Cincycon 2016 Purchases

    One of my Cincycon purchases, the Catrine House, from RRB Minis & More

Cincycon is usually my first convention of the year. Fortunately for me, it falls near my birthday, so I can rationalize some "birthday presents" to myself when I visit the various vendors at the show. I showed up with a number of things on my shopping list, which I duly typed into the Notes section of my iPhone. And then promptly forgot to check it...!

    These excellent 3-D printed buildings from RRB Minis & More are STLs from Dadi Dungeon

The biggest purchases in both size and money spent were the 3-D printed buildings I was picking up from Rich of RRB Minis & More. I ended up coming home with three new medieval town buildings -- two roughly 3-4 story ones and another that was 1-story. Rich's prints are always nice and his prices simply can't be beat. The first building was the Catrine House, which is the sister of the Duncan House that I painted up earlier this year. If anything, it is even more cool and elaborately designed. I also picked up a building titled simply "Merchant's House" by Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni. Like the Duncan House, it is from the Ferisia City line. If you check out that line and see something that you like, Rich has the STLs and can sell you any of the buildings from the line. Merchant's House is also a 3-4-story one with window galleries and other cool features.

    Rich talked me into buying this 'Merchant House' from the Ferisia line - a gorgeous model!

The final building of the three was called Merchant Store B. It is a simpler, one-story building but with a unique feature. It has an attached outdoor, roofed section with long counters for the family to sell their wares from the exterior of the home. I don't want every building in my medieval town to be 4-story medieval skyscrapers. This one still fits in well with the others, but is simpler. I actually ordered two more buildings from him, but through no fault of his own, he did not receive the STLs from the Kickstarter until the day he was leaving for Cincycon. I'll likely pick them up in April from him at either DayCon or Little Wars. I look forward to painting up all three of these buildings.

    Winged Insectoid alien & heavy weapons pack I'll use for Sci-Fi terrain from JS Wargamer Printing

The next "big thing" I was looking to pick up at Cincycon were big alien monsters for use with the Majestic 13 solo/coop rules from Snarling Badger Studios. One of these I found at JS Wargamer Printing that was in his line of movie monsters. It is a very large, insectoid creature (Megagirus) that will fit perfectly as an opponent for my Critter Control team. I also picked up a pack of some miscellaneous Sci-Fi heavy weapons which I will make turrets or other scenery with for my Star Wars games. The pack is meant as an add-on pack for his 3-D printed mechs or futuristic tanks, but the guns and such will work perfectly as installation defenses in my skirmish games. 

    3-D printed Jawas from Big Mr Tong that John at JS Wargamer Printing had waiting for me...

I had also pre-ordered a pack of Star Wars Jawas from him. They are STLs from Big Mr Tong and will be fun to paint up. They will also likely find their way into a scenario for our skirmishes using Space Weirdos rules. Jawas are one of those iconic Star Wars races that are part comic, part atmospheric. Not as cartoonish as the Teddy Bear-like Ewoks, but still instantly recognizable with their hooded faces and somewhat sinister appearance. If there are any Big Mr Tong or other Star Wars figures you need, John at JS Wargamer Printing can print them off for you very affordably.

    From one of the Star Wars games, these pre-printed plastic figures will work fine as big, nasty aliens!

In my search for big alien monsters, I found about a half dozen more, some in flea markets, others in the bargain bins of vendors. Two that I picked up from the flea market are actually pre-painted plastic models from one of the various Star Wars lines issued through the years. One is called a "Reek" and the other an "Acklay" -- whatever those are. I am not as steeped in the "Lore" as the folks at Wookiepedia or anything! Bing already painted fairly well, all that I will have to do is perhaps a wash and then flock the base. They'll be ready to take on Boone MacDonald and his buddies defending Earth from alien invasion.

    3 aliens that I will have to paint up to be monsters for Critter Control to fight in 'Majestic 13' games

Some others I picked up will require painting and even conversion work, but I'm happy that I now have them. I think that counting the stuff I already have, I can more than cover any other missions I game out this year with Majestic 13. One of the vendors I picked them up from also carried Iron Wind Metals paints. I am almost completely out of their Steel color, and I was able to snag two bottles of it! That should cover me for at least the rest of the year, and hopefully more!

    I wanted more wagons as scatter for my medieval town from A Critical Hit & picked up these three

Inevitably, I made some purchases of 3-D printed scatter from A Critical Hit. Talking to the owner, I was happy to hear that the family's possible move to Seattle did not happen and they will stay in the Midwest area (they're from Indianapolis). So, I can look forward to seeing them at least a couple times a year at various conventions. On my list of purchases were more of the two wheeled carts that I painted awhile back. She had only two in stock, but I also picked up a four wheel wagon to go along with it. I was actually VERY restrained at her booth this time around. I think that the only other things I purchased were 8 tiny rats (real scale -- not giant ones), and a wheelbarrow to have laying around in my cityscape near a market, perhaps. Somehow, though, a tiny bin full of carpenter's tools also found its way into my purchases, though I have no memory of putting it in there!

