Dragon Rampant: Rescue (or Capture) the Civilians!

 

    How would my Wood Elves fight as small, 6-man units of Scouts instead of 'mixed weapons' units?

We had four games of Dragon Rampant! going side by side this past Sunday for our regular game night. Most of the armies taking the field would be in their first battle (or at least the first for one of our DR! evenings). It would be the first appearance on a Sunday evening  for my Wood Elf army, who would be matched against Keith's Chaos army, also taking the field for the first time. Next to us, Mike S had created a new Greek Mythological list, which would battle Mike W's High Elves that he'd borrowed from Keith. Andy was also fielding a new army for him, a Woodland one featuring Hobbits and Ents. He would square off against Allen's Orcs. On the octagon table, Joel's Desert Goblins would face the army of the Evil Jungle Princess Salunga, yet a new iteration of Tom's beastmen.

    Sunday night's festivities with 4 games of Dragon Rampant! side by side (photo by Andy S)

I created the scenario we were playing, calling it "Rescue (or Capture) the Civilians!" It was inspired by a Lion Rampant scenario and each board featured four civilian figures. The players would want to move towards and take control of them before their opponents. Each was worth 1, 2, or 3 Glory points (DR! terminology for victory points). The civilians started roughly in the middle of the board and would move at the start of each player's turn a random direction and distance. Players would also get points for destroying or routing enemy units, of course. The civilians were meant to give them some tactical problems to consider besides the enemy army.

    Keith's Chaos Heavy Riders backed up by a Greater Warbeast Demon with spellcasting & Cunning

    Other half of Keith's center, another unit of Heavy Riders & his Chaos Lord with Elite Infantry

In our game, Keith's Chaos warriors and my Wood Elves couldn't be more different. He had only five units (none of which could shoot), while mine had nine. Here were our army's compositions:

• Chaos Warriors 
• Warlord with Elite Infantry @6AP
• Demon Lord - Greater Warbeast with Cunning and Level 2 Spellcaster @10AP  
• Chaos Knights - Elite Riders @ 6AP
• 2 units of Chaos Heavy Riders @8AP 

    Right wing of the Wood Elves with 2 units of Scouts & the Birds of the Forest, alongside the center

    Left wing of the Elves - Heavy Riders, 2 Scout units (one in trees already), & Heavy Elven Foot

• Wood Elves
• 4 units of Scouts @ 8AP
• 3 units of Heavy Foot (1 with Warlord, 2 with Level 1 Spellcasters) @14AP
• Elven Cavalry - Heavy Riders @4AP 
• Birds of the Forest - Lesser Warbeasts with Flying, Weak, and Cowardly @4AP 

    Wood Elven Cavalry trots out to face off against the much heavier Chaos elite knights in the distance

So, it was the classic Quantity vs. Quality matchup. After my first game, I had been unhappy with my infantry fielded as Light Foot with mixed weapons. Since they are wood elves, I felt they should fight more effectively in terrain, not less (Light Foot are penalized in melee when in rough terrain). So, I was trying something new with my archers field as small, 6-figure units of Scouts. I had never used Scouts before, but knew they should try to stick close to the terrain, where they were more survivable. One of my spellcasters chose Crimson magic (to be able to blast away at enemy at range), and  the other chose Magenta, chiefly to be able to enhance my Scouts shooting or my heavy foot's melee ability.

    Once the Chaos lord stopped his advance short of their range, the Scouts emerge from the trees

Keith was the attacker, so deployed first. His center was composed of his two Heavy Rider units on either side of his Elite Infantry. Behind the battle line was the big scary Demon (Greater Warbeast). He deployed his Elite Knights to the right to outflank me. The battlefield had four medium sized patches of woods, two on each half of the table. I lined two Scouts units each to occupy the woods on my left and right, while the heavy foot stretched across my center between them. The foot with the spellcasters were up front line while the warlord's foot bodyguard supported them from behind. Further to their rear were my Cavalry. The birds of the forest were on the right, positioned to support the Scouts.

    The Chaos Demon charges impetuously into a company of Heavy Elven Foot, who push him back

Keith's warband initially marched forward, but after their second move halted. They saw my Scouts infiltrating into the woods, and didn't want to move into the forest to face them OR get within their 12" of their shooting range. My army was not succeeding in its movement rolls like Keith's was, so my advance was in fits and starts. Our group plays a relatively common modified version of the activation system that the author introduced in his Rebels and Patriots rules. Rather than forfeiting your turn immediately when one unit fails to activate, you are given an opportunity to activate each unit every turn. You can still fail and do nothing (which my army did often enough in this game), but your turn doesn't immediately end with the other units not getting a chance. We feel that there is enough randomness in DR! with the shooting, combat, and magic system. You don't need to have the game thrown because one player fails his first activation for several turns in a row!

