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.

Broadsides: June 10th, 2012

I've heard that the Broadside show has had some misfortune with advertising timing and has asked for some help in getting the word out on the event, so I'll do my part to support out trans-atlantic alliance.

Seems like a fun event AND it's located in one of those British  towns with a funny name - what's not to like?  Also by attending the show and mentioning you came via a blog post like this, you'll become an information-age freedom fighter valiantly striking a blow against the corporate hegemony who control the media and access to effective advertising placement.  Fight the Power, Fight the Power!!!!!!

Ok that last bit might be a "bit" over the top.  Please go to the show if you can.

:)

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.

WWPD + Ballet = Disaster

Cue ominous music please.  I have a tale of woe to pass onto to my dear readers.  Please learn from my example so that I do not suffer in vain.  First a little background:

I'm married to the wonderful and lovely Mary Beth (aka "Iron Daisey"), who is a former ballet dancer and hence loves going to see the ballet where she used to perform.  As her husband, it's my duty, oops I meant to say privilege, to escort her to these performances six or seven times a year as we have a subscription.  Unfortunately, I'm really not into the ballet (shocker!) and in fact struggle to stay awake during the performances.  Surprisingly, one can get into a lot of trouble if one snores during a performance - trust me on that point.

As we were preparing to go down to the Kennedy Center, I noticed that episode 36 of the WWPD podcast was out and available and I had a "brilliant" idea.  I could download the episode, and listen to it with one ear bud in my left ear as my wife sits on my right side.  It was a good plan - I even went and found my set of ear buds that are black to reduce the chance of being seen in the dark theater.  Oh I was being very crafty that night.  In fact, I even came up with a mission name - Operational Audio Escape.

My plan got off to a great start and seemed to be a real win-win.  Both my wife and I were enjoying the performances we wanted to participate in, she with the Ballet and me the WWPD podcast.  By the third act things were were even better - no "stares of death" from my wife due to snoring and I was enjoying the podcast - in fact for a few seconds I could swear I saw Steve, John and Luke gliding about on the stage as they danced a balletic interpretation of the Huzzah Hobbies Tournament.  Yes, it was a magical evening.

As the curtain came down on the ballet, so it did on the success of Operation Audio Escape.  You see, all plans have at least one fatal flaw.  My plan's flaw was as simple as it was devastating.  Once the lights came on, I turned asked my wife how was the show and her response was a "9th level of hell icy stare of death".  You ask why?  I had forgotten to take the ear bud out!  BUSTED!!!!!

Yes I'm now enduring a double punishment - I'm both in the Dog House "big time" according to my wife and I can't get the image of Steve, John and Luke pirouetting in their white unitards out of my mind.  Oh the horror, the horror.

What's the moral of this story.  If you have to go to the ballet, man up and do it - don't get tricky - it's not worth the risk and our wives are smarter than us.

Editorial Note: (In case my wife reads this)
In all fairness to the Washington Ballet, last night's performance was actually pretty good (as these things go for me) and the music was great - lots of Bossa Nova and Mexican guitars.  But the highlight was a set performed between the first and second act by Toto la Momposina - a Columbian singer who literally brought the house down.  I even paused the podcast!

The War of 1812 Campaign Guide

A belated birthday gift arrived today from Ernie and Barb - Stuart Asquith's "The War of 1812 Campaign Guide".  The book is a combination history / uniform guide and is targeted at the wargaming community.  It's a great single volume reference source and I'v been wanting a copy since seeing Mr Asquith's War of 1812 scenario book.

The historical overview is nicely done and lots of period maps but the tome really shines when it comes to the uniform information.  In the past, I haven't been a stickler for uniform accuracy, but as I get deeper into the hobby that aspect is becoming more important and this is a great resource to help me "fix-up" the accuracy of some of my unit painting.  Hmmm, maybe I should be concerned that this newfound concern with uniform accuracy is the first symptom of becoming one of "those" gamers - you know the ones we give a wide berth to at cons.

I'm very appreciative of the gift, but I do think the real reason for it is so I will not be constantly coming over and stealing - oops - I mean "borrowing" Ernie's Osprey's!

I think it's back the the War of 1812 once I finish up those Dacian missile troops.  I've got some of the new Knuckleduster US Marines to paint up.

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.

Napoleonic Naval Action in the Atlantic

 I hosted an impromptu Napoleonic Naval game yesterday afternoon using my 1/1200 Langton models and the Trafalgar ruleset.  The game was a fictional scenario pitting a combined British/US fleet against a French Spanish one.  In other words, a scenario concocted to get all the models on the table at once.  Dick and Les came over to play and were great opponents and guests.  The British fleet consisted of the one first rate, the HMS Victory, six third rates and two fifth rate frigates.  The US fleet was 2 third rates and 1 fourth rate (the Constitution).  The French consisted of one second rate, six third rates and 2 fifth rated frigates.  The Spanish had one "super-sized" first rate (the Santisima Trinidad) and three third rates).  From a points perspective the French/Spanish fleet was 2,610 points vs 2,300 for the Brit/US fleet.  No special rules were in play.