    I was VERY restrained at A Critical Hit's booth and picked up a fraction of what I usually do!

In addition, I found a couple bigger pieces in A Critical Hit's bins that I felt could be used for aliens for Majestic 13. One is of a spider like creature with crystals growing from its abdomen. This was printed in colored material so won't need to be painted at all. Its legs are multiple pieces and are secured and strung by a string or something so are flexible. It has bright eyes and is meant to look "cute," I think. However, that is genetically impossible for any spider-like creature! Ha, ha!! The final piece is printed in a dark green material and is honestly hard to figure out. I probably will need to paint some of it black so that the green parts "pop" a bit more. Either way, two more aliens for Critter Control to hopefully defeat!

    More aliens for Majestic 13 -- the spider-thi8ng on the left is pretty much ready for the tabletop

The last thing I purchased at Cincycon was from my friend Dave E. He had a box that I eyeballed half a dozen times at World at War 2025, but decided not to pull the trigger, so to speak. It contained three packs of unpainted Splintered Light Miniatures anthropomorphic animals. They were three, bigger "hero" packs, I believe, and would fit in well with the Splintered Light figs that I already have painted up. Actually, some I actually likely already have! As part of the package deal, he threw in a 3-D printed 28mm orc village (I believe), consisting of one more elaborate chieftain's hut and four others. Finally, he included the Ganesha Games Song of the Splintered Land stand-alone supplement to Song of Blades and Heroes. I don't have that one in my collection, and since the package deal was a bargain even without the rules, decided to finally pick them all up from him this time...haha! The sheer number of essentially 15mm-sized figs skews my Acquired vs. Painted totals to Hell and back, but I really do enjoy their anthropomorphic animals.

    Pics from the Splintered Light website of some of the figs I bought from Dave -- unpainted, though!

I've updated my statistics below, with the unpainted miniatures taking the biggest hit, as I mentioned. I had begun to climb back closer to even after my Gringo 40s and Warhost Elves purchases, but that goal is receding even further from sight! I have no doubt that I will eventually draw even by the end of the year. However, convention season is always the worse time for my totals. I like to support the vendors who show up to support our hobby. I figure as long as my totals balance out by the end of the year, I can splurge a little once in awhile. Besides, in the famous words of Gollum, "It's my birthday present...!"

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 52

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

Running Surviving 'Nam at Cincycon

    A rural village in Vietnam is about to have its peace shattered as U.S. soldiers arrive at left 

I signed up to run my 28mm Vietnam miniatures game, Surviving 'Nam, twice at Cincycon -- a yearly all-genre game convention in Cincinnati. Both games filled up, so I had a full table on Friday night and Saturday morning. All of my players said they enjoyed themselves and felt the rules worked well. I was also really happy with how the terrain looked and I got lots of nice comments from passers by about it.

My setup at Cincycon 2026 with stat cards for each soldier & table set up for 'Check out the Hooches'

I had adjusted the setup for the scenario slightly to incorporate some of my new terrain. Still, the mission for the three U.S. fire teams and command element remained the same: proceed from their board edge to a pair of huts about three quarters of the way across the table. They would "Search the Hooches" (scenario name) elevated huts on stilts for signs of Viet Cong contraband. Then they would continue and exit off the closest board edge. There is always a chance the "Colonel on the Horn" event card could be drawn and alter the mission. If it comes up, players roll 1d6 to determine which of the six possible orders comes down. These can either help or hinder their mission. On Friday night, the battalion colonel told the lieutenant in charge that another squad being hit was priority and and he'd just have to suck it up without artillery fire missions for awhile. On Saturday, the colonel told them to abort the mission and withdraw off their entry edge with all of their wounded. 

    Another look at the village & jungle huts that would have to be searched by the U.S. soldiers

Both times the card had an effect on play, in one case hindering the players, and on Saturday helping them as they were getting quite bogged down with no progress towards the huts. One of the things I like about the use of event cards and 20-sided dice to activate the player's forces is the randomness it provides to missions. Many of the event cards call for an immediate reshuffle of the deck, which means some cards may never appear in the game and others may come up more often. For example, on Friday the "Bunker!" card never was drawn as a result of player's failures to activate. So, that group never had to face the most deadly and hardest-to-kill V.C. weapon in the game. On Saturday, it came up early and took a considerable effort on the part of the Americans to finally reduce the bunker and kill the machine gun team inside.

