Showing posts with label Purchases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Purchases. Show all posts

Sunday, September 14, 2025

Purchases from 'Battles at the Brewery'

    3-story testament to RRB Minis & More's generosity -- the 28mm Duncan House awarded as a prize!

I didn't attend Battles at the Brewery, put on by the Chillicothe Area War Gaming group, expecting to buy anything. However, my friend Rich Brown of RRB Minis & More was there. He'd made the more than three hour drive from his home in northeast Ohio to Chillicothe to set up his vendor table and run some demo games for a one-day event. My own game that I was planning to run was game mastered by Jason Stelzer instead of me. A funeral ended up being scheduled on the same day, so I came at the beginning to set it up and after the funeral to tear it down. While there, I decided to shop at Rich's table. 

    RRB Minis & More's 'Duncan House' is a Medieval tower house - each level & roof comes apart
First things first, Rich had generously awarded me a prize for entering a scenario contest on his website. It was the Duncan House -- a 3-D printed medieval tower home. This three story building is actually also the setting for the scenario I submitted. A medieval noble has kidnapped a noble lady and spirited her away to the upper floor of the Duncan House. Her father offers a hefty reward for her return. The other players try to batter their way into the house and up to the top floor to rescue her.

    Pictures of the interiors of each level (with door choices taped in) -- 1st Floor = Ground Floor
The Duncan House is a really cool design, with a wider section on the second floor and narrower sections on the ground and top floor. The design is late medieval, it appears, but honestly considering the number of medieval buildings still surviving in Europe, it could be used for a number of periods in the historical sections of towns. I'm looking forward to painting this one up and possibly using it for skirmish games (maybe some Sellswords & Spellslingers set in a town?).

    Since the Duncan House was a prize, I bought this 3-D printed, 4-story Medieval Watchtower
Perhaps because I won that building at no cost, it tipped the scale for me to purchase the 3-D printed Medieval Watchtower he'd brought along. Like the Duncan House, it disassembles by floor and is also three stories tall. The only modification I want to do is figure out some way to have my figures magnetic bases stick to the stairs leading up to the front door. I don't know whether to imbed magnets in the 3-D printed material, glue tiny pieces of metal, or coat it with ferrous paint. Honestly, I don't think I have anymore of that paint left, and it would seem a bit much to buy a jar of it for just for that!

    Interiors of the Medieval Watchtower with some of my 28mm Orcs storming the building
What else did I buy? I picked up one of his 3-D printed Pod Habitats that I use for my Sci-Fi skirmishes. It is his "Extra Large" version, but for me, it is a small home compared to my other Sci-Fi buildings. Still, I keep slowly building up my collection of them so that I can cover more and more of the table with suitably Sci-Fi buildings! 

    Very cool 3-D printed Sci-Fi piece that I will use as a landing pad in my skirmish games
Another Sci-Fi terrain items I picked up was the landing pad (at least that's what I'm calling it). It has stairs leading up to the top surface and would be a perfect place to put a small shuttle or spaceship on for a scenario. The top surface comes off, but I can't see any reason to have anything underneath it. So, I will probably glue it in place and paint it solid state. 

    The surface of the landing pad pops off and there is a printed interior 'control room', as well
The final thing I picked up from Rich was a printed copy of David Bezio's "Saddle Bum" rules. I am thinking of using these for a hillbilly trailer park battle, even though they were designed for a Western game. I figure the three firearms in the rules -- pistol, shotgun, and rifle -- fit perfectly for the trailer park vibe. Of course, I don't have hillbilly figures for such a scenario, but when has that ever stopped us from buying an interesting rule book? Rich loves these rules and all of David Bezio's adaptions for them, including black powder (Frizzen Bum) and Medieval (Chivalrous Bum). In fact, my winning scenario (actually tied for 1st place -- Rich gave both of us the prize!) uses the Chivalrous Bum rules. Jenny and I played them at Drums at the Rapids this past May. It was using those rules that I proved I can roll a statistically astounding series of "6's" on 1d6 after the game was well out of hand and I was going to lose...! 

