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

'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

Cincycon 2025 Purchases

    Do you have one of these? You would if you had attended Cincycon 2025 like I did this past weekend

It's Monday after Cincycon 2025, so that means it is time for a quick overview of my acquisitions from the convention. My spending was certainly not over the top at this convention, partially because there were only so many vendors that carried things I needed. I would also like to take credit for being more disciplined in spending, but I know that is likely a matter of opinion! I spent about $100 at the show, but did not attempt to offset that with flea market sales or similar. I did recently receive birthday money, so I guess I could say I was just buying presents for myself!

    3-D printed "dead trees" from A Critical Hit to enlarge my growing (??) dead forest

I dropped the biggest amount of money at the booth for A Critical Hit. Blair carries 3-D printed scatter terrain and has greatly expanded her line since I first saw her last year at Cincycon. She makes lots of useful scatter for modern, fantasy, Sci-Fi -- you name it! What first caught my eye were the "dead trees" in various sizes. I grabbed five of them (only $3 each, and they are fairly large!). These will "paint up" very quickly. I intend to just do a base coat, dry brush, and black wash on them. After flocking their bases, they'll be added to the dead tree collection I've picked up from Jarl's Workshop and Mantic Games. Expect to see them done quickly, as I want to keep my Acquired vs. Painted at a reasonable ratio...!

    I love A Critical Hit's Sci-Fi scatter -- especially the pieces that use the 'color shift' filament

Some of my readers may remember the Sci-Fi scatter I painted up from A Critical Hit last year. I was struck by the "color shift" effect the material she uses to print some of her pieces. I asked her about it and she said it is three separate colors spiraled together into a filament, which causes the surface to change colors when viewing from different angles. Even though I knew I had plenty of Sci-Fi scatter, I couldn't resist buying a handful more pieces. One is another weird vegetation-encrusted alien nodule. Three are Sci-Fi containers for objective markers, and the last has three cylinders that look like rockets laying on their sides. These may not get painted up immediately, or at least until I start my Sci-Fi gaming back up.

    These tables & chairs will likely be the first thing from my purchases that is readied for the tabletop

What may be the first to be done are the two wooden tables and four chairs. Already printed in brown, I will likely do a dry brush of tan on them and a dark brown wash. Hopefully, they'll look just perfect after that and I won't have much else to do on them. They'll work perfect for any modern, post-apoc, or zombie game.

    These capitals, or tops of Greek or Roman columns, will take almost no time to be ready as well!

Another purchase that should take even less time is the "capitals" or tops of Greek or Roman columns. They're already in printed in gray, and I will likely do only a dry brush and black wash on them, too. I'll toss the three of those that I bought in with my ruins scatter that I can use in various games. 

    I like how they print much of their scatter in colored filament so that you can use them 'as is'

For modern games, I picked up four fire hyrants and four trash cans. These will also take very little time to prep for the tabletop, mainly just a dry brush and wash again. I like how Blair prints much of her scatter so that it can almost be used straight off the shelf. Some people may use it that way, but knowing how quickly a dry brush and wash can be done and how much better it will make it look, I have no problem putting in this amount of time. The 3-D material used has a slight sheen, though, so at the minimum I would suggest people doing a clear coat spray on the pieces to take that luster off.

    Even though I have no current need for them, I couldn't resist these colorful crystals

The final purchase from A Critical Hit was a series of variously sized crystals. I bought two larger ones, two medium ones, and three smaller ones. The larger and medium sized ones do not have a "base" and will take zero preparation. They don't have ground depicted on them and will be used "as is." The smaller ones have a surface depicted. I plan on giving them a black rocky surface using a coal ballast material I picked up from the train store. I want to get them completed soon, too, as I know how little time they'll take...!

    I think I can handle putting together these MDF double-barreled turrets from Dad's Armies

I also visited the booth for Dad's Armies, who carries MDF structures and buildings for various periods, especially Sci-Fi. The genesis of many of his products was from the Impudent Mortals line of MDF products, which he purchased and now produces. Last year, I bought four packs from him at Advance the Colors. However, I struggled to put them together. I am not good at jigsaw puzzles (nor do I enjoy them). After attempting to put the simplest of the four together a month ago or so, I gave up. So, I brought the two more complex ones with me, knowing he would be at Cincycon. I placed them on his table, and confessed to him that I suck at jigsaw puzzles. I offered to give them back to him so he could sell them to someone else. Unexpectedly, John asked me, "Do you want me to put them together for you?" I said yes, and asked him how much. He said no charge, but it might take awhile. I told him to take his time -- no hurry. Much to my surprise, he had the largest of the buildings ready by Saturday at Cincycon! Now, THAT is service!!!

