I Am A Space Marine!

IP enforcement is one thing, trying to take over a generic term is another.  Sadly Games Workshop has gotten just a little too heavy handed.

M.C.A. Hogarth has had her book yanked from Amazon because GW claims they own the term "Space Marine" despite it being used in literature since 1934.

I Am A Space Marine! 

Into the New Year - Magnetic Movement Trays

Antevaxx' Kraag is on hold until the weather gets warm enough to spray paint outside again.

As is our custom, the holiday season was spent holed up with the family all in our PJs, noshing on good food and just spending time together, thus my lack of the usual seasonal posts.

Santa was good to me this year, dropping into my stocking an assortment of RAFM Space 1889 Martian Infantry, a full company of RAFM Canadian Militia Rifles from their Riel Rebellion line and a Gashant Gatling Train:

While the Gashants are very pretty and very much appreciated, the Rifles are special because they were funded by Santa's helpers 1 and 2 - aka my daughters and the troops they represent were drawn from  my regiment, the GGFG. 

Another welcome gift was a certificate for Lee Valley Tools, a purveyor of fine woodworking tools and hardware as well as a range of garden and home accessories. Part of that went toward these:

240 1/8" rare earth magnets and a drill bit to match. So what possibly could I want with these? Units in  the Space 1889  Soldier's Companion Rules can take several different formations such as line, column open order and square. Further, units are made up of up to 20 single based figures each on its own 3/4" washer.  Making and moving formations of 20 figures can be a little tiresome. I decided to make things a bit easier.

At the top of this picture are the templates for two sizes of tray - 5 men in closed and open order. The overall size is pre-measured as is the spacing for the holes to take the magnets. Because I based my figures on washers, I had to off set the magnets slightly so they were not under the hole in the washer. Testing on scrap really helped reveal little problems like this and to get the spacing right. The ends of the bases were rounded with the scroll saw to a reasonable profile. I wasn't too worried about aesthetics yet as I will be bevelling the base edges. At the top of the picture is the two part epoxy used to glue the magnets in place. To the right of that is the rather extensive warning sheet for the magnets. The little ones I used aren't too dangerous but the larger ones can draw blood if the wrong body part gets pinched between a pair.

Here we see some of the magnets glued into place. Any excess epoxy has been smeared around the magnets to  better hold them in place.  The bases are being left flat until the glue hardens. I used wax paper underneath but I expect some will stick to that. I was going to set them on edge to dry to avoid this, but the magnets are strong enough to pull the bases together and in one case, pull a magnet right out of the base and send it flying across the room.

Cavalry and Martian Horde bases are to follow.

A happy New Year to you all. 

Handsome Devils

Work has kept me busy the last while and with the cold weather coming in, it has been harder to work on the big projects. However I have some fine examples of steampunk sartorial elegance ideal for the games table. The first is Steampunk Montreal's Baron Celsius von Fahrenheit:

Elegantly dressed in coat and top hat, the Baron is equipped with his patent steam powered aethric communication apparatus, ideal for long range conversation in English et en Francais.  The Baron is available form RAFM miniatures a fine Canadian purveyor of miniatures and gaming accessories.

Next up we have a preview of the Winter line:

His trusty bowler hat firmly seated, and sporting an A. Smith designed armgun,  The Mechanic is ready for action at a moments notice. He too will be available from RAFM. Stay tuned for updates.

Further details on the RAFM Facebook page

A short game of DBMM

A while back, two of the guys of the club scheduled a game of DBMM for last night. They were kind enough to let me take over one of the commands on fairly short notice. The battle saw the Abbasid Caliphate defending against the Ilkhanid horde of which I commanded one wing.  The Caliphate forces cowered in a fortified town and oasis, leaving their their pathetic horsemen to defend against the oncoming horde. The glorious Mongol army swept forward in a double envelopment their vastly superior steppe bred ponies charging around the unprotected flanks.

Sadly the game had to be called when one of the players fell ill. As always, it was good just to get out of the house and game. I learned a little bit more about how to use horse - always a weakness of mine and I got a much better handle on march movement.

