Rural Interlude: Asian Water Buffalo, 2-Wheel Cart & Wattle Fences

    Some 3-D printed rural scatter terrain and water buffaloes that I painted up a week or so ago

All of these items were finished more than a week ago. However, I never got a chance to do a blog post on them before leaving for vacation to Dominica last week. I pulled them out after painting up the Japanese Fishing Village scatter set from Miniature Building Authority. I remembered that I had also picked up a couple 3-D printed Asian water buffaloes from them, as well. I pulled them out, and said, "What the heck?" Let's go full-on rural and get that 3-D printed cart from A Critical Hit done, as well. And while I was at it, I pulled out the wattle fence sections I bought at Advance the Colors 2025 from Diabolical Terrain. The cart and buffaloes I simply primed with Liquitex White Gesso. The fence sections I figured it might be better to do an acrylic black spray prime with my usual Krylon Fusion. Next up, was a 50/50 mix of water and black acrylic paint. There are a lot of crevices and recessed areas in the wattle as the branches thread in and out of the posts. I didn't want any gray peaking through.

    3-D printed 28mm Wattle fences (one section with gate) from Diabolical Terrain I got at ATC 2025

For painting the wattle, I scaled my usual wood tones a bit lighter. Instead of using a dark brown base like I normally do for wood, I went with a wet brush of a medium to lighter brown called Autumn Brown. The next step was a Khaki highlight. I skipped the brown wash with the black undercoat still showing in some places. I flocked them and added a couple tufts on each side, and these were done! Quick is the theme for this update. All three items painted up extremely quickly. My biggest decision was whether to put them on a base or just flock the thin base they come printed on. Or I could also make them into an enclosed field using the gate sections...what to do? In the end, I decided to leave them "as is" and place the wattle fence directly onto the tabletop when I use them. That gives me flexibility in both length and width of the enclosed field. Of course, if I don't like using them this way, they are so inexpensive I could buy more from Ron the next time I see him. In fact, when I picked them up from him at Advance the Colors 2025, I joked, "Do you know how much time you saved me for just over a $1.50?"

    Miniature Building Authority sells a pack of 2 3-D printed water buffaloes for my Vietnam games

The water buffaloes painted up very quickly, too. I pulled up a Google Images page on them and they look pretty dark furred, in general. So, I used a dark brown base coat. I did a medium brown (Autumn Brown from Ceramcoat) dry brush over that to bring out the highlights on the figure. Next, I did a khaki dry brush along the undersides of the buffaloes, as some of the photos showed them a lighter color underneath -- like many animals. Their wide, curving horns were dry brushed a light tan ("Wild Rice" from Ceramcoat, again). The only real details I had to do with a small brush were their black eyes and detail around their mouth. Yep, painting buffalo lips! 

    Base coat and a couple dry brushes and these big boys were done and ready for the tabletop! 

I did a brown wash on the horns, but none of the rest of the figure received a wash. Once again, I was concerned that it might cover up the medium brown and khaki dry brushing. Flocking was done in my normal method. The large round bases came with the figures, and I went ahead and used them. Of course, I forgot until AFTER the figures were done to put some magnetic material underneath. Sigh. Still, my Vietnam rural scenes just got a nice bit of eye candy, as they two took very little time to get ready.

    2-wheel carts for only $1.50 from A Critical Hit - I need to pick up more of these next time!

The two-wheel cart was even easier. It comes in four parts -- the main "basket" of the cart, the undercarriage with long handles, and the two wooden wheels. The hardest part was epoxying it all together, as I had to dig out the notch for the wheels fit into. As printed, the wholes weren''t big enough. No biggie! Just using an X-acto knife widened them enough to dry fit them into. I pulled them back out and used some gray tac to hold the cart in place and epoxied them all together. 