    U.S. soldiers approach the village while staying in cover of the surrounding jungle

Both groups of Americans suffered losses, but not devastating ones. They both completed their missions, albeit Saturday's mission was altered by the colonel to be significantly easier! The players picked up the rules quickly on both days and were able to calculate the rolls they needed to hit V.C. or avoid their return fire. The spiraling activation system, with each player activating one figure in turn until all five of their soldiers had gone, kept things moving along and engaged all the players. In Surviving 'Nam, the V.C. don't technically have a "turn." An event card is flipped for each failed activation roll by the players. That is when V.C. on table will activate or new ones will arrive. The random shuffling of the deck and the player's streaky success (or lack of) gives each scenario a unique flow. Sometimes, all Hell seems to be breaking loose and their are multiple enemies popping up and firing at them all across the board. At other times, the guerrillas' attacks are less coordinated, and they appear and fire in a more piecemeal (and easier to deal with) fashion.

    My Friday night players move onto the board in the 'Countdown to Contact' phase before VC arrival

I'm encouraged that many of my players inquire about when the rules will be available for purchase, with one on Saturday even offering to pay in advance! I do have occasional players comment that their particular game or mission felt "easy" and they were able to deal with the threats. Typically, I point point out the losses their squad suffered are very similar to patrols that made contact with the enemy. The V.C. losses are somewhat abstracted, though. Even though I may say during a game that a V.C. figure is "dead," the Out of Action result can represent several things. Perhaps that V.C. was wounded, and is then carried off board by a comrade? For game effects, those two are "out of action" and won't return to the fight. Perhaps a V.C. lost his nerve and fled the fight? Along with actual killed enemy, these are all things being represented by the Out of Action result. You can even think of the number of "dead" V.C. laying around on the tabletop may also represent the inflated body counts that U.S. soldiers sometimes claimed!

    One fire team moves up past the pig pen while another stays under the trees to provide cover fire 

The difficulty level of the game can also be easily scaled up, as well. When I first began my play tests of the rules, the Americans were taking grievous losses. The things I tweaked (Danger Level of the enemy, inserting less lethal cards in the event deck) brought the bloodiness down to what I felt was a more historical level. Also, the game is meant to be played as a continuing campaign. Players are attempting to usher their fire team or squad through their 12 months in Vietnam. This is represented by playing one scenario to represent each month. If squads are losing one fourth to one third of their figures each time, "ain't nobody getting home!" Still, I will include suggestions for players who want a more bloody, one off game rather than a campaign. Players who are envisioning a more Ia Drang (We Were Soldiers Once, and Young) Vietnam experience can reverse the changes I made to make it more of a bloodbath like that battle.

    Platoon medic moves up through a rice paddy while keeping a wary on a water buffalo

I am also continuing to play test more scenarios so that I can include a dozen in the rules for players to game out their own campaign. I'll be running it next at Buckeye Game Fest in Columbus, March 12-15. I haven't decided if I will run it at DayCon, April 17-18, or Little Wars in Chicago the following weekend, yet. I will very likely run it at Drums at the Rapids, May 15-16, at Fort Meigs. And I'm also scheduled to run it a half dozen times at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, June 17-21. So, if you are interested in trying out the game, there will be plenty of opportunities in the coming months!

    U.S. soldier peeks in the hut window before entering to do a search for V.C. contraband

This week, though, the real work begins -- laying out the rules and getting them ready to be published! It's more fun running games for people having a great time at conventions, like at Cincycon. Still, I was glad all of my players had fun this past weekend, and I look forward to running more games and more missions to see what happens in those games!

    VC squad that arrived in ambush is targeted by an accurate M79 'bloop gun' round in the jungle

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 52

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

    Most of the Americans are caught out in the rice paddies when the VC spring their ambush

    V.C. reinforcements coming onto the table through the elephant grass are targeted by M79 round

    Saturday's players move their forces onto the table during the 'Countdown to Contact' phase

    U.S. soldiers emerge from the trees, startling many of the villagers who try to flee the table

 

    One fire team moves up through the brush across the creek while others slog towards the paddies

    U.S. soldiers hit back heavily against a large V.C. squad that fired upon them from ambush

    Machine gun team in a reinforced bunker opens up on the soldiers, pinning many with its fire

    U.S. soldiers begin to fall from machine gun fire and VC mortar fire that rains down on them

    Finally, the battalion artillery answers & the lieutenant can call down a fire mission on the bunker

    Word spreads that the squad is pulling back -- the colonel needs them to rescue another in ambush

   

My First Gringo 40s Vietnam Figs & Some 'Pinned Markers'

    Looking down the barrel of my two Gringo 40s Vietnamese snipers -- 1 painted as NVA, the other VC

My friend Jim told me that U.K. manufacturer Gringo 40s has a 28mm Vietnam figure line that size up well with the Black Sun range from Crucible Crush, where most of my collections is from. I'd almost pulled the trigger a few times and ordered some to be shipped across the pond to me. However, I really don't want to mess with the tariffs and international shipping costs. When a friend of mine said they were going to the U.K. to visit family and friends, I asked him if he'd pick up some and he agreed.

