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

Vikings Descend in Fury on Anglo-Saxon Town at Cincycon

    Ragnar Lothbrok (near the church door) tries to fight his way into the church in search of loot

The fabled Ragnar Lothbrok of the Norse Sagas, accompanied by his friends and companions, brought chaos and mayhem upon an Anglo-Saxon town at Cincycon 2025. My convention game that I will run for at least the first part of the year is a cooperative historical miniatures game where all six players are Vikings trying to loot a town. The role of the Anglo-Saxon townsfolk and defenders is played by the game's A.I. and cards. Ganesha Games' Sellswords & Spellslingers is the rule set I am using, and did a great job throwing the unexpected at the players and making each running of the scenario unfold differently.

    A look at my town tabletop at Cincycon before the figures are placed and the Viking raid commences

I had a full table of six players for both my Friday evening and Saturday morning game. I had a great group of players both times who joked and laughed throughout despite their reversals of fortune. In addition to the players supposedly cooperating, they were also competing to amass the most loot. This could be gained mostly from slaughtering the townsfolk (1 silver piece each), levy Fyrd (1d6 silver), and hearthguard or household troops (2d6 silver). The windfall, though, would be if they made it to the central church, which stood in the center of the hexagonal board. Each player deployed their three Viking raiders along their respective hexagon edge. In Friday's game, they made it to the church courtyard, but did not gain entry. On Saturday, Ragnar Lothbrok and his son Bjorn Ironside both actually made it into the chapel and slaughtered monks, gaining 4d6 silver for each.

    My Saturday players were a rowdy bunch and had a blast teasing each other and enjoying themselves

The way SS&SS works, the player rolls one, two, or three 20-sided dice to activate one of their raiders. For each roll of 8+, they get an action (move, fight, shoot arrows, loot bodies, etc.). For each failure, a card is drawn from the deck. These cards can bring more defenders onto the board, trigger an Anglo-Saxon springing unseen from ambush, and activate defenders on the table to move towards and attack the Viking raiders. Most of the cards are bad for the players, but a few are beneficial or neutral. I had worked out ahead of time what each card would translate to in this historical version of the fantasy miniatures game. For example, a "Wandering Monster" was a mounted hearthguard who appeared on a random board edge and immediately charged the closest raider. "Trap" meant a town dog darted out and attacked a raider. Some of the cards activate the Anglo-Saxon (foe) closest to the player rolling the failure, while others activate ALL Anglo-Saxons on the table.

    Ragnar's brother, the sometimes treacherous Rollo, and his Viking raider companions

In addition, some cards dictate the deck to be reshuffled after playing that card, which keeps things mixed up and interesting. There were three levels of foes, as mentioned earlier. Townsfolk were the weakest, levy Fyrd were the next toughest, and the hearthguard were the most powerful. Hearthguard also have armor that might block a raider's hit on them. In a one-on-one fight, the raiders ("PCs" or player characters) are much more powerful. However, the defenders can form "hordes" which give them an outnumbering modifier, which can greatly reduce or negate the raider advantage. Plus, there is still good old-fashioned bad die rolling! For example, on Friday night, Ragnar's brother Rollo almost met an untimely, early end. He was quickly down two of his three wounds, but ultimately survived. Each player had a Viking hero (either Ragnar, his wife Lagertha, brother Rollo, son Björn, friend Loki the shipbuilder, or Ulf the Wise). Each player also had a swordsman or axeman, and their third raider was an archer. The archers had no armor, so were most vulnerable to counter-attacks, while the leaders and other raiders had armor and/or shields which could negate enemy hits with a good enough roll.

    Sounds of steel clashing on steel reach the Anglo-Saxon defenders in the church courtyard

Interestingly, in each game, there was one Viking band that was swarmed by defenders almost immediately. On Friday, it was the maniacal Floki, who had trouble keeping his footing on the muddy streets. Anglo-Saxon defenders sprang from nearby houses and the woods on the edge of town to attack his trio again and again. On Saturday, it was Rollo, who almost never made it off of the wharf where the longship was tied up. Mounted hearthguard came in waves after Rollo and his men, nearly killing all three. Still, in both games, most of the Vikings penetrated the outer buildings and advanced steadily through the muddy streets. On Friday, Ragnar made it to the courtyard in front of the church, but couldn't break through the solid shieldwall of the Anglo-Saxon captain and his hearthguard defenders.

