A quiet month on the hobby table

It's been a quiet month hobby wise folks. In fact, nothing much to report I'm afraid. One of the reasons for this is due to the return of my chronic migraines. With a job that involves staring at a computer screen all day, when a migraine hits, it's difficult to then squint at a tiny toy soldier or look at another computer screen whilst writing about them.

Avoiding screens has meant an opportunity to catch up some reading (bear with me this is going somewhere). I've recently completed my second hand collection of these graphic novels.

Which reminded me of these conversions I did back in my youth for for my Warhammer Chaos army. The contents of my glass cabinets are currently being dusted and packed away for a move and so I took the opportunity to photograph these for the blog.

When I think about it, these models are around 22 years old. I have come to the conclusion in those 22 years my painting quality has actually got worse. I'm sure I'm not the only person that suffers from what I call the "painters shakes" a non recognised condition where older crafters can't hold a model to paint it without getting involuntary shakes. I would never try sculpting green stuff on a helmet like that these days. I always thought with time would come better skill, but sadly it hasn't. I think partly I have learnt shortcuts when painting squads and regiments, so my models look good "en masse" but the individuals now don't look as good. Maybe I should slow down a bit for my characters and take some inspiration from some of my older paint jobs. Us wargamers are always talking about getting through our lead mountains and painting our models. Maybe sometimes I should just slow down a bit and just enjoy painting like I did in my youth.

I have also finished a few other random items off my painting table. Firstly a Reaper half Orc I bought for my Youngest to use in Heroquest:

My son especially loves the fact that he is already carrying a chest on his back for putting treasure in. (It's all about the gold.)

I've started painting up some of the Grenadier models I spoke about in a previous post. These two chaps were a joy to paint, they may be older sculpts but they hold up to modern standards.

Finally, this hefty lump of lead of a chap. I tried something on the bases which I'm not sure of, I might repaint. The rest, I'm happy with.

I posted a pic of this on Facebook, but for those of you that didn't see it, I painted one of the free Black Seas sprues of a Frigate from Wargames Illustrated. 

I haven't done the rigging, because to be honest, I'm not stealing thread from Mrs B. I'm sure she would probably help me out if I asked, but I'm pleased with it as it is and I bet if I started messing with thread and superglue there is a chance I could make a mess of it. There is always a risk with paper and superglue as I have often found out when dealing with printing flags. It is all too easy to glue the paper to your fingers and remove the print and have to start again with a fresh sheet. I've been enjoying the WI sprues each month, looking forward to the surprise of a sprue of something that I might not necessarily choose to buy but having a go anyway. I'm disappointed next year they are dropping to bi-monthly and especially disappointed with this month's Judge Dress graffiti transfers. I'm sure back in January we were promised a year's worth of sprues, although that might be me misremembering. If we were however, bad form WI, bad form.

What else have I been up to? Well, being a busy grown up it's not all painting models and playing games, sadly sometimes one has to do the washing up or commute to work as well. But I have the solution for the geek who can't help but want to fill their day with gaming, podcasts! Use whatever podcast downloader of choice and then listen to these. For the old school Longbeards may I recommend "Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy"  from the History Network. They even did Episode 33 live via YouTube and yours truly got involved with a few questions. (Yes I did instigate the James May discussion, sorry.)

For a more light hearted listen I have two D&D podcasts I am currently listening to. I find most D&D play podcasts far too serious and not really inclusive enough but are hilarious and yet also inspiring to my own gaming. (ie not just a bunch of fart jokes)

First is Not another D&D Podcast. Three American players, one of whom has never played before but is leaping in feet first with his Barbarian, Hard One, a Mushroom lady druid and a halfling Paladin working towards getting his scout merit badges.

The other is The Dragon Friends. Three Australian comedians take part in a live monthly stage show D&D session. They release each half of the evenings show in a separate episode. This is hands down my favourite podcast I have found so far. My only bugbear is I am caught up and have to wait two weeks between episodes!

And finally. For my fellow bloggers out there. You may not yet know that Google have finally updated the Blogger Android app! It's about time, it's actually been years since the previous update. So this blog update has been done from my phone, photos and all! No more excuses!