    Elven archers, cavalry, and heavy foot close in on the demon, who the Elf Warlord says must DIE!

That said, our modified system DOES make less expensive units like Scouts, Light Foot, and archers more effective than they might be otherwise. It also helps armies composed of lots of low-cost units perform better than they would be under the standard activation system. However, we figure that as long as everyone is aware of that, we are on a level playing field. In our game, Keith was having second thoughts about my four units of archers. With three of his five units counting as mounted, he felt they tilted the battle against him. So, the Chaos Lord refused to advance any further. He had snatched up three of the four civilians already and was ahead on points. In essence, he was saying, "Your move, Mr. Pointy Ears!" Knowing that I could shoot 12" but his Riders or Knights could charge no more than 10", my Scouts began to advance out of the woods and use the Skirmish ability to move and fire on the enemy. 

    2 units of Elven heavy foot march forward, ready to do battle with the hesitant forces of Chaos

My wizard tried to enchant the arrows of the Scouts to make their fire even more effective. Scouts normally hit on 5+ on each d6, or "6" if Skirmishing. The spell "Sharp Darts" would enable me to re-roll all of my misses. The Elven enchantress was doing her part. Over the course of the game, she successfully cast the spell five times. However, every time she did that, the enhanced unit of Scouts would immediately fail its Shooting action. Not once or twice, but five times in a row! Not once in the entire game did I get a chance to re-roll any of my shots. Doing some quick math, it appears that there is about a 1% chance of that occurring! I also kept track of the times my attacks scored hits but were one short of the armor level of my target (thus, no casualties). Over the course of the game, I did that 12 times. Augghh! Shades of the last outing with my Elves! 

    Demon lord slain, the Elves scent victory and advance all along the battlefield

Keith then sprang the trap that the Demon Lord had cooked up in his crafty, evil mind. He cast Transpose (which requires an 8+ on 2d6, incidentally), switching his demon's position with of one of my Scout units in the woods on the right. For some reason, I forgot the Demon Lord was his spellcaster, and we allowed it to follow up the spell with an immediate charge into the other Scout unit in that woods he'd appeared alonside (with a puff of brimstone, of course!). Of course, the Scouts failed their 7+ on 2d6 Evade roll, and the Demon Lord crashed into them. Perhaps realizing he shouldn't have been able to cast a spell AND charge, Keith rolled abominably, not wiping out the Scouts as he could have. He did win the combat, though, and scooped up the fourth and final civilian from the Scouts. Meanwhile, the Chaos Heavy Riders charged the magically misplaced Scouts out in the open. They were j-u-s-t over 2" away from the Wood Elves. These Scouts were a bit more inspired and did Evade, staying just out of reach of the cavalry. The Elven warlord saw the danger the Demon Lord presented in the midst of his battleline and immediately threw every unit he could against it. The birds of the forest charged in and caused two hits on the demon, driving him roaring out of the woods. The enchantress targeted him with magic, archers shot arrows at him. However, this was my time of the game where I was missing doing damage by one on most of my attacks. The next turn, the Demon Lord -- subject to "Wild Charge" -- crashed into one of the units of Elven heavy foot. Halberds twirled, two-handed swords sliced, and spears impaled the demon, driving him back, again. 

    Early stages of the Woodland Folk vs. Allen's Orcs & Goblins (photo by Andy)

More archery and spells failed to finish him off, though. Eventually, the Elven cavalry moved up to be in charge range. I knew I couldn't let the demon escape. Keith was up +8 points with the civilians, and was beginning to pull his battle line back towards his board edge. We needed to kill this 10-point Greater Warbeast to claim victory! The demon noticed the approaching cavalry and wild charged into them. Luckily, the cavalry counter-charged and did enough damage to finish the demon off. With the Chaos Lord disconcerted by the potential effects of Elven archery, the rest of his army continued to fall back.

    After their drubbing, Allen's Orcs may call Andy's stalwart spear, 'Nasty hobbitses!' (photo by Andy)

On the left, my two units of Scouts had damaged one of his Heavy Riders units, taking it down to one remaining strength point. It finally shook itself out of its stupor and galloped back out of their range. Keith made it clear his army was withdrawing and not coming any further forward. The elves were willing to chase them down with archery and spells, but there was nothing to prevent his forces from simply marching off the table. So, we agreed to call the game. The elves had avenged their defeat at the hands of the Bonefish Band a few weeks earlier. 