    Wattle fences and carts will also work for Fantasy, Medieval, and about anything up to modern age

Once that was done, it was simple. I did a dark brown base coat, Camo brown dry brush, and khaki highlight (my typical wood recipe). There were a few metal bits to paint Iron Wind Metals Steel, with a dab of Bronze for the bolts. Once dry, I did a black vehicle wash over the cart and it was ready for the clear spray coat! And actually, that's where this update ends. The wattle fence sections still need their 50/50, so I guess it wasn't a "full-on" rural post. Still, I was happy at getting the water buffaloes done and the cart. I know that when I see A Critical Hit next (Cincycon 2026?), I will definitely be buy several more of these. I think they cost like $1.50 each. How can you beat it?? They work for a huge number of periods and regions of the world. If you see them at a show anytime soon, pick some up (after I am able to get mine, of course...ha, ha!).

    I went back and forth whether to base the fences as an enclosure or keep them as separate pieces

On the painting desk at the moment is my Orc and Goblin horde commander and his bodyguard. They're mostly completed, though, I still have to do some details like their shield design and eyes, teeth, etc. This morning, I pulled out another batch and attached their weapons and shields. It will be four orcs/goblins and two more trolls. For terrain, I have a giant stone tower that I bought from RRB Minis & More spray primed. I may. not work on it much, though, until I even things up in the Acquired vs. Painted for Miniatures. I am have 27 more figures to complete to do so, and 19 days to do it! Will I make it...? Time will tell...

    Final look at the 'Rual' items I painted up, accompanied by my 28mm Empress Vietnamese civilians

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 306
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 279

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 62
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 80

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 144
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 213 

Uruks in Iron -- Another Batch of Armord Orcs

    Another batch of 8 Gripping Beast 28mm armored orcs finished to add to my horde! 

"Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!" That quote is for my friend Jason, -- it is his favorite orc line from the Lord of the Rings movies. I need to keep up steady progress on my orc and goblin army for Dragon Rampant, so it was natural that I slip these eight armored orcs into the queue. I'm actually starting to see the bottom of the pile of my unpainted orc lead!

    I really like the faces and expressions on these orcs -- they look like they'd knife you just for fun!

After cleaning these figures up, step one is always attaching the weapons and shields. Slowly, I'm getting better at using super glue to do this. For many years, I said the only thing I've successfully glued together with super glue is my fingers. Now, I'm learning how to do better at it. For one, I need to position the figure somehow, usually with gray poster tack, so that it stays in place while the weapon/shield lays flat in the correct spot. Typically, I start with the shields and then proceed with the weapons. For the swords, I've found the super glue bonds quick enough (and the lead sword weighs little enough) that I can hold it for about 30 seconds. At that point, the bond is usually strong enough to keep it from slipping. For the axes and spears, though, it requires more awkward positioning so that the weapon doesn't move while I wait for the superglue to cure. How long? Forget that "instantly" or "30 seconds" crap. BS! I let it stay in place for at least an hour, usually more. Overnight, if possible. Then it holds well enough for me to prime the figure with Liquitex White Gesso.

I try to mix up their weapons as much as possible, so if I have 2 of a pose they get different weapons    

Once I've primed the figures, the painting proceeds methodically, step by step. Usually, each one or two steps is followed by an overnight drying time. The skin alone is three different colors, the clothes two, as are the leather and most equipment. I honestly feel that letting a base coat of acrylic paint dry overnight allows it to "shrink wrap" itself around the figure tighter. That brings out the ridges and folds better to make dry brushing the highlight color look better. Perhaps I really don't need to wait overnight (or till the evening for something I painted that morning). I do, though -- or try my best to! That's why I typically have multiple things underway on the tabletop while I'm working on a batch of 28mm figures -- especially these orcs and goblins. What else was on the table while doing these? Well, two Asian water buffaloes and the Critical Hit two-wheeled cart were being worked on. In addition, I pulled out the 10 wattle fence sections I bought from Diabolical Terrain at Advance the Colors to work into the flow. Also, I know this will surprise you, but there were a base of bamboo, too! I know...unbelievable, right??