 

    In gratitude for John at Dad's Armies generosity, I purchased this laser pointer from him

Since he wasn't charging me anything, I felt that I had to buy something from his stand. I picked up a laser pointer for doing lines of sight on gaming tables, and an MDF kit that looked so simple even *I* could do it. It was a pack of 12 MDF double-barreled turrets ostensibly produced for Gaslands. To me, they looked more like something for a space station or Sci-Fi game. If I ever get back to doing Space Station Zero, they will come in handy. They can also be used in various other Sci-Fi games as perimeter defenses or whatever. I think I should be able to handle putting these together...!

    This book covers the Big Red One's engagements in Vietnam -- which is exactly what my new project

My last purchase was a great find at The Nafziger Collection. George is from Ohio and a loyal vendor at regional conventions. He sells books and other source material and has been coming to our conventions since I can remember. He had a book that covered the engagements of "The Big Red One" (1st Infantry Division) in Vietnam. I was actually planning on having my platoon that I paint up for my Vietnam project be from the Big Red One, so this was a serendipitous find! So, this was a great birthday present to myself!

 

    Individual, 3-D printed cinder blocks from Bad Goblin Games -- I requested these & they delivered!

My final acquisition was not a purchase at all (I think...I hope!). Two members of Bad Goblin Games, who make the amazing 3-D printed trailers you've seen here on my blog, were going to be in Cincinnati for several weeks for work. Since their visit coincided with Cincycon, they told me they were planning on attending when I saw them at Siege of Augusta in January. I told them that if they wanted to run a game, I would be happy to bring down a game mat and terrain for them. They messaged me a month later to say they had signed up to run a couple games. They had their miniatures and plenty of scatter, but would I bring some of my trailers? Absolutely! I brought all five of my trailers and two other buildings for them to use. In gratitude, they brought me a pack of individual cinder blocks (I'd asked if they made them, and in response, they printed some out). They also brought me three of their 3-D printed, 28mm miniatures for my post-apocalyptic, zombie, or Sci-Fi games. They didn't ask for money when they handed them to me, so I hope they were meant to be a thank you for bringing my terrain (and promoting their products on my blog and on Facebook). If I was meant to buy them, that would be a giant-sized, "OOOPS!" 

    These are the 3 figs that Bad Goblin brought with them to Cincycon for me (pics from their website)

Oh wait, there was another "acquisition" or two! Attendees to Cincycon receive a free 28mm Cincycon miniature. It is always a pig-faced humanoid of some sort. Jenny always gives me hers because she doesn't want them. Appropriately enough, this year's figure is a Sci-Fi one. So, two of them were added to my collection of anthropomorphic "oinkers" I've collected over the years of my attendance.

So, yes, expect to see some of these items being prepped and ready for the tabletop here soon. Otherwise, what is on my desk at the moment? I have a batch of eight mounted Dark Age Welsh cavalry under way. I also have just finished priming two scratch-built shipping container buildings. I got the idea from a Miniature Building Authority purchase, and converted two Reaper plastic shipping containers. I'll start painting them as soon as tomorrow. Otherwise, it may be a few more days before I publish another post. These things on my desk will likely take a bit of time! In the meantime, check out the hit my Acquired vs. Painted has taken below...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 9

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 51
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

Purchases from Siege of Augusta 2025

    Damaged Trailer #2 - one of Bad Goblin Games' excellent 3-D printed pieces of terrain

My first convention of the year was a drive down south to visit my friend Jason in South Carolina. He usually attends Siege of Augusta every year, taking his two high school age kids along with him. Jenny and I drove down Thursday and spent the evening with him before we all headed to the convention for Friday and Saturday. I'll do another post covering the games I played in at Siege, but here is my overview of what I bought while there. Knowing ahead of time that both Miniature Building Authority and Bad Goblin Games were going to be there, I expected to drop some cash!

    Fortified Trailer #2 - which is the 3rd of Bad Goblin's fortified ones that I own - can't wait to paint it!

My first purchases were at Bad Goblin Games, since I knew how quickly their products sold out when I first saw them at Historicon 2024. I picked up two more of their 3-D printed trailers, one fortified and one "damaged". These are truly excellent pieces of terrain. All of the sandbags, tires, wooden palettes, and such are all printed on. All you have to do is prime and paint them. Once these two are done, that will put me at five trailers for the tabletop. This will give me the chance to run a game set exclusively inside a trailer park and not have it as the "bad side of town" on a city board. I am looking forward to painting these up!

    Cinder block walls & random scatter I picked up from Bad Goblin (& a free pack of ladders!)

