Trailer Park Grows: Two More 3-D Prints from Bad Goblin Games

    Bad Goblin Games' 'Fortified Trailer #2' - 3-D printed building with lots of character & details

I picked up two more 3-D printed trailers from Bad Goblin Games at Siege of Augusta awhile back. One is their Fortified Trailer #2 and the other is Ruined Trailer #2. The really cool thing was that Brian and Liz Peak will both be attending Cincycon this weekend. They wanted to run a game of their Trailer Park Warlords of the Apocalypse. I offered to bring down a game mat and terrain for them, if they wanted to do it. They agreed, so if you go to Cincycon, you'll have a chance of playing a game with these newly-finished trailers!

  Heavily damaged front of 'Ruined Trailer #2' with some of my post-apocalyptic survivors

I decided to do both of them simultaneously, because I had slight deadline pressure. Plus, having already finished two of them that I bought at Historicon 2024, I knew how quickly they painted up. There is no construction to do on these -- just prime and paint. That is, unless you count epoxying the upper half of the trailer to the lower base...! First, though, I based both on MDF. For the ruined trailer, I glued the roof on, too,  because it is 2/3's destroyed/missing. The roof wouldn't get in the way of moving figures around inside of it. For the fortified one, I kept the roof removable -- it has nice tabs that keep it in place during games. 

    Other side of the fortified trailer with my add-ons (yard flamingo & bird bath) and some 28mm figs

I did my usual Krylon Fusion Acrylic Black Matte spray coat first, followed by brush-on mix of 50/50 water and acrylic black paint. The black base does mean you have to do two coats of lighter shades (like I was going to do), but it is no real problem. I chose a pale gray-green for the ruined trailer and a salmon pink for the fortified one. Each got a base coat then a dry brush of a lighter shade (very light gray for the green, pink for the salmon). The bottom half of the ruined trailer I did in a medium gray, figuring a two-tone look might be nice.

    Detachable roof on the fortified trailer -- the tires, cinder blocks & everything come already affixed

Next, I painted the various fortifications and damage on both trailers. The tires, wooden door, stop signs -- all of it -- is straight out-of-the-package. The only modifications I did to either was to the interiors with posters and flooring. I did the windows and doors in a contrasting trim color, dry-brushed in a lighter shade. For the damaged sections, I painted them dark gray with a medium gray dry brush. The tires were also done in charcoal gray, with medium gray drybrush. I had to pull out one of my finer tip brushes for my attempts at lettering the "STOP" on the hexagonal signs. Bad Goblin trailers typically come with two stairs leading up to the doors. One is made of cinder blocks and the other is wooden stairs. If you are using the wooden ones, I suggest gluing them to the base AFTER the outside of the trailer is done. That way, you don't have to poke your brush through the slats to paint the trailer's surface. 

    A look at some of the 'trailer park kitsch' posters I printed out and glued to the walls

For the doors, I decided to leave them open on two trailers. They are modeled to be able to swing open and close, but I find that once you've painted both the doors and the frame, the layers build up kind of freezing them in place. If you want yours to open and close, I suggest you shave off some material from the door or frame before priming. For the interiors, I chose pale colorw for the walls (yellow for the ruined one and sky blue for the fortified trailer). This time, I used a wide, flat brush rather than my usual rounded brush. It worked a lot better, and there was fewer splash over spots on the window or door frames. Two coats was enough to cover over the black primer, even with the lighter colors I used.

    Other wall's posters -- Jenny suggested the "Velvet Elvis" poster, and a look at the smoke damage

Next, I did a black vehicle wash over the exterior and then interior. I stupidly went back to my rounded brush for the interior of the ruined trailer and it came out very streaky. For the sky blue interior, I used the wide, flat brush and I was much happier with the look. The flooring is scrap booking paper sold at the local craft store trimmed and glued into place. I also dry brushed smoke stains around the damaged sections on both the interior and exterior. I was very happy with how this turned out, adding a touch of realism, I feel. 

    A little bit of whimsy with the flamingo and a scratch made water fountain with water & leaves in it

The next step was to glue my trademark posters on the inside walls (and a few choice places on the exterior). I found images I thought were appropriate with Google searches. I tried to go with what might be a stereotypical decoration in a low-income or working class trailer park. Jenny suggested the Velvet Elvis painting, and the NASCAR poster (sorry, Jason -- don't tell Lily!). I thought the Springsteen "Born in the U.S.A." and the Lynard Skynard...wait, "Skyyyyynard!" were nice touches. Hopefully, no one is offended by my playful lampooning of trailer park chic! I resized the images and printed them off at the local office supply store on their color laser printer. After cutting them out, I paint the back with white glue and stick them to the walls. They are easy to do and work perfect!