Kraag for a King - part three

This is part three of a multi-part series on the building of a mountain fortress or Kraag for the (soon to be) Great Martian King Antevaxx. The previous part, two point five, is here and the first article in the series is here.

 Where we left off:

I decided to live with the blobbiness as it gives an organic look much like a mud dauber wasp nest. I needed some household repair items so while at the hardware store, I picked up another can of foam and some primer. I built on what was already done and ended up with the picture above. 

Note that this is low expansion foam designed to fill gaps of about an inch / 2.5 cm. There are higher expansion foams available but I can't see using them for this kind of project - they would expand far too much. I had some foam left in the can so used it to make some random shapes and other terrain bits. I'll cover those another time.

So with the base complete, I gave the whole thing a shot of primer. Expanding foams can be very sensitive to UV light and will decompose into a crumbly mess. Given the pallor of the average gamer (myself included) UV exposure should not be a problem but one never knows. The primer I used was the same enamel based one I use for metal figures but the store was out of grey and I had to buy white.  After application, the primer stayed tacky for a good 24 hours. I was a bit concerned that being oil based it was eating the foam but in the end it dried properly. I have since used the primer on metal figures with the same result. It seems this particular batch just takes a while to dry. For future foam projects, I will look for an acrylic primer just to be sure.

I was happy with the general form of the Kraag, but the texture was too smooth for my liking. In the space 1889 canon, Mars is depicted as having once had a high level of technology but now is slowly degrading into barbarism. One of the technologies lost was the ability to fuse sand and soil into a strong glass like building material. So, building off the blobbiness of the foam, I wondered what such a material would look like after being blasted by wind driven sand and dust and studied various images of weathered glass and ceramic. Or - I needed some cheap texturing materials for my minis and figured I would use the same on the Kraag. I decided to go with a sand based texture and again while picking up home repair supplies, grabbed 66 lbs / 30 kg of sand for about $6.  

For the first pass, I used a brush to apply a 50% mix of PVA and water to an area of the foam. Then I spread sand over the wetted area and shook off the excess. This process was repeated until the whole Kraag was covered.

As you can see the results were patchy but promising. The PVA mix tends to run off the high spots giving nothing for the sand to stick to.  I let this first phase dry while I had a think. Digging around the gardening supplies, I found an old plant sprayer. I loaded this up with the PVA mix and went back over the Kraag. Then I laid down more sand, the end results shown in the pictures below.

The Big Picture

Up Close

The spray method worked much better. There are still a few bare spots but I think I will leave these as less worn areas. The surface is a little fragile yet and may need another application of PVA. Be sure to clean the sprayer well after use or the internal gubbins will be glued solid by the PVA. I am very happy with the work so far and Antevaxx will be by to inspect once everything has dried up. The next step will be to apply some colour washes over the sand.

On Pilgrimage to the Lead Belt

The first couple of weeks in September were a little busy what with the family heading over to the UK to attend the Asylum Steampunk gathering and do some exploration of the touristy bits of England*.

We took in the usual sights in Lincoln and Nottingham, took a Ripper tour in London and of course spent a day at the Tower. However, the highlight, at least as far as this blog is concerned, was my trip to the lead belt a.k.a. Nottingham and parts close by. Whilst the ladies were off getting their hair coloured and pampered and other lady like things, my friend John was good enough to drive me around Nottingham to visit a number of establishments.

Caliver Books

The first stop was at Caliver Books. Located in an industrial complex tucked into the corner of a residential road, it didn't look like much. A little poking around was required to find the front door but entry was effected. The staff had just returned from a show so there were neatly stacked boxes everywhere. Frankly I was overwhelmed. Books, books and more books, rules, reference material, and boxes and bags of figures as far as one could see. Somehow a cup of tea made it into my hand and I was able to take a moment to adsorb it all.  One of the ladies putting away show stock suggested I might want to volunteer to assist. If we weren't on a schedule, I might have done. I received a warm welcome and highly suggest a visit if you are in the area.

