Homeric Skirmishing with Ilium Rules

 

    Trojans, lead by Aeneas, charge into a group of Achaeans containing Odysseus & his companions

After watching the movie Odysseus in the theaters, and reading battle reports from Irregular Wars using their rules set, Ilium: Game of Heroes, we decided to give it a try. Players control one of the Achaean or Trojan heroes from the Trojan War, and along with a force up 5-6 companions called Promachoi, skirmish in an effort to earn glory. Ilium is a different game than most, as your goal is not to wipe out the opponent's troops, but instead to earn the most honor, or Kleos. So, you could kill more of the enemy but still lose the game. Instead, it is about making a name for yourself that lasts down through the ages. This is very satisfyingly "Homeric" in theme.

    We enjoyed our first skirmish using Ilium: Game of Heroes - set during the Trojan War

A good example of how to lose in our 20th century minds but win in Homer's is -- of course -- Achilles. Yes, he dies in the end to Paris' arrow (sorry for the spoiler!). However, as I would tell my 7th grade students every year, here we are more than 3,000 years later still talking about him. Here's a clip from the movie Troy which my students would watch (and then tell me what they would do in his place). To this day, I feel it is one of the most true, Homeric scenes in the movie. 

    Clever Odysseus & his Promachoi deploy last, occupying a mud brick home on the Trojan flank

None of us were controlling Achilles in this game, though. My friends Mike S and Keith brought their troops over and set up four contingents to battle on the dusty plains of Troy. Keith and Jenny would fight for Troy and controlled Trojan Aeneas and Asteropaios, leader of the Paionians. Mike S gave me Odysseus and he took Machaon, leader of the Trikkaians. We set up the tabletop for the first scenario, Battle on the Plain, but with only two continents instead of three. We figured this was a learning game, and best for each of us to control only one force.

    Aeneas & his Trojan companions, left, respond to the Achaean ransacking & charge forward

After terrain is set up, you roll randomly to see where on your side's board edge your contingent will deploy. Jenny's Paionians ended up in the Trojan corner while Mike S deployed the Trikkaians in the opposite corner, beyond two fields of crops. Keith deployed Aeneas and his companions not far from Jenny's Paionians. Each hero has a special ability or two, and Odysseus is that he deploys last and places his force anywhere on the board, but not within 6" of an enemy figure. I set up next to the sun-baked, mud brick home, with my two archer companions in good firing positions on the roof. The Trojans muttered something about "cunning Odysseus" and reacted with rage to our ransacking of a Trojan farmer's home. Aeneas' Trojans began racing towards the house in an effort to stop our looting. Meanwhile, I moved Odysseus, with his three Promachoi in a wedge shape in front of him, between the home and the advancing Trojans. Our pair of archer's let fly but missed with both of their shots.

    Meanwhile, Machaon & his Trikkaians race towards the farmer's fields to reinforce Odysseus

There is a definite balance to this game. For every contingent on a side, that many chips of their color are placed in a bag, plus one. They are drawn one at a time, so it may alternate back and forth or it may not, as luck may have it. Once all each contingent on a side has activated on their chip, the final one of their color is a bonus or "Wild Card" activation for them. One Hero or band of companions on that side is chosen get a single action, as opposed to the two they got on their first activation. There are also two "God" chips for each side in the bag. If they are drawn consecutively, one of the Olympian gods appears to help that side (as often happened in The Iliad). The balance in Ilium also extends to the actions that figures can take. Heroes can potentially shoot or melee twice, but Promachoi only once. However, a figure can take an action to "Concentrate" before a shot or strike in melee, giving it a +2 to its 1d10 roll. So, Heroes in contact with enemy have to decide to make one big hit with Concentrate or two slightly weaker ones. Promachoi, only able to attack once, will usually Concentrate before their only attack and have a better chance than otherwise against Heroes.

    The Trojans charge in, with two companions on each side fighting boldly but with neither injured

As the skirmish opened, Aeneas urged his companions to attack the invading Achaeans, and they surged forward, one companion making it into contact. Soon, another Trojan warrior was battling a companion of Odysseus, while Aeneas' two archers were letting fly with their own arrows. Despite having a more difficult shot at the archers above them firing from the roof parapet, the Trojan archers scored the first kill. Undeterred, the surviving Achaean archer slew a Trojan warrior racing forward below him. The battle swung back in favor of the Trojans, as one of Odysseus' Promachoi was slain. Odysseus begins the game with five companions, while Aeneas has six, so the Achaeans were in danger of being outnumbered.

    Both Achaean 'God chips' are drawn consecutively & Poseidon appears to help the Greeks!

Knowing he had to do something, the clever hero sidestepped the Trojan warrior in front of him and hurled his spear at Aeneas, inflicting three wounds on him. Most heroes take between four and eight wounds, Aeneas can take seven (but the gods watch out for him, as you will see!). Aeneas hurled his spear back at Odysseus, but the clever hero spun at the right moment, taking only a graze of a single wound. As Odysseus' blood dripped to the ground, the earth began to shake. All the Heroes and Promachoi cried out in alarm. A massive figure strode forward, taking its place at Odysseus' side. The Earth-shaker, Poseidon, had arrived on the Greek side! Fresh hope and vigor spread through the Achaean ranks. We had drawn our two God chips back to back, and Poseidon replaced one of Odysseus' Promachoi.