    The mostly blow away back of Ruined Trailer #2 - I'm happy with how the smoke damage came out

The final step was to decorate (or trash up?) the yards a bit. For the pink one, I built a bird bath with round miniature bases and a tiny plastic bowl. I cut a circle of blister pack plastic for the water surface and glued a couple leaves to it. I added in tiny sky blue ripples of a reflected sky and then finished it off with a clear gloss. I then did the Homer Simpson, "D'oh!", because I would need to carefully cover it up with masking tape when I clear coated the model to prevent it from "frosting." Other things I added to the yards for atmosphere were a toilet, kitchen sink, and curved pipes. For the pink one, I really, really wanted to put flamingos in the yard. I couldn't find any tiny plastic ones at the local train store or craft stores. So, I resorted to buying a pack off Amazon. To save our brick and mortar stores, I try to buy as little as possible off Amazon. The flamingos are probably too big, but I used them anyway. I drilled out the underneath and added wire legs with a paper clip. I also drilled holes for the legs in the MDF for stability. If you think they look too goofy, let me know. I can always remove the flamingo later if I decide the out-of-scale size bothers me too much!

    Close up of the posters in the ruined trailer -- a rocker & NASCAR fan lived here (or still does?)

The last step was flocking, clear coating, and then the two trailers were done! They went quickly (soooo much faster than building and modifying an MDF one). If you're interested in creating a 28mm trailer park or adding one to your skirmish games, I highly recommend Bad Goblin Games and their selection. Thankfully, Liz and Brian are NOT bringing their store with them to Cincycon (they're in town for work), so I am saved at least till Historicon 2025 from the temptation of buying more trailers!

    Side of trailer with my scratch made debris and plumbing pipe from Miniature Building Authority

What else am I working on? I have a batch of eight Dark Age mounted troops begun on my painting desk right now. The plan for the next terrain that I will paint is to convert my two Reaper shipping containers into buildings, much like the Miniature Building Authority one I painted recently. And of course, I'm headed to Cincycon this weekend. Hope to see you there!

    Close look at the included cinder block stairs & more debris flocking I made & an MBA kitchen sink

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 9

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

 

    Another look at the front of the ruined trailer with some of my survivors scoping out the territory

    Side view of the fortified trailer, plus a discarded toilet sitting in the yard to 'trash it up'

Rebels & Patriots: Cutting Off Philadelphia

    Mike and Jason Stelzer, left, face off against Allen and Jenny in a game of Rebels & Patriots

We played our fourth game of Rebels and Patriots this past Sunday evening with seven players. Jenny, Allen, and Joel took on the role of British commanders trying to usher a supply column towards the garrison in Philadelphia. Mike and Jason Stelzer, Tom, and myself were rebel commanders intent on preventing the wagon train from making it across the table. Keith had designed the scenario and provided the figures and terrain. 

    Early stages of the battle with the American forces advancing towards the roadway against the Brits

The road ran down the length of the table, about 2/3's of the way across from the American starting positions. Mike S commanded the left, Jason the center, and Tom the right wing of the Americans. I took control of the a (point-wise) weak force of militia in the woods lining the far side of the board. I had five units, but all worth only one point according to the game's point system. Just one unit in some of the forces was equal to my entire force, but I had the advantage of position, which I intended to use aggressively. My first moves were to advance my entire force to within shooting range of the column and its support troops. After that, I would simply hunker down and fire and hope not to be driven off by counter-fire.

    Later in the game, my militia units at the edge of the woods pour fire into the British flank guards

The British had the disadvantage of having to march along the road in addition to firing back at my sniping. My compatriots on the opposite long table edge would have to advance to get within range to add their weight of fire to my shooting for us to be successful. Keith's rules were that the wagon train would move 4" each turn automatically, unless it was fired upon. In that case, it would have to dice to advance. Jenny's rolls for the wagon train were below average at first, and then finally caught wind. Would it be too little too late, though? How much damage could the Americans do to the convoy escorts?

    Tom's Continentals and state line troops advance on our right flank to cut off the British convoy

For 1-point units, I felt my militia were not that bad, actually. Keith gave them the ability to choose the "Fire" action, rolling all 12 dice, if they were stationary. I'm not sure if American militia are supposed to be able to do that or must always take the "Skirmish" action, rolling only six dice for firing. Keith said he'd checked and that we should be able to use the Fire action. In that case, I think my troops were a bit overpowered at 1 point. Four of the British units turned to face my skirmish line in the woods. However, I was able to inflict as much damage on them with my five inferior units as they did upon me. I did have two militia units flee off-table due to casualties from British musketry. However, I destroyed or drove off three of the enemy units. At the end of the game, I was hovering around 50% losses, figure-wise, but were still in the fight!