    Ents close in on Orc halberdiers, while the hobbits draw nearer in the distance (photo by Andy)

Meanwhile, the Greeks and High Elves on the battlefield next to us skirmished almost to a stalemate. They'd split the civilians between them, and only one unit was lost by the Greeks. This gave the edge to the High Elves, who eked out a victory. I believe Keith's "Shooty Elves" (as he calls them) are now 3-0 under various commanders. Keith constructed the list so that every unit shoots. The foot are mixed weapon light foot (like my Elves were in the first battle) and the heavy riders are equipped with bows, too. On the next battlefield further down, the clash between Andy's Woodland Folk and Allen's Orcs & Goblins was a slaughter. Andy said his forces destroyed or routed every unit in Allen's army!

    One of Salunga's units with control of a civilian - 'Lady Greensleeves,' I was told her name was!

There was one game still going on, though, so I drifted over to kibbitz and watch the match between Joel's borrowed Desert Goblins and Salunga, the Evil Jungle Princess. It was a bitter struggle. Tom's beastmen had six units, all of which had a spellcaster. He was having my dice rolling luck, though, and failing to cast fireballs amidst the goblins' ranks time and time again. Joel has played Keith's Desert Goblins a number of times and has gotten quite canny with them. In fact, after this weekend, he's tied for the second-most victories in our games of Dragon Rampant, having a 3-2 record. He used his savvy and pulled out a victory here, too.  

    Frustrated at the ineffectiveness of their magic spells, Tom's beastmen charge into Joel's goblins

I continue to enjoy DR! rules, and it seems they've really caught on in our group. More new armies are making it to the tabletop. Players seem intrigued by what they can create with this very open toolbox list building system. I look forward to fielding my Elves again, soon. It was great to see the army deployed on the tabletop after months of painting them up!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 166

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 71

Running Surviving 'Nam at Summercon Game Day

    U.S. soldiers enter a village tasked to search a Vietnamese market using 'Surviving 'Nam' rules

I took Surviving 'Nam, along with my new stock of printed rulebooks that had arrived earlier in the week, to Summercon -- a game day run by Lowell and Jeff of Battle at the Crossroads convention, Cambridge, OH. I set up the "Stone Buddha Market" scenario and ran two groups of players through the game. Both groups said they had a great time and enjoyed the game, more than one of them purchasing the rules from Rich Brown of RRB Minis & More, who also attended (and got a chance to play)! Another vendor that is coming to Advance the Colors, Discount Hobbies, showed up and bought some copies for his online store, as well. 

    My morning players beginning their mission, moving in from the far side of the board in the photo

Both games saw the "Countdown to Contact" phase end quickly. This part of the game is before the enemy appears, and each player can move his team onto the board and begin to advance towards their objectives, never knowing when the Viet Cong will spring their ambush. In this scenario, it can end the normal way with a d6 roll adding in the number of turns elapsed and adding/subtracting the scenario modifier. If the total is 6+, that was the last turn of Countdown to Contact movement. The next turn begins with players dicing to activate a single figure of their team, progressing around the table in a continuous circle until all players have attempted to activate and resolved any actions for all of their figures. In game one, one of the civilians next to their sampan by the river turned out to be a V.C. and opened fire on the nearest soldier. In the second game, the player controlling the lieutenant rolled a "6" on the second turn of the game.

    Sgt. Worthington & two of his fire team arrive at the back of one of the huts they have to search

The quick start to the battle meant that none of the soldiers had advanced into the market area, yet, when the shooting started. The morning players pushed forward more aggressively, moving into the hooches and along the river into the sampans to search. One soldier dashed forward and took cover behind the stone statue of Buddha. When shooting died down, he searched the nearby market stalls for contraband. 

    Seeing the U.S. soldiers arrive, many of the civilians in the market 'Didi May' (run fast) away

In the second game, the players admitted they were probably too tentative in their advance. The V.C. had moved forward quickly from the opposite board edge and also across the river. They took up positions or took cover along the wooden bridge and fired on the advancing U.S. soldiers. An enemy light machine gun team set up along the dike of a rice paddy and fired upon the Americans advancing between the houses. 

    

    A Viet Cong bunker with light machine gun team opens up on the advancing Americans

The morning game also ran into enemy LMG fire, too. One of the first Event Cards drawn brought an enemy bunker onto the table. It began to fire on the left of the U.S. advance. Rather than get into a firefight with the deadliest enemy on the table, the players cleverly through smoke grenades to cut off the line of sight of the bunker on their flank. When the LMG shifted firing ports to open up on the soldiers advancing in the market place, more smoke grenades followed, frustrating the V.C. and limiting their chance to deal damage on the invading Americans.

