Purchases from Advance the Colors 2026

    My biggest purchase (in terms of cost) was this Misty Hollow stable I bought painted from MBA

I was feeling kind of flush in my budget this year, so my purchases were a bit less restrained than they have been in more recent convention trips. Plus, as vendor coordinator for Advance the Colors 2026, I like to take care of them both logistically and with my own purchases when possible. I did not buy something from EVERY vendor, but I did my best to pick up something from a lot of them. My apologies to those that I did not buy from. I was still restraining myself to picking up things I actually plan on using -- not just buying for the sake of buying...ha, ha!

    Kirk's painter did an amazing job on the building with colorful wood tiles & excellent details

Why not start off with the one painted item that I bought at the show. My friend Kirk from Miniature Building Authority carries the fantasy/medieval Misty Hollow line of 3-D printed buildings. He labels them on his site with the keyword "Mayhem" buildings, so if you are looking for them, type in that name. It appears they 3-D printed medieval buildings were designed by Antigone Miniatures. I had picked up "The Cottage" from that line at Little Wars from a different dealer and really liked how it turned out.

    Next time you see this you will likely see little horsey heads sticking of the stables

I had done some researching of that line after I painted up the cottage, and the next building that I wanted from the line was the Village Stables (Mayem Stable on Kirk's site). Lo and behold, there was a display stable all painted up in his booth. I asked him for one, only to find that he carries them pre-painted. He said he has a good artist who paints them up for him, and I certainly agreed. The stable looked great. With trepidation, I asked how much it was painted (the display one was his only copy he'd brought). I gulped a bit when he answered, but told him that I would buy it. I offered to allow him to keep it on his table throughout the rest of the con for others to maybe order one, and he agreed. If you're curious how much I paid for it, check out his link here.

    A very cool resin fishing boat that will work great for my 28mm Vietnam games of Surviving 'Nam!

That wasn't my only purchase from MBA. I also picked up this resin Asian boat for my Vietnam games. It will join my other two MBA sampans in the waters in front of villages that the U.S. soldiers have to search. I really like its graceful lines, and also appreciate the fishing baskets and such that come with it. The boat is a bit longer than my other two sampans which I painted up awhile back. Still, I look forward to seeing it all painted up and on the tabletop.

And if you have a fishing boat, you'll need fishermen (and women), right? Kirk was selling this pack of resin "Fishfolk," so I snapped it up, too. Typically, I don't like resin or 3-D printed miniatures (but LOVE 3-D printed buildings). However, I figure they won't get the same wear and tear the soldiers get, so hopefully they will be survivable. The picture comes from Kirk's website at I didn't feel like popping open the pack and them cramming them back in the blister. 

Continuing with the water theme, I decided to pick up a couple water birds. Kirk was selling a metal Pelican on a Post and a resin Swan and Goose. I may do some Google searching to see if there are equivalent waterfowl in Vietnam and paint them up that way. Failing that, they'll be standard looking pelican, goose, and swan. They are already on my desk, honking impatiently for their turn to move up in line. This picture is also from the MBA website.

    What miniature gamer doesn't need a Police HQ? I grabbed this in Ron's 'Swedish Death Cleaning'

My biggest purchases in terms of number size (and number of items, I think) were the 3-D printed buildings from Diabolical Terrain. Ron -- who NEVER has sales -- was instead holding something called a "Swedish Death Cleaning." This is something many gamers reaching an advanced age practice as well. It is a process of de-cluttering and organizing to be considerate of your family when you die. I have been doing this (without knowing the rather bizarre name) for several years, selling things I won't use in flea markets. Anyway, part of this sale...oops, cleaning, was a 50% off sticker on a lot of things at his booth. 

    This 3-D printed broken down bus was one of the first things I picked up from Diabolical Terrain

Ron had been waiting for me to swing by and check on his during Thursday's Early Vendor Setup. He pulled out half a table's worth of buildings he said would go great with my post-apocalyptic or modern skirmishes. I had to admit he was right! Looking them over, I could imagine them on my tabletop -- especially the broken down bus! What better spawn point to ask for than a dilapidated bus on the tabletop? The roof comes off, the tires are flat, and I could easily envision it painted up. At the Swedish prices, I couldn't resist!