Playing the game

Some cowboys ready for a skirmish

When I was first getting into wargaming I would make regular excursions to my local GW store and take part in any and all competitive games I could. Every Saturday I would join in the giant anything goes game, shouting a giant "Waagh!" through the wall at the bakery next door before we started, stopping for lunch and all traipsing into said bakery to fill up on starchy goodness (meat and potato pie for me every time, twenty years later I can still remember how good those pies tasted.) and any game I played, I played to win. I have always believed in good sportsmanship and tried to be a good loser, but if I did lose, I would beat myself up about it afterwards. I would overanalyse my game and try and work out where I went wrong. It was always about trying to win the game, I treated each time I played a wargame like chess, the one and only objective was to win and each time I played it was about learning mistakes for next time.

Now, I'm not a great tactician, I'm not very good at chess either if I'm honest. I didn't have a great track record of winning, so over the years as much as I loved my hobby the actual gaming side of things began to be less enjoyable. I became increasingly frustrated with losing game after game of 40K or Warhammer. Where I did have fun however was in skirmish games, Mordheim and Warhammer historical Old West in particular. I also began playing Advanced Heroquest again, and over the years also branched out into some none GW products. (I'm not blaming GW products mind, I also spent a lot of time badly losing at Magic the Gathering too.) What I did realise though, was I enjoyed playing a game where there was a story being told. My interest in WW2 gaming started as well thanks to the encouragement of the Illustrious Opponent (He is a walking WW2 encyclopedia) as well as some other historical periods. What I did notice about the games I enjoyed was that we were basically telling a story rather than trying to win the game.

I have noticed that when I am playing any type of board game with my sons I obviously act as the defacto Games Master, a simpler version of the Dungeon Master in a roleplay game like Dungeons and Dragons. Because they are younger I tweak the rules slightly, giving them a slight advantage, possibly even changing the rules as we play to ensure they feel like they are being challenged but ensuring they don't get bored or lose all the time. I'm sure I'm not the only parent that does this, as they get older obviously I also allow them to get away with less, learning to lose is a lesson too. I try to teach them not to gloat when winning and not to get upset when losing. What I've realised I am doing with them is the same as a good Dungeon Master  in a roleplaying game, giving the players enough of a challenge to make them work for it, but if they constantly lose it's never fun and they will soon lose interest. One of the advantages I have found for having a privacy screen when DMing is that the players never see how well you actually roll your dice, sometimes you have to make up the odd fumble for an NPC. (If you are cheating the other way though, shame on you!)

The idea of the group participation in story telling isn't just restricted to roleplaying games. If you go down to your local church hall on a Saturday night to watch an evening of Wrastling (spelling on purpose) you as the audience all know to cheer the Face and boo the Heel. You know the Hero will win in the end and generally as a rule the audience participate in the story, even though you know the eventual outcome. This group tale telling goes right back through history, I'm sure there are plenty of other examples of group story telling. Casting my mind back to my A level theatre studies I remember there being something about "eyes on the course, not the finish." Sometimes there is a joy in a story on how you get to the end, we all know the Hero will defeat the villain in the end. In fact there also other parts of the story that we expect too, there is the expectation that the Hero needs to have a fail first, then fight back and win in the end.

All of this probably isn't news to you dear reader though. But what I have found is why not transfer this same attitude to wargaming. Recently the Illustrious Opponent and I tried out Blood Red Skies with a friend. Yes we were playing as a opponents, but we were also discussing what we thought the story of the engagement was, how we felt the rules were reflecting what the planes would have been doing in the sky. By the end of the second game all three of us were just willing the Spitfires to shoot down the last of the German bombers. The IO has just moved to a new place and not all hobby supplies have moved in yet, but a few clouds dotted on his dining table were enough for us.

Clouds were just for show on this occasion, but there are rules as well

The Spitfires take on the last Bomber

We did have to constantly have to keep remembering to place chits next to the planes to indicate they had been activated

The most fun wargames I have had recently have been where there have been three participants. Two players and basically a Games Master. I have had great fun in a days wargaming not actually rolling a single dice, but being the chap with the rulebook. If you have the luxury of getting three of you together it really does help as well having one person reading the rules while two others make the tactical decisions. Why not give that third person some extra things to do as well, coming up with random events, NPCs, ensuring the tale is told as well as just the right dice are rolled, responsibility for picking the background music? I propose that we no longer play wargames, rather we tell war stories.