    A look at the NVA sniper - one of the things I was missing from my initial batch Vietnam troops

The bulk of my order was North Vietnamese Army (NVA) figures, which technically none of my Crucible Crush are supposed to be. However, I would think that the ones in khaki uniforms and the iconic almost "pith helmets" included in the Black Sun range could easily work for NVA in a pinch. Still, these Gringo 40s figures are cast specifically as NVA. Ged from Gringo 40s is known for doing his historical research. He was also very accommodating in making sure the shipment arrived on time where my friend would pick it up. Great guy!

Anyway, one thing I was definitely lacking in my Vietnamese figures was something to use as a sniper. So, I ordered two -- one in uniform and helmet that could be an NVA sniper and another bareheaded that I could easily paint up as a Viet Cong guerrilla. Gringo 40s also had two figures in their range to represent downed air crew evading capture. I ordered two of them and was disappointed when one was out of stock. Meaning well, Ged substituted a flight line crewman with a clipboard and baseball cap. Not what I had in mind for a figure meant to be trying to evade capture in the jungle! So, that figure and the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) gift figure will be going north to Jim for all his help and he will hopefully be providing me eventually with a 3-D printed airman figure at some future date. 

    I painted the bare headed sniper up as Viet Cong in the traditional all black outfit

I painted all three up as a batch, albeit a small one! The snipers are prone and are posed resting their arms and upper body on some sort of embankment. I epoxied both the embankment and the miniature onto a pill-shaped base I had originally bought for 28mm mounted troops. I tried to copy the way Gringo 40s' photo depicted them resting on the embankment, but to me it looked a little awkward, like he was raising his midsection up off the ground. I decided that I would cover that gap later with flocking, since I would be depicting the snipers in the jungle rather than the embattled streets of Hue. After priming them with Liquitex White Gesso, I painted one a medium tan called Bambi Brown and the other, who would be the V.C. sniper, in black. After dry, I highlighted each color very light tan and medium gray, respectively.

Next, I pulled out the color I'd bought for Vietnamese flesh and did their faces, hands, and the parts of their legs and feet showing. The bare-headed guy seemed to be wearing sandals -- perfect, since he was meant to be V.C. The uniformed guy had on boots. After painting some belts and straps khaki (if not already done so in the case of the NVA sniper), it was on to the gun. I used a medium brown for the wooden stock and grip and Iron Wind Steel for the metal parts. I painted the scope black, figuring that they would want to make it hard for enemy to see when the sniper was zeroing in on a target. A couple more highlights, the eyes, and these two bad boys were done! In my Surviving 'Nam rules, the snipers are indeed bad boys. They are the second deadliest Foe (after a bunker and machine gun) that Event Cards can bring onto the table.

    My Gringo 40s downed airman trying to evade capture in the jungle -- nice, clean figure!

Way back when I painted my American troops up for Vietnam, I helpfully labeled each shade of green that I used with a circled number for where they went in the process. It had been a few months since I finished my last Americans, so I thought it would be a cinch to follow my recipe, so to speak. However, I forgot that step two was not a dry brush. It was supposed to be the straps and pouches. So, I unhelpfully failed to follow my own recipe when painting up my downed airman. I don't think that is a real problem. Helicopter pilot uniforms don't get the same wear and tear that an infantryman's does, I imagine. So, the shades are bound to be different -- even assuming they were identical when issued! 

It was shades of painting my elves on this downed airman, with a lot of various greens. I wasn't 100% sure how to recreate the plexiglass visor. So, I decided to use Iron Wind Steel again with Pewter highlights for where the sun was striking it.  Otherwise, he was another easy figure to paint up. I like the pose, with him slightly crouched and leaning forward as if running. He carries a pistol in one hand and something else clenched in his other fist. I assumed perhaps a compass?

    I did not exactly replicate the uniform 'recipe' I used for my previous American troops, which is okay

All in all, this batch of three figures went quickly, as you can imagine guys in one color of uniform would. Flocking the snipers was a bit more fun, and I added a lot more tufts than I usually would. I wanted to give the impression of his concealment. A medium sized tuft when on either side of his upper body to conceal how it arched off the ground. Hopefully, it looks like he's resting against a slight slope, sighting down the barrel. I put more leaves on the ground, too, to make up for the lack of plastic plants. Originally, I put trimmed off sections of plastic plants on my bases for my Vietnam figures. In game use, I have found that these tend to pop off way more than they should. Note to self: No more plastic plants on figure bases!

