  As you can see, I still need to add the swinging doors.

 A top down view of the gate section.  I think it came out nicely.  One thing to bear in mind that the fort is designed for playability and the parapets and such are a bit wider than "scale" to accommodate my unit trays.

One thing I have realized is the 5 linear feet of fort is a bit "stale" from a player's viewpoint and I need to break up the view lines to add a bit more interest.  I'll bevel one of the straight sections to have 45 degree corners so I can add some variability to the setup.  If I have time I'll add a up sloped wall section to add even more variability.

Speaking of time - YIKES!  It's only a month to Historicon and I need to accomplish the following

(1) Finish the parapets & gate doors
(2) Cut 45 degree bevels into one section
(3) Scenic the fort sections
(4) Build and paint a Roman catapult
(5) Add two points to my Viking Warband for the SAGA tournament on 7/19 (first day of HCON) - anywhere from 8 - 16 28mm figures.
(6) Inspect and touch-up the Roman and Dacian Armies
(7) Test play the scenario a few times

It seemed like just yesterday I had 3 months to get all this done!

28mm Fort Part 1

 I need a fort for my upcoming game at Historicon and couldn't find any ready made forts that I liked or wanted to pay the asking prices, so I've elected to try and build one myself.  The first picture shows three fort sections as they stand at the end of today.  While there's a lot of detail work to do, not a bad start for a few hours work.  I'm planning to make up to 6 feet of fort sections and hopefully will get this done in the next few weeks.  Sorry for all the ships in the back ground - I've been too lazy to pick up last thursday's Trafalgar game.

 The fort construction is pretty simple, first the wooden walls are made out of thin stir sticks that are 1/4 inch wide.  The long lengths are 3 inches and the shorter ones 2.75 inches.  Each wall section is 11.25 inches long.  I actually started building these was section first without even having a plan for the fort.  Plans?  Who needs plans?

 Since these pieces will be traveling, they needs to be very sturdy and the under structure of the fort is made from 1x3 and 1x2 pine stock affixed with wood glue in an "L" shape.  The base for each wall section is some marine grade plywood I had left over from a boat project which was already cut to 7 inches wide.

 The wood planking for the sides and fighting platform where then glued to the pine stock under structures.  I'll fill in the gap on the inside of the fort with pink stuff and then add flocking to represent turf.

 Here's a shot with one section of the fort and the gate "populated" by 28mm figures - in this case some recently completed Dacians.  I haven't decided if the lower front of the fort (below the planking) will be stone work or turf.  Turf seems to be easier to do and may lend the fort to more uses than just ancients.  I think it would make a fun objective for a game of Saga.

The last shot is from the rear of the fort.  As you can see, there is a good bit of work do adding earthen ramps and such.  This has been a very fun project so far and I'm looking forward to seeing it completed.  I haven't figured out how to make the gate as I want it to be able to open and shut.  Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Dacian Missile Units Completed

 The final 3 Dacian units for my upcoming Historicon game are now done.  They are three missile units.  All of the figures are from Warlord and were based individually using magnetic stands.  As for the HCON game (PEL #F-144) "A Dacian a Day Keeps the Romans Away", it's allready sold out which is pretty neat. I will be running another game Friday or Saturday night "after-hours" so let me know if your interested in the comment section below.

First up is a Dacian artillery unit, a scorpion.  I think the unit came out great but it does look a bit "smallish" with just the single engine.  If I have time I may get another one to give the unit a beefier appearance.

Next up is a 16 figure archer unit.  The figures are from the Warlord Celt range but they'll do as Dacians in a pinch.  I still need to touch up the base edges as some of the white primer is showing through.

Lastly, here are the mounted Sarmatian horse archers.  These came out "OK".  The sculpting on these figures was not up to Warlords usual very high standards - some of the hands are huge but they'll do.  This is a bit surprising as the Warlord Sarmatian cataphracts are the best figures I've worked with.  Oh well, if I decide to expand the Sarmatian light calvary I may go back to either modifying the Warlord Celt cavalry or trying the Foundry ones.

Next up in prep for the game will be terrain, lots of terrain.

My Historicon Game is in the PEL: F-144

My second attempt at being a GM at a convention game is now official and I'll be hosting another game at Historicon.  Last year's game was a lot of fun to put on and had a very good level of attendance.  This year's game will again pit Romans against a combined Dacian / Sarmatian army and will use the "Hail Caesar" ruleset.  The armies have grown a bit from last year so I'll be able to support 6 players (3 per side) rather than four from last year.

The game particulars can be found in the PEL, item F-144 and is titled "A Dacian a Day keeps the Romans Away".  Timing is Friday, July 20th at 1:00pm.  As with last year convention, I'll also run a few ad-hoc games in the evening.

Here's a link to the HCON PEL

Registration for last year's game filled up very quickly, so if your interested register sooner than later.

I'm still tweaking the scenario.   While the game will be different than last years it will not be a standard "line 'em up on each side of the table and have at it" style of game.  I've got two months to get this done so I'd better get cracking.