    After tossing their deadly short spears, Aeneas & Odysseus close to contact, each inflicting wounds

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battle, Machaon was advancing at the head of his Trikkains. His three archers began moving into the crops, though a Paionian arrow whistled through the air and a Trikkaian archer tumbled to the ground and lay still. Undeterred, the Trikkaian leader raced into contact with one of the Paionian archers and cut him down. However, this left the victorious hero face-to-face with Asteropaios and three of his shield bearers with their huge tower shields. The warriors advanced, hemming Machaon in from three sides. Asteropaios urged his men on, hefting his two spears and waiting for the right moment to hurl them at the sore beset Machaon. One shield bearer charged forward, but the Trikkaian leader struck him down. Two spears flew as the warrior tumbled to the ground, and Machaon was struck wounded by Asteropaios' deadly aim. The other two shield bearers immediately charged from each side, and the leader of the Trikkaians was sore beset!

    After striking down the Trojan opposite him, Poseidon Earth-shaker charges Aeneas, too!

Meanwhile, the Earth-Shaker cut down the Trojan Promachoi in front of him, and raced to Odysseus' side. Together, the two wounded the Trojan prince until he was just one wound away from falling. Just as Odysseus' bronze sword darted in for the fatal blow, clouds swirled around Aeneas. The Achaean hero's strike was deflected by some force. Winds blew dust into Odysseus and Poseidon's eyes as Aphrodite closed her arms around her mortal son and flew him a short distance away, setting him down next to one of his archer companions. Frustrated, Poseidon shouted strong, coarse words to his former lover and fellow Olympian, who smiled and waved her finger tauntingly at him. Poseidon roared in laughter, picking up Odysseus and raced with him towards Aeneas, where they surrounded the Trojan leader, again.

    With the Achaeans winning the fight against the Trojans, the battle shifted to the other flank

Clever hero and towering god struck again, and once again -- just as the blows were about to land -- mists closed in about Aeneas. Aphrodite's musical voice rang out like a clear trumpet, "Fickle Earth-shaker, you will not get my beloved mortal son so easily!" When the mists cleared, Aeneas was nowhere to be seen. The victorious duo heard the clang of bronze on bronze, though, and turned to see their ally, Machaon surrounded. Even though the Trikkaian archers had charged into the rear of the Paionian warriors, their leader was bleeding from many wounds. Odysseus outpaced the Earth-shaker and was the first to land a blow on the Paionian leader. However, Asteropaios Trojan ally struck one final blow on his Trikkaian opponent, but it was deflected by Machaon's shield. As shouting enveloped the duel on all sides, the Paionian leader withdrew from battle. Suddenly the small contingent was surrounded by mighty hosts of Achaens and Trojans. War cries engulfed them from every side. The main forces had arrived, and the Heroes and the Companions withdrew behind their lines, satisfied they'd inspired their respective armies with their displays of prowess.

    Machaon, hero of the Trikkaians, strikes down a Paionian archer who killed one of his men

With the end of Turn Six, the game ended. We scored the match a 3-0 Kleos victory for the Achaeans. However, in consulting online afterward with the rules author, Nick Wright, we discovered that we had done Aeneas' disappearing act incorrectly. He should never retreat off-table when the gods and goddesses rescue him. He is simply picked up and removed to another spot on the baseline 6" away. Oops! I guess our game should have been a 0-0 tie, instead! Although it may sound like he is invulnerable, Keith needed to roll a 7+ on 1d10 for the Olympians to intervene. He was just 2-for-2 in doing so when Aeneas would have suffered a mortal wound! With the other three Heroes surviving (barely, in the case of Asteropaios and Machaon, who each had only one wound remaining), there were no other opportunities for earning Kleos. Had we had one more turn, though, someone would likely have scored!

    Asteropaios & two of his shield bearers close in on the sore beset leader of the Trikkaians

I enjoyed Ilium for a number of reasons. One, I have always been fascinated by Bronze Age warfare. There are not a lot of games set in that period, and even fewer skirmish rules for it. Two, building a force is super easy! The most companions any hero has is six, so you have to paint only seven figures for your contingent. Three, the chip draw makes the game unpredictable. One one glorious turn, the Achaeans drew both their chips and their Wild Card before the Trojans acted. Plus, the potential arrival of the Gods can always throw a monkey wrench in player's plans. And finally, there is decision making to do. When attacked in melee, Companions and Heroes must choose to "block" the enemy strike, which increases the number the enemy must roll to hit, or use their lower Defense number and preserve the ability to do an Opportunity Strike in return. Plus, Heroes can spend one of their two actions to "Gibe" (ridicule, belittle) an opponent, which will give bonus Kleos if they follow up with a strike that kills the enemy. Heroes can also choose to do two normal attacks or one with Concentrate, which gives a +2 to your roll. Lots of clever game play and tactics for the Odysseus inside you! 

