Star Wars Using 'Space Weirdos' - These Aren't the Droids You're Looking For...

    Stormtroopers stop a droid in the central market of a town on Tatooine in my first Star Wars skirmish

I had been steadily getting things ready to finally run Star Wars skirmishes with Space Weirdos rules. When our regular host pointed out the first Sunday in May would be the 4th, he suggested we play a Star Wars themed game. So, I hurried my last preparations and was able to finally run a skirmish using these rules and the miniatures I've been painting up for more than a year, now. I cooked up a scenario with a nod to the iconic Obi-Wan line, "These aren't the droids you're looking for..."

    The Rebel Alliance from off-world: (L-R) Ylena, Knox, Jambru Gassu, & Mango

In my Star Wars games, each player controls one of the factions from that universe. Since we typically have six players, I created that many factions: Empire, Corporate Security, Mercenaries (Bronze Legion), Criminal Syndicate, Local Rebels, and Rebel Alliance. In this game -- stop me if you've heard this before -- the rebels have pulled off a big feat and stolen the plans to the imperial security facilities on Tatooine.  However, the agents were caught in the act and prior to be arrested were able to download the plans into a droid, send it out into the streets of the city, and inform their colleagues what they'd done. The only problem was the transmission was cut off prior to identifying the exact droid with the plans. Based on where the heist occurred (and the memory required), it could only have been an R1 Logistics droid or B3 Engineering droid, though.

    The Empire's strike team: (L-R) Darth Pylos, Lt. Echo Five, Trooper EA-01 & Trooper EA-02

The empire and their corporate security also discover what has happened and launch a search for the droid, several hours later. Meanwhile, the Tatooine Local Rebels and the off-world Rebel Alliance (who cooperated to pull off the feat) have sent teams into the city to locate the droid. Waiting for them there, though, are mercenaries from the Bronze Legion. They've been hired by the town's insurance companies. A maddening number of "droid-nappings" have been occurring locally, and they've given up on the Empire or their local security's ability to handle the problem. Tired of losing money on insurance claims for stolen droids, they hire the elite Bronze Legion to watch over droids in the busiest section of town. In addition, paid informants inside the imperial security staff have let the local Criminal Syndicate know what has happened. They also mobilize a team, but not to find that one particular droid. Instead, they intend to take advantage of the chaos about to break out dowtown to steal some more droids!

    Enforcers from a Tatooine Criminal Syndicates: (L-R) Foxhurst, Quiddo, Sluggr, and Trumonkar

Each player would control four figures that I created using the Space Weirdos rules and the Sci-Fi miniatures I've been painting. Only the Stormtroopers are actual Star Wars forces. Otherwise, I'm using the forces I've been building over the last year or so to fill in the other factions. They are from a wide variety of sources, too. The Local Rebels, Bronze Legion, Corporate Security, and Knox from the Rebel Alliance are assembled from Stargrave kits. The Stormtroopers and the Mon Calamari rebel are 3-D prints from JS Wargamer Printing. A couple miniatures are from Wiley Games (Darth Pylor and Sluggr) or freebie giveaways from past Cincycons (Foxhurst, Trumonkar). The leader of the Rebel Alliance, Ylena, is a from Hydra Miniatures' Retro Raygun line and Mango the orangutan is from Sgt. Major Miniatures (now Battle Valor Games).

    The Mercenaries from the Bronze Legion: (L-R) Hex Ruudo, Xessa Vat, Brun Wot, & Krits Muurd

As you can imagine, both rebel and imperial factions primarily want to recover the droid with the plans. They know it is one of the three R1 or three B3 droids. A successful "Willpower check" under the Space Weirdos rules when in contact with a droid can ascertain if it is indeed the droid they are looking for. Each figure from all six factions carries a "Droid Clamp." It takes one of a figure's three actions in a turn to apply it to the droid in contact. After that, the droid will dutifully follow the character wherever it goes. Their goal is to get off the board with that particular droid. The rebel or imperial faction which succeeds in doing that receives 5 Victory Points. Their ally faction gets only 2 VP, though (rivalry and desire to appear the most competent, right?). They also get VPs for knocking figures out of action from the Empire and Corporate Security (Rebel Alliance only) or Criminal Syndicate (Local Rebels only). The Empire gets VPs for knocking out figs from either faction of Rebels, while Corporate Security gets points for Alliance figures and Criminal Syndicate ones. The thought is the two native-staffed factions (Local Rebels and Corporate Security) aren't crazy about killing their fellow Tatooine residents.