As with all my gaming enterprises the game is supported by the kind people over at Architects of War.

Dacian Missile Troop Reinforcements

 Some reinforcements for the Dacian/Sarmatian army have just made it to the workbench.  First up is a 12 figure unit of Sarmatian Horse Archers.  These are metal figures from Warlord and are pretty good.  Some of the hands were overly large (maybe one needs super strong "Hulk" sized hands to be a good horse archer?)  I was tempted to leave them unchanged and paint them green but didn't think many people would get the joke.  Any way after of bit of filing and replacing with some plastic hands they're good to go.  One does have to appreciate those plastic sprues and all the extra parts!

I may end up fielding this group as 2 small units of Horse Archers rather than as one big unit.  Let's see how the play testing goes.

In addition to the horse archers, there is a 16 figure archer unit as well as a Dacian scorpion (all from Warlord).  Technically, the archer models are Celts but they'll do.  I think Foundry makes specific 28mm Dacian archers but I didn't want to wait or pay the high costs that foundry charges and Ernie had these in-stock.

The scorpion is Dacian specific and will be the first of several artillery units I hope to complete before Historicon.  I should have these chaps finished in a week or two and then it's onto to scenery for the big game.

Roman Praetorians and Archers Completed

 Two more units are not complete for my 28mm Early Imperial Roman Army - a 24 figure Praetorian Guard unit and a 16 figure Auxiliary Archer unit.  This will bring my Roman army for Historicon up to:
- 6, 24 figure units of Legionnaire Infantry (3 regular, 2 veteran, and 1 Praetorian)
- 2, 24 figure units of Auxiliary Infantry
- 1, 16 figure unit of Auxiliary Archers
- 2, 12 figure units of Auxiliary Cavalry
- 2 Elephants
- 1 Scorpion Battery
- 1 Ballista Battery

 The Praetorians are plastics from Warlord and I found them easy to both build and paint.  I may go back and tweak some details but these guys are good to go for the table top.

 As I said in an earlier post, i gave up trying to put my Little Big Man (LBM) shield transfers on.  I think this was more do to my limited motor control and the need to very precisely trim the transfers to fit each half of the shield front.  I tried to free hand a few shields but the outcome wasn't that good so I think I'll stick with a basic red for now.

 The archers are metal figures (also from Warlord) and are based in four man units and they were painted up on Sunday morning.  A neat trick I've seen from Ernie (Architects of War)  is where he takes old brushes and cuts them up to use a strings for the bows.  It looks great and I think I'll give that a go just to see how it looks.

With 15 completed units of Romans, I now have enough to field 3 divisions for my upcoming Hail Caesar game at Historicon.  Next up will be some additional units for their arch foes - the Dacian / Sarmatian army.  I'm thinking some more missile fire units in the form of either Dacian foot archers / scorpions or Sarmatian horse archers.  For the scenario I have planned they'll need them....

Roman Praetorians & Auxiliary Archers

 Another 24 figure Cohort is about to enter service into my Roman tabletop army.  This unit is about 80% done.  The figures are the Warlord plastic Praetorians and like the rest of the Warlord Early Imperial Roman line they're very good figures.

 I still need to finish out the detail painting / dry brushing and scenic the bases / movement tray.  I may also try to free hand a more interesting design for the shields.  I did try some Little Big Man Studio's (LBM) transfer for the shields but just couldn't get them to work.  Sometimes one is "on" for detail work like that and sometimes your just "off".

 One notable thing about this unit is that all 24 figures where painted in a single session Sunday morning.  OK it was a longish session but I've never done that many figures in a four hour session.  I'm sure as I go back to pick out details I'll see lots of opportunity for improvement.

Next up on the painting list is a unit of 16 Early Imperial Roman Archers.  These figures are, again, from Warlord but they are the metal "Western Empire"  Auxiliary archers.  I should be able to knock these gentlemen out by next weekend.  Doing so will finish up what I need to add for my Romans and then it's back to Dacians / Sarmatians.  I want to add a few more infantry and artillery units to flesh out that force for the game I'll be hosting at Historicon this July.

FOW: Anti Aircraft & HCON Game

Not a lot of painting done last week - I only managed to complete a small anti-aircraft unit for my German Panze Lehr force.   Its a small unit of 2 SdKfz 7/2 AA halftracks.  These units mount 37mm guns and can provide some level of defense against marauding Stuarts along with keeping an eye on the sky.

I did manage to do some planning for my the game I will be hosting at Historicon this summer.  After some thought, I decided to do another Hail Caesar themed game using my Roman and Dacian armies.  I had toyed with doing something naval - perhaps ACW ironclads or Age of Sail.  The real plus for either of those options is the relative ease of transport / set up.  However, both genres are well represented at the con by GM's who really know their stuff so adding yet another version doesn't really add a lot of value.