    Meanwhile, Poseidon & Odysseus have chased down Aeneas & prepare to strike him down again

We will definitely play Ilium again. So, I foresee at least another 7 miniatures in my "Acquired" tally below, sooner or later! I encourage folks who enjoyed this battle report to pick up the rules either from Nick at Irregular Wars Wargaming or from Wargame Vault. If you liked the sound of this type a game, give it a try -- you might enjoy it, as we did! Thanks to my friends Keith and Mike S for supplying the figures and driving over for a weekday afternoon game.

    Both Machaon & Asteropaios opposite are each down to a single remaining wound, but neither falls!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 179

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: 75

Gringo 40s Female Viet Cong Soldiers

    Six female Viet Cong soldiers from Gringo40s in the UK - excellent 28mm metal sculpts!

 I bought these female Viet Cong soldliers earlier in the year when a friend went to the U.K. Gringo 40s are comparably sized with my own Crucible Crush V.C. that I've been using for my games of Surviving 'Nam: an Infantryman's Year "In Country." Ged of Gringo 40s was very accommodating, and had my order mailed post haste to where my visiting friend would be staying. Gringo 40s has a HUGE 28mm Vietnam line and their prices are very reasonable. I would heartily recommend them to folks living in the U.K. (or elsewhere). In particular, their line of Viet Cong Women Soldiers caught my eye, and I ordered a batch of them, plus some other things.

    I really like the variety of poses you can purchase individually on the Gringo 40s website

I picked out six of the women soldiers and cleaned them up. I would honestly say that these metal miniatures had the least amount of flash that I've encountered in my more than four decades of painting minis! They're great sculpts and are not over-burdened with equipment to the point that painting them becomes a chore. Just to be sure, I pulled out some of my V.C. I'd already painted and did my best to match them. I depicted them with the "black pajamas" uniform rather than use any khaki or olive because they appeared to be wearing the typical loose clothing of V.C. guerillas. I did toss in some other colors on the two that had bush hats, and also mixed the equipment colors between khaki and a very faded olive.

    These figs were easy to paint and I think turned out very nicely -- I look forward to painting more!

I dry brushed their loose, black clothing with a medium gray to give some highlights. I made sure to NOT give the clothes a black wash, for fear it would simply hide the definition I'd just given them! The straps, pouches, skin, and weapons all got a dark wash, though. The skin, khaki, and straw hats were given brown and the weapons and faded olive equipment black. 

    Since they are irregulars, I tried to mix up some colors of equipment & hats to give some variety

One thing I'd been disappointed with in my previously painted U.S. and V.C. soldiers was the small bits of plastic plants I'd included on the bases with the flocking. These have been popping off over the months of use the miniatures have seen. Plastic plants just don't seem to stick well, even with two-part epoxy. On a trip to Michigan Toy Soldier Company and Rountable Games in Dublin, OH, I picked up some Green Stuff World 3-D printed resin vegetation. My plan was to use these small leaves and such instead of plastic plants. I waited until I was finished with the second stage of flocking (Woodland Scenics Blended Turf Brown) before epoxying them to the bases. I painted the plants dark green and dry brushed them light green. I also like the way the leaf scatter I've been using for the last year or so look on miniature bases, so added even more of it to these VC than I had done previously.

    Good look at the Green Stuff World resin plants that I put on each of bases instead of plastic ones

All in all, I am very happy with how these Gringo 40s V.C. women came out. They were fun to paint and included enough details and variety of poses to make each look different (well, except for the pose that I bought two of...!). I will be alternating batches of Vietnamese from Gringo 40s with my Hydra Miniatures factions as my "New" figures. So, look to see more of them until the 30 or so I purchased are all painted up. I've found that in some games, the unfortunate U.S. players stir up a hornet's next and I've needed more V.C. So, the enemy needed reinforcements. Gringo 40s (and my friend Will) came through!

    Final look at my squad of V.C. female soldiers prowling through the jungle past temple ruins

What else is on my painting desk? I have another batch of the Hydra Miniatures figures that I've begun. Thinking of that just now made me pause, though. Did I just screw my plan to alternate batches of new figures with old? I think that with all of the scatter cluttering my desk, and the 3-D printed Diabolical Terrain mosque I'm working on, I may have lost track and done exactly that! If so...oops!! I guess I need to snag a batch of old miniatures and have them cut rudely cut in line ahead of the Sci-Fi ladies. Hmm...what should I paint up? It will definitely be something from my horror figures for Devilry Afoot...but, what should I paint?

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 179

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: 75

Some Scatter Terrain & an Alien Monster

    Town scene set up with my 3 new pieces of scatter -- the shrine, town well, and campfire logs

For the last month or so, batches of scatter terrain in various stages of painting have been mixed about on my desk. As I get to a stopping point on whatever figures I am working on, I pick them up and do some more work. Maybe I'll add a base coat, dry brush - whatever. However, it feels like there is little organization, so that's why this update seems to have little rhyme or reason to it.