    A picture of the 'Extra Large' 3-D printed Habitat dome that I picked up from RRB Minis, as well
Anyway, the organizer of Battles at the Brewery, Art Nickles, said it was a success and was pleased with the turnout. All of the games had players and were able to get under way, and folks were still gaming when I returned around 5:15pm. I helped Jason pack up my Song of Drums and Tomahawks game, had dinner and a beer at Fifty West, and then did my shopping from Rich's table. So, even though I didn't get to GM or play, I still got to experience a bit of the game day!

    I was scheduled to run a 'Song of Drums & Tomahawks' game, but Jason Stelzer stepped in for me
So, what is on my painting desk right now? The two warlord stands for the Advance the Colors Saga tournaments are almost done. That's six fancy figures who will be positioned, three-each, on a circular 60mm stand. Well underway, also, on the table are my first 28mm Gripping Beast metal goblins. The skin and base coat of the clothes is complete on them. So, they should be finished in the coming week, too. I also have another update on a couple quick pieces of scatter terrain that I completed for the two games of Song of Drums and Tomahawks that were run at the museum and Battles at the Brewery. You know me -- there's always one more tweak I want to add to the tabletop to ramp up its look. So, look for a post next week on those, as well!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  • Miniatures painted in 2025: 194

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Terrain acquired in 2025: 40
  • Terrain painted in 2025: 61

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  • Scatter painted in 2025: 159

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Historicon 2025 Purchases

Well, I didn't make it. Oh, I arrived at Historicon 2025 with no problem. I am referring to my goal of having my flea market sales cover my new purchases. My sales in the Friday flea market were more lackluster than I was hoping for. About half of the items I brought came home with me, unfortunately. I did make around $200, but some of my big ticket items, such as the MDF ruins from Four Ground and Father and Son Gaming, were not purchased by anyone. My advance purchases with Miniature Building Authority, Diabolical Terrain, and Michigan Toy Soldier & Figure Company set the bar too steep, though. Oh well...they did put a dent in my expenses, though. So, I guess I should be happy! 

    Resin bunkers and sniper positions that I picked up from Miniature Building Authority at Historicon

First, I stopped at the dealers where I had made arrangements ahead of time (or purchases on their website) to pick up at the convention. For Miniature Building Authority, this included more resin terrain for my 28mm Vietnam project. I picked up two Sniper Positions from their Pacific and Vietnam line. I also picked up one of the Coconut Log Bunkers. The final piece was the NVA Jungle Bunker. All four of these are items he has picked up from Acheson Creations and is selling in his catalog. That makes me very happy that at least some of the Acheson stuff I love so well will continue to be available to gamers. Kirk charged me $85, which was a nice (and very appreciated) discount. I do my best to promote his great products, showcasing them here on my blog when I get them painted up and ready for the tabletop. Thanks, Kirk! It was good to see and talk to you at Historicon. I look forward to seeing you at Advance the Colors, Oct. 10-11, in Springfield, OH!

    The remaining three buildings from Diabolical's "Tatooie" line of 3-D printed Sci-Fi buildings
Next up, was a stop with Ron Weaver from Diabolical Terrain. I think my largest advance purchase was through him, and he had my items all boxed up and ready to go. As I put the box under my arm, Ron asked, "What? You're not going to check them?" I told him no, I trusted him. He also realizes that I showcase his items on my blog regularly, too. Money-wise, my order was about the same size as at MBA, but included quite a few more items -- mostly for my Star Wars skirmish games. First up, I purchased the remaining three of the six "Tatooie" Desert Buildings. I had purchased the first three of these from him at Advance the Colors last year. They were so easy to paint up and I liked them so much that I wanted to get the remaining three models from that line. Also for these games, I picked up all nine pieces from the Canyon Rocks and Stacks line of 3-D printed terrain. I had picked up the Desert Rock Formations also at ATC, and I liked them so much that I wanted to complete my collection for Star Wars games out in the wilds of Tatooine. His 3-D printed products are always high quality, so I like to buy things from his booth every time I see Ron at a convention. 