    Local Rebels from Tatooine: (L-R) Zimeon, Ziahra, Craix, and Rarely

But what about the Mercenaries? They are hired by the insurance companies, so get points for knocking out of action ANY figure in contact with a droid. They also get a decreasing amount of VPs depending on how many droids are "kidnapped" during the scenario, maxxing out if no faction is successful in removing any droids from the table under their custody. To represent them already being in town keeping an eye on things, I let my friend Keith (who was playing the Mercenaries) deploy inside or on any buiding surrounding the central market (or in the market itself). Surprisingly, Keith deployed all of them visible -- none inside the buildings. He did institute a very aggressive defense, though, shooting players who came anywhere near the market -- not just in contact near droids. This resulted in him being at odds with most of the other factions in the game. As alluded to, the Criminal Syndicate got points for simply getting as many droids off-table as they could. They wanted the high-value ones, naturally the R1s or B3s, but also the floating FX drones. The smaller droids will still gave them points but not as much as the bigger ones (which, not coincidentally, the imperial and rebel factions wanted as well).

    The Empire's hired Corporate Security: (L-R) Lt. Shrukar, Sgt. Ithran, Cpl. Valla, & Cpl. Teyran

The droids began the game mostly near the central market plaza, with some of the smaller repair or street-sweeping droids further out. Each type of droid had a secret path they would follow, moving once each turn after all the player figures had acted. The R1s (one of which had the plans) would circle the market clockwise, then exit off the opposite board edge furthest away from where they started. The B3s would do the same, but moving counter-clockwise. The FX stayed a building away from the market, circling then exiting similarly to the R1s. The other smaller droids would simply circle buildings and wander in what would appear to the players in an aimless path. Which one had the plans? The green R1 was the designated R2D2 for this game, which was made from a piece of Sci-Fi scatter I purchased from Diabolical Terrain (who also makes the Tatooine buildings) and treads from RRB Minis & More.  

    Early in the game, from left, Keith, Joel, Mike W, Mike S, and Allen investigate the town layout

After I explained the rules and scenario, I gave the players a choice whether to roll and choose the side of the hexagon-shaped game board they began on, or to simply deploy on the edge where they were already sitting. Unanimously, they chose to begin where they were sitting. This meant the droid with the plans began near the market closest to Mike S's Empire faction and Allen's Criminal Syndicate. Its programming was to circle the market wall clockwise and then exit between Keith (Mercenaries) and Joel (Corporate Security). On the very first turn of the game, Allen moved one of his faster figures to within one move of that droid. However, by then, the Bronze Legion had begun opening fire on anyone who came within a move of of the walls of the market. Allen decided not to stick his neck out further and withdrew to pluck lower hanging fruit, so to speak. If he had decided to grab it, and had gotten off the board, his faction would have had the upper hand in the game, even though that wasn't technically the droid he was looking for!

    So many droids to investigate in this scenario -- luckily the Rebels knew it was one of two types

Keith's Mercenaries quickly got into a firefight with the Corporate Security, Criminal Syndicate, and Tom's Local Rebels. The return fire of those factions (and also Mike S's Empire when Keith later opened up on one of their Stormtroopers, too), kept him hopping all game. All of the Mercenaries wore Heavy Armor, though, and this helped them time and again throughout the game, causing an opponent's shot to miss instead of hit. The way Space Weirdos works, each figure has stats in Speed (number of actions they can move in a turn), Firepower (shooting), Prowess (melee ability) and Defense (used when targeted by shooting or melee). The stat is expressed as a roll of two dice of a particular size, from d6 (weakest) to d8 to d10 (best). Modifiers such as cover, aiming, moving fast, etc., cause the dice type to go up or down, with a max of d12 and minimum of d4. Each player rolls their two dice and results are compared. If the Attacker's roll beats the Defender's, a second roll with 2d6 is made on a chart to see what happens. A particularly low roll on this chart could have the target return fire or counter-thrust in melee. Or the result could be for the target to run or dive for cover. Good rolls will knock down, "Stagger", or take them Out of Action. 

    Led by Darth Pylor, Mike's Empire faction moves past the power station towards the center of town

Another tactical wrinkle in Space Weirdos are the Command Points. Each player gets two per turn and they must be used during that turn and don't carry over. They can be very powerful. The most commonly used one in our game was "Dodge." Once the attacker declared a ranged shot on the target, the controlling player could play Dodge and move the figure one stick (5") out of line of sight, negating the enemy's shot and wasting those action(s). There's also Power Up, which gives the attacker or defender a dice type bonus. Hustle allows a character to move one more action than their Speed would normally allow (great for escaping off-board with a droid!). There were also Overwatch, First Strike (target of melee gets to attack first), and Regroup, which gives a bonus to next turn's Initiative roll. 

    Local Rebel trooper Craix eyes three Criminal Syndicate enforcers creeping towards the market

Space Weirdos plays well with multiple players in a game. However, the rules appear to be intended for a 1 vs. 1 game. So, I felt that I had to modify the Overwatch command. I think I may have made it too weak. I will talk to the players about how to make it more attractive of a play, considering it was used only once and on the first turn of the game. I asked the players afterward about whether they thought the command point themselves were too powerful and if their number should be reduced. Only Tom (and honestly, myself) felt each player should be given only one instead of two. I was worried that players would get frustrated, moving into place to take a shot, spending an action aiming (to bump their dice type), and then shooting only to see the opponent play a Dodge and scamper away, wasting their entire turn, essentially. Players are limited to using Dodge, First Strike, or Overwatch only once per turn. To keep track of them, I gave each player two Hershey Kiss candies and said they were to unwrap and eat them when they use a command point. That way, we could visually verify if they had used their both, one, or none. Did they follow my rules? Ha, ha...only partially! There were a number of command points eaten before they were played, or not eaten at all!

