Play testing an American ECW Battle

    My pikemen and musketeers in the field have the enemy pike depleted and outnumbered

One of my friends is running a game based on the Battle of Severn, 1655A.D., at Origins Game Fair, an upcoming convention in Columbus, OH. He wanted some feedback on his scenario, so I hosted him at my place on my large(r) gaming table to give it a run-through. His scenario called for an 8'x6' table, which we accommodated by having my friend Keith bring two small 2'x4' tables and adding them give us more depth. I also lent Jason two of fleece mats for the game, as well as a some fenced in fields. Otherwise, the figures were all Jason Stelzer's, and they looked nice, I thought. Most were painted by another friend, a Michigan resident named Ted Bender. Contact him if you need figs painted in the U.S. at a good rate (or contact me and I'll refer you to him).

Close up of the Marylander pikemen lining the edge of a field during our refight of the Battle of Severn

I have to admit I knew nothing about this battle beforehand. Apparently, it is the final battle of the English Civil War, BUT fought on continental American soil. Essentially, Puritan Virginians vs. Maryland Catholics, in an extreme simplification. Jason freely admits that accounts are scant on this engagement, so he is extrapolating typical ECW troops to this battle, leaving out the cavalry which would be few and far between in frontier America. Jason first gave us a historic intro prior to the game. Luckily, we had rounded up three players per side for the playtest, which is what his scenario called for. 

    Jason's dad Mike prepares to move his doomed Maryland center up while the commanders watch

The rules were Pikemen's Lament from the "Rampant" engine, which most of the players were fairly familiar with. One player was a complete newbie, though, and another had played only one game using the system, I believe. The rest had played Rebels and Patriots, Lion Rampant, and Xenos Rampant. Jason modified a few rules here and there knowing that, when running it at Origins June 18-22, he is likely to have players less experienced with the system. His modifications worked well and I feel would make the game more enjoyable for a new player (and flow faster). 

    The Maryland left wing opposite me prepares to skirt an enclosed field while advancing on my lines

I took on the role of Leonard Strong on the Puritan left flank. Jason gave each historical commander a special abililty or two that could affect the game. Strong's faith in God gave him an extra +1 to affect morale tests of his troops. I am pretty sure Jason used commander traits or abilities from the rules, as he referred to "1 point," "2 point," and "3 point abilities." In our other games, we have typically not used those. However, they seemed to fit well in with this contest of religion (and egos) in early America. My force had two units of veteran musketeers and one of veteran pikemen. We had the better quality of troops, but the enemy Maryland militia outnumbered us by a handful of units. For example, the commander I faced across the table had five units to my three.

    Some of Keith's troop at right take aim at the enemy marching across the field towards them

There were a couple small gentle hills on the flanks, but the most significant terrain was six enclosed fields across the center of the table. Jason said they would act as cover to troops inside when shot at. They would also act as an obstactle and rough terrain to movement. To even the odds a bit,  I decided my forces would hole up inside the field immediately to our front. I ordered my two musketeers forward into it. Meanwhile, the pikemen would loiter behind it, shielded from shooting, and able to move left or right to cover whichever side was most threatened.

    Zooming in close to look at Jason's 28mm ECW musketeers painted by the prolific Ted Bender

Luckily, we made it into the field and were set up before the enemy came within range. Of course, my closest unit failed to activate to shoot once the enemy came within our 18" range. Luckily, I was acting last that turn, and I convinced our overall commander Keith to give me the card that allowed me to act first and try again next urn. We were successful in activating to shoot that time, and inflicted a nice barrage of hits on the enemy musketeers. I ignored both the pikemen advancing on us and the harassing Native American skirmish infantry. My goal was to deplete my opponent's shooters before he did the same to me. I felt that was the only way to turn the tables on their superior numbers. My other musketeers shot at his other musketeer unit and inflicted hits, as well.

    My left wing near the beginning of the battle, musketeers entering the field while pikemen stand by

In fact, my dice rolling was slightly above average, which considering how it is usually my weakness, led my opponents to say that I was "rolling out of my @$$!" Well, yeah, when you're used to me rolling bad, and I suddenly don't, it may seem rather alarming! This was compounded by the Marylander side missing a couple crucial morale rolls. Our commander Keith, in the center, was able to hit a musketeer unit in their center pretty hard, and it failed its morale badly and routed off of the table. Then one of the musketeer units opposite me had that "Oops!" die roll, and likewise fled the field. I was starting to feel better about being outnumbered.