    Early game, Brits try to (1) Keep moving (2) Deal with my sniping (3) Face the American main force

Keith actually took command of the small garrison of two artillery and one dragoon regiment at the table edge the British were marching towards. If anyone's dice were terrible that evening, it was Keith (the GM's). He lost two of his three units and inflicted essentially no damage on Tom's advancing forces. The African-American Rhode Island light infantry shrugged off every one of the artillery shots he was able to get off. Of course, I was rooting for my compatriots to get in the battle quicker and to hammer the enemy harder. They did well, though. We ended up calling the game after only 2+ plus hours as it was obvious the supply train was not going to get off-table.

    British wagon train struggles to move forward as we pour fire into the lead wagons, slowing them

Both Jason and I made it a point to shoot the wagon train whenever we could, forcing them to dice to be able to move. As mentioned early, Jenny's activation rolls were below average, meaning they moved forward infrequently. Both Jason and I cleverly focused our shooting on the lead wagons, so that when they didn't move, they stalled the entire column. Keith did let them move off-road since it was winter and the ground would be frozen. However, that just meant we focused our fire on the new "lead" wagons. 

    I felt good that four higher point value British units were turned to face my sniping the entire battle

We did struggle a bit with the morale and rally rules this game. It had been since September that we had played them. In between, we played both Lion Rampant and Xenos Rampant from the same stable of games. Unfortunately, each rules set does thing subtly different. All three due morale checks (or "Courage checks") differently. We did things wrong in the early part of the game and it wasn't until three quarters of the way through that we finally got the rules all down pat. On one hand, it is nice to use a similar game system so that was are familiar with the basics. However, the subtle differences in each set make it a challenge to get your head wrapped around each one's way of doing things. I think that I honestly need to sit down and create a cheat sheet going over the differences between the three sets. Heaven forbid we start playing another game from the "Rampant" stable (as Keith is talking about doing)! I enjoy the games, but it is challenging keeping them straight in our heads!

    Mid-stages of the battle, as the British convoy guards are getting worn down by American musketry

I guess that's kind of a blessing, because it means we get to play a variety of games, right? I asked the group after the game if they're enjoying the Rampant system and they seemed amenable to continuing to keep playing them. They work, provide a game which makes sense for the most part, and they do play VERY fast. Once again, we were done in less than three hours for a six player game. Granted, we often don't play till the bitter end, and "call it" when it is obvious one side has won. However, we tend to do that in most games (except board games, perhaps?), so that doesn't take away from their fast-play aspect.

    Firing takes place along the length of the battle line, with Americans slowing gaining the upper hand

It was a good time, my troops "punched well above their weight class," and we laughed and enjoyed ourselves. What more can you ask for in an evening of gaming, right? Our normal host, Mike W, returns this week from snowbirding in Portugal. So, we will likely be gaming back at his abode next week (or soon). In the meantime, look for another update from me in a day or so detailing my two newest, 3-D printed trailers that I painted up from Bad Goblin Games.

    We decided the convoy did NOT get through, starving the Philadelphia garrison of supplies...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

    Everyone had fun, & finishing a game with seven (really 8) players in just over two hours is a bonus!

 

 

 

 

 

A New Project and Some Other Unpainted Lead I Picked Up

    Pics from the company website (Crucible Crush) -- I will not begin painting my figs till March

Say goodbye to the positive Acquired vs. Painted ratio till, say, summer? One period that I've been thinking about doing for years, but never got around to pulling the trigger on, has been the Vietnam War. I finally decided that I'd take the plunge. The games that I want to do will be small scale, though, with each of my players controlling a squad or fire team. So, 28mm is the obvious choice here. My hope is to do it as a cooperative game, with all of my players controlling the U.S. side and the game mechanics dictating the actions of the Vietnamese.

I looked at a number of manufacturers and narrowed it down to several. One was Gringo 40s (but in 28mm, despite the name). They have lots of cool figures, but all are Marines, not Army. Not that the difference is a non-starter at that scale, but it is a consideration if I go ahead with my plan to do U.S. Army platoon in Vietnam. Gringo40s are also located in Britain, which likely meant a considerable shipping charge. Another possibility was Empress Miniatures. Once again, all Marines, but with a U.S. distributor, Age of Glory. My third choice, and the one I eventually went with, was the Black Sun range from Crucible Crush -- an arm of Bob Murch's Pulp Figures. Technically, these are for their "Weird War" Vietnam, with all kinds of inter-dimensional Cthulu-like horrors. However, their standard rank and file figures are solidly historical, and they included U.S. Army troops.

