Trafalgar Game Setup

 What's this?  A game being set up on my gaming table???

It has been a long time, but it's time for a game.  I'm setting up a game using the Trafalgar rules for my friend Ernie whose been working way too hard.  The game will use my 1/1200 Langton models for a hypothetical clash between a French/Spanish fleet and a British / American one.

Heres the British / US setup.  10 British ships and 3 US (at the top)

 The main British force consists of one 1st Rate, 5 3rd Rate (large) and 1 3rd Rate (small).  That's a very potent force given the quality of the crews.  The Brit;s also have 2 small frigates in a separate squadron.

 The US fleet is smaller but of even higher crew quality and consists of 2 3rd Rate large and one 4th Rate (the USS Constitution).

 Opposing the Brits / US will be the French, which have 2 2nd Rates, 5 3rd Rate (Large) and 2 frigates.

Helping out the French are their Spanish Allies, which are lead by the lumbering but fearsome Santisima Trinidad (a 1st Rate on steroids) and 3 3rd Rates.

I'm still working out the scenario "special rules" and hope to get the game organized in a week or so.

It's good to have mini's back on the table!

More FOW

 A bit more progress on my Panzer Lehr Panzer Grenadier Company (say that 5 times real fast).  Completed with this batch are the Company HQ, along with Optional anti-tank units and a full Panzer Grenadier infantry platoon.

 Here's a close up on the HQ section.  I also completed another 3 anti-tank teams to add to my existing panzer grenadier platoon to bring it up to the Lehr TO&E.  The halftracks are from PSC and match almost perfectly with my existing battlefront german halftracks.

A close up of the panzer grenadiers.  To the lower left is a kubelwagon that I also completed but it goes with the Nebelwerfer battery.

Here's a close up of the infantry - very basic paining and then a wash of Devlan Mud - it seems to work well with 15mm scale figures.

Oh well, back to robotics for the next few days.  My son's team is competing at an FRC event, which involves building fairly large robots.  As a rookie team it's a bit daunting but I think they'll do fine

FOW: Nebs and a Jag

 Finally some finished mini's!!!

As reported earlier, with the new release of FOW ver 3.0 a return to 15mm WWII was in order.  The first project will be to finish up a 1,750 point German Panzer Grenadier Lehr company.  The artillery support will come from a small battery of three Nebelwerfers which are now ready to take the field.

 My painting of 15mm figures is very basic - uniform, flesh, boots and weapons then a wash of GW "Devlan Mud".  I usually don't bother with webbing or other details.  Call me a heretic but these guys do pass my 2 foot rule - if they look good from 2 feet, they look good period.

 I also finished up a Jagd-Panther model I had.  This is the one that comes in a box set (with a ruined house to hide in.  It's not really in my force list for the Panzer Grenadiers but it was a fun model to build.

Next up with be the second Panzer Grenadier platoon as well as the company command section (you can see the primed models in an earlier post. All of the half-tracks will be the new Plastic Soldier Company models.  The PSC german half tracks are very good models and I'll likely be using one of the four extra I have to become part of an objective marker.  Once the germans are finished I move on the a US armored company.

I'm looking forward to some FOW games and may even renew my quest to actually compete in a tournament.

Robotics Fun and Pressure

 As I've mentioned in previous posts, my son competes in several competitive robotics teams and he tolerates me as a coach.  One of those competitions is the FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC).  We've organized a team through my son's High School.  The picture to the left shows my son (center) with 2 other team mates working on the gear box for the ball shooter.

 Here's a close up of the gear box.  The team designed it so that it will increase the rotation speed of the shooter up to 5,000 RPM.  This year's game is called "Rebound Rumble" and it involves capturing 8 inch wide foam basket balls and scoring them into several different height basket ball hoops.  The field is 54 ft by 27 ft in size and there will be 6 robots on the field at a time (3 on each side).  The field also has a steel barrier (4 inches high, six across) through the center the robots either need to go over or use one of three 1 ft high swing bridges to cross.

 Here's a picture of one of our first drive tests.  Its a bit blurry because my son was driving and he'd thought it be fun to chase me down the hall.  The drive system is a six wheel AWD that is both very fast and can maneuver extremely well. It's a bit scary to have a 120 pound robot chasing you down the hall in "test" mode.

 Here's a picture of the bot once it stopped.  The drive test went extremely well and the team was most pleased that the robot could "drift" while making turns.

 Here's a picture of the bot on the rolling cart - it's a very complicated system, especially for power management.  The robot features 4 main systems - (1) a drive system, (2) ball capture / loading (3) Ball shooting and (4) a swing bridge arm).  We've managed to test all four systems separately and they seem to work.  Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get them to work all at one time which is a bit problematic.