There were three islands on the 8'x4' board which really impacted game play (more than I expected).  The game evolved into 2 actions pitting unequal forces where three French third rates took on the bulk of the British fleet with the exception on one Britsh small third rate and it's 2 frigates taking on the Spanish fleet.  The bulk of the French fleet and the US fleet both tried to go around islands and missed the battle line entirely.

 The second photo shows the main British fleet, with Victory in the lead attempting to pass through the smaller force of three French third rates (Heros, Formidable, and Scipion).  In typical fashion, the French aimed high and managed to take out two of Victories three masts and the British aimed low causing some damage but nothing major.

 

A bit wider perspective shows a smaller section of the British fleet breaking off from tangling with the Spanish after taking major damage from the heavy guns of the Santisima Trinidad.  They did manage to start a fire on the Santisima which would prove to have major consequences later.  You can see in the upper left and rights of the picture the French and US sections rounding the islands and out of the battle.

 The action a few turns later shows the Scipion being surrounded by the bulk of the British fleet.  She gave as good as she got in the engagement and managed to dismast the Victory and bring her to within one hull box of sinking.  The 2 British third rates in raking position on the Scipion's bow and stern made her pay for that by sending her to the bottom of the Atlantic.

A close up of the glorious end of the Scipion.  Her former line mates sailed on but received a good bit a damage from the British and both sustained steerage damage which would lead them to sail of the table.  In return they savaged the three British ships that tangled with the Spanish, sinking the two frigates and almost de-crewing the accompanying third rate (Agamemnon).

Fire control proved to be a lost art for the Spanish as the fires of the Santisima Trinidad (front ship, top left) continued to burn out of control causing extensive damage below her water line.

At this point I called the game as the main fleet sections had passed each other and there would be at least 4 turns of maneuvering before we could bring them into contact again.  I would give the win the Dick and Les as their Brit US fleet was in much better shape, despite the near loss of the Victory but it was a very close game.

A few things I did learn from yesterday's game.
(1) The terrain used impacted play a great deal and probably too much.  Future games should either be on the "open sea" or restrict terrain to a scenario objective (harbor raid / fort attack).
(2) The Trafalgar rules are relatively simple but give a good feel for the period.  They also seemed very manageable for a large fleet action.

Overall it was a fun game and, as usual, Dick and Les proved to be great guests.

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....

The Day After

 Yet again I have cheated fate and managed to survive my wife's annual spring luncheon for her women dental students.  This year was as perilous as the rest.  The first pic of my wife (front row 4th from the right) and her wards.  Sure they all look nice in the photo but get between them and the food and you'll see a much more terrifying side.

 The girls did give my wife a nice platter for serving steamed crabs - very useful in our neck of the woods.  It was a very nice gesture.

 Here is an "action" shot of our guest swarming the cake and devouring it without pity.  I kept thinking of shark feeding frenzy - it was touch and go for a bit but I managed to get out of the room unscathed.  The only other rough spot came when as I was cleaning up plates from a table.  The young lionesses seemed to have been discussing their respective boyfriends and their associated deficiencies (which are apparently numerous).  You know how these conversations go - each successive comment tries to top the previous.  Attempting to lighten the mood, I suggested that they remember that men, as a group, are just not that bright and such things as sports on TV, action movies and the whole toilette seat thing are just some of our more endearing qualities.  Lets just say I failed my saving throw on this encounter and added more fuel to the bonfire of their furry.  The net result is that I fear  there are some boyfriends in real trouble right now - dead men walking.

OK what about the food.  Good lord how can such tiny girls consume so much food?  Here's a pic of the table about halfway through.

We need to order more food for next year.

And so It Begins... Part Duex

 Well it's April and that means it's time for my wife to host her Spring luncheon for her female dental students.  The first few have arrived but the count is expected to swell to 72.  Think of these first arrivals as "pathfinders' for the rest.

 While I shall be banished to the basement and only called forth when my lovely wife feels the need to demonstrate "how to train a husband" for her young wards, all is not lost.  There's the food - oh the glorious food.

 The theme is again French and the food layout is even better than last year.  If only I can figure a way to keep those ravenous crones , oops I mean those delicate flowers from eating all the good stuff.  There's salmon, quiche (and this real man does eat quiche), veal, a roast.

Here's the crew prepping the food.  I volunteered to be head of testing an quality control - it's a tough job but somebody has to do it.

Oh no there's the door bell, that means those pathfinders mentioned above have successfully guided in the first wave.  To the Barricades! - wish me luck..... I'll need it.

Wait there's movement, what's going on???

Oh no, they're heading for the food "No, don't eat the Roast Beef - eat the damn salad instead -  Noooooo!!!!!!..."

Oh the horror, the horror....