    I liked the Desert Rocks I picked up last year so much, I bought the 'Canyon Rocks & Stacks'
My last advance purchase was with Michigan Toy Soldier & Figure Company. As it turns out, their website does not immediately deduct purchases from their inventory. So, my order of half a dozen items was missing three which were out of stock. They were very accommodating, though, and offered to do store credit for the missing items at the convention or ship them when they came in. I perused the booth, but decided to simply wait for them to come in stock. I did pick up the three things they had on hand, though. Two were figure packs from Crucible Crush. One was the Fearsome Flying Head from Native American mythology, while the other was a pack of 28mm English Puritans. The final item was the brown vehicle wash from Vallejo that I use for my miniatures -- especially on skin and colors in the white to tan range. I can almost hear the head or beard scratching from readers through my computer. Puritans? Native American mythological monsters?? Wait. All will be revealed shortly! Well, looking at the picture below, I think I kind of gave it away...ha, ha!

    The Fearsome Floating Head from Native American mythology & some English Puritans
I did not do an advance purchase for my next things I picked up, but it was actually my first stop in the vendor hall. I had contacted Steve from Age of Glory about their Empress 28mm Vietnam line to ensure they were bringing it to the show. He said he would be, and confirmed he had the items I wanted in stock. So, right after lunch on Thursday, I zipped inside the dealer hall and made a beeline for his booth. I had brought along one of my painted 28mm Viet Cong from the Black Sun line to compare sizes. It was as my friend Jim W had cautioned, though. The Empress line is MUCH smaller than the Black Sun figs. So, I cut back on what I was going to buy, and simply picked up the pack of four light machine gunners I needed from their NVA line. I am not planning on mixing the LMGs in with groups of small arms in the rules I am writing, so the size shouldn't be a problem. I also picked up three packs of civilians from their Viet Cong (Armed Civilians) line. I figured that the civilians could be shorter as they are significantly less well fed than the soldiers. I had read in one of the books that the villagers often marveled at how big the Kit Carson Scouts serving with the U.S. were, which they attributed to eating so much American food. I picked up civilian packs DS4, DS5, and DS6. The civilian poses are very nice and have a lot of character, as you can see from the pictures I've added to this post.

    The four packs of Empress 28mm Vietnam that I picked up -- LMGs and a dozen civilians
I drove to the Historicon contemplating more purchases than above. One in particular I really hadn't make up my mind on. I was thinking about starting a new period (gasp!) for next year. I had been reading battle reports on blogs or watching them on YouTube channels for 28mm Horror. I already owned Silver Bayonet, so that was one set of rules I was thinking of using for it. Recently, I downloaded from Wargame Vault the Devilry Afoot rules. Silver Bayonet is set during the Napoleonic Wars while Devilry Afoot is set during the 1600s or 1700s. If I pulled the trigger, I would base them in frontier America during the one of the series of wars fought in the New World. I already have a very large collection of 28mm native Americans and frontiersmen, as well as British and French. I have even purchased a number of Native American mythological creatures as I was contemplating doing a supplement for Song of Drums and Tomahawks were the boundary between our world and the spirit world was broken. However, my friend Mike Stelzer declared he was also considering doing that, so I backed off and let him run with it! Still, I had most of the figures I would need except for specialist characters and some more traditional monsters.

    Pictures from the Badger Games site of the packs that I bought at Historicon for 28mm Horror
I had taken hours going through the website of both Badger Games and Brigade Games. I jotted down (actually typed into my phone) likely packs of character or monster figures. Badger carries the Bad Squiddo Games which has an amazing array of characters from many periods, including the one I would be setting my games in. However, the prices tend to be on the higher end. Brigade Games carries the Silver Bayonet and Dracula's America lines, which tend to be more reasonable. Actually, Badger carries those lines, too, but confirmed by email they wouldn't be bringing them because other folks carry those lines at the show. I slowly went through the figure packs at both vendor booths, and finally decided I would pull the trigger on this new period. I told myself I wouldn't try to get it going until 2026, as I wanted to focus my Sunday Night Gaming efforts on the Star Wars skirmishes. However, I would use this opportunity to pick up the necessary miniatures. After all, I am only down on the Acquired vs Painted for Miniatures 237 to 144. That's less than 100...ha, ha!