    'Town Water Well' from Diabolical Terrain - assembles nicely and paints up very easily

One of the scatter pieces is a Town Water Well that I picked up from Diabolical Terrain at Historicon last month. Its four pieces glued together very easily with two-part epoxy. I decided to permanently attach the wooden lid to the ring of the well, as I couldn't envision a need to have to remove it during a game. It isn't big enough to fit a figure inside, and doing it in one piece would make it go much faster. I spray painted the well with Krylon Acrylic Matte Black, following that up with my usual 50/50 mix of black paint and water. Once it was dry, I decided to start with the wooden parts using my normal wood recipe. That is a dark brown wet brush, Camo Brown dry brush, and khaki highlight. Then I did the stone base with two dry brushes of a medium and lighter gray. Finally, I did the details. I decided to paint the wooden tiles of the roof in a light blue, weathering them with an even lighter blue. I finished off the metal bits with Iron Wind Metal and Bronze. The tiny bits of rope you could see I did in a lighter brown with Dun Yellow dry brush. The town well received a black vehicle wash to complete it. I really like how it looks, and am glad I picked it up from Ron at Diabolical.

    I modified this 'misprint' from Miniature Building Authority by adding in the saint in the shrine

Next up was a 3-D printed shrine that Kirk from Miniature Building Authority had sold me at a deep discount because it was a "misprint." One small corner of the roof of the shrine had not printed well and was turned up. I added some pieces of craft sticks to that corner to make it look like it had been damaged and shoddily repaired. Once again, I started with the wooden part of this structure. I used the same recipe as above on it. The tiles on this model looked more like standard ceramic ones, so I did them in a red brown with Middle East Flesh dry brush. I picked out some metal bits on the structure in the same Iron Wind Steel and Bronze as above. I also painted the cobblestones stone surrounding the shrine as above, too. With that, the exterior of the shrine was finished.

I decided to add a miniature to the interior of the shrine. I searched my unpainted lead collection, looking for something that could perhaps pass for a saint. I wanted it to be a little roadside shrine or one in a square in a town. I finally found this miniature, which for all the world, looked like a Byzantine noble lady. I base coated her black, and then followed my normal stone recipe for her. I glued her in place, then unhappy with which of the four sides of the shrine she was facing, popped her off and reattached her inside. And yes, this statue counts as a miniature painted for the year! I really like this little MBA shrine, and plan on adding it to the tabletop with the Diabolical Well next time I set up my medieval town.

    This campfire ready to be lit came with my Bad Goblin Games campfire & bonfire purchases

This campfire in ready to be set aflame actually came with the two Bad Goblin Games scatter pieces I finished up a week or so ago. I guess it was included as the "Before" and the LED-lit campfire is the "After"? Not sure why someone would expect that to be included, but the folks at Bad Goblin are awesome. This type of extra touch fits their personality, for sure! I'm really excited that they are coming this October 9-10 to Advance the Colors 2026! Anyway, I think you can guess how I painted this pile of logs surrounded by a small ring of stones. And you also see why these all were finished around the same time, as I was doing lots of stone and wood on these pieces. I'm sure I will find a use for this campfire on the table in one of my games, someday.

    Pre-painted hot dog cart a friend gave me years ago -- I did some weathering on the tires & cart

Yes, that is a hot dog cart! My friend Derek from Indiana bought it for me as a birthday gift a couple years ago with a bunch of other cool, modern scatter terrain. It is probably a little small for 28mm scale, but hey -- it's a hot dog cart! Do YOU have one for your miniature tabletop? Boy, that sounded a bit like my friend Keith...ha, ha! Well, if you're my friend Bill who I will be visiting in update New York next month, you do have one! And it was his post on Dice, Doubloons, and Random Musings about his own hot dog cart that inspired me to get this one readied for the tabletop!" This pre-painted piece is either plastic or resin. I am not sure which. The tiny metal pole holding the umbrella up was probably the trickiest part -- gluing the pole in and then making sure it was set in place without too much lean. After it was all assembled, I thought it was a bit bright, though. So, I did some weathering on the cart with my black vehicle wash to tone its bright, plastic look. I also painted the tires dark gray and added lighter gray highlights. Otherwise, they were too Matchbox car shiny black plastic. So, I DID do brushwork on this, but the signage, little hot dogs, condiments -- all of that, came pre-painted. Still, I'm glad I finally got it ready for the table. Thanks, Derek!

    3-D printed 'Megaguirus' which will stand in as the next alien monster for 'Critter Control' to fight 

And finally, the other miniature in this batch. When I attended Cincycon 2025 earlier this year, I was searching for minis I could use for alien monsters in my solo games of Majestic 13. At the booth of my friend John from JS Wargamer Printing, I found two I could use, including this one. It was labeled Megaguirus, which is apparently a Kaiju that fought Godzilla at some point. It certainly looks like one, but next to a 28mm miniature, its size is a perfect alien monster for my Critter Control team to fight. In fact, the whole reason I pulled it out and painted it up was because I was getting ready for another game. I rolled up my opponent and this figure seemed perfect for the alien my team would fight.