    For clothes, I'm trying for variety yet a similar palette: I use duller pale and dark versions of colors

Since everyone on Lead Adventure Forum and in the comments section below each of my blog posts seems to enjoy my orc and goblin shields, I am feeling the pressure to continue performing on them. So, I am taking more time studying the images of tribal shields I downloaded and planning which I will do. Most of the shields in this batch were done with my black micron pens. I augmented some of them with paint, whether in open areas between the black lines or as accent. I spent a decent amount of time on these eight shields, so hopefully they live up to the standards of the previous ones in this army. If you are planning on using micron pens and doing a wash over them, I caution you to be careful. Specifically because there was so much pen ink on the shields, I added a new step with this batch and did a quick spray of clear matte over the shield faces. I didn't want the ink of the pen running, like has happened to me once or twice before. You can also wait for a 2-3 days for it to thoroughly dry, but who wants to do that?? I mean, heck! I've got blog posts to do...ha, ha! There are other things in the queue waiting for space on the painting desk! Wait 2-3 days? Sheesh!

    I think these figs are a perfect mix of having some equipment but not too much to slow painting

I'm really happy with how this batch of eight turned out, though. It took a little longer to do eight figures at once in a batch, as opposed to six or seven. Not too much, though. I will likely continue doing the ordinary rank and file types in eights unless I run out of similar figures for a batch size. So, what else is on my desk? Well, those wattle fences are in the flocking stage. The next batch of orcs, which will include the horde commander and his bodyguard, has passed the skin dry brushing stages and has had the base coat done on their armor. And I've got some terrain on the desk, as usual, too. And this piece is really, really big! Wait till you see it...!!

    This batch's shield photo - I like the color accents I added to the black ink designs on some shields

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 306
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 277 <-- 29 away!!! Will I make it??

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 62
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 72

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 144
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 212 

    One final look at my second batch of GB armored orcs (as opposed to armored goblins!)

TIE Fighters Strafing Streets of Mos Eisley - Chaos on Tatooine!

TIE fighter begins his strafing run over Mos Eisley as both inhabitants and the various factions scatter

We played our fourth game in our Star Wars skirmish campaign using Space Weirdos rules. After being fired on indiscriminately by the residents of Mos Eisley, the Empire planned to strike back at the treacherous locals. A TIE fighter squadron would strafe the streets, letting the locals know who to fear on this planet. Knowing their operational security was porous and possibly compromised, they waited till the last minute to inform local patrols to withdraw from the streets. Unfortunately, a corporate security patrol and a squad of stormtroopers led by Darth Pylor were unable to get off the streets in time after their transport vehicles were blown up by the rebels.

    7 players gathered around for our 4th Star Wars campaign scenario using 'Space Weirdos' rules

Seven factions were caught out in the open when TIE fighters began roaring overhead and blasting away indiscriminately at anything moving in the streets. I used my hexagon shaped board. Most factions had to escape to the location of their bunker off the opposite board edge from where they started. They received +2 Victory Points for each of their four figures they got off-board. In addition, they received a bonus +1 VP for killing knocking their enemies out of action. Two factions, though, had completely different objectives. The Criminal Syndicate and the mercenaries of the Bronze Legion were trying to conduct a prisoner ransom and swap in the center of the board when the TIE terror broke out. The Bronze Legion had two members of the syndicate they had captured in the last scenario. Their goal was to get them to the criminals who would pay +4 campaign victory points to get their leader and trusted associate back.

    Darth Pylor & a squad of Stormtroopers advance towards the central square in Mos Eisley

Each turn, though, a TIE fighter blast would strike randomly on the board. I worked out a system to randomize where the blast would hit and all figures within two movement sticks would suffer an attack. The closer to the blast location, the more deadly the attack, of course. The players did not know where or when they would come, only that one would arrive somewhere every turn. It gave them incentive to get the heck off the board. Being gamers, though, they couldn't resist the opportunity to fire at their foes, though. I had counted on that. It made for a chaotic and deadly scenario. Darth Pylor lost all three Stormtroopers in his squad, while their Corporate Security also had three of their force taken out of action. Admittedly, they were a bit outnumbered. Their normal allies the Bronze Legion were not technically hired for this mission. They were in full self-preservation and "get the ransom!" mode. Keith did little to help either Mike S (Empire) or Corporate Security (Joel), unlike normal games, when he is fairly bloodthirsty in his pursuit of the empire's goals.