    Picture from Crucible Crush website of their 28mm Vietcong figures

Crucible Crush is located in Canada, so I reached out to them prior to the Trump tariffs and asked if they'd raise their price if those were put into place. The gist of the answer was it would be very likely. My friend Jim W in Michigan owns figs from the Black Sun range and liked them, so that tipped the scale. What's more, with the tariffs only weeks away at that time (enacted now), I quickly reached out and ordered what I wanted. I picked up seven packs of five American GIs each and five packs of VC. They kindly gave me a bonus pack, and I chose one of their "Children of Hastur" -- hippies with guns -- which I could use for my post-apocalyptic games. I looked through the miniatures when I unpacked them, and they seem very nice -- as one would expect from the Pulp Figures line. I am using pictures from their website with this blog post, rather than taking my own poorer quality ones!

What rules will I use? Wellll, I am actually going to write my own! Sort of. My plan is to playtest and adapt the Ganesha Games "Sellswords & Spellslingers" system to the Vietnam War. The gist of SS&SS is that a player rolls between one and three d20s to activate each figure. Any failures result in the draw of a card from a deck. These cards cause new enemies to appear on the table, or those already on board to act. The cards can also spring traps or cause other events. My job as "GM" will simply be to adjudicate these events while the players or game's "AI" make all the decisions. I also plan on tracking the platoon's progress through their year-long tour in Vietnam. Figures will likely get wounded or killed, necessitating brand new replacements, who will likely be less skilled. The survivors will progress in skill. The players, as sergeants, will be trying to shepherd as many of their men safely through their yearlong tour in Vietnam.

    Of course, I ordered the Hollywood personalities pack from Crucible Crush's 28mm Vietnam range!

The package from Canada arrived the day before I left for my vacation in Ecuador ("Whew!"). I will likely begin painting the figures in March. There are a few things I want to finish up before I undertake this new project, painting-wise. I've already begun my research -- reading highly regarded memoirs and other non-fiction on Vietnam. So, look for lots of Vietnam figures being painted this year!

What else did I buy to totally screw up that Painted vs. Acquired total? This purchase is also for SS&SS, but for the Dark Age Britain semi-historical games I plan to run. These will be the "semi" part, actually! After fighting Vikings for awhile, I plan on having my players encounter mythical elements from Scottish or northern British myths. These little guys will be the "Redcaps." These goblin-like creatures are the evil equivalent of the household "brownies" -- benevolent little sprites that help families keep their homes nice and tidy. Well, in my world, they are one in the same creatures. Something will happen to turn them into enemies (Redcaps), and the players will encounter them and try to solve the mystery of why a previously friendly race is all of a sudden hellbent on human blood. That's down the road in the story arc, though. So, these will likely not get painted soon. The figures are from Conquest Games and are in their "Myths of Albion" range and are called, Svartalfar. I picked up 23 of them -- more than enough. Or more accurately, my friend Will G picked them up for me when he was visiting England a couple weeks ago!

    Once again, pics from Conquest Games website of their "Svartalfar" (which will be my Redcaps)

Unfortunately, the ratio is likely only to get worse after my visit next weekend to Cincycon. I will likely pick up some figures there, but will do a report on my purchases after the show. In the meantime, I am just about done with the two Bad Goblin Games trailers, so look for pictures of those soon. What's more, I will likely follow them up with a couple of my own takes on a shipping container building. As for miniatures, I am going to mix in a batch of Dark Age cavalry for our Lion Rampant games on Sunday nights. So, stay tuned for more coming soon!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

Ragnar Lothbrok and Family & Friends

    Ragnar Lothbrok and his family and friends from the Vikings TV series - 28mm Brigade Games

Since I am going to be running my Viking Town Raid game at a number of conventions this year, I decided to spice up the interest level a bit by using characters from the 2013 History Channel's Vikings series. They will lead each player characters' band of raiders in their attempt to gather more loot than their fellow Vikings. I asked for input on the Lead Adventure Forum and did some searching myself, and eventually decided to go with 28mm metal miniatures from Brigade Games. Besides the series star Ragnar Lothbrok, the set of five also included his brother Rollo, wife Lagertha, son Bjorn Ironside, and friend Floki the shipbuilder.