Salute 2019 - After the Apocalypse

That time of year is almost upon us once more. Yep, it's the big one, Salute. The theme this year is "After the Apocalypse"

 Image copyright South London Warlords. Obvs.

We all descend on the Excel Convention centre in London. Backpacks empty, shopping lists in our sweaty hands, cameras and smartphones in macro mode ready to snap away.
My Facebook feed already no longer shows anything my friends are doing, just all the various Wargaming companies reminding us they will be there for that one day in April where the Longbeards of dice rolling gather in the Great steel hall of trade.

We start the day with the long train ride, what is the best way to get across London, what stations are closed? Why didn't my Brother in Law bring himself a coffee like the rest of us always do and now he is in a caffeine grump. As we get on to the DLR we normally play the traditional game of "wargamer or marathon runner" as we normally share the Excel with all the healthy bods signing up for the London marathon the following day. Although this year Salute is early, so we shall miss those Lucozade swigging health nuts. (I'm not sure how many wargamers out there run marathons too. Although if they do they won't save on train fair this year.) One year we were totally thrown when two young ladies on the DLR didn't look particularly athletic (not dressed head to toe in Lycra) but also didn't seem the wargamer type. It turned out that year the same day at Excel there was a "Sherlocked" convention for fans of Benedict Cumberbatch's recent portrayal of the Baker Street detective. Totally threw us. Anyway, I digress.

So, a quick run down on my own personal list of things to look out for at Salute. Quick editorial disclaimer first, if I state a miniature company is new, it's new to me, or feels new as the many years of dice rolling fly by so quick, apologies if they have been going for years, blood, sweat, lead and tears, trying to sell their wares, I just haven't noticed them until now.

So, before Salute it is advisable to research who will be there, I have said this before and on a previous blog post I have hyperlinked all the companies attending a show. (Colours in September) luckily, South London Warlords have done the hard word for me here.

So, let's start with the old familiars. First visit is definitely always Hasslefree Miniatures. I've said it before, lovely company. I cannot stress how good the models are from this company, follow Kevs page on Facebook, Hasslefriesian, to see work in progress photos just to see how much effort goes into these toy soldiers. He is always open to discussion too, no matter how much he pretends to be grumpy. Although don't start suggesting he "does that character from that film I like" because he will shout at you for being a moron. (rightly so.)

I am loving the renaissance(?) in laser cut MDF terrain at the moment. Until this came along your choices for buildings on the table were expensive resin (which got dropped and chipped just five minutes after purchase) or build your own. Now not all of us are Anthea Turner or Diane Sutherland (How does she do all that crafting and keep such a wonderful manicure? See her book here.) So MDF came along as a relatively cheap option that looks so good on the table, especially for periods in history that involve a lot of wood, like the Old West. My personal favourite company are Sarissa Precision, mainly because they come unpainted, which keeps the price down and also they were the first I had. I won't lie, my amazing wife discovered them when looking for birthday presents for me back when they had a very small range of just Old West town buildings, now they have a huge range, I might even be tempted to buy their steamer boat this year.

Anvil are a reasonably new company that started out with just a few heroic scale compatible sci fi heads, arms, weapons etc. that could make your Spam army that bit different from the four billion other ones out there. They have since expanded and have their own proper range that you can still buy in mix and match.

Leslie's bits box, I've no idea where they manage to get their stock from but if you want old school Necromunda, Mordheim, Epic, Warhammer, go visit them. They also have a good range of new boxed stuff too.
Bad Squiddo, obviously, need I say any more than I have before. Annie is reducing her buying in of other manufacturers and starting to expand her own range. A bold move, but definitely the right one I think, starting at Salute with a range of scatter terrain that I shall be looking to grab for my Heroquest table.
Obviously Warlord games. I shall be visiting Wargames Illustrated to sort out my subscription for the year to ensure I don't miss out on any of the rest of the free sprues in 2019 and getting a voucher to spend at Warlord.