    Some of the Silvery Bayonet & Dracula's America figures that I bought for my 2026 Horror project
It might have been helpful to have chosen which rules set I was going to use before buying, but honestly, I wanted to try them out myself first. So, I picked out the characters using types that both games had in common. The monsters are very similar, though I would introduce more mythological creatures from Native American stories than a standard campaign in either game might. Between the three lines (Bad Squiddo, Silvery Bayonet, and Dracula's America), there were often the same monster. For example, each of the three produces a "Wendigo" figure from Algonquian folklore. Sometimes I went by the figure I liked best. Other times, I went with the most reasonably priced -- for example, the werewolves from Dracula's America were the cheapest and looked great. For witches, I couldn't resist the Bad Squiddo figures. Yes, the "Angry Witches" pack looks a little whimsical and Wizard of Oz-ish, but I can mix up the colors a bit and don't have to paint them with green skin. It will be hard to resist cackling, "I'll get you my pretties...!" in the first game, though...ha, ha! 

    Some of the 17th-18th century personality figures I picked up from Brigade Games
I was still missing some key character types, so hit up Brigade Games, again. Both games can have lords, churchmen, and scholars as part of the player monster hunters. So, I went through Lon's collection and then asked his advice when I still couldn't find some things. In particular, I was having trouble with scholars or scientists until he pointed out a pack from the Napoleonic range. They're meant to represent the group of academics that Napoleon took along with him to Egypt. At the edge of my period, but nothing wrong with the odd top hat or two...! 

    Freebie pack of Charlton Heston from Planet of the Apes, a chimp astronaut, & other figure
Other than the odd bottle of paint, that was the extent of my purchases at Historicon. I've been keeping a running tab on my calculator, but it likely doesn't reflect any discounts vendors may have given. I was attempting to pay as much as possible with cash instead of credit card. Still, as mentioned, I fell short of having my flea market sales pay for the things I bought in the dealer room. I'm a little bummed about that, but I realize that I wasn't selling painted miniatures this time, for the most part. Those are what I've earned the most from at previous flea markets. Terrain and odds and ends can add up only so much. I'll have to remember that, and maybe next time begin to dig into my unpainted (and unplanned to paint anytime soon) pile of minis more rather than preparing terrain to sell.  Still, it was a fun time. Although I feel like I kept my purchases under control, my phone's calculator is telling me otherwise! I've adjusted the numbers below of Acquired vs. Painted, so you can see my task ahead to stay in the green!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  • Miniatures painted in 2025: 145

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  • Terrain painted in 2025: 47

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  • Scatter painted in 2025: 114

Friday, June 27, 2025

Origins Game Fair 2025 Purchases

 

    These naturally colored pottery pieces from A Critical Hit are ready to use & authentic looking
I was very restrained in my purchases in the sprawling dealer area of Origins Game Fair. Granted, there were a lot of booths I wasn't interested in -- jewelry, role-playing games, fancy dice, etc. However, I was trying to stick to my silly mantra of having my purchases not exceed my sales at a convention. With no flea market, this meant the Origins Consignment Shop. I put in three items, which would have totaled $155 if all three sold. Sadly, only the 3-D printed Alien Grays sold. That meant I was limited to $58.50 in purchases (my profit after the 10% consignment fee), if I followed my rule.

    Unlike the pottery, I will paint these pallets up to make them look more like fresh wood
I wandered through the dealer area on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I thought I'd scout things out and make my purchases the last day. However, I couldn't hold back and bought about $20 worth of stuff from A Critical Hit -- one of my favorite places for 3-D printed scatter. I also stopped by to look at Beldolor Studios, who makes very interesting 3-D printed anthropomorphic animals and other oddities. Their miniatures are a gray resin that seems a bit more sturdy than typical 3-D printed minis. Last year, I'd picked up five of their Gatorfolk. This year, I was looking at the various types of Fishfolk. The roughly 28mm size ones were $8 each (cheaper than the $10 listed on their website), and the bigger ones were at least $15. I decided to wait till Sunday when I would find out how many of my store items had sold before making any purchases.

