tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47717613880789450472024-03-13T07:20:26.993-07:00Wooden WarriorsA blog about designing, creating, and painting wooden model soldiers for wargaming. These models are sometimes known as "craftees". To me, they are wooden warriors.Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.comBlogger281125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-74253320095399581032023-11-14T18:48:00.000-07:002023-11-14T18:48:36.532-07:00Very Sad News<p>I'm very sorry to be making this post but I've just learned that Dale past away from a heart attack on November 5th.<br /></p><p>Most of my relationship with Dale was online, but we did get to meet in person at one of the Cold Wars conventions several years ago. We shared a love of wargaming and more importantly a love for home made figures. Dale always said that he got excited about doing his figures after seeing photos of my figures on the old Yahoo group "Wargaming on a Budget". But the truth is that Dale had been making his own figures since he was a kid, and seeing my figures just reignited his passion. Even though we both post to this blog, he created it, he was a far stronger and more influential proponent of making your own figures than I ever was, and he was the loudest advocate on the forums for approaching wargaming in this way. His care for me and my work made me want to be as creative as I could be. My most recent Conan games are by far the best things I have ever done in gaming, and while they were made in my basement, they would not have existed if it was not for Dale's support and encouragement.<br /></p><p>So, I am sad to be sharing this news on this blog, but I needed to let you all know. I miss you brother, and thank you. Rest in peace.</p><p>--Matt<br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-40811688738357245412023-10-25T11:34:00.001-07:002023-10-25T11:34:34.707-07:00Dark Ages Two-Handed Axemen (Minimalist)<h1 style="text-align: left;">Dark Ages Two-Handed Axemen</h1><p>I've started painting more figures for my minimalist Dark Ages army. This time it is armored warriors with two-handed Danish axes.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyOm7_ZfkjuMKt4medaYKN22M7IUXQKhE6KucZaYwNxNLJSYd-nVhn1u0IzcyWC6BYr9pDjwqKO1mxQLk8F8FIrcz8BOcGYf14bH7C98DoFJZh7z0dnt1TnoIEEN-J9ThoWYsnpSYIzPZ98kwjh-_aC_PWAyKHt5iz1vQftfY8X_nfxnoGQ91kV2KqEoE/s864/Ax-Front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="864" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyOm7_ZfkjuMKt4medaYKN22M7IUXQKhE6KucZaYwNxNLJSYd-nVhn1u0IzcyWC6BYr9pDjwqKO1mxQLk8F8FIrcz8BOcGYf14bH7C98DoFJZh7z0dnt1TnoIEEN-J9ThoWYsnpSYIzPZ98kwjh-_aC_PWAyKHt5iz1vQftfY8X_nfxnoGQ91kV2KqEoE/s320/Ax-Front.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<p>Sorry that the close-up is a little blurry!</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSo4N-8yVh1JNDznxD-NSBqNN90WG91ayBb1JwFR4UXOlhRJXWsjNQtY9Ny6GBw5UwUTKkTbPpBiLEis4oEshCWs1UGWzg9rgaiG6dYk8ibJNlB05mnlHTqy_bvHAszb66-oA1TjaC2GThqo-RU1mWqp3mLja1LXszCqxlpz-hsO_fAgK3iaCKUkSA6NM/s864/Ax-Top.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="864" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSo4N-8yVh1JNDznxD-NSBqNN90WG91ayBb1JwFR4UXOlhRJXWsjNQtY9Ny6GBw5UwUTKkTbPpBiLEis4oEshCWs1UGWzg9rgaiG6dYk8ibJNlB05mnlHTqy_bvHAszb66-oA1TjaC2GThqo-RU1mWqp3mLja1LXszCqxlpz-hsO_fAgK3iaCKUkSA6NM/s320/Ax-Top.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<p>Front and side views.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsrXS7QdoRyc7pjB_pAI-hcWadjw-Xj2jUQvIob2WCl7a2gFKE_w-CXBdxNJlajXFZk-Ok70PB5SbygzDdisMPlmeGF5PmBrS2ZzrUnMj2gF0GinPxCxDlXcdLu9EaPcvskNGrpH1za3ZJPW7NiYJTUoFMQqUfoVmoM9DC7H6tjxd-EQ3OE2wyolHE7Y/s864/Ax-Side.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="821" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsrXS7QdoRyc7pjB_pAI-hcWadjw-Xj2jUQvIob2WCl7a2gFKE_w-CXBdxNJlajXFZk-Ok70PB5SbygzDdisMPlmeGF5PmBrS2ZzrUnMj2gF0GinPxCxDlXcdLu9EaPcvskNGrpH1za3ZJPW7NiYJTUoFMQqUfoVmoM9DC7H6tjxd-EQ3OE2wyolHE7Y/s320/Ax-Side.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<p>It was a moderately complex build, but it required very little modification to the component parts.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhY0W4G5WFHjlBWnb0u7qMKXmazAIwJXekZWrnHiLn6Vq1T9uoWgB5_qb8572coOeAfOt5-Nc6RgIAhijlL9r-gkQVwTWav_gKaBGz9VkzTay8wfYDgun3B0e4r4Q8iXwHwdK7IY8A3Bm1uHIpYkcOTKx2p5XFhLwRTDFazL81EPPxv7IuH0NlpDmdwmzw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="864" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhY0W4G5WFHjlBWnb0u7qMKXmazAIwJXekZWrnHiLn6Vq1T9uoWgB5_qb8572coOeAfOt5-Nc6RgIAhijlL9r-gkQVwTWav_gKaBGz9VkzTay8wfYDgun3B0e4r4Q8iXwHwdK7IY8A3Bm1uHIpYkcOTKx2p5XFhLwRTDFazL81EPPxv7IuH0NlpDmdwmzw" width="320" /></a></div>
<p>Here are all of the components to the figure.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimmx1sEK-TXULvRObyMpqZRdQgxriMUO8mrEztWHBb-BsG2BSHZJv7Pq4HJWZrch_gKoWxcsCeWO_I5B0JdxfPyCBEvSzPp8F4Adgr86kmm71vJ0xA6BEO8r0oaXdKToZK941zcad8NZmUaJDJBVqiOr6B4oqcfgmRtjQuisWwBhr0vq1rhj-ZHgHBzlY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1296" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimmx1sEK-TXULvRObyMpqZRdQgxriMUO8mrEztWHBb-BsG2BSHZJv7Pq4HJWZrch_gKoWxcsCeWO_I5B0JdxfPyCBEvSzPp8F4Adgr86kmm71vJ0xA6BEO8r0oaXdKToZK941zcad8NZmUaJDJBVqiOr6B4oqcfgmRtjQuisWwBhr0vq1rhj-ZHgHBzlY" width="320" /></a></div>
<p>The figure consists of the following components.</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The head and helmet is a button plug, also called a mushroom plug. It is a plug for holes and is used in furniture making.</li><li>The body is a cylindrical, plastic bead. I would prefer wood as the paint sticks better, but I cannot find a cylindrical one that is the right size.</li>
<li>The feet are a polymer clay 'bead' that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. Because it is a flat disk it works well for adding height, and the polymer clay is very easy to cut with a hobby knife to shape.</li>
<li>Because I use a lot of toothpicks as spears for my other Dark Ages warriors, I end up with a number of wooden scraps as I only use the pointed ends.</li>
<li>Finally, I found a smaller, flat, polymer clay bead that, when cut in half, makes a passable axe blade.</li>
</ul>
<p>If I have any criticism it is that I need to do a better job of trimming the ends of the axe handle so they don't look like the were squeeze cut with wire snips (which they were). Also, I probably need to put shields on their backs, although that is not strictly necessary.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: left;">Another Minimalist Experiment</h1><p>I have a lot of painted Napoleonic miniatures, but they are all 6mm, and to be honest, they are very hard to discern what they are (Nationality, troop type, unit designation, etc.) so it makes it harder for gaming. Forget about photographing them!</p><p>Although I like the two component body design I generally use – a round bead or button plug for the head and a cylindrical or square bead for the body – I want a little more height on the figure. So I continue to experiment with designs with an eye of replacing my Napoleonics, or creating a 'imagination' army.</p><p>I started with three flat head plugs. Again, these are used for filling holes in furniture, but being flat-headed, they are intended to lies flush with the surrounding surface. What makes them a 'plug' and not a 'dowel' is that dowels are straight-sided and plugs are tapered.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHrqmXvX3OuooaKhF7oDdiGWcL6pZttLmYXAai6WEt6NCiLiB0CG3b70oTIxUwhj47JGgg0Svc2DMc4wc1HSIAEnQOiiq76vOz4JrL7aRC4NXRyLTzPt5Lqh_bkMT_LRaEfDZRKOVcLbov3rR6wWvGFnwTX5HoYXKE454wrkZLjLriXUqaR7R8mfa5nOI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="72" data-original-width="144" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHrqmXvX3OuooaKhF7oDdiGWcL6pZttLmYXAai6WEt6NCiLiB0CG3b70oTIxUwhj47JGgg0Svc2DMc4wc1HSIAEnQOiiq76vOz4JrL7aRC4NXRyLTzPt5Lqh_bkMT_LRaEfDZRKOVcLbov3rR6wWvGFnwTX5HoYXKE454wrkZLjLriXUqaR7R8mfa5nOI=w200-h100" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHUv0sawyhKClkzocCDcvn6MsJ835R1gjN_b8iELMM_SWsIOva7p96cs9VvZkbhplZqqbmulKyMtoCMP0BLjJScbHXci0JN9oMS6mtlNDopr7C5UqODDCzWSGXA0ubV9kmQKcUMzhbxczwSMzMtZzxXlVN9hfRaLKUQq4TQT9v-KIg8TLAjTd6RUpRlM/s864/Nap-top.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="864" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHUv0sawyhKClkzocCDcvn6MsJ835R1gjN_b8iELMM_SWsIOva7p96cs9VvZkbhplZqqbmulKyMtoCMP0BLjJScbHXci0JN9oMS6mtlNDopr7C5UqODDCzWSGXA0ubV9kmQKcUMzhbxczwSMzMtZzxXlVN9hfRaLKUQq4TQT9v-KIg8TLAjTd6RUpRlM/s320/Nap-top.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<p>I started with a 5/16" flat head plug for the body. The widest end is at the top and represents the shoulders.</p><p>On top of that I glued a 1/4" flat head plug for the head and hat. If you want a shako, put the widest end at the top; put it at the bottom is you want a kepi.</p><p>Below the body glue a 3/16" flat head plug for the legs. The widest part is at the bottom, although I could see putting it at the top also.</p>
<p>Finally glue the polymer clay bead to the bottom of the legs. You can use a hobby knife to trim it to size. It will also give more stability to the figure.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCIrz7vMBvxffurI6oqfxTn6ZUEsy99CRpPAFAmKgAV_DbZoydVG_YGmNfwmw1BkE0aMziyWiDRG6wPDL4_ROeyNBxXvfhPyxA91ZJK_G3CNNfLnlEqkx3NNjgKOOGg1a0FFgK9uOtHVGZ6OB4SHVM9ZFhEn08bu6iczmOq9lYJ82r0hIxxqVDuMLr-8/s864/Nap-side.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="864" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCIrz7vMBvxffurI6oqfxTn6ZUEsy99CRpPAFAmKgAV_DbZoydVG_YGmNfwmw1BkE0aMziyWiDRG6wPDL4_ROeyNBxXvfhPyxA91ZJK_G3CNNfLnlEqkx3NNjgKOOGg1a0FFgK9uOtHVGZ6OB4SHVM9ZFhEn08bu6iczmOq9lYJ82r0hIxxqVDuMLr-8/s320/Nap-side.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<p>I used an all-material adhesive for all of this. When I am done I will cover it with Mod Podge (glorified white PVC glue) to seal the wood pores – making it easier to paint – and giving more strength to the figure. I am concerned about this popping off of a base, however.</p><p>These plugs do not have much of a taper, so the idea of using wood, or plastic tile spacers, for the arms seems like it would take more work trimming off some material so it would lie flush to the body. I would probably use simple dimensional paint for the arms. Definitely will use that for the shako/kepi peak or any ornaments like a shako pom-pom. I would probably drill a hole and use a toothpick if I wanted to go so far as to create a shako plume.</p><p>By the way, a round head plug – it is what it sounds like – makes a great grenadier bearskin or round helmet. Flat head plugs also make great Crusader helms.</p><p>I used to be concerned about pulling these troops out for public games. Not any more. I may get funny comments like "I am glad to see the mushroom heads are getting some play" or things like that, but I have never had anyone say that would not game because they had to use them.</p>
Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-80512459413829557422023-09-30T16:37:00.004-07:002023-09-30T16:37:42.390-07:00New Material Cutter<p>Looking at Matt's latest creations I can see that Matt and I have different styles. Whereas I see Matt's style as more 'pure' (unadulterated wooden craft parts, with added pieces of plastic and paper), mine uses more digital assets, unless I am making minimalist miniatures, like the little guys below.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5lhcftddTiThA9kkN8f6F-XCGQfUxz-zCOvClhzv15xuAiA79-JGy3RfUyR_vjbogHbwabLSpmMV4O6rOmosxY4RrMeJJa4X9xrMo_LXe4vTLbiLBgGUH19cHn65F50UuYx3xtrd1prnL-j4lU72otW7PXtTjUFcZLrfUIDl-2rYVoohDSVPatQvUAA0/s1296/SaxonFyrd3.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1296" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5lhcftddTiThA9kkN8f6F-XCGQfUxz-zCOvClhzv15xuAiA79-JGy3RfUyR_vjbogHbwabLSpmMV4O6rOmosxY4RrMeJJa4X9xrMo_LXe4vTLbiLBgGUH19cHn65F50UuYx3xtrd1prnL-j4lU72otW7PXtTjUFcZLrfUIDl-2rYVoohDSVPatQvUAA0/w640-h438/SaxonFyrd3.heic" width="640" /></a></div>
<p>It really started in 2010 when I started printing details onto paper using an inkjet printer, to save me from painting fine details that make up <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2010/11/tutorial-napoleonic-british-line.html" target="_blank">a Napoleonic British line infantryman</a>.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHJKAEF_HHbAe8vUqsjPrXLo4Eik3VTbYc2cuK9Fu8vIFQmCUAuxfE2CyyOnPjKjXV2cxxHxBKJBcvMo-l6EKlgIzNlIUKIJpTwXTSQPIeXyF2eEJco_x4OBEndO7pgM7nGR2nexHTde58VyssL0LIOVPcexNL603pfka5cAG1h3vWDOMZhLfkAC4bxY/s800/06GluePrint.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="361" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHJKAEF_HHbAe8vUqsjPrXLo4Eik3VTbYc2cuK9Fu8vIFQmCUAuxfE2CyyOnPjKjXV2cxxHxBKJBcvMo-l6EKlgIzNlIUKIJpTwXTSQPIeXyF2eEJco_x4OBEndO7pgM7nGR2nexHTde58VyssL0LIOVPcexNL603pfka5cAG1h3vWDOMZhLfkAC4bxY/s320/06GluePrint.jpg" width="144" /></a></div>
<p>In 2016, <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2016/12/early-christmas-present-cricut-cutter.html" target="_blank">I bought a Cricut Explore 3</a>, which is a desktop cutting machine. You feed it a drawing and rather than printing the design it cuts it out. I used for a lot of parts that I used to craft from wood, such as arms, legs, bicorne hats, plumes, axe blades, etc.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YhbutqMkoMmvKaOpjMzEY-tSQmiJFpmFYduPZnqnriDsFtxYz9AQ8BVaOKcCbxg429HXmW-dsJMkCNIfgTxRECVSdnzJKpaUmgnEbr1pYTq0OuBoBFSum5kLLxSpz9k_hk8IPzR5AeDgVw2Wr6a10VWkn2V7iirv_db5us8UmUw3RN2iyp0pwKVOVOE/s864/2016-12-14%2018.28.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="864" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YhbutqMkoMmvKaOpjMzEY-tSQmiJFpmFYduPZnqnriDsFtxYz9AQ8BVaOKcCbxg429HXmW-dsJMkCNIfgTxRECVSdnzJKpaUmgnEbr1pYTq0OuBoBFSum5kLLxSpz9k_hk8IPzR5AeDgVw2Wr6a10VWkn2V7iirv_db5us8UmUw3RN2iyp0pwKVOVOE/s320/2016-12-14%2018.28.21.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>One day I was curious about whether my Cricut could cut a particular material and I found a page on the Cricut website showing all kinds of materials I did not know it could do. It could do 1/16" basswood!</p><p>Unfortunately, I was on a page showing what the latest model could do, not what my model could. Nonetheless I tried the custom settings it was recommending and, although it scored the wood pretty good, it did not cut it all the way through. The custom settings allow you to make multiple passes, but no more than nine. Running the job twice seemed risky as the material doesn't need much shifting in order to mess the second job up. No, the only thing to do was to retire my seven year old machine and buy the latest model!</p><p>By the way, if you have read my older stuff you know that I have a laser cutter, so why am I looking for a heavier cutting machine, you might ask? Well, the laser does not do well in the heat and the building where the laser is housed has no air conditioning. Oh, and I live in Arizona. I cannot bring the laser into an air conditioned house because of all the smoke generated by the cutting, so…</p><p>So, I bought <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJH68KGL/?tag=daleswargames-20" target="_blank">the new Cricut Maker 3 from Amazon</a> (that is an affiliate link; won't cost you anything more, but gives me a penny or so). So far the results have been mixed, but getting better.</p><p>The first thing I tried was my basswood cutting project. It failed. I kept getting a 'Blade not detected' error no matter which blade I put in. So, I backed up a bit, followed the Getting Started instructions, and started over. I updated the software and tried a calibration test. Failed with same error. I tried the sample project and it worked. I then decided to try one of my old craft foam projects and it also worked. Looking up.</p><p>I called tech support and was greeted with an expected call wait time of one hour and 40 minutes. Eventually it let me leave a voicemail and they did, in fact, call back. Told him everything I did, including reinstalling the software (which the website suggested) and told to send in a video. As an aside, because this machine is on the internet they were able to see it, despite the fact that I was connecting to it via Bluetooth. Nonetheless, they could not diagnose the issue.</p><p>I did some more testing today. I tried cutting chipboard (1.5mm thick), which I could do with the other machine, using custom settings. With this new machine the material is already in the list to pick; no need to set custom settings. It also failed with the same error. This was when I noticed that the material from the pick list has a special icon, indicating a 'smart' material. I noticed they had Mat Board (1.5mm) as a material and it did not have that icon, so I tried that and it worked! The blade was recognized. I decided to try and create a custom material, with the exact same settings, and see if it would work. It also did!</p><p>It seems like the special icon indicates settings that you cannot set when defining custom materials, i.e. more pressure or more passes of the cut. Something I am sending to tech support. So I am still debugging it, but I am back up and running and far as grinding out foam and chipboard parts, just not basswood parts yet. I can probably switch to balsa wood though, but that is too fragile for gaming, even if I soak it in Future floor wax or superglue.</p><p>So, am I happy with the purchase? Actually yes. One feature of the new model was faster cutting, and that is true. Also, the software can now be downloaded to the computer instead of running only in a browser. Does it cut wood? Not yet, but I am sure that it will when the issue is resolve (or they send me a new unit).</p><p>Until then, I have more Dark Ages soldiers to build.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjsJuMkTQlaI21DidKo2fOrvXaGiCg34poS2P9hgWoKF-QLCGCp3Vnv829t5pD-JUBBhD8mIOLBQDRA-u1d8l5lYV-jyA8DTMDEm5AJsOPYvxjCgeOpooxTOlQDnNyS23vPTItFnNR8seKQdRRehOXDTn3EI44T5OtgkhWFRw3De9HI86qThptPYyno0/s2048/Huscarle04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1760" data-original-width="2048" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjsJuMkTQlaI21DidKo2fOrvXaGiCg34poS2P9hgWoKF-QLCGCp3Vnv829t5pD-JUBBhD8mIOLBQDRA-u1d8l5lYV-jyA8DTMDEm5AJsOPYvxjCgeOpooxTOlQDnNyS23vPTItFnNR8seKQdRRehOXDTn3EI44T5OtgkhWFRw3De9HI86qThptPYyno0/w400-h344/Huscarle04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-23520826045875381612023-09-29T19:33:00.001-07:002023-09-29T19:33:19.465-07:00Bill's Wargame World Youtube Channel Highlighted My Game!<p>Thanks to Bill from Bill's Wargame World Youtube channel for interviewing me and highlighting my game during his coverage of Barrage 2023.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uX9fInhqM4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uX9fInhqM4</a><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-86717206759659871892023-09-09T06:44:00.004-07:002023-09-09T06:44:21.368-07:00Hyrkania Royal Foot<p> Got the first of the heavy Hyrkanian infantry units finished. I think I might try and make three different "looking" units rather than replicating the same figures each time just to add some visual interest to the table even though in the game, all three units function the same way. Here they are.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3auZSPtv6gsXd1kA47yc1wv4iAKeuzQfgLXrHDfTKeuw47A_CvOejVn5vaTbnhjuqPLSto3ylf9qr3mSB6XTssrk5tmTUwI4JVMMAhrZs8TaJGy4N2QC6EDPkGKScAbf-XbLW0HRvsCVEHbWyfIxwQSO0GJha-l0lbjDi5-SCFoCpXVZo9WFHVdI8gc/s1920/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3auZSPtv6gsXd1kA47yc1wv4iAKeuzQfgLXrHDfTKeuw47A_CvOejVn5vaTbnhjuqPLSto3ylf9qr3mSB6XTssrk5tmTUwI4JVMMAhrZs8TaJGy4N2QC6EDPkGKScAbf-XbLW0HRvsCVEHbWyfIxwQSO0GJha-l0lbjDi5-SCFoCpXVZo9WFHVdI8gc/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Sort of hard to see in the picture but I went with a samurai/Eastern armor type using paper to create the flat shoulder protection. Wasn't difficult and it was easy to paint.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9Vfc9pn_nteVIRtr8vECRVx0iJVsrIcVODYTqqYlQot9_O2YYigPWsZRErcnWKamAC5zpnO52N24tNzlm9U-R4IyRefcOkiG7aj76Q3Q4TVdgxX57k4y6yyWxSVsKUzZ8yxkS9fU02vQY4-Zrp9wUIRKYtOUx8SRosMZGQbqkHNXFUMgYKGD934TJIk/s1920/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9Vfc9pn_nteVIRtr8vECRVx0iJVsrIcVODYTqqYlQot9_O2YYigPWsZRErcnWKamAC5zpnO52N24tNzlm9U-R4IyRefcOkiG7aj76Q3Q4TVdgxX57k4y6yyWxSVsKUzZ8yxkS9fU02vQY4-Zrp9wUIRKYtOUx8SRosMZGQbqkHNXFUMgYKGD934TJIk/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfwnk5P2rKlm-2H1g3_2nWWTVc6_Veo-4cAlY1_MvNxLYMR2wh-ppe35fR6rqMxutGrz5xpMuVGNQRwLS7MuvEucVjpF5guHLitFXHEgOu5Mt2X2KzpCY3ur6o7UKyaX1CylFSVT5Z_EMzdKzx02ja2x8KdkdpibE02dDKJqELFC2cMmI0qmCVbDruGw/s1920/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfwnk5P2rKlm-2H1g3_2nWWTVc6_Veo-4cAlY1_MvNxLYMR2wh-ppe35fR6rqMxutGrz5xpMuVGNQRwLS7MuvEucVjpF5guHLitFXHEgOu5Mt2X2KzpCY3ur6o7UKyaX1CylFSVT5Z_EMzdKzx02ja2x8KdkdpibE02dDKJqELFC2cMmI0qmCVbDruGw/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>You can see the "samurai-looking" helmets a little better here. Just paper wrapped around and painted to look like the segmented armor they have protecting their necks.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOAm5M2UCFsbEk9p5XSj1Qx0Q9A7jdA0zjL8ts8ZTB1J2I_q--anX2YRAr5kVXNgCtzxGTbZ8FNuVrACxJKKTR04VDw2Ft9pfR_mkyeV8pV4x6-pemzgOgdtjWjLU6Ma0hZHML2K06qyi35Sm8Chld-jtMxdEjvc5aVmykSffGGWOi5syL9Z4yEpOwyw/s1920/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOAm5M2UCFsbEk9p5XSj1Qx0Q9A7jdA0zjL8ts8ZTB1J2I_q--anX2YRAr5kVXNgCtzxGTbZ8FNuVrACxJKKTR04VDw2Ft9pfR_mkyeV8pV4x6-pemzgOgdtjWjLU6Ma0hZHML2K06qyi35Sm8Chld-jtMxdEjvc5aVmykSffGGWOi5syL9Z4yEpOwyw/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>I wanted to go with a shield that wasn't really "historical" to give them a bit more of a fantasy flavor.