    Vikings series characters in front of a 28mm Acheson Creations Viking Turf House

I preferred to order all five from the same manufacturer so that I didn't end up with scale issues. Plus, Lon Weiss at Brigade Games always has excellent service and sells quality miniatures. Shipping from the USA, rather than an overseas manufacturer, was a plus, as well. I really liked the figures when I unpacked them, and continued to like them through the painting process. There was almost zero flash and the detail was crisp. I detest "slotta" bases, so snipped them off of their metal tabs and shaved the bottoms of their feet flat so that I could epoxy them directly to the base. I primed them with white Gesso, and the Vikings were quickly ready to be painted!

For their flesh, I use a ruddy craft paint but then apply a wash of darker orange color. I don't know why a matte clear paint and a matte dark orange combine to give me a glossy finish sometimes, but that's what I have to deal with. I fix that anyway during the final wash and clear coat stage. I decided to do all five at the same time, painting their flesh, then clothing, then weapons, etc., at the same time. I wasn't under huge deadline pressure, as I wouldn't be running the game till Cincycon weekend, Feb. 28-March 2. For those interested in playing, the game can accommodate six players (all Vikings) and will be on Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 10am. 

    Ragnar Lothbrok from Brigade Games -- I think they did a nice job recreating him in 28mm

I am hard pressed to pick a favorite among the five miniatures, so I will just go over them one by one. Starting with series star Ragnar, I did numerous Google Image searches to try to get his costume from the series right. The chainmail is my usual recipe -- an Iron Wind Metals Steel base color with a Silver dry brush. Seeing the images for the characters I found online, there would be LOTS of varieties of brown in these five figures. So, I did my best to differentiate tones so each figure didn't look like one big blob of brown. For Ragnar, that meant a dark brown tunic (with my own addition of a dark red trim), medium brown trousers, and lighter brown boots. Googling his shield came up with a red shield with a strange bird emblem, so I took that as liberty to create my own Ragnar shield design using a bird head. The tattoos on his head came out well, I thought, as did his lighter tan colored hair.

    I like how Ragnar's brother, Rollo, and his tattoos came out (which I did with a black micron pen)

Bare-chested Rollo was probably the easiest to paint (at least until it came to the tattoos). More brown's with some leather straps and tan boots. His shield also came up in a Google search. Incidentally, I think the design is similar to one of the flags of the Nordic nations today. His dark brown hair and slightly crazed looking eyes came out well, too.

    Ragnar's wife Lagertha is a definite fan favorite in the series -- a tough, no-nonsense shield maiden!

Lagertha gave me the opportunity to do the most detail and creativity. Blue seemed to be her color in the series, so I gave her a light blue tunic with a decorative darker blue and yellow band at the hem. Her trousers were brown (what else?) and I made her boots a bit fancier looking, painting them reddish brown. Her blonde hair was more striking than the other characters in the images, so I used a brighter yellow. The shield design is the one she and her shield maidens used later in the series and is based on a Viking rune, I believe. In fact, I admit the chronology of the characters and game are a bit mixed up. By the time Björn is old enough to go to war and lead men, Rollo is in Normandy. But hey, it is a game and most of the Ragnar legendary sagas are liberally played with by the show's writers.

    I'm satisfied with my job on Björn Ironside's animal skin cloak - Ragnar would be proud of his son

Björn's figure was the one I was least looking forward to paint. The images I saw online of his animal fur cloak looked challenging. Still, I persevered and did my best. I began with a light tan base coat on the fur, then white dry brush in what would be the animal's (wolf? fox?) lighter sections, with medium brown patches here and there to darken it up. A brown wash over it all and I am actually very happy with how the cloak came out. The rest of the figure is various tones of (wait for it...) brown and gray. The "< >" shield came up in a Google search, so I went with it. I gave him lighter blond hair than his mom, but more yellow than dad, which I thought made sense.

    I managed to hold off mimicking Floki the shipbuilder's insane giggle as I painted his figure

Finally, Floki -- a very interesting character in the series. The shipbuilder is not named as such on Brigade Games' website, but is obviously based on that character. He holds an awl (wood carving tool) and axe. In the series, he rarely carries a shield, if I remember correctly, but I attached one to his back anyway since it was included in the pack. Here the Google searches were particularly helpful. I replicated the reddish brown vest, gray under tunic, brown pants, and dark boots as closely as I could but to also allow for contrast and a more interesting looking miniature. I gave him the tear tracks tattoos that this devoted follower of the Norse gods wears in the film. His unruly hair was done in a medium brown and he looks equally sinister and crazy like the character is at times in the events in the series.

All in all, I am VERY happy with how Ragnar and his crew turned out. When I left for vacation Feb. 4, everything was done on these figures except the wash and flocking. I finished those when I came back, two weeks later. It is also less than two weeks from my Cincycon game, now, so hopefully you will soon see action shots of them looting an Anglo-Saxon town and cutting down hapless villagers!