    Undeterred, American soldiers press on, closing in on the village and ready to engage the enemy

In both games, the rest of the civilians did a quick "Didi Mau" and fled the table. At the beginning of each turn, the players roll 1d20 to see what each civilian will do. Most of the time they flee either away from the soldiers or the V.C., but sometimes they simply freeze in place. A roll of "20" means they are actually a V.C. in disguise. The civilian moves to cover, pulls out a weapon, and opens up on the Americans, like happened in the morning game. Both groups of players suffered losses, the first game having more get hit and go down -- probably because of their more aggressive assault on the village.

    Afternoon players march their fire teams onto the board during 'Countdown to Contact'

The players in both games picked up the mechanics quickly, and grasped the tactics of using cover and taking firing positions that let them open up on groups of enemy. Both experienced the "Oh, crap!" moments, such as when a squad of V.C. suddenly appeared on the rear. I would probably say the morning players were a bit more fortunate in what Event Cards were drawn as a result of activation failures. Players choose to roll either one or two d20s to activate a figure. Each failure results in the draw of an Event Card, which typically either brings on new V.C. or activates enemy already on the table. The morning group never drew the dangerous "Sniper!" card, and got a lot of the not-so-dangerous cards, such as "Snake," and "What the Hell?" which do no damage and represent jumpy troops panicking to creatures in the jungle moving near them. 

    On the opposite side of the village, V.C. riflemen advance through a rice paddy while villagers flee

The morning players did a nice job of having their left advance the interdict the enemy, preventing them from firing on the troops searching the village as much. In the game, all V.C. except snipers usually fire at the closest American soldier. By pressing forward, the two teams on the American left drew the fire on themselves. The other two teams were able to infiltrate the village and along the river, and eventually had searched all five positions they were tasked with by the scenario objectives. At this point, they were able to exfiltrate, using the cover to make their escape without being fired upon by the V.C., which they did a good job of keeping pinned down.

    While in the rice paddy on the American side of the village, more Americans enter the village

Surviving 'Nam scales to the number of players, with the amount of initial enemy placed on the board at the end of Countdown to Contact being on a "per Fire Team" basis. And with fewer players in the afternoon, that in theory also means fewer chances at failures which bring on more enemy. The afternoon group had a more difficult time dealing with the enemy LMG team in the rice paddy. They also drew the sniper card twice, which caused some hairy moments as the lieutenant and radio man came under fire. The lieutenant was actually wounded, and after being patched up, began hobbling off the table. One of the sergeants was forced to pick up the radio and continue to try in Fire Missions on the enemy.

    In the afternoon game, the V.C. ran forward quickly and took up positions near in the market

Speaking of sergeants, both groups of players did a good job utilizing the free action that the team leaders can give to one of his nearby men when he activates. In both games, the M60 gunner and assistant were kept nearby and used to pin down groups of enemy. Players learned to use the machine gun's suppressive fire, as they shifted fire regularly to pin down as many groups of V.C. as possible. I really like how the rules highlight the value of the M60 to an American squad. In previous games, when the M60 gunner is under-utilized, the players tend to struggle. In games where he is used well, they are typically more successful.

    American M60 fire has pinned down this V.C. LMG team dug in on the dike of the rice paddy

The morning group successfully completed their mission, and we were able to see that the V.C. could do little to impede their withdrawal. So, their game was considered a victory. The afternoon game was still at a stalemate, though. The V.C. were more aggressive, and moved across the river, in amongst the village huts, and firing on the Americans. The players eventually decided that they were going to withdraw, and chocked the mission up as a failure. They were able to get all of their wounded off the table and exfiltrate through their entry point. Doubtless, they would call in air strikes on the village and hope that the choppers and fixed wing aircraft could finish the job!

    Fierce firefight breaks out in the village in the afternoon game as the V.C. proved relentless

It was a good time and I had fun players in both of my games. At this stage, it looks like the next time that I run this at a game day or convention will be Advance the Colors, Oct. 9-10, Springfield, OH. I am running it in the evening both Friday and Saturday. Since it is my HMGS chapter's flagship convention, I typically work the registration desk during the morning and afternoon. In the meantime, I'll have to select what scenario I will be running and make sure I have all the terrain ready for it! I'm very happy that Surviving 'Nam: an Infantryman's Year "In Country" continues to sell well in both PDF (on Wargame Vault and Ganesha Games) and print (Amazon and Lulu). Any day now, professionally printed Event Card decks should be available on DriveThruCards, too. I'm looking forward to getting the proof copy in the mail soon, and can't wait to see the artwork of Uriah Groves on the official cards!