Here's where the pressure part comes in.  One of the really challenging things about the FRC competition is that the time allotted for teams to both design and build their robots is strictly limited - it's just 6 weeks!  More importantly, the six week timeframe ends next Tuesday (Feb 21)!  We've got a lot of work to complete in the next four days!

I doubt i'll get a lot of miniature painting this weekend.

FOW Version 3

With all the noise and hub-bub about Version 3 of Flames of War (FOW), I thought it might be time to return to 15mm WWII for a change of pace.  Well that, and the fact that I was getting burned out of painting 28mm figures.

I really like FOW - it's a fun game and when I was new to the hobby it was a system that was   both easy to get into and enjoy.  I have a large lead pile associated with the game system so jumping back in required no immediate outlay of funds.

In the past, most of my lists were somewhat generic (just "germans" vs  "US").  After becoming a fan of the WWPD podcast and website, I thought it might be fun to field a "historical" unit (no game system bashing in the comments, if you please).  I've decided to build a unit around a Panzer Grenadier Company from the Panzer Lehr section of the Normandy books.  It has a nice balance of infantry and tanks plus I can use those "cool" Puma armored cars!  In order to build out the unit, I needed to add a second Panzer Grenadier platoon and their half tracks, a company command unit w/ half tracks.  For artillery support, I'm going with Nebelwerfers (150mm).  I through in a Jagdpanther for fun as well as some additional tank hunter teams for the other panzer grenadier platoon.  To be honest, I'm just copying the list from WWPD Panzer Lehr Grenadier Platoon list.

The half tracks are the new plastic ones from the plastic Soldier Company (PSC).  They're very easy to build but each 'track has 15 or so pieces (before details) so it takes about 10-15 minutes to assemble each track.  I like building the models so I don't mind the extra work and the price break makes them very attractive.  Size wise they are just about identical to the battlefront versions.

My apologies for the lack of posts but Jan to Mar is the heart of the robotics season and I'm coach 3 teams (2 of which my son is on) for different competitions.  It's a lot of fun but there isn't that much time for gaming!

War of 1812: US Militia, Artillery and Command Units Started

 After a couple week break due to robotics, I was able to get back to the work bench and have started a few new units for my US War of 1812 army.  The first group is a set of three command stands ( 1 Army command - 2 figures and 2 Brigade commanders (1 figure each).  All of the figures are 28mm Knuckleduster.  It took some work to get the figures to sit properly on their horsed, but after some heavy filing that task was accomplished.

The next photo shows the 36 man US militia unit in "frontier" garb and then to the right with blue coats are 2, 4 figure US artillery crews.  Despite being in the analogue hobbies painting challenge, my painting production will likely be very slow over the next month or so due to commitments to coaching robotics - I'll get back to the table soon enough!

War of 1812 Infantry

I've magnetized all 8 of my completed Infantry battalions and added flags  to 7 of 8 of the battalions (I ran out of flags for one of the British battalions).

The British flags are from Vaubanner Graphics and the US flags are from Iain over at Flags of War.  Both sets of flags are very nice and were easy to put on.

The flag poles for the US figures are simple brass rod and the Battle Flag Flags's where very easy to install.  Battle Flag uses a thick style of of paper which is very durable but does require a bit more glue and water to both hold down and make pliable when adding the folds.  You can see the thickness of the paper given the white edging of the flags.  No worries a slight amount of black wash will take the edge of that.

 All the British infantry figures are Perry plastics and use the standard plastic flag poles.  The Vaubanner flags are a bit oversized and needed some notches removed at the top on bottom of where the flag wraps around the pole so they can fit in place.

Both companies have nice selections for the War of 1812 and are very good choices for flags.

Next up on the Painting table - US commanders, A US Militia unit and some US artillery and then the Glengarry Lights.

Reinforcements from Mabuhay Miniature Painting Service

Late last November I placed a relatively large order for 28mm Napoleonic figures from Mabuhay Miniature Painting Service (MMPS).  MMPS is located in the Philipenes and is run by a gentlemen by the name of Fons.  Stop right there, I don't think he looks like Henry Winkler and goes around saying "Heyyyyy...".  Anyway, this was a fairly large order: 200 British Infantry, 3 British Guns crews, and 24 French Dragoons - all 28mm plastics (Perry for the infantry and Calvary and Victrix for the Artillery).  The entire ordering process was very easy and Fons was very reasonable in pricing in some special requests I had.  He was also very clear on delivery timeframes and set the expectation of a late February delivery which was acceptable to me.  I placed the order and then received several update emails showing the progress of my commission which allowed me to both confirm the details and get some comfort that I would receive the figures.  I was very pleased to be informed that the order was ready and posted on January 6th.  It arrived in Maryland intact on January 20th.  Hmmm, lets see MMPS sets realistic timeframes for delivery (and in this case exceeded them) and provided updates along the way - two big positive marks there!