    This narrow 2-story building would also fit in on just about any miniature modern street scene

Although I wasn't thinking I needed modern buildings, having a fairly large collection already, Ron made the Swedish equivalent of an "offer I couldn't resist...!" The 3-story Police HQ immediately caught my eye. It could be used in just about any game from the 1900s on -- gangsters, superheros, post-apocalyptic...anything! It was a towering building that makes me wonder how I will squeeze it in to my unpainted closet AND my painted terrain closet...ha, ha! To make matters worse, he shoved another 2-story downtown building next to the Police HQ and bus and did a bundle offer. Yep, I picked this one up, too. Who knows? Maybe I will be able to clear out a MDF building or two to make room for these?  

    I was drawn to the fortified look of this small stone church that I picked up from Diabolical, too

I promised Ron I'd be back, but waited till Saturday to return to shop at his booth. I'd been eyeing two of his other Swedish-priced buildings, but more in keeping with what I am currently working on. The stone fortified chapel will fit in perfectly with my project. It looks more medieval than the more cathedral like one I use from time to time, and certainly easier to carrier around than my Saxon church on its own little hillock. It is a relatively small church but has a very gamer-friendly tower with turret on one end that I can see archers or crossbowmen manning in a skirmish. The roof comes off, which is something I insist on nowadays when buying buildings. It should be a snap to paint up compared to the other more elaborate medieval buildings I've been working on.

    This 3-D printed ruined bridge will make a great entry/exit point for exploring my abandoned town

Along the same lines, this ruined bridge could easily work with must about any fantasy or medieval game.  Although I picture my imaginary abandoned city, Moonrest -- a setting for my Four Delvers games -- as having a wider river than this one can span, it would still be fun to have an actual bridge on the table for the explorers to dash back across to safety. Like the stone church, it should go super-quick, so I could see it working its way on to the tabletop soon. Am I done yet with my Diabolical purchases? Considering Ron's diabolically low prices, NO!

    Although labeled as an 'Atlantis' line by its designers, this shrine has an obvious Byzantine look

The final item I picked up from Ron's booth at ATC 2026 was this beautiful Byzantine-looking shrine. It reminded me a lot of the ones I've seen in the Balkans -- especially on my recent trip to North Macedonia. Ron said it is from the Atlantis line of 3-D printed buildings, where it is imaginatively called Atlantic Building 2. They Atlantis line was designed by Dark Realms Forge, and can be found by clicking the Atlantic side tab on Ron's site. All of the buildings on there have a similar Byzantine look, with round tiled domes with lots of archways. Technically, this doesn't match my medieval Moonrest buildings, so far. Then again, neither did the Diabolical minaret I painted up awhile back! If I rationalized the minaret as a wizard's observatory, this could easily be a temple or church, right? I couldn't pass up on its lovely Byzantine lines, and the price was unbeatable. So, I snagged it to put in the painting queue...somewhere!

    My haul from RRB Minis included the above items & 2 green linen, 4'x4' mats pictured on this post

I told you my budget was kind of flush! On to another of my dealer friends -- Rich Brown's RRB Minis & More. The first thing I picked up from him were the two linen, 4'x4' mats created by his wife Gwen. They were payment for my painting up a 4-story, medieval tavern for him -- the Blue Crab (coming soon on a Lead Legionaries post near you!). The mats are intended to make my life easier when setting up three, side by side games of Dragon Rampant on my 12' table in the basement. I will center a 6'x4' mat on the table and partially overlap it with these on either side. Much easier than taping up my oversized fleece mats and spending a half hour engineering three battle boards. Otherwise, I picked up some odds and ends from him, including more of the 6" measuring "Sticks," a primitive looking Lean To, two Buddha statues/heads, and a gratis elephant that Rich gave to me in appreciation.

   'Half size' shipping container from Bad Goblin Games (pics from their website)

A new vendor at ATC this year, but ones I consider friends, too, was Brian & Liz from Bad Goblin Games. They were hugely popular this year and said it was more profitable than many of the other shows they attend (barring Historicon, of course!). I saw folks carrying around their white paper bags with their logo on it all convention long. I always buy things from their booth when I see them -- even if I haven't painted what I bought from them last time...ha, ha! I absolutely LOVE their scatter terrain, and the ones that light up with colorful LED lighting even more.

    This is the damaged version of the above shipping container, designed with holes & dents

Since Ron's bus had made me reconsider doing zombie apocalypse games, I decided to pick up two of their 28mm Shipping Containers. I think the full size ones are bigger than I want with all the other cool terrain and scatter I have (mostly from them). So, I picked up two of the "half size" crates. I bought one that was modeled as undamaged and another that was shown as designed to be damaged. They would fit well on the tabletop without dominating it. I will likely put a lot of rust and graffiti and such on them when I get around to painting them -- hopefully before I see them next!