    Rebel trooper Mango charges up the stairs and enters melee with one of the Bronze Legion

The action unfolded with the Bronze Legion mercenaries merrily blasting away at anyone who came in sight. I whispered to Keith to make sure he understood he only got VPs by knocking a figure out of action in contact with a droid, and he said he knew that. He was just fighting an aggressive defense! The Corporate Security troopers, perhaps resenting the Mercenaries usurping their role as hired guns in the town, skirmished aggressively with the armored mercenaries. Meanwhile, the Rebel Alliance moved up, nailing one of the security troopers and knocking him out of action. When Rebel leader Ylena and her Mon Calamari companion neared the market, the mercenaries blasted away at them, too. The hulking orangutan Mango joined the firefight, eventually charged up the stairs at one mercenary and backhanding him off the stairway and into the shadows of a silent mechanical drill nearby.

    A Stormtrooper takes a shot at a Mon Calamari rebel trooper as he ducks around a building

The Stormtroopers began to sneak up on the Rebel Alliance, though, and bring them under fire. Mike S was the first of the Sunday Evening gang to choose a faction when I announced the games, and he chose Empire. He is normally one of our most aggressive players, which I felt made perfect sense for the Empire. However, that night his advance was much more tentative than normal. His leader, Darth Pylos, used his dark powers to bring droids closer to his troopers for them to check out, but he didn't use any of his attack abilities. In particular, I fully expected Mike to use the "Mind Control" ability and have his opponents open fire on friendly figures. Or to use the "Mind Stab" to try to knock them out. He stayed focused on droid-hunting, though. His dice rolls were not up to snuff, either, and the Empire struggled to accomplish much other than inconveniencing the neighboring Rebel Alliance troopers.

    Darth Pylos tells the Stormtroopers to fan out and search the R1 Logistics & B3 Engineering droids

Interestingly, the Local Rebels and Criminal Syndicate seemed to have a de facto truce going on. Tom had multiple opportunities to fire into the backs of Allen's criminal enforcers, but for the most part, declined. Allen, likewise, saved his shooting for the mercenaries who'd been trying to pick off his guys since the start of the game. On the face of it, Allen's criminals had the simplest mission -- just grab droids. However, that would put him at odds with the Mercenaries immediately. Also, if the droid he grabbed happened to be a possible type carrying the plans, the imperial and rebel factions would likely unload on him. Still, Allen balanced his aggression with mission focus, and was actually able to put the clamps on three separate high-value droids. If his leader Foxhurst had headed off-table with his clamped droid instead of moving to try to heal one of his downed troops, Allen would have won with 6 VPs.

    Late game chaos at the market! Rebels and Stormtroopers blast away as they rush to secure droids

Actually, I was impressed with all of the players and how they attempted to carry out their missions. Mike W's Rebel Alliance were dogged foes of the Mercenaries and Empire, shooting them repeatedly and investigating droids that were close by. He simply had bad luck in the one with the plans was on the other side of the board. He played his rebels like you'd expect in the Star Wars universe, and would end up tied for second. His ally on the other side of the table had the good fortune of being closest to the path the droid with the plans would take. Local Rebel Tom used cover wisely, and aggressively advanced to return the fire of the mercenaries and to get as near to the target droid types as possible. When the green R1 came close enough, he had his leader (with the highest Willpower) check it out and confirm it was the one. He immediately began to flee the table, using a Hustle on his following turn to escape with his prize.

    Criminal enforcer Sluggr slithers away with an FX Hover droid, heading for the table edge

The shooting broke out early and kept going all game long. From the battle reports I'd read on blogs or watched on YouTube, I was under the impression Space Weirdos would be a bloody game. However, fewer than one figure per faction was knocked out of action. I think that there were a few reasons why my scenario was less bloody than ones I'd read or watched. First, the rules recommend you have a lot of terrain to break line of sight or provide cover. I had a lot of buildings or big pieces of machinery on the board, which made it very easy to hide behind or use "Dodge" to avoid a shot. Plus, instead of your opponent getting only one Dodge per turn, potentially all five other factions could have a Dodge to use against you when you were shooting. Finally, the players admitted their rolls on the second table to ascertain damage after they hit with a shot were terrible. I repeatedly saw them roll "5" or less on 2d6. So, I think those three factors mitigated the bloodshed a little.

    One of the Corporate Security troopers exits with an R1 droid, crossing his fingers its the right one

Still, I asked the players to be honest. Did they enjoy the system? I would not be offended if they didn't, and we could easily play the Wiley Games Galactic Heroes rules if they preferred.  They said they enjoyed them and were willing to keep using Space Weirdos for Star Wars skirmishes. They liked the scenario in honor of "May the 4th Be With You," and said they had fun. I already have an idea for the next chapter, so hopefully we will get a chance to play again in a month or so. 