Like a small child on Christmas morning, I eagerly opened the the shipping box and found inside four boxes like the one pictured in the first photo.  I also found a short note instructing me to open with a vacuum cleaner nearby.  Why would that be?  It seems the MMPS packing material of choice is miniature styrofoam balls that range in size from a 28mm cannon ball to a 28mm beach ball.  I soon realized the having a vacuum cleaner ready was very sage advice.

As I shifted through the first box and started to take out figures I noticed that in addition to getting some great miniatures,  MMPS had arranged a refresher course for me in the properties of static electricity - how very thoughtful!  I set up a little process where I'd remove a figure from the left, shake it over a trash can in the center / pick out any clinging balls and then place the figure on a tray to the right.  While I tried to be careful, I had stop and vacuum up balls at least four times.  One note wherever you unpack do so in a spot that is not subject to air movement.  Sneezing while near an open box with the styrofoam balls is also not recommended - trust me on that.

Unpacking the four boxes of my 240 fig order took about an hour and a half, which wasn't that bad.  Now here's the amazing part - there was no damage, not even a bent bayonet or flag pole.  Those styrofoam balls may be a bit annoying, but they sure do work.  Another big positive check mark for MMPS.

I hear some of you out there moaning, yeah, yeah, yeah this packing report is boring, lets get to the heart of the matter - how are the figures??  The figures are superb and way better than I could manage on my own.  The picture to the left is of the two French Dragoon units (12 figures each).  I really like the guys in the back with the pink facings - very French.

Here's a close up of the 2nd French Dragoon unit.  The painting quality is as good or better than the pictures on the MMPS site.  Truth in advertising, yet another big positive check mark for MMPS

Here are the 200 British infantry figures, in 5, 40 figure line battalions.  Please note I put these groups together very quickly and some on the fig are with the wrong uint.  Still, they look sharp and will hopefully prove to be worthy opponents to my US and French armies.

A close up of one of the infantry units.  The painting quality is superb - the drummers came out fantastic.

Last picture is of the three artillery batteries.  Fons said in an email he swapped out some Perry heads for the Victrix ones to improve the look - I agree these crews look fabulous.

As for pricing, it's the standard rate advertised on the MMPS site plus a very nominal charge for my basing style which wasn't the normal MMPS method.

So what's the bottom line on MMPS.  To put it directly, they exceeded every expectation I had:

- honest / realistic delivery expectations  CHECK
- flexibility / reasonable pricing for special requests CHECK
- periodic project updates CHECK
- careful and effective packaging CHECK
- superb painting quality CHECK
- great pricing CHECK

All-in-all, I am a very happy customer and will be ordering more figures from MMPS in the near future.  I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a quality painting service.  Well done Fons!!!!

Gaming Table Re-Model, Part Two

 A bit more progress on the re-do of the gaming table.  The basic shelving has been put in including the bookcase for rulesets at the front of the table.  The bookcases are 12 inches deep and are very sturdy.  I'm using 3/4 inch furniture grade plywood as it looks good and is very durable.  The additional framing has made the table almost immoveable - so it can take a beating from the robotics team with much worry.

 The basic shelving for the under table storage is in.  The open space to the right is 24 inches wide by 36 or so tall and is meant to store the robot.  All in al,l I'm gaining about 70 cubic feet of useable storage.  I'm waiting for the runners to come in for the sliding doors.  Once the basic framework is complete the next step will be to add some sliding shelves for miniature storage.  Think of the trays used in large cafeteria carts, but made of wood so they have some visual appeal.

 Here's a picture from the other end of the table.  One other change I'll be making is to remove the painted molding around the edge with some that's not painted.  The white edging just seems too stark with the natural wood.  There will also be a set of hanging cup-holders and rule desks that we can use so those items don't end up on the table itself. I got the last idea from Ernie's table and that concept was reinforced by a few posts on TMP.

 One last picture of the table.  My tools take up a lot of space right now but they'll go out to the shop when I'm done.

 I've had a few people ask for pictures of my son's robot so here they are.  It's a bit of a beast and they team is in the process of rewiring to maximize performance.

Remodeling My Gaming / Project Table

 I've decided that I need some more storage space for both my wargaming hobby and my son's Robotics team.  The first step involves the installation of some book shelves and more extensive under table storage.  The first picture shows the frame for the book case.

The under table storage will consist of roughly 3 feet of stacked shelves and a open area 24 inches long, by 48 wide and 36 tall to store the robot when the team isn't working on it.  When it isn't robotics season that space will be used to store 2 foot by 4 foot terrain panels.

The under table storage will be hidden by sliding panels so that we "class-up the joint".

The additional framing will also make the table a lot stronger as I've had high school aged kids sitting on it while working on the 'bot.

In a nod to the Mrs, who tolerates my hobbies, I will also likely sand and stain the wood so the whole thing looks a lot better