    'Horde Fighter' Rollo takes on a pair of Anglo-Saxon Fyrd in the streets during Friday's game

On Saturday, the players did better. Lagertha's archer stung the shieldwall in the courtyard, prompting them to charge after the shieldmaiden and her raiders. This opened the way for Björn's band to break through the defenses and enter the church. Ragnar followed his son soon after. Monks shrieked as they fell wounded or were knocked senseless to be taken captive. Perhaps hearing the chaos in their beloved church, the Anglo-Saxon defenders began to swarm the perimeter of the table. The sound of their shouting convinced the Vikings they'd gathered enough loot and it was time to escape back to the ship before more of them fell. Both games lasted about three hours before I called them.

    Ragnar's companions, Hakon and Sigurd hurry to keep up with their quick-footed lord

The players seemed to have a lot of fun. They laughed at each other's misfortunes and howled in protest as a fellow player's failed activation rolls sent a horde of Anglo-Saxons randomly at them instead! This being only the second and third times that I had run these rules, I was pretty busy handling the arrivals of new defenders, deaths of Anglo-Saxons, and doling out silver pieces. However, the players do all the die rolling and control the action. Still, Friday night the players kept me hopping and it seemed chaotic to me, at times. However, on Saturday, I was able to relax and anticipate the rhythm of the game. I spiced up the narration of what was happening, taunting the players, "You can't miss that roll, right? You can do this all day...!" Of course, they realized that was likely jinxing them and chuckled at my ribbing.

    Lagertha's swordsman, the wounded Fafnir, is beset by two determined Saxon Fyrd

The die rolls and randomness of the frequently reshuffled deck created its own flow. For example, Blake's Rollo suffering charging mounted hearthguard after hearthguard. Dan's board edge was the unlucky recipient of an odds-defying number of Anglo-Saxon reinforcements. Derek's die failed rolls were to blame for the other players' misfortunes. It was hectic, unpredictable, but enjoyable -- at least that's what my players told me. Several of them planned on going out and downloading the rules from Wargame Vault. I got lots of compliments on how my table looked, especially my scratch-built Anglo-Saxon church. To this day, it is probably still my favorite scratch-build I have ever done.

    The decorated inside of my scratch-built church, defiled by the presence of pagan Björn Ironside

I plan on running the game again at DayCon (April 11-12) and at Drums at the Rapids (May 17-18). And then I will run the heck out of it all weekend at Origins Game Fair (June 18-22). So, if you want to give the game a try, show up at one of these conventions! I was gratified by the number of players who told me they signed up for the raid game because they love my games and always have a good time playing in them. I had a fun time, too, this weekend at Cincycon. I will do another blog post soon about my purchases I made there. Look for that in another day or so!

    Another look at Ragnar Lothbrok and his family and friends (28mm from Brigade Games)

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 9

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

Trailer Park Grows: Two More 3-D Prints from Bad Goblin Games

    Bad Goblin Games' 'Fortified Trailer #2' - 3-D printed building with lots of character & details

I picked up two more 3-D printed trailers from Bad Goblin Games at Siege of Augusta awhile back. One is their Fortified Trailer #2 and the other is Ruined Trailer #2. The really cool thing was that Brian and Liz Peak will both be attending Cincycon this weekend. They wanted to run a game of their Trailer Park Warlords of the Apocalypse. I offered to bring down a game mat and terrain for them, if they wanted to do it. They agreed, so if you go to Cincycon, you'll have a chance of playing a game with these newly-finished trailers!

  Heavily damaged front of 'Ruined Trailer #2' with some of my post-apocalyptic survivors

I decided to do both of them simultaneously, because I had slight deadline pressure. Plus, having already finished two of them that I bought at Historicon 2024, I knew how quickly they painted up. There is no construction to do on these -- just prime and paint. That is, unless you count epoxying the upper half of the trailer to the lower base...! First, though, I based both on MDF. For the ruined trailer, I glued the roof on, too,  because it is 2/3's destroyed/missing. The roof wouldn't get in the way of moving figures around inside of it. For the fortified one, I kept the roof removable -- it has nice tabs that keep it in place during games. 