    The pivotal moment of the game as we prepare to send the depleted Maryland pikemen packing

Pretty soon, another unit in the enemy center dissolved. It was obvious that the Maryland center had been defanged as a threat. That allowed our center to help out on both the right flank and mine. Our right was having a bigger struggle than my troops were, though. Jenny, commanding the enemy left, battered one of Allen's units and sent it scurrying from the table. Still, Allen's wing hung on gamely, dishing out casualties and holding off the enemy attacks.

    I had only 4 enclosed fields, so Mike S contributed 2 of his with resin stone walls to enclose them

Things came to a crucial point on my end when the lead pike unit got close enough to charge my musketeers in the enclosed field. My pikes sallied forth first and slammed into them, preempting their charge. However, since we did equal casualties, my infantry were forced to withdraw. The Maryland pike turned and charged my musketeers, driving them back and inflicting the first casualties on them of the game. However, the musketeers reloaded and poured fire into the enemy pikemen. Falling well below half strength, they passed one morale check, then failed upon hearing their wing commander had fallen when a salvo sent their last remaining musketeer unit on that wing routing.

    The skirmish Indian allies of the Marylanders had very little effect on either flank of the battle

In short order, the Maryland attack on my troops dissolved. Their native American skirmish contingent had been harrying my pikemen with occasional shots and single casualties. However, seeing three of their five units in their command fleeing the field, both the Indians and their last unit of pikemen pulled back. With the enemy losing on our left and in the center, and a hard-fought stalemate on the right, we decided to call the game. The Puritans had held off the Catholic assault. Our greater training and experience (more expensive troops) had repelled the more numerous Marylanders.

    Another zoom in on the Maryland battle line and Jason's 28mm ECW troops

We all felt Jason's scenario worked out great. In Jason's previous playtest, the Maryland side had won. So, it seemed relatively balanced. Had my rolls not been above average, and had the enemy not botched a couple key morale tests, I believe the battle could have gone either way. Tactially, my decision to stay on the defense and use the enclosed field as a fortification to hold off the enemy, rather than marching to attack, was key, as well. Our center did a good job using the fields as cover, too. More often than not, we were firing at an enemy in the open while they were returning fire at us in cover. That one pip on a d6 was what we hung our defense upon and it ended up working. It could just as easily have not, though. So, I will be interested in hearing the "score" in his two runnings of the Battle of Severn at the convention.

    The rules we used -- quick and simple, as well as easy to teach to a convention crowd

After post-battle discussion, he decided to reduce the number of enclosed fields to four rather than six. Otherwise, I think he feels good to go for the convention. English Civil War is not an area of my interest. I will not be going out and purchasing figures for it, but it was fun game to play. Pikemen's Lament is quick, easy-to-learn, and provides a decisive encounter in 2-3 hours. I highly recommend the "Rampant" engine for beer and pretzels, big battles with multiple players on a side.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 107 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 39

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

Various Ruined Buildings & Such Ready for the Flea Market

    Modern 'Stalingrad' ruins from 4 Ground -- first times I have built any of their MDF kits!

In keeping with my plan of steadily "thinning the herd," I've started painting things up specifically to sell in flea markets. Looking over my list of all my terrain and scatter, I realized that even if I did paint it all, I likely wouldn't have room for it! So, I've been going through the list and deciding what I can live without. The goal is to get it ready for the tabletop -- just someone else's table! Here is the first batch of various ruins -- buildings, walls, statues, etc.

    I thought these stairs would be a pain to put together, but the both kits went together easily

I bought two 4 Ground Stalingrad MDF ruined buildings from my friend Jeff Gatlin at the first Hold the Line convention. However, looking at all the modern ruins I have already painted and based up in game room closet, they are kind of superfluous. So, I put them together -- the first 4 Ground buildings I had assembled. They go together very nicely and are right up there with Sarissa Precision. Maybe even better with the extra little bits they give, like a strand of material to cut and use as exposed iron rebar. The thin cardboard building accents for the outer walls are nice, too.

    Base coating black and then doing two layers of gray dry brushing made these paint up quickly

I thought assembling the three stories of staircases would be a pain in the butt. It was not, though. The 4 Ground method made a lot of sense and was very easy to do. I used tacky glue to assemble all the pieces and was honestly shocked how little time they took me. One of the buildings comes in two pieces, and I used epoxy instead to join the halves together once each part was built. Once they were done, I spray painted them with Krylon Acrylic Fusion matte black. Once dry, I went over all the surfaces with a 50/50 mix of black paint and water to ensure everything seeped into all the blind spots and crevices. 