Also purchased from Bad Goblin Games were some 3-D printed cinder blocks. They were out of them at Historicon once I decided to go back and buy them, so I wanted to make sure I got them before they sold out again. They have two packs -- one of straight cinder block walls, and another of more random piles of them. I am curious to see if I can cut some of the walls up so that I also have individual cinder blocks. I could use them for various pieces of scatter on the bases of walls or even larger figures. Either way, at $8 a pack, these are incredibly affordable -- as are all of Bad Goblin's products.

    Besides making very cool trailers and other scatter, I love Bad Goblin's LED lit fires and other items

Another of the products that Bad Goblin makes that I love is its range of fires. At Historicon, I'd picked up one each of their Dumpster Fire, Barrel Fire, and Pit Fire. This time, I grabbed two packs of their generic fire markers, which has the battery and flickering LED light contained underneath and inside the fire marker. I can place these anywhere on the board, and honestly, should probably have bought yet another pack of them...ha, ha! I'd forgotten about their Scrying Pools and such. These come with different colors and also LEDs that slowly fade and brighten. I couldn't resist grabbing one of the scrying pools. Very cool stuff to have on the tabletop of a miniature game! Oh, and in thanks for my previous posts on Lead Legionaries about their products, they threw in a free pack of 28mm Ladders, too. I'd said they should sell those separately, instead of just including them in the trailers and water towers, and they aparently agreed!

    Miniature Building Authority's two story Customs House with balcony which I picked up on sale

Awhile back, a friend of mine urged me to stop at Miniature Building Authority early on when visiting a convention they were attending as a dealer. He said they often have special deals, so this time I actually followed through on his advice! I found this two story Customs House on sale for just $40!! Now, it was marked down because there was no roof (not sure if it had been lost or damaged). However, I can easily make a roof myself. I do also need to make a second floor to place atop the first floor room walls, but that will be equally easy to cut to size. I really look forward to getting this piece painted up and on the tabletop. It'll make a great anchor piece for a modern city street.

    This MBA "Souq" will match my other buildings I have from them and can be used in many periods

I had intended to pick up 2-3 more buildings from Kirk at MBA while at Siege, but I waited till Saturday to pick out which ones. MBA has so many cool buildings with character, that it was simply a matter of deciding which ones I liked best. I have a number of their stone buildings which are intended for the Middle East, but can be used for just about any era -- including Sci-Fi. I ended up picking up their "Souq", which is a stone building with three small storefronts. I'll likely paint it to match the other MBA buildings I have.

    MBA's Shanty Town range has a number of flavorful buildings I can use for  Modern & Post-apoc

I have to admit, that in addition to picking up the "Contractor's Office" (which is a building ostensibly made from a modified shipping container) from Kirk, I am soooo stealing this idea! I have at least one or two Reaper shipping containers sitting amidst my unpainted terrain. So, I'll be making my own, too! Anyway, this piece is very cool and could be used on a modern construction site, for post-apocalyptic games, in a trailer park -- you name it! I'm thinking it should paint up very quickly, so it will be one of the many buildings jostling for position at the front of the line on my painting desk!

    Some of the great scatter terrain that Kirk brings to shows and hangs on his racks to entice buyers

As some of you may know, I keep a list of all unpainted terrain that I have sitting in my closet waiting for its turn to be readied for the tabletop. A number of those items on the list are from MBA's extensive line of resin scatter terrain. I love spinning the racks and searching through what he brings at every show. I picked up a few more this time, one for a project under way this year and another couple for a "one day" project. I have visited many Mayan, Aztec, and Incan sites in my travels. I really want to game the period one day, but have never gotten around to it. That hasn't stopped me from collecting great terrain and scatter pieces, though! So, I picked up a couple small Olmec heads and a very cool Aztec calendar to add to my collection. I also grabbed a pair of Asian water buffaloes for my Vietnam project I'm starting this year.

    A new vendor I'd not encountered before had some amazing 3-D printed Sci-Fi terrain

My final purchase at Siege of Augusta wa from Bryan Stroup, who I believe is calling his 3D-printing business Garrison 3D. He had a huge display of amazing Sci-Fi buildings, as well as some Ancient, Medieval, and Western, I believe. I almost bought in big, but considering my larger purchases already at Bad Goblin and MBA, I limited myself to a half dozen Sci-Fi Transmitters. These were really cool looking scatter pieces I can add to my Sci-Fi tabletop. Six of them for only $10 was too good a deal to resist. My friend Jason went bigger, though, and grabbed his huge, domed Ancient temple, which appeared to be modeled on the Roman Pantheon, for his Stargate games. Great stuff! And I hope to see Bryan and his prints at another show.