    Other side of the fortified trailer with my add-ons (yard flamingo & bird bath) and some 28mm figs

I did my usual Krylon Fusion Acrylic Black Matte spray coat first, followed by brush-on mix of 50/50 water and acrylic black paint. The black base does mean you have to do two coats of lighter shades (like I was going to do), but it is no real problem. I chose a pale gray-green for the ruined trailer and a salmon pink for the fortified one. Each got a base coat then a dry brush of a lighter shade (very light gray for the green, pink for the salmon). The bottom half of the ruined trailer I did in a medium gray, figuring a two-tone look might be nice.

    Detachable roof on the fortified trailer -- the tires, cinder blocks & everything come already affixed

Next, I painted the various fortifications and damage on both trailers. The tires, wooden door, stop signs -- all of it -- is straight out-of-the-package. The only modifications I did to either was to the interiors with posters and flooring. I did the windows and doors in a contrasting trim color, dry-brushed in a lighter shade. For the damaged sections, I painted them dark gray with a medium gray dry brush. The tires were also done in charcoal gray, with medium gray drybrush. I had to pull out one of my finer tip brushes for my attempts at lettering the "STOP" on the hexagonal signs. Bad Goblin trailers typically come with two stairs leading up to the doors. One is made of cinder blocks and the other is wooden stairs. If you are using the wooden ones, I suggest gluing them to the base AFTER the outside of the trailer is done. That way, you don't have to poke your brush through the slats to paint the trailer's surface. 

    A look at some of the 'trailer park kitsch' posters I printed out and glued to the walls

For the doors, I decided to leave them open on two trailers. They are modeled to be able to swing open and close, but I find that once you've painted both the doors and the frame, the layers build up kind of freezing them in place. If you want yours to open and close, I suggest you shave off some material from the door or frame before priming. For the interiors, I chose pale colorw for the walls (yellow for the ruined one and sky blue for the fortified trailer). This time, I used a wide, flat brush rather than my usual rounded brush. It worked a lot better, and there was fewer splash over spots on the window or door frames. Two coats was enough to cover over the black primer, even with the lighter colors I used.

    Other wall's posters -- Jenny suggested the "Velvet Elvis" poster, and a look at the smoke damage

Next, I did a black vehicle wash over the exterior and then interior. I stupidly went back to my rounded brush for the interior of the ruined trailer and it came out very streaky. For the sky blue interior, I used the wide, flat brush and I was much happier with the look. The flooring is scrap booking paper sold at the local craft store trimmed and glued into place. I also dry brushed smoke stains around the damaged sections on both the interior and exterior. I was very happy with how this turned out, adding a touch of realism, I feel. 

    A little bit of whimsy with the flamingo and a scratch made water fountain with water & leaves in it

The next step was to glue my trademark posters on the inside walls (and a few choice places on the exterior). I found images I thought were appropriate with Google searches. I tried to go with what might be a stereotypical decoration in a low-income or working class trailer park. Jenny suggested the Velvet Elvis painting, and the NASCAR poster (sorry, Jason -- don't tell Lily!). I thought the Springsteen "Born in the U.S.A." and the Lynard Skynard...wait, "Skyyyyynard!" were nice touches. Hopefully, no one is offended by my playful lampooning of trailer park chic! I resized the images and printed them off at the local office supply store on their color laser printer. After cutting them out, I paint the back with white glue and stick them to the walls. They are easy to do and work perfect!