    Enemy RPG blast impacts near the attacking American troops squeezed in the gap between the huts

 MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 166

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 71

Elven 'Guardians' - Creepy-masked Halberdiers

    Six 28mm, masked Elven Halberdiers from Warhost stand guard in the forest

I've always enjoyed the iconic flashback scene in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings where Elrond and the Elves are receiving the charge of hordes of Orcs. As the enemy closes, the Elves whip up their halberds and then spin them downward cutting down the first two ranks of chargers. So, when I saw this pack of Elven Guardians on the Warhost website, I wanted to get some for my Dragon Rampant army. I wasn't 100% sure about the creepy faceplate mask, but figured I could decorate it up on the style of Late Roman or Early Saxon ones rather than an evil clown mask. As it stands, this will be the final batch of Elves for the army, though after my first game I am exploring different troop type options for fielding Wood Elves. So, you never know...!

    Probably the most heavily armored of the infantry, these actually painted up very quickly

Anyway, these actually went faster than either of the previous batch of spear or cavalry. They appear to be more heavily armored, so doing the base coat of Gunmetal Gray, then Bright Gold, and finally metallic yellow accent was the most time consuming part. Once that was done, the tunic and cloak seemed to be a breeze to finish. I stayed with the lighter green shade under tunic and darker cloak on top that I've been using in this army, so far. I did my usual pattern of dots on the colored borders for the cloak. This time, I added in a border on the bottom of the tunic, too.

    With this final batch of six, my Dragon Rampant Wood Elves army is now officially complete!

I gave them the usual shades of blond hair (where you could see it), and more brown tones on the equipment and shoes and such. I certainly have Elves down to a routine, by now -- almost 70 figures later! I'm definitely going to be taking a break from painting up DR! armies for a little while and give a little more attention to my other projects. That doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed watching my vision of Wood Elves come to life. They were always my favorite fantasy race, and I like how Warhost evokes the Tolkien mythos. Of course, my friend Keith -- who thinks the Orcs of my Bonefish Band look like Saxons (I know, but you just can't talk to him sometimes) -- will probably say they look like Huns or Celts or whatever! Honestly, I'm pretty sure he does it to "poke" people to get a reaction. Yeah, Keith, all those commenters on this blog and the Lead Adventure Forum are wrong -- they don't look Tolkien-like, they look like Uhtred Uhtredson...ha, ha! Maybe we can all join in together and say, "No, Keith, you're wrong...!"

    I decorated the armored face masks with my smallest nib black micron pen - how do they look?

The trickiest part of these figures was doing the face masks, of course. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about them, yet. I would honestly love to hear your comments whether the tiny Micron pen patterns make them look less creepy and more "Ancient race decorative," or what. Given a choice, I would have preferred that Warhost didn't sculpt the Guardians with their masks, but hey! I bought them anyway, right? I used my smallest nib black pen to do swirls, dots, and even a leaf petal design. After the decoration was done, I painted the eye slits in the masks. Then I did the eye itself -- so there was a lot of work done on those masked faces!! Hoping they look decent, but as I said, I'd love to hear your opinions pro or con.

 

    Another look at the detachment of the Warhost Elven 'Guardians' in the woods

The bonfires that the Elves are gathered around in these photos are more amazing 3-D printed scenery from my friends at Bad Goblin Games. I bought one each of their Large Bonfire and Campfire at Historicon 2026 a few weeks ago. They are printed in an orange translucent material. Typically, for their flames, I do a orange-red wash on it so that it softens the bright, plastic look. After that was done and dry, it was a snap to paint the logs with my usual wood tone recipe, and then the rocks, and finally apply the ground and flocking. I painted both the pieces identically, and once done, slid the supplied watch battery into the LED light holder. I pressed the LEDs into place from underneath the fires and voila! A very cool, flickering bit of scatter for the gaming tabletop. 

A few second video of the Large Bonfire flickering away, with an Elven Halberdier standing watch

So, now that the Wood Elves are officially done, what's going to be the next project to cross my painting desk? Actually, there will likely be three that I'm juggling simultaneously. Regular readers will remember my decision to alternate a batch of older figures (bought prior to this year) and newer ones (2026 purchases). Well, luckily the three projects fit neatly into that scheme! The older figures (and next batch waiting in line) are Pulp Science-Fiction figures from Hydra Miniatures. Originally, I purchased them to be a faction in games of Xenos Rampant. Since then, I've had an idea for a convention game using them that I think will be really cool. Building the board for it (a city in the clouds, ala "Cloud City" from The Empire Strikes Back) will likely be a late year or 2027 project. In the meantime, I want to get a half dozen factions for the game done using Hydra Miniatures amazing Retro Raygun line. Previous purchases of them give me enough for three factions, so that will be one of the things I'm working on.