    Not the greatest pictures, but here are Ragnar Lothbrok from the Vikings TV series & friends

The final purchase in this post was actually done online. It did arrive while I was at Siege of Augusta, but I'd ordered a week or so earlier. I've decided that for my Viking Town Raid game that I will be running at shows this year I will use Ragnar Lothbrok and his friends and family as the leaders of each player's group. I went online and searched various 28mm miniatures that evoked (or were modeled on) the characters from the Vikings series, and chose the ones from Brigade Games. These will be the next miniatures to be painted, as soon as I finish the six on my desk that are mostly complete. So, expect better pictures of Ragnar, Lagertha, Rollo, Floki, and Bjorn soon!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 7
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 4 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 4

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 1

Purchases from Advance the Colors 2024

    My acquisitions from ATC 2024 all laid out on my purchased "Frostgrave" snow neoprene mat

Advance the Colors is my local HMGS chapter's flagship convention. As such, it is the "biggie" for me as far as time and effort I put into helping organize and run it. This year, I was the vendor coordinator, flea market coordinator, and all-around assistant for Convention Director Randy Miller. At any convention I attend, I like to support the vendors and make (probably) more purchases than I truly need. However, without dealers at a convention, something is missing, I feel. You need gamers, GMs, and vendors -- the three legs of the stool -- for a truly fulfilling, good con. My opinion, of course!

So, it is no surprise that I spent a lot of money at ATC this year (um...again). I thought I'd do a blog post running down what I acquired at the show. I say acquired rather than purchased because I actually won a couple things in the raffle - woo-hoo! I can pretty much guarantee this will be the last major purchase(s) of the year for me. In fact, it may be my last convention of the year. There's an outside chance I will go up to Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, OH, for World at War, Nov. 1-2. Considering I leave for Morocco less than weeks later, there is a possibility it won't happen, though. We shall see.

    I picked up both of these boxes -- not for Stargrave -- but for my Sci-Fi skirmishes from Shieldwall

Let's talk about the simplest purchase, first. I need some Star Wars style "rebels" for my Sci-Fi skirmishes. I have painted up quite a few things I can use for mercenaries, corporate security, imperial stormtroopers (see next post), criminal syndicates, and even some Mon Calamari ("It's a trap!"). However, I really don't have anything that screams rebellion type figures if I am doing a skirmish in the Star Wars universe (which I want to do). I knew my friend Jeff Gatlin of Shieldwall Gaming carries the Stargrave plastic kits, so I searched online through the various sets on his website. Sure enough, one of the "Crew" sets seemed to fit the bill. Since he's such a great guy, and I wouldn't be purchasing any Saga stuff from him this show, I bought both the "Crew" and "Crew II" boxes. And yes, for some reason, I can actually handle assembling these plastic figures. Normally, I hate putting together multipart figures and avoid them like the plague. However, since I already have successfully done so with the Troopers and one of the Mercenaries boxes I bought from him, I figured (ha, ha) I could handle these.

    A section of my 6'x4' snow and ice or 'Frostgrave' mat I purchased from Griffons Lair

Speaking of Stargrave, which I do not play, I did pick up a 6'x4' neoprene mat for the original game in that series, Frostgrave. I wanted it because it is one of the few types of terrain that I don't have a big mat for. I have jungle, desert, plains, rocky, etc., but no ice. It just so happened that a new vendor to ATC, Griffons Lair from Erie, PA, had a nice selection of mats. I noticed the snow and ice one right away after they finished setting up on Friday. I waited till Saturday to buy it -- probably not wise, in general -- but luckily no one else had picked it up, yet! I know that I won't use it all that often, but it was something I had been looking for to have waiting when I did need one. Remember - I always try to support the vendors at the conventions I attend! 

    My raffle win from ATC -- I know nothing of the game, but thought a couple minis looked cool

Speaking of Griffons Lair, they were the vendor who donated the raffle item that I won this weekend. They are from a game (or line of miniatures?) called ABC Warriors. The tag line on the Warlord Games website says, "Supreme military robots, created for a conflict that ended centuries ago, the ABC Warriors are built to endure warfare in all its deadly forms – atomic, bacterial and chemical.." My friend Mike S pointed them out to me as we were cruising the three tables stocked with raffle donations. I am generally not a fan of "big stompy robots", but who knows? Maybe I could find a use for one or more of these very interesting looking miniatures! Anyway, if you look at the price tags on each box in the picture above, you see how incredibly generous Griffons Lair (and all the other vendors who donated items at ATC), truly were! Thanks, Steven and James -- it was nice to have you at our convention and hope to see you back again next year!!