</p><p><br /></p><p>I planned to do a cavalry unit next, but I have to order some of the necessary pieces. So I'll probably do a unit of Hyperborean heavy infantry.<br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-7408258326927324242023-08-18T07:53:00.008-07:002023-08-18T07:53:47.384-07:00Battle of Trimos: Part 1<p>It has been a while since I have done a large scale wargame with my wooden warriors. I have clearly moved into doing these more detailed figures that I've been using for rpgs and skirmish games, like the Conan series. I still want to do a game of the raid on the tower where the trio gets the big ruby and kills the huge snake, but the challenge has been in finding something big enough but round enough that I can use for the tower (or I should say the various levels of the tower). Still working on that, the forms used to pour concrete pillars look promising, but they are really hard to cut. But enough of that, I did want to also do a larger scale wargame again using my "new" more detailed figures.</p><p>I of course tried this with the Dark Ages guys I did years ago, but it was just too hard to paint them already attached to the base, and how they were attached altered their appearance significantly, causing them to lose a lot of height. I was never satisfied with them. And, I'm just going to be honest, I've never been able to bring myself to base the larger scale figures as multiples on a base. I just prefer them to be individually based.</p><p>I also know that I probably don't want, or even need, to do a project that is historical, unless it is in a new area that I don't have the older figures already done for. There is just little reason to do Biblicals, or frankly anything up to about 100 BC because I for the most part already have those guys done in the older format. Why do Macedonians and Persians again in these larger, more detailed figures? I've already got a ton of the older ones done and they work just fine.</p><p>I've always been enthralled with Don Featherstone's book "War Games". I love the rules, I love the pictures, I love the philosophy of gaming, and most of all, I love the Battle of Trimsos from Tony Bath's Hyboria campaign that is detailed in the book, pitting the Hyperboreans against the Hyrkanians. And hey, isn't this just an extension of the Conan games I'm already doing, just larger scale battles instead of skirmishes? Sure it is! </p><p>So that is the next project, doing my version of the Battle of Trimsos, using my more recent versions of the wooden warriors mounted individually. This also obviously lets me use these figures in skirmish games, and they are based in a way that is consistent with these older rules that while they may not be the most historically accurate rules in the world, they are certainly fun and great for convention games which is what I am after.</p><p>Rather than using the rules as they are presented in "War Games", as they are a bit confusing in places (the morale rules are frankly a hot mess), I went even further back and used Featherstone's "Lost Tales" book and the Ancients rules from it as a starting point, added in a simple command and control mechanism, but kept the movement, combat, and other core elements of the game. The rules are done, I obviously need to playtest them, but I can't do that before I have figures to use. So off to the crafting/painting table!</p><p>There are a total of 17 units in Tony's game, but I never liked that the Hyperboreans had one more war engine unit, so I decided to go with 8 units a side. The first unit I decided to do was the Hyperborean Thurn Archers unit. After doing a little reserach, the more contemporary way of looking at the Hyperboreans in the Hyboria world is as a mixture of primarily Russian/Slavic medieval units with a little Viking flavor added in. This is nice because at the level of detail that I do my figures, they could be used for Medieval/Late Dark Ages Russians as well. The archer figures tend to be a little more tricky than the heavy infantry guys, and since I am "fresh" in terms of my motivation to do this project, I thought it would be good to start with them.</p><p> In the game the infantry units are 20 figures in size with usually a leader figure and a standard bearer. These are really "place holder" figures in the game as they are there just to signify whether or not the command and control elements of the unit are still alive. So this unit is 20 actual archers plus the leader and standard bearer figure. <br /></p><p>Here are the Hyperborean Thurn Archers! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqRgmOqSV7g1Lic3HNZH7EyA-ZSeqmTFiJ2jQjjI4pWoEUypNR5z8XYXXuga6LbAGizwejTfBXzccGXo8yad6iOeSRwEzOVGfqJqmF_QjJAeC5Pn4oZEjDHK-vwMx7FEgkFkazXOr5Og9Gwf-Ju7o0gx28SewvR3RT6fITRzWtpQUcbpbcnBAVw330KU/s1920/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqRgmOqSV7g1Lic3HNZH7EyA-ZSeqmTFiJ2jQjjI4pWoEUypNR5z8XYXXuga6LbAGizwejTfBXzccGXo8yad6iOeSRwEzOVGfqJqmF_QjJAeC5Pn4oZEjDHK-vwMx7FEgkFkazXOr5Og9Gwf-Ju7o0gx28SewvR3RT6fITRzWtpQUcbpbcnBAVw330KU/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>There is not a whole lot new construction wise except that I decided to do the heads differently in yet another attempt to do the mail coif. The helmet is a larger split bead, head is a smaller split bead, and the mail coif is paper. I am really happy with the way they turned out, and they were not difficult to do!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqKcQp0zGrCrye04knwHnKGVVOqHaU2n1nXJN5SX_P8oE3YvKULfRljis_y_PETvCHVS0hHbn8EA2xNrftwXHvfwMGYaHGTtLgxjqGmKaBNtlCd4UpA7QwvZ5nbRAcsvC410FBKd8T4KuBZC4Y3B9hbPPzLF3C6471dvVsrfcAb4I841-VhOZ4GGllMs/s1920/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqKcQp0zGrCrye04knwHnKGVVOqHaU2n1nXJN5SX_P8oE3YvKULfRljis_y_PETvCHVS0hHbn8EA2xNrftwXHvfwMGYaHGTtLgxjqGmKaBNtlCd4UpA7QwvZ5nbRAcsvC410FBKd8T4KuBZC4Y3B9hbPPzLF3C6471dvVsrfcAb4I841-VhOZ4GGllMs/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Qo4M6tLl0ajqKEHDNv8pwfcGEs1AY-DBPjy2YC_8F0Y26Lk5pv0TcEGsEm7nBHEO6IvRsgXb0sECwtN9TK8BuhQ_bx3X3z7zEBfB9TVR-NIEOFBBDtPuqaS3dhxyQo55fCOOzNBKYNPwrO9iCXMjqPdWlHbuuwrUVSUed4aKlV11dT4Z08xhIawElGM/s1920/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Qo4M6tLl0ajqKEHDNv8pwfcGEs1AY-DBPjy2YC_8F0Y26Lk5pv0TcEGsEm7nBHEO6IvRsgXb0sECwtN9TK8BuhQ_bx3X3z7zEBfB9TVR-NIEOFBBDtPuqaS3dhxyQo55fCOOzNBKYNPwrO9iCXMjqPdWlHbuuwrUVSUed4aKlV11dT4Z08xhIawElGM/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Off to a good start! Onto the next unit, which will by the Hyrkanian 1st Imperial Foot Guards!<br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-6858128196423610372023-07-30T20:47:00.014-07:002023-07-30T20:53:45.445-07:00Finally Finished!<p> I got distracted with some regular 28mm miniature painting, but this weekend I focused on my Conan game and finished everything. Here is a pick of the set up from the beginning of the game, with our three heroes standing outside the opening of the orgy of the Snake Cult, ready to sneak in and steal back the princess.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lW1jtQCtzKG3hsjW9InWUaeaZWHrRz5-TDiC9h8ZiCWNx-JYjykKu_WWxnEE03j9GmIyu7wplxfQ1j9uRY7jY9qQYDCnOSYFzSQzNpk4GbOGwSYqEaD8wOZzgmOXhpGI7RyP64Zi3HP6E4x2FwVjNwn-zcosYIa1g5m5EbuQMTVg73-HL83nE39_A_4/s1920/1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lW1jtQCtzKG3hsjW9InWUaeaZWHrRz5-TDiC9h8ZiCWNx-JYjykKu_WWxnEE03j9GmIyu7wplxfQ1j9uRY7jY9qQYDCnOSYFzSQzNpk4GbOGwSYqEaD8wOZzgmOXhpGI7RyP64Zi3HP6E4x2FwVjNwn-zcosYIa1g5m5EbuQMTVg73-HL83nE39_A_4/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>This will be the starting point of the game. The heroes need to sneak in, climb the stairs or the rock walls at the rear of the chamber to get up to the top level where the princess is located. Right now she is in the chamber with Thulsa Doom. The merry-makers on the lower level are busy having "fun" and eating their "stew".</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOgCidVUvL99i9WpS9Q4MaRL04-QJCyZI4gZd4nz1PVuekG5MsqD-5MVvoPrBN35Tbp4Vhs8bcFsZOMvsX81_47soUcaPtpJYf6EBuO-Fzt_CItjt3JVpgWwjvZ9EJhFg-IBVK_jGDYDY8TV3-JT_VzE0qusQff4kFYLcZdHgiDytKmD3D1zQMmQr_90k/s1920/2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOgCidVUvL99i9WpS9Q4MaRL04-QJCyZI4gZd4nz1PVuekG5MsqD-5MVvoPrBN35Tbp4Vhs8bcFsZOMvsX81_47soUcaPtpJYf6EBuO-Fzt_CItjt3JVpgWwjvZ9EJhFg-IBVK_jGDYDY8TV3-JT_VzE0qusQff4kFYLcZdHgiDytKmD3D1zQMmQr_90k/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>A close up of the three heroes: Subotai in the lead, Valeria behind, and the big man himself Conan brings up the rear. I can see I need to touch-up the bases a bit!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihigIXOuuDW-6wNmCGgDA3WYi9oPYQSz50R9aaPzrMKnvdcV08xpfl58sNUEWsN7-OrkZegfw7lQDkdWpSUCJGeytIveAWZqx0_FMj5L-JJHlWu_r3FKo8WNYWL2cD_71sS3wnOpIlVHmu6vUwnmZjjXwsXFKud4OrSy_EdYXTUmkIYzKEqz6rFEnR1bM/s1920/3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihigIXOuuDW-6wNmCGgDA3WYi9oPYQSz50R9aaPzrMKnvdcV08xpfl58sNUEWsN7-OrkZegfw7lQDkdWpSUCJGeytIveAWZqx0_FMj5L-JJHlWu_r3FKo8WNYWL2cD_71sS3wnOpIlVHmu6vUwnmZjjXwsXFKud4OrSy_EdYXTUmkIYzKEqz6rFEnR1bM/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The cult members party down while their big boy serves up the stew!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRsWokHN5ELXTv4yzQcRWdlgu--qy8TG9oS6Wua3rCSCaN-oPiLhhDiWrghATXdUa-cSq6ci74TB6eWPf0_mqFIVOHsNFYPAK906i0kalkHiQs4ct07oQNPS7S3Wpn8Ebx1deh8g0wpzxUO8PHh7YQnFXvmjRpnuTtKSwt9nkL0S3epwZi4etsex9SQA/s1920/4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRsWokHN5ELXTv4yzQcRWdlgu--qy8TG9oS6Wua3rCSCaN-oPiLhhDiWrghATXdUa-cSq6ci74TB6eWPf0_mqFIVOHsNFYPAK906i0kalkHiQs4ct07oQNPS7S3Wpn8Ebx1deh8g0wpzxUO8PHh7YQnFXvmjRpnuTtKSwt9nkL0S3epwZi4etsex9SQA/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Thulsa Doom and the princess hanging out in the royal chamber overlooking their followers. Two guards stand outside protecting them. As you can see, I just had to add the mural on the rear wall of the chamber to my set up even though I didn't plan to do it originally. I love how it turned out! Very happy I changed my mind and decided to add it!<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQT-rQ4UCi8TRUOuIUtnkHXFOcshMaR7QSzUsVGJHKLvbU_mmnZkCgj2KLxEYRq1edrvqKxNGXPJc49QX1X76f3ronqcBDwq-uUPl40qICGHsK3fT0_5iaz5daxc5g9UhXD8GCpmrc6xOQvb7VphjdhuaxGKocK7L7GgbmK7GxlxlL3lJosumaepWLM5Q/s1920/5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQT-rQ4UCi8TRUOuIUtnkHXFOcshMaR7QSzUsVGJHKLvbU_mmnZkCgj2KLxEYRq1edrvqKxNGXPJc49QX1X76f3ronqcBDwq-uUPl40qICGHsK3fT0_5iaz5daxc5g9UhXD8GCpmrc6xOQvb7VphjdhuaxGKocK7L7GgbmK7GxlxlL3lJosumaepWLM5Q/w480-h640/5.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>A famous scene from the movie (who knows if this will happen in the actual game!) as Subotai sneaks up the stairs to dispatch the cult member stirring the stew.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUHIxqxpd2TcW6Ac6YML4OILApaTvDrvo4OI1D58HBpSp-dhj4dfk5ChgWgkUkd03rDiSDTEvcr_Rpi9m4BIxCmIb75ld83byJgQ9rogmBnc8c5fosycFCRd33v1f9EMRyl7Jv-XKawUMnZdqgApSeo3uKIDTbOtfdDnMwbJZs9pUjvpjflToGw3W40yY/s1920/6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUHIxqxpd2TcW6Ac6YML4OILApaTvDrvo4OI1D58HBpSp-dhj4dfk5ChgWgkUkd03rDiSDTEvcr_Rpi9m4BIxCmIb75ld83byJgQ9rogmBnc8c5fosycFCRd33v1f9EMRyl7Jv-XKawUMnZdqgApSeo3uKIDTbOtfdDnMwbJZs9pUjvpjflToGw3W40yY/w480-h640/6.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Another famous scene. Valeria is about to take this guard by surprise and ... well, let's just say she finishes him off.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwYlDGkuVvVCDXixLcl92a0RoHe2dGB7z9ZaUXRco4TjxkCgIrfDMMi9pxq8c9IIEfJS_v6AZmH4iSBYu_AAg7kRzf9bCRsm3NYIfsk74Y2J__1c2Q0DNJrZDmxuNS7HxXV7TcPUf_uf-ezyw32u3grX92KwsGA-UdiAQIwkWz4Otr4ffwBKIk9239XE/s1920/7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwYlDGkuVvVCDXixLcl92a0RoHe2dGB7z9ZaUXRco4TjxkCgIrfDMMi9pxq8c9IIEfJS_v6AZmH4iSBYu_AAg7kRzf9bCRsm3NYIfsk74Y2J__1c2Q0DNJrZDmxuNS7HxXV7TcPUf_uf-ezyw32u3grX92KwsGA-UdiAQIwkWz4Otr4ffwBKIk9239XE/w480-h640/7.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>"You!" I just had to use this pose, even though a fighting pose might have been more useful in the game. This is just too iconic of a pose not to use! I fleshed out his arms to give him "muscles" using cut tile spacers. Happy with the result!<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLlB9s_1ahn4L1Y5-kRfQJeTlCwN1M3Z8sM_uIlb_1x6IcdDSJwlL4qAPM9yC871_5pU-e9hDRNU5-zo9NHSzX5OSISNFIwarIo67vJdCXcY3HnSAsHQ_JNrZ0PW8kr4-9VJVJdnD3YBQqeIBEsEpkrGA_KlRk3Wp-IFwVeSd-FK2sqXaNCN5MtlOr4s/s1920/8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLlB9s_1ahn4L1Y5-kRfQJeTlCwN1M3Z8sM_uIlb_1x6IcdDSJwlL4qAPM9yC871_5pU-e9hDRNU5-zo9NHSzX5OSISNFIwarIo67vJdCXcY3HnSAsHQ_JNrZ0PW8kr4-9VJVJdnD3YBQqeIBEsEpkrGA_KlRk3Wp-IFwVeSd-FK2sqXaNCN5MtlOr4s/w480-h640/8.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Thulsa Doom sitting atop his huge cushion with the princess at his feet. Those two holes in the wall back there? Couldn't be important, right?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMWYA-a0CqG4IhhM2IPn-qJWodML7vYBp-FO4PYjQZqP3LOz_XvLvOF45mCjmHTlmeSuCSq2HKvaAAodFApmhB685Irt1csggux0WgTyeMsnpKQY5ydZ1s1_Qpi3qjIuIgsYFyHOEwds5oNFvONFKKqW4u872O9gRShx7enn5r6gR0I8IK3Snvt48aO0/s1920/9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMWYA-a0CqG4IhhM2IPn-qJWodML7vYBp-FO4PYjQZqP3LOz_XvLvOF45mCjmHTlmeSuCSq2HKvaAAodFApmhB685Irt1csggux0WgTyeMsnpKQY5ydZ1s1_Qpi3qjIuIgsYFyHOEwds5oNFvONFKKqW4u872O9gRShx7enn5r6gR0I8IK3Snvt48aO0/w480-h640/9.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Thulsa Doom begins his transformation into a snake! Again, too iconic not to have in the game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5wAxPNEiDNJZt_-vaFYP5iIZEGOpDI7-UnqklxNfEvq8i0XszRDCwaanO25ym6seW4ZioQjsbNvFR9cZ3YcRTaU2iZqwhBveZCsAl7LQOzdnMcdHCeaKb6t1OqX8xvANMe6l4tSbdoqfyHvFKtaow1kxQTd9dBYcU73S0Q9nVySaJllHq6QvwX3HvMiI/s1920/10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5wAxPNEiDNJZt_-vaFYP5iIZEGOpDI7-UnqklxNfEvq8i0XszRDCwaanO25ym6seW4ZioQjsbNvFR9cZ3YcRTaU2iZqwhBveZCsAl7LQOzdnMcdHCeaKb6t1OqX8xvANMe6l4tSbdoqfyHvFKtaow1kxQTd9dBYcU73S0Q9nVySaJllHq6QvwX3HvMiI/w480-h640/10.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Completed his transformation, now retreating through one of the holes to safety!</p><p>This game board was a TOUGH build, but I am happy I did it. It came out way better than I thought it would. I also have the figures for the retreat, guards and Picts to chase the heroes after they get the princess. They will have to fight their way past them and exit through the hallway to win the game. At that point it will move away from the movie scene a bit, but that's okay, it will be a better game having them have to fight their way out. I am not going to have the two main evil heroes show up in this game like they do in the movie, just lots of guards for the heroes to wade through.</p><p>I'm doing a test run of the game in a few weeks at one of my gaming friend's house and I'll try to take lots of pictures and post about it. Then it's off to Barrage at the end of September where I'll be running three games of this scenario on Saturday.<br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-55878129826469406982023-06-04T21:03:00.000-07:002023-06-04T21:03:09.990-07:00Finally an Update on The Snake Cult!<p> I ended up not running the Snake Cult game at ScrumCon, it just wasn't right for the convention. It was too small of a game and didn't take enough time to play. So I ended up running a Tunnels and Trolls rpg instead using some of my wooden guys for that game. I don't have great pictures of it though, unfortunately.</p><p>However, I have continued to work on the Conan Snake Cult game as I will definitely be running this at Barrage this September and probably at ScrumCon next year if they enlarge their venue and schedule. Regardless, here is an update!</p><p>I finally got the terrain all done, and most of the figures too, but I'll save those for later. Here is a shot of the entire game board. The tunnel at the front will come into play as the heroes attempt to flee with the princess in tow. The rounded raised section is where the orgy is taking place. The stairs lead up to a top level where Thulsa Doom (before he turns into a snake anyway) and the princess will be located, along with two guards patrolling the walkway in front of the pillars. The stairway has the iconic "human pea soup" stone cauldron as well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMF2gkNLgc_i0VPmk-PmKWmLk9sLeSM5gZWNO2xMnxrThJ8cxoxBawEx04VZwtAnsGUfnPcyc6nGudBhjInt7mpau43A4DeOdLLSw3OG9rpfq1byJ3D04wZGfvYP9sxcVyaHIeE4sr876NdFkKdpaSWE6U4y28L4lKPhxpMCAEH2Naf0fHG5Xwfmi/s1920/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMF2gkNLgc_i0VPmk-PmKWmLk9sLeSM5gZWNO2xMnxrThJ8cxoxBawEx04VZwtAnsGUfnPcyc6nGudBhjInt7mpau43A4DeOdLLSw3OG9rpfq1byJ3D04wZGfvYP9sxcVyaHIeE4sr876NdFkKdpaSWE6U4y28L4lKPhxpMCAEH2Naf0fHG5Xwfmi/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Now for some close ups.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLokfAeDCeUOu8lcC-zzGt7FLof6YsPfRGilw8Ro_zKCxjrR2YuOfKF-yY6-dJxJNgfB-9QrNxAQFuhtrUsZ1nRR4vpfg3_xzL1wUpCjudlM7-jMGsyoeZOa83cjvP3Ek5Yf0ipZk9ALr9Tm_QWTYY-Xuwb0z4jV3V7ZeqPxtfKPBZecYNuPPZnhS6/s1920/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLokfAeDCeUOu8lcC-zzGt7FLof6YsPfRGilw8Ro_zKCxjrR2YuOfKF-yY6-dJxJNgfB-9QrNxAQFuhtrUsZ1nRR4vpfg3_xzL1wUpCjudlM7-jMGsyoeZOa83cjvP3Ek5Yf0ipZk9ALr9Tm_QWTYY-Xuwb0z4jV3V7ZeqPxtfKPBZecYNuPPZnhS6/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLdurf5cgcZ-z4KUnyh35T0lHjnjxzRKpRv7d4yjChNGMfdb5k58t-8bfJ0oYuwjCAKI9a8MJya5rnm27jhXJcDVzUhBntepAyZOA5bfQ4tXgvdjTSNntVGmUJqqK-Xr7KS-cJvlCNjThSgj_e87rWhEkTOXMw32L9VCUHHw8BWa4O4X4nx4oQPmS2/s1920/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLdurf5cgcZ-z4KUnyh35T0lHjnjxzRKpRv7d4yjChNGMfdb5k58t-8bfJ0oYuwjCAKI9a8MJya5rnm27jhXJcDVzUhBntepAyZOA5bfQ4tXgvdjTSNntVGmUJqqK-Xr7KS-cJvlCNjThSgj_e87rWhEkTOXMw32L9VCUHHw8BWa4O4X4nx4oQPmS2/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8nmccvNoXf-iEiesNfF_eQoTG0Jh98__x8S5pdJq1PDOxgIbbDVEWWS48LJKHr5vWCwdYfyFzrA8DaRdVq3_bbidXG3xu03R_fH1tZY7W520Jbr8j4BVABx7Lg0Cple-SMuknaWAJyRXYZeTyca0-nALCkyOOe4EkDyqu2OJYr57mAuDGy0rgWjb/s1920/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8nmccvNoXf-iEiesNfF_eQoTG0Jh98__x8S5pdJq1PDOxgIbbDVEWWS48LJKHr5vWCwdYfyFzrA8DaRdVq3_bbidXG3xu03R_fH1tZY7W520Jbr8j4BVABx7Lg0Cple-SMuknaWAJyRXYZeTyca0-nALCkyOOe4EkDyqu2OJYr57mAuDGy0rgWjb/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>I bumped it and the snake pillar moved a little so it's off center, but you get the idea. And yes, just like in the movie, that's the top of a skull floating in the human pea soup, as well as skulls all around the raised circular area.</p><p>More later, when I get the figures finished, but I'm happy with the progress and the way it has turned out. It is probably the most intricate piece I have ever done and I can't wait to see it with the figures on it during play.<br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-58873515341558999672023-01-23T21:09:00.000-07:002023-01-23T21:09:00.906-07:00New Conan Game for Scrum Con - Swords Against the Cult<p> I am doing two Conan games for the upcoming Scrum Con in Silver Spring, MD in April of this year. One of the games is the Conan game I did at Barrage two years ago. I wanted to do two different Conan games for Scrum Con, so I picked another famous part of the original 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie. The other two possibilities to me were the raid on the snake tower to get the gem and kill the giant snake, or the raid to capture the princess. I went with the later just because I thought the terrain would be easier ... although in hindsight it has taken me three weeks to build this layout and I think I made an wrong calculation about which terrain would be easiest!</p><p>I am going to do something I don't normally do with terrain which is post a picture of the layout completely built, but unpainted. This I hope will give a sense for how "rough" things look until you actually put some paint on them ... the paint to me anyway is the "magic."</p><p>Here are some shots of it on my basement floor. The "board" is 3.5 feet long (a little longer but just a couple of inches) and 18 inches wide. It's made out of craft foam (the thick 6mm kind), wooden craft pieces, and rubber tubing. It's more or less finished (I have one more detail to add to the snake pillar but it's just a minor cosmetic part of it).</p><p>Here is a view from the front with the cave tunnel entrance to the main hall. In the movie the orgy is happening around the snake pillar. The stairs lead up to the upper level where Thulsa Doom and the princess are. The four little round tables will have gold treasures on them and the two wooden pieces closest to the entrance are actually fountains, so they will have hot glue "water" on them as well, but not until after they are painted.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrGlfDd1ryVdHrgTjrCVau7T8ai5kH4gm06038iFtJiWA8XOIIJ7Qqdd5NybBYlY3kTS-rtQGHAGGURxZQqeNHpR2ShzVzV_jcuWlUuo6vzKac7pKNq9_2kfTkRgf0PMcEwGh1m5CEtCOmBZrOvcbfl8SSF26D4TPFir0Wr3QXfXxQeSJfCEsn87s/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrGlfDd1ryVdHrgTjrCVau7T8ai5kH4gm06038iFtJiWA8XOIIJ7Qqdd5NybBYlY3kTS-rtQGHAGGURxZQqeNHpR2ShzVzV_jcuWlUuo6vzKac7pKNq9_2kfTkRgf0PMcEwGh1m5CEtCOmBZrOvcbfl8SSF26D4TPFir0Wr3QXfXxQeSJfCEsn87s/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p> </p><p>Here is a closer up view of the place where the orgy is happening.