Perry Miniatures is a must. I shall be picking up some British Intervention Force as I am going to try a Pig War gone hot scenario. Already having some period American civilians, I just need to add some plastic American Infantry and find the pigs I bought at Colours last year. There are some handy scenario notes in Ospreys Men Who Would be Kings book that will mean the Illustrious Opponent and I will be exchanging polite warning shots across the backs of the greedy livestock!

Avoid Forgeworld like the plague unless you like contact sports and know in advance what you want to purchase from them. They don't have anything on display and previous years it's been a struggle to get a clear look at a catalogue. I guess GW assume their customers have a photographic memory for their range. I'm not doubting they have some nice stuff, as is obvious by how busy they are, but I haven't the energy any more for trying to get served like it is five to closing time in the bar on a Saturday night.

Looking at new people to visit. Firstly I am interested in a company called Blotz. I believe they have been going just a couple of years and have an interesting MDF range including a 28mm scale submarine that you can buy in sections so you can build any size sub you like and an interesting looking dungeon terrain system.
Atlantis Miniatures are getting bigger, they started with some lovely sculpts of very hairy dwarfs a couple of years ago and now the range includes trolls, orcs and bears, oh my! Seriously though, these are really nice "beefy" resin 28mm models, although that is reflected a little in the price. The orcs remind me of the orcs in the Warcraft movie. (Terrible movie but lovely design.) Finally of intrigue is Modblokz. A new looking terrain system, that consists of plastic modular sections that are held together by magnets. The professional looking videos make it look effortless to build and I am guessing it is designed for the wargamer with limited storage space in my mind. My wife would approve.

There are lots more obviously that I could go on about but this blog post is becoming an essay. I am possibly going to try some live Facebook posting on the day so be sure to like my Facebook page @playwithlead to see photos of the day as I enjoy my day pass and try to resist buying a new game system that takes up too much room and annoys my very understanding wife.

Free sprues from Wargames illustrated!

It would be hard for a wargamer to not have read a copy of  Wargames Illustrated unless they are a member of the hardcore fans of GW that refuse to accept any other toy soldiers exist. I do admit that it doesn't always pique my interest with all its articles, I do dip in and out. Not being made of money, I do try to keep my magazine purchases to one a month and so sometimes I do swap across to one of the other periodicals depending on the articles.

I have however recently been quite happy to purchase the magazine due to their announcement that every month for a year will include a free sprue from Warlord games. The first two are from their new boxed game, Cruel Seas. I have yet to try this game but I certainly shall be looking to see if a demo game is running at the next show I attend.
 This months free sprue is from Bolt Action. My particular copy had German Africa Korps attached. I don't play Bolt action but I do play WW2 in 28mm using my own conversion rules using the Warhammer historical Old West rules.

 I hear you ask why go to the effort when there are already lots of WW2 rulesets out there. I wanted something that felt more like a Hollywood war movie. I didnt want platoon level rules, I wanted something more like The Dirty Dozen or Bridge over the River Kwai. What better than a set of rules that were designed to simulate Hollywood cowboy films.

Finally this month on my bedside table I have been reading the following:

Inspired by the articles in Decembers WI on this indestructible chap, I felt the need to do some further reading, and I can say that it is a thoroughly enjoyable read. A modest soldier that fought in both World Wars, he was more put out at the loss of his favourite shooting guns when Hitler invaded Europe than the fact that he would have to risk life and limb once more.

Finally, it should be worth mentioning that the Monster that is Salute is already looming. South London Warlords have already announced the list of Traders. Luckily their page has links to the websites of all the companies so that makes researching easier. It's a little early this year on April 6th, so less than two months to go!

Newbury and Reading Wargames Society presents....

Colours 2018

It was a warm September day, a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. The perfect day to spend indoors with the backpack brigade. Yep it was Colours today.