    I added a lot of rubble along the walls and in the corners of both buildings

Painting them was an easy dark gray dry brush, followed by a lighter gray highlight. For the wood, I painted them in dark brown, and followed up with a medium Camo Brown dry brush and a khaki highlight. I used a pale blue for the floors, hitting them with a white dry brush highlight. For the trim pieces, I used either pale blue or green for the trim pieces. For the rebar pieces, I used epoxy to stick them into their holes atop the ruins. I painted them Iron Wind Steel, then for the first time, tried a Rust effect solution from "Dirty Down" on them. I'm very happy with how it came out. I bought it from Discover Games at Buckeye Game Fest on a whim, and am glad I did. I can see myself using this in the future.

    I like the accents 4 Ground includes -- like the cardboard rectangles and pieces of 'rebar'

Both buildings are much cooler than their little black and white picture on the package showed. I admit, I am half tempted to keep them rather than sell them in the Historicon flea market. They are different enough from the ones I already have to provide variety, but still have the same ruined city or town look to them. Likely, I'll still sell them, though. I really did enjoy doing up my first 4 Ground buildings!

    These chimney ruins are 3-D printed and bought from Jarls Workshop a couple years ago

These three "chimney ruins" are 3-D printed from my friend Rusty at Jarls Workshop. I picked them up from him a couple years ago at Advance the Colors. I've painted 2-3 of them up already and figured that I really didn't need three more in my collection. So, they were on obvious trio to be culled from the herd. I prepared them the same way as the 4 Ground buildings. I painted the brick areas Iron Wind Red Brown first, then dry brushed them with Howard Hues Middle Eastern Flesh. 

    I put a lot of flocking and loose bricks to dress up the area inside the building foundations

All that is left of these ruins are the foundations and chimney, with the interior area meant to be overgrown vegetation. However, I decided to add some tumbled bricks to this area, though. I am running low on my little plaster bricks I bought at Dragons Guildhall so long ago. I need to find some more at Historicon or somewhere. And no, I won't count each brick as a piece of scatter on my Acquired vs. Painted totals. They're supplies, like paint...ha, ha! Once the glue was dry on the bricks, I painted the turf areas with my 50/50 mix of white glue and brown paint. I then sprinkled on fine brown ballast from Woodland Scenics, followed by Blended Earth flocking. 

    I think these chimney ruins turned out great for as little time they took to get ready for the tabletop

Similar to how I usually do my figure basing, I painted on white glue in irregular splotches and sprinkled it with Blended Grass from Woodland Scenics. Next, I added clump foliage and occasional tufts or flowers to make it look more interesting. I think they came out nicely. Not on the scale of the 4 Ground buildings, but still nice little pieces for someone's tabletop...I hope!

    I LOVE my Acheson terrain, but felt I could be parted with this cat statue on its ruined pediment

As much as I love my Acheson Creations terrain, I have to admit I am not sure why I bought this statue of a cat that looks like it is part of a ruined temple. My friends all know of my cat allergy (and avoidance of them). So, there would doubtless be some serious ribbing if I put a statue of a cat on my tabletop. Sorry, Fluffy, you're going to be culled, too! Like all Acheson terrain, this was incredibly easy to get ready for the tabletop. Preparation followed the same method as the other pieces. I used the same stone ruins recipe I use for my other stuff -- black base coat, dark gray dry brush followed by a lighter highlight. Like with the chimney ruins, I added a bunch of clump foliage to show it being overgrown. It turned out nicely, I think...for a cat! Ha, ha!!

    I think I did a nice job 'dressing up' this overgrown and ruined wall piece

The final piece is a section of ruined stone wall. It is from the Plastic Guys, a group of regional gamers from the Toledo area who used plastic and styrofoam to create simple terrain. I trimmed off the excess plastic and based it onto a piece of bass wood. I used a couple tiny model railroad trees to dress it up a bit, and added pieces of tumbled stone along both sides. I flocked it as I did with the chimney ruins, and added in lots of clump foliage to show it being overgrown, as well. For a piece of plastic terrain, it came out fairly well. Hopefully, someone at the flea market feels the same way and is willing to buy it!

So, there you have it -- my first batch of terrain built and painted with the express purpose of selling off. I typically double the price I paid for the item for my asking price, usually rounding it to a multiple of $5. My thoughts -- and feel free to tell me if you think they are too high or too low -- are $40 each for the 4 Ground buildings, $15 each for the Chimney Ruins, $10 each for the cat and the ruined wall. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on those prices!