    A final look at the Brigade Games' take on the characters from the History Channels series, Vikings

What else is on my paint desk? I have the two trailers I purchased from Bad Goblin Games at Siege of Augusta. Both have their primary base coat and dry brush done on their exteriors. I have begun painting the exterior details and then will switch to the interiors. They also have to be done because I will be bringing them down to Cincycon to be used by Bad Goblin Games when they run their Trailer Park Warlords of the Apocalypse game Friday, 2pm, at Cincycon. A couple of the owners just happen to be in Cincinnati from Florida for work, and they decided to run one of their games and attend the show. Since they're flying up, I am helping them out by bringing a mat and some terrain to use. If you get a chance to play in their game, I encourage you to do so. It is a lot of fun!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 7
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

Viking Longship in 25mm Resin

    This 25mm resin Viking longship has languished unpainted in my closet for more than a decade!

Many, many moons ago, I went to Pittsburgh for a DBA Ancients tournament held at a game store. I placed well enough to win a store gift certificate, but ignored the packets of 15mm Ancients lined up for us to choose from. My eye had been caught by a 25mm scale Viking longship on the shelves. I chose that, and it has languished in a series of closets over the years until recently. I pulled it out to paint up as eye candy for my Viking Town Raid game (which I seem to mention on here in every other post...ha, ha!). 

    Closeup of the dragon figurehead, which was actually a metal piece which needed to be glued on

It comes with rowers and such, but honestly I want it just as a piece of stationary, atmospheric terrain. So, I stuck the rowers in the unpainted lead drawer to continue languishing (poor guys!). The longship comes in two resin pieces -- the hull of the ship and the deck with its benches and such. The dragon figurehead and curly tail spiraling off the stern came as lead castings. It also included one single wooden dowel for the mast. I glued the deck to the ship and the figureheads to their bow and stern posts. The dowel I set aside to agonize about later. The constructed ship itself got a black spray paint coat, followed up by my usual brush-on 50/50 mix of water and black acrylic paint.

    A close up of the benches and fur bundles that the rowers would sit on while at sea

Painting the ship actually went very quickly, much to my surprise. I did a wet brush of Howard Hues Camo Brown, followed by a dry brush of Khaki as a highlight. Then, came the more time consuming part of picking out the details on the deck -- the wooden seat benches, the piles of furs or skins for rowers to sit on, and the various bronze fittings. I went with paler colors, figuring the sun and salt spray would have bleached them over the weeks and months at sea. Once done with all of these, I did a black vehicle wash over the entire thing. I was very happy with how it had come out so far, but there was the small detail of that dowel for a mast!

    Panic along the coastline as the dragon figurehead is sighted - Viking raiders on the way!

Obviously, a single upright dowel was NOT going to do! Not sweet enough for eye candy, in my opinion. I would have to at least do a cross-spar, and hopefully with a furled sail gathered around it. The model will be sitting at anchor or dock 90% of the time I use it, I imagine, so a furled sail looks better than one with a bellyful of wind. I did research on what a Viking longship with a furled sail would look like. I asked the incredibly creative folks on the Lead Adventure Forum for suggestions. Thus, the two weeks or so of "agonizing" while the rest of the longship sat finished on my desk.

    The curled stern is another metal piece and turned out very nicely when dry brushed

Before I could even begin on the sail, I would have to first affix the horizontal spar to the dowel rod. I decided to go with a narrower width dowel for the spar, and I would pin the two together with a piece of brass rod. I also shaved out a bit of a flat on the spar so the two would join closer together. From there, it was a simple matter of drilling a hole in each and then adding the pin. Once it was in place and the glue had dried on the mast, I slid the spar onto the projecting length of the pin. Once again, simple to do, with white glue adding its grip to the two pieces of wood. Once dry, I trimmed off the excess pin and recommenced my agonizing about the furled sail!

    The cause for days and days of agonizing: How to do a furled sail on the longship?

There were several good suggestions for how to do the furled sail on the forum, but I ended up going with my first thought. I purchased a piece of red and white striped scrapbooking paper from the local craft store. For some reason, Viking longships are always illustrated with a red and white vertically striped sails. The pre-printed paper would keep me from having to paint the sail. I measured and trimmed off a rectangle. I then folded it in half, painted the underside with white glue, and set it under a weight so it dried flat. While it was drying, I borrowed a spool of brown thread from Jenny, and wrapped and cross-wrapped the spar and mast together so it would look like rope lashings.

    A welcome sight to many villagers -- a Viking longship sailing away!