I came away with DBMM army book 2, Saga, I Ain't Been Shot Mum and Forlorn Hope, thus starting a commitment to three new periods.

Foundry Miniatures

The next stop was Wargames Foundry  more commonly known as just Foundry.  Google maps threw us for a loop so a little extra driving was required - thanks again to John.  We pulled up at yet another non-descript  door in an equally non-descript industrial building. A push of the bell brought us into another warehouse space. Again after show restocking was under way. Where Caliver was filled with books, Foundry was filled with rack after rack of miniatures. I was able to more or less keep to my list picking up a platoon's worth of Home Guard (currently kicking myself for not buying a company)  and a pack of Victorian Heliographs. Then the nice lad helping us out mentioned that the Victoriana line was 50% off. I bought rather a lot only being limited by the spectre of overweight luggage charges. We were also told if we wanted anything that was out of stock, just ask and it would be cast up on the spot. This is service!  I was asked what I was playing and I mentioned I was just starting ECW. Somehow some engineers, musketeers and civilians made it into my bag along with a Foundry rules and modelling compendium.

Foundry has been reworking their shipping prices and is bringing a large number of lines back into production. Definitely worth a visit to the shop or on-line.  

Warhammer World

Our last stop was Warhammer World. I was a big fan of WH Fantasy in the early days but never swallowed the 40k pill. Unlike our previous two stops, there was no doubt we were in GW territory. From the 40k inspired building design to the FV432 APC converted into a Space Marine Rhino out front it was very obvious we were in Warhammer heaven. The galleries were full of beautifully painted troops - so nice I would never risk them on the table. I even saw some of the old figures I used.  The shop was extensive and reasonably full of starry eyed young gamers. We were not there for one of the rumoured half off / half off sales which is a probably good thing as we may have been crushed in the press.  Next to the shop is an extensive gaming area with many tables set out with beautifully sculpted terrain for all of GW's games. Beyond that was my target: Bugman's Bar. I had been told that the Bugman's Game, only available here, was a must get so I picked that up.  After looking at E-bay prices, I should have bought many more. I also got a little something for a friend.

Not being a fan boy, it was the least interesting of the three places. However if you are a GW fan, and there is nothing wrong with that,  you will not be disappointed.

More posts in the future as I get rules read and my new toys painted up.

*Wales, Scotland and Ireland (north and south) will have to wait for a future visit. 

Kraag for a King - part 2.5

This is part two point five of a multi-part series on the building of a mountain fortress or Kraag for the (soon to be) Great Martian King Antevaxx. Part two is here and the first article in the series is here.

Just a quick update. I wasn't going to do this part right away because I didn't think I had any spray foam. However, tucked away on the back of the shelf was a partially used and now expired can from some renovation work two years ago.  A little work to clean out the nozzle and I started to play:

The effect is more Castle Greyskull than I hoped and more foam is required.  I am thinking about using a knife to cut away the blobbiness and give it a more angular look. Whatever the rock profile, I will be covering it with sand to give a rougher finish.

More to follow.

Part three is here

Kraag for a King - part two

This is part two of a multi-part series on the building of a mountain fortress or Kraag for the (soon to be) Great Martian King Antevaxx. Part one is here.

With the main structure laid out, Antevaxx decided to add a few access points for his soon to be burgeoning army.

For the openings near the edges of the columns, a scroll saw was used to cut in through the edges.  However, Antevaxx was not happy. He wanted more doors!

So what is a poor contractor to do? Enter the Forstner bit:

These bits cut a smooth sided hole with a generally flat bottom. In addition they can be used to drill overlapping holes. Using a drill press makes for neater holes but that doesn't count for much on this job.

The centre section was punched out and some clean up was done using a knife. For heavier material a jigsaw would be handy.

With all the access doors cut, it was time to test fit the floors again.  It looked good

As you can see, I added some screws to better attach the support blocks. It would have been too hard to add them once the outside is covered. I pre-drilled the holes to prevent the blocks from splitting. This reinforcement complete and starting from the bottom up, I spread a liberal amount of glue on the blocks then slid the floors into place. Just visible through the upper opening is on of the screws I put through the floor into the blocks to act as a clamp. I haven't decided if these will stay in place or be removed. I also added three blocks at ground level. They were glued as usual and screws run up through the baseplate to hold that on. I decided to set the tower off centre back on the baseplate to give more room at the front for scenery and gaming room.   