    Pike (armed with a pike!) from Beldolor Studios -- the images of their figs are from their website
There are also lots of board game dealers at Origins, which makes sense as board games seem to outnumber miniatures there in the gaming hall. However, I make my board game purchases very carefully -- or at least I try to! Nevertheless, I have made some unwise purchases over the years. In fact, one of those was in the consignment shop -- GMT's Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East. We had played it three times before decided it was simply too long of a game with too convoluted of systems (despite its 7.2 out of 10 rating on Boardgamegeek). Plus, it is a simply brutal game with players hammering each other with event cards, some of which quite literally take a player out of the running for winning the game. Since there wasn't a game I'd researched prior to the convention and was looking for, I wouldn't be buying any board games.

    Beldolor Studios also had a pike armed with a trident in their line of 'Fishfolk'
There were a lot more dealer booths that had accessories for miniatures this year. Besides A Critical Hit, there were ones that carried paints, flocking, and other interesting items. Warlord Games, was there -- a legitimate historical miniatures vendor. Jon Russell from Warlord interfaces with the Origins staff to promote miniatures at the convention, and especially historicals. However, I don't currently play any of the games he had brought miniatures for. Plus, I think I have set myself a hard enough task if I hope to have my "Painted" exceed my "Acquired" by the end of the year! Lately, I have bought a lot of miniatures with the Vietnam and Fantasy projects. The last thing I needed was a random box of plastic figures for a game I don't play. I really appreciate Warlord Games being there, though. I just didn't need anything from him this year (last year I bought some terrain at his booth, though). 
    I also picked up this Bass Fishfolk -- I love the details and originality of their resin 3-D prints
Sunday rolled around and I was disappointed to be bringing back home with me two of my three items that did not sell. I did stop by Beldolor Studios and picked up three of their Fishmen and two other miniatures from their "Misprints" box that looked fine to me. With those minimal acquisitions, I kept my dealer room expenses under my meager profit from the consignment store. Historicon is coming up in a month, so I will get a chance to shop in a dealer room that fits my tastes much better soon! They also have a real flea market, which hopefully I will do well in again, funding more purchases!

    3-D printed, two wheeled cart for only $4 from A Critical Hit - I probably should have bought more!

I've adjusted my Acquired vs. Painted totals below with what I bought at Origins. I am also adding in  scatter and terrain that I painted up, but probably won't do a post on. However, I am not putting in the 10 Vietnam figures I have finished, as I will definitely do a post on them. So, the MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted should actually be better. Soon...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Miniatures acquired in 2025: 237
  • Miniatures painted in 2025: 117 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  • Terrain painted in 2025: 41

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  • Scatter painted in 2025: 106

    I liked these park benches, too, though I will likely touch up the wood on them and maybe the metal

    I loved how these crystals from A Critical Hit looked when I flocked them last time, so I bought more

    Image is poor, but these 3-D printed toilets will doubtless show up in the yard of one of my trailers!
 
    From their "miscast" bin, I picked up one of these very large Eldritch Deer from Beldolor Studios

    From their "Extinct" line, this Thylacine is also known as a Tasmanian Tiger - another $2 'miscast'

Thursday, June 12, 2025

Sci-Fi Scatter & a HUGE Purchase

    I picked up this 3-D printed Sci-Fi scatter from Garrison 3D - look like they belong on a flight line
Well, there goes the Acquired vs. Painted in the Miniatures category...for at least a few more months! I know I have been telling people that 28mm Fantasy is next year's project, what with the scheduled October release of the second edition of Dragon Rampant rules. I had made a couple small 28mm Fantasy purchases, but was holding off on a big one until next year. You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men, though...!

    Not my paint jobs -- these images are from the Gripping Beast website to show you what I purchased
Jeff from Shieldwall Miniatures decided he not only was going out of business, but also wanted to sell a lot of the stuff he bought for himself. He reached out to me because of my purchase of the 16 Orcs during his final 50% off sale, and because we've kept in contact for a good four-plus years now. He was selling a boatload of Gripping Beast metal 28mm Orcs. He kindly sent me the breakdowns and some pictures. I reached out to my friends and got a lot of, "Sorry, not interested" replies. However, one friend stepped forward and was interested in going in with me. He was very flexible, and said he'll take as much or as little as I wanted from what Jeff was selling.