    Bullet Impact FX from Green Stuff World make great 'Pin Markers' for my Surviving 'Nam games

On to the Pin markers! I spotted these Green Stuff World "Bullet Impact FX" markers at Michigan Toy Soldier Company on my trip up north last month. They screamed "pin markers" to me the moment I saw them (which was a bit awkward in the shop, as everyone assumed it was me screaming). I decided to base them up the same way I created markers to show figures that had moved in our games of Space Weirdos. I used tiny 1/2" adhesive cork circles. I used the adhesive side to attach them onto small washers with the same diameter. Originally, I was going to do just one impact marker per base. The more I thought about it, two in a row might give that look of machine gun fire spraying across an area of ground. 

    I wanted to give the effect of the line of a machine gun bursts striking the ground in front of troops

I separated the 3-D printed impact markers from their sprues. One went flying when I snipped the much thicker sprue part and I still haven't found it! After that, I used an X-acto knife to separate the bottom of the marker from its stem and left the very thick sprues alone. I used superglue to attach the marker to the cork, after digging out a shallow hole for it to settle into with a pin vice and X-acto knife. They attached easily, and I quickly switched to doing two in a row per marker for the smaller ones and just one single one for the larger impact markers. 

I'd asked advice on the Lead Adventure Forum on how to paint them up, and used their ideas in what I ended up doing. I painted them a base medium gray with a very light gray dry brush. For the folks who recommended bits of earth flying up, I did a relatively heavy brown vehicle wash. This darkened it up a tad more than I wanted but did give the effect of dirt flying into the air in some spots. I went back with my lightest gray and brush highlighted various parts of the tiny arms of the "explosion." I knew flocking them would be a bit of a challenge, what with how tiny and difficult to grip they were and also trying to getting flocking on the marker itself. I painted the base and sides my earth brown first. Once dry, I painted ground around the explosion as best I could with white glue and sprinkled on Woodland Scenics Blended Turf. I tried to tap off as much of the excess I could. I figured any that remained on represented dirt clods being hurled into the air by the impact.

    One box of these 3-D printed effects created 24 Pin Markers -- WAY more than I'll ever need!

A couple coats of Krylon matte clear and they were done! What's more, they were ready in time for this weekend's trip to Cincycon where I will run my Surviving 'Nam game twice. What is it about conventions for game masters? There is always one more project we are trying to finish in time for a convention game! In this case, it was two -- snipers and pin markers. They're done, though, and hopefully they look good on the tabletop this weekend.

What else is on my painting desk? Two batches! I have my next batch of elves for Dragon Rampant -- eight spear-armed troops. I also have some very odd figures that I won in a raffle (I believe at Advance the Colors 2024). They're weird Sci-Fi alien or robotic figures. Hopefully, they'll be perfect as enemies for Majestic 13. Stay tuned to see how they turn out and you can let me know if you think they fit the part.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 52

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

Random Fantasy Bits...or are They??

    A Forest Spirit from Beldolor Studios is cornered in the woods by a swarm of giant spiders

Sticking with my pledge this year to alternate current projects with batches of "clearing out the lead pile," So, I came up with this small group of figs to paint up. The spiders are from the Wargames Atlantic Giant Spiders plastic kit. The towering Forest Spirit deer thingie is a 3-D mini I picked up from Beldolor Studios last summer. I can see them getting used for various fantasy games. The Forest Spirit is bizarre enough I can maybe slip him in as an alien in my Majestic 13 games. Maybe...what do you think?

    Plastic giant spiders - a kit from Wargames Atlantic that is NOT easy to assemble...at least for me!

Anyway, assembling miniatures has never been my thing -- one of the reasons that I prefer metal. I pulled out the two sprues of the spiders that I picked up from Firelands Games last November (they sell sprues individually, as I've mentioned her before), and went...ummm, whaat? How the heck do I put these together?? I guess I am not the only one who has wondered that, though. There were a number of instructional videos on YouTube on how to glue them together. The one by the British-sounding guy even seemed a bit peeved at all the critics of the box and mentioned it one or two times during his tutorial. He felt that it was unwarratned that Wagames Atlantic got some heat because there were no instructions included!

    Assembling difficulties aside, they are really cool plastic models that hopefully are not too fragile

Personally, nothing about assembling the two larger spiders was intuitive to me, and I paused my way through the video and did my best to follow along. I screwed up a bit on the legs, but they look good enough, I imagine. I did modify it a bit, though, and decided to pin the two halves of the spider's body together. That was just too fragile of a small, flat connection point for me. Still, it was about an hour and half's work and the two Shelobs were glued together and to the plastic base. The four little ones require no assembly, a fact that the video narrator seemed awful proud of! For that matter, neither did the 3-D printed Forest Spirit. I shudder to think how many parts a plastic kit of that figure would require!

    Big ones look grotesque and menacing while these little guys look just plain creepy - heebie jeebies!