    Allen moves is patched-together Criminal Syndicate force towards the meeting point with the Mercs

Surprisingly, neither the Criminal Syndicate nor the Bronze Legion double-crossed each other. TIE fighters struck close to the Bronze Legion on the very first turn. By the time Keith's troopers made it near the central square, it was a battleground and deadly crossfire. The Bronze Legion called out and motioned to the criminals to cross to their side of the square where they could make the exchange under less fire. Like an evil game master, I had arranged the various faction's missions so that nearly all of them would likely meet in the center. Allen, controlling the Syndicate, sent his battle droid across to the mercenaries to make the exchange. 

    Joel moves up Corporate Security, keeping a wary eye on his brother's Syndicate thugs

I told both players that once any of their figures made it into base contact with each other, they would each receive a bonus, out-of-turn order action. They would need to roll for initiative again, and could choose to go first or second. The two players in contact had four possible choices for their action: (1) Do nothing; (2) Exchange the item/prisoners; (3) Shoot the other figure; (4) Melee the other figure. Both chose to honorably fulfill the exchange -- Keith even handing over the remote which controlled the Taze-cuffs the prisoners were wearing AND the detonator to the bomb he'd planted on their bodies! Like I said, I was surprised by Keith -- who is known for saying, "Shoot the prisoners!" -- and his honorable conduct. 

    The first blast from a TIE fighter lands dangerously near the mercenaries -- who sprint for cover

With 20,000 untraceable credits in hand, the Bronze Legion quickly and orderly exfiltrated the tabletop. Another TIE Fighter strike hit the streets near them, but they were unharmed. Keith was the first to leave the table. Mission accomplished, plus several Mos Eisley citizens who fired on him were gunned down, as well. Allen had a much longer path to return to his original board edge and escape. Time after time, TIE fighter blasts knocked down or staggered his criminal enforcers. The battle droid tucked each of the ransomed prisoners, who'd obviously been drugged, under an arm and sped across the table. His metallic boots rang across the central square as he crossed to the opposite side and disappeared down one of the side streets. Three of the four criminal syndicate's enforcers were able to escape off the board edge, with only Sluggr left lying unconscious in the main square. 

Firing line of Mos Eisley citizens, Syndicate thugs, & Rebel Alliance troopers pour fire into the Empire

Both the Rebel Alliance and the local rebels were stoic in the face of the TIE fighter strafing runs. Neither appeared to be in a hurry to get across the table. Instead, the found good firing positions and fired at the imperial forces. When we decided to call the game, we reasoned that barring an unlucky TIE fighter blast, they should be able to escape. On the other hand, the outlook was not so rosy for Darth Pylor's Stormtroopers or the Corporate Security agents. Both had only one figure escape off-board. The rest lay, unconscious where they'd been shot by either of the rebel factions or perhaps the enraged Mos Eisley citizenry. 

    Explosions and chaos rocked the streets as seven different factions ran for cover & shot at each other

The Mos Eisley residents were a late addition to the game, as Andy was able to make it. I started his four armed and angry citizens inside one of the buildings bordering the main square. He needed to escape to a bunker complex, as well, off the same table edge as the Bronze Legion. As the TIE Fighter blasts rocked the homes around the central square, Andy's fighters quickly emerged and began a running firefight with the Imperials and the Bronze Legion. They sought cover behind the barricades around the radar array in the square or behind the walls of some of the buildings. Seeing they had similar goals, the rebels and citizens joined forces to pour fire into Mike S and Joel's forces. Andy continued firing and moving, though, effectively skirting the edges of the square and taking cover behind the buildings surrounding the square. Once behind them, his forces sprinted towards the board edge and did a good job getting off.