 

    A look at the 17 types of droids (names are my creation) that were meandering around the board

Sunday's game capped off a very busy gaming weekend for me. You should shortly see a report from Jenny and my two runnings of the Viking Town Raid scenario at Buckeye Game Fest. We also ran Zombie RV - Scavenging in the Trailer Park twice. So, I have lots of photos to sort through and will put out a blog post on the miniatures games our HMGS Great Lakes GMs ran at this mostly board gaming convention. What about painting? I have the first ten 28mm Vietnam War troopers done, but am mired in the flocking stage by our rainy, humid Ohio weather. I am waiting for a day where I can give the figs a good preliminary spray coat and then finish the flocking stage that I'm stuck halfway through. Since I don't have so much to work on, I've pulled a few pieces of scatter out of the closet and am working on them. So, stay tuned for a flurry of updates!

    The 'score' in my Star Wars skirmish campaign after one battle...kind of like the movies, eh?

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 143
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 19
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 54
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

Buckeye Game Fest Acquisitions (and some other recent ones)

    One of Miniature Building Authority's Vietnam resin buildings Vietnam I picked up at BGF 2025

My Acquired vs. Painted always takes a hit around convention time. And this weekend's Buckeye Game Fest, where some of our HMGS Great Lakes game masters ran miniatures games, was no exception. We were there to showcase miniatures and hopefully recruit some new members or attendees to our upcoming events. Despite the convention being a mostly board gaming event, Miniature Building Authority was going to be in attendance. He also brought along his friend from Discover Games, so there was some shopping to be done!

    Also picked up MBA's Vietnam barn, figuring I might only need a half dozen buildings for a hamlet

I picked up four buildings from Kirk at MBA, three of his resin ones and a newer 3-D printed hut on stilts. Kirk is steadily shifting from old school, heavy resin to lighter 3-D printed terrain. These buildings were intended for my 28mm Vietnam project. He carries three buildings (and numerous bunkers, etc.) for Vietnam, and I bought one of each of the buildings. These included Vietnamese Farmer's Home and Barn, as well as his 3-D printed Jungle Hut on stilts. The fourth purchase that I thought might work for Vietnam was from his Shanty Town range. His Noodle Shop looked great, and I thought it wouldn't look out of place plopped down in Southeast Asia.

    MBA's 3-D printed hut on stilts for Vietnam - an example of his steady shift from heavier resin

MBA also carries a LOT of scatter. In fact, I have way more of Kirk's scatter in my unpainted stash than I do his buildings. I picked up his Japanese Fishing Village Items that would look good in a Vietnam village, too -- various baskets of fruits, fish, and other stuff that might be found in a village or Asian market. Kirk also saw me setting up my trailer park and handed me a 3-D printed dog, saying every trailer park has to have a mutt tied up or wandering around. Earlier, he'd given me a Galapagos tortoise in honor of my February trip to the islands that he'd enjoyed seeing my pictures from.
 

   3-D printed village scatter I picked up for Vietnam, as well as a dog & Galapagos tortoise he gave me

    3-D printed sampans that I also picked up from MBA -- he has two sizes (I got the smaller ones)

I also saw a couple small 3-D printed sampans on his racks of scatter and figs, and snagged those. I figured I can locate a Vietnam game in a village on a river, and the sampans will be great eye candy for those. He had larger ones, too, but since they're likely just going to be on the board for looks, I thought I could get away with the cheaper ones.

    Couldn't resist picking of some Fishfolk to possibly show up in my Sellswords & Spellslingers games

And speaking of fish, I couldn't resist picking up a half dozen of his 28mm 3-D printed Fishfolk, too. I figured they would be a cool addition to the creatures my "Splintered Band" of anthropomorphic animals that my heroes could encounter in my solo Sellswords & Spellslingers campaign. 

    Flower tufts, blackened rubble, and a rust effect paint were items I picked up from Discover Games

Kirk had talked his friend Alan from Discover Games to make the trip up with him from Georgia for Buckeye Game Fest. He had some interesting board games, but I was drawn to his painting and basing supplies. I picked up a box of different colored flower tufts. I think it is the identical box I got last Historicon from Michigan Toy Soldier Factory, and I am running low on those. So, it was good to find them in his booth. I was also interested in his bag of "Blackened Rubble," which I know I can use on bases of miniatures or buildings. And finally, I saw a bottle of Dirty Down's Rust effect. he showed me some examples of miniatures and terrain that he used it on, as did my friend Todd. I thought I'd give it a try, though he cautioned me it is not a paint per se, and to watch the YouTube videos on how to use it.

    Been meaning to pick up these rules for awhile, and Shieldwall Gaming's 50% off sale was the time!