    A big chunk of my purchase were armored Orcs & Goblins, but it is hard to tell them apart
In the end, we decided to split the Orcs down the middle, pack by pack. When Jeff mentioned he also had metal 28mm Dwarves, my friend jumped all over that, too. I was good with just the Orcs and Goblins, though. In the end, here's what I ended up adding 87 Gripping Beast Uruk Orc, Snaga goblins, and Troll miniatures to my collection of "Miniatures Acquired" category. 

    Another look at the scatter pieces alongside my 3-D printed Imperial Stormtroopers
Even though this is next year's project ("Keep telling yourself that, Mike..."), there's a good chance that I'll be painting some of these up between now and the end of the year. Painting my Vietnam project went much faster than I anticipated. I have some other odds and ends that I want to do in the meantime, but I will likely start working on these guys this Fall. One of the things I want to mix in are some 28mm Sci-Fi civilians. Lead Adventure Forum member Simon (Nozza) does an amazing job sourcing various Star Wars civvies and I have a serious case of "Monkey see, Monkey do" when it comes to his Star Wars project. I will likely just use some of the Stargrave plastic figures for them, though. We'll see...that's after I finish off my Viet Cong and U.S. soldiers for Vietnam.

    These creepy looking dudes with little modesty are labeled "Uruk Trackers"
Speaking of Sci-Fi and Star Wars, I did finally finish these six pieces of scatter this week. I picked them up early this year at Siege of Augusta from Bryan at Garrison 3D. I painted the first one up nearly a month ago, and really liked how it turned out. However, all those metallic blue bands and turquoise glowing bits take a lot of time. I think each one takes a good hour to do, and that's after they've received their base coat of Gunmetal Gray craft paint! I plan on using these in my next Star Wars scenario using Space Weirdos rules. I think they 'll make good "flight line" arrays.

    28mm Uruk archers from GB -- these Orcs are the way I picture them instead of GW's cartoony style
So, what else is on my painting table, now? The last batch of Viet Cong is nearing completion, and the last and next-to-last U.S. infantry is also underway. I did the 50/50 black paint and water final step of priming for three Buddha statues of plinths, more than a dozen oil barrels, and the MDF ruined building that I will be taking to the Historicon flea market. So, hopefully you'll be seeing those soon! In the meantime, I have to finally record that big 28mm Fantasy purchase below in my calculations. So...much...lead...to...paint!

    GB has a lot of cool descriptor names for their goblins, like "Night," "Forest," and "Mountain"...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Miniatures acquired in 2025: 232
  • Miniatures painted in 2025: 117 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  • Terrain painted in 2025: 39

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  • Scatter painted in 2025: 78

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

'Loot' from Drums at the Rapids 2025 (mostly from RRB Minis & More)

    One of the prizes I won from RRB Minis & More - a very cool 3-D printed multistory urban building
I ran my Viking Raid game at Drums at the Rapids, but I was the one coming home with the loot! Normally, there were only a couple vendors at Drums, so I didn't really expect to come how with a lot of new stuff. However, I did take items to sell in the flea market at Fort Meigs. I did very well and sold most of what I took up -- more than enough to pay for my hotel, meals, and purchases. But even more significantly, most of what I was bringing home were prizes from RRB Minis & More. Owner Rich Brown had run a contest for scenarios for any of the rules sets he carries. Mine was the winner (my campaign rules for Zombie RV, which are a free download on his site). When he first told me that I won, I was surprised...even more so when I saw home much he gave me!

    The rear of the building -- I love the door upstairs to the rooftop...great sniper position for games!
As I said, Rich was very generous. He gifted me a huge amount of 3-D printed stuff from a new line he is carrying. It is all from the Kickstarter 20th Century Urban Environment. Check out the link -- this is some great stuff! If you like anything you see, feel free to contact him so he can print it out for you. Some of it was exactly what I was looking for. A few things I already have, but still, this was a very generous prize. The centerpiece was a multistory building with attached garage (I think it is meant to be attached, but it could also be a separate building). The doors open, roofs come off, and it is all very modular. I know I probably have enough urban buildings for now, but I'm going to be hard pressed to resist getting this one painted up and ready for the tabletop. I think my favorite part is the second story door leading to the flat rooftop with parapet. I can see this being a favorite "sniper position" in games using the building. It also game with some ladders which I will likely attach on the outside as a fire escape or another way up onto the roof. 