As I have waxed lyrical in my previous post, this is my favourite show of the year. So I was up at the crack of dawn, baking some breakfast cinnamon whirls and bagging up some toy soldiers to sell. My illustrious wargaming opponent and I were nice and early at the front of the queue when the doors opened, so straight up to the bring and buy and we booked in our goods. I cannot emphasise enough how good a job the team do on the bring and buy each year. All volunteers, the efficiency in which they run it is a credit to the club. I know previously they have struggled to get it right, and I can say they now have it running like clockwork.

So, what did I buy? Well I didn't go crazy this year, it was nice just to enjoy the show and take in the demo games, but I did pick up a few bits.  Some bits of resin furniture from Trevor at Coritani www.magneticdisplays.co.uk. for my Heroquest games. I have bought from him before, nice resin sculpts, not too pricy and have that old school feel about them that is perfect for dungeon crawling.

I picked up a Chibi Raging Annie from Bad Squiddo and an Athena, Goddess of Wisdom to use in Ospreys Gods and Mortals skirmish game. For the same game I picked up some Footsore Vikings and a bag of less specific Black Tree design vikings from Mili-art.

Finally, I had to see if I could pick up a couple of giants in miniature from Wargames Illustrated (they are limited to 500 of each so they won't be around forever) I picked up a "Flash" Harry (mainly because it would amuse the Mother in Law) and an Alan Quartermain. I also grabbed a blister of 28mm scale pigs from Warbases  for a future project I will write about in the future.

The demo games had a couple of good tables of note. I didn't capture them all, but the following caught my imagination. Firstly, a 40mm scale table in full snowscape from Wessex games entitled Retreat from Moscow:

Next was a World War One table in 28mm presented by Adrian Shepherd and friends entitled The Race Across Idlib Provence.

A group call "Friends who like Rapid Fire" presented a most impressive display of 20mm WW2 vehicles much to the chagrin of my illustrious wargaming opponent who is in the beginning of the planning stage of doing his own Rapid Fire demo of Operation Goodwood.

A few Brits and the Hobby presented a demonstration of the Spectre ruleset. The giant scratchbuilt(?) tankers made an impressive centre to the table.

Overall a fun day out. However, I would say it seemed quiet this year. There didn't seem as many visitors. I dont know actual figures, but I didn't get as many backpacks to the face. This was reflected in my bring and buy sales, sadly I had to carry more items back home than I hoped. Anyone want to buy an original copy of Escape From Colditz?

The end of an affair

Or how I still can't not walk in to a Games Workshop.

Previous readers will know my first GW purchase was a copy of Advanced Heroquest. My first store purchase however was a few years later, a Necromunda gang. Sold to me on the promise that I would just need that one small gang of models, one simple purchase that wouldnt break the bank and I could play this awesome new game.

Not a perfect rule system, Necromunda however was awesome for its time. I of course later bought the box set, all that multi level terrain and the multitude of models in the core box set was a perfect example of how Games Workshop earned its reputation as the "Gateway" to wargaming.

All except I think one of my fellow wargamers started with painting Citadel miniatures. I was drawn in to this community and found my people. I could tell you minutae detail of the stories behind Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, I went to Games Day, I even applied for a part time job at my local store (I didnt get the job, but I am now kinda glad I didnt. Painting to deadline? Not for me, see my previous post!)

As I have become a grumpy old gamer I have fallen out of love with Games Workshop though. I don't want to start an anti-GW rant, there are plenty of those all over the internet, believe me. I just genuinely believe they have lost some of us older gamers. Maybe this has always been the case, there are teenagers now going to their local store every Saturday without fail just like I did, maybe I am the problem, maybe I don't "believe" anymore. Have they really become "over priced and share holder led", or were they always that way and I didnt know any better? Of course they have to gear their product towards selling you new models every week, they have staff to pay and shops to rent.  Maybe I have just matured in my tastes, or maybe I just miss the old days?

My favourite days of the year are day trips to wargame shows. It doesnt surprise me that some of favourite companies have ex GW staff running them. Warlord Games started by John Stallard and Paul Sawyer (affectionally known to us oldhammer players as the non politically correct "Fat Bloke") has a very familiar GW feel to its business model, I am particularly fond of their alternative history WW2 game Konflict 47. Alan and Michael Perry of Perry Miniatures are the Rock Stars of wargaming in my eyes, I love their Napoleonic range but my favourite model I have is a Salute special of an American Civil War general.