    As the blaster fire on the Stormtroopers builds, they begin falling -- some revived, only to fall again!

All in all, the players appeared to have a lot of fun. There was some grousing by the imperial forces, perhaps justifiably. However, with seven factions each with their own goals, there were a lot of "moving parts" in this scenario. A more aggressive Bronze Legion could easily have negated their disadvantage. Additionally, a less bloodthirsty Rebel or citizenry faction would also have lessened the hail of fire that rained down on them from both above and below. The game played fairly quickly with seven players, as well. When things were winding down, and figures began to escape off-table, I looked at the time. We had only played for two hours at that point. We called it a bit after three hours, though if we had decided to play out the last turn or so, it wouldn't have taken long. Most factions were in "run for cover" mode by that point and not as many shots were being fired. 

TIE fighter streaks just above the rooftops of Mos Eisley -- yes, I had them hanging from the ceiling!

The winners of the scenario? The Rebel Alliance (cue Star Wars music...!) with 17 points. Interestingly, the normal player (Mike W) was out of town so Jenny stood in and played his faction. I've been teasing Mike W that his rebels are way too concerned for their own safety and tentative in the games. Jenny was more bloodthirsty, as I imagined she would be -- downing three enemy troops. Here's the chart showing the scores for this scenario.

    Jenny's cool efficiency gunning down enemies & getting her rebels off-table scored her the victory!

    Another shot of the players gathered around my 4' across hexagon mat that I made for free-for-alls

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 306
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 269

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 62
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 72

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 144
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 212 

    It's very close at the top of the total campaign VPs with 3 factions separated by 3 points! 

    Criminal Syndicate thugs escaping off-table with their rescued members, Foxhurst & Quiddo

 

Desert Buildings - Five Done Already!

    Stormtroopers inspect one of my latest 3-D printed buildings to ensure it is up to imperial code

So, remember the great deal I got at Hold the Line on those 3-D printed buildings? Well, they turned out to be very easy to paint up for the tabletop, too! Originally, I was going to paint up the three smallest that I bought from Jeff G in time for this coming Sunday's game. After my friend Mike S handed me two more that fit the theme perfectly, I said what the heck? We'll get five of them ready. 

    'I saw the rebels go this way!' These buildings will see use as desert Tatooine buildings very soon

Fortunately, the weather in Columbus cooperated at the start of this week, being sunny and good spray priming weather. I primed all five in a Camouflage Tan acrylic spray paint that I bought at Menards. Unlike the Tatooine buildings I bought from Diabolical Terrain, these have a lot more nooks and crannies that may have been missed by the first coat. So, I decided to brush paint them a similar "Bambi Brown" craft paint. This ensured everything got a good solid base coat. 

    All of the roofs come off, some are in 2 parts like this one, others of the ones I bought are 3 piece

Next, I dry brushed them a craft paint called "Wild Rice," which is a very light tan. I know that I did a white highlight on the Tatooine buildings, but since the Bambi brown is a little darker than the Camouflage tan spray paint, I went with a slightly darker highlight than white. I was doing all five buildings at the same time, moving from my painting desk out on the big 8'x5' gaming table. I set out a bunch of cardboard boxes and other things to set them on to dry after I painted them, too, so I needed the space.

    This 2-story building comes in 3 parts -- bottom, upper level, and roof for upper level

Now, it was time for the detail work. Frankly, there wasn't a lot of ornamentation or other things to paint up besides the walls on these desert buildings. The rooftop access doors, wooden adobe parts, and the one that had a wooden floor I base coated a medium brown called Autumn Brown. It received a khaki tan highlight. There was one building that had what looked like a tile floor in a square grid pattern. I decided to do a checkerboard of pale blue and yellow. I dry brushed those colors over the tan very lightly and not completely, leaving some tan showing. I am incredibly happy with how the tile turned out!