    The one story garage which I believe is made to be attached to the multistory building
The garage looks very much like a building you would see in an urban area. Maybe it is a "hole in the wall" automobile repair shop? I might paint it up that way. The garage could just as easily stand alone as its own building. It is modeled partially damaged on its sides, which gives it more versatility. If you sandwich it between two other intact buildings, though, you will never see the damage. Standing alone, it is a damaged building - perfect for post-apocalyptic or a city in ruins. One building, two uses. Although I will paint it up separately from the multistory building, it will be in a similar style so that it can be attached, if I choose. 

    The rear of the garage -- if you look through the left window, you can see the damaged side
The things I was really excited about when Rich showed me this kickstarter last year were the rooftop scatter items. The water tank, air conditioning ducts, skylights, and even doorway to the rooftop are all very generic and very useful. I had actually been looking for these types of items, so when Rich shared the Kickstarter website with me, they were the first thing I asked about. Likely, they will be the first things painted up, too. They should fit on any flat roofed building, which most of my Sarissa Precision city buildings are, thankfully. They should also paint up fairly quickly, too. I look forward to getting them finished and onto the tabletop in my next game of Mean Streets gang warfare or Zombie RV.

    3-D printed air conditioning ducts, skylights, water tank, etc., available from RRB Minis & More

If you have seen my games, you may have noticed that I don't have any stoplights in my urban setup. Initially, I had been going back and forth about how to scratch-build them. However, since then, I have picked up a couple varieties. Rich's prizes add in a third variety. I will have to set all three out and decided which ones I like better. One selling point for Rich's will be that I should be able to order as many as I want from him. I like the street lights, too -- a somewhat ornate, elongated globe. Very fancy! Of course, I would need a LOT more than two to replace my dozen or so scratch-built ones that I made a few years ago. The Stop, Yield, etc. signs are nice and will be useful, as well, as is the phone box. I already have a lot of plaster traffic cones already painted up, so I will likely not spend time on these soon. I'm not sure what the black cylindrical items are...they look familiar, but their purpose on a street is eluding me right now.

    Street scatter that Rich included in my gift box -- traffic lights & signs, streetlights, & even cones!
Rich also included some other trash -- literally! I love the collection of three garbage bags. I also like the dumpster with the separate working lids. The sawhorses are nice, as well, as are the barrels, trash cans, and even barrel fire. I already have some of these items painted up (same with the fire hydrants), but the manole covers or sewer access points are new to me and a great idea to paint up and throw onto a street on the tabletop for that little bit "extra." That's the awesome thing about scatter terrain like this. It makes your tabletop come alive. It is those little extras that draw people in and make them want to play a game on your tabletop. I highly recommend picking up some of this inexpensive scatter to take your display to the next level. 
    The goodies keep on coming -- love the collection of garbage bags, dumpster, and sawhorses!
Can you believe I'm still not done with what Rich included in the gift box? I was excited to see the three wooden pallets. I almost bought some at Cincycon this past March from A Critical Hit. However, my tub was already pretty full, so I decided to be frugal. Yes, I could make pallets with bass wood. Why, though? For a wargamer, time is money, too. These will take next to no time to get onto the table. Plus, they will be far less fiddly than cutting pieces of bass wood, arranging them, and gluing them together. I'll happily spend a small amount for 3-D printed ones. Along with the traffic lights, they will likely be my first order of additional stuff from the samples he sent me. The park bench is nice, as is the dead tree (it will join my growing dead forest). I have to admit that I have no idea what the four tiny red things are...hopefully Rich Brown will see my post and comment on what they are supposed to be. The brick rubble is good -- post-apocalyptic gamers can always use more rubble!