Small, 3-D printed LED campfire from Bad Goblin Games

 The other faction is to finally paint up some reinforcements for my Viet Cong in games of Surviving 'Nam. These will be figs bought earlier this year from Gringo40s (but not 40mm scale...ha, ha). I will also continue to work on batches of figures for my Devilry Afoot games set in Franklinton on the American frontier. Yes, yes, I know it has been a long time since my first game...! I've been busy!! So, look for batches from those three projects soon, along with more buildings and scatter terrain!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 166

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 69

Finishing Off My 'Pacific Huts' for Vietnam

    3 'Pacific Huts' from Diabolical Terrain's line of WW II 3-D printed terrain that I'll use for Nam

You know how it goes when you're running games at a convention or a game day? You think of something less than two weeks before the event that will be extra cool thing to add to the tabletop. Well, last week I thought that I should get another of the Pacific Huts that I bought from Diabolical Terrain done in time for Saturday's Summercon game day in Cambridge, OH. As I breezed along on the 3-D printed hut, I thought, "Hey! Why not get the other remaining two done, as well?" Sure enough, for a project that has more figures and terrain than I need for a game, I suddenly manufactured a deadline crunch! 

    Each of the huts is subtly different, with different textures & layouts, but same basic design

They DO paint up very quickly. The only assembly that needs to be done, as you may have seen in my post about my first Pacific Hut, is epoxying the posts the hut rests upon to its underside. You also have to glue the ladder to the log deck, and in my case, trim to size some craft sticks and epoxy them into each corner of the hut to hold the roof in place. Not sure why the model was designed without tabs or something to hold it in place, but this is very easily remedied. I also glued craft sticks to the back of the door, which for some reason, is flat with no wooden texture. I spread Tacky Glue on the back of the door, then laid enough craft sticks atop it so the texture of the door on the interior matched the exterior -- more or less. I trimmed the stick to size and then epoxied the door in place, too.

    I like the 'woven' look of the exterior and interior walls - also a good look at my craft stick posts!

Next, I took a gamble on a fairly hot day and primed the roofs and buildings with Krylon Fusion Matte Black. My brother, who lives in Nashville, TN, had preached that it is not humidity but the dew point that is more important. Another blog post I read online said it is the difference between the dew point and temperature that is the true worrying point for when you can spray miniatures or buildings and when you can't. The blog said that as long as there is a 10 degree difference between the dew point and the outdoor temperature, you should be okay. I wouldn't risk clear coating painted miniatures on a hot day with that formula -- I can wait. However, priming with a "rattle can" is worth doing, and so far I haven't had any problems following that formula!

    A look at all of the 3-D printed buildings and their thatch roofs - I love how they are raised on posts

One of the reasons these paint up so quickly is that there are only two surfaces on these buildings. Well, three, actually! The wooden posts and frame for the building are one and the woven wicker sides are the two. The third one is the thatch roof, but is done exactly like the woven mat sides with an extra step on the end. I do the wood first -- wet brush dark brown, dry brush Camo Brown, and highlight Khaki. Then I add in the wicker sides in between the wooden frame posts. This is done with a medium brown color called Autumn Brown, which I then dry brush with Iron Wind Metals Dun. For the roof, I add a final light gray highlight to give a more sun-bleached effect on the thatching.

    Using the Diabolical Terrain huts will give my Vietnamese village a more cohesive look, I think...

Once the painting is all done, I add a final black vehicle wash over the entire building. I like the effect this gives, make it look more dirty and lived in. For the interior floor, I cut to size a piece of scrap booking paper that I found in the local craft store. One final clear coat and the huts are done! I'll be using all four of the now completed huts I bought from Diabolical Terrain at the game day in Cambridge this Saturday. Although I like my scratch built jungle huts I made long ago for our Pulp games, they are a bit larger. These will fit better for the board size for Surviving 'Nam and I will likely use these more going forward.

    I added in a dirty looking scrapbooking paper for the floors, but otherwise usually don't do interiors

What else is on my painting desk? First off, the huts barely edged out the Elven Halberdiers I've been painting. Otherwise, I have another small batch of scatter terrain that is close to be done, as well.  For miniatures, I have primed the first of my Pulp Retro Sci-Fi figures from Hydra Miniatures. I am doing my factions in groups of five figures, which is more than enough for a multiplayer game of Space Weirdos rules. For the first action, I will likely paint them up similar to the two earlier ones I did -- one for my Five Parsecs from Home crew and another for my Star Wars rebels. Being a metal miniature, it was not destroyed in the great asphalt catastrophe when a friend accidentally dumped my box of miniatures I was using for our Star Wars campaign on the streets one night after gaming. Anyway, stay tuned for more updates!