    Closeup of my 'Rakire Winged Hunter' -- I used a bumble/dragonfly look to its paint scheme

Thankfully, the wings are already in place and it is a one-piece print. The only gluing needed was to attach it to an MDF base with a piece of piano wire. There was already a notch on his underside, but my piano wire was probably a bit too thin for it to fit firmly. The whole time I was painting it up, the creature wanted to rotate slowly around on its post. After attaching Megaguirus to hits base, I did my usual Krylon black spray to prime it, hoping to strengthen the fragile nature of 3-D prints a bit. I went back and forth in my head on what color scheme to use. I never did a Google search to see what Megaguirus is supposed to look like. Remember, this wasn't supposed to be a kaiju. According to Majestic 13, it is a Rakire Winged Hunter!

    Back of the model, showing the detailing I did with my micron pen on the wing fabric

I finally decided on a metallic brown and Iron Wind Steel alternating banded pattern -- kind of like a bumblebee's stripes. I painted the entire model -- except the wings -- Steel first. I added the alternating pattern of Metallic Chocolate Brown in, adding in gold highlights on the spikes, talons and such. I painted his six smaller legs Pewter, and gave them black striping, as well. I left the wings for last. I decided continue the metallic brown for the "fingers" of the wings, so to speak. The thin material in between I first painted pale yellow. I drybrushed it white and was immediately unhappy with the look. So next, I decided to give it a faint orange wash. I liked that color much better! Finally, I did an image search on dragonfly wings and found some pretty cool photos. I decided to mimic the veining or pattern on on one of the pictures with my smallest nib micron pen. I really, really like how the wings came out. This afterthought is actually my favorite part of the model -- even more than its yellow jacket looking eyes.

    Hungry yet? A look at the other side of the cart with its drink case -- nicely frosted window!

I worked on this figure during breaks between painting my Valkeeri faction and the almost completed Viet Cong women soldiers. All together, this small group was perhaps not worth their own update. However, I decided to go ahead anyway and take pictures and write them up. I'm happy with how all of the pieces of scatter and the miniatures came out. Doubtless, this post will be followed quickly by those V.C. fighters in the next day or so. Definitely soon!

    Another look at the town scene and my newly-painted scatter terrain

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 173

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: 75

'City in the Clouds' Project Begins - the Valkeeri Faction

    My first squad for a new Pulp Sci-Fi project and convention game -- the Valkeeri from Hydra Minis

Over the last couple years, I picked up some Pulp Sci-Fi figures from Hydra Miniatures. These are amazing looking 28mm metal sculpts that needed to get onto the tabletop. One of them had became part of my crew in my solo Five Parsecs from Home campaign. Another became a member of the Rebel Alliance in my Star Wars skirmish campaign. However, I had many more of the figures sitting unpainted, waiting for me to find a use for. At one point, I thought I could use them for games of Xenos Rampant, but we haven't really been playing that much, lately.

    Actually only 1 of the 5 (with cloak) is a 'Valkeeri' model - the rest are Hydra Minis 'Astro Angels'

One possibility was that they could be small, 4-5 man (er, woman) factions for games of Space Weirdos. I had purchased them in groups of roughly 4-5, so that would work the figures I had on hand. One evening, almost unbidden, an idea for a convention game sprang into my head. I envisioned a 4'x4' table whose ground level was clouds of various colored smoke, representing the upper surface of a gas giant. Rising out of the clouds would be clear acrylic rods, supporting a City in the Clouds. There would have to be a good support network anchoring those rods into place to support the terrain and figures atop them and keep them from being tipped over. I could work that out, though!

    I love these miniatures from the 'Retro Raygun' line - so much Pulpy character in them!

The game part would use Space Weirdos and have factions of 4-5 figures flying around on jet packs to achieve some mission -- steal a vital component from the city, kidnap an ambassador, free a prisoner -- you name it! I would base figures on clear bases and players would move them from one acrylic platform to another -- "flying" above the surface. In my mind, it sounds amazing -- at least if it ends up looking like I see it in my head! The first step -- before building the city -- is to paint up the factions themselves. I looked at my list of unpainted miniatures that I keep on my phone. I already own enough Hydra Miniatures for three of the six factions. So, here we go -- we are off and running on another project!

    To look more alien, I decided that MY Valkeeri would have green skin instead of Caucasian

Hydra Miniatures Retro Raygun line has a number of factions, one of which is the Valkeeri. Their website has painted models on display of all the packs. You really should check them out, as they were painted by my favorite miniature painter of them all, Dr. Matthias from the Lead Adventure Forum. Back in my Five Parsecs days, I stole the name of one of their factions, Valkeeri, for my crew member's race. My Valkeeri would be green skinned, rather than Caucasian, though. I painted my Star Wars rebel also with green skin. So, these green skinned ladies would be my first faction. Here's where it gets a little complex, though. For my "Valkeeri" miniatures, I used figures from another of their factions, the Astro Angels. They're another group of "hot chicks in leotards." However, for their leader, I used one of the actual Valkeeri models (Leader B). So, yeah, I'm taking Hydra Miniatures' ideas and changing their Pulp factions into my own. And I will likely use the other Valkeeri models I own as a second, as yet unnamed, faction -- keep up with me here! 