What else is on my painting desk? I am in the flocking stage of the next batch of 5 Viet Cong. I'll do photos of those five and the previous ones together as one post. I will also continue to work in some more terrain or scatter to sell, as well. I have two more to do of the Sci-Fi scatter that were in the pictures with the Alien Grays. I bought six of them and want to wait till I have all six to do a post about them. Stay tuned...more to come, as always! And I appreciate the comments, guys -- it makes my day to read them and know people are enjoying my ramblings!!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 107 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 39

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

Alien Grays for...well, the heck of it!

    3-D printed 'Alien Grays' I painted up kind of on a whim, but probably to sell off (poor blighters)

I bought these 3-D printed Alien Grays last year from JS Wargamer Printing. I didn't really have a need for them. They just looked cool. However, the more I have looked at my Sc-Fi collection, they really don't fit in. I wanted to paint them up, though, so decided to complete and sell them. Yep! I painted something up just to put in a flea market -- or perhaps the consignment store at Origins Game Fair. Of cousre, if I do decide to keep them, they would be excellent for Snarling Badgers game Majestic 13. Or, I could use them for a unit in Space Weirdos. Still, if you want to take the little blighters off my hands before then, let me know...

    'Take me to your Leader...' I really like how these guys (gals?) came out - especially their eyes!

Instead of spray painting them black, like I often do with 3-d printed minis, I went with the brush on White Gesso. I scoured photos on the internet for inspiration and decided to go with the classic gray, as in Alien Gray! I briefly considered a green as in Little Green Men, but so many more pictures on the internet are gray, I decided to keep it traditional. Well, as traditional as 3-D printed aliens can be...!

    A dozen of these came in a pack with a nice variety and only a handful of repeat poses

I used a medium gray as a base coat for their skin, and then a lighter gray dry brush. I was kind of baffled what to do for their space suits, though. There were few pictures on the internet that really gave me ideas, so in the end, I decided to use something that was shiny and colorful. The metallic Turbo Dork paint, Curacao Blue, looked great on the MDF Sci-Fi building I painted recently, so I went with that. I liked the way the shiny pale blue looks on the skinny little guys. It looks very retro, like the concept of Alien Grays itself!

    I used Turbo Dork's metallic Blue Curacao for their space shits, which I think are a nice retro look

For the trim and joints, I went with a dark, blue-green for contrast. I did a medium blue dry brush over those areas just for a little highlight. I also made the circular patch on the space suit the same dark blue-green. I thought about putting an alien looking rune on the patch, but it was so small that I felt the only thing I could handle would be tiny bluish-white dots.

    The 3 poses with the helmets on gave me the most pause as I went back and forth how to do them

To keep with the retro theme, I used a combination of copper metallic and Iron Winds Steel for their little rayguns. I gave the weapons a dark metallic red accent, too. Two of the figures weren't holding weapons at all, but instead were examining a human skull. The third was holding a very human looking adjustable wrench. I guess hand tools are universal when it comes to Science-Fiction!

    The poses holding the human skulls and poking at them with their finger seemed were fairly comical

Probably the part of the figures that gave me the most pause were the three that head their space suit helmets on over their heads. The face plate was rounded and designed smooth. How to do these? Should I try to paint them as clear with a blurry gray alien head inside? Honestly, I had zero ideas on how to do that. I decided to do them with a metallic reflective face plate. I did ever smaller layers of Iron Wind Steel, Gunmetal Gray, Pewter, and then Silver. The silver was intended to be the brightest part where the light would be reflecting off of it. It looked decent, I thought.

    I tried to go 'retro' with their weapons, using a metallic copper and red to fit the vibe

Then I decided to give one of the "Dragonfly Glaze" paints I had bought a try. Supposedly, it gives a "Full Spectrum" color shift over the surface it is painted. I wanted a YouTube video on how to use it, and followed its instructions. After one layer, I saw no speckles or sparkles -- nothing. After two layers, still no effect. I gave it a third layer and the only effect I saw was that it made it more glossy. No color shift. No glittery glaze. Nada. Anyone want a bottle of Folk Art "Full Spectrum" Dragonfly Glaze? I'm 0 for 2 with this paint!