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRBoHVfJM8zdzDGmu_GQ8j4h_EOHqRZV_bdk0CtYyQiMYCuaAHR_f9ANdH0FpgsCyFMzrW2jOgoBTX_3yuUen502LK7089E6GQTFOUJxqcdZIoeqtr-p-OtErQdqzV5r6hcjKxXg6yPxDrDPDpTnNWDojnH3hc5L8KnxFgBNrQccXvRYbzNpg2jOA/s1280/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRBoHVfJM8zdzDGmu_GQ8j4h_EOHqRZV_bdk0CtYyQiMYCuaAHR_f9ANdH0FpgsCyFMzrW2jOgoBTX_3yuUen502LK7089E6GQTFOUJxqcdZIoeqtr-p-OtErQdqzV5r6hcjKxXg6yPxDrDPDpTnNWDojnH3hc5L8KnxFgBNrQccXvRYbzNpg2jOA/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The beads around the base will be painted as skulls (nice, right!?) and they are glued to the foam at this point so they won't move during play. The circular raised platform is the top of a very large (13.75" I believe) paper mache box. The round tubing was hot glued onto the foam. In the movie, there is a rounded "railing" like feature on the stone, and this tubing was the easiest way to get this effect. We'll see how it looks painted but I think it will look good. </p><p>Another close up.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGqT29wfeJ-7hFZ3U-DL9U_epwgH7V7HWMNjRJ41ilWjagBDV_ONfXMZvCfzLJDV8BiPugv8mwejQ47sMKnbtAxlirmic4XIGajWyHbOFFADvzWzC6k2sUkem8Sux9NcupsEcxWJ4ur7ieqTCtdFUh11-bVT3CZ49Drojb10YKjWmkfknRsy6H_6P/s1280/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGqT29wfeJ-7hFZ3U-DL9U_epwgH7V7HWMNjRJ41ilWjagBDV_ONfXMZvCfzLJDV8BiPugv8mwejQ47sMKnbtAxlirmic4XIGajWyHbOFFADvzWzC6k2sUkem8Sux9NcupsEcxWJ4ur7ieqTCtdFUh11-bVT3CZ49Drojb10YKjWmkfknRsy6H_6P/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>You get a better sense for the tubing here. The smaller wooden pieces on each side of the stairs up are burning light sources for the room. The styrofoam white piece is the stone bowl that holds the "pea soup" in it in the movie. It can be moved so if Conan wants to push it over, he can. The snake pillar in the middle will have another architectural feature under each of the snake heads, but this is more or less what it is going to look like. It, too, is not glued to the raised circular platform so it can be moved if needed.</p><p>Here is a view from the rear of the whole game board.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtHw_UYiBkJXhxKvRA591tXlzic6ErY12CJV_Ot0p1Aqdb-Hf51bJwIN9EYyulutR0pmPXvXogwPI5chq4Y4wq6rxUm1fVFqrvChI6ThyPrZE9zT0ij5fGrkAcq9rfGG0bdTO3RqR8wzU6ONZp8IfLtIW-Ium_Y7Q0rGh3JggAbanjHanOQMCDR24/s1280/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtHw_UYiBkJXhxKvRA591tXlzic6ErY12CJV_Ot0p1Aqdb-Hf51bJwIN9EYyulutR0pmPXvXogwPI5chq4Y4wq6rxUm1fVFqrvChI6ThyPrZE9zT0ij5fGrkAcq9rfGG0bdTO3RqR8wzU6ONZp8IfLtIW-Ium_Y7Q0rGh3JggAbanjHanOQMCDR24/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>The top layer is where Thulsa Doom (the figure will be on the circle in the rear of this picture) and the princess are located. </p><p>I have all the figures done as well except for the three heroes, Conan, Subotai, and Valeria. But I will show the figures like I normally do, after I paint them.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-30632109518547728832023-01-05T20:15:00.004-07:002023-01-05T20:15:48.892-07:00Normans for My Hastings Project<p>In <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2022/12/hastings-in-minimalist-style.html" target="_blank">my last post</a> I showed the start of my Saxon and Norman forces for gaming out the Battle of Hastings, but apparently I forgot the Normans! This led to Matt asking about "how I was going to do the Norman cavalry", which I interpreted as "how are you going to make those iconic Norman kite shields, which were used by both the Norman cavalry and the infantry. (If it pertained to something else Matt, you need to let me know as I am being a little dense.)</p><p>I will be honest, my first attempts were rather simplistic, as shown in the figure below.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEnt6XtKrExfT6LzksJZfyLxFVQOXNAOEFhFVhJWWKsKhrlUiu6K2I_sgnBaQWhFI2PY_Yp-HEV1bpCb15BgB1wQKWEyNTDTM3QEPQ516WDdts-ya0U_0m-yVZQqQtQGOADonVGqa9a1MDoSLYr6VkRXTluuaNX5reqTVLXhbJohnrQW8NvUr9rPmu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="989" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEnt6XtKrExfT6LzksJZfyLxFVQOXNAOEFhFVhJWWKsKhrlUiu6K2I_sgnBaQWhFI2PY_Yp-HEV1bpCb15BgB1wQKWEyNTDTM3QEPQ516WDdts-ya0U_0m-yVZQqQtQGOADonVGqa9a1MDoSLYr6VkRXTluuaNX5reqTVLXhbJohnrQW8NvUr9rPmu=w305-h400" width="305" /></a></div>
<p>Basically I took the rounded end of a flat toothpick and trimmed it to get the kite shield shape. As you can see, I did an inconsistent job on the size between the three examples. It was because of these results that I cast about for another solution.</p><p>First, I wanted something simple to shape. As I had been using a hole punch with thin craft foam sheets that seemed a likely candidate to try. All I needed was to get the shape right. I searched on the internet for "Norman shields" and came across numerous images of shield transfers that are commercially available. Most are for 28mm scale figures (given the popularity of the rules <i>Saga</i>) although I knew that there were some for 15mm. That said, both were too large for my figures, so buying commercial transfers was out. What I needed were digital images that I could scale. So I found some.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9K-CIAuqPyhwPB5i0Ntvv2aQQAs0TwaoRq-djvVt8ljgn4ZOY-Y-b7Rss7XAKLCnwzr7QfmddnsBNV501IsbOROjJVpPFgHiMXPyoqtWI5D-u6KzZGWU1ZK4u_7R5TuvH8urKyatKlEyvKI_W-u1-_3MaND2RJkOlkvn10kMrqs0a7TM_vWL3W0m0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="864" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9K-CIAuqPyhwPB5i0Ntvv2aQQAs0TwaoRq-djvVt8ljgn4ZOY-Y-b7Rss7XAKLCnwzr7QfmddnsBNV501IsbOROjJVpPFgHiMXPyoqtWI5D-u6KzZGWU1ZK4u_7R5TuvH8urKyatKlEyvKI_W-u1-_3MaND2RJkOlkvn10kMrqs0a7TM_vWL3W0m0=w335-h400" width="335" /></a></div>
<p>I first scaled the figures to an appropriate length, top to bottom, and increased the DPI (dots per inch) of the image so it would lose as little fidelity as possible. I then printed the images out using my inkjet printer on the brightest paper I had. I did not use photo quality glossy paper, however.</p><p>I took the printout and glued it to brown craft foam sheets and carefully cut the shields out with tiny scissors. Those, in turn, were glued to the figures.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsWdEcdoFK3qRI_on2lbf4rcSQKuMsHgOsVcq26uCLYVXgj4keVb5ofPkYoG4PV8LTdMiU_UryLSwCjhNQXokTpWWwX0YW1qn_C3tnt_qxU6stPvobCMlXWDgBaMXUZ7KauXDueUW0oVD1yOw6XCRciDYVqPjFnNByW1-_uwIj2aFqmEW8GD4dfegr" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="1296" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsWdEcdoFK3qRI_on2lbf4rcSQKuMsHgOsVcq26uCLYVXgj4keVb5ofPkYoG4PV8LTdMiU_UryLSwCjhNQXokTpWWwX0YW1qn_C3tnt_qxU6stPvobCMlXWDgBaMXUZ7KauXDueUW0oVD1yOw6XCRciDYVqPjFnNByW1-_uwIj2aFqmEW8GD4dfegr=w640-h460" width="640" /></a></div>
<p>With a close-up shot you can see obvious flaws, but not when the figures are at arm's length. I did not even color the paper edge, nor paint the craft foam; I liked it the way it was.</p><p>What do you think?</p>Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-60605244417134293322022-12-31T10:48:00.001-07:002022-12-31T10:48:15.272-07:00Hastings in a Minimalist Style<p> If you follow me on my blog <i>Dale's Wargames</i> you will know that I really like the rules <i>Tin Soldiers in Action</i>. One limitation of them is that they only cover 1650 through 1914. I like the core mechanics, but could not use them for other periods. After speaking with the author he indicated that the did expand the range, to include from ancients to futuristic. He sent me the Hastings scenario which has the necessary rules and order of battle to game the battle.</p><p>As it happens I have sufficient troops in 15mm metal, but I am actively trying to decide on how to reduce my collection. Although I have decided to keep 15mm as the scale of choice for mass battles, I am considering selling the painted troops I have and replacing them with wooden miniatures. Why? Well I like the creation process for one, and now that I am retired I have more time on my hands. But more to the point, I am concerned that when I pass I will leave my wife with trying to get rid of my collection and trying to recoup some of the money. (If she gives them away it would not be a disaster as she will be well taken care of, but I would probably roll over in my grave.) However, if they are my wooden creations I would neither be upset if they are given away or even thrown away. (Strange, I know.) Besides, I really need to downsize anyway.</p><p>With that morbid thought in mind I decided that the Hastings project was a great start to see if I even have the ambition to carry it out.</p><p>I decided that I wanted to use <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2016/10/getting-medieval-on-road.html" target="_blank">the minimalist style that I started some time ago</a>, rather than the larger, <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2018/02/saxon-fyrd.html" target="_blank">more detailed style Matt used</a> for his Hastings project. (I love Matt's stuff, but can't match his paint jobs.)</p><p>If you follow the first link you can see how I build these figures. They come out about 12mm tall, but about the chunkiness of 15mm. They have a cartoony 'big-headed' (chibi) style where the upper wooden part represents the head and hat and the lower wooden part represents the torso and legs. (This is how you achieve that chibi look in such a small scale.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguzeSqJmCrtxL9R8bY4ZEtC1dlHnFxXaBdmuOFhgfyRGE8kq5j-hmynQoGsurWSCvTR3ymHCT7AYnSJ5VJhKhbjlDI8jf6BOIVu8siI7h17nWUwi64gKuMl1S2g4WV2i6fjp5bZ6arb783Cgyuzb8Fr2HcRmMeCSEZGucIzxBUJ9i6JOPBHclD8aMN" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1296" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguzeSqJmCrtxL9R8bY4ZEtC1dlHnFxXaBdmuOFhgfyRGE8kq5j-hmynQoGsurWSCvTR3ymHCT7AYnSJ5VJhKhbjlDI8jf6BOIVu8siI7h17nWUwi64gKuMl1S2g4WV2i6fjp5bZ6arb783Cgyuzb8Fr2HcRmMeCSEZGucIzxBUJ9i6JOPBHclD8aMN=w640-h454" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saxon Fyrd</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>In the image above, I used a mixture of round beads and round head plugs to represent the upper part, and round beads, cylinder, and flat head plugs for the lower part. The shields are ½ a sphere of clear plastic, to represent the shield. As always, spears are made from a standard toothpick.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHBc6CKIhzB6kFZtI13m8iTQxNVTzcSh4g1LoxuXqL8jqJkGzDEs_DnD-SgVAMpqdWnAujKo3LQCJlf7az6MuownBZsoiri192lD1f9GFTdFVJ425ioXCzO6RUeHk6seRakgni6x69qwBUPq2edyypR7E82bO5yS0o7XUaAWaYuVKSjed-E2f9vubh" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1296" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHBc6CKIhzB6kFZtI13m8iTQxNVTzcSh4g1LoxuXqL8jqJkGzDEs_DnD-SgVAMpqdWnAujKo3LQCJlf7az6MuownBZsoiri192lD1f9GFTdFVJ425ioXCzO6RUeHk6seRakgni6x69qwBUPq2edyypR7E82bO5yS0o7XUaAWaYuVKSjed-E2f9vubh=w640-h428" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Saxon Fyrd</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The above are ones that I made and posted about in 2016. (All projects eventually get finished!) They are all round beads for the upper part and square beads for the lower part. Shields are made from thin craft foam using a hole punch.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgryzdHoZ1iu1UDudp3JEZ-7yKMBDlSVRAj1TCkF3F-RT8VXRq15F5roM8WkdodIVaQvGsWHqqybPXgq925GRG1FtFV2TGEFoDgSd_LjbDGMFcMdvki6P1JelXCutJ0fpFWDuakV4CjcEE1S9SK0rFSiBd-cH449MSnTUVVE-Q1Z_ies-BsvlvNpxfW" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1296" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgryzdHoZ1iu1UDudp3JEZ-7yKMBDlSVRAj1TCkF3F-RT8VXRq15F5roM8WkdodIVaQvGsWHqqybPXgq925GRG1FtFV2TGEFoDgSd_LjbDGMFcMdvki6P1JelXCutJ0fpFWDuakV4CjcEE1S9SK0rFSiBd-cH449MSnTUVVE-Q1Z_ies-BsvlvNpxfW=w640-h434" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Saxon Fyrd</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>More figures from 2016 that use a small flat 'bead' for the shield. I could never find one the proper size, so I switched to craft foam hole punch shields.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijKN11iG22B8ZMJAgHwvhzv8cxZGLmKGwOWQUnbPybUioysoHETeE1dxR_wuk0FPWD8TJ-ZVEBEmvwzsi27rAQy5pkxEimh6EXdY3NLd00za2aPFZTGZHe0r1amTxCEaOjbwZQv-WuzUWmRfX7OPydfNFZqy16SQtyIhwi4OR4U-bxqt3Ez60a_OEB" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1007" data-original-width="1296" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijKN11iG22B8ZMJAgHwvhzv8cxZGLmKGwOWQUnbPybUioysoHETeE1dxR_wuk0FPWD8TJ-ZVEBEmvwzsi27rAQy5pkxEimh6EXdY3NLd00za2aPFZTGZHe0r1amTxCEaOjbwZQv-WuzUWmRfX7OPydfNFZqy16SQtyIhwi4OR4U-bxqt3Ez60a_OEB=w640-h497" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saxon Huscarls</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>To emphasize the metal helmets, beyond simply painting them a metallic color, I used button (mushroom) plugs. Some figures have a 'Phrygian' cap, like the end figures in the second rank. Here is the look I was going for.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFSPVVAEitgjvY1zIKsNgGb1kpb5mwatVsEHyLnW8fmKm5Y1G9wsPsfFhJTXJu7u4UhHs3ir4XAM9CgJu3ZQjxjJHL2CaJeRr89CJZw2a1LA1YFmSuaR5mrKP_L0EWxrVMZNLkLlDWHg6KGdX6ABX5vSI7zr4cBuifeWN24MtJ4nCksqROANMMLGys" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="564" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFSPVVAEitgjvY1zIKsNgGb1kpb5mwatVsEHyLnW8fmKm5Y1G9wsPsfFhJTXJu7u4UhHs3ir4XAM9CgJu3ZQjxjJHL2CaJeRr89CJZw2a1LA1YFmSuaR5mrKP_L0EWxrVMZNLkLlDWHg6KGdX6ABX5vSI7zr4cBuifeWN24MtJ4nCksqROANMMLGys" width="240" /></a></div>
<p>The intent was to use two beads and some filler to simulate it.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimFWr57AZ5lUWdYGWlS5r8-PzReg5VoNl-zXg9HASWFN_llPQ4xzF7fqvpD3xerV3T1HDTQ6G01y-tM0rvTor2a0IxN0zb-ue7dTdak0GQVQqIHU1OXTNJS0NKAAW0cs-lpsuiC0eqxC3rsQ9Ic85e0gYuX0eh-uYDXgFQ4_kQNU6w1hV_Ts6CRNUy" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="114" data-original-width="84" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimFWr57AZ5lUWdYGWlS5r8-PzReg5VoNl-zXg9HASWFN_llPQ4xzF7fqvpD3xerV3T1HDTQ6G01y-tM0rvTor2a0IxN0zb-ue7dTdak0GQVQqIHU1OXTNJS0NKAAW0cs-lpsuiC0eqxC3rsQ9Ic85e0gYuX0eh-uYDXgFQ4_kQNU6w1hV_Ts6CRNUy" width="176" /></a></div>
<p>The light gray bead is a cylinder. Although mine was square with rounded corners, it would have looked better if it were wider than it was tall. The dark gray was an oval bead, very much wider than tall. Finally, the white represents where I put filler, to try and hide the gap between the two beads at the back of the head, but leave it in the front, in an attempt to give it the 'floppy cap' look. In the end it sort of fails because I always have trouble filling gaps.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5aGXuwTPEw1D39hPMG5U3O5Q_PMekA9CGZYDpiFmL1ZZ1GUHO2aReKjOHL70EgdYGRR-D-bjhO758yuI_iRaNAZFIMJQdlEYYm5v_7hMT4jz7i5JhBaaP6BYI-fOksEvz3tOPnDZ-aGY0tgoB07jcj_1WzSxCXQFBixQvtRskDSZOriMNVOJcRBsp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="424" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5aGXuwTPEw1D39hPMG5U3O5Q_PMekA9CGZYDpiFmL1ZZ1GUHO2aReKjOHL70EgdYGRR-D-bjhO758yuI_iRaNAZFIMJQdlEYYm5v_7hMT4jz7i5JhBaaP6BYI-fOksEvz3tOPnDZ-aGY0tgoB07jcj_1WzSxCXQFBixQvtRskDSZOriMNVOJcRBsp=w103-h320" width="103" /></a></div>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i>As a side note I can see using this same technique to represent a beret, with the open gap to the side and gluing the top bead at a slight angle. I may also have come up with a better gap filler: 'sprue goo'. Sprue Goo is where you take plastic sprue from plastic models, and dissolve it in acetone or plastic cement (acetone and butyl acetate). You can use it like liquid plastic which will harden. I used it in this experiment below to make spear points on the toothpicks. (It worked but was too much trouble.)</i></p></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6Q_RXZYt8gzys6erj1pLBBNKweU1OY47xmdWmgCSWBWaL7NWDIvhBSrDY-XDjiu-rDvx0Ab89vC_I4_qv7WKGIH6B-Eayo0vv2hN8eKA0nkAPUZVoqc41jzs1Ebuyug8hIKCRZd6SVs9mcC3D4AFChkpbC6RCNqLUzNYAogLK8aCebg0cSmTAeE0d" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="196" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6Q_RXZYt8gzys6erj1pLBBNKweU1OY47xmdWmgCSWBWaL7NWDIvhBSrDY-XDjiu-rDvx0Ab89vC_I4_qv7WKGIH6B-Eayo0vv2hN8eKA0nkAPUZVoqc41jzs1Ebuyug8hIKCRZd6SVs9mcC3D4AFChkpbC6RCNqLUzNYAogLK8aCebg0cSmTAeE0d=w127-h400" width="127" /></a></div>
<p>Some people ask me: why do you spend all of that time making figures? Isn't it faster to just buy miniatures? My response is always: how long do you think it takes to glue two beads, a toothpick, and a hole-punched piece of foam together? How do you think it compares to removing flash from metal figures or mold lines from plastic ones?</p><p>The real time savings comes with painting. Because there is zero detail on the figure – it is all shape – you can add or leave off as much detail as you like. Further, exact placement of details is not necessary and further gives your figures a more realistic look in that everyone is not perfectly uniform, in either detail nor pose.</p><p>One factor I did not mention, and is something I have been pondering, is 'block painting' versus 'figure painting' versus sub-assembly painting. What do I mean by those terms?</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Block: all of the figures are assembled and then glued to the bases <i>before</i> being painted.</li><li>Figure: all of the figures are assembled, glued to painting strips (typically popsicle strips), and then each figure is painted before being glued to bases.</li><li>Sub-Assembly: the figures are partially assembled, painting each sub-assembly before assembling them into complete figures and gluing them to bases.</li></ul><p></p><p>Why would you do any of these particular methods?</p><p>Block painting allows you to ignore painting details that can't be seen, i.e. if your paint brush cannot reach it, you generally can't see it either, so why paint it? This saves time, but sacrifices quality. (It also cannot be used if you are mounting the figures individually.) The surest way to make this method look good is to prime everything black so that the unpainted portions look like they are in shadow. <i>The 2016 figures above were all block painted.</i></p><p>Sub-assembly painting is the other extreme. This allows you to easily paint everything producing the fewest mistakes (in terms of your loaded paint brush accidentally hitting an adjacent figure or part). It is very easy to paint details that you do want to appear. Hiding the glue spots after painting will be your hardest task. <i>The figures I consider doing this with the most are the cavalry.</i></p><p>Finally figure painting is the happy compromise. You will still end up painting details that might not be easily seen, but will still have color in those hard to see, but still visible spots. Gluing will be covered with paint. <i>All of the figures painted in the last month used this method.</i></p><p>I am curious what you do (or would do) and does it change with scale of the figure?</p>Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-79082074332372483922022-09-25T10:15:00.000-07:002022-09-25T10:15:39.427-07:00Barrage 2022 Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon!<p>Got back from Barrage last night after running two games on Friday and one on Saturday. This was the first year I had made it on a Friday (usually tough for me because of work) and while there were definitely more people there on Saturday, there was still a good crowd on Friday. My game can hold up to 4 players and I had 2 players for the first game and 4 for the second game on Friday. Saturday I actually had 5 and being the great gamers that they were they divided up the heroes so that all 5 people could play. As is often the case with me, I ended up taking no pictures of game 1, some of game 2, and some of game 3.</p><p>Game 2: Outcome = player victory. 2 dead heroes (Chewie and Luke)</p><p>The game starts out the same way each time. Here is the general layout.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYH-e74WeSCLTBen1PO6RQQT5VtZz9-gnYPKgDZv9nhhNZ4o_e7z4HoHvoq-PVYahB9OPEf2frZkxJdn51h2uLs2UpOhTISwwGZqHqQYcwNjYkxPTswETgd0AZGTYZ2jH6tbbSnqveu_hOiR7VtfsKfHGtTOmClargprae6IsjH7TpNk-kIkEVxphD/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYH-e74WeSCLTBen1PO6RQQT5VtZz9-gnYPKgDZv9nhhNZ4o_e7z4HoHvoq-PVYahB9OPEf2frZkxJdn51h2uLs2UpOhTISwwGZqHqQYcwNjYkxPTswETgd0AZGTYZ2jH6tbbSnqveu_hOiR7VtfsKfHGtTOmClargprae6IsjH7TpNk-kIkEVxphD/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Jabba's barge flanks one side of the playing area. Leia has already dispatched Jabba at the start of the game and has made her way with the two droids onto the deck of the barge. Some of Jabba's henchmen are up there, two of which are there to man the two large guns that can be used to damage the skiffs. The guy closest to the bottom of the picture is the henchman who ends up in the movie shooting Luke in the hand after Luke makes his way onto the deck of Jabba's barge towards the end of the battle. You can't see him in this photo but Boba Fett is up on the raised rear deck of the barge.