    And here she is, the leader and lone figure actually from the Valkeeri line - very sinister looking, eh?

Once I had the "Valkeeri" of my first faction assembled -- you had to glue their jet packs on -- I primed them white with Liquitex Gesso. I did their faces first, even though with their gloves and boots, that is the only part of the model showing any skin. I painted them a very bright "Parsley" green, and did a wash of a darker green to give some shading to their faces. Next, I did their one piece, skin tight leotards in a dusty purple. I dry brushed it a lighter shade and then moved on to the black. This consisted of their gloves, boots, and the leader's cloak. This got a gray dry brush to give some definition.

The most time consuming part of the figure is the metal. Their helmets, collars, guns, armor and knee joints, and their belts were all painted first in my favorite metallic, a very dark one from Iron Wind called Steel. Details were then picked out in a bright bronze with an ever brighter shade of it as highlights on the bronze. The jet packs were done in a subsequent session, identically to my previously painted Valkeeri, as were the guns, using a variety of bright metallic colors. 

    The 'girls' check out the control room of an enemy facility, looking for a secret device to steal

For their faces, I painted the eyes with a dark, bluish-green socket first, then a bright yellow for their "whites" (Hey, they're aliens!), followed by a very dark blue for their iris. I gave them medium green lips, and much to my surprise, was suddenly done. Those went much faster than I expected! I went back and forth on whether to do any kind of dark wash, finally decided to do a half strength of my normal black vehicle wash. This was mainly because I feel metallics look better with a dark black wash over them. Perhaps I thinned it down too much, as it didn't seem to make a lot of difference -- just a very small one.

I wanted to base these on clear bases -- since they'll be zooming across the sky. The only problem was that I didn't have any! Plus, in my impetuousness to get started, I failed to trim them off their metal bases first. Oops! In the end, they trimmed off pretty easy with wire cutters and an X-acto knife. A friend lent me some 1" round clear bases, so I was able to get these based up before ordering more from Litko. I'd heard that using superglue to attach figures to clear bases is problematic, as it may sometimes "fog" the plastic. So, I stuck with my tried and trusted two-part, 5-minute epoxy. I thought about drilling the bottom of their feet and inserting pins to "peg" them and get them to stay even better. Instead, I decided that I could do that on subsequent batches IF I am having problems with them popping off. So, here they are -- the first five figures for my City in the Clouds project! Hope you like them!! Note that this also brings down the gap between my Acquired vs. Painted in miniatures down to less than 40. As long as I stay disciplined and don't run off and buy stuff for a new project, I would say getting ahead is within sight.

    My prototype 'Valkeeri' (yes, another Astro Angel!) figure from my Star Wars skirmishes

What else is on my painting desk? For miniatures, I have finally begun painting up some of the Gringo 40s 28mm metal Vietnam figures I bought. First up is a batch of six V.C. female fighters. Also on the desk is loads of more scatter terrain and also a very tall minaret for my medieval town. I thought about cutting off the crescent so it wouldn't so obviously be a minaret, but figured that painting it in the same basic color scheme as my other buildings would be good enough to allow it to not look out of place. So, stay tuned for more updates soon!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 171

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

To the Toy Box! Time for Another Blissfield Trip

 

    The rebels are on the attack in an American Revolution game at Jim's 'Toy Box' in Blissfield, MI

Typically, August is a slow month for me for conventions. However, there's one event that month becoming a tradition among my friends. HMGS Great Lakes newsletter editor Jim W hosts a handful of us every summer at his gaming clubhouse, aka the Toy Box. We meet for dinner on Friday evening, retire to the clubhouse for an evening game, and then follow that up the next morning with another game. Jim usually runs one game and his buddy Ted runs the other. This year, they would be showcasing the American Revolution on Friday and 30 Years War on Saturday. 

    Jim, left & Ted prove to the players at the Toy Box that they know how to count during the game

Friday's game featured a Rebel assault on a stone walled village by a command of Continentals on the left, French regulars in the center, and American Militia on the right. Both wings of the British army were aggressive and marched out to meet the rebels with drums beating and flags flying. I was commanding the French, and my opponent in the middle of the board, Mike S, cannily stayed behind the walls for the most part, and let us march upon him. On my left, GM Jim W advanced steadily, swatting aside all of Dave E's attacks and clearly inflicting more casualties. Things were a bit more even on my right, as Jenny advanced initially, but then stood to receive Ted's oncoming British. 