Hasslefree Miniatures gets a special mention as the nicest family in Wargaming. They are always my first visit at Salute each year and I love everything Kev White sculpts, I would even go out on a limb and call him the best sculpter out there right now. If I remember correctly, Kev used to sculpt for GW, he is so prolific at sculpting that following him on Facebook is a must to witness his talent.

The Trenchcoat wearing "Harby" has been given horns by yours truly with some clumsily added green stuff.

My wife has an excellent way of describing my relationship with GW. They are like a terrible ex partner. I tell everyone I am over them, that I want nothing to do with them, but every now and then we bump into each other and I only remember the good times. I know they are bad for me, I know there are better products out there, I know their game systems can sometimes seem unbalanced and possibly even geared towards selling more products than making a fair game. Yet I will still pop in and say hello and have a peruse. The staff are always lovely, they are conveniently just round the corner if I need some Goblin Green, if it is still called that? (I miss the old paints, where's Brazen Brass gone?!) and if there were no Games Workshop this hobby may not be in the renaissance it is now.

I said I didnt want to do an anti-GW rant and I hope I haven't. I'm still keeping my stack of Warhammer rulebooks and I will still buy every new Dan Abnett novel when it comes out. (I could write another whole post about my love of the Gaunts Ghosts saga.) When my boys are older if they want to wargame I'm not going to refuse them a trip to Games Workshop, I shall just have to start saving now for it.

Maybe I should hope they want to take up sports instead.

Dubya, Dubya Two

I like to wargame Hollywood style.

So, you may have noticed, the next generation of wargamers are getting into historical, myself included. The "Old Guard" (and I don't think they'd mind being called that) started wargaming with Waterloo, D-Day, Culloden and Isandlwana. We started our tabletop gaming with Spam vs Orks and The Empire vs Chaos. In my opinion this has meant we are approaching historical wargaming in a different way.

The perfect example of the new type of historical gaming comes from Warlord Games. A company that has taken a huge chunk of the Games Workshop business model and applied it to Historical wargaming. Its no surprise that my current favourite companies, Warlord, Hasslefree and Perry Miniatures are all set up by ex- GW. I think this different approach to historical gaming means I prefer a more Hollywood style game. I got into Napoleonics because of Sharpe, a lot of my WW2 knowledge comes from reading Stephen Ambrose after enjoying Band of Brothers and I can't play a game in the Old West without hearing Jon Bon Jovi in the back of my mind.

 One of my favourite sets of rules is the Warhammer Historical, Legends of the Old West. These rules are definitely a representation of movie cowboys rather than accurate representation of the period. I have always dabbled with using existing rule sets for my own ends and felt that these rules could easily be adapted to make a Hollywood style WW2 skirmish. (The book itself even makes many suggestions for tweaking the rules for other periods including Tommie Guns in the Prohibition Era.)

To this end I produced an extensive set of rules with four factions for the period, Hellboy and the BPRD, Captain America and his howling Commandos,  Female Russian spies and their Werebear bodyguards and The Red Skull leading his Agents of Hydra. I added rules for various period weapons, some light vehicles and even rules for Steve Rogers ricocheting his Star Spangled Shield off multiple enemies. After a hardcore weekends gaming I felt it worked. The Germans couldnt hit a barn door, Captain America acted suitably heroically and the Russian Werebears (beatiful models from Warlord Games Konflict 47 range which my painting has not done justice.) were horrifically over powerful in combat, only one fell, after the German armoured car it was tearing to pieces exploded in his face.

We finished the weekend with an attack on the Hydra base. (I love my Terraclips terrain, go buy some!) The Red Skull and Captain America facing off at the end in classic fisticuffs. For our next time I intend on adding some tanks to the skirmish and maybe some more generic Germans.

Most of the models I used were from Warlord games. The Russian female spies were from Bad Squiddo. Hellboy was from Hasslefree with some green stuff to convert him slightly. The Hydra Agents were from a bring and buy, so sadly I don't know the manufacturer. (If anyone has an idea, let me know.) Apologies to any other manufacturer I have missed.