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwuefy4tVAzxOiYEShvFc4nsHK_pypQCMaGOUaEAAes8DbZpzrRq2vlRdfmlWwLiLO4BPBUvglYpqWJ6iLbOsfnAekFQ_yvzWxeFihrrs2XWvi8shJmzvGNd8okw9mgWprAXJKMq_U4g8gonfSOq2Esv64Mq9S91RVvO4LzmIJAo17QGzBx69VdJr/s1280/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwuefy4tVAzxOiYEShvFc4nsHK_pypQCMaGOUaEAAes8DbZpzrRq2vlRdfmlWwLiLO4BPBUvglYpqWJ6iLbOsfnAekFQ_yvzWxeFihrrs2XWvi8shJmzvGNd8okw9mgWprAXJKMq_U4g8gonfSOq2Esv64Mq9S91RVvO4LzmIJAo17QGzBx69VdJr/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>This is Skiff #1 which has Luke, Chewie, Han, and Lando on it along with five of Jabba's henchmen. In the first game I allowed Luke to start on the skiff rather than on the plank. In the second and third game I made him start on the plank to reduce his movement options. The sarlacc waits hungrily below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY76ie-F_O8po_eLumlNmJLQ9cXWAmalgLTyc0OPUYZgFeZQh9jyeD9Zu2HOwqfo14kY1Kg8_94iDO_5c2fu8PObXAOTWwF3qVj7kqE67gixkFd6X5EbcaZdSUugL7v36dyBxc6rg6EGv1Jr_tEngzpb3sWcgcxZvu_VJHvbGbKKHVT73Qi6_hlnLf/s1280/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY76ie-F_O8po_eLumlNmJLQ9cXWAmalgLTyc0OPUYZgFeZQh9jyeD9Zu2HOwqfo14kY1Kg8_94iDO_5c2fu8PObXAOTWwF3qVj7kqE67gixkFd6X5EbcaZdSUugL7v36dyBxc6rg6EGv1Jr_tEngzpb3sWcgcxZvu_VJHvbGbKKHVT73Qi6_hlnLf/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Skiff #2, manned just with Jabba's henchmen, begins quite a distance away. The challenge is it has two melee guys on it but it has 4 shooters, so that is a lot of shots for the heroes to absorb before they can do much about this second skiff. So having them be far away reduces their shooting die making it less likely for them to hit and to give the heroes a chance. The pilot of the skiff is not allowed to do anything but a "Move" action which is what is used to drive and stabilize the craft.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIRPEiwRu1vFNkCifBp87OKJ0jBeOD4HFflamNZgy0DlJ5GsSTg6JFRD_GhB_j-pqNaF-5thc7k1ICOI7RzyCTLIt_vaps2sYfVQujwPt95B7QhyNdus_CD_cNzsVdNV0PdRTpxmi3UyYmOEhk2Uyj-41QbtBja-aYWIe3rsk58qdSehi9YCvwGoz/s1280/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIRPEiwRu1vFNkCifBp87OKJ0jBeOD4HFflamNZgy0DlJ5GsSTg6JFRD_GhB_j-pqNaF-5thc7k1ICOI7RzyCTLIt_vaps2sYfVQujwPt95B7QhyNdus_CD_cNzsVdNV0PdRTpxmi3UyYmOEhk2Uyj-41QbtBja-aYWIe3rsk58qdSehi9YCvwGoz/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>You can see that this is well into the game as Boba Fett has made his way down to the deck of Skiff #1 to try and dispatch either Luke or Han. Lando is in a fight, but you can see one of the henchmen in the mouth of the sarlacc, most likely tossed there by Chewie. Rather than causing Hits in melee combat Chewie can opt to instead throw one enemy in melee with him into the sarlacc pit. This is usually the better option for Chewie unless he causes a lot of Hits and could possibly take out several henchman at once. But an auto-kill is always a good thing!<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogrOcgeB8TTu8-A08Qz1dwpDyqeqNWyqaZy2PpooXXmLdIWyffu3R2kHGtnJPN6BOPFHXOIz5Ep3MJXQlWUqB5C7E-hMwP2tUya3eBo95H6wL_tQ-Jpqh95_kZFFxQUtUi2925Aru9FDOns_5aiXI-NQiy8JbF6ULqF6mmhz0Eyzv6Bt9xI30ElFH/s1280/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogrOcgeB8TTu8-A08Qz1dwpDyqeqNWyqaZy2PpooXXmLdIWyffu3R2kHGtnJPN6BOPFHXOIz5Ep3MJXQlWUqB5C7E-hMwP2tUya3eBo95H6wL_tQ-Jpqh95_kZFFxQUtUi2925Aru9FDOns_5aiXI-NQiy8JbF6ULqF6mmhz0Eyzv6Bt9xI30ElFH/w480-h640/5.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Skiff #2 has moved closer to Skiff #1 at this point and this takes away the ranged penalty for the shots from these henchman. Things are getting very serious for the heroes at this point!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSThUj8jBPNYrMOy7Ir-Rhsb0VK0i8LXM6rih42yuPMPlrIo3jReYUw_XjIcuoTFNkHwMIjFZxF94nrqyZURbQyqGZdnfU874l6Own5sKzOtgtYWtULVkiBmUeqcHc_MQNpA6_ZLH_9edv8Oz4_HiDBTYNDpx0-ND9d1siiP_X4iq-vsEXdFocjeXz/s1280/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSThUj8jBPNYrMOy7Ir-Rhsb0VK0i8LXM6rih42yuPMPlrIo3jReYUw_XjIcuoTFNkHwMIjFZxF94nrqyZURbQyqGZdnfU874l6Own5sKzOtgtYWtULVkiBmUeqcHc_MQNpA6_ZLH_9edv8Oz4_HiDBTYNDpx0-ND9d1siiP_X4iq-vsEXdFocjeXz/w480-h640/6.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>By this time Leia has managed to man one of the guns and is putting shots onto Skiff #2. Brave R2 even though he is not good in combat, changes the henchman manning the other gun ...<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrSmhn-KJ2iXUyAvcfMBXTdaMuPyTSxbtRBNw87qHlJnCjkSv27lPkKJN4u9J_psr9pNAB6_T1GxmSc2QluPb8TRGeYOYXXn5vSNn5UHzJBYOb5-mRhOoEHtXOUCCEfV0xfHBaRfWfV3ARHQEmbpOp-4AkQLEJXicBTbFQ-7NDEdB2A2zPirSqwj_/s1280/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrSmhn-KJ2iXUyAvcfMBXTdaMuPyTSxbtRBNw87qHlJnCjkSv27lPkKJN4u9J_psr9pNAB6_T1GxmSc2QluPb8TRGeYOYXXn5vSNn5UHzJBYOb5-mRhOoEHtXOUCCEfV0xfHBaRfWfV3ARHQEmbpOp-4AkQLEJXicBTbFQ-7NDEdB2A2zPirSqwj_/w480-h640/7.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>... and through an act of the Force (has to be!) manages to win the melee combat and push the henchman back 1". The henchman is allowed to make a roll to hang on and keep from falling, which he passes, but he is clearly in a bad place!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkjHzkr3FOkU1Nbk8EP258LmwABS04qS7m-fj1bOHRnEGijDvtXKEO3w8uBiSLWI9jYk1Pdyydq4ZJd9GE5wiNp9RpEYhRCObJ0GmIg_ORmGrVT0nZ3bhJLgLGrSk_N1oHoW-lvoK9C4TkdWf6bMALWP8DaPRDfF9sPw97-G8Hiy-uBXU0fs3sPKy/s1280/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkjHzkr3FOkU1Nbk8EP258LmwABS04qS7m-fj1bOHRnEGijDvtXKEO3w8uBiSLWI9jYk1Pdyydq4ZJd9GE5wiNp9RpEYhRCObJ0GmIg_ORmGrVT0nZ3bhJLgLGrSk_N1oHoW-lvoK9C4TkdWf6bMALWP8DaPRDfF9sPw97-G8Hiy-uBXU0fs3sPKy/w480-h640/8.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>This is the last picture I have of game 2, but you can see Luke has made his way over to Skiff #2 and is dealing with all the shooters there. Some shoot at him but some also shoot at Leia, especially now since she won't shoot at their skiff anymore because Luke is on it.</p><p>Game 3: Outcome = player victory (1 dead hero - Han).<br /></p><p>Game 3 was a real nail biter because the players lost Han by the third turn I think. I was very worried. He is essentially the only consistent shooting that they have, and not having that makes it very difficult to deal with Skiff #2. Leia and R2 (who can use his anti-fire spray to block LoS for one of the deck guns for 1d4 turns) can pretty well handle the shooters on Jabba's barge. It's Skiff #2 that is the problem and usually Han is best served to pick them off one at a time. But with him gone early, and the Luke player having really, really cold dice, it was touch and go for the players in this game. Turned out that Leia and Chewie were the major players in this one with Lando providing some needed support.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxoxoQDE7k-VStTyWQdaQL7L5zlYcoaVTXns-eJ7rBUwFy5-e92_nL3hTdlCAGbQWw_qKmNLkFsYp1E2PRa6NgmxmGqVURcCu2-z2xyxIVTR9dKDrkjCE5TftRBZ6sAF0zHQUPZrJov83Nm2mA7oBuorNQmvxYZ1d0JXbkISZ_bPvUrZvxqJisPW8/s1280/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxoxoQDE7k-VStTyWQdaQL7L5zlYcoaVTXns-eJ7rBUwFy5-e92_nL3hTdlCAGbQWw_qKmNLkFsYp1E2PRa6NgmxmGqVURcCu2-z2xyxIVTR9dKDrkjCE5TftRBZ6sAF0zHQUPZrJov83Nm2mA7oBuorNQmvxYZ1d0JXbkISZ_bPvUrZvxqJisPW8/w480-h640/10.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Chewie has already tossed one henchman into the mouth of the sarlacc. You can see Han fighting against Boba Fett in melee combat here. Boba Fett gets an incredible roll, Han's player fails his Wound check twice (using a reroll to try and make it) needing only to roll a "3" or more on one of the 1d6 rolls, and he rolled a "1" and a "2". Ouch.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zx4MRm4lcmfksyQY2MK_cjpqP_6BQVJqoi-9M1ltm8qWlMUqnYrHPTyKD1cEMCnDXYqlw4p8eqntvlk9T2aOONo-O8WT7iKIGZDHSjB-HUkUk3pv0pLGCMWQZio1W0vPk2aLIJwTfV3awjW2wvMV_3aHQnytiCA_V6oab3e-WbvoMGR4Z0dNGBBG/s1280/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zx4MRm4lcmfksyQY2MK_cjpqP_6BQVJqoi-9M1ltm8qWlMUqnYrHPTyKD1cEMCnDXYqlw4p8eqntvlk9T2aOONo-O8WT7iKIGZDHSjB-HUkUk3pv0pLGCMWQZio1W0vPk2aLIJwTfV3awjW2wvMV_3aHQnytiCA_V6oab3e-WbvoMGR4Z0dNGBBG/w480-h640/11.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Chewie and Lando are "clearing the deck" of henchman. The gold bead indicates that Lando is shaken and will have to rally before doing anything else on his activation.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSEXZbcj_c0-rmUQHpiJq1mJFHIWD6jPpTmIIwn3mE5CLEZtyQLtqaUP2YRlkH1VOrE67EJHOGfpDnBvIA44Uo0vVTQNVGUeHHKxWzBoq5HDkRotqytFHtnYE3WPTwH-GjiVQaGd2odI1gWCGzd22pBDBfr6uAcTeE1dtTbPQEqxHPm3K-1x1R6OX/s1280/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSEXZbcj_c0-rmUQHpiJq1mJFHIWD6jPpTmIIwn3mE5CLEZtyQLtqaUP2YRlkH1VOrE67EJHOGfpDnBvIA44Uo0vVTQNVGUeHHKxWzBoq5HDkRotqytFHtnYE3WPTwH-GjiVQaGd2odI1gWCGzd22pBDBfr6uAcTeE1dtTbPQEqxHPm3K-1x1R6OX/w480-h640/12.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>In the 3rd game, Leia and the Droids were the first to activate and the player brilliantly had her move to and man one of the big guns. Great decision, and this probably saved the heroes in this game. The player got a little unlucky in that Leia was able to shoot Skiff #2 regularly, but the GM (me) got incredibly lucky and made almost every armor save for the skiff ... almost every one ... :-)</p><p>You can also see that Boba Fett has now flown back onto the deck of the barge to deal with Luke who used his Force ability to move up here and occupy the henchman who wants to man the other gun. You can also see that R2 is down. Got into melee, but lost and became "Frazzled" after failing his wound check. C3PO would later repair him.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCA9TCYRBDFFLj8vvHUjtU5AQ7YEhFxFesSGRPJ3_d7djCvAyffIjBDoMFC3JgqWF3F-dMHx073eHZn9DPLPycSftxdiIRJAD7a4soB8qbhg_a5BQ28FvbCVNA6JXtk_TEDONSVoz_5rbLwGVPItfrG0rPDb1vkiV9XA0OgRBRe5ar8F8jO77Cw4q8/s1280/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCA9TCYRBDFFLj8vvHUjtU5AQ7YEhFxFesSGRPJ3_d7djCvAyffIjBDoMFC3JgqWF3F-dMHx073eHZn9DPLPycSftxdiIRJAD7a4soB8qbhg_a5BQ28FvbCVNA6JXtk_TEDONSVoz_5rbLwGVPItfrG0rPDb1vkiV9XA0OgRBRe5ar8F8jO77Cw4q8/w480-h640/13.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Some of the henchman from Skiff #2 have moved over to Skiff #1 after it got close enough. No problem though, Lando and Chewie make short work of these guys.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCznJC0OAkeKVLA72nsiij8Gc9vqG3uRY0TjW_8T_2JOJGcRy2PTdP-qhQGf3uGUcrHGcOByzrSw7kViq99r41rJOzZvEQsjqv502oFBp7o6H7rFyW-BYytUJ82CN6KMrjzUxk4pSXSHY3M2ZDo46dHY1crS_Uf1XhzzKcoY-oLyWWzvv0cG7QDi0s/s1280/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCznJC0OAkeKVLA72nsiij8Gc9vqG3uRY0TjW_8T_2JOJGcRy2PTdP-qhQGf3uGUcrHGcOByzrSw7kViq99r41rJOzZvEQsjqv502oFBp7o6H7rFyW-BYytUJ82CN6KMrjzUxk4pSXSHY3M2ZDo46dHY1crS_Uf1XhzzKcoY-oLyWWzvv0cG7QDi0s/w480-h640/14.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>R2 is back and Luke is about to take care of the last, shaken, henchman while Leia blasts Skiff #2 over and over.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWkmUbgWxH0afJRWMMR7EdSQuVBGS-H7dmlsaqod7phU0x7fBcfS1vxiv5tIIokqUe6cHtie_7d0ql4QzE7OxQH2V5fkXP6WJzuCX98ouUE6VTdB6-D_9FiJ_5ETLyJhf5PtxeyJ_TZ5m0JWzYDcYzb8FJ6hAhVVt8K0coQs_L7WoVhsFLJ4pnT6F/s1280/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWkmUbgWxH0afJRWMMR7EdSQuVBGS-H7dmlsaqod7phU0x7fBcfS1vxiv5tIIokqUe6cHtie_7d0ql4QzE7OxQH2V5fkXP6WJzuCX98ouUE6VTdB6-D_9FiJ_5ETLyJhf5PtxeyJ_TZ5m0JWzYDcYzb8FJ6hAhVVt8K0coQs_L7WoVhsFLJ4pnT6F/w480-h640/16.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>When a skiff is hit by a deck gun, the figures on it must make a roll or be knocked down, which forces them to use their next action to try and stand up. The two gems mean that the skiff has suffered two damaging shots. One more and it's toast.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaODPI_e8A-ndA44-Owk-eIVFZKubhXb3OUiNtpjvNNufu6vv25ecEtz6061fJwbyQoCDxD0oUEN30_7y1ANrglpzkrKcE5nO8kMl-viOIcrxWgVzrpLtGMtO0yc51qLnVum1MaNkl4t4LpOJBK2i3YBA2nLeDdwKWw11K7PpyPrn_AwHsWUcSxO4n/s1280/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaODPI_e8A-ndA44-Owk-eIVFZKubhXb3OUiNtpjvNNufu6vv25ecEtz6061fJwbyQoCDxD0oUEN30_7y1ANrglpzkrKcE5nO8kMl-viOIcrxWgVzrpLtGMtO0yc51qLnVum1MaNkl4t4LpOJBK2i3YBA2nLeDdwKWw11K7PpyPrn_AwHsWUcSxO4n/w480-h640/17.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Chewie roaring and celebrating, looking down at all the henchman he has thrown into the sarlacc pit!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNrI4-FstS5V6j5jKZTQHi2DnpgLp9u122wEvHhZNsfuvoLKrPNcX0YZSdGyowEJGDSwpWL2iyx__-WtbL_k2sWYUws1GnxTeOyUBFobJuPMMrEssMQA0L9jzupYnPr2DFOF4HzdWPoZgYLVk90W3wZ1-1Oq1eXZs4mQTlca8k0-t7_nsu5dxFkLw/s1280/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNrI4-FstS5V6j5jKZTQHi2DnpgLp9u122wEvHhZNsfuvoLKrPNcX0YZSdGyowEJGDSwpWL2iyx__-WtbL_k2sWYUws1GnxTeOyUBFobJuPMMrEssMQA0L9jzupYnPr2DFOF4HzdWPoZgYLVk90W3wZ1-1Oq1eXZs4mQTlca8k0-t7_nsu5dxFkLw/w480-h640/18.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Leia is finally able to hit Skiff #2 and I failed the armor roll ... destroyed. The guys on the deck fall to the sand with the craft and are defeated.</p><p><br /></p><p>As usual, I had a great time at Barrage. I have a lot of friends there, and I always have a good time when I go. Already looking forward to next year.<br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-83009358689098718352022-09-18T11:07:00.000-07:002022-09-18T11:07:59.075-07:00Jabba's Barge!<p> Took a while, but I finally finished Jabba's barge and the figures that go along with it. I am now ready for the Barrage game next weekend!</p><p>The barge is all foam, thick foam for the body and some of the pieces on the deck, like the entrance in the middle to below decks, and thin foam, like the railings, most of the vent covers, and ladders. Everything on the barge is foam except for the vertical pieces that hold the fins on the back, and the circles on the outside of the fins (those are all wood).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqbONjexIhdi7KIUkNf0qYMOKj1jROZO38kiFkheHyagJU52G-tTLuNdpgWxGwGBYjfDY_3ktHjFpNaz0BKZf6ywvB6liR2EluMDZ1EKcrsqZrHLp9MwEGEeI2xjgPhtUZtIJDYogsmWwoGsNbV4AvKFVttiCBf9fzeuAbAD4LXOPgDuDNWV6jSVeW/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqbONjexIhdi7KIUkNf0qYMOKj1jROZO38kiFkheHyagJU52G-tTLuNdpgWxGwGBYjfDY_3ktHjFpNaz0BKZf6ywvB6liR2EluMDZ1EKcrsqZrHLp9MwEGEeI2xjgPhtUZtIJDYogsmWwoGsNbV4AvKFVttiCBf9fzeuAbAD4LXOPgDuDNWV6jSVeW/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>Here are some pics of the different parts of the deck. The barge is not hollow, you can only play on the deck surfaces. The game begins after Leia has killed Jabba and can enter the deck from the center piece on the first turn of the game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZ7QaSI7bjsbqmErleF8Qx5OsviHPZX4wPVacj08UzykzOgSIi-44n3NE8JjU8KY77JpTRb4aOtubRsRE1Iwn0QNbWX19oo98wAuutisefnOZ98XtSb5r35fXFaD6klx_GHkkpScY71F0umiBo_VsMhSV8sBTWUp_CzA5o6dMRSJqyM_lzqwrQMdm/s1280/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZ7QaSI7bjsbqmErleF8Qx5OsviHPZX4wPVacj08UzykzOgSIi-44n3NE8JjU8KY77JpTRb4aOtubRsRE1Iwn0QNbWX19oo98wAuutisefnOZ98XtSb5r35fXFaD6klx_GHkkpScY71F0umiBo_VsMhSV8sBTWUp_CzA5o6dMRSJqyM_lzqwrQMdm/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhImyuIWibav_icJhtSdCNWe6dOkDFcWEqqk_t2ZZOeSU_yQC5xSp-KcJoJf1Wm_ODCdK-wmAxLlSG2fdCZgNRQEAhIBPf6NPt2CDqqUj9kVIke7-o7pp-IhtwTqHrlm9ifpcYsKJJ-J7a5B3fC1LG26ArEGCCyezl_ZbxrtEFl7AkGFu9DPK2_mcdg/s1280/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhImyuIWibav_icJhtSdCNWe6dOkDFcWEqqk_t2ZZOeSU_yQC5xSp-KcJoJf1Wm_ODCdK-wmAxLlSG2fdCZgNRQEAhIBPf6NPt2CDqqUj9kVIke7-o7pp-IhtwTqHrlm9ifpcYsKJJ-J7a5B3fC1LG26ArEGCCyezl_ZbxrtEFl7AkGFu9DPK2_mcdg/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>The deck guns are removable, both for flexibility in the game and also for safety of transporting the game so that things don't get broken off during transit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwOK5GalB-xDIY9Uc4EG6VhpBXFeTeK644tF57VLhRPqb_2JBVo-zXQNkHBdh5pz1dcT_YvLmx_yfzcPw50OkbubaVRALlcPuVRIuyBINGxyPLFe3R-ttdwndolkd0HPF-CMNWzWcALp6W0lF4AdvaqkS6-1IzlXXdPqiQ64cnF9gBYMK2Wg-eSHO/s1280/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwOK5GalB-xDIY9Uc4EG6VhpBXFeTeK644tF57VLhRPqb_2JBVo-zXQNkHBdh5pz1dcT_YvLmx_yfzcPw50OkbubaVRALlcPuVRIuyBINGxyPLFe3R-ttdwndolkd0HPF-CMNWzWcALp6W0lF4AdvaqkS6-1IzlXXdPqiQ64cnF9gBYMK2Wg-eSHO/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The air conditioner (that's what I think it is anyway) is also removable. Just a round thick base with tile spacers cut to be the pipes and the center piece is a wood plug.</p><p>Now onto the miniatures themselves.</p><p>First ... the man ... Boba Fett!</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4SenWgs4QiTgk7VMfQu0PsoSqNIawy-snp4S1mZUMjwdeIPRu8UCrGbRzYT-OUOfAZvNXB8eqEPnIkJepYUohwqr6aDtoM_1xtw4IG7rmIG20BMmjoWw4Z4qrby_FECuJr-GBwIkG8gjm3lff5uqk9e4on--EEd0PxcE8aeJZnLHxsOmnma-vIZS/s1280/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4SenWgs4QiTgk7VMfQu0PsoSqNIawy-snp4S1mZUMjwdeIPRu8UCrGbRzYT-OUOfAZvNXB8eqEPnIkJepYUohwqr6aDtoM_1xtw4IG7rmIG20BMmjoWw4Z4qrby_FECuJr-GBwIkG8gjm3lff5uqk9e4on--EEd0PxcE8aeJZnLHxsOmnma-vIZS/w480-h640/5.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>You can't see his backpack and cape in this image but they are there. Honestly, his "look" is perfect for the way the figures are constructed.</p><p>Next up, the Gamorrean.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrfu2Ha7QfVHWTJ84pTNPt9vPBvHXf6a-bK_SoTvuZ6Sxd5GHv9LTBjEEUqDJPMWBYhYUW_BTvdW8icKI2MZXEnc4Np9WZiPg-ReHMGEgBTpaavvCQZfSrmagehMxJHCrjJ_ixihcksBGloNsrhn_y9CA-I21d9juVPgQsrR1m3pduvzphieAOEsq/s1280/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrfu2Ha7QfVHWTJ84pTNPt9vPBvHXf6a-bK_SoTvuZ6Sxd5GHv9LTBjEEUqDJPMWBYhYUW_BTvdW8icKI2MZXEnc4Np9WZiPg-ReHMGEgBTpaavvCQZfSrmagehMxJHCrjJ_ixihcksBGloNsrhn_y9CA-I21d9juVPgQsrR1m3pduvzphieAOEsq/w480-h640/6.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>Lots going on with this guy. The head is the newest part of the figure. The top is a split round bead and the sides are two small long beads creating the "jowls". The nose is a tile spacer cut to fit correctly as are the horns and tusks. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZeEXBaYF_LevP0QddbDfWauSI4UrLLYLvqCiyZ89P3DIILGTOI1akDdGZFVvPWSJ0huPbJPZi2r3lmjqpPBb_FGC9KKjzBiwbJlmUJtYVwHfoxgdbZ70OwHx-eFB19uvd3WPOodMBLdp3Wp68bmBkJ5QV_GDGQNjstrv6j5LuQ9NtETZbAU3ufpU/s1280/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZeEXBaYF_LevP0QddbDfWauSI4UrLLYLvqCiyZ89P3DIILGTOI1akDdGZFVvPWSJ0huPbJPZi2r3lmjqpPBb_FGC9KKjzBiwbJlmUJtYVwHfoxgdbZ70OwHx-eFB19uvd3WPOodMBLdp3Wp68bmBkJ5QV_GDGQNjstrv6j5LuQ9NtETZbAU3ufpU/w480-h640/7.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>This is one of my favorite of Jabba's henchmen. His helmet is cool, his face covering is cool, his armor is cool, and he's the one in the movie that shoots Luke in the hand. Just a cool dude and I'm very happy with how he turned out.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQaEJ6eEOtVFPHA0xfvlafj_ZDopBw0rV_uc7NBGO29SIexQP8uGLlIZnCMJNozY8aV6d2JGqHvzqC7CT-2o5Rwzp4Ol1SrHp9NUXJuwm7MZrBDjx4DYHduoBkCyLiTjtV9ajx_rrl8XBkooYqtUjO6e8austMTdOxzTz8M6P6QABXTNYwHeIbkGJ/s1280/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQaEJ6eEOtVFPHA0xfvlafj_ZDopBw0rV_uc7NBGO29SIexQP8uGLlIZnCMJNozY8aV6d2JGqHvzqC7CT-2o5Rwzp4Ol1SrHp9NUXJuwm7MZrBDjx4DYHduoBkCyLiTjtV9ajx_rrl8XBkooYqtUjO6e8austMTdOxzTz8M6P6QABXTNYwHeIbkGJ/w480-h640/8.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The droids! Happy with both of them, R2 in particular.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1VW-llyZNvwb-W8T2jMoxDe-bnopcscULjnXKFo1Ufi_6kPi_l5A3VqIUZvClHV-4hd5tRv4X0bn4xNaQOqNdPkVGNiEx2iqyKX2o4hw_T9pnpceheeMNAj6ptLGB2IyGe-X5RH2LA51NXOzn5Usi1pxi4IgaIy0AS19XGHwoa5iD5rH92Sr8FIoW/s1280/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1VW-llyZNvwb-W8T2jMoxDe-bnopcscULjnXKFo1Ufi_6kPi_l5A3VqIUZvClHV-4hd5tRv4X0bn4xNaQOqNdPkVGNiEx2iqyKX2o4hw_T9pnpceheeMNAj6ptLGB2IyGe-X5RH2LA51NXOzn5Usi1pxi4IgaIy0AS19XGHwoa5iD5rH92Sr8FIoW/w480-h640/9.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Leia squaring off against another of Jabba's henchmen. She also turned out better than I expected. Her hair is awesome, you just can't really see it in this picture.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am running a test game tonight. I'll try and remember to take pictures.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-34837372656110328542022-08-11T14:23:00.000-07:002022-08-11T14:23:02.098-07:00The Sarlacc Pit!<p> Finished the sarlacc pit today so I thought I would post some pictures of it. For the game, it is more of a "terrain piece" since it doesn't move or anything, but I treated it in my mind like a big figure so I would have more fun doing it.</p><p>A while ago I did some tentacles for the LotR games I was doing that were coming out of the water so I knew that I could use a similar construction approach with the tentacles of this beast as well. They are beads hot glued together and then some white glue is put in the joints to increase strength. After that, I used a hot glue gun again to smooth out some of the joints to make them look less like a beaded necklace and more like a tentacle, which essentially means that I covered up the white glue with more hot glue to make the transitions between the beads less severe. It takes a lot of hot glue to do this, and some patience, but it's worth it in the end I think.</p><p>The head is made from two very large split eggs. I used hot glue to make beads around its mouth just to give it some visual interest even though the "real" creature from the movies doesn't really have this. Like the tentacles, the head is glued to a thin wooden pre-cut circle shape I bought at the craft store that I think is 6 inches in diameter. I then took a large piece of the thin craft foam, cut it in an irregular shape much larger than the wooden circle, and cut an irregular center out of it that is smaller than the wooden circle and then glued that foam to the thin wood circle. Then I took a smaller piece of the thick craft foam, cut it into an irregular circle shape that is larger than the wooden circle but smaller than the thin craft foam, and then cut the center out in an irregular circle as well but making sure it was a bigger circle than the interior of the thin craft foam. My hope was that once the thick foam was glued onto the thin foam it would give a bit of 3D dimension and create a "hole" effect. This seemed to work, especially when I then painted the center as if to appear that it is going down into the throat (?) of the creature. On the top layer of thin foam closest to the center I added toothpicks with hot glue to give the impression of the spiky things on the inside of the creature's throat (?) and then painted smaller versions on the wooden circle closer to the center as the throat (?) descends into the depths. The tongue is thick craft foam cut to shape and then I cut the part at the back of the mouth at a 45 degree angle to allow me to really squeeze the tongue down onto the base when gluing it so that it was snug up against the mouth pieces.