    Piles of 3-D printed cinder blocks from Bad Goblin Games -- great scatter & cover for skirmishes!

The final item I picked up from Bad Goblin was a bag of Cinder Block Stuff. I felt it would be easy to paint these pieces up and they would really help clutter up my table with good cover for characters in a skirmish. When I got them home and added them to my list of unpainted terrain and scatter that I keep on my iPhone, I let out a sigh. I had already purchased this bag...whoops! Oh well, it is just MORE scatter. Plus, with two bags worth it could easily work as the tumbled ruins of a center block building, right? 

   3-D printed clumps of bamboo from Discount Hobbies -- MUCH faster than my scratch-build ones

Another new vendor to ATC 2026, and one who carries my Surviving 'Nam rules (like RRB Minis & More) is Discount Hobbies 3-D Printing. He has been enthusiastically printing 3-D figures and terrain for my game and advertising it on the Surviving 'Nam FB page. I had seen his clumps of bamboo and was planning on picking some up. I like my scratch-built bamboo, but boy it takes a LONG time to make! These would be simple to paint up, and I particularly like how he created different sizes of clumps. I know that means if I use them in a game I will have two different looks of bamboo on the table. Will anal-retentive Mike be able to handle that? Hmm...we'll have to see! I will paint them up so I can post some pictures of them in thanks for his support of my rules.

    I know I had sworn off 3-D printed figs, but these Spider Holes for Surviving 'Nam were perfect!

One thing I definitely will use are his 3-D printed figures emerging or firing from Spider Holes. These one-man concealed fighting positions are a feature of my rules. There are two 'Spider Hole' cards in the deck, which allow a Viet Cong rifleman to pop up behind or anywhere around the U.S. soldiers. I had been thinking of purchasing plastic Viet Cong figure and chopping them up to scratch-build my own. However, this is simply too easy to pass up. I bought five of them (hopefully for the American's sake, more than I need) and they are already waiting in line on my painting desk.

    I picked up more tufts because I was running out...and not so satisfied with Army Painter ones

Finally, I bought a number of tuft packets from various vendors. I believe they were from Discover Games, who tagged along with Miniature Building Authority, RRB, and Discount Hobbies. I am becoming less enthusiastic about Army Painter tufts. They've become more and more scraggly and unkempt, and require trimming up after gluing onto the figure's base. So, yes, that was a LOT of purchases...way more than I have for any recent convention (including Historicon). I hope that I can get a lot of these items slotted in and painted up soon, though. Stay tuned here and see how quickly it happens...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 234
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 211

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 22
• Terrain painted in 2026: 37

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 50
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

My purchases at Drums at the Rapids 2026

    Two of the five buildings that I received from RRB Minis -- one a very nice gift from him to me!

Prior to heading up to Drums at the Rapids this past weekend, I cleaned off several shelves of my closet where I stage my unpainted terrain and scatter. I knew that I'd be picking up some more medieval buildings from RRB Minis & More, and I needed the room! Plus, there is a free flea market at the show, and I usually take things and set them on the table next to my game that I'm running. I also unloaded a good sized plastic tub of all the rule sets that I had taken but never sold to previous shows. I marked everything down with a sticker, ranging from $1 to $5. This stuff had to go...this time!

    House on the left is from the Ferisia line, and the one on the right is the Stormhill City Farmhouse

Thankfully, nearly all of it did. So, I had room for the five, 3-D printed medieval buildings that I bought from Rich at RRB. Two of them are simple, one-story homes. I have so many large buildings that I've purchased recently, I needed to get some ordinary houses for the streets of my town. These are from a couple different lines that Rich produces. I like the way they look and I will probably do them next. It should be a contrast from the epics I've been painting, and I'll probably be shocked to see how quickly they go! One of them is from the Ferisia line -- "Small Farmhouse." The other was actually a gift from Rich to me for all the nice mentions he gets on Lead Legionaries. It is called Stormhill City Farmer House.

    The sprawling Dwarven Bath House, which I bought because it was such a cool looking builidng

 

    Interior of the Bath House -- which looks very much like a bathing spot or spa, unlike the outside

The largest of the ones I bought is from the Ferisia line, once again. It is called Dwarven Bath House. The pictures I'd seen were only of the exterior, and I liked its unusual look. The almost domed roof, octagonal shape and the two and one story sections looked appealing. I was quite surprised at how big it turned out to be (horizontal space for this one, not vertical). And the interior is definitely a bath complex. I may paint it up with the bathhouse style components not attached, so I can use it as an ordinary building in games, too.