    Jim's command of Continentals advance on the left in our game using Saratoga Soldiers rules

I was a bit more methodical in my push up through the village and woods towards the our objective village. Jim and Ted had warned me that the rules we were using, Saratoga Soldiers (the AWI variant of the more well-known Gettysburg Soldiers) were bloody. Interestingly, for all the years that Larry Reber has been running his Gettysburg Soldiers rules, I had yet to play in them or Saratoga Soldiers. Part of that is because I've never been a big American Civil War buff. Another likely reason is that at conventions we both attend, I'm also running a game! The rules are very straight forward and easy to learn. Combat, whether shooting or melee, resolves extremely quickly.

    Jenny's Militia advanced towards the fence where they will halt to take on Ted's advancing redcoats

My French command was doing their best to utilize the woods and village we advanced through to cut down on the casualties from fire we received on the way in. Still, about the time my force was only a couple moves away from the enemy blazing away at us from the stone wall or in the open to the right, our numbers had dwindled a bit. I muttered to Jim that I would likely not have the strength to drive the British out of the village. He told me not to worry, that he'd be there soon to help. His command was wading through poor Dave's British. Pretty soon, Dave had only a few stands left. On my right, Jenny and Ted were killing swaths of each other's troops. Like me, Ted has a reputation for poor die rolling. Tonight that wasn't happening, and he and Jenny were mowing each other down with wild abandon.

    Jim's Continentals close with Dave's British commander on that flank & inflict a 'royal' drubbing

When Jim's help did arrive, I decided to follow his example and charge the enemy at the wall. It would be suicide, I thought, to simply exchange volleys with me in the open and the British in hard cover. To my great surprise, both Jim and I were successful, and we recoiled the redcoats away and seized their position. Before Mike S could mount a counter-attack, we hammered his troops with a couple more volleys, and he conceded that we had won the position. We looked around, and saw almost nothing left on the right. The Militia had fought the British to a standstill, and most of the troops on both sides were gone. Each army had only their commander and one stand of troops left. Dave's command was completely gone, so it was obvious that the Americans (and French) held the field. 

    By game's end both the Militia & Ted's Brits had disappeared as the two inflicted great slaughter

As Jim and Ted had warned, the rules were extremely bloody. The only morale in the game is when the attacker rolls a result on the combat chart that dictates the enemy to retire a move. Otherwise, battalions can grind each other down to nothing with shooting, neither side giving ground. I'm assuming that the losses are reflecting not just men actually killed by volleys of fire, but also those who have had enough and are taking to their heels to fight another day. So, battalions in this game wither away bit by bit, rather than suffering a catastrophic morale failure and running away as a unit. The rules reminded me a bit of the Colby Rules, named after a Toledo gaming group, the Colby Street Irregulars. Their games are similarly bloody, though feature a card-driven activation sequence rather than one side going and then the other. 

    My white-coated French are almost to the walls & are cheered to see Jim's troops arrive on our left

Still, one advantage of simple bloody rules is that games are easy to learn and they go very quickly. We were done before it got too late, and sat around and chatted for another hour or more while Jim picked up the troops and cleared the table. It's nice to shoot the breeze with fellow history buffs and gamers, and talk about various projects we're working on or rules sets we've played. At Jim's Toy Box, it is also fun to wander from room to room and examine his buildings and terrain for various periods displayed on the shelves. Most of the miniatures are in a giant wooden filing cabinet which the lawyer's who'd owned the building before him used to store deeds, blueprints, etc. Now, they make excellent drawers for Jim to organize his troops by scale and period.

    Continentals & French regulars have seized the walled village and won victory in Friday game

The next morning, Gene joined us from Jim's group, and Mike's son Jason drove up for the day's festivities. Mike and his son are both interested in the 30 Years War, which is the period Ted's game was set in. I had never really had much interest in this historical era, but am always willing to play a game and try it out! Ted and Jim had added another extra table to the gaming room and we had a full 12' of table length, I believe. By the time we arrived, Ted had the table set up with terrain and crammed with troops facing each other. With 8 players this morning, we had four players per side. Once we figured out who would be Catholic and who controlled the Protestants, we sat down and Ted explained the rules.

    The panorama that greeted us Saturday morning when we arrived at the Toy Box -- a Ted game!!

We would be using another set that I had never played before called On Bloody Ground. Ted handed out troop rosters and quick reference sheets, and then explained how to play. Jim interjected occasionally to clarify or specify important points. While I was looking at the reference sheet, I noticed a tagline saying it was for games with "individually mounted 28mm figures." I looked at the troops, who were a mix of 10mm - 15mm figures, based in units -- some very big. The pikes, for example, had four ranks of 10 figures in their stand. I pointed to the line about "individually based 28mm figures" to Dave, and he smiled and shrugged. Some gamers like pushing the envelope and making things bigger, with a more massive spectacle on the tabletop. Ted is definitely one of those!