<br /></p><p>Here are some shots of it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6AhU_BbB5m5zrpU4472RADU3hEU90lcXGM0G6I-rPFJwoXf0PObb7qzg4gBmlr9U5y5NJlW30p6SF3iIJKbPRdSeY4He-W8B8ei9bQfJZ0L1rMODZP651QP2wS419Z87ukzkuvl-_lhzy3etjdqbXNAEVO7-gUc3cI2ikrwRqIHlKCOw-PPHa9MNJ/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6AhU_BbB5m5zrpU4472RADU3hEU90lcXGM0G6I-rPFJwoXf0PObb7qzg4gBmlr9U5y5NJlW30p6SF3iIJKbPRdSeY4He-W8B8ei9bQfJZ0L1rMODZP651QP2wS419Z87ukzkuvl-_lhzy3etjdqbXNAEVO7-gUc3cI2ikrwRqIHlKCOw-PPHa9MNJ/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The base is painted with the stipple brush just like I did for the flight bases for the skiffs. It's hard to see in this picture but the throat (?) of the creature is painted with a darker layer close to the neck of the head, then a lighter layer next to that, and then the lightest layer at the top which is the thin craft foam. I was hoping that the darker to lighter color variation would create an illusion of depth. I am not going to lie, it was really fun to build and paint this thing.<br /></p><p>More pics.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4dGcA_gnOxPbMCDeQ4rLc9lGfLgF7GX0Weae7yvb3K606f0cnWajEh1dkf69goOe_wF7_Davn2397T2U9GJ3vcJKfkFPqgaVXU8DUAG7q0WrOczjIRqtco6IWn3KWbA57lwNOUMKxEBLGEwBg0qezwK0dirBT9TGbD6s_2W4hfYjRrvkIwtxrs5i/s1280/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4dGcA_gnOxPbMCDeQ4rLc9lGfLgF7GX0Weae7yvb3K606f0cnWajEh1dkf69goOe_wF7_Davn2397T2U9GJ3vcJKfkFPqgaVXU8DUAG7q0WrOczjIRqtco6IWn3KWbA57lwNOUMKxEBLGEwBg0qezwK0dirBT9TGbD6s_2W4hfYjRrvkIwtxrs5i/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>You can see the toothpicks better here. Can you tell which ones are painted on and which are actually 3D toothpicks? Not easy, even in person.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZrlgeEvKwrnpwJUL7-zKFhSgYLVvc6h6DvaCTTXaBUnIjHJzw0K4K2w2LZQWUmmwIe97RXMe2VhJyxzD_0R44-2cUAkuzd4YDTxYfw9Z2Ewszi6kvJ6IDcxd-23OpHNSfSjCpOw9vLDOW_x7CTqfZunff9DJOQhToLqh9mif3x8i7bUopJUlcZv8/s1280/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZrlgeEvKwrnpwJUL7-zKFhSgYLVvc6h6DvaCTTXaBUnIjHJzw0K4K2w2LZQWUmmwIe97RXMe2VhJyxzD_0R44-2cUAkuzd4YDTxYfw9Z2Ewszi6kvJ6IDcxd-23OpHNSfSjCpOw9vLDOW_x7CTqfZunff9DJOQhToLqh9mif3x8i7bUopJUlcZv8/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Here is the pic from the movie that I used for inspiration. How do you think I did?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0vfDDYlTXM6NRHo8yctp9RmotAkaTSKhm0r3dC3Wo1wGKimvCgZqThLxeaLlKtO-0uYCKC9NQUwExFNz8nxb0I-mU1_ozgWwXddJX_DjluQIgusyfzxGIyzxTvQTinhlYZHkYPAI0Yv9kYt3iVOIXcEmYl3KNds379jyBoMAlIANlf1Sj0I4xzlJ/s780/sarlacc.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0vfDDYlTXM6NRHo8yctp9RmotAkaTSKhm0r3dC3Wo1wGKimvCgZqThLxeaLlKtO-0uYCKC9NQUwExFNz8nxb0I-mU1_ozgWwXddJX_DjluQIgusyfzxGIyzxTvQTinhlYZHkYPAI0Yv9kYt3iVOIXcEmYl3KNds379jyBoMAlIANlf1Sj0I4xzlJ/w640-h360/sarlacc.webp" width="640" /></a></div><br /> And finally a pic with the skiff so you can get a better sense of the scale. Watch out Luke! Be careful!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBuawy-qj78BOXzzhJrXpxY1zCJvGqN_-WmLgFTEaeDib-YwxFhLhjz-sfLXuHgcMW1IzqgTVPvV3tL6c5exnvSActLat_EHsqQBcC3yBe8vGZY1S8Q6nKrOCezIA95MPIvj4UkrmatbOR7BDZIrD5ZIr1EXtEua4DJg7ihwPCh6Po1E2Hf0NfXzg/s1280/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBuawy-qj78BOXzzhJrXpxY1zCJvGqN_-WmLgFTEaeDib-YwxFhLhjz-sfLXuHgcMW1IzqgTVPvV3tL6c5exnvSActLat_EHsqQBcC3yBe8vGZY1S8Q6nKrOCezIA95MPIvj4UkrmatbOR7BDZIrD5ZIr1EXtEua4DJg7ihwPCh6Po1E2Hf0NfXzg/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>I am pretty happy with it, it is large enough to be intimidating on the tabletop, but small enough that transport will not be an issue.</p><p>All that's left now are the figures on Jabba's barge, including the droids, Princess Leia, and Boba Fett, and the barge itself which is going to be a nightmare. But I'm still doing good on time, still more than a month to the convention.<br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-59251667381278253572022-08-07T15:03:00.005-07:002022-08-07T15:03:35.902-07:00Vibro-axe Construction<p> Dale was asking about the vibro-axes and he is right, I haven't done them before so I thought I would do a more detailed breakdown of their construction. </p><p>They are quite easy, but they do highlight something that has been an important lesson for me to learn about making figures in this style. The value of the tile spacers, not just because of their shape but also because of the flexibility and easy of cutting of the material they are made out of, cannot be overstated. I just want to give a shout out to a guy named Neil who used to post way back a decade ago in the yahoo group who was actually the first to my knowledge to use tile spacers for arms. I totally copied his idea with literally ALL of my figures since then, and have run with using them for as much as I possibly can. Thank you Neil!</p><p>The vibro-axe is made from a toothpick, a tile spacer, and a bead. The vibro-spear (the TMNT look-alike figure is carrying one of these) is the same material, just turned around (the handle is the tile spacer, whereas for the vibro-axe the blade is the tile spacer). Princess Leia is going to be wielding a vibro-axe in my figures so I have it done but not yet painted. So I took a picture of it so you can see it clearly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErEqjZLTH0sGqcQD3Is44sSl-GajUn-wQLAYsnG_lMCsvcDHPbazeiacCArwpPk7IcUHQ6Et5AnoMfzVgdmLFoZcebnqt9m2bcnG6Ml-fNftT3Qu5HilC78QaM8VptXlTIHePdNZQi0qvsxYsOMaeTSigKzYIlJ0-WiR407C5B4bA_zR8y2VlJ5k5/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErEqjZLTH0sGqcQD3Is44sSl-GajUn-wQLAYsnG_lMCsvcDHPbazeiacCArwpPk7IcUHQ6Et5AnoMfzVgdmLFoZcebnqt9m2bcnG6Ml-fNftT3Qu5HilC78QaM8VptXlTIHePdNZQi0qvsxYsOMaeTSigKzYIlJ0-WiR407C5B4bA_zR8y2VlJ5k5/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>That is a small oval bead glued to the left end of the toothpick, the sharp point of the other end of the toothpick was removed, and a tile spacer is cut to match the shape of the "business end" of the vibro-axe. It's sort of hard to see but the tile spacer as you all know starts as a + shape, I just cut away material I didn't need to produce this shape. Also, the bladed part is cut at a 45 degree angle to make it thinner. That's hard to see in the picture. The tile spacer is then just glued onto the toothpick and that's it, good to go!</p><p>Back to painting the sarlacc pit!<br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-44032666748562779232022-08-03T20:14:00.000-07:002022-08-03T20:14:54.373-07:00Barrage 2022: Part II: Skiff #1 with Heroes<p> I almost had the second skiff painted when I made the first posting about this game, so all I had to do really was paint the figures. This is the skiff that has some henchman as well as the heroes minus Leia and the droids on it. </p><p>This skiff is exactly like the first one EXCEPT that I added a thin piece of foam on the bottom in the shape of a staple that once glued to the bottom side of the skiff allows me to slide the "plank" in and have it extend off the side of the skiff. Since I'm not really sure how I'm going to start the game (Luke on the plank or already off the plank?) I needed to have the plank on the skiff regardless of where Luke starts the game, so I knew I was going to have to figure out a way to mount it. However, I didn't want it to be permanently attached just so that I can have more flexibility with the skiffs and, like the tail fins, if I mounted the plank permanent I'm sure it would break off during transit. As is usual when I do something a second or third time, I think I did a better job painting this second skiff than the first having had one "under my belt" already and I could avoid some of the mistakes I made.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIR_2ip-B6y01BAz_J2hz9q0RFzmQDrOLs0SfOkvd51ZEnU4T00-0_4W3vZmL4zmv391FbOWEjmNJIL8wnEpmA3fHGIeM4vySbBo7qU9ShUUbEVWeO7JJQlcwTqjdL3JSacJ0o0LDxYbG1ypGYtfz0V6YrI4YbfCWcGre7a8wYKAGgj5KimyHxi-_N/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIR_2ip-B6y01BAz_J2hz9q0RFzmQDrOLs0SfOkvd51ZEnU4T00-0_4W3vZmL4zmv391FbOWEjmNJIL8wnEpmA3fHGIeM4vySbBo7qU9ShUUbEVWeO7JJQlcwTqjdL3JSacJ0o0LDxYbG1ypGYtfz0V6YrI4YbfCWcGre7a8wYKAGgj5KimyHxi-_N/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>I took some close ups of the figures this time as well, so I will talk about them later with their pictures. But as you can see, this skiff has a plank for Luke. Again, it's removable. In all other ways, this is identical to the other skiff. I used the same templates to cut the pieces of both of the skiffs so they share the same dimensions. If you are interested, they are about 11.5" long and 5" wide at their widest point.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAbuYVnVua3Ol70if6vVBxwZ9tofytVt1BpSvJGAf_wCBRvvajF2Z8zusVyxFY8dpintP_lAQXGhCVVEWV2Ql-ZScAW8fmZ7LqAfozc9Juvdlt5P_ERKRbbQsPyKZAKeRNvcWQnDzPrIpeacq3LiptcpemybLa6mWi4mCK7JTuKljZCgRnWHUShYT/s1280/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAbuYVnVua3Ol70if6vVBxwZ9tofytVt1BpSvJGAf_wCBRvvajF2Z8zusVyxFY8dpintP_lAQXGhCVVEWV2Ql-ZScAW8fmZ7LqAfozc9Juvdlt5P_ERKRbbQsPyKZAKeRNvcWQnDzPrIpeacq3LiptcpemybLa6mWi4mCK7JTuKljZCgRnWHUShYT/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8pdnL2mHdqMVQ2et_Y4ba4nXCxVDPDQh13R-6NQWruSqPwaT8KczdpQvcHfMYOkhGyh3-rg-mouzXdhoPIg6hFm_4sz-d2vZxhtrV-PqRpp0IQVZjohbqvttZb8b9BrDJw3AjFX_awFs2JFTNRls5lCNg2rDHzMIkAA0tX7vUV-Sr0XqXD7hV1Ze/s1280/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8pdnL2mHdqMVQ2et_Y4ba4nXCxVDPDQh13R-6NQWruSqPwaT8KczdpQvcHfMYOkhGyh3-rg-mouzXdhoPIg6hFm_4sz-d2vZxhtrV-PqRpp0IQVZjohbqvttZb8b9BrDJw3AjFX_awFs2JFTNRls5lCNg2rDHzMIkAA0tX7vUV-Sr0XqXD7hV1Ze/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>I really like how the figures came out. Here are some heroes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSoGJedKUc6K4nGBBE7i3U9LyhM9fF4Lc-v0q04FlR5nVt3fTnKxBEfuPOMhnNnd8gDH1I2xfmijfBCeMr-Ju33gZr-NQft6SO3Euk0T24hA5-Q9B0XYFinx_3XOUCFjeEp3b3XMogdmE8ny9aXbRw_-bz0MpvNRKZTmItxL2ITeLwLDlGRzu7cuBk/s1280/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSoGJedKUc6K4nGBBE7i3U9LyhM9fF4Lc-v0q04FlR5nVt3fTnKxBEfuPOMhnNnd8gDH1I2xfmijfBCeMr-Ju33gZr-NQft6SO3Euk0T24hA5-Q9B0XYFinx_3XOUCFjeEp3b3XMogdmE8ny9aXbRw_-bz0MpvNRKZTmItxL2ITeLwLDlGRzu7cuBk/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Han and Chewie obviously. Both came out better than I thought they would. I was able to pitch Han forward a bit so he is "leaning into" his shot. His shirt has a flap on the front that is opened and I just constructed the flap with paper. In all other ways he's standard milk bottle figure construction including the big bangs that I like to put on my figures, and in this case they are appropriate for Captain Solo. Chewie was tough at first, how to make him tall without being too tall, and he had to be relatively thin. He's a milk bottle with a barrel bead sideways glued on top, then with the standard tile spacer arms and bead head. I added a smaller bead for his mouth given his head is sort of gorilla shaped. The paper was tough for him but once I got started doing it in layers it worked out fine. Very easy to paint as well. His belt is just cut tile spacer material glued onto the body and painted to match his standard equipment.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-ANhouKQ-ctQH-lR2RlS6onBjK4suh8yQAosHJnb6wjecTFVA5XKKEcssQe6anJsXlOeOvTI6qQcnYhX9vKBl3jZOlp_-T7DOtAthtYmWb11Hi3zUsG0C7FV6kgEy0pd3AW6pUcN0ERjlLZamdX4kvitGXKY2fzTp74puOe4y19b7SOsdAncbJAU/s1280/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-ANhouKQ-ctQH-lR2RlS6onBjK4suh8yQAosHJnb6wjecTFVA5XKKEcssQe6anJsXlOeOvTI6qQcnYhX9vKBl3jZOlp_-T7DOtAthtYmWb11Hi3zUsG0C7FV6kgEy0pd3AW6pUcN0ERjlLZamdX4kvitGXKY2fzTp74puOe4y19b7SOsdAncbJAU/w480-h640/5.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Now we have Lando and Luke. They are both standard milk bottle figure construction. Lando was tricky though because I had to paint the fact before adding the mask, and that was very, very tricky. I love his look, though, just like in the movie I think he has one of the best armor configurations in the movie. Luke was not too tough, I had done a figure for an rpg that was holding a sword extended like this, so I knew how to get the effect. You trim the inside of the tile spacer arm, not the outside, so that you can create a "bend" effect and have the hands meet together in front of the figure. The lightsaber is obviously a toothpick painted with florescent paint.I had to give him a "tunic" top which has small shoulder pads and flaps that extend down below his belt. I just did it with paper. Same for the high color of the jacket. </p><p>Now onto some bad guys ...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyYd4SpncladVR2tYaC9OThD-Uh5ehv2UeWL5vixPoPyRxTBNr-l3TMV1Du_3G16-xa31V4ln39frkcjbw9h2ciXEo0EOGIyeXtm3kS2nU1KyUxdRXjL3h5QeHvf7QtevbQ48SzWfCdtYXySTuFIZiAcp-yIxpNpT2Zu6ox_bpWHxw6ujzj0JV_V4/s1280/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyYd4SpncladVR2tYaC9OThD-Uh5ehv2UeWL5vixPoPyRxTBNr-l3TMV1Du_3G16-xa31V4ln39frkcjbw9h2ciXEo0EOGIyeXtm3kS2nU1KyUxdRXjL3h5QeHvf7QtevbQ48SzWfCdtYXySTuFIZiAcp-yIxpNpT2Zu6ox_bpWHxw6ujzj0JV_V4/w480-h640/6.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>These guys are not my favorite henchmen, I like the guys on the other skiff better, but I do like the guy in the middle. He's got it out for Luke because Luke killed this guy's pet rancor. All three of these guys are standard milk bottle figure construction, nothing new really.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIl89yO-2QQgsAQ7bpX3KyZdIt9h_HQV7rz2khvE-tYJn1ti9RsjZj6VhEnHXrV5QZEDF3HfmHWdFtaMb3h8veuBVxq6gR7DyUqLKiuNd7QuKckL6NIo3mhQfJs5NENClsS2RhbMV9911laU09P8of-oE2m4P-DeOB5Bv-Q9wCH0xpgqcCC4v2z_q/s1280/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIl89yO-2QQgsAQ7bpX3KyZdIt9h_HQV7rz2khvE-tYJn1ti9RsjZj6VhEnHXrV5QZEDF3HfmHWdFtaMb3h8veuBVxq6gR7DyUqLKiuNd7QuKckL6NIo3mhQfJs5NENClsS2RhbMV9911laU09P8of-oE2m4P-DeOB5Bv-Q9wCH0xpgqcCC4v2z_q/w480-h640/7.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Melee guy and the pilot/blaster wielding guy. They both turned out good, but nothing new construction wise.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-BfXlBu4AEo4DmXSun1PmT09mGAY06WNfDU8lAEUy1WXOqqAxf9IMkwEFPnd718bd_WYVhjIfs_ew7n0PsmVbhXGnd22SY91jcMR3WOLJAsRSWEuAfoltXA_Liu5KpyTBdnsPlTSxRyMcllAasFWQGvE1lqmVeHaDE7bmzVAC6OeSXC6Kp-JisUv/s1280/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-BfXlBu4AEo4DmXSun1PmT09mGAY06WNfDU8lAEUy1WXOqqAxf9IMkwEFPnd718bd_WYVhjIfs_ew7n0PsmVbhXGnd22SY91jcMR3WOLJAsRSWEuAfoltXA_Liu5KpyTBdnsPlTSxRyMcllAasFWQGvE1lqmVeHaDE7bmzVAC6OeSXC6Kp-JisUv/w480-h640/8.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Both skiffs together. Now onto the sarlacc in its pit!<br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-34810275406211113422022-07-31T11:20:00.000-07:002022-07-31T11:20:04.760-07:00Barrage 2022 Game Preparation<p> <dusting off the keyboard> Well, well, it's been a while. Almost a year. How time flies! I haven't been doing much in terms of wooden figures this part year, mostly spent my time painting up a complete Heroquest game, but with Barrage coming up I need to do a wooden figures game.<br /></p><p> So, as usual I am trying to get a game together for the Barrage convention this year. I had almost given up this time, if I am completely honest. I couldn't get motivated for a particular project which I have found is very important to me in terms of getting things done. I need to have the "I need to see this game on the table top with little wooden warriors" in my head or I don't finish the project.</p><p>I thought about doing a superhero game with Batman and Robin and some traditional villains. I still want to do that, but the prospect of making a table full of buildings and not really knowing how I want to do them was just too daunting.</p><p>I thought about a second Conan game, in particular the "rescue" (abduction!?) of the princess from Thulsa Doom's tower basement, so that I could do two games in a row as a "campaign" (the rescue, then the one I did last year the final battle). But again the though of how I would do the large multi-level room where the heroes steal her from was just too much to do in a couple of months. If you haven't noticed a trend already, I enjoy doing figures ... I don't really enjoy doing terrain.</p><p>Then I thought I would just do the Lord of the Rings game again and just remake the Fellowship in the same style that I do figures now. It's a fun game, the folks who have played them have really enjoyed them, and I love LotR. But the idea of "remaking" figures was not that appealing to me.</p><p>As I was killing time one Sunday afternoon before my weekly evening rpg, "Return of the Jedi" was on. I love that movie, it's my favorite of the original trilogy films. As I was making my way through the attempted rescue of Han at Jabba's place (sorry for the spoilers! :-)) when they got to the execution scene at the sarlacc pit it hit me ... like a ton of sand ... what a great convention game this would make! You know how much I love co-op convention games so the players would play the heroes and droids and I would play the henchman and Boba Fett (bonus!). With figures like the ones I do trying to make the figures look individual while using basically the same body, head, arms, and feet construction is a real challenge but is honestly the fun of it. Jabba's henchman are all very distinctive from one another, and obviously the heroes look quite different from one another. Plus ... no f-ing terrain to speak of except for the sarlacc pit which is really more of another figure than it is a terrain piece! Yes!</p><p>So my 2022 Barrage Convention Game was born! The Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon! And, to quote Pippin, "where are we going?" In other words, where to start?</p><p>Breaking down the game it has the following requirements as I see them:<br /></p><p>1) 2 Skiffs (small ships) each has a collection of henchman and one of them has all the heroes on it minus Leia and the droids.<br /></p><p>2) Sarlacc pit - a terrain piece but I will treat it like a figure. I actually think this will be fun for me.<br /></p><p>3) Jabba's Barge - henchman, Boba Fett, plus Leia and the droids. It also has a couple of medium-sized guns on it. I really I don't need to do the interior of this thing for the game. All the fighting will occur on the outside deck. Might not need to put those iconic "sails" (protection from the suns, really) on it either as they will just get in the way of playing but I might, we'll see. But the issue is it is HUGE and is going to be a real challenge.</p><p>4) The Sands of Tatooine - fabric from Jo-anne's, no problem!<br /></p><p>4) Rules - I looked at some commercial rules but they all end up being too complicated for my taste for a convention game. I'll just rewrite my normal fast and fun skirmish convention rules and give them a Star Wars feel. Piece of cake. <br /></p><p>I can do this in 2 months! I know I can!</p><p>So off to the internet I went and found some great pages with pictures of everything I would need, including the crew for each craft. <br /></p><p style="margin-left: 240px; text-align: left;"><b>Part 1: Enemy Skiff & Crew<br /></b></p><p>Making the skiff I thought was going to be a nightmare, but it really turned out not to be bad once I focused on making them player/play friendly instead of trying to make them look exactly like they are in the movie. I knew that for most of the parts of the skiff, I could use thick and thin craft foam and that turned out to be true. The only things that are not craft foam on these skiffs is the control panel for piloting the vehicle (they are made from two wooden craft blocks, 3/4" one and then a smaller one that I'm guessing is 3/8" but I could be wrong) glued with the smaller one on top of the larger, and the kabob skewers that make up the rods of the tail fins. Everything else is craft foam.</p><p>I had years ago made a trireme for a never-to-happen Greek and Persian Battle of Salamis game that I never did, so I knew from making the test trireme that I could use a similar construction process for the skiffs. And it worked well I think. Thick craft foam cut to shape and glued on top of each other gives the craft the height in places that it needs. Then I used thin craft foam for the railings, cutting it as needed. You can't really see it in these pictures but there is two layers of thick foam on the bottom as well first because the skiffs in the movie have a very shallow "hull" so that's what this craft foam on the bottom represents, but also these two layers on the bottom gave me something to use to literally sink the basing system I was going to use into the bottom of the skiff. The tails of the fins and the circular pieces on the fins are also made of craft foam, the thin kind this time just like the railings. Everything was glued with regular white glue or for the railings hot glue was used.<br /></p><p>Constructing them did not take too long. Painting them took forever. To date, I have this one done with it's crew and the other one is 3/4 done but coming along well. Here are some pictures of it with the crew figures on it with the fabric that will be used for the sands of Tatooine.