    This one is almost identical to the first of the Pacific Huts that I did - very basic and open looking

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 160

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 69

    These buildings will be on the table for my games this Saturday at Cambridge 'Summercon'

Medieval Extravaganza of Terrain, Scatter & Minis

    Big batch of Medieval townsfolk miniatures, various scatter, and a 2-story building

I decided to go ahead and make this a big update covering of all the various Medieval things on my painting desk. After buying a good amount of scatter at Historicon a week or so ago, I decided to get a bunch of old and new pieces done while I was painting up the latest medieval building RRB Minis & More. To stick with the theme, I also decided that my next batch of "old" figures would be these medieval townsfolk. Why not? Plus, it made sense to combine them into a single update, even though some pieces were done more than a week before the last ones.

    I added the cross and the water spouts to this 'misprint' from Miniature Building Authority

The first to get completed was a "misprinted" 3-D Town Fountain that Kirk from Miniature Building Authority had in his discount bin. I had already begun painting the smaller Celtic Cross B before I left for Historicon, and thought setting it atop the fountain might jazz up the look a bit. The fountain was done very simply with my standard "gray stone" recipe: black base coat, wet brush dark gray, dry brush medium gray, and highlight a lighter tone. I painted the basin of the fountain sky blue and dry brushed it with a very light blue. Then I decided to add in streams of water flowing from the central part of the fountain into the basin. I used the same method I did on my Dwarven Fountain I'd painted up back in early May. I took fiber optic material, trimmed and bent it to the correct size and shape, and simply super glued it onto the fountain. I painted some white ripples in the water, then gloss coated the "wet parts" (but not the fiber optic). The dryer parts of the fountain I gave a brush-on matte coat. Simple and quick, but I think it will look nice on the tabletop!

    Brunbir Blazeforge House - 3-D printed building from the Ferisia line picked up from RRB Minis

Simultaneously, I was working on the two story Brunbir Blazeforge House from the Ferisia line that Rich printed for me. I really like the look of this house with its angles and second story balcony. I'm trying to slowly do more of the two story and smaller medieval buildings that I've purchased for my growing medieval town. I have plenty of skyscrapers (3-4 story, in medieval terms) already. I think that more variety in height will improve the look of the town. This 3-D printed building was done in my usual way -- spray prime with Krylon Fusion acrylic black, go over it with a 50/50 black paint and water mix, and then dry brush the same stone gray method I used on the fountain. The wood was also done with my standard recipe (wet brush dark brown, dry brush Camo Brown, highlight Khaki). 

    Close up of the very cool balcony & roof of this newest of my medieval town buildings

I went back and forth on what time of metal to make the roof trim, and finally went with Iron Wind Metals copper. Roofs made of copper were a thing at one point in our history, and I also decided that the inhabitants of the house would keep it burnished brightly and not let it fade to green verdigris. For the roof tiles, I decided to go with a faded craft paint called Leprechaun Green. The tiles received a light green highlight, as well. I also decided to do a slighter darker green on the window frames and lintels of both levels, as well as the "shield" around the axe decoration and the frame of the doorways. This color was called Seminole Green, and was probably the most time consuming part of doing this model, since I was doing both the inside and outside for each window. I also did the usual Steel and Bronze for the metal parts for the doors. 

    First floor of the interior of the Brunbir Blazeforge House -- I love the stairs!

    2nd floor of the house, with door leading to the small balcony & trap door to 1st level

I finished the building off with a black vehicle wash. Although many of the Ferisia buildings are technically labeled "Dwarven," this one was the first with an overtly Dwarven look. With the window panes being in a runic shape and and the axe decoration on the roof, it definitely says "Dwarves" to me. However, the building is not so overly Dwarven to  prevent me from legitimately using the house for a human town, as well. All of the little touches and decorations really make this building stand out, and it is definitely one of my favorites that I have purchased from RRB Minis & More.

    This side view gives you a look at the decorative elements that make this a 'Dwarven' building

On to the miniatures! Most of the figures in this batch of eight have been sitting in my unpainted lead drawer, primed and with their flesh base coated for more than a year. At some point, I was painting medieval civilians. I must have prepared these, then midstream decided that I had enough (or ran out of time). Six of them are Reaper Bones minis, with its soft plastic. The shouting baker is Old Glory, as I already have one of them painted up. The last one, an ox handler, may be Gripping Beast. Compared to the super-detailed and decorative Warhost Elves that I've been painting, these seemed to go very fast. I used a mix of faded and dull colors for all except the noble ladies and priests. They got brighter colors and a bit more decoration. 