    The mostly blow away back of Ruined Trailer #2 - I'm happy with how the smoke damage came out

The final step was to decorate (or trash up?) the yards a bit. For the pink one, I built a bird bath with round miniature bases and a tiny plastic bowl. I cut a circle of blister pack plastic for the water surface and glued a couple leaves to it. I added in tiny sky blue ripples of a reflected sky and then finished it off with a clear gloss. I then did the Homer Simpson, "D'oh!", because I would need to carefully cover it up with masking tape when I clear coated the model to prevent it from "frosting." Other things I added to the yards for atmosphere were a toilet, kitchen sink, and curved pipes. For the pink one, I really, really wanted to put flamingos in the yard. I couldn't find any tiny plastic ones at the local train store or craft stores. So, I resorted to buying a pack off Amazon. To save our brick and mortar stores, I try to buy as little as possible off Amazon. The flamingos are probably too big, but I used them anyway. I drilled out the underneath and added wire legs with a paper clip. I also drilled holes for the legs in the MDF for stability. If you think they look too goofy, let me know. I can always remove the flamingo later if I decide the out-of-scale size bothers me too much!

    Close up of the posters in the ruined trailer -- a rocker & NASCAR fan lived here (or still does?)

The last step was flocking, clear coating, and then the two trailers were done! They went quickly (soooo much faster than building and modifying an MDF one). If you're interested in creating a 28mm trailer park or adding one to your skirmish games, I highly recommend Bad Goblin Games and their selection. Thankfully, Liz and Brian are NOT bringing their store with them to Cincycon (they're in town for work), so I am saved at least till Historicon 2025 from the temptation of buying more trailers!

    Side of trailer with my scratch made debris and plumbing pipe from Miniature Building Authority

What else am I working on? I have a batch of eight Dark Age mounted troops begun on my painting desk right now. The plan for the next terrain that I will paint is to convert my two Reaper shipping containers into buildings, much like the Miniature Building Authority one I painted recently. And of course, I'm headed to Cincycon this weekend. Hope to see you there!

    Close look at the included cinder block stairs & more debris flocking I made & an MBA kitchen sink

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 9

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

 

    Another look at the front of the ruined trailer with some of my survivors scoping out the territory

    Side view of the fortified trailer, plus a discarded toilet sitting in the yard to 'trash it up'

Rebels & Patriots: Cutting Off Philadelphia

    Mike and Jason Stelzer, left, face off against Allen and Jenny in a game of Rebels & Patriots

We played our fourth game of Rebels and Patriots this past Sunday evening with seven players. Jenny, Allen, and Joel took on the role of British commanders trying to usher a supply column towards the garrison in Philadelphia. Mike and Jason Stelzer, Tom, and myself were rebel commanders intent on preventing the wagon train from making it across the table. Keith had designed the scenario and provided the figures and terrain. 

    Early stages of the battle with the American forces advancing towards the roadway against the Brits

The road ran down the length of the table, about 2/3's of the way across from the American starting positions. Mike S commanded the left, Jason the center, and Tom the right wing of the Americans. I took control of the a (point-wise) weak force of militia in the woods lining the far side of the board. I had five units, but all worth only one point according to the game's point system. Just one unit in some of the forces was equal to my entire force, but I had the advantage of position, which I intended to use aggressively. My first moves were to advance my entire force to within shooting range of the column and its support troops. After that, I would simply hunker down and fire and hope not to be driven off by counter-fire.

    Later in the game, my militia units at the edge of the woods pour fire into the British flank guards

The British had the disadvantage of having to march along the road in addition to firing back at my sniping. My compatriots on the opposite long table edge would have to advance to get within range to add their weight of fire to my shooting for us to be successful. Keith's rules were that the wagon train would move 4" each turn automatically, unless it was fired upon. In that case, it would have to dice to advance. Jenny's rolls for the wagon train were below average at first, and then finally caught wind. Would it be too little too late, though? How much damage could the Americans do to the convoy escorts?

    Tom's Continentals and state line troops advance on our right flank to cut off the British convoy

For 1-point units, I felt my militia were not that bad, actually. Keith gave them the ability to choose the "Fire" action, rolling all 12 dice, if they were stationary. I'm not sure if American militia are supposed to be able to do that or must always take the "Skirmish" action, rolling only six dice for firing. Keith said he'd checked and that we should be able to use the Fire action. In that case, I think my troops were a bit overpowered at 1 point. Four of the British units turned to face my skirmish line in the woods. However, I was able to inflict as much damage on them with my five inferior units as they did upon me. I did have two militia units flee off-table due to casualties from British musketry. However, I destroyed or drove off three of the enemy units. At the end of the game, I was hovering around 50% losses, figure-wise, but were still in the fight!