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJdJjDpIDE9bX7bpOzmczlR_Dgi6zvojUgGohizpYnTSCtvy_VuZQkP_XQi14VPh5vEXwMfLHXhuNl6vL5wkTue9GlRcjJCNFiIrnoivLFVx4ErUqy0mnU1T9nsd6Zd0pEpgJA5wCpow3VCjgCFpXy0EoHSqsxOhhatkc5YmVvmI7VaWR7Rg5qGqL/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJdJjDpIDE9bX7bpOzmczlR_Dgi6zvojUgGohizpYnTSCtvy_VuZQkP_XQi14VPh5vEXwMfLHXhuNl6vL5wkTue9GlRcjJCNFiIrnoivLFVx4ErUqy0mnU1T9nsd6Zd0pEpgJA5wCpow3VCjgCFpXy0EoHSqsxOhhatkc5YmVvmI7VaWR7Rg5qGqL/w480-h640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>One of the trickier parts was how to attach the tail fins. I didn't want to do it permanently because I knew in transit they would break off at some point. So instead I used split spools glued flat side down to the floor piece of the skiff in the rear of the craft with squared off beads glued to the ends of each split spool sticking out from the side of the body of the skiff with the hole in the bead pointing in the right direction. This allows me to slide the tail fins out and off the craft for transport, and they stay in place because of gravity, but makes it really easy to set them up once I need to do so for the game.</p><p>I took some liberties with its dimensions just to make the skiff more playable in the game. The deck is about twice as wide as it really was relative to the size of the figure bases. If I didn't make it wider, though, it would greatly limit movement for the figures and make for not a very fun game. I also needed to tilt the tail fins differently than they are on the skiff in the movie so that the fins were less vertical and more flat. If I didn't do that, you know that ever turn at least one player or me is going to bump a tail fin as they are moving figures and knock the whole thing over. But the length and the relative size of the front and back angled parts of the skiff are consistent with the skiff in the movie, at least as best as I can tell from photographs and some schematics I found online ... without any actual measurements in them, they were just drawings. But helpful nonetheless!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1roJGu1wgNqLRaCsPQKQXjbtloo4e1Wwi6NA-Pi7sLNm2ajMwvDz_ET1VZx9XdZhjKExZ6Lvdazr-8Nbeu8V9CDwIMbuuxAQe6cRSYxv3n_ewumEAJNwIdhPyz2EuZZ2cxbumCQcqSGOwo1QF4qsjppzzDAh5ckxga1UeXbo5E8A6a9R4PPUxNkcL/s1280/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1roJGu1wgNqLRaCsPQKQXjbtloo4e1Wwi6NA-Pi7sLNm2ajMwvDz_ET1VZx9XdZhjKExZ6Lvdazr-8Nbeu8V9CDwIMbuuxAQe6cRSYxv3n_ewumEAJNwIdhPyz2EuZZ2cxbumCQcqSGOwo1QF4qsjppzzDAh5ckxga1UeXbo5E8A6a9R4PPUxNkcL/w480-h640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>You can see the base here a bit better. This was another challenge, and I didn't want to purchase an aerial base from a company. In the spirit of crafted figures, I wanted to make them using craft type supplies. Michael's has greatly reduced their wooden craft supply section, much to my disappointment, but they do still have these thick wooden pre-cut pieces that are great for bases for the skiffs because they are so thick and heavy relative to the craft, not to mention being the perfect size. How to get the craft to "fly"? Again, I wanted to use existing craft stuff for the clear poles used to make the vehicle fly and thick glue sticks for a hot glue gun are perfect for this. First, they are more or less clear. Second, they are flexible. This is really important because I know that I am not going to be perfect when cutting the holes in the first layer of foam that makes up the bottom hull of the skiff into which these glue sticks will be inserted to "hold" the skiff onto the base. A little flexibility in the posts is not just ideal but it is going to be a requirement due to human error.</p><p>To make the base all I did was first use the glue stick as a guide for the hole size, I literally pushed it into the foam piece before it was glued to the bottom of the skiff which left an indentation for where the hole should be and how big) and then just cut out the holes out of the foam with a hobby knife. So when this bottom hull piece is glued onto the next bottom hull piece the glue sticks will "slide" a ways into the bottom of the skiff itself. Then after the holes were cut I put the foam piece on top of the wooden base and traced where the holes were on the base. After that I glued the foam piece to the bottom of the skiff and then off to the hot glue gun which I used to attach the glue sticks to the wooden base putting them over the circles that I just traced from the foam piece template. All that's left after that was painting the base which was easy. I used a dark brown, burn sienna, milk chocolate brown, and a yellow ocher layered with a stipple brush and then removed any paint from the glue sticks (the acrylic pain did NOT like sticking to the glue sticks so this was easy). Done!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZ6ll0Cm1C4hD06QWaq6RX95fNeU4g9NxWLJQVdVXCS-tAHKQScRbrT7oh8UHUBywQSjrcf4-vmEOj_QMpDioFiA8cZ5VWAylmJZUrw60XjZUs9ObWz4u1dtu46sRfp4uwzu4MlFCNrrQF8Zno6pHzOZ4CHNLWvik_1g2LUXWCAkxN9H_Qjt1QITB/s1280/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZ6ll0Cm1C4hD06QWaq6RX95fNeU4g9NxWLJQVdVXCS-tAHKQScRbrT7oh8UHUBywQSjrcf4-vmEOj_QMpDioFiA8cZ5VWAylmJZUrw60XjZUs9ObWz4u1dtu46sRfp4uwzu4MlFCNrrQF8Zno6pHzOZ4CHNLWvik_1g2LUXWCAkxN9H_Qjt1QITB/w480-h640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Painting them was a nightmare and I wanted to do it freehand. Painting them this way fits with the "folk art" style of the figures, so I'm glad I did it, but it took ... forever. Painting the brown, then going back with black and repainting the lines to get them as crisp as I can freehand, etc. But I am happy with the skiff. It looks cool and is still playable as a mini game piece. Onto the crew ...</p><p>This is the "escort" skiff, not the one that has the heroes on it originally (that will be my next update most likely). So this skiff at the start of the game just has bad guys on it. I eliminated one of them (honestly because I don't like how he looks as an alien!) but the rest of these guys are made to represent the henchman on this craft that were on it in the movie. They of course eventually all die but not until Luke makes his way over to this second skiff craft.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90FwtBfEzeZDd4Sqrj6T06-jkKNGkf0wU2El3GbsZ2qlpZOhXWzkwQcxw_BgG5C26mRBmA6I1-RbesveJ1TXMA64srvLxag-7bXHmbEDG216ZBVd-6l7K2h8gcrr-Q470TffIj78r0KuVeBt6Jotd_ppHOX0iSz6e3TEsuTxfxrbgDJTDxUIJx-Wx/s1280/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90FwtBfEzeZDd4Sqrj6T06-jkKNGkf0wU2El3GbsZ2qlpZOhXWzkwQcxw_BgG5C26mRBmA6I1-RbesveJ1TXMA64srvLxag-7bXHmbEDG216ZBVd-6l7K2h8gcrr-Q470TffIj78r0KuVeBt6Jotd_ppHOX0iSz6e3TEsuTxfxrbgDJTDxUIJx-Wx/w480-h640/4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>They all have names, I'm not enough of a Star Wars fan to know or remember them, but these three humans are some of my favorites from this skiff. The front guy with the diving helmet and the white jump suit is awesome. The dude in the yellow-green jump suit is also cool (has great head wear), but my favorite hands down on this skiff is the human in the back with the sci-fi helmet and the ancient period torso armor. I love how his pose came out. I love how his paint job came out. And he is just my favorite collection of armor, clothes, and weapons of all the guys on this skiff.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGI2N9z6YzjtoiwE068rByPP_VMSZ86MYu2VYg4vtTGh-02VH5UFPXlSdEVkIt2hLOTijaX7NP9mT7BjBNvbbGAa6CZnjNlyNkQQ8YAZ2SgdwygZdWfQdITOeJVfDArDp4z3PnKgbv0KkoFqtj1NUxlyjq2w09mjQBBTZ-gRW-R9BP24R9RlwEZ0fe/s1280/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGI2N9z6YzjtoiwE068rByPP_VMSZ86MYu2VYg4vtTGh-02VH5UFPXlSdEVkIt2hLOTijaX7NP9mT7BjBNvbbGAa6CZnjNlyNkQQ8YAZ2SgdwygZdWfQdITOeJVfDArDp4z3PnKgbv0KkoFqtj1NUxlyjq2w09mjQBBTZ-gRW-R9BP24R9RlwEZ0fe/w480-h640/5.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>I am also a fan of the alien that is towards the back holding the gun down at his side. His dark color scheme is hard to see in this picture, but he turned out cool. The guys with the melee weapons (either a vibro-axe or a vibro-spear like this alien closest to us in this picture had) were not tough to do. Just a collection of toothpicks, small beads, and cut pieces from tile spacers. You can see the other human armed with the blaster at the front of the skiff in this picture. He's the one who gets kicked by Luke in the face during the movie.</p><p>I hope you like them! I am very happy with how things are going so far. I think the hardest thing I have to do is going to be Jabba's barge just because it is so big, so I am saving it for last. Next up, the skiff with the henchman and heroes on it, complete with a plank for Luke to be forced to walk.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-7555361824491889622022-07-16T16:25:00.002-07:002022-07-16T16:25:57.742-07:00Painted French Napoleonic Marine of the Imperial Guard<p> <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2022/07/revisiting-napoleonic-shakos.html" target="_blank">In the last post</a> I revisited my process for making shakos for my Napoleonic figures. Basically my original process of cutting a wooden spool in half, hollowing it out, etc. was a lot of work. Lopping the top of the pawn's head off did remove the step of hollowing out the shako, but cutting was still difficult as I was using a mitre chop saw on a round object, so it was never straight.</p><p>Using my laser cutter I was able to cut out a shako shape by essentially slicing it horizontally. With that done, I needed to paint it to see how it looked once done. I needed something with a French-style shako and a plume, so I decided on one of my favorite French Napoleonic units: the Marines of the Imperial Guard, part of the Old Guard.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhq9M__zQ6hSNlSmP5woMwzel48NExkFkGdRKOvJB4fLcLeOey_RWnJDrSwua7IQg1NJB1HB5I5ME4HqnpCDC7WnzwYVmjO08qASdJ0pyd15voRXXCTOyKObzX7twYBOnWRzCN6S9qrU5EFjz7e2poB9rO8994940mHNWA2T7-NDlRlTwzov_MKlSz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="364" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhq9M__zQ6hSNlSmP5woMwzel48NExkFkGdRKOvJB4fLcLeOey_RWnJDrSwua7IQg1NJB1HB5I5ME4HqnpCDC7WnzwYVmjO08qASdJ0pyd15voRXXCTOyKObzX7twYBOnWRzCN6S9qrU5EFjz7e2poB9rO8994940mHNWA2T7-NDlRlTwzov_MKlSz=w168-h400" width="168" /></a></div><br />Interestingly, Funcken has the cuffs as blue, while others show them as having red cuffs. I wonder if perhaps that is the difference between the campaign and parade uniforms because the image above (of the campaign uniform) also does not have the hussar-style chest lace that the parade uniform has. Nonetheless this is the uniform I am going for.<p></p><p>As a reminder, this is the unpainted figure.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVv27GAn7HccrsPATESkjUURhHVztEg6v9tCBIMjAnZrq6UuVnnzmbSZNjFUa517Old54FRGMvQlFmSPV6URyh4pMz0Z2E0q_-6Byw6Jjwhtq-wdUEOvBiz6OBsEVYJ9HhoMpdkeazIhSGNRo5HpGuK1SzsdgqqtrI7dFX0TjMHZFIfY5tmni01K_V" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="370" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVv27GAn7HccrsPATESkjUURhHVztEg6v9tCBIMjAnZrq6UuVnnzmbSZNjFUa517Old54FRGMvQlFmSPV6URyh4pMz0Z2E0q_-6Byw6Jjwhtq-wdUEOvBiz6OBsEVYJ9HhoMpdkeazIhSGNRo5HpGuK1SzsdgqqtrI7dFX0TjMHZFIfY5tmni01K_V=w172-h400" width="172" /></a></div><br />My big question was whether I should break out the Dremel tool and sand down the shako brim, making it thinner and more distinct, or rounding out the arms and feet.<p></p><p>Here is the figure, painted to a tabletop standard.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjX-GayWZvHk_szwpZBBA_Jjh1R9oQfw2PWQKeL8WTfrGPU2V_xFchhUACPH5LezfrXCcW4dG9kw2h1idhL3rrXD1PzGFKenSvYlh0YGNlMq40bJY5yF8iXJJhE9DGdGf1eZxW1OY--zqnIe0kxhMOOwjAkmRMhme0pCdPU1hMgzKWmC4jC6ocsrqn" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="322" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjX-GayWZvHk_szwpZBBA_Jjh1R9oQfw2PWQKeL8WTfrGPU2V_xFchhUACPH5LezfrXCcW4dG9kw2h1idhL3rrXD1PzGFKenSvYlh0YGNlMq40bJY5yF8iXJJhE9DGdGf1eZxW1OY--zqnIe0kxhMOOwjAkmRMhme0pCdPU1hMgzKWmC4jC6ocsrqn=w148-h400" width="148" /></a></div><br />Probably going to touch up the figure a little. If I made a unit of these I would add a cartridge box to the right hip, a pack and bedroll, which means painting the black cross belts, and add a musket and the sword they wore. As it stands, this one will just be a specialty figure that can fill in as a spare gunner, and engineer, or a pontonier.<p></p><p>The only complaint I have is the feet are too long and possibly not wide enough. From the standpoint of the shako though, if the slices don't line up perfectly – and they did not in this experiment – then you really want some sort of gap filler or you should sand. I tried painting gesso on top, but that was not thick enough to fill all of the gaps.</p><p>Overall, I am happy with the shako and will be using this process for all my hats now. I can see using it to make an Austrian-style shako, a round hat (although I would need to play with woods of different thicknesses), and others. I might even be able to pull off a WWII German helmet, but I think that will take some sanding.</p>Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-23879382504359466762022-07-09T19:10:00.001-07:002022-07-09T19:42:03.206-07:00Revisiting Napoleonic Shakos<p>First off let me start by saying sorry that I have ignored this blog. If you read my <a href="https://daleswargames.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Dale's Wargames</a> or <a href="https://solo-battles.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Solo Battles</a> blogs you know I have been active over there, playing a map campaign in a fictional 1750 country and Marvel United, but not much in the way of this hobby.</p>
<p>I have written Matt (my co-author on the blog) and he is doing fine. He has done some RPG gaming (which he switched to online during lockdown) but has mostly been painting figures. I rotate hobbies (gaming, computer gaming, painting, terrain making, miniature making, laser cutting, etc.) too, so I understand how it goes. It all comes around in the rotation eventually.</p>
<h1 style="text-align: left;">Revisiting the Napoleonic Shako</h1>
<p>One thing I have always contended regarding making figures is that, because we look at our figures on the table from above and behind, the hat of the miniature is one of the most important shapes to get right. It is how we generally identify what the figure represents, more so than probably any other part of the figure, save maybe color. The smaller the figure though, the less distinct the shape becomes and the more color is important. (When the figure gets too small, such as 6mm, they all just become blobs of dark color, so mass becomes more important.) Because I am building 42mm Napoleonic figures, the shape of the hat, or shako, is important.</p>
<p>Way back in <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2010/05/tutorial-making-infantryman.html" target="_blank">May 2010 I built my first 42mm Napoleonics figures</a>, on this blog, showcasing it on the Wargaming on a Budget forum on Yahoo (where I also met the group's creator, Matt). You can see the steps to making the shako were fairly involved.</p>
<ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Take a wooden (thread) spool and cut it in half.</li><li>Hollow out the inside of the half spool so it fits on the pawn's head.</li><li>Create a brim (peak) for the shako and glue it to the shako.</li><li>Plug the hole of the spool.</li><li>Add a pom pom to the shako.</li></ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4X_QwS0IEhDlKgqV-RWy5laAdtGHF1961zJhB2o7sqQHuXsbPXDyimjzkQZy51PUWj19g9IvigDnalNWbA9IwQIpb-XZt8hpt7xIZImuDvm6ZN1C7zScG9ZKCKR2XCi1tLYge7O9RhFkmiurrKhPtT3gklh_PUejYP2jT5wdzlajqo7YNy5XQZUdS" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="600" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4X_QwS0IEhDlKgqV-RWy5laAdtGHF1961zJhB2o7sqQHuXsbPXDyimjzkQZy51PUWj19g9IvigDnalNWbA9IwQIpb-XZt8hpt7xIZImuDvm6ZN1C7zScG9ZKCKR2XCi1tLYge7O9RhFkmiurrKhPtT3gklh_PUejYP2jT5wdzlajqo7YNy5XQZUdS" width="320" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho9J4p6sb_e1e1w4vr5OumKjoNmEp02fe3SPT-1kTFL6Av4S7vhcBhbVFDHgq2b0l9mo6ew3ntGJMrn08Qas53AGf4ZYDfnvy8ZGdSoQvs_fCqAy7vEyQNAQBd29745bYzH-a5TBytmEm2TExs_ugt_-9wwrgLs9t-QpKTFaoSmv2MMiaa8MCFiMME" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="384" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho9J4p6sb_e1e1w4vr5OumKjoNmEp02fe3SPT-1kTFL6Av4S7vhcBhbVFDHgq2b0l9mo6ew3ntGJMrn08Qas53AGf4ZYDfnvy8ZGdSoQvs_fCqAy7vEyQNAQBd29745bYzH-a5TBytmEm2TExs_ugt_-9wwrgLs9t-QpKTFaoSmv2MMiaa8MCFiMME" width="154" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjymAiRh8N9ipjO5Si7H0wiGt3ynOFCJcC0QS_W-L_x4eBEPftRzEZOnoc7MW8v87caMSss6DuZ5LqyvV0ZINHX7gdMQ9Q9-6NvTQD21HaK3SsaduqZE5TpfzMwI9vT6gP06Ek4k-yqdKP3ulYgL6nhxZ2ePIiQMRTFRGloSNL_kijEbiIyw_Ik7Pwy" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="516" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjymAiRh8N9ipjO5Si7H0wiGt3ynOFCJcC0QS_W-L_x4eBEPftRzEZOnoc7MW8v87caMSss6DuZ5LqyvV0ZINHX7gdMQ9Q9-6NvTQD21HaK3SsaduqZE5TpfzMwI9vT6gP06Ek4k-yqdKP3ulYgL6nhxZ2ePIiQMRTFRGloSNL_kijEbiIyw_Ik7Pwy" width="206" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1W9gqwVv2MJEb1uKaozn8u3QnGI-ybUmgtzqQ8H49s61AJr2ExUDnItuhgpn66U8fta4icF0-Tbd41yy5TIYiEHdFiiW406Cwp8TdlckwKew0sN4dSpP0eGMyDKfDUIUa6vXPzCU2nCBh0RHXa2m2EHO_jhu8xEg5RtvEFVYAQhLBAW34pgR_Ck79" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="600" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1W9gqwVv2MJEb1uKaozn8u3QnGI-ybUmgtzqQ8H49s61AJr2ExUDnItuhgpn66U8fta4icF0-Tbd41yy5TIYiEHdFiiW406Cwp8TdlckwKew0sN4dSpP0eGMyDKfDUIUa6vXPzCU2nCBh0RHXa2m2EHO_jhu8xEg5RtvEFVYAQhLBAW34pgR_Ck79" width="320" /></a>
</div>
<p>Eventually I purchased a hobby mitre chop saw and I simply chopped the top of the pawn's head so that I could glue the half spool to the top and the pawn and skip the 'hollowing out' step.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFgAflWTrptcULjJ7bC3U3ujcv9t_5qBmYmUf3_FS1UDEma2LFmkFVcbahLAlsdpiOuAGpCQ_Y5c0DDB9NaI4Wr7jEqPiPoqimM0h-SQMCmLArFr3MNpHREvGo-kAWVmb6mc2qcrTWPXIM6OSvPUbIOxtLEPeTocqbaCETSQ9C4hVZ-EU0t4iHKNL2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="851" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFgAflWTrptcULjJ7bC3U3ujcv9t_5qBmYmUf3_FS1UDEma2LFmkFVcbahLAlsdpiOuAGpCQ_Y5c0DDB9NaI4Wr7jEqPiPoqimM0h-SQMCmLArFr3MNpHREvGo-kAWVmb6mc2qcrTWPXIM6OSvPUbIOxtLEPeTocqbaCETSQ9C4hVZ-EU0t4iHKNL2" width="206" /></a></div>
<p>So, what's wrong with this process? Using a small chop saw on a spherical wooden piece was not always a clean chop. If you put the pawn in the mitre saw's vice even slightly off the level horizontal line, the shako would cock at an angle. Cutting the wooden spool in half was even more problematic as it would slip in the saw's vice. I ended up <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2010/07/making-shako-jig.html" target="_blank">making a jig</a> in order to get a better grip and to ensure that I cut the spool evenly in half (yet a third problem).</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Enter the Laser Cutter</h2>
<p>When I <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2021/01/i-received-my-dream-tool-laser.html" target="_blank">purchased my laser cutter</a> the first projects were all utilitarian, i.e. I made a bunch of paint racks so I could organize my paints. The first few attempts at terrain were less than aesthetically pleasing. I started casting about on Etsy for SVG files to see what kind of projects I could buy and make. There were some interesting ones, like skyscraper buildings, cabins, and a tank. It was that last project, making a T34 tank, that made me look at laser cutting projects differently.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">The T34 Tank Project</h3><p>I purchased an SVG file that defined a tank 'puzzle', which looks something like the below image.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_BmaMYCJoIrtR-BzUzR4Hm8-zuts25-8PNomI9o8_OmyAf5bn7C50z27A8NffeUTIX-3xmccdjSj63CYFTTU0YfP4ZmMeGM5u90DGwpyYWctEMP76-DNf7rsdQMq8TSne8afCLsNf3oEYNm8T9yZj0tn_nu8bInrzLV0yy8yxPjhx8AnOIhMIYPR-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="1476" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_BmaMYCJoIrtR-BzUzR4Hm8-zuts25-8PNomI9o8_OmyAf5bn7C50z27A8NffeUTIX-3xmccdjSj63CYFTTU0YfP4ZmMeGM5u90DGwpyYWctEMP76-DNf7rsdQMq8TSne8afCLsNf3oEYNm8T9yZj0tn_nu8bInrzLV0yy8yxPjhx8AnOIhMIYPR-=w640-h300" width="640" /></a></div>
<p>This image is of the tank turret. The black lines are where the laser cuts and the red lines indicate the laser only scores the wood (to create details, such as tank hatches). Basically the file contains 3mm thick layers. The pieces on the left are at the top and as you continue right you get the next layer down. The two pieces on the right create the 'cross' piece that holds four layers to the left together, making it easy to line the pieces up.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Shako Project</h3>
<p>This style made me wonder whether I could create a shako using this same layering method. Also, I intended to use the laser to cut out the arms, legs, and other accessories rather than requiring I craft them manually from craft sticks.</p><p>I created an SVG file (using Boxy SVG, an excellent SVG editor for the Mac, Linux, and Windows) shown in the image below.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBL2shj7oAun3RVMVVUMXjyjZ8rzNCWQRQM2d7Lg9bFrptju3U-X75W5obXhPz7IU1gBBimkBvee3aw9TgBuxwzHFD-8xh5osjH_f0HSlLZSjgN89BrWVNPzimy2IvjZ8Mrw_m-8hFJAYNNbDxnhGwR-eaNqHQm79lPaFwbR0lkVkfh_xMye092rgv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="530" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBL2shj7oAun3RVMVVUMXjyjZ8rzNCWQRQM2d7Lg9bFrptju3U-X75W5obXhPz7IU1gBBimkBvee3aw9TgBuxwzHFD-8xh5osjH_f0HSlLZSjgN89BrWVNPzimy2IvjZ8Mrw_m-8hFJAYNNbDxnhGwR-eaNqHQm79lPaFwbR0lkVkfh_xMye092rgv=w640-h314" width="640" /></a></div>