    Obviously, these buildings will also be usable as historical Middle Eastern ones & for the desert SW

The exposed mud brick areas I painted a lighter brown called Raw Sienna. This was probably the most time-consuming step in the entire process! There were a lot of exposed brick areas on these five models, and I kept finding new ones as I spun the building around to paint it. Or I should say, spun each level of the building around, as all of them had at least two levels and some three. All except the domed building fit together nicely on the provided tiny conical projections and holes they aligned into. It looks like the projections on the domed building (one of the ones Mike S gave me) had a bit of a printing problem and didn't fully print.

    Mon Calamari search the interior of the bottom level - note the notches at the corners so it fits tight

Speaking of which, I think you can see a quality difference in the ones I bought from Jeff G and the two I was given. The purchased ones have markedly less visible print lines and are crisp and a better overall quality. There are some issues with the printing of the smaller two buildings I was given, but nothing too drastic. They painted up nicely, and in the case of the tiled building, have a great design and layout.

    On to the upper floor -- I really like the staircases and courtyards on these buildings

The final step was to do a watered down brown vehicle wash on the surface of all of the five buildings. This was a messy step and I'm glad I seem to have gotten through it with neither any major spillage nor places where I handled wet surfaces and marred the wash. I really like the way the wash softens the dry brushing and gives a smoother tone and texture to the buildings. I think the buildings are a richer shade when seen in person than in the bright light of my photographs. 

    The Empire sent battle droids to check out another of my newest buildings - they like the view!

I will still have to clear coat these buildings, but it is rainy and humid in Columbus, now. Hopefully, I get better "spraying weather" before the weekend when the five will be part of the tabletop for my next Star Wars skirmish using Space Weirdos rules. In previous tabletop, I've been pulling out all but the kitchen sink to fill a nice cityscape. These five buildings should go a long way towards providing a more unified look to my take on Mos Eisley. So, expect to see more photos of these buildings in the background next week!

   'Cool building...' says one droid to another -- the photos make the surface look brighter than it is

So, what was on my painting desk while I was out in the other room working on these buildings? I have a group of eight 28mm armored orcs from Gripping Beast that are more than halfway done, I think. I am also working on two 3-d Printed Asian water buffalo from Miniature Building Authority. And (of course!) I have another stand of bamboo on my tabletop. Now that these five desert buildings are done, I can resume my normal pace working on the other stuff. So, stay tuned for more output soon!

    This is probably the smallest of the ones I bought from Jeff G -- but I think they all turned out great

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 306
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 269

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 62
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 72

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 144
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 212

    Look who's back! It's my group from Five Parsecs from Home admiring the lovely tile floors

    Gunny approves of the views from the rooftops, staircase and tiled 2nd story patio

    The smallest of the five, it was also probably the least well-printed with 'strings' here & there

    I think the dome on this building will help it fit in with the Tatooine vibe of mine from Diabolical

    Poor Sci-Fi Gatorfolk -- they have yet to make it into a game since I painted them...!

    No floor on the interior room -- I considered adding one of styrene plastic myself, but decided not to

Doggerland Hunt: Pooping & Peeing in the Paleolithic

    Our neighbors to the west, Joel's tribe, which would go on to corner the auroch hunting market

So when my friend Keith said he wanted to run a Stone Age miniatures game using a rules set called Doggerland Hunt, it actually took me awhile to figure out which rules he meant. In the space of two years, three games came out with "Doggerland" in the title. One is a board game simply called Doggerland. Another is a weird World War I game, A War Transformed: WW I on the Doggerland Front. Finally, there is the one he was referring to, Doggerland Hunt: Rules for Stone Age Miniature Gaming. What's the fuss about with Doggerland? Apparently it is was a landmass between Britain and Europe before the glaciers melted and the seas flooded it, creating the North Sea. Or something like that!