    Early game, Brits try to (1) Keep moving (2) Deal with my sniping (3) Face the American main force

Keith actually took command of the small garrison of two artillery and one dragoon regiment at the table edge the British were marching towards. If anyone's dice were terrible that evening, it was Keith (the GM's). He lost two of his three units and inflicted essentially no damage on Tom's advancing forces. The African-American Rhode Island light infantry shrugged off every one of the artillery shots he was able to get off. Of course, I was rooting for my compatriots to get in the battle quicker and to hammer the enemy harder. They did well, though. We ended up calling the game after only 2+ plus hours as it was obvious the supply train was not going to get off-table.

    British wagon train struggles to move forward as we pour fire into the lead wagons, slowing them

Both Jason and I made it a point to shoot the wagon train whenever we could, forcing them to dice to be able to move. As mentioned early, Jenny's activation rolls were below average, meaning they moved forward infrequently. Both Jason and I cleverly focused our shooting on the lead wagons, so that when they didn't move, they stalled the entire column. Keith did let them move off-road since it was winter and the ground would be frozen. However, that just meant we focused our fire on the new "lead" wagons. 

    I felt good that four higher point value British units were turned to face my sniping the entire battle

We did struggle a bit with the morale and rally rules this game. It had been since September that we had played them. In between, we played both Lion Rampant and Xenos Rampant from the same stable of games. Unfortunately, each rules set does thing subtly different. All three due morale checks (or "Courage checks") differently. We did things wrong in the early part of the game and it wasn't until three quarters of the way through that we finally got the rules all down pat. On one hand, it is nice to use a similar game system so that was are familiar with the basics. However, the subtle differences in each set make it a challenge to get your head wrapped around each one's way of doing things. I think that I honestly need to sit down and create a cheat sheet going over the differences between the three sets. Heaven forbid we start playing another game from the "Rampant" stable (as Keith is talking about doing)! I enjoy the games, but it is challenging keeping them straight in our heads!

    Mid-stages of the battle, as the British convoy guards are getting worn down by American musketry

I guess that's kind of a blessing, because it means we get to play a variety of games, right? I asked the group after the game if they're enjoying the Rampant system and they seemed amenable to continuing to keep playing them. They work, provide a game which makes sense for the most part, and they do play VERY fast. Once again, we were done in less than three hours for a six player game. Granted, we often don't play till the bitter end, and "call it" when it is obvious one side has won. However, we tend to do that in most games (except board games, perhaps?), so that doesn't take away from their fast-play aspect.

    Firing takes place along the length of the battle line, with Americans slowing gaining the upper hand

It was a good time, my troops "punched well above their weight class," and we laughed and enjoyed ourselves. What more can you ask for in an evening of gaming, right? Our normal host, Mike W, returns this week from snowbirding in Portugal. So, we will likely be gaming back at his abode next week (or soon). In the meantime, look for another update from me in a day or so detailing my two newest, 3-D printed trailers that I painted up from Bad Goblin Games.

    We decided the convoy did NOT get through, starving the Philadelphia garrison of supplies...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

    Everyone had fun, & finishing a game with seven (really 8) players in just over two hours is a bonus!

 

 

 

 

 

A New Project and Some Other Unpainted Lead I Picked Up

    Pics from the company website (Crucible Crush) -- I will not begin painting my figs till March

Say goodbye to the positive Acquired vs. Painted ratio till, say, summer? One period that I've been thinking about doing for years, but never got around to pulling the trigger on, has been the Vietnam War. I finally decided that I'd take the plunge. The games that I want to do will be small scale, though, with each of my players controlling a squad or fire team. So, 28mm is the obvious choice here. My hope is to do it as a cooperative game, with all of my players controlling the U.S. side and the game mechanics dictating the actions of the Vietnamese.