I spray painted all seven of the miniatures in Krylon Fusion Acrylic Black Matte, and followed up with a 50/50 of water and acrylic black paint. I then went online and Googled images of spiders, a process which can give you the heebie-jeebies if you look at too many pages! I was looking for inspiration for a color scheme, and honestly didn't find one that I liked from nature. So, I decided to dry brush the all black spiders with a medium gray. I liked how they looked, but knew they still needed some color. I examined the miniatures more closely. I ended going with the striped pattern simply based on the modeling of the figures. The colored bands are raised joints or surfaces on the legs. I decided to do those in various colors and hopefully they would look nice. The nasty looking talons on the end (and their fangs) I did in a bone color to stand out more.

    Elevated view where you can see the big ones' multiple eyes -- okay, heebie-jeebies here too!

I do have to admit that, occasionally glancing over to my left as I was painting, and seeing the ones I'd finished the stripes on, did give me that "Gaaahh!" moment. I took that as proof they were looking creepy enough. Doing the color outlining on the head and around the eyes was the trickiest part. Luckily, I had just bought a new detail brush and the tip held up nicely for this work. I did the eyes black, and for the larger spiders, added in little dots of red to prove to the world that they are indeed evil, repulsive creatures...ha, ha! I put a brown wash on the talons and fangs. That meant I was done except for the flocking. That step was more fiddly than normal because my brush had to swipe in underneath the bodies and between the too many legs of the spiders.

    In the end, I was happy with how this big guy came out, though early on, I wasn't 100% sure

For the Forest Spirit, I wasn't 100% sure what colors I wanted to use. I decided to make it deer-ish. Not exactly like a deer, because it is quite clearly not one. However, I wanted it to not simply be random colors like purple and yellow or anything. So, I went with the brown color palette, with tans, oranges, and such. I used the highlighting color to tie everything together so the various tones looked like they actually belonged together...unlike the clothes that some people I know wear! 

As I was finishing the Forest Spirit, I sat back and looked at it. I thought it was just "okay" -- not great. I began to wonder if I should get creative and give his fur a pattern or something? Like stripes or giraffe-style splotches? In the end, I decided not to go to that extent. Perhaps I should have, though. I'd be curious to hear what folks think about it. I bought it kind of on a whim as it was in Beldolor's "misprint" bin at Origins Game Fair, where I have seen them the last two years. After I did the final brown wash, I feel it tied the color scheme together even more and I am reasonably happy with it.

        Another look at the drama in the forest better showing off my new photographic backdrop

I am not sure when these figures will see the tabletop, but they started the year in my unpainted pile and now they're done! Woo-hoo!! Expect more one-off batches like this from me this year, if I follow through on my pledge to reduce the lead pile. Speaking of which, other than with Miniatures, I am doing fairly well on the Painted vs. Acquired in 2026. But don't get cocky, kid! I go to my first convention of the year this weekend. And you know what that means....purchases!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 49

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24

Critter Control's Shocking Encounter at the Trailer Park

    Hunting aliens in a trailer park - Critter Control's 1st mission in a solo game of Majestic 13

Boone MacDonald gathered his team together as they crept within sight of the trailer park, eying the thick black smoke hanging over it. "Okay, this is what we've been training for, Critter Control...our first mission." He paused to look in each team member's eyes. "We're here to protect our community, our country, and our planet. You're no good to them if you're dead, though. Stay in cover. Pour fire onto this bastard till he's dead." The other four nodded, with Waylon giving an "Oo-rah!" and grinning. 

    (--Redacted--) Trailer Part in southern Ohio where a Yvenian Shocker alien is on the loose!

Mabel spoke up, "A Yvenian Shocker is the fastest damned gator you'll ever see. Don't underestimate its speed! Just when you got a shot lined up, it's gone." Boone marveled at the woman -- she knew much more than she was letting on about Earth's struggles against alien invaders. As the team crept closer, Boone pointed out positions for each to take. They could hear the sound of the alien's weapon firing and a high-pitched crackling of energy from the far side of the trailer park. Buck climbed the first trailer and took position atop its roof. Waylon dashed past to the corner of the next trailer raising his weapon and steadying it against the wall. Mabel ducked next to a set of smoking ruins -- some small structure that the alien had already destroyed. Boone took shelter at the corner of another trailer that gave a good view of the lane between the two rows of trailers. Silas took off running down the right side, stopping inside a small grove of trees.

    Waylon Jenkins takes cover and peers around the corner for signs of the alien's approach

There was another blast from the far side and suddenly the Yvenian Shocker appeared between the rows of trailers. A huge, long weapon with energy arcing along its barrel grasped in its claws. Mabel was right -- the damned thing did look like a gator, though one with red skin that glistened as the sunlight peeked through the clouds of black smoke hanging over the trailer park. It spotted Waylon, who was closest of the team, and raised its weapon, firing twice. As the electricity coursed over his body, Waylon grabbed his face. "I'm blinded, y'all!" Mabel shouted over to him to focus -- the creature's weapon was scrambling the electrical signals his eyes were sending. She told him to picture something in his mind he could remember clearly. "Like my moonshine still?" his voice cracked with his laugh, though.