    Keith, center, set up another Prehistoric game for us using 'Doggerland Hunt' rules

Anyway, Keith's Prehistoric games are fun, so it sounded good to me. We had six of us present that Sunday evening. Instead of each of us having our own human (or proto-human?) tribe, he said the rules recommended two people play the predators. In this case, it was a trio of wolves that Keith controlled and saber-tooths that Mike S commanded. Allen, Joel, Mike W, and myself controlled our own little band of six cavemen, except we lived in little huts. Not caves. No Stone Age women were on the table, so maybe they were back at the camp doing cave woman (or hut woman) things. 

    My tribe of stone age hunters discover fishing is much more productive than picking fruits or nuts

Keith explained that the game had a very board game feel. It was played on a hex grid, and the winner among the humans would be the tribe that secured the most units of food. We could gather (picking fruit or nuts), fish in the ponds, or hunt any of the animals wandering the table. They ranged in size from Aurochs, that were the smallest (!), through rhinos, and mammoths. There were also some omnivores like bears and angry giant boars, who might charge us if we got too close. We could make our hunting more efficient by creating weapons (flint napping) back at our encampment. All four of us chose to do that with a varying number of our six figures on turn one. 

    Meanwhile, the Predators (Mike S & Keith, standing) are busy pooping & peeing to claim areas

I left two guys back in camp to create weapons, then sent the other four off to pick fruit from the orchard not far from us. As guys returned with food, they'd take a turn flint napping, while those creating weapons rotated out. We did this until eventually we had five of our six guys with sharp pointy weapons. What were the predators doing while we were gathering? Well, in probably one of the most interesting (?) or different (?) game mechanics I've seen in my decades of gaming, they were busy pooping and peeing! Yep!! The game had rules for the predators controlling territory by marking it with their poop or pee. They could pee every turn (I'm not making this up), but could poop only after eating a fresh kill. Peeing controlled only one hex for the predators (thankfully, humans did not have to poop or pee to earn victory points). However, pooping controlled an area up to two hexes away in a circle from that apparently very smelly scat. I think Phoebe from the old Friends TV show should write a song about that, "Smelly scat..."

    Our neighbors to the east (Allen's tribe) suggested we hunt mammoths instead for even more food

My clan or tribe -- whatever us six guys called ourselves (one too many for a bowling team) -- switched to fishing after realizing we got twice as many food dice from that. When a guy returned to camp carrying up to two units of nuts (Yep, my guys were walking around with two nuts), we rolled one die per unit. However, when we returned with two units of fish, we rolled two dice per unit. Heck with fruits and nuts! We're not the Vegan tribe or anything! Then, my neighboring tribe (Allen) suggested we go hunt mammoths together. By this time, we were bristling with our flint armory and felt full of manly, Stone Age confidence. 

    We join forces with Allen's Skinny Tribe and pounce on one of the mammoths together

So, we checked the rules carefully, noting that if we got within two hexes of the mammoths, they'd simply run away. So, we stayed three back, then pounced, charging in our allowed movement distance of two hexes and attacking them in the adjacent hex. Keith assured us that was legal. A typical Stone Age dude rolls 1d6, needing a "6" to cause a wound. However, if he has sharp flinty weapons, he rolls 2d6. If he declares he is in "Fight mode," that goes up to 3d6 per guy.  Allen and I were planning on ganging up on the same mammoth when we pounced. Our little Stone Age jaws dropped wide open when the other one turned around, moved back, and charged alongside his brethren. We panicked and each of us attacked a different beastie. I inflicted two hits, but the first only makes it flee, so I did only one of the 9 or 10 wounds the mammoth could each take. Allen had only one hit ,so just made his flee. They had also attacked us and for each hit they inflicted, one of our brave hunters would soil his furry little shorts and flee, as well. So, I guess we were doing a little pooping, too!

    Much to our dismay, the 2nd mammoth comes back and charges in to aid his buddy - Holy Poop!

