Prepping season

When the weather gets warmer it is time to get the raw lead out and prep models.  This is especially important for priming the figures which becomes problematic in the fall and winter when spraying larger batches becomes impossible.  I do brush-prime smaller groups of figures, but for the cast of thousands (or at least hundreds) that I like to use in my games, large-scale preparations are the most efficient.

So what is being prepared?  Well, I have 14 units of Afghan Regulars (Tiger and Perry) ready to go.  I am also dramatically increasing my ancient and renaissance collections for Armati.  Hundreds of Romans, Swiss and Landsknecht are being prepared for the 2018-19 fall-spring season.  I have also prepped a large collection of WWI French for the BFE Great War variant that I hope will turn into a published game.

On the BFE front I am considering a modest update but taking the opportunity to produce separate rule sets for each of the main campaigns with scenarios (say, 6-8) in each book.  Certainly the Zulu War, Sudan, and NWF will get separate treatments.

Also, I have been working on the Great War and ACW versions of BFE.  It might seem strange to think of having a BFE version for ACW since BFE was inspired by Fire and Fury, but BFE would be at the regimental level and, in contrast to F&F (both Regimental and the new Brigade game) the emphasis would be on faster play.  F&F was never a fast game and while these games are successful and well designed, we just can't finish a game in an evening.  BFE as an interface will do the trick!  I would likely make the set a "mid-century" set suitable for the wars of unification too.

Anyway, lots to think about and do.  The rules work is something I really enjoy.  I have worked with Arty Conliffe for years on most of his games, but playing second fiddle to a designer, while stimulating and fun, is never as satisfying as creating something for yourself.

Rorke's Drift, BFE style

At the local con I presented the BFE scenario of Rorke's Drift.  If I may be so bold, I thought it worked a charm.  The Zulus came very close to winning in spite of terrible dice luck in shooting (limited anyway) and having a terrible time breaking into the buildings.  One funny moment was when the Zulus managed to set fire to the hospital and then having another unit impetuously attempting to break in to the same building.  They failed, thankfully for them!

I think the players had lots of fun and I was appreciative of the good spirited play.  It makes such difference.  I have had the odd experience of preparing a game -- with all the terrain construction, painting time and costs incurred -- only to find a player or two simply grumpy, competitive, and rude.  I will be honest, I sometimes have wondered why I bother....

Thankfully, this is rare and here the experience was really positive.

Here are some randomly ordered piccies:

Ancients battle....a big one

The group played a very large Successors battle last week.  We calculated 720 pike-armed figures alone.  Lots of fun and a great spectacle.

Finally, a colonial bash with BFE: Ginnis, sort of...

I used the Skirmish Campaigns Sudan guide for this battle and expanded the scale for BFE2.  Was a great game and the action was fast. The Dervishes focused their efforts on one enemy brigade, and destroyed it, but exhausted themselves in doing so leaving the other brigade to effectively take the objectives.

Here are some pictures:

Waterloo, 2017, using Shako II

We had prepared this game for 2015 and presented it at the two local conventions, but we never actually played the full game, so it was high-time to do so.  All 28mm figures using Shako II rules.  French won....again!

ME buildings finally play-ready

It took me a long time to get these painted, but I am quite happy with the 15 buildings I produced using the wooden drawers from the dollar shop.  At the moment they are bing used for a 20mm WWII game (Safi, 1942, from the RF original rulebook).  I will be using these, however, for 28mm Sudan and NWF battles.  Indeed, I have ordered a bunch of the Perry and Tiger miniatures Afghan regulars and hope to present a game using these in 2018.

A little more done on the buildings...

I added a few more details and then textured the buildings using the old glue and sand approach.  So quick and easy.  I have since base-painted all the buildings using my usual mis-tinted latex house paint.  At about $5 per gallon in all the colours usually needed for terrain, I really don't understand why anyone would pay for custom mixed paint, or even worse, use super expensive hobby paint for terrain projects or basing.