    After blasting another dwelling, the gator-like alien appears and scents the air...humans??

Meanwhile, the team opened up. Buck sighted his light machine gun and squeezed off a burst of fire that stitched along the alien's gator-like scales. Mabel moved up to the next building and sited along the barrel of her sniper rifle. She squeezed off a shot, which hit, but she immediately growled at herself for such a piss-poor hit. Daddy would have swatted her for that! Hearing the firefight going on, but out of his line of sight, Boone sprinted up the row of trailers, leaped, and pulled himself up onto the roof. He cursed as he still couldn't see the damned thing. Mabel called out that it was moving and Boone caught sight of it zipping forward smashing down the door of the snack shack. He watched it move into the shadowy interior and the barrel of its weapon protrude across the counter. An arc of energy zapped towards Waylon again, who yelled in pain. "Damn it! Someone shoot that son of a bitch!"

    The alien darts between buildings, lining up a shot on Waylon, who was closest to him

Meanwhile, Silas was completing the team's side mission. The Agricultural League had dropped two beacons in the trailer park to help coordinate a drone strike to help out its newest team of alien hunters. Silas followed his tracker in between two trailers and spotted one of the beacons. He raced forward and snatched it up. Meanwhile, the alien stayed inside the snack shop and fired at Waylon again, who went rigid and crumbled to the ground. Buck adjusted his aim at the alien through the window and fired. Pieces of the building went flying, but the veteran was fairly sure he'd missed. Mabel seeing where the fire was coming from climbed onto the roof of a nearby trailer, took a knee, and fired, also missing. Boone shook his head. It had too good of a firing position inside there! Screw it! He leapt down from the roof and ran up to the snack shack and blazed away at the creature from the other side of the counter, his assault rifle on full automatic. It swiveled to face Boone and fired. The lanky farmer ducked in time and the shots arced over his head, making his hair stand up but doing no damage. He heard the creature make an angry sound and its claws clattering on the floor as it exited the shop.

    Silas completes his 'end run' around the alien and locates the drone targeting beacon

"Critter 5 to Silo One, follow this transmitted location. Target in sight -- a red, scaly, gator-looking bastard. Can't miss him!" Silas chuckled as the drone operator on the other end of the transmission reprimanded him about radio protocol. Still, it was only seconds later that the whoosh of a rocket over the trailer park made everyone on the team duck. There was an explosion and more of the alien's angry noises. It had been hit, but not fatally. As if it knew who was responsible, the alien circled the trailer and peeked around the corner behind Silas, zapping off two shots. The first hit him and Silas also clutched his eyes, blinded by the electrical charge. Buck leapt down from his perch atop the trailer and sprinted towards the opposite corner of the trailer park, where the battle had moved. Mabel edged along the roof till she had line of sight and fired, but missed. Boone, who could saw it appear behind Silas, fired and hit it again. "Damn! That thing won't go down," he cursed. The Yvenian Shocker swiveled again and fired at Boone, who ducked behind the trailer quick enough that the electrical bolts missed him. 

    Agricultural League drone appears & launches a rocket attack, wounding but not killing the alien

Silas shook his head, blinked a few times, and as his vision cleared, darted into the woods for cover, firing his machine gun at the beast as he ran.  His shots missed, as well. The alien saw Silas on the run and fired at him twice, but the speedy hunter ducked behind the tree trunks. Everyone heard the sound of Buck's machine gun ring out, and those watching saw the impacts against its incredibly hard scales. The beast roared. Mabel ran along the edge of the roof and leapt across the gap between it and the trailer park's administrative building. She pumped her fist as she landed solidly on the roof. Whew -- she'd made it! Mabel knew she wasn't as young as she once was and wasn't really sure she could do that. She snapped her rifle up to her eye, sighted through the scope, and squeezed off a shot. Miss! Damn!!

    Constantly changing positions, the Yvenian Shocker frustrated the team's attempts to line up a shot

The team leader, Boone, knew his group was frustrated by the constant movements of the alien as it changed locations among the buildings to block line of sight from all but its target. "Two can play at that game, gator-breath!" he snarled and chased the alien until he had it in the open, again. He fired off another burst, striking it in the back. Angrily, it whirled and fired at Boone. With no cover, the farmer was hit and his vision went black. "Damn it -- blinded!" he shouted to his teammates. Silas broke from cover of the trees, spraying the area of the alien with his machine gun, but it was in movement again, and he missed. He followed it only to have it suddenly appear on his left between two buildings. Silas hit the dirt and most of the energy passed over him, and he received only a mild shock -- like touching a farmer's electric fence.