    Here's the Alien Gray invasion all together again, posed with almost-completed Sci-Fi scatter

I decided to give them a rocky/gravel like flocking job. First, I glued on 3-4 pieces of black rubble that I bought from Discovery Games at Buckeye Game Fest awhile back. Then I added Woodland Scenics Fine Blended Gray Ballast. I did a black wash over the gray stones, dry brushed the pieces of rubble lighter grays, and added a tiny brownish tuft to each base. To seal the flocking in, I painted it with Liquitex Matte Varnish. Spray coating it was right out with the metallics. I didn't want them dulled down by a matte clear coat.

So, there they are! I am thinking of listing them for $65 (for the 12 figures) in the consignment store. If that sounds like a fair price to you and want them instead, contact me within the next 4 days or so. The deadline to register items for the store is coming soon. What else is on my paint desk? I do have another batch of Viet Cong finished, and another behind it more than halfway through. For the terrain that I plan to take and sell at the Historicon flea market, I have a nice variety. They're progressing well, too, so hopefully I will have pictures of them by the weekend.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 107 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 7

Vietnam 'Personalities' Pack from the 28mm Back Sun Line

    The 'Personalities' pack of U.S. troops in Vietnam from Crucible Crush's Black Sun range

Hollywood movies about Vietnam seem to have larger than life personalities in them. From Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now to Sgt. Elias in Platoon (the nice sergeant), memorable characters are the "go to" for movies about this conflict. Even bit characters seem to have an outsized presence on the screen, such as R. Lee Ermey's drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. So, it is no surprise that Crucible Crush's 28mm Vietnam line has U.S. Army's Personalities #1. That said, I'd be happy if they added more characters and released a pack #2!

    One of my favorites from the pack, a bald, cigar-chomping soldier inspired by Col. Kurtz possibly?

I had to double-check with my friends on the Lead Adventure Forum to clarify exactly who these personalities were, though. I had some guesses, but wasn't 100% sure. I didn't want to mislead people and claim one figure represented someone when it was actually another character! Either way, this pack was a blast to paint. Each figure wears its own unique uniform (or lack of), and all five have their own look. I bought only one of these packs in my initial order because the figures are so unique. A duplicate on the tabletop would stick out like a sore thumb.

    I love this M-60 gunner pose - it has so much character with the sunglasses and shirtless uniform

I used essentially the same methods to paint these that I used for the other batches of U.S. infantry. If you haven't read the previous posts, check out this one for a detailed description of the process. That "process" is buzzing along, too. I have only three unopened packs of figures sitting on my desk now from the ones I bought from Crucible Crush. As usual, I have two other batches in progress right now, both Viet Cong. It looks like I will definitely make my goal of having all the Black Sun figures done by Historicon in July. With that in mind, I have also begun to mix in more other stuff besides Vietnam figures. Once I get those other three packs of miniatures going, I will probably begin working on the Vietnam buildings that I bought from Miniature Building Authority at Buckeye Game Fest last month.

    It's been awhile since I watched 'Platoon,' but I think this figure is inspired by one of the sergeants

Right now, I'm reading a novel set in the Vietnam war called Matterhorn. It is by Karl Marlantes and is really well done. It was written by a Bronze Star decorated marine who served in Vietnam, so I am trusting it is a fairly accurate portrayal of the experience of U.S. soldiers serving there. I know true historians would not necessarily use novels as a source, but I think wargamers can be a little more lenient on what they use as research for their scenarios or rules. First-person experiences of someone who witnessed the event are always a valuable source of information. It is only the second novel of the more than half dozen books I've been reading to prep for my games. Since I am writing my own rules (or at least attempting to), I want it to recreate the squad level experience of soldiers in Vietnam.

    I think this figure was meant to represent Charlie Sheen's character in the Vietnam movie 'Platoon'

I'm really happy with how this project is coming along, so far. That includes this batch of miniatures, which is definitely one of my favorites. It is hard to pick out a favorite from this batch as they all look so cool to me! The black M-60 machine gunner is definitely one of the ones I like the most, as is the bald headed one holding his helmet in his hand and chomping a cigar. I haven't started naming the individual poses, yet, but I will be tempted to name him "Jim" after one of my gaming friends, who is also a fellow Army veteran and cigar smoker. Or -- since I will probably go by nicknames or last names -- perhaps his last name will be "James"?