<ol style="text-align: left;" type="A"><li>This is the base of the shako, with the brim. The inner circle is removed so that it slides over the head of the pawn. This layer is 3mm thick.</li><li>This is the next layer of the shako, also 3mm thick. The inner circle is also removed so that it slides over the head of the pawn.</li><li>This is another layer of the shako. By this layer you no longer need to cut out the inner circle as it is above the top of the pawn's head. There are multiple layers in order to increase the height of the shako.</li><li>This is the top of the shako. Note that it is slightly larger than C so that it is wider than the shako body, simulating the lace at the top of the shako.</li><li>This is the pom pom and plume that is affixed to the front of the shako.</li><li>This is the left arm of the pawn, if the figure is at a right shoulder arms position, or the right arm if at left shoulder arms.</li><li>This is the right arm of the pawn, if the figure is at a left shoulder arms position, or the left arm if at right shoulder arms. It would hold the musket. (In the future I will include the outline of the musket itself.</li><li>This is the pair of feet for the pawn.</li></ol>
<p>Now it is just a matter of assembling the 'layers' of the shako and adding the arms and feet.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGmwtb5DB2M2DQ7wYBYQ3VrzMC_2w6SV1TDLfelH_ED7pTUWHFu5f69ev4Bpx9rF-i_bZybNnX0y58a-xrST0YL4WQ5X5m1qqhvvbXEhrabaU150N5K9OdCqjv34homvLcOyLnJ-dkkhXh1I8VxYu0dTKbcuton0qoUiOuEujYElILDm8xhu6a3Q7q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="518" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGmwtb5DB2M2DQ7wYBYQ3VrzMC_2w6SV1TDLfelH_ED7pTUWHFu5f69ev4Bpx9rF-i_bZybNnX0y58a-xrST0YL4WQ5X5m1qqhvvbXEhrabaU150N5K9OdCqjv34homvLcOyLnJ-dkkhXh1I8VxYu0dTKbcuton0qoUiOuEujYElILDm8xhu6a3Q7q" width="166" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIHheNnU5-wh541XBVeKGqi6o0HDbCSJ_w3rb7jyJjapxPjAPSYXkv2EZ1AueDL_MUEcM4M11FQN08WrCPXRgOg55Cp8pDKUr1MmWZWd4YbzI2xNCIX_FVYfTexvhAvWxJdhQnF7khNNApVwlGC2ZrUk1lIpysMBbY9dFII_15TguQrvSHgKg7TiHd" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="429" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIHheNnU5-wh541XBVeKGqi6o0HDbCSJ_w3rb7jyJjapxPjAPSYXkv2EZ1AueDL_MUEcM4M11FQN08WrCPXRgOg55Cp8pDKUr1MmWZWd4YbzI2xNCIX_FVYfTexvhAvWxJdhQnF7khNNApVwlGC2ZrUk1lIpysMBbY9dFII_15TguQrvSHgKg7TiHd" width="114" /></a>
</div>
<p>It looks like I may need to adjust the length and width of the feet, but they don't look bad. Now for the shako.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwliBMYBlo2Js3j2rSSHCAA5RGvw9GZTF3IOTao0rTNUL1MOp_WvaR3QGPmHsxB5L6ClyD1e0_T21P8gCXqVb3T6bjM9KxCG3t7awNjyd4A6NpW0Tu6nMwMrxhVxnHBWd3W7sRFuIZnt9YQ9JBzYZ2oBIuD5ZjD12pZ5gmgljmGGK62ZpFK84ARfLH" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="1241" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwliBMYBlo2Js3j2rSSHCAA5RGvw9GZTF3IOTao0rTNUL1MOp_WvaR3QGPmHsxB5L6ClyD1e0_T21P8gCXqVb3T6bjM9KxCG3t7awNjyd4A6NpW0Tu6nMwMrxhVxnHBWd3W7sRFuIZnt9YQ9JBzYZ2oBIuD5ZjD12pZ5gmgljmGGK62ZpFK84ARfLH" width="320" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIEijU5QbI4MJg7_n1zs54GgnTG1I3Ys-6Ib5Bo2ClKE2Iqg8VGYy6TwFQKThMET3oPIRa9F-W6-97THyvD-BoYlvFJvvgIf14Q-9lE7vtK6rkJGxMWGw2Dc1nee0UMrymc5h2HWRxZrVNtyldXYGZNOw4FenUb_1zK_h_dpPeUl1Uy3F5NjmEO03u" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="526" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIEijU5QbI4MJg7_n1zs54GgnTG1I3Ys-6Ib5Bo2ClKE2Iqg8VGYy6TwFQKThMET3oPIRa9F-W6-97THyvD-BoYlvFJvvgIf14Q-9lE7vtK6rkJGxMWGw2Dc1nee0UMrymc5h2HWRxZrVNtyldXYGZNOw4FenUb_1zK_h_dpPeUl1Uy3F5NjmEO03u" width="235" /></a>
</div>
<p>Note that even though the pattern has three solid layers and two with center cutouts, I only needed two of the solid layers for this French-style shako. Note the top layer is slightly larger and given a 'lip' around the edge. This represents the shako lace.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkkfA6woGII9Bn2x677CiCFYGZCoNLgy71ga4U0jFfJU7uHESsJ_AdZrP1fcyh8NZLeMg74mQamUHUWjQuBoNgwxkNsLKtLVBVjHyM3bA77KgWeZqGbA72pvUjnXqPee1PQw1NH_roAjF1VLTyRsUO3Vqn8mUN352I1D5RMsIfmFlwMuFWen9rasyz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="427" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkkfA6woGII9Bn2x677CiCFYGZCoNLgy71ga4U0jFfJU7uHESsJ_AdZrP1fcyh8NZLeMg74mQamUHUWjQuBoNgwxkNsLKtLVBVjHyM3bA77KgWeZqGbA72pvUjnXqPee1PQw1NH_roAjF1VLTyRsUO3Vqn8mUN352I1D5RMsIfmFlwMuFWen9rasyz" width="96" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRRAERKopqTy0hjVhmZvbIN2-e2S8Z-vP2rDPBk-uGOVTpj209FNZ_JyE9pC0S1Ah64BYwAlOuj66SBjyrYZUpozgyN-0pifzfCdsTfBxeYMIUS55YUIt7drTxZK5qG30ukveaVAnNAcHhPEvXTeM0Xz9I7d2-UcGXGFYDn24srL3mSFg1dRhRD9xm" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="444" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRRAERKopqTy0hjVhmZvbIN2-e2S8Z-vP2rDPBk-uGOVTpj209FNZ_JyE9pC0S1Ah64BYwAlOuj66SBjyrYZUpozgyN-0pifzfCdsTfBxeYMIUS55YUIt7drTxZK5qG30ukveaVAnNAcHhPEvXTeM0Xz9I7d2-UcGXGFYDn24srL3mSFg1dRhRD9xm" width="98" /></a>
</div>
<p>Add the plum jazzes up the shako and the arms complete the figure. At this point I could leave it as is, or I could take a Dremel with sanding drum and thin out the shako brim, round the edges of the feet and arms, and shape the shako plume. Because my goal is to minimize the build process, I am going to try this first unit straight off of the laser.</p><p>What do you think? Is using a laser cheating, because I am not crafting all of the parts anymore, or is it simply a tool that reduces the time to manufacture the figure? (I feel it is the latter, especially as I created the SVG file of all of the pieces.)</p><p>Now that the proof of concept is proven, I am going to change one of the arms to hold a musket shape and make a backpack shape (maybe even using scoring to make some details?) and a cartridge box shape.</p>
<p><br /></p>Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-86032718008104797702021-09-26T09:29:00.004-07:002021-09-26T09:29:53.791-07:00Barrage! Convention Conan Game<p> Spent yesterday at the Barrage wargaming convention and as always, I had a blast. It's just a fun relatively small local gaming convention where I get to connect again with old friends (so good to see you Chris!), play games with the "regulars" from the Hawks who always play in my games (good playing again with you Rob and Norman!), and chat with my gaming heroes (thanks again for playing in my game, Zeb!). We missed 2020 because of COVID obviously, so the last Barrage I went to in person was 2019 where I ran a Lord of the Rings game. This year's game, as you know if you have been following this blog, was going to be Conan!</p><p>As is always the case with Barrage, I offered two games and had two great groups of players. The organizers also gave me a table to myself so that I could leave my game set up in between the two games. This is really not an easy thing to do, and I really, really appreciated this. Thanks Hawks convention planners!</p><p>The game is co-op which is different than most games a minis conventions like this one, but the players in both groups embraced the necessity to use team work and seemed to enjoy the games. Here are some pics. Most are from the first game. I was so tired for the second game that I didn't take very many pictures but there are a couple.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UG-DuGD5lcc/YVCVjas5c0I/AAAAAAAABpM/dnww5raAh5UpuMIgdGHrx_s67b5JEJJQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/1pregame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UG-DuGD5lcc/YVCVjas5c0I/AAAAAAAABpM/dnww5raAh5UpuMIgdGHrx_s67b5JEJJQQCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/1pregame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>Onlookers soaking in the "weird" figures.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vgd2wU2uT-Q/YVCVyamiVRI/AAAAAAAABpQ/o1NROry0Vccxjnkro8pg8-8AFiprpJMowCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/2pregrame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vgd2wU2uT-Q/YVCVyamiVRI/AAAAAAAABpQ/o1NROry0Vccxjnkro8pg8-8AFiprpJMowCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/2pregrame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Speaking of "weird" figures. We've got the two groups of riders as well as the anti-heroes Thorgrim (with maul) and Rexor (with sword). The riders come on in turn 1, the two anti-heroes come on after turn 3.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H5Ak87AeyRI/YVCWJaDpvyI/AAAAAAAABpY/cbC_SRxrpaoh_7Kz0N1CNjCtnqSkMDvoACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/4pregame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H5Ak87AeyRI/YVCWJaDpvyI/AAAAAAAABpY/cbC_SRxrpaoh_7Kz0N1CNjCtnqSkMDvoACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/4pregame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Princess restrained so she does not flee back to Thulsa Doom!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Da59ukKXZE/YVCYMRK03sI/AAAAAAAABp4/lAYsPmh3j7InGeGZ5SGLVCxAusqJAWwIQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/6pregame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Da59ukKXZE/YVCYMRK03sI/AAAAAAAABp4/lAYsPmh3j7InGeGZ5SGLVCxAusqJAWwIQCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/6pregame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjTo23qCgoU/YVCWZ0Qup_I/AAAAAAAABpg/g_RpP2_Iub4kjQAMUqpM0iq8G-xPaZRIwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/3pregame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjTo23qCgoU/YVCWZ0Qup_I/AAAAAAAABpg/g_RpP2_Iub4kjQAMUqpM0iq8G-xPaZRIwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/3pregame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>After playing the test game I realized that I needed more visual interest in terms of terrain. I added more sponge/bushes, which helped a lot, but I realized after watching the scene from the movie again the scarecrow skeletons of the long dead warriors who fought eons ago on this battlefield were very important in making the battlefield look distinctive and interesting. So last week I threw together some skeleton terrain features (that the heroes can hide behind) including a skeleton horse cavalry figure!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h-KWhNmuKfQ/YVCXLF0_8OI/AAAAAAAABpo/EsI9c2SHBTkaThmhLSFApyQ-jPIs060VgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/5pregame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h-KWhNmuKfQ/YVCXLF0_8OI/AAAAAAAABpo/EsI9c2SHBTkaThmhLSFApyQ-jPIs060VgCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/5pregame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>A view from the player's side behind Valeria's funeral pyre.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CtQO3aKKgdo/YVCXz1KjYwI/AAAAAAAABpw/4jdvuuLqmYcxILy-WLMOU2PNDNNVcTYJACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/7pregame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CtQO3aKKgdo/YVCXz1KjYwI/AAAAAAAABpw/4jdvuuLqmYcxILy-WLMOU2PNDNNVcTYJACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/7pregame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Another view of the riders and anti-heroes from the other side at the start of the game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3be9op0gTPw/YVCYWf3McwI/AAAAAAAABp8/Z6bmG8bGoxsM5YQEPxX6shabCxtMU-jKACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/9pregame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3be9op0gTPw/YVCYWf3McwI/AAAAAAAABp8/Z6bmG8bGoxsM5YQEPxX6shabCxtMU-jKACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/9pregame.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>First Turn: Valeria charges off the pyre towards the riders! You can see her next to that boulder in the upper right of the picture.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6X9qynEW2eQ/YVCYkKsKgFI/AAAAAAAABqA/S4ess7SIavQ4xdy9s1c6Y4XlcfW_csZ8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/8charge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6X9qynEW2eQ/YVCYkKsKgFI/AAAAAAAABqA/S4ess7SIavQ4xdy9s1c6Y4XlcfW_csZ8QCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/8charge.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Here they come!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-prEz1Eof2EE/YVCZAKR_EzI/AAAAAAAABqM/uK3fx6zm4wE399mbYZ3VbtWMUdpq5671ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/10bravevaleria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-prEz1Eof2EE/YVCZAKR_EzI/AAAAAAAABqM/uK3fx6zm4wE399mbYZ3VbtWMUdpq5671ACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/10bravevaleria.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Brave Valeria charges into their midst! "Get away from my man!!!" You can see how this group used the three clumps of sharpened sticks and the one row of them (bottom of picture) to funnel the riders into one area of the boulders. The riders can move through these obstacles but it takes several turns and really slows them down. This keeps them from using their fast horses to ride around the side of the heroes and get to the princes! The rider in the lower part of the picture thought about trying to ride around these pointy sticks, but later thought better of it. It just takes too long!<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T09qrk4r_Iw/YVCZgsT0wiI/AAAAAAAABqU/KisYbgF584US4qldm5Qi93G3KZ4WIC1xgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/11conanambush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T09qrk4r_Iw/YVCZgsT0wiI/AAAAAAAABqU/KisYbgF584US4qldm5Qi93G3KZ4WIC1xgCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/11conanambush.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Conan leaps out from behind a boulder, surprising the riders!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_vRqvyCgbB4/YVCZvlqVBiI/AAAAAAAABqY/DRX3dJAnS90UNQLf5NLuQdysdTBUTrtOACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/12conanvaleriaakiro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_vRqvyCgbB4/YVCZvlqVBiI/AAAAAAAABqY/DRX3dJAnS90UNQLf5NLuQdysdTBUTrtOACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/12conanvaleriaakiro.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>This was a very interesting combination during the first game. As predicted, Conan and Valeria stand side by side trying to keep the riders at bay. However, Akrio can be seen behind a boulder in the upper part of the picture, preparing to charge a rider from the rear by surprise. The enemies on foot were knocked from their horses at some point and are now having to fight the heroes on foot.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKeW-NJX_Qo/YVCaME8bEOI/AAAAAAAABqk/FmKs1G7BVkk6Jwc-71X5--3NVp0QVAlSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/14subotaiprotects.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bKeW-NJX_Qo/YVCaME8bEOI/AAAAAAAABqk/FmKs1G7BVkk6Jwc-71X5--3NVp0QVAlSgCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/14subotaiprotects.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The first group of players pulled Subotai back to the princes to protect her from Thulsa Dooms magical snake arrow which the heroes cannot stop from being fired. But by having a hero next to the princess, the hero can take the shot from Thulsa Doom instead of it automatically killing the princess, causing the players to lose the game. Subotai is making his last stand reloading as many of his spent arrows as possible from those he stuck in the ground on top of this burial mound before the battle began. He took two wounds from the magical arrow from Thulsa Doom but saved the princess!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IkqwIpVsD1U/YVCa4k8vKSI/AAAAAAAABqs/3e2nhdDqYysoC-44PqR_Rr3xLcZupF9LACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/15victory%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IkqwIpVsD1U/YVCa4k8vKSI/AAAAAAAABqs/3e2nhdDqYysoC-44PqR_Rr3xLcZupF9LACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/15victory%2521.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>All four heroes surround Rexor and deal the killing blow. Victory for the players in the first game with all heroes surviving!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fp2moT3IDio/YVCbG9XczrI/AAAAAAAABqw/4tpiRbxNBA8UpsHAPp_pJfANAve4YXBMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/16conanintrouble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fp2moT3IDio/YVCbG9XczrI/AAAAAAAABqw/4tpiRbxNBA8UpsHAPp_pJfANAve4YXBMQCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/16conanintrouble.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>This was during the second game and Conan is in trouble! Valeria and Subotai are too far away to help, and this second group used Akiro to protect the princess so he is far away at the back edge of the board at this point in the game. This could have been real trouble for Conan but the player rolled really well and ... <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U_H9R2k_7uc/YVCbdFr19ZI/AAAAAAAABq4/6X3Ay9LOQoobt7liUZXOp_sV3nqjtdPxACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/17conanfightsthemoff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U_H9R2k_7uc/YVCbdFr19ZI/AAAAAAAABq4/6X3Ay9LOQoobt7liUZXOp_sV3nqjtdPxACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/17conanfightsthemoff.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>... although they made their armor saves and survived, Conan won the melee combat against four enemies and drove them back, causing them all to be shaken by the defeat! This was a turning point in this second game with the pendulum swinging in favor of the players!<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ysQedFHTWBQ/YVCbuGjXuCI/AAAAAAAABrA/t52V8eksBMkMTUJ1tElm-rL26Q6HSz7igCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/18companionstogether.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ysQedFHTWBQ/YVCbuGjXuCI/AAAAAAAABrA/t52V8eksBMkMTUJ1tElm-rL26Q6HSz7igCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/18companionstogether.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>One added level of tension in this second game was that the heroes ended up having to fall back to the burial mound with the princess, which allowed the enemies to get closer to her and possibly killing her! This is close to the climactic end of this game with three of the four heroes making their last stand at the base of the prince's burial mound. Thorgrim is in the mix and Rexor is out of the picture towards the bottom but charging and would eventually arrive. Akiro is still on top of the mound protecting the princess but would after saving her from Thulsa Doom's magical arrow make his way down and join the fray, casting his "Eye of Doom" spell at both Thorgrim and Rexor injuring them enough so that they could be killed off in melee combat with the heroes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5DNqW2ofLhg/YVCcltpg7jI/AAAAAAAABrI/0-saRIPM_rwDC8tXYFYPLhS7TmnszDNHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/19victory2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5DNqW2ofLhg/YVCcltpg7jI/AAAAAAAABrI/0-saRIPM_rwDC8tXYFYPLhS7TmnszDNHQCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/19victory2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Interestingly, this game ended with the anti-heroes being killed and there was one remaining fanatical regular infantry enemy left alive, but we called the game here, there was no way he could possibly survive a melee combat against all four heroes at the same time!</p><p>Two very enjoyable games that in some ways were similar, but in others were very different. It was easier for the horses to get past the heroes in the second game because of where the barriers were placed by the players, but they were still able to slow them down enough without a single enemy getting to the top of the princess's burial mound to try and kill her. Both groups used great team work, which is the point of a co-op game, and I am very please with how these games went. I hope to be able to run them again at Scrum Con this year.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-205188703219710042021-09-13T17:08:00.002-07:002021-09-13T17:08:27.318-07:00Finally, Conan!<p> Sorry I have not updated for a while. Unlike for many, COVID has not increased the time I have spent with my hobby. Quite the opposite. But, I am back in the swing of things and am getting ready for my Barrage game in two weeks. As has been planned now for almost 2 years, I am running a Conan game, the Battle of the Mounds, which is the final big battle of the 1982 Arnold Conan Swords & Sorcery classic. I have had these figures made for a while now, but just recently got them painted. I did a test game with the guys from my wargaming club (Army of Central Maryland) this past Sunday and here are some pics of everything.</p><p>First, the figures ...</p><p>Conan the Barbarian!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qRufQnmeqFU/YT_gaP0CMNI/AAAAAAAABnU/_2JXrQSgulUb5VoO0TVZ_pOh0QAbhlpOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Conan%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qRufQnmeqFU/YT_gaP0CMNI/AAAAAAAABnU/_2JXrQSgulUb5VoO0TVZ_pOh0QAbhlpOwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Conan%2B1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>I decided to go with the big axe rather than his sword. I am planning to do some other scenarios based on scenes in this movie and he will be using a sword in all the rest of them, so I decided for a different weapon for this game. Plus, this is what he is using when the Battle of the Mounds begins ... so, it's "historically accurate." <smile> Here is another pic of the painted Conan from the rear.