My purchasing spree had actually started the weekend before Buckeye Game Fest. My friend Jeff Gatlin of Shieldwall Gaming was having his 50% off "I really mean it -- I'm closing sale" of all his inventory. Jeff has been a loyal vendor at conventions in the region and we will miss buying from him at shows. I wanted to help him out a bit since he said he needed the cash to finish off his taxes, so I laboriously went through every page of his store website. Much of it was already out of stock, of course (from his previous going out of business sales!). However, I had been thinking of picking up Rangers of the Shadowdeep rules for awhile, and couldn't pass up a 50% off price on the booklet.

    I picked these Warhost Orcs at 50% off -- they're really nice metal (which I prefer) castings!

While scrolling through his site, I also saw a new 28mm fantasy miniatures line called Warhost. Apparently, it just was released at Adepticon 2025 last month, so I was surprised to see such a complete collection on his site. My friends and I are big fans of the "Rampant" series of games, and will likely pick up and begin playing Dragon Rampant when the second edition is released in October. There was some confusion on how many figures were actually in each pack or box, but it seemed like a good price. Fantasy figures are not cheap nowadays, with Games Workshop's ridiculous influence. So, I grabbed four packs of Orcs. They ended up being in blister packs of four (not the 2, 8, or 10 alluded to in the description). So, I have a start on an Orc force if I ever need one. This was definitely an impulse, "help Jeff' type of purchase -- not for a definite project. 

    The 4th building I picked up from MBA - a Noodle Shop from their Shanty Town range

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 143
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 19
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 54
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

MBA 'Customs House' with Scratch-Built Roof is Done!

    Miniature Building Authority's "Customs House" completed with my own scratch-built roof

I have this little thing that I like to do with items I've purchased from a vendor at a convention: finish them! What's more, my goal is to try to finish painting up what I bought from that dealer before I see them again at the next convention. Well, Kirk from Miniature Building Authority will be in Columbus, OH, this weekend as a vendor at Buckeye Game Fest. When I saw him back at Siege of Augusta in January, I bought MBA's "Customs House" -- a large, two-story resin building. It has been sitting on my painting desk since then, patiently waiting while getting "ditched" by trailers, Viking longships, and dozens of scatter pieces.

    Some of my 28mm Pulp figures investigate the MBA Customs House - a grand old resin structure!

The wait was over, though! If I was going to finish it before Buckeye Game Fest, it had to get done this week! Step one was to create a roof. Kirk sold it to me at Siege of Augusta for $40, less than half of what it normally sells for, because this one did not have a roof. While the Customs House had been sitting on my desk for months, I had been thinking of how I would prepare it for the tabletop. I decided to use two slabs of bass wood for the roof, taped together on the underneath. 

    I used some dollhouse scenery shingles to make my roof - slightly out of scale, but looks nice

Now, what to do for the roof's surface? It was too large for either of the two plastic pattern sheets that I had (they would have worked perfect). The craft store I bought them from and all the train stores no longer carried them. I could order them online, but they wouldn't arrive in time. While walking around Hobby Lobby, I found doll house roof shingles in strips. They were out of scale, yes, but with the black roof tile texture they were perfect. They even had adhesive backing. Score! I started with the bottom of the roof and laid each strip down, with the next one above it overlapping it. Wouldn't you know it, though? The length of the strips was about an inch short of the roof width, so I had to cut and add an extra half shingle in each row. It worked perfect, otherwise. Once I reached the peak of the roof, I cut a long strip of cardboard, folded it in half to match the roof angle, and epoxied it down. I painted it black and flocked it to match the shingle pattern.

    Close up of the front entrance and the lovely blue shade of wash I colored the exterior with

I traced the "pediment" -- the triangle-shaped part of the roof rests upon -- onto a piece of cardboard. This was used as a guide to cut out two triangular pieces of foam core which were glued to the underside of the roof, fixing the two bass wood slabs at the correct angle to fit snugly onto the building. I used black Sharpie marker on the edges of the roof piece, and brown paint on the part of the underside that would show. Other than a clear coat, the roof was done and looked great, I felt.

    A look at the rear entrance of the Customs House with its archways and my "oriental carpets"

As for the surface of the building, the resin piece came semi-painted, I would say. There was definitely gray wash done on it, as well as gray paint on the interior. By my standards, though, it looked half finished. I decided to see what just doing a colored wash on the surface would look like. I wanted to utilize the nicely molded exterior texture of the Customs House. So,  I put three drops of Vallejo blue paint into my palette of water to create a light wash and brushed it on with a wide, flat brush. I was kind of holding my breath, hoping I didn't ruin it. I really liked how it turned out, though. It preserved the pockmarked surface it is modeled with, and used its texture to my advantage. Another thing I like about the exterior is portions are modeled to look worn, with the exterior plaster having fallen away and the mud bricks (I think) exposed. I painted those in a light brown with a khaki dry brush. After examining it at this stage, I went back and forth whether to do an overall brown or black wash. I decided NOT to, afraid that it might "erase" my lovely faded blue exterior color.