But something was missing - a place to land. Using some scrap MDF and the outside of the tube as a template, I made a series of landing platforms. 

These were cut to shape using the scroll saw but some work with a knife was needed to make them fit tightly to the columns. The circle is the outline of a flying  base washer. It ensures there will be enough space to put the model during a game. Lots of glue was applied to the curved inner edges and finishing nails were run through pre-drilled holes to add strength and pin everything together.

Antevaxx's growing army takes a test flight to ensure everything is working well.

Antevaxx buzzes the tower!

Next up we start on the external scenic work.

Part 2.5 is here. 

Tourna - Miniatures rules you can play with your kids

Getting new blood into the hobby has been a topic of discussion in  he war gaming hobby for a long time now. On his blog, Bill Sempf posted  Tourna a simple set of rules he uses to play with his son.

Tourna lets you use any figures to hand from that old Warhammer army to Lego minifigs to plastic dinos.  A game is balanced by allotting  each player the same number of dice with more dice making for a larger game. The players then assign these dice to figures with generals getting two and regular figures 1. The rules easily allow for machines and monsters - just assign the figure more dice from your army pool.

Players can move a unit or battle (melee or shoot) in each turn.  Movement is in inches or whatever units are appropriate to the playing area.  As expected from its Warhammer inspired roots, Tourna takes a bucket of dice approach. Roll to hit, roll for damage with each damage point taking a die off the target figure. Melee takes place between units in base contact and shooters can hit anything in line of sight but at reduced hit and damage factors. Simple to understand tweaks allow for mounted units vehicles or other type of units. For example, mounted units move further than foot and can charge (move into contact and melee) an enemy unit in range. Victory goes to the last person standing.

Tourna looks to be a fast and easy way to introduce miniatures gaming to the youngest players.

Kraag for a King - part one

This is the the soon-to-be-Great High Martian King Antevaxx. He lives on Mars in the world of Space 1889. Antevaxx is an unhappy king. He stands alone on the dust swept Martian plain when to be a truly great king, he needs a mountain fortress - a Kraag - of his very own.

Only then will he amass an army worthy of his rank and ambition!
Only then will he lead his glorious hordes of flying warriors down upon the poorly defended cities of the soft and weak Canal Martians to loot and burn and capture slaves for his great war galleys!
Only then will he be able to launch Holy Crusade against the befouled Red Men and drive their filth from the sacred Mother Planet and rend their.....

Well, you get the picture....

 This project has been kicking around my head for a while. I had done some preliminary work months ago, but I could never get a round tuit. I was cleaning up my garage /  games space this week and decided I better get on with it or throw the stuff out.

In the image above are the base components.  The tubes are the paper core from a roll of industrial plastic film given to me by a friend over a year ago. I ran the core through a bandsaw to produce the half pillar sections shown. In front of these are some half-circle pine blocks. These will glue into the pillar sections to support the internal MDF floors. The floors are the lumpy looking things at the bottom of the picture and underneath those is the MDF base plate. The base plate was leftover from cutting out the monorail track sections.

Next up is test fitting the pillars on the base plate. A similar process was used to create the floors by marking the curves on a template then using the template to mark and cut the floor material.

Antevaxx signs off on the basic architectural design while incidentally acting as a height gauge. I put the higher pillars on the outside to create some relief and I hope to give the top of the Kraag a nest like appearance.

The floors were then test fitted into the pillars and the support block positions decided on. There were two considerations at play. In Space 1889 canon, the High Martians generally enter and exit their kraags from above or through openings high up on the structure. Lots of little entrances scattered up the side seemed out of character for an impregnable fortress (the ground level slave entrance will be dealt with later). Secondly was the practical need to get ones hand in to move figures around. As designed there will be one ground floor, a lower storage floor, a throne room / high level entrance and a castle like top floor.