I looked at a number of manufacturers and narrowed it down to several. One was Gringo 40s (but in 28mm, despite the name). They have lots of cool figures, but all are Marines, not Army. Not that the difference is a non-starter at that scale, but it is a consideration if I go ahead with my plan to do U.S. Army platoon in Vietnam. Gringo40s are also located in Britain, which likely meant a considerable shipping charge. Another possibility was Empress Miniatures. Once again, all Marines, but with a U.S. distributor, Age of Glory. My third choice, and the one I eventually went with, was the Black Sun range from Crucible Crush -- an arm of Bob Murch's Pulp Figures. Technically, these are for their "Weird War" Vietnam, with all kinds of inter-dimensional Cthulu-like horrors. However, their standard rank and file figures are solidly historical, and they included U.S. Army troops.

    Picture from Crucible Crush website of their 28mm Vietcong figures

Crucible Crush is located in Canada, so I reached out to them prior to the Trump tariffs and asked if they'd raise their price if those were put into place. The gist of the answer was it would be very likely. My friend Jim W in Michigan owns figs from the Black Sun range and liked them, so that tipped the scale. What's more, with the tariffs only weeks away at that time (enacted now), I quickly reached out and ordered what I wanted. I picked up seven packs of five American GIs each and five packs of VC. They kindly gave me a bonus pack, and I chose one of their "Children of Hastur" -- hippies with guns -- which I could use for my post-apocalyptic games. I looked through the miniatures when I unpacked them, and they seem very nice -- as one would expect from the Pulp Figures line. I am using pictures from their website with this blog post, rather than taking my own poorer quality ones!

What rules will I use? Wellll, I am actually going to write my own! Sort of. My plan is to playtest and adapt the Ganesha Games "Sellswords & Spellslingers" system to the Vietnam War. The gist of SS&SS is that a player rolls between one and three d20s to activate each figure. Any failures result in the draw of a card from a deck. These cards cause new enemies to appear on the table, or those already on board to act. The cards can also spring traps or cause other events. My job as "GM" will simply be to adjudicate these events while the players or game's "AI" make all the decisions. I also plan on tracking the platoon's progress through their year-long tour in Vietnam. Figures will likely get wounded or killed, necessitating brand new replacements, who will likely be less skilled. The survivors will progress in skill. The players, as sergeants, will be trying to shepherd as many of their men safely through their yearlong tour in Vietnam.

    Of course, I ordered the Hollywood personalities pack from Crucible Crush's 28mm Vietnam range!

The package from Canada arrived the day before I left for my vacation in Ecuador ("Whew!"). I will likely begin painting the figures in March. There are a few things I want to finish up before I undertake this new project, painting-wise. I've already begun my research -- reading highly regarded memoirs and other non-fiction on Vietnam. So, look for lots of Vietnam figures being painted this year!

What else did I buy to totally screw up that Painted vs. Acquired total? This purchase is also for SS&SS, but for the Dark Age Britain semi-historical games I plan to run. These will be the "semi" part, actually! After fighting Vikings for awhile, I plan on having my players encounter mythical elements from Scottish or northern British myths. These little guys will be the "Redcaps." These goblin-like creatures are the evil equivalent of the household "brownies" -- benevolent little sprites that help families keep their homes nice and tidy. Well, in my world, they are one in the same creatures. Something will happen to turn them into enemies (Redcaps), and the players will encounter them and try to solve the mystery of why a previously friendly race is all of a sudden hellbent on human blood. That's down the road in the story arc, though. So, these will likely not get painted soon. The figures are from Conquest Games and are in their "Myths of Albion" range and are called, Svartalfar. I picked up 23 of them -- more than enough. Or more accurately, my friend Will G picked them up for me when he was visiting England a couple weeks ago!

    Once again, pics from Conquest Games website of their "Svartalfar" (which will be my Redcaps)

Unfortunately, the ratio is likely only to get worse after my visit next weekend to Cincycon. I will likely pick up some figures there, but will do a report on my purchases after the show. In the meantime, I am just about done with the two Bad Goblin Games trailers, so look for pictures of those soon. What's more, I will likely follow them up with a couple of my own takes on a shipping container building. As for miniatures, I am going to mix in a batch of Dark Age cavalry for our Lion Rampant games on Sunday nights. So, stay tuned for more coming soon!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5