    Interior of the building - note there is no 2nd floor, so I made one with MDF and bass & balsa wood

As for interior, I decided the gray it came painted with wasn't fancy enough for a Customs House or official government building. I did a wet brush of light blue over all of the interior walls. Once that dried, I did a very light black wash over it. I think this made the interior walls looked nice, too. Not as nice as the exterior, but more than just functional. The clock was ticking, though. I would see Kirk on Thursday and I really, really wanted it to be done (and a blog post about it created) before then. 

    A look at my 2nd floor (with open stairwell) which was trimmed to fit precisely on the first floor walls

The blue wash from the exterior and the black wash from the interior had run onto the model's floor and made the gray concrete floor look even less fancy than it had originally. It needed prettied up, I felt. Government officials work here every day, and they need a nice place to show off for the ordinary folk who come to their office how important they are! I decided I would paint each room's floor a different, darker color -- Midnight blue, Hunter green, Moroccan red, Terra Cotta orange, and Dun yellow. Then, I would cover up part of that floor surface with a printed out oriental rug. Now, that's fancy! I went online and found images of oriental rugs and resized them to fit (and match the color of) each room. I put them on a flash drive to be printed off the next day at the local office supply store.

    Speaking of the stairwell, here is the 1st floor portion of it with its stone staircase and bright rugs

It was Tuesday evening, at this point, though...aack! There was one more thing I wanted to modify on this model. I wanted to create a flat surface to place onto the walls of the first floor, acting as the first floor's ceiling and the second story's floor. I used some MDF material that I had, carefully measuring it and trimming it to fit. Then, at dinner, I had the bright idea to cut out the portion over the interior stairwell for gaming purposes. I did that, and proceeded to fall down a rabbit hole. Next, I decided to do walls for each of the two second story rooms and glued them to the MDF, then scrap booking paper for the floors, then a door leading to each room. Sigh. I was setting myself up for a very busy Wednesday! I should probably have left it at a simple ceiling/floor piece with some carpet-like texture on it...but nooooo! I had to get all fancy!!

    A close up of the 1st floor's oriental rugs - images downloaded and printed out on a paper

One of the last things I did Tuesday evening was epoxy the Customs House down onto its own MDF base that I'd cut. I still would have to do the flocking to blend the exterior onto the base. And clear coat it. Heaven forbid it was humid on Wednesday and I couldn't spray it...! Oh no...what? Oh, yeah. I am pre-writing my blog on that very busy Tuesday before that very busy Wednesday. I am crossing my fingers and hoping everything comes out all right. 

    Another look at the exterior - the rear of the building seems to be a hub of activity

Cut to Wednesday evening: Loving how it is turning out. The oriental rugs are a classy touch. The second floor turned out better than I feared it might. Just finishing up flocking and taking photos tonight. This was a lot to get done in a week or so, but I'm happy to say I manged it.

    The cool shaded interior of the Customs House - reserved for government officials & their clients!

 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 13
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

    Another look from above of the colorfully decorated interior of the Customs House

 

    What secret deals are being made inside the shady interior of this thick European-style building?

 

 

Test Figures for 28mm Vietnam Project

    My 2 test figs for my 28mm Vietnam project -- I like the method I used on the radioman better

Now that the moment had arrived to begin painting figures for my Vietnam project, I wanted to take some time and figure out how to paint them. In particular, how to do the olive drab U.S. Army uniforms? The more I considered the idea, it boiled down to two methods. One method would be to paint their uniforms a dark olive drab and dry brush a lighter version over it. That is typically how I do my 28mm miniatures nowadays. Or I could do a light olive base coat and do a dark olive wash over them, allowing the darker tones to settle into the folds and shadows. I have had inconsistent success with painting figures with this method, so it would be trickier.

I decided to choose two figures and paint one up using each method. I didn't notice till after I had begun that I chose the "U.S. Army Specials" pack from the Black Sun line. It didn't matter, but I ended up picking the radioman and a leader fig from the five figure pack. I cleaned them up, and these Crucible Crush figures, made by Pulp Figures people, had minimal flash. They were excellently cast miniatures, which is why I chose them for my Vietnam project. Next, I used white Gesso to prime them, letting them fully dry overnight.

    Stage 1: Gesso-primed figs receive a base coat of Delta Ceramcoat Light Timberline Green

It was a pretty straightforward thing to do the base coat and dry brush method. For the wash method, I premixed Vallejo Military Green with their Clear Matte Varnish. I used 15 drops of green to each full dropper bottle of clear, using an empty paint plastic paint bottle I picked up from the local craft store. I started with five drops, shook it, and painted it on a sleeve of the figure. Too light. Then I upped the mix to 10 drops. Better, but still a bit light. At 15, I hit what I thought was the right combination. Right away, I felt I liked this method better than the dry brushing. It looked smoother and colors more blended. Once I finished each test miniature and gave it a black wash, I definitely liked it better. The dry brushed one was too dark, and almost looked like a WW II German infantry dark green.