    Pallets! I regretted not buying these from A Critical Hit at Cincycon...now I have a source for them
I actually did buy some things from RRB Minis & More, too. He didn't bring his store, but did bring along some stuff to add in the flea market. GMs attending Drums at the Rapids are encouraged to bring flea market items to set on one of the tables or shelves along the outer wall of the main gaming area. I've been doing it for years, so I was glad to see Rich brought some things I could purchase to pay him back some. I bought printed copies of three of the rules sets he carries. I already had the PDF of Mice-at-Arms, but always like having a printed copy when I play a game. I had been meaning to download Frogs of the Fen (supplement to go along with the rules), but hadn't gotten around to it. Rich has been running his Sci-Fi rules, Fictioneers: Legacy Fantastic Sci-Fi Warriors rules for a few years at various conventions. My friends who have played them all have enjoyed the games, so I figured I would pick them up.

Rich told me he wasn't aware he could have brought his store and been a vendor. Doug of the Colby Street Irregulars usually recruits a couple for each show. So, there was a communication breakdown there, as I'm sure others would liked to have picked up some stuff from RRB Minis & More. The one vendor who was there were my friends James & Rusty from Fireland Games. They brought their collection of Saga, Bolt Action, and more figures, as well as various other items. One thing that they do that is a great service for gamers is they open up the plastic boxes and sell individual sprues. Sometimes, you don't need 30 of a figure type and five or six fit your needs perfectly. James says it has been a successful marketing strategy for them.

    Picture from the Gripping Beast website of one of the two trolls I bought from Fireland Games
Readers of my blog know I actually prefer metal miniatures, but am willing to paint plastic or 3-D printed figures, too. When I saw these 28mm metal trolls from Gripping Beast online, I knew I wanted to have a couple. I asked James at DayCon if they could get them and he said yes, and ordered the two for me. So, my purchase form Fireland Games was already "set" when I arrived. I am looking forward to the second edition of Dragon Rampant to be released in October. Fireland Games will be ordering me a copy (contact them if you want one, too). Our Sunday night gaming group enjoys the Rampant series of games. They are quick, easy-to-learn, and provide a great multiplayer game that can be finished in a couple hours. Just to give you an idea how quickly the system moves, my friend John L (owner of JS Wargamer Printing) recently ran a six player Xenos Rampant game (the Sci-Fi version). Each player controlled 40-50 points ("normal" size is 25) and it finished in a little more than two hours. If you haven't played any of the Rampant games, I highly recommend them!

    Meet my second 28mm Gripping Beast troll I got from Fireland Games -- his name is Gorka

I am telling everyone that 28mm Fantasy will be next year's project. My 28mm Vietnam is this year's, and I am adamant about not making a major purchase to start a new one before next year. Two trolls are not a major purchase. And um...neither is the box of Gripping Beast metal Orcs I'll buy when Fireland Games puts in their next Gripping Beast order. Nope, nope -- no new project! "Move along, folks, nothing to see here...!" The final picture is of three cups worth of Hirst Arts plaster pieces that Rusty brought along to get out of his basement (his wife's instructions). He wanted to give me everything he brought, which would have been about 50 of these cup's worth -- not just the three I filled up. I did not need that much, though, but there were some pieces I could use. Rusty refused to accept money for them, which just goes to show how good of guys they are (or how much he wanted to get rid of it all...ha, ha!).

    My three cups worth of Hirst Arts plaster blocks -- the doors were nice, and I can always use stone
So, how do I count all of this to add to my tallies, below? The two buildings are easy -- they're "Terrain." The scatter...wow. Do I really count each individual traffic cone? That seems excessive. And I certainlyi can't count each Hirst Arts block! Maybe the traffic cones should count those as one, to quote Gimli the Dwarf? Either way, I'm about to go seriously in the "red" on my Scatter counts of Painted vs. Acquired. And I was doing sooo well!! Luckily, I am catching up on miniatures as my Vietnam figures are going quickly. Still, it is only May. I have more than seven months to make up these totals! And who can look an amazing gift horse in the mouth, like what Rich gave me? Still, I think I need to start working some of these scatter pieces in fairly quickly...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  • Miniatures painted in 2025: 85 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  • Terrain painted in 2025: 23

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

  • Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  • Scatter painted in 2025: 60