    I like the little balconies in the Ferisia line -- like the one on the Brunbir Blazeforge House

Another from the Ferisia line that Rich printed at my request was Brunbir Blazeforge House. This building is much more compact than the Duncan or Catrine House, with the third story being entirely the rooftop. My favorite part is the little, angled stone balcony over the doorway. It is mostly stone, like many of the other Ferisia buildings I bought from Rich. I like how many of them have overhangs, this one included. This one is stone, though, and has a definite angled look that fits with many of the others in this line.  

    The Ferisia Bakery is a nice corner style building like you often see in Europe

The last of the five buildings is the Ferisia Bakery Store. It has the same look as many corner buildings that are part of row houses. This one is stand alone, but would be a nice one to put in a medieval intersection. It also came with a bunch of benches or tables and an outdoor oven. At two stories tall, it is nice in between sized building that will help with the look of my burgeoning medieval town.

    I need a 28mm Huey for one of my Surviving 'Nam scenarios, so my friend Ted printed 4 for me!

As I am finishing up my work on my upcoming rules publication, Surviving 'Nam: an Infantryman's Year In-Country, I wrote my final few scenarios. I plan on including a dozen with the rules (one for each month of a soldier's tour of Vietnam). One of the last ones I wrote is a helicopter deployment in a "hot LZ" -- and I wanted to be able to run it at conventions with actual model Huey helicopters. My friend Ted had a STL for one and kindly printed off four 28mm scale Hueys for me. Why four? Well, I typically have four players in my convention games and I wanted one for each player. Honestly, I could have used just one model as each fire team arrives on a different turn, but the spectacle of four 28mm Huey will likely be a draw in a convention hall. Eye candy is important in miniature games!

    Ted came through in providing me some pilots in need of rescuing for my 'Downed Airmen' scenario

Speaking of figures for my Vietnam games, Ted also printed up three American pilots for me. I had ordered two metal ones from Gringo 40s, but they sent me only one of them. My "Downed Aircrew" scenario requires two pilot figures. Once again, Ted stepped up and provided 3-D prints for me to use. They look like quality prints and I hope to get to them sometime soon. I still have nearly my entire Gringo 40s purchase order to paint up, yet. I'll start working on them after my 28mm Elves for Dragon Rampant are complete.  

    I picked these rules up from Firelands Games just in case they catch on locally

My final purchase was the Pillage: Ransack the Middle Ages skirmish rules set produced by Victrix. I had almost picked it up twice before from Firelands Games, but each time I went back to get it at a convention, they had just sold it. I snatched it up immediately when I saw it, so lightning wouldn't strike thrice. I don't know if I will actually play it anytime soon, but I always like to support the vendors. James and Rusty from Firelands Games are such nice guys, and support all of the local conventions loyally. Apparently, one of the local stores in Columbus carries the rules and has sold dozens of copies of it. Maybe, once I try it out, I can run it at the store and see if I can recruit some more local, historical gamers for our HMGS chapter. We'll see..!

    Forgot to mention more gifts from Rich: 28mm Outhouse and 4 stick-like 8" measuring sticks

Otherwise, what's on my tabletop? I have the six Elven spearmen at least halfway completed. There are five horror/monster figures for my Devilry Afoot games that I picked up last year. They are primed and have their first base coat done on them. Terrain-wise, I decided I wanted to finally paint up the two bags of Viking rune stones that I bought from Sword & Scabbard a couple years ago. They should go very quickly -- another reason I chose to start one them! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 99

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 26

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59 

Little Wars 2016 & Purchases

    The 1st game I played in at Little Wars 2026 - Marty's 'Pulp Alley' Chaos in Cairo game was a blast!

Little Wars in Chicago, HMGS Midwest's flagship convention, is usually not on my itinerary. Spring is such a busy time for cons here in Ohio that most years I can't squeeze it in. However, I had been telling myself since I retired that I wanted to attend more shows, and Little Wars is not that far away -- just under six hours driving (depending on traffic). We had attended a couple times in the past and had a fun time. So, when I saw how reasonably priced the hotel rooms were, I decided to make 2026 the third time!

    My 'haul' from Little Wars -- I kept my spending under control, for the most part

The next decision was whether I would run games or simply just shop and play. I went back and forth for a couple weeks, and finally decided I would go just as an attendee. When the event list was published, I sat down and picked out five games that I wanted to play in. When registration opened, I was ready, waiting on Tabletop Events with five tabs open -- ready to pounce! I successfully registered for all five of the games I wanted, and Jenny was able to get in most of them, too. 