    From left at top, Gene, Ted & Jason survey the battlefield as Jenny & Jim discuss tactics

Each of the four commanders on a side were given their own individual special victory condition where their command could earn more victory points. Mine was probably the easiest of them all, I felt. My commander was disdainful of the C-in-C's decision to engage the enemy here, and considered it a minor insignificant skirmish. We didn't want to waste troops in this unimportant battle. So, I had to preserve my two most expensive units -- my armored pike blocks -- and have them been still on the table (and undamaged? I don't remember) at the end of the game. Thus, I decided to advance only enough to get into range of the Gene's troops, opposite mine. Then I would let our cheaper shot units blaze away at the enemy while I preserved my four more expensive units of pike with attached shot in a second line. 

    Part of the Catholic center and right wing - not the pike blocks flanked by groups of shot

The game commenced and players were soon rolling lots and lots of dice. I mean LOTS of dice...ha, ha! Remember that individually based tagline? Yes, you rolled one dice to shoot (or melee) for each figure. So, a 20-man unit of shot rolled twenty dice. A 40-man block of pikes rolled forty dice! And it wasn't just hit or miss. First, you rolled to hit. Then the opponent rolled for armor saves, if he was wearing any. Then, you counted the number of hits that got through and rolled to Wound. Yes, this seems a lot like the standard Warhammer roll it hit, roll to wound, roll to save -- just in a slightly less convenient order. I remember when one of Ted's pike blocks was fighting one of Jenny's in what seemed like a never-ending struggle, I looked over at Dave, again. He smiled and shrugged again. 

    My troops at the bottom, reluctant to die on this day and more than willing to skirmish ineffectually!

Since most shot units didn't have armor, when Gene and I were rolling away at each other, it was just a two step process. We'd roll to hit and then roll to wound. The game in our center portion of the battlefield proceeded fairly quickly. My command and Gene's kept our distance from each other and simply blasted away. Ted had developed a system with 10-sided dice of various colors to keep track of your casualties. With all figures multi-based, there wasn't going to be any figure removal. I am thinking that players using On Bloody Ground with 28mm troops would probably have smaller units, too. So, I'm sure things flow much quicker with these rules in that case.  

    Dave's Catholic command on the left & his vaunted (over-rated in this game!) Polish winger hussars

As it was, things bogged down when we got to hand to hand. The other three sectors did get involved in melee, mainly because they had the mounted troops. Time and again, Jim would finish his brawls with Jason's command opposite him and say, "Okay, you guys can do your firing." Gene and I would smile and say we were already done! Jim struggled to repeat his success of the previous evening. Jason's troops kept his command on its back foot, and Jim was losing men rapidly. On my left, unfortunately (this time, since he was on my side) Dave was having a repeat performance. His Polish winged hussars -- he had requested to play that command -- were over-matched by Mike S's armored cavalry. The Poles big advantage, being able to charge two commands at one target, was too difficult to pull off with the command rules. One unit against one, the armored cavalry had 50% more men, hit better, and had heavier armor. Dave was slowly but steadily losing on our left flank.

    After several turns of gunpowder firing, the field became obscured - giving shooting a minus to hit

Remember how I said Ted was know for his bad dice rolls? Yet didn't manifest that in the AWI battle? Well, his curse came home to roost this morning! His dice were simply awful. He would roll 40 attack dice for his pike block and end up with only a couple hits. Jenny began to mow down his troops. Soon, Ted was removing entire blocks of troops. On Bloody Ground has a peculiar melee mechanic. After one round of fighting, the loser withdraws and tests morale. If he fails, the winner slams back into him and they immediately fight another round. This continues until one side either passes his morale or loses a third consecutive round (when they are removed). So, yes, it means one side can win two rounds, then the other side wins two rounds, then the first winner wins again. On and on. One memorable struggle between Ted and Jenny went on for at least six or more rounds of combat in one turn. And yes, that meant everyone else just sat back, ate popcorn, and watched the fight!

    Closeup of the Polish winged hussars as they engage one of the Protestant armored horse units

In the end, Ted lost so many Protestant troops from his command, the Catholics actually narrowly won the battle. This was despite Jason defeating Jim's command handily on our right and Mike S driving Dave back on the left. Jenny won so big, in essence, it made up for two defeats! Not surprisingly, Gene and I skirmished to essentially a draw in the center -- exactly as my commander had hoped. Even though the mechanics seemed a bit cumbersome and could definitely use some streamlining of the dice rolling, we all had fun. Jason is a big fan of the period and said he would probably pick up the rules. I didn't try to talk him out of it as he actually uses 28mm figures, and waaaay fewer of them than the masses Ted had on the table that afternoon! It will definitely play a bit more quickly with smaller forces. So after four hours of gunpowder smoke and cavalry charges, Ted counted up the points and read out the verdict that God was narrowly on the Catholic's side, today.

    Jenny's unit of 'Trotters' catches Ted's pike block in the flank and begins driving them back

It is always a fun weekend at the Toy Box. I almost always get to play something new and different from what we do on my Sunday Night gaming group. Thanks Jim and Ted for hosting the games, and the Columbus crew looks forward to next year's Toy Box weekend!

    Final sweeping look at the battlefield, with my command in the center - happy to keep our distance!

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