    I like how this pose looks completely different than the others, in t-shirt and floppy bush hat

So, who is who, of these personalities? There are only two that I felt I was pretty sure about, assuming they DO represent characters from Hollywood movies. The bald guy with the cigar is (my guess) Col. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. The headband and towel wearing soldier that I painted with the blond hair is Charlie Sheen's character in Platoon. I am thinking that maybe the character with what appears to be an AK-47 and pointing is Staff Sgt. Barnes from Platoon, as well. Equally, it could be his rival, Willem Dafoe's character, Sgt. Elias. Otherwise, I would love to hear from my blog readers on who you think each personality was sculpted to resemble (without infringing on copyright, of course!).

    A look from above at the five figures from Black Sun's 'U.S. Army Personalities #1'

What else is on my desk at the moment? A lot! It is getting pretty cramped! The next batch of Vietnam figures in the pipeline is nearing completion. It is a batch of Viet Cong, as is the next batch in line, which has only just received a base coat. Coming along very nicely, though, is a group of a dozen 3-D printed miniatures from JS Wargamer Printing. They are Alien Grays, which I bought at some point last year when I was putting in an order with him. They were definitely an impulse purchase, as they are completely different in feel from the Sci-Fi miniatures I have been painting up. I am thinking I will sell them once they're done. Origins Game Fair is running a consignment store this year, and they charge only $1 per entry and the consignment fee itself is only 10%. I can easily build that into my asking price. If they don't sell there, I will take them to the Historicon flea market.

    The overgrown temples in the background are more of my scratch-built ones from my Pulp games

I have also assembled two 4 Ground Stalingrad ruined buildings. They can be used for World War II, of course, but also as any generic ruins, for post-apocalyptic or modern. Plus, there is a whole line of various other terrain or buildings ready to be painted up for my flea market booth. The more I have to sell, the more of my expenses (and dealer room purchases) they will cover! So, hopefully, I'll be cranking stuff out at a steady rate for at least the next couple months. We shall see, though...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 95 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

More 28mm Viet Cong & Some Jungle Scatter Terrain

    Five more of my 28mm Viet Cong figures begin to take fire near some tumbled ancient ruins

My morning painting sessions are becoming a bit like a juggler with three balls in the air. I tend to have one batch nearing completion, another midway through the painting process, and a third I've just begun. So, how to ramp up the challenge level? Add a fourth ball, of course! That fourth thing turned out to be 1.5" round wooden pieces with jungle vegetation on them. I have some of this already completed, but will likely need more for my battles for this project. 

    One of the poses armed with a sub-machine gun...see! I recognize types, but not which make/model

First, though, here's the latest batch of 28mm Black Sun miniatures from Crucible Crush. These are from Vietcong #3 pack, and feature the insurgents dressed in their trademark black pajamas while carrying a variety of small arms. I painted these identically to the first batch of VC, and they also were finished very quickly. Perhaps a bit too quickly? After resizing the photos in my Affinity Photo software, I noticed a mistake. I had missed that the bareheaded figure was actually wearing some kind of headband. The joy of extreme closeup photos -- they point out your mistakes! I did go back and paint the headband, but I did not set up my photo light box again and retake its photo. See if you can notice my error, as well...!

    I like the camouflage foliage affixed to this guy's helmet/hat -- nice variety in the five poses

Once again, I relied heavily on the photos that are on the Crucible Crush website for how to paint up these miniatures. I especially can use their help on the weapons. I am not the gun enthusiast that can tell differences between various forms of assault rifles, sub-machine guns, and so on. I recognize them by category or type, of course. Well, except for the M-16, -- which I was trained on while I was in the Army. I know that I mentioned in my last post on the VC that I would start to add in some irregularity to their clothing, but I will actually begin that with the third batch of VC. I'd kind of forgotten, and while juggling my three batches painted their pants and shirts all black. Once I remembered, I decided not to go back and paint over them. I still have half the VC packs to paint up, so plenty of time to mix in different clothing colors.

    I like this guy's hat -- very Chinese communist looking!

I do believe, though, that with this batch I am halfway through the figures I bought for this project. Of course, there's always a possibility that I will buy more after these are done and as I begin play testing my rules. Still, I reached the halfway point much sooner than I might have guessed. I am hoping to have all the packs finished by the time I am at Historicon this July 17-20, in Lancaster, PA. I'll have my greatest chance of finding manufacturer's stocking the Black Sun line there, or at least other 28mm Vietnam figures. I know that I would like to have some civilians painted up eventually, too. I'm sure some vendor there will have some figures that will work for that.