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2TGbH5B7mDs/YT_hEOxtd0I/AAAAAAAABnc/GmPUsgT6I8cynuubYy2L6yXsuTGttiZLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Conan%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2TGbH5B7mDs/YT_hEOxtd0I/AAAAAAAABnc/GmPUsgT6I8cynuubYy2L6yXsuTGttiZLwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Conan%2B2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Conan is not complete with his beloved Valeria. By this time she has been killed (sorry for any spoilers) so in this game she is a ghost. Here she is ...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t5INcapqPFc/YT_hYWTLn1I/AAAAAAAABnk/JfoI10MAlPAiFubBBq7iQAoZTN6cXq5zACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Valeria%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t5INcapqPFc/YT_hYWTLn1I/AAAAAAAABnk/JfoI10MAlPAiFubBBq7iQAoZTN6cXq5zACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Valeria%2B1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugxjHDczINo/YT_hfGluAmI/AAAAAAAABno/_7M_25dMPd0mUCJ01Jenwp0b_NB-ttNgwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Valeria%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugxjHDczINo/YT_hfGluAmI/AAAAAAAABno/_7M_25dMPd0mUCJ01Jenwp0b_NB-ttNgwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Valeria%2B2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Next is Subotai, Conan's trusted companion. This one is probably my favorite figure ... plus he gets the award for having the coolest helmet!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ahB7kQ5w_ZE/YT_hyYvFlWI/AAAAAAAABn0/eFM0DB9JTBAl0kadnTJOFAy52QMTHI2SgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Subotai%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ahB7kQ5w_ZE/YT_hyYvFlWI/AAAAAAAABn0/eFM0DB9JTBAl0kadnTJOFAy52QMTHI2SgCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Subotai%2B1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M6jvqFNotk0/YT_h5wJgCOI/AAAAAAAABn4/X8Msre77yqYcVCyskMOz8I-vTjvZbNP6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Subotai%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M6jvqFNotk0/YT_h5wJgCOI/AAAAAAAABn4/X8Msre77yqYcVCyskMOz8I-vTjvZbNP6wCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Subotai%2B2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>And Conan would have died had it not been for the magic of his wizard friend, Akiro.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DjQmCM5GIt0/YT_iFkqlYmI/AAAAAAAABoA/Xl5bZoYYhRgIN1_3Vzb485I-Q7tdcXRVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Akiro%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DjQmCM5GIt0/YT_iFkqlYmI/AAAAAAAABoA/Xl5bZoYYhRgIN1_3Vzb485I-Q7tdcXRVwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Akiro%2B1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2qLePFGaWWc/YT_iLMmL7NI/AAAAAAAABoI/mfY3DZUp1VYGqPr_zGwv-cb0J981iTecQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Akiro%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2qLePFGaWWc/YT_iLMmL7NI/AAAAAAAABoI/mfY3DZUp1VYGqPr_zGwv-cb0J981iTecQCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Akiro%2B2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Just like in the movie, I love his oversized helmet! You have to use what you have when you are looting the dead for their weapons and armor.</p><p><br /></p><p>And now for the game ...</p><p><br /></p><p>I used my homebrew rules that I have used in the past for the LotR games I have done. I just changed the heroes' special abilities to fit these characters. Here is the battlefield before the enemies arrive. You can see two of the three mounds (the third is off to the left and is where the Princess is chained to the rock to keep her from running off back to Thulsa Doom. The big die on the far mound is a counter, counting down the turns until Thulsa Doom arrives and shoots the magical snake arrow at the Princess, trying to kill her.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FTaO4HaDXk4/YT_ivy5TUdI/AAAAAAAABoU/xzL_nQjEMEwzZUHS8Ftn5mEg-fymoTeJwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/pregame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FTaO4HaDXk4/YT_ivy5TUdI/AAAAAAAABoU/xzL_nQjEMEwzZUHS8Ftn5mEg-fymoTeJwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/pregame.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>You can see Valeria on her funeral pyre where she goes when she is "wounded." She can't be killed because she's a ghost, but if she takes a wound she has to go back to her pyre. The black circles are used to allow the heroes to hide. Most of the circles are blank, one for each hero (3, Valeria can't hide), and one is a trap. The enemies when they touch a boulder allows me as the GM to turn over a black circle. Also the heroes can no longer hide behind that boulder during the game. I had rules for allowing them to appear at different boulders as well so that they could surprise the enemies, just like in the movie.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-soE7EaIKie0/YT_jhSAHr2I/AAAAAAAABoc/1IMlgzSNioQHSLscRdQWWJ7zF_2B0RQjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Battle%2B1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-soE7EaIKie0/YT_jhSAHr2I/AAAAAAAABoc/1IMlgzSNioQHSLscRdQWWJ7zF_2B0RQjQCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Battle%2B1a.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Early in the game. The Servants (left) and the Black Guard (right) are riding to kill the heroes hiding in the boulders. You can see Conan and Valeria next to some spikes to protect them from the mounted enemies, and Akiro is off in the upper right corner, possibly being ridden down by some of the Black Guard during the next turn.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ay3WxNJ84yk/YT_j7M-kgpI/AAAAAAAABok/sHI3keV0R749jJNAyLEsa7FrEwZ-_d_DACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/battle%2B2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ay3WxNJ84yk/YT_j7M-kgpI/AAAAAAAABok/sHI3keV0R749jJNAyLEsa7FrEwZ-_d_DACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/battle%2B2a.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Here is a close up of the same point in the game. Four Black Guard ride towards Conan and Valeria hoping to slay them!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QMSkdKWilHw/YT_kHm6pzyI/AAAAAAAABoo/RyyU6tg0-ZoMUy2YCRQizu6f7VUNqq-bACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/battle%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QMSkdKWilHw/YT_kHm6pzyI/AAAAAAAABoo/RyyU6tg0-ZoMUy2YCRQizu6f7VUNqq-bACLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/battle%2B3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>The battle progresses. I have rules for dismounting riders (you can see one of the Black Guard is on foot).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eg7ZMCFUYag/YT_kTiTmY0I/AAAAAAAABos/F9vB_q1ShTksqDTQ3vya-XD04g2MeCX3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/battle%2B6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eg7ZMCFUYag/YT_kTiTmY0I/AAAAAAAABos/F9vB_q1ShTksqDTQ3vya-XD04g2MeCX3QCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/battle%2B6.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The end of the game. Only one Black Guard remains and Rexor (middle) and Thorgrim (right) have joined the fray. Conan and Valeria continue to fight together with Subotai rushing toward the melee. By this time in the game, Akiro unfortunately had been killed. The gold gem next to Thorgrim indicates that he is Shaken.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eU9gslj3qqY/YT_kvxJtX9I/AAAAAAAABo0/TijRcXklLkU72KBST6swWHtRGuDLR29iwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/battle%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eU9gslj3qqY/YT_kvxJtX9I/AAAAAAAABo0/TijRcXklLkU72KBST6swWHtRGuDLR29iwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/battle%2B7.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The end of the game. Valeria, Conan, and a very wounded Subotai fight together against Rexor who is Shaken. The trio would eventually slay Rexor.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-arTi6QcXK5g/YT_lA1QBQ1I/AAAAAAAABo8/b-5gExS9TzQVzUYtSqf1vsMQvaFu2_aLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/victors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-arTi6QcXK5g/YT_lA1QBQ1I/AAAAAAAABo8/b-5gExS9TzQVzUYtSqf1vsMQvaFu2_aLgCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/victors.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>The victors! And ...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H9rodoNt0XM/YT_lKK8kVDI/AAAAAAAABpA/YN1zkK7zo7gs7ov-8etq-zeBBIvc2n6mwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/princess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H9rodoNt0XM/YT_lKK8kVDI/AAAAAAAABpA/YN1zkK7zo7gs7ov-8etq-zeBBIvc2n6mwCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/princess.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>They succeeded in saving the princess!</p><p><br /></p><p>The game went well, just a few tweaks I think and it will be Barrage Convention ready. I need to finish a Thulsa Doom figure. In the game he is a plot element attacking the Princess with a snake arrow and it forces the players to have one hero stay back next to the princess to take the shot so that she won't be killed. So he just shows up for one turn and is really just for visual fun in the game, but it would be great to have a Thulsa Doom figure nonetheless.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-27210393768709049522021-01-24T13:39:00.000-07:002021-01-24T13:39:04.746-07:00I Received My Dream Tool: A Laser<p>This was long overdue, but as I head towards retirement (three more years) I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and to buy a dream tool that I had been pondering for a long time: a laser cutter and engraver. Now you might be wondering why this is on this particular blog and the answer is because it will absolutely play a role in cutting out parts for my wooden warriors.</p>
<p>In the past I used a <a href="https://cricut.com" target="_blank">Cricut cutting machine</a> to cut out <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2011/11/experimenting-with-foam-sheet.html" target="_blank">arm shapes</a> and <a href="https://wooden-warriors.blogspot.com/2016/12/spanish-troops-in-bicorne.html" target="_blank">Spanish bicornes</a> from craft foam sheet and, although I liked the flexibility of the material, I did not like how it took paint. With a laser I will easily be able to cut out shapes in 3mm and 1/8" thickness.</p>
<p>Right now I am in the experimental phase. I have long drawn images for wargaming using various drawing packages on the Macintosh. I bought the <a href="https://glowforge.com/our-products" target="_blank">Glowforge Plus</a> and it accepts SVG format files as input for 2D work, i.e. cutting and scoring. I have been using Inkscape for years, and that saves in many of the formats that the Glowforge accepts.</p>
<p>My first experiment was creating a painting rack for my paints. I use Pro Acryl mostly right now and they have a large bottle size than the craft paints and the Vallejo/Army Painter sized bottles, so I thought I would cut out my own as an initial project.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RlyRxRojhXU/YA3BQU2tAYI/AAAAAAAAGvI/ZZJfZQwve74PwlUoL2rtdx7i4btk49d5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1296/IMG-0373.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1296" height="565" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RlyRxRojhXU/YA3BQU2tAYI/AAAAAAAAGvI/ZZJfZQwve74PwlUoL2rtdx7i4btk49d5QCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h565/IMG-0373.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The laser in action.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>I looked at other paint holders and I noticed that many have the paint bottles standing straight up and down. The better ones stack one on top of another. I didn't really want that kind. I wanted the bottles angled and showing the color as much as possible.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Adcvvxs2MD4/YA3B55Xzm3I/AAAAAAAAGvQ/CqLP8O4l7u4ekvruQSlkHDFXFoP2fO4UACLcBGAsYHQ/s1296/IMG-0374.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1262" data-original-width="1296" height="624" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Adcvvxs2MD4/YA3B55Xzm3I/AAAAAAAAGvQ/CqLP8O4l7u4ekvruQSlkHDFXFoP2fO4UACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h624/IMG-0374.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top of the holder.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The top plate of the holder has holes slightly larger than the bottle's diameter (30mm) so the paint bottle can slide in comfortably.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a5AKIyF1y7k/YA3Cm0VIeGI/AAAAAAAAGvY/sEz5sBxUhuIiJbKRj6w94UmftCcva_h2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1296/IMG-0375.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="1259" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a5AKIyF1y7k/YA3Cm0VIeGI/AAAAAAAAGvY/sEz5sBxUhuIiJbKRj6w94UmftCcva_h2QCLcBGAsYHQ/w622-h640/IMG-0375.jpg" width="622" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sides of the holder.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>I decided to cut out two of these sheets so I could double up on the sides and make it stiffer.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SMyYw6DRR88/YA3Cv-Gap6I/AAAAAAAAGvc/2AJ9gUtTW0U8U07LHGh5zSNh9cOI9LTXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1296/IMG-0376.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1269" data-original-width="1296" height="626" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SMyYw6DRR88/YA3Cv-Gap6I/AAAAAAAAGvc/2AJ9gUtTW0U8U07LHGh5zSNh9cOI9LTXQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h626/IMG-0376.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bottom of the holder.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The bottom has small holes so the bottle's tip could slide in.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xq5aLlE0z-I/YA3V8dGc5kI/AAAAAAAAGv8/sXtruaZ1wn86a41BQ8NeMMeWyvncHzC9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_0378.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="2048" height="382" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xq5aLlE0z-I/YA3V8dGc5kI/AAAAAAAAGv8/sXtruaZ1wn86a41BQ8NeMMeWyvncHzC9wCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h382/IMG_0378.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished product.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>I really like how I can see all the colors so easily. It takes up a bit of space, but I don't want stackable holders where I have to unstack them to remove a paint bottle and I am tired of having to pick up bottles to look at the color from holders where the bottles stand straight. If I were afraid of the bottles leaking I could still reverse them (tips up) and see the colors while being able to easily grab the bottle.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pgW5X6cA-h4/YA3YhITHGHI/AAAAAAAAGwI/6P5M19-EVDM5nzeJ5WPw9FjDr5Ti0TzEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1044/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-01-24%2Bat%2B12.18.54%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="1044" height="248" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pgW5X6cA-h4/YA3YhITHGHI/AAAAAAAAGwI/6P5M19-EVDM5nzeJ5WPw9FjDr5Ti0TzEQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h248/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-01-24%2Bat%2B12.18.54%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The different cuts.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>This was a really instructive project and I look forward to doing more. Right now all of my projects are more war-game accessories and the like. I am strongly considering continuing to use the 3mm chipboard as a replacement for craft foam sheets (although I have a ton of it still).</p>Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-33777654652138249452021-01-01T14:09:00.000-07:002021-01-01T14:09:11.677-07:00Back to Basics!<p> First off, Happy New Year everyone! Sorry it has been so long since my last post to this blog, but working my job in a COVID environment has turned out to be very challenging and has been extreme time consuming.</p><p><br /></p><p>That said, I wanted to continue on with some of my wooden fellows and I have several constructions done for the more detailed figures (let's just say I have done some "caped crusader" figures). But if I am honest with myself, these more detailed figures while I do enjoy them, are not really what prompted me to make wooden miniatures for wargaming out of spools, toothpicks, and such. What I have always wanted to do was create miniatures that anyone could make and paint to a standard that they would be happy putting on the table top.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am not sure if this is present on this blog or not, I don't think it is, but way back, about a decade ago to the day honestly (I can't believe it has been that long!), my original intention was not to create miniatures for wargaming. What I wanted to do was to make playing pieces for the game of Chinese Chess. Those of you who are not familiar with the game, it is a wonderful type of chess that is related to the game that we all call "chess" currently but has some important differences. First, it is less abstracted in its pieces. The pieces are more consistent with the types of troops used in actual ancient warfare. For example, there are elephants, cannons, and chariots as pieces in Chinese Chess. Second, the board is slightly different in that there is a "river" in the middle and at least the soldiers ("pawns") behave differently when they are on their side of the river compared to the enemy side. In summary, the game really is more akin IMHO to ancient warfare than is what we call today "chess," at least in terms of its pieces.</p><p><br /></p><p>The problem I encountered was, however, significant in that the game is played with flat discs (similar to checkers) as playing pieces and on these discs is written using a single Chinese character the name of the piece. First challenge I encountered was, you guessed it, I don't read Chinese. Second, the same characters are not always used for the same pieces in the two armies. For example, the "elephant" character in the red army is a different character than the one used in the blue army for the "elephant" piece. Yikes! This proved to be a very difficult challenge for me to overcome. Not only would I have to learn the characters for the pieces, I would in many cases have to learn two sets of characters for each piece depending on the army. </p><p><br /></p><p>The good news for me, however, was that there were some 3D Chinese Chess sets available with pieces that were shaped like the troop type. For example, the cannons looked like cannons, the elephants looked like elephants, etc. Great! I was in business! But the issue was that these sets were a bit on the pricey side (for me anyway). So after looking at these pieces, I thought, "I bet I can make a serviceable set of pieces out of wood craft parts that would allow me to play Chinese Chess. I can use these spools with these mushroom caps to make 'pawns', and I can use these candle cups tipped at a 45 degree angle with these little discs on the side as wheels to make cannons," etc. </p><p><br /></p><p>But then once I did that it dawned on my that I could make huge armies for ancients wargames for very little money using these inexpensive craft parts and, equally importantly, with a simple paint scheme I could put hundreds of figures on the table top in not a lot of time. And so that's what I did. And since then, because of seeing the great work of all the folks out there that do more detailed figures, I started to do more detailed once myself.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have decided, for a little while anyway, to return to my roots ... get back to basics ... to return to doing the simpler figures of a decade ago. And further, to make pieces for board games that I really like.</p><p><br /></p><p>Chess was an obvious choice, and I will do pieces for traditional chess eventually, but before that I have always wanted to do a homemade version of the old Parker Brothers' game "All the King's Men." There are several variants out there, but this one is my favorite and it has a medieval theme. Here is a picture of the game:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wptrc9NWpT4/X--GKfx_msI/AAAAAAAABjg/9I1dZKs30EMDscGXsDN5x7tIJ6VH7kdaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/pic31214.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="640" height="444" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wptrc9NWpT4/X--GKfx_msI/AAAAAAAABjg/9I1dZKs30EMDscGXsDN5x7tIJ6VH7kdaQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h444/pic31214.webp" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>It is not the most popular of games, it is often seen as too simple and not challenging enough, but I have loved this game since my youth. There are only three types of pieces, the King, four Knights, and seven Archers. The King and the Archers each move one square. The Knights can move any number of squares. Fair enough, it is a very simple chess-like game, no doubt. But the one thing that this game has that no other game at that time did (this was the late 70's) is that the board squares determine the direction the piece could move. The distance in squares moved was established by the type of piece. But the direction was dependent upon the arrows on the square the piece currently occupied. It has been proposed by those who studied the game that this was done to simplify the movement of the pieces for beginners and make the game easier for even younger plays to enjoy. Fair