The floor levels decided,  I glued the support blocks in place. I am contemplating running nails or screws through the face of the tube into the support blocks for added strength. The tubes were distorted a bit in the cutting process so there are gaps between block and tube in some places. Antevaxx reviews the progress so far before heading off to look at wallpaper sample books.

More to follow.

Part two is here

 

RAFM announces an Indiegogo campaign for new Space 1889 miniatures!

RAFM producers of the classic Space 1889 miniatures in 25mm have just started to raise funds through Indiegogo to keep the current 25mm line going and to expand it into a new realm - 28mm.

 In addition to the existing 25mm line, at the base level of there will be ten (yes 10!) new character figures including three air ship sailors, three Canal Martian civilians and four assorted heroes and ruffians.

 But it gets better! The stretch goals at increasing levels are the Martian Steppe Tiger, the Knoe Shoshu, the Skrill and finally the Ruumet Brehr! Think about that for a minute - a Ruumet Brehr on the table in 25/28mm.... puny elephants beware!

 But we are still not done yet. At the $56 plus level, you will get a 40% discount on any on line miniatures purchase for a full year. "But I am not a Space 1889 or VSF player" you say? RAFM has many lines including American Civil War, French Indian wars, Riel Rebellion, Colonial British, WWII, Vietnam, Ancients, USX Modern Day Heroes and of course the massive line of fantasy figures.

 Check out the full details here.

20 Questions

The Angry Lurker started a list of 20 questions that has been bouncing around war gaming related part of the internet for the last week or so. With nothing better to post about right now I thought I would take a crack at it.

 1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?
Ancients. I grow my own woad. 'nuff said.

2. Next period, money no object?
Colonial/VSF  

3. Favourite 5 films?
Blade Runner Science fiction that looked like a real world with real problems.  
Alien A space freighter that looks like a working ship and not the showroom floor model.  
Zulu Guilty pleasure. The Thin Red Line for the win Huzzah!
Stalingrad No heroes just bleak, cold horror.
Went the Day Well
From Wikipedia:

Tom Huddleston of Time Out London termed it "jawdroppingly subversive. Cavalcanti establishes, with loving care and the occasional wry wink, the ultimate bucolic English scene, then takes an almost sadistic delight in tearing it to bloody shreds in an orgy of shockingly blunt, matter-of-fact violence."

With a nod to Triumph of the Will This is evil: polished, seductive and dangerously appealing.

4. Favourite 5 TV series?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Date night fodder when the kids were young.
Firefly Space Westerns Rule!  
True Blood A bloody soap opera that often has um "benefits" after the show is over.
Murdoch Mysteries Quiet Canadian detective show with a tinge of steam punk.
Big Bang Theory My people.....
Star Trek (original series) Dinners on TV trays in front of our first BW television. The beginning of geekdom becoming cool.

With a nod to The World at War that I am currently re-watching. A great series from a time when the people who were there were still around to talk about it.

5. Favourite book and author?
Too many. In the "if you had only one book on a desert island" category it would have to be Tolkien and Lord of the Rings for re-readability. Fondest memory would be The Way Things Work A two volume encyclopedia of technology originally in German. It had the basics of pretty much any machine you could name from the zipper to the cathode ray tube.  

6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
Marius. He change a whole society to win a war.

7. Favourite Wargames rules?
DBx: HotT for fast play fantasy, DBA for fast ancients and DBMM for the way the battle slowly slides out of your control.

8. Favourite Sport and team?
None and None  

9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?
I would go forward 2,000 years to see what is actually important in our own time.
Finding out what happened to Crassus' legion would be another choice.
Sit down and chat with JC - Son of God or just plain nuts?
And of course - Kill Hitler (and Stalin if they were ever in the same room)  

10. Last meal on Death Row?
Full on Honzen Ryori with three soups and 11 sides prepared by a top flight chef. Failing that anything I can't cook myself.

11. Fantasy relationship and why?
The missus. Not just a hot chick but my best friend. In terms of a one off - Sarah Bernhardt to see if the reputation had any basis in fact.