    Hungry for a snack? The alien ducks inside Swingle's Shawarma Shack for a shooting spot in cover

From behind the alien, Buck appeared in point blank range. He let off a long burst into the creature's back, amazed to see some rounds just ricochet off its scales. Some got through, though, and there was a new note of pain in its angry howls. Mabel moved into the open to his right, firing several times. She shouted, "It's in Extremis -- watch out, they get very dangerous in their last gasps!" Boone suddenly appeared, completing the box around the alien, aiming and firing bursts carefully to not hit his teammates. The gator-like creature howled in pain again, but ignored Boone to spin around and fire at Buck. The veteran ducked behind the corner of a building and watched the bolts of energy zap past him.

    Team leader Boone, frustrated with his team's misses, dashes up to point blank range, "Eat this!"

"Now!" Boone shouted, "all at once, let's finish it...what the Hell??" Suddenly, the alien was gone. Like a blur, it disappeared between Boone and Silas and behind a trailer. The team gave chase, but it must have kept running. Through the trees, they heard the sound of vegetation being slapped aside in its haste to escape from the humans. "Aw, Hell...we had it!" he muttered, then held his hand over the ear piece he was wearing. "We're being ordered out of here. Civilian fire and rescue are on the way -- we can't let them see us and be compromised. Let's go!" The team jogged back to where Waylon lay, each grabbed a limb, and ducked under the trees. When the sirens grew louder and the emergency vehicles arrived, the only signs of the battle were bullet holes and scorch marks on smoking buildings, shell casings, and lots of footprints. The police investigators would ponder what happened here and end up labeling it as criminal arson by heavily-armed hooligans.

    With phenomenal speed, the alien would circle around behind team members for unobstructed shots

And so ended my first game of Majestic 13, a solo alien hunting game from Snarling Badger Studios. Critter Control began its career with a big "L" -- a defeat (the goal being to kill the alien by the end of the 5th round). We had the Yvenian Shocker down from its starting hit point total of 130 to 29 remaining. We would have likely needed at least a sixth turn to take it out, but missions stop at the end of turn five. The alien hunter teams need to exfiltrate to not be seen by the public so they can continue with their secret mission. See? There IS a conspiracy to hide evidence of aliens from the public -- or at least the game's storyline says so.

    Boone finally figured out the proper tactics - chase it around and appear where IT had no cover!

Trying to figure out what the enemy will do each turn in a solo game is usually quite the challenge. Snarling Badger includes an "A.I." for each of the three types of aliens that players might encounter. It did a decent job of giving basic suggestions, "If this, then this...", but it was hard to translate that into the specifics of the tabletop. Perhaps I played the alien in too wily of a manner? When the A.I. said the alien would move up to its full movement into cover and fire at the closest target in range, I translated that to also mean it would actively attempt to ensure the other members of the team wouldn't have line of sight on it. The alien's move was phenomenal -- 23" on a 3'x3' board. So, I had it circle around into new firing positions so that most of the hunters' view of it was blocked by the buildings. This meant we sometimes didn't have a shot. Boone caught on quickest and began to simply chase it, taking up a firing position where he had cover and it did not.

    Buck lights up the alien with his machine gun from behind! Startled, the angry alien turns to face

My rolls were also fairly bad for damage, seemingly just under average each time. They were even worse for my checks to avoid being blinded. Silas had to roll only a 4+ on d20 to avoid being blinded and failed twice. In fact, I think everyone who was hit ended up being blinded. They would get a chance to clear it at the start of their next turn, but it shows my rolls were likely subpar. I also deployed too far away and toward the edges of the battlefield. The Yvenian Shocker has no melee attacks. So, I should have started closer to the center instead of the edges.

    Everyone pours in fire, but it is still not enough to take down the alien with its armored scales

Still, it was my first game and Critter Control's first mission. So, it could have ended worse. When rolling for injury, Waylon survived but had "Questionable Wounds." I interpreted this as his vision still hasn't 100% recovered, so he will be held back next mission. We will be going in to the next fight one man short! All but Waylon received 3 experience points, with Waylon getting only two. This allows them to increase a stat by one. Certain levels give you an extra bonus, such as +1 on Damage or -1 to enemy damage on you. I decided to increase Buck, Silas, and Mabel's Combat stats (so they hit one better), and Boone's Acuity by one, which means he activates sooner in the turn. We requisitioned two pieces of equipment, another Med-Kit and a Stimulant Shot. Both requests were lost in the bureaucracy of the Agricultural League, apparently, as we received neither. We also requested improved medical facilities for Critter Control's base. Apparently, the Agricultural League has little faith in this newbie team's worth, as that was disapproved, as well.

Stay tuned for further (and hopefully more successful) missions of Critter Control and Majestic 13! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 42

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24