    Stage 2: Web gear and pouches painted Sage green, poncho & helmet camo medium green

I wanted a little more definition, though, between the web gear and the uniform shirt and pants. I remember my web gear in the 1980s was bleached out olive drab, while my uniform was darker. So, I decided to use a different, almost Sage Green, color for the web gear, pouches, and so on. The shirt and pants were a Ceramcoat paint called Light Timberline Green. The poncho was done in a medium green, as were the camouflage splotches on the helmet. After doing the remaining three figures of the pack that way, I decided I needed one more slight refinement. I would dry brush the sage green equipment a very light gray before adding the O.D. wash mixture. 

    Figures after the O.D. wash is applied - I like how the dark olive is in the crevices, much more subtle

The pictures beneath the two test figures show the second batch progressing through its stages. I may actually end up proceeding with this project by having more than one batch in progress. I am letting the figures dry overnight with each of the above stages. I think this allows the acrylic paint to "shrink wrap" onto the figure. This provides better definition in dry brushing, delineating the lines between two colors, and of course providing the deepest crevices for the wash. 

So, as you can see, things are progressing along with my 28mm Vietnam project! I will probably wait till both batches are flocked and finished before updating again on these figures. Suffice to say, I am happy with how they're turning out. What about terrain -- what am I working on there? Well, if you remember the really large resin building I bought from Miniature Building Authority at Siege of Augusta, I am finally working on that. I have scratch-built a roof for it (I got a big discount because it didn't have one) and am working on painting the building itself. The goal is to have it completed before I see Kirk at his vendor booth this coming weekend at Buckeye Game Fest. Will it happen...? I hope so!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 13
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

Sword & Scabbard Ruins & Turn Marker

    Other than the trash cans, these are all purchases from Sword & Scabbard Games at Daycon 2025

I decided not to pack away the things I'd bought at DayCon 2025 when I brought them home a couple weekends ago. They were from Sword & Scabbard Games, owned by my friend Scott, who is assisted at shows by another friend, Lonnie. They had a lot more 3-D printed terrain at their booth this time than they did when I saw them a month earlier at CincyCon. At that show, Scott had a lot of painted 15mm DBA armies. Apparently, they've been selling well, as there were few left at DayCon. That was a good thing for me, as I'm not interested in those, but am instead a big fan of 3-D printed terrain.

    This 3-D printed ruin of a wooden building caught my eye immediately and is a great looking piece

Anyway, the wooden ruin in one of his bins caught my eye right away. I have plenty of stone or modern ruins, but this was a fairly unique piece. I think it could be used for everything from Ancient times to Modern. In fact, I was tempted to paint the outer wall in "barn red," but decided that I liked having it be more generic. As I suspected, this painted up VERY quickly. Prime black, wet brush Camo Brown, dry brush Khaki, and wash black, and it was done. It will probably see the tabletop in one of my post-apocalyptic games, but like I said, it is a very useful and generic looking piece. I'm glad I bought it!

    This ruined floor of an Ancient Temple (or modern government building?) is a cool design

The ruined floor of an Ancient temple was the next thing I painted up. I mentioned on my DayCon Purchases post how Scott gave me the idea of doing the square-tiled temple floor in a mosaic pattern. I decided to do that to give it a little extra pizzazz. Like the wooden ruin, this one was completed very quickly. A black prime, dark gray wet brush, and light gray dry brush got the piece started. Next, I took pale blue and green colors and highlighted the tiles in alternating colors -- like a checkerboard pattern. The remnants of the columns I gave a yellowish stone color on top of the light gray. I finished it off with a black wash, which sank into all the crevices nicely.

    For only $8, this turn marker was something I couldn't pass up & it painted up very quickly!

Although I am playing Saga less often these days, Sword & Scabbard's 3-D printed turn marker was a fun purchase. My friend Abel had shown me the one he bought earlier that day at DayCon. When I saw they were only $8, I decided to pick one up, too. I chose the one featuring a king seated on a throne rather than the pose pointing a sword. I was worried the sword might snap off, so decided to play it safe. It got the same prep treatment as the temple floor, above. For the Roman numerals marking Turns I - VI, I re-painted them black after all the dry brushing was done. Then I picked out the numbers in Iron Wind Metals Copper so they'd stand out more. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and it can obviously be used in any game with a designated number of turns.

    3-D printed trash cans from A Critical Hit sitting in front of "Wallace's Brewpub"

The last items in this batch have been a work in progress for more than a month. They are four 3-D printed trash cans from A Critical Hit. They were printed in a bluish-black material, which I wasn't 100% crazy about. I gave the cans several black washes, then picked out the metal handle rings in a Pewter metallic. The most time consuming part was filling them up, at least partially, with trash! I stared with tiny rocks, then put in shreds of cardboard and finally cut and balled up tiny pieces of paper. I did a bit of a wash on them at the end, but very lightly. Each successive layer of trash was held in place by a tiny squirt of white glue. With these done, I think I have trash bins from several sources, now. I think I'm good on trash for now!