    More purchases for my Sci-Fi games from RRB Minis & More -- lots of robots/droids!!

Another of my "acquisitions" ended up costing me no cash, as well. I had picked out a few things from my friend Rich Brown of RRB Minis and More's website before the convention and asked him to bring them down. I have a few of his Sci-Fi scatter items painted up and part of my collection. I picked out a few more -- 3-D printed Large and Very Large Habitat pods, as well as a large Arcane Energy Collector. What I really wanted from him were some robot or droid like figures from the venerable Reviresco line of metal miniatures. Particularly, I wanted ones with tracks like the Robot Power Gun I painted up almost a year ago. I picked up a half dozen of these figures. There is a very good chance I will cannibalize one or more of them for their tracks. I plan to paint up/model a variety of droids and robots soon for my Sci-Fi skirmishes, and these are a big part of my plan. Oh, and I say "acquired" rather than purchased because I traded some painted Splintered Light Miniatures for them (see below).

    My purchases from Diabolical Terrain include three large, 3-D printed Sci-Fi buildings

Speaking of my Sci-Fi games, I have picked up quite a bit of scatter for those games from my friend Ron Weaver of Diabolical Terrain. Ron and I regularly give each other grief, but he does some of the cleanest 3-D printing around. You have to struggle and look closely to find any print lines. Normally, they disappear immediately once you prime the model. I appreciate him taking the extra time to print a high quality product. This time, though, I was picking up buildings. I got three relatively large Sci-Fi buildings that wouldn't look out of place on Tatooine for what I feel was a very good price. They will be painted up relatively soon, and will likely be ditching other buildings that were in line ahead of them! In addition, he had some cool Sci-Fi trucks that would look good at a spaceport or something, so I grabbed one of those, too. My final purchase from him was some textured round bases for Sci-Fi figs. Just in case I want to mix things up and use something besides my "asphalt" look, these will come in handy.

    Not exciting looking now (bag of MDF) but these are really cool pieces of terrain from Dad's Armies

Another vendor who made the trip to Springfield, OH, from Pennsylvania was Dad's Armies. Sorry for the lack of a link, but reach out to me in person for an email of one of the owners. I believe they are still working on getting a webstore up and running. Anyway, John and his wife Patty Elbro purchased the Impudent Mortals line back in 2021, I believe. They carry a variety of items besides that line, but I was excited to pick up some of their MDF Sci-Fi terrain. Much of it has of a gritty, industrial look -- perfect for the Star Wars universe. My friend Mike S went to town and bought quite a bit of it. I limited myself to a really cool saucer-shaped building, a Rylos Arctec TL-42 space fighter, a "hopper" flying vehicle, and a leaf punch from Green Stuff World.

    My friend Derek J kindly gave me a couple retirement gifts - modern scatter for my games

The last "acquisition" was a gift from my friend Derek J from Indiana. He and I have a running joke that he's going to steal my scatter terrain off of my tables (especially my tree stumps). In honor of my retirement, Derek (one of the nicest guys you will ever meet at a game convention) bought me a handful of various modern scatter. One box was a Scenics Accents Street Accessories in HO scale. The other looked 3-D printed and includes three soda machines, ice cream cart, dumpsters, trash cans, fire hydrants, and street lights. These are all painted or printed in color and will need only a small base and a dark wash to be ready for the tabletop. Thanks, Derek!

All of these purchases were actually more than paid for, though, by a couple sales of painted miniatures that I made (or delivered) at ATC. I mentioned the Splintered Light Miniatures that I traded to Rich of RRB Minis, above. In addition, a week or so before the convention, I asked him if he'd be interested in my collection of Mice, Squirrels, Raccoons, and Foxes that I had painted up long ago. They were based on large hexagons for a fantasy miniatures rules system that I never got around to writing. I knew Rich played and enjoyed Mice-at-Arms from Grey Area Games (same author as Zombie RV). I figured he might want these to use for that game. Unfortunately, those big hexagon bases of Splintered Light Miniatures have sat on my shelf, unused, for a decade or so. They have all kinds of cool custom banners and are painted to a high quality, I feel. He bought the whole set from me for a very fair price, I felt. In addition, at the show, I let him pick through my individually based Splintered Light animals, and he grabbed enough to offset the RRB purchases I was making from him. Finally, a newer Saga player borrowed my Republican Roman army to use in the Friday tournament at ATC. She had fun with them and I asked her if she wanted to make an offer for them. We agreed on a price. So, like at Historicon, all of my purchases AND my hotel and food expenses were funded by my own sales. Score one for being a (relatively) responsible retiree...ha, ha!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 226 (sigh...well, I WAS in the green for awhile!)
  
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 183