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
Some no-name actor.

13. Favourite Comic Superhero?
Not a big comics person. Magnus, Robot Fighter  

14. Favourite Military quote?
"Because we're here, lad. Nobody else. Just us."  

15. Historical destination to visit?
The Maginot line.  

16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
Getting rid of my board war gaming collection.  

17. Favourite Fantasy job?
Archivist, Library of Alexandria.

18. Favourite Song Top 5?
Hanging Around - The Stranglers  
No More heroes - The Stranglers
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Harry's Game - Clannad
Anything with pipes.

19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
Double blind with referee Squad Leader night scenario. Pure gaming.

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?
Nazis.
Nazi apologists.
Clueless fanboi gamers who wear Hitler Jugend or other T-shirts because they think the SS was just a cool elite unit.
Drivers, cyclists the odd pedestrian.
Fundamentalists of any stripe.
Anti-Science types.
Anti-Vaxers.
Homophobes (I hate that word).
Political fear mongering.

RAFM Steampunk miniature contest winner

Alexandre Adam of Steampunk Montreal is the winner of the RAFM miniature contest!  The green is complete:

A different Cyclops build

James over at Rabbits in my Basement has a great variation on the RAFM Cyclops landwheeler made for him by a friend.  I particularly like the addition of a small turret. Although James says it was painted to match naval practice, the overall white scheme would be ideal for Canadian winter scenarios.

Papermau

Papermau is a site that host downloads and links to public domain and copyright expired paper models. The selection is varied and includes everything from video game characters to paper military helmets (yes pith helmets too). Some are straightforward but others like the Leopard 2 are quite complex.

Of interest to me are the military models including an 1899 armoured steam tractor, a monster WWI Russian wheeled tank, and the British WWII tracked patrol machine.  Many pieces like tread units and guns can be repurposed for VSF gaming and there is even some terrain like the Martello Tower. Don't miss the dirigible.

Finally, I think I will make up some 1:1 Congreve rocket models to go in the games room.  

Enjoy

The Portable War Game - ugly edition

Bob Cordery  has developed a series of rules called the Portable War Game. They are straightforward yet seem to give a good game. The playing surface is a grid of squares or hexagons depending on the version. This has not prevented some people like Ian Drury from turning out visually stunning boards and pieces to play with.

Two days from now we will be off camping for a week in our tiny trailer Tilley. There isn't enough room to swing a kitten let alone a cat so space is at a premium. I usually bring up DBA or HotT to play with a friend and a Go board as well.  This month, I had great hopes to produce a simple but still nicely put together version of the Portable War Game to try out as well but it didn't work out. I just about gave up on it until I flipped the go board over to its blank side. Some paint and permanent marker produced this:

Ugly as sin but workable.  Now to pieces. I needed something flat and robust for easy storage. I had some 20x20mm MDF bases left from another project. I thought about painting them up in nice colours but went instead for the fast fix. My full can of grey primer has packed it in leaving me with oh so disco gold and silver for the two sides:

Each set is getting a couple of coats of acrylic floor polish (dip painting base). I hope this will let me use an erasable marker to add the unit symbols allowing me to try out different force mixes. So there you have it - the ugliest implementation of The Portable War Game yet.  I'll let you know how it plays.

And as a bonus - a trooping of the colours of sorts. I was rearranging my storage cabinet and had all my VSF troops out so I took a picture:

As you can see the redcoats are outnumbered as they should be except for the two light tanks....

Look away for a second and....

Over July, I have been trying to make up for a very busy June and clear out some of the lead pile. I have been plugging away at my last RAFM order. No real work plan just an hour or so when I could grab it. I did basic clean up on the figures, undercoat, block paint, dip and varnish. It seemed like a bit of a slog then last night I was laying down a coat of matte spray varnish and thought "Now I have to get on with the flocking."  Wait a second - all that is left is the flocking?  Without realizing it in under three weeks I had produced this:

Not a large output by some standards but a record for me especially on top of the monorail work I did in the same period.

Next step - a storable games table.