    These have sat on my desk for nearly a month while I slowly filled up the bins with scraps of trash

So, what's next, terrain-wise, for me? I have finally begun working on the large, 2-story resin building that I bought from Miniature Building Authority at Siege of Augusta 2025. I got it at a great discount because it did not have a roof included with it. So, I have begun building the roof. The flat sides of the roof have been cut, as have the two triangular pieces of foam board. I will glue those to the underside of the two pieces of bass wood which will comprise the roof. Unfortunately, the plastic pattern sheeting that I had on hand, which I was going to glue to the roof to give it a terra cotta look, is insufficient. It won't cover the surface of the roof. Today's goal is to make the rounds of train and craft stores to find something that will work for the pattern of the roof. Hopefully, I will find something that will work that isn't too labor-intensive!

    Another look at the wooden ruin, which is probably my favorite piece of the batch

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

    The less exciting back side of the wooden ruin, which painted up extremely quickly

'Game Over!' - Colonial Marines for Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps

    Figs for 'Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps' which need painted & assembled

One of my friends from Indiana recommended the board game, "Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps" to me last year. When I mentioned it to the Sunday evening gang, Keith chimed in that he already owned it. Besides loving the movie, one of the things that intrigued me about the game is it could accommodate up to six players. We have a definite shortage of games that can take 6+ players, so another one in the stable is a good thing. Keith agreed to bring it and we played it and enjoyed it. I liked the mechanic for assigning each of the Marines (or Ripley) as a main character, but if you didn't have the full six, the others were slightly less powerful "NPCs."

    The base board game that the plastic miniatures came in

As you can imagine, it is a cooperative game with the players attempting to complete a mission (such as rescuing Newt) while not being killed by the aliens. I thought it might be a good game for Jenny and I to play on evenings when we didn't have anything planned. The fact that you can play the scenarios included in the rules as a campaign makes it all the better! So, I bought the game, got it home, and discovered all the plastic figures you use for the characters and aliens need assembled. Ugh! I did some reading, and apparently the alien figures that come with the board game are super-fiddly! So, instead I decided to use the 3-D printed aliens I'd purchased from JS Wargamer Printing for the game, instead. I would have to get around to painting up Ripley, Newt, and the Colonial Marines, though. Because...well, you know! That's the way I roll...!

    Newt & 'Ripleyyyyy!' - I think the Newt figure is my favorite...love the saluting pose from the movie!

We actually played the game a second time on Sunday night, as well, and I still enjoyed it. So, a couple weeks ago, I decided it was finally time to paint those miniatures up (except for the aliens -- I have two batches of those already painted up). They assembled very easily, actually simpler than the various Stargrave boxes that I am now somewhat comfortable with. Many come with a peg and hole to help you determine the best position for an arm. Most come with the heads on already, too. I decided not to use the textured bases that came with them, though, as I wasn't crazy about the character name being printed so prominently in raised letters on the base. I had some 3-D printed Sci-Fi bases that I bought at Advance the Colors 2024 from Diabolical Terrain, so I super glued them onto those. So far, so good!

    Vasquez (with headband & heavy weapons), along with two marine buddies

After priming them with white Gesso, I began painting them. I looked online to confirm the colors, and decided to follow what I saw and do the marines' uniforms in a camo pattern, but leave the web belts and torso armor olive drab. After doing the flesh, I painted the uniforms a dark olive and dry brushed them with a lighter tone. I use Camo Brown, black, and tan for the irregularly-shaped splotches. The web belts and pouches I did in a light olive just so there would some variety in color. The weapons were done in Iron Wind Metals Steel with pewter highlights. 

    Gorman and one of his squad - the figs are okay, but the detail is a bit muddy, especially the faces

The boots were done in a dark gray and then highlighted, and after finishing them and the bases (more Iron Wind Steel with Pewter highlights), these figures were just about done. I did my usual brown wash on the flesh and black wash over the rest. They were now complete. Do I like them? Well, the detail is a bit muddy on the figures, in my opinion. It is sometimes hard to figure out what all the equipment festooned all over the marines actually is, even under my magnifying glass. The faces are kind of a blob, too. Still, the board game will look MUCH better with them painted up! Will I use them for other 28mm Sci-Fi miniatures games? Possibly, but not likely. Still, they'll be stored with my Sci-Fi figs, along with my two packs of painted aliens ready for the next time I play. I also picked up a white opaque "paint pen" that I will attempt to write the names of the Marines on the base edges with. May not come out well, but we'll see!

What else is on my painting desk? I have my two test figures for my 28mm Vietnam project base coated. I'm either going to do the U.S. uniforms in a dark olive with light O.D. drybrush. Or I am going to paint them a light olive and do a Dark Olive Drab wash over them (to settle into the folds and recesses). Once I have the two figures painted up, I will make the call which I like better. I am thinking the wash process will be a LOT faster, but we shall see which looks better. I have had inconsistent success with this method. Otherwise, I am almost done with the 3-D printed stuff I bought from Sword & Scabbard Games. So, you will likely see that post next.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 19

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 50