I was still figuring things out on the fly, and putting further work off each day. One night, while trying to get to sleep, I had the idea of pre-curling the top part of the sail around the spar and epoxying it in place as a separate first step. So, I took the sail (which was only about half the length it would be if it would be down and "full bellied"), and trimmed out a divot in the exact center where the top end would split to go around the mast. I epoxied it into place. This worked really well. So far, so good. I took a deep breath. I was ready to put my ideas to the test and furl the sail to the spar. I found a piece of insulation foam and poked the bottom of the dowel into it, firmly fixing it upright. Next, I grabbed my bottle of 50/50 white glue and water and poured its contents into a plastic cup. I set the foam on the edge of the sink and weighed it down so it wouldn't tip over and fall in.

Taking a wide flat brush, I soaked the sail thoroughly with white glue and water. I waited till its ends began to curl, which hopefully meant the layer of white glue joining the two folded sides together was once again wet and pliable. I cut a length of brown thread, made a loop, and pulled it tight, pulling the sail up like a curtain. I wrapped the thread round and round the dripping paper. I did the same thing in three more spots -- two "tie ups" on either side of the mast. It was a little crumpled in places, but by and large, looked vaguely like I wanted it. I set it to dry over the sink.

   A view from above of the longship, which actually painted up very quickly to my surprise!

That evening, once the glue had dried, I trimmed off various wild pieces of string, and painted over the loops with full strength white glue. The next morning, I used a thin brush to paint a light leather color over the looped string. Was it perfect? No. I am sure others could do a much nicer job. However, I pronounced myself satisfied and all that was left to do was to clearcoat the ship and mast. Done! After languishing in my closet for more than a decade, I finally had a 25mm Viking longship! I have updated my tallies below, but felt a little like Legolas and Gimli when adding only a "1" to the "Terrain Painted" total. Despite weeks sitting on the painting desk (and days of agonizing), "That still counts as only one!"

    Last look at the dragon figurehead -- which historically was removed when sailing to trade peacefully

What's next on my paint desk? Well, the occupants of the ship! I purchased a set of five 28mm Viking miniatures from Brigade Games that are sculpted to resemble Ragnar Lothbrok and his friends and family. They are close to being done, and will likely be my first post when I return from vacation. So stay tuned!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 7
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 10 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

"Game over!" -- our second 6-player Xenos Rampant Game

   Space Marine dreadnought takes heavy fire during its assault in our Xenos Rampant game

After our first game of Xenos Rampant back in summer of 2024, we decided that six 24-point detachments on an 8'x4' table was too crowded. We said for our next game, we'd try 18-points per player. Who knew it would take us six months to get in our second game? I'll take the blame for that, as I was the one pushing the rules and I never got around to scheduling round two. Well, this weekend we finally got in our second game. A great sign was that three of the six detachments were brought by the players, and I had to provide only three forces.

    Defenders, left (Keith, Joel, Allen from top) advance on Mike S, Tom, and Andy in our 6-player game

On one side, the attackers were Mike S, Tom, and Andy. Trying to hold them off were Keith, Joel, and Allen. I made sure the players who were bringing their own forces sent me their army lists because I was worried about min-maxing, which I'd heard Xenos Rampant could be susceptible to. In particular, I was concerned about the Attack Vehicles. The rules already limit each player detachment to one Attack vehicle, and any one unit to no more than 50% of the army points. I need not have worried because the two most expensive vehicles in the game, Keith's and Andy's, were driven back by their opponents and did not have a major positive effect for their side. Ordinary rank and file -- particularly those armed with heavy weapons -- seemed to rule the evening.

    Allen's Anadorans advance through the blue alien forest to firing positions against Andy's troops

All three forces I was providing, the Bronze Legion (Tom), Terminators (Joel), and the Anadorans (Allen) had three units of six points each. Both Keith and Andy's forces experimented with a handful of cheaper troops to support the more expensive ones. Mike S was trying out a Recon Infantry sniper team, and they proved very effective in his repelling of Keith's assault. I was seated at one of the ends of the table, so didn't see the nitty gritty of their game. Mike admitted that his Recon Infantry activated to shoot way above average (7+ on 2d6, failing only once I believe he said). On the other hand, I had a ringside seat for Allen's dismembering of Andy's Space Marines force. 

    Andy's Space Marines begin their advance against Allen's troops, unaware of the drubbing in store!