    2 Noble ladies from Reaper and a couple townsfolk -- baker is Old Glory & other is...??

I'm not sure why Reaper made the noble ladies so freaking tall, though, but they tower over the other figures! Oh, well. Maybe they have high heels on under their long dresses? These were probably the most simple of the batch, and were fun and easy to do. I wanted to make their dresses somewhat decorative, so I went with a contrasting border and -- of course - dots! Lots of tiny dots!! The two churchmen I decided to paint up as priests rather than monks. For one, they don't have the "bald spot" in their tonsure, but do have the Norman "bowl haircut." Plus, I already have plenty of 28mm monk figures, but very few priests. Along with the brighter colors, I gave their robes and mantles a border with decoration. I really like these portly-looking figures and am glad I painted them up. The town women in aprons are also nice figures.  I probably should have modified them, though. Their pose appears to be holding something up in the air (chicken for sale?), but both hands are empty. Rather than rush into painting them right away, I should have added something to these models, but unfortunately I did not. 

    All 4 figs are Reaper - I like the portly priests and the stout common women in their bonnets

I used a variety of relatively faded and simple colors for their clothes. Same for the Old Glory baker, though I admit I looked up images of the first one I painted up earlier to make sure the two weren't "twinning" on the tabletop...ha, ha! The last unidentified townsman I did in faded or dull greens. I also could have put something in his open hand (which I think is supposed to be gripping the lead of his oxen). I wanted more flexibility, though, and left him open handed. This batch of eight figures will be perfect for either my Medieval (or Fantasy) town games.

    I definitely need more scatter for my medieval town - this Bulletin Board from MBA is a good start!

Simultaneous with these buildings and miniatures, I was painting a number of other miscellaneous town scatter pieces, including this MBA Bulletin Board. I think it intended for more modern games, but notices could easily have been pinned up in the center of town during earlier times, as well. Speaking of which, since I wanted to make it usable for either, I decided to not go crazy on the notices themselves. No "Wanted" posters or notices that might otherwise date it. So, the script is all tiny slashes, lines and blobs done with my smallest nib micron pen. As fun as might have been to call out one of my Sunday Night gamer friends for cheating on a notice, I decided not to do so. I painted the frame of the board with my usual (above) wood recipe, while the tiles on the top were done in red-brown with a Middle East Flesh highlight. I added a large rock to the base to give it some visual interest, and not call attention to the fact it is on a big base. The papers pinned to the board were done in a slate stone color, highlighted white, and given a brown wash.

    This Celtic cross will be a nice, free standing scatter piece in town, as will this dead tree

Also included in the scatter was this larger, MBA Celtic Cross A. It is printed with a wide enough base so that it doesn't need a separate base. It was actually the first of all of this scatter that I finished. I gave it my standard stone recipe and simply added some flocking. I likely picked up this resin 3-D print at a convention Kirk was attending and bought it because I wanted to thank him for supporting our hobby so faithfully. I believe the scraggly, bare tree is a 3-D print from A Critical Hit. That means I likely bought it either at Cincycon or Origins Game Fair. I found a likely base size, added in a rock, and whipped through this, as well. I did a black wash over my standard wood recipe, hoping it would give it a more dead and gray look. 

    This 3-D printed boulders and crags were picked up from my friend Rich at RRB Minis & More

Finally, there are some round boulders and crag pieces that I bought from RRB Minis & More at different times during the last year. I noticed in setting up games on my desert mat that I don't have a lot of appropriate terrain pieces to put on it. So, these got a Khaki colored spray paint, a very light tan drybrush, and finally a brown vehicle wash. I thought about putting tufts on them, as well. However, I flet that would "size" them and lock them into 28mm scale (admittedly, most of my games). However, these pieces can work for other scales, too. They simply become larger boulders or crags!

    I have very little terrain that looks good on a desert board, so I picked these up from Rich at a con

Yes, this is a big update with lots of stuff! I must have enjoyed the experience, though, as I have an encore of more medieval town scatter on my desk. In addition, I have the final (REALLY this time!) batch of Warhost Elves. which I've started on. Not sure what I will do next for an "old" batch of figures. I have a game in mind for the Hydra Miniatures Pulp Sci-Fi figures I've bought and painted only a few of. Perhaps it is time to start working them in? Stay tuned, and we'll see!

    These boulders are fairly generic - I left them un-based so they could be used in a variety of setups

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 160

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 33

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 69