    This is a great pose, too, with the Non La - the traditional straw hat - on his back while marching

It was in response to the fact that this project is going quickly that I added my fourth juggler's ball in the air. I picked up a bag of 1.5" diameter round wooden discs from the local craft store. I have done similar terrain scatter like this and find the best method is to flock the base first before adding vegetation). I do this by gluing the wooden discs to nails with white glue. I have a piece of blue foam insulation I created long ago with 12 nails and slots for them to rest upright in. I affix each nail upside down in the center of the disc. Once dry, I paint the base completely with a 50/50 mix of brown paint and white glue. While still wet, I pressed it down into a tub of Woodland Scenics Fine Brown Ballast. I spin it in my finger to remove loose flocking and then place the nail into its slot to dry.

    This Vietnamese soldier's pith helmet I painted khaki, but some will done in OD green, as well

The next day -- after working on my Vietnam figures -- I painted the flocked base with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. I then tamp the disc down into a tub of Woodland Scenics Blended Earth Turf. I spin the nail with my fingers again to get off excess flocking, then I let it dry overnight, again.

    A look at just the 12 scatter pieces (& the Aquarium decoration Khmer ruin) without the soldiers

The third day, I used full strength white glue and painted on three irregular shapes covering about 2/3's of each disc. I sprinkle on Woodland Scenics Blended Grass over the white glue and tamp off the excess. I let that dry, too. While the dozen discs were drying, I took some time and went through my selection of plastic plants leftover from the last time I had done something like this. I felt that I needed some more, so I made a trip to the craft store and picked out 4-5 other likely pieces that were fortunately on sale 40% off. I sat at the dining room table and pulled the plant pieces off of the brown plastic "stems," separating them by type. I then sat down and trimmed off various pieces from the collection that would be later be planted upright into the disc. My thoughts were to use about three pieces on each disc. One would go in the center and the other two spaced around it. Later on, I would add fallen leaves and such on top of the flocking.

    Looking at the pieces from above -- I used a variety of different types of plastic plants for the effect

The next day, I used a pin vice to drill a hole in the center of each of the 12 pieces. I then mixed up some two-part epoxy, dabbed a blob of it on the hole, pushing some down inside with the end of a paperclip. I then pushed the trimmed greenery's stem through the hole in the disc. I balanced the disc on something so the stem would not touch my cutting mat that I work on. Once dried, I drilled a second hole and placed a different type of trimmed greenery, and then a third. I let each new piece dry overnight so that it wouldn't tip or lean at some weird angle. The pin vice hole seemed about perfect for the width of the stems I was inserting in the discs. That stage took three days. Once all dry, I trimmed off the plant stems protruding through the bottom with a box cutter knife.

    Bunching the pieces together with a low angle shot gives the impression of dense foliage

For the next step, I cut off individual leaves from various pieces of greenery. I made a lot of them, knowing I wanted two to three pieces of fallen vegetation on each. I decided to not use epoxy for this, but instead Tacky Glue. It is a bit cheaper and I had a lot of gluing to do! Once I had the fallen vegetation affixed to the flocked ground of each piece, I let them sit overnight so that I could evaluate them with a fresh eye in the morning. Upon looking at my handiwork the next morning, I decided that the plastic plants were a bit too shiny. There was too much of a sheen on there for my liking. I sprayed them with acrylic clear matte next. That helped some, but it was still a bit bright. I decided to use my brown vehicle wash and quickly splashed it over the leaves of the standing pieces of vegetation as well as the fallen ones. For one final time, I let my jungle scatter pieces dry overnight, again.

    A close up of the fallen leaves and other vegetation on the flocked ground of each scatter piece

"Much better!", I said to myself in the morning. The final step was to add a couple pieces of the leaf flocking that I am putting on the bases of my soldiers. Once that was done, and the glue was dry, I did a final acrylic matte spray coat. I liked how they turned out, and since I had just finished this batch of Viet Cong, I decided to pose them with the jungle scatter pieces for my photos. For the next batch, though, I think I will try larger wooden disc. I plan to glue a palm tree to the center of each with the plastic greenery spaced around it. I think that a mix of sizes of jungle scatter will add to their look of the table and make a more attractive tabletop.