Allen's two units of heavy infantry had "Heavy Weapons," which score two hits for every "six" rolled to hit. It seemed like every turn, Allen's roll of 10 dice included at least three "6's" -- sometimes even four! Mike said it was similar in his battle. He basically hunkered down in terrain, soaking up the +1 to Armor rough terrain gives, and fired at Keith's forces while he moved up. In Andy and Allen's encounter, it was a similar paradigm. Allen adopted a defensive position while Andy tried to be aggressive and assault his opponent's lines. Of course, that begs the question: Is defense too tough under these rules? In the middle of the board, Joel was very tentative in his advance, with his Terminators staying behind cover and out of line of fire of Tom's Bronze Legion. Tom tried to advance and get line of sight, but Joel would duck back, keeping the alien forest or similar terrain between them. Eventually, Tom did get line of sight, and began putting hits on the machines and their forces.

    Keith's tank leads his space marine force against Mike's troops hunkered down & waiting in terrain

Keith's aggressive advance was the first to be shattered by an opponent. On the opposite corner of the table, Andy's was the second to admit defeat and pull back. Joel finally admitted that Tom's Bronze Legion had worn enough of his units down below half strength that he would have little chance of victory. So, after only about two hours, we ended up calling the game. I continue to be surprised at how fast the "Rampant" series of games play. Last week's Lion Rampant Dark Ages game ended early, too. Not that it is a bad thing -- heck no! About a year ago, we moved our Sunday evening start time up from 7pnm to 6pm specifically because we wanted to finish earlier. So, a game that plays fast fits right into our wheelhouse. 

    Mike's elite armored infantry hunkered down in the town, taking shots at Keith's advancing marines

Did the guys have fun? It appears so. I think both Keith and Andy were a tad frustrated with the die rolls, at times. However, they were both looking through their copy of the rulebook and thinking about tweaks to their list or dreaming up how to field new forces. Allen pronounced himself thrilled, as he was very successful the first time we played Xenos Rampant, as well! I think we have a "winner" for continuing games. I still feel I want to keep an eye on what forces players are fielding. In my reading of comments on the game, and in the rules themselves, they warn players not to try to tinker endlessly to recruit the unbeatable force. As tough as Mike's Recon Infantry snipers were, we all agreed there are solutions to an opponent fielding them. And Mike freely admitted his rolls for them were way above average. I saw myself how Andy's rolls were the opposite. He was successful on the "Firefight" ability (which allows a target of a shot return fire on a 7+) only once in the entire game!

    Joel's Terminators were obviously programmed for a very cautious, tentative advance

So, yes, Xenos Rampant is a dice game and the outcome can be heavily influenced by who is having a good night and who a bad one. Still, how many other games are similarly vulnerable to that? The rules are easy to pick up and players are running their own turns with few questions fairly early on. You do have to be very careful if you play multiple sets of the "Rampant" rule series. I took the time at the beginning of the game to go down the list of things I'd noticed that were subtly different from Lion Rampant. Commanders within 12" add +1 to activations in Xenos, but not Lion. You roll 10 attack dice if more than full strength in Xenos, but 12 in Lion. You subtract total losses for the game from your Courage roll in Lion, but only how many SP you lost in Xenos when testing for taking losses due to shooting or melee. Lots of tiny differences that can trip you up. It would probably be helpful to create a "Differences between X and Y sets of Rampant rules," if someone had the time and drive to do so.

    Keith admitted that Attacking (melee) Mike's heavy infantry in the woods was a costly mistake

As it was, the Attackers -- Mike S, Tom, and Andy -- ended up winning on two of the three battlefields, so were declared the victors. Players were free to fire at opponents in adjacent clashes, but it happened only twice in the entire game. Each seemed focused on the detachment across the table from them, and probably rightfully so. I think I feel Xenos Rampant is more balanced after our second game than I did after the first. I made big changes to my detachments after Game 1, but now I'm not so sure they were the best call. I think that with proper generalship, all of the troop types can be useful and that none are all-powerful. Elite Infantry, which some may think are overpowering, can wilt away in the face of determined firepower. I think I will go back in and tinker with my forces, but not to optimize them. I think I will create more variety in them so that we are fielding a wider range of troop types in our next game.

    Andy kept his heavy infantry in reserve while moving his elite Marines & dreadnought forward

It was a fun, fast evening of gaming, and it was great to get everyone around the tabletop rolling dice. I will be miss the next two weeks of gaming, so I look forward to getting together with everyone later in February!

    Battle finally joined in center after the cat & mouse maneuvers of the Bronze Legion & Terminators

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 7
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 10 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

    Having taken 4 hits, Andy's Dreadnought Attack Vehicle is one hit away from destruction

    Andy embraced the role of Attacker, but found his troops battered by Allen's Anadorans

    Game hinged on the battle in the center, which the Terminators failed to win as their attack faltered