    My 2nd favorite game at Little Wars was the 1970s IRA raid on British operations on Saturday

The drive to Chicago went much smoother than I expected. We got there earlier on Thursday afternoon than we had planned -- even before registration opened up. After checking in, we went to a local brewpub for a beer and stayed for another (and to get something to eat). We were joined by our "Michiana" (Michigan & Indiana) friends -- Steve S, Greg, Steve B, Tim, and his son Pat. It was good to see them. Since they stopped coming to Advance the Colors, sadly, we are lucky to see them once a year. Despite all of the good games I played in, hanging out with good friends and sharing laughs was truly my personal highlight of Little Wars. We doubled down on that Saturday evening, going out to dinner with Rich and his wife Gwen from RRB Minis & More. Vendors are always so busy at conventions that it was nice to spend a couple hours with them, too!

    My Pulp Alley league surveys the street -- spotting the first plot point that we needed to investigate

My first game Thursday evening was Pulp Alley -- a very fun system that we played about 10 years ago but hadn't in awhile. In 2014, I ran an Indiana Jones-themed series of games for the Sunday Evening Gaming Group called, Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures. Not wanting to be "that player" who doesn't know or understand the rules, I downloaded Pulp Alley's free Quick Start guide and read through it the night before. I was glad that I did, though GM Marty Devine did an excellent job going over the rules before the game. In fact, this would prove to be my favorite game of the entire convention. My "League" (as a player's group of figures is called) consisted of three miniatures trying to beat the other three factions to finding clues to the location of a secret map. We had a blast, attacking each other in this free-for-all, playing "Peril" cards on each other, and in general, trying to outfox the others.

    The center of the board with traffic, soldiers, and pedestrians making it a 'perilous place' to be

It was a thrilling finish to the game, too. On my last figure's activation, she charged into the player holding the major plot point and knocked them out, sending the prized possession flying. With no figure technically in possession of it at game end, the my league ended up in a three-way tie for first. The Little Wars staff give a medal to the GM of each game to hand out to the winner or player who performed best. I won my first of two for the weekend, but more importantly, had a great time. Marty ran Pulp Alley throughout the weekend, and Jenny went back for a second game of it, having an equally good time.

    I eyeballed this 3-D printed building RRB Minis had in their booth all weekend before buying it

Friday morning was a bit of a disappointment, as I screwed up the time my event started. I had utilized the "My Schedule" feature of Tabletop Events to pull up a spreadsheet of the games I had booked. What I didn't realize was that by saving the tab in my phone's browser, and not refreshing it when we arrived in town, my times were all off by one hour. For some reason, TTE has a "time zone" feature and adjusts your schedule to show your own local time when you pull it up -- not the scheduled actual start time for the game. So, if you were on the West Coast and pulled up your "My Schedule," game start times would be two hours off from Chicago's Central Time and three from my Eastern Time. Mine was one hour off, and Jenny and I showed up about 45 minutes after it had started. I felt awful for the GM in being a no-show, and bummed that I didn't get to play in his pirate game. 

    The Bad Squiddo figs that I picked up -- I kept in under control as their range tends to be very pricey

It did give me a LOT more time to shop, though! One of my favorite stops at Historicon was there, Badger Games, and I spent time looking through their extensive line of miniatures they brought to the show. They carry a HUGE number of figure lines, and curious, I asked the owner who'd attended about what percentage they were able to bring to the show. She estimated 10% -- the remaining 90% was sitting in their warehouse. I picked out five packs that I wanted from Bad Squiddo Games line, including a pack of "May Queens" that I think will make good female wizards for my Elven army for Dragon Rampant. That had been one of my shopping goals, as I hadn't bought any wizards with my Warhost army (which I got from Badger Games, by the way). 

    Phalanx Games was there with their MDF bases - $5 for as many as you can stuff & seal in a ziploc

Friday night's game (which I DID make it to on time!) was a hit and miss. It was using The Men Who Would be Kings from Daniel Mersey's "Rampant" stable. However, the GM wasn't very familiar with the rules, and I had to step in a number of times and help him figure out how the system worked. He was also a bit brain fried, he said, as this was his third game in a row. He also admitted he had yet to the play test the scenario, which quickly became evident when the Mahdists wiped our British and Egyptian forces off the table in half the time the game was scheduled for! Jenny was even less happy than I was, because the GM was clearly getting frustrated with players who weren't picking up the rules. The fact that it was his own two friends who were the most clueless of the bunch didn't make his badgering the players any better. Chalk that one up as a "miss," and hope the rest of the games are better. Unfortunately, bad games, bad scenarios, and bad GMs are all part of attending a convention. You have to accept your losses with your wins.