So despite the transport issues for large 28mm armies and their associated terrain, I'm going with Hail Caesar.  Hopefully there will be some other GM's using the system so we can try some add-hoc battles in the evenings!

I'm still tinkering on the scenario.  I'm not a big fan of set piece ancient battles two lines of troops bash into each other.  Last year's HCON game seemed to go well and was structured as a  Dacian ambush of a Roman column taking the Emperor to a fort.   Both the Roman and Dacian armies have been expanded a bit so this years game will be able to support 3 divisions of 4-6 units each, plus some surprises to shake things up a bit.  Any suggestions for scenario design will be greatly appreciated.

War Elephants and a Dacian Command Stand

 My final entry for the Analogue Painting Challenge consisted of some War Elephants, a Dacian Command Stand and some 28mm US paratroopers (not pictured).  I purchased a pair of 28mm War Elephants from Sgt Major Miniatures at last summer's Historicon and have finally got around to building them.  I think the figures are from a company called Molon Labe.

 The kits were very fun to build but a bit of a challenge to paint, which usually ends up in a fairly rewarding experience.  I like how the Elephant skin came out.  The figures were primed with white and then block painted.  I used Vallejo "Grey-Green" for the elephant skin and then applied the GW wash "devlan mud".  I may redo the howdah's in a lighter color as the grey may be a bit too dark.  The 2 man crews are based on separate 20mm square bases that are trimmed to fit within the Howdah and makes them removable.  This will allow me to build some customized crews fro different Nationalities so that the 'Ellies can serve in multiple armies - what ancient army doesn't need a few more Elephants?

The Dacian Command Stand is meant to be used for the overall army command stand (I used circular bases for command with wider diameters used for higher ranks).  The figures are (from left to right) a mix of Warlord (King Decebalus, his Shaman and a Roman casualty) and Wargames Foundry (Dacian Command Pack).

Now that I've got the wargame table back, I'm itching to get my Romans and Dacians back on tabletop.  I wonder who'll get to use the new "Ellies for the first time?????

Romans vs Dacians Battle Report

 My son and I had a quick Roman vs Dacian fight the other night using Hail Caesar.  The game was one of those standard ancients "line'em up and go" scenarios with no special rules.  As with a lot of my battle reports,  I forgot to take pictures of the game in process.  My son, Sean, commanded the Dacians and I played the Romans.

 The Roman left wing proved to be my undoing as it was too weak to withstand the onslaught of the Sarmatian Cataphracts and Heavy Cavalry.  The artillery on the hill was helpful but the light troops were unsupported and could not stand up to the charge of the heavies.

 Here's a picture of the Dacian battle line, 4 light cavalry on the left wing, 6 warbands with falx's in the center and the two Sarmatian cav's on the right.

Opposing them on the Roman side were 2 aux cav and 1 aux infantry on the right flank, 5 Legionnaire cohorts in the center and 1 aux infantry, 1 Gallic warband and the artillery on the right.  The Roman right and center held their ground well but when the left went, those $&%# Sarmatians rolled up my line.

The "stars" of the battle - Sarmatian cataphracts and Heavy cav.  Almost all of the figures on the table are from Warlord games.  I'm planning on expanding both armies over the next few months.  I picked up some Successor armored elephant units at Historicon which I will convert into Romans using some extra plastic figures.  Those poor Roman's need something to counter the Sarmatians!

Thoughts on Hail Caesar

 Displayed are a few more photos of my recent "Hail Caesar" game a few weeks ago.  The dashing man in the green shirt at the head of table is yours truly.  I've have been often reminded that I look just like George Clooney.  Well to be more specific, I look like George Clooney, if Mr Clooney looked liked Roger Ebert.  This picture was taken at the beginning of the game where I was likely pleading / bribing the players with free drinks if they would just look like they are having fun!

 Some photo's taken later in the game showing the Dacian main force trying to catch those pesky Romans.  After 6 games of Hail Caesar, I've realized the key to the game the employment of leaders and that can be further influenced by thoughtful use of 2 rules - Initiative and the "Follow Me".

 Once you've maneuvered your army to within 12" of the enemy, one can rely on initiative moves and then attach your leader to a unit to drive home a flanking attack.

 A picture of Paul Sawyer, looking very Buddha-like.  I'm pretty sure his visage wasn't due to the extreme satisfaction of seeing a well run game but more due to the forthcoming free beer promised post game...

 All of the pictures on this post were taken by a friend Dick C. who was a great help in setting up the game.  Dick also ran a few games of Ernie's and Architects of War new ruleset "Uncivil Wars". Those games were also a lot of fun and since they were sponsored by AofW, the scenery was the best of the show.

The casulty markers worked great and helped to reduce the clutter on the table top.  I'll do a quick tutorial on how to make them in a future post.

 This is my favorite picture from the con - lots of Romans and Dacians!

I'm leaning towards doing another Hail Caesar game at Fall-In but may also do a 1/1200 Napoleonic Naval game if I can figure out how to transport my ship models securely.