My purchases at Drums at the Rapids 2026

    Two of the five buildings that I received from RRB Minis -- one a very nice gift from him to me!

Prior to heading up to Drums at the Rapids this past weekend, I cleaned off several shelves of my closet where I stage my unpainted terrain and scatter. I knew that I'd be picking up some more medieval buildings from RRB Minis & More, and I needed the room! Plus, there is a free flea market at the show, and I usually take things and set them on the table next to my game that I'm running. I also unloaded a good sized plastic tub of all the rule sets that I had taken but never sold to previous shows. I marked everything down with a sticker, ranging from $1 to $5. This stuff had to go...this time!

    House on the left is from the Ferisia line, and the one on the right is the Stormhill City Farmhouse

Thankfully, nearly all of it did. So, I had room for the five, 3-D printed medieval buildings that I bought from Rich at RRB. Two of them are simple, one-story homes. I have so many large buildings that I've purchased recently, I needed to get some ordinary houses for the streets of my town. These are from a couple different lines that Rich produces. I like the way they look and I will probably do them next. It should be a contrast from the epics I've been painting, and I'll probably be shocked to see how quickly they go! One of them is from the Ferisia line -- "Small Farmhouse." The other was actually a gift from Rich to me for all the nice mentions he gets on Lead Legionaries. It is called Stormhill City Farmer House.

    The sprawling Dwarven Bath House, which I bought because it was such a cool looking builidng

 

    Interior of the Bath House -- which looks very much like a bathing spot or spa, unlike the outside

The largest of the ones I bought is from the Ferisia line, once again. It is called Dwarven Bath House. The pictures I'd seen were only of the exterior, and I liked its unusual look. The almost domed roof, octagonal shape and the two and one story sections looked appealing. I was quite surprised at how big it turned out to be (horizontal space for this one, not vertical). And the interior is definitely a bath complex. I may paint it up with the bathhouse style components not attached, so I can use it as an ordinary building in games, too.

    I like the little balconies in the Ferisia line -- like the one on the Brunbir Blazeforge House

Another from the Ferisia line that Rich printed at my request was Brunbir Blazeforge House. This building is much more compact than the Duncan or Catrine House, with the third story being entirely the rooftop. My favorite part is the little, angled stone balcony over the doorway. It is mostly stone, like many of the other Ferisia buildings I bought from Rich. I like how many of them have overhangs, this one included. This one is stone, though, and has a definite angled look that fits with many of the others in this line.  

    The Ferisia Bakery is a nice corner style building like you often see in Europe

The last of the five buildings is the Ferisia Bakery Store. It has the same look as many corner buildings that are part of row houses. This one is stand alone, but would be a nice one to put in a medieval intersection. It also came with a bunch of benches or tables and an outdoor oven. At two stories tall, it is nice in between sized building that will help with the look of my burgeoning medieval town.

    I need a 28mm Huey for one of my Surviving 'Nam scenarios, so my friend Ted printed 4 for me!

As I am finishing up my work on my upcoming rules publication, Surviving 'Nam: an Infantryman's Year In-Country, I wrote my final few scenarios. I plan on including a dozen with the rules (one for each month of a soldier's tour of Vietnam). One of the last ones I wrote is a helicopter deployment in a "hot LZ" -- and I wanted to be able to run it at conventions with actual model Huey helicopters. My friend Ted had a STL for one and kindly printed off four 28mm scale Hueys for me. Why four? Well, I typically have four players in my convention games and I wanted one for each player. Honestly, I could have used just one model as each fire team arrives on a different turn, but the spectacle of four 28mm Huey will likely be a draw in a convention hall. Eye candy is important in miniature games!

    Ted came through in providing me some pilots in need of rescuing for my 'Downed Airmen' scenario

Speaking of figures for my Vietnam games, Ted also printed up three American pilots for me. I had ordered two metal ones from Gringo 40s, but they sent me only one of them. My "Downed Aircrew" scenario requires two pilot figures. Once again, Ted stepped up and provided 3-D prints for me to use. They look like quality prints and I hope to get to them sometime soon. I still have nearly my entire Gringo 40s purchase order to paint up, yet. I'll start working on them after my 28mm Elves for Dragon Rampant are complete.  

    I picked these rules up from Firelands Games just in case they catch on locally

My final purchase was the Pillage: Ransack the Middle Ages skirmish rules set produced by Victrix. I had almost picked it up twice before from Firelands Games, but each time I went back to get it at a convention, they had just sold it. I snatched it up immediately when I saw it, so lightning wouldn't strike thrice. I don't know if I will actually play it anytime soon, but I always like to support the vendors. James and Rusty from Firelands Games are such nice guys, and support all of the local conventions loyally. Apparently, one of the local stores in Columbus carries the rules and has sold dozens of copies of it. Maybe, once I try it out, I can run it at the store and see if I can recruit some more local, historical gamers for our HMGS chapter. We'll see..!

    Forgot to mention more gifts from Rich: 28mm Outhouse and 4 stick-like 8" measuring sticks

Otherwise, what's on my tabletop? I have the six Elven spearmen at least halfway completed. There are five horror/monster figures for my Devilry Afoot games that I picked up last year. They are primed and have their first base coat done on them. Terrain-wise, I decided I wanted to finally paint up the two bags of Viking rune stones that I bought from Sword & Scabbard a couple years ago. They should go very quickly -- another reason I chose to start one them! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 99

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59