    Another of the lovely buildings that were part of the very fun IRA game I played in on Saturday

Saturday morning was much better. I played in a 1970s IRA vs. British scenario. The GM's board was beautiful! He had 3-D printed all of the buildings and it was definitely immersive. He explained we had two missions we needed to complete -- ambushing a Laundry Delivery Service van (a front for British counter-intelligence) and taking out a massage parlor, which was another intelligence effort trying to extract information from the "loose lips" of its customers. He let us plan every detail of our mission, whether to complete the missions simultaneously or consecutively, how many of our eight operatives to assign to each, and exactly how we would carry each out.

    Rich Brown of RRB gave me a good 'package deal' on these 2 smaller buildings & boulders

So, instead of 30 minutes explaining the rules to us, he kept that part of the game relatively secret. He wanted the preliminaries to be us hashing out our mission plan amongst ourselves. There was one of the five players who was a bit of a holdout, but we eventually brought him around to the group consensus. Once the missions themselves got under way, the system moved very quickly. In fact, the three of us players (and four operatives) ambushing the van completed it in record time, the GM said. We took no casualties and eliminated all four of the British agents quickly. He mentioned it was the best any group had done. The other team was having a bit rougher of a time, and ended up clearing only two of the three floors of the massage parlor. They lost one operative and had two others wounded, I believe. The other three IRA agents were able to exfiltrate, though, and soon joined us as we melted away into the pro-IRA neighborhood, with the sounds of British sirens drawing nearer.

    Lion Rampant, a very fun system, recreating the Battle of Enna in Sicily between Arabs & Normans

My final game Saturday afternoon was a Lion Rampant game between Arabs and Normans in Sicily. It was a four-player game with two commands on each side. Interestingly, the GM had us alternate activating one of our commands (one Arab, one Norman, etc.). We also re-rolled for Initiative each turn, so the possibility of a "double move" -- going last one turn and first the next -- existed, and actually happened. Personally, I think the game would have been better and faster moving if both commands on one side went and then the other side, and kept up that order throughout the game. Still, it was a fun game. My shooting and combat dice were pretty bad in the beginning, but eventually came around at the end. On one amazing charge, my "Bloodthirsty" general and his bodyguard cavalry rolled 13 hits on 12 dice against a Norman light cavalry unit. With his trait, each roll of a "6" caused two hits, and I rolled six of them on 12 dice!

    Last purchase of the con, an interesting looking 3-D printed medieval building from Phalanx Games

I wrapped up my shopping after that session of games, because Jenny and I would be leaving right away Sunday morning. In addition to the Bad Squiddo minis, I picked up two small medieval buildings and another larger one from RRB Minis & More. I also snagged a ziploc full of MDF bases of various sizes and another very cool looking 3-D printed medieval building from Phalanx Games & Sundry. My last purchase was a can of Howard Hues paint from Dayton Painting Consortium -- one of my favorite colors that I had run out of, recently. After dinner with Rich & Gwen, we closed out the evening like we had the other three -- sitting around swapping stories and laughing with our Michiana friends. It had definitely been a good weekend.

    My prizes (and the figs that won them for me) from two of the fun games at Little Wars 2026

Will I come back? Well...actually, I'm not 100% sure. The Little wars registration fee was a bit of sticker shock. Sixty dollars is a lot for a convention -- at least compared to the ones I attend. I know $60 is not Gencon pricing, but it is more than the much larger Historicon was in 2025 ($50), and four times what we charge for a weekend member badge at Advance the Colors. Also, I'm not exactly crazy about the way HMGS Midwest bundles a year's membership in their chapter into the convention price. Long ago, all HMGS chapters across the country agreed to give members of other chapters the discounted admission rate that their own members received. What's the point of that if members of other chapters HAVE to buy your membership? Yes, I understand Chicago may be an expensive city, so the venue could be pricey. Still, the Sheraton, where the convention was held, was a suburban hotel -- not downtown in the high rent zone. And honestly, it is getting a little worn on the edges and needing renovation. For example, when we arrived, only one of its three elevators was working. So, Little Wars' convention price could certainly factor into my future decisions on whether to attend or not. Seeing all of my buddies is priceless, of course, but these two things probably take it out of the "must go" for me.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 176
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 91

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 7
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 23

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 17
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 56 

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