Allen and I, being the more intelligent type of cavemen, reformed our clans, and added in reinforcements telling the other members of our tribe to give up fishing and nutting and line up for our would-be barbecue. Our larger mass of odoriferous, hairy men sneaked up on the same pair of mammoths. They naturally didn't smell us coming because, by now, the board was full of steaming piles of tiger and wolf scat. Once again, we pounced! I have never been a fan of games where you hit only on sixes on d6. I rolled 17 dice and scored maybe one or two hits. Allen rolled 18 dice and scored none! The mammoths ran away again, but not before making more of our group poop their furry shorts and flee. Again.

    We inflict only a fraction of the hits needed to kill a mammoth & can only watch as dinner runs away

After that, I decided to give up this new-fangled hunting thing and go back to fishing. Nothing fights back in the pond, or at least nothing we discovered. Meanwhile, we heard about the hunting "hack" discovered by the Very Skinny Tribe (Mike W). Compared to my hulking brutes, Allen was the Skinny Tribe, but even he was beefier than Mike's boys. They discovered that Rhinos are the perfect beast to hunt. Why? They bounce back after they run away. What?? Like bears and boars, they're angry types that will charge you if you're too close. Even if you make them flee with your first hit, they come right back for more the next turn. So, the Very Skinny Clan killed the first big game animal (not counting the aurochs Joel was killing). They butchered it, took it back to their camp, and became the Not As Skinny As Before tribe.

    Mike W's Very Skinny Tribe figures out rhinos are better to hunt because they come back & fight you

Why didn't Joel's aurochs count? Well, when butchered, they provided only ONE unit of meat (which still gives 3d6 worth of food, though). The rhinos and mammoths give a lot more -- I may be wrong, but I think it was 10 units of food. Doing primitive caveman math, were a tribe to kill one of those hairy elephants, they would end up with 30d6 rolls. Winner, winner chicken dinner! Er, mammoth dinner!! So, when we called it an evening, Mike W's Not As Skinny As Before tribe won (their bellies full of succulent rhino meat) and Joel's "We Cornered the Auroch Market Tribe" came in second. Allen and I went home with rumbling bellies, having to be content with a basket of blue gills.

    After two fruitless attempts to kill a mammoth, my tribe says 'So long!' to hunting & return to fishing

Late in the game, we also discovered that if you want to go in Fight mode you can move only one hex. I pointed out that made it impossible to even catch a mammoth. He (or she) will always keep moving away from you two hexes. Keith said he thought we were supposed to hem them in or corner them. I'm not sure with a two hex move if that is really feasible. And do we want individual hunters running around in a screen with two packs of hungry predators out there? I mean, the only way they can win the Great Predator Poop Race is to...well, poop! And the only way to have enough poop inside is to eat things, and we're not talking nuts and fruits!

    Our tribe has a post-hunt debriefing where we discuss plans & get out our manly frustrations

The game felt very much like it had not been play tested thoroughly to me. At times, the text of the rules contradicted the Quick Reference Chart. There was also the inability to catch prey, or at least catch them and be in Fight mode. The suggestion that players take on the role of the predators and spend the game moving around the table pooping and peeing seemed odd, too. Did the author's players really find that fun? Mike S (Team Saber-tooth) was being efficient in his trying to win, but it sure didn't look like he was having a lot of fun. He automatically killed Aurochs (no dice rolling necessary), and wasn't allowed to attack the bigger prey. Keith wasn't as focused on efficient spreading of his manure, but was getting his jollies out of trying to push the angry omnivores towards us. He fell far behind in his mission of stinking up Doggerland, though, and lost the Great Predator Poop Race.

We have done a number of stone age hunting games through the years, and usually have fun with them. As Keith mentioned early on, this one was more like a boardgame. Too much like a boardgame, I felt. We may as well have had meeples on the table rather than Keith's stone age hunters. And the predators could have little brown and yellow tokens to control the board. Keith is going to re-read the rules and see what we got wrong, though. So, maybe there will be a sequel to this game. Doggerland Hunt II: the Really Big Dump??

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 306
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 269

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 62
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 67

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 144
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 212