I won't be starting on those right away, though. I want to get some of these things I am painting up to sell at the flea market at Historicon completed. I am even thinking of putting some things in the Origins Game Fair consignment sale, too. So, expect more variety than just 28mm Vietnamese soon...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 90 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

Mesas or Rocky Outcrops from Diabolical Terrain

    A collection of 3-D printed rocky outcrops or mesas that I purchased from Diabolical Terrain

Last year, knowing that Star Wars skirmishes I am running using Space Weirdos rules were in the future for our gaming, I picked up a set of mesas or rocky outcrops from Diabolical Terrain. These are 3-D printed and in a nice variety of sizes from their Desert Rock Formations collection. In fact, I would say that these would work easily for just about any scale. I have them posed with my 28mm 3-D printed Stormtroopers from JS Wargamer Printing, but I could easily see these prints being equally perfect for 15mm. It just depends on how big you want your rocky outcrops or mesa terrain to be!

    28mm Star Wars Stormtroopers search through the canyonland of Tatooine for 'rebel scum'

The first step to preparing these for the tabletop was to spray paint them with a can of khaki "camouflage"  paint that I picked up at Menards. It's the same base coat I used for my Diabolical Terrain Tatooine houses that I painted up back in December. Like with those buildings, I will likely pick up more of these mesas when I see Ron Weaver at his booth at Historicon. I purchased these rocky outcrops from him at last Historicon. They seemed like plenty of pieces for a nice desert tabletop. However, once I got them finished and set out on my desert terrain neoprene mat, they didn't cover up as much of it as I thought they would! 

    'Any signs of the rebels, Echo Six?' 'No, sir.' 'Keep looking -- Lord Vader says they're here...' 

Once the spray painting was done, I was able to skip my usual next step of applying watered down acrylic paint to make sure it gets in all the cracks and crevices. This spray did a thorough job of it, and after inspecting the pieces closely, I decided to go straight to dry brushing. I applied a dry brush of a craft paint called "Wild Rice" -- a very light colored tan that I typically use for highlighting khaki. This brought out the carved rock faces well.

    The 3-D printed pieces were easy to paint up and prepare for the tabletop in four steps

As much as I liked it, I feel a wash always does a great job "softening" and blending in the brush strokes of the highlighting step. There was a lot of surface area, though. Did I want to use my standard brown vehicle wash, which is fairly dark, as well? Hmmm. Then I remembered what project I bought the spray paint I'd used on them for -- my giant, 3-D printed bridge. I had mixed up a special batch of wash just for that bridge, knowing it would take a lot of liquid to cover its surface. I still had what was left over sitting, pre-mixed, on my tabletop. I would look at it from time to time, and shake it to ensure it hadn't dried up. Would it be enough, though? I figured that I would try it first on one of the smaller pieces.

    I really like how the different shades of brown I used on the various steps amplify the shadows

I really liked the effect it gave. Sometimes, if the wash is too dark, it almost erases the previous highlighting. This was a nice in between. You could see the lighter highlights, but it did a nice job of blending the brush strokes and giving a nice, brown color. I went ahead and finished the rest of the pieces and still have some more left over. So, it had definitely been plenty! Once dry, I inspected the pieces. I liked them, but felt that the recesses and cracks were still too light. Hmmm.

I decided to do one final step on the pieces. I took my dark brown vehicle wash and applied it with a small brush only to the cracks and crevices. Although in a few places you can see where this stops and starts too clearly, in my opinion, I was overall happy with how it turned out. I think on my next batch, though, I will swap the last two steps. I will do the brown vehicle wash in the crevices and recesses and then do the overall wash on it. I think it will blend the whole rocky surface together well. A final clear matte spray coat finished off the pieces.

    You can see how the size of these pieces would work for either 15mm or 28mm scale

You can see the 3-D print lines in some of the close up photos. However, since it is a sandstone like surface, this actually doesn't look bad. It gives the impression of even smaller details on the rock surfaces itself. I like how these turned out, and I said before, will likely be buying more of them from Diabolical Terrain. They will be used on the tabletop for sure in my next planned scenario in our Star Wars campaign using Space Weirdos rules.

    One final look at the rocky pieces from above to show you their variety in size and shape

So, what else is coming up or in progress? Lots! Too much!! Seriously, I will post tomorrow my next batch of 28mm Viet Cong. Posing with them will be my first dozen jungle scatter terrain pieces that I scratch built using plastic plants from the local craft store. I actually took the photos of those at the same time as these. I had finished the rocky outcrops first, though, so they get to be featured on the blog first! Fair is fair...ha, ha! Of course, there are more U.S. and Viet Cong figs in process. In addition, there are a LOT of terrain pieces that I am preparing for the sole purpose of selling at my flea market table at Historicon this July 17-20 in Lancaster, PA. Stay tuned for updates on those and other miscellaneous terrain or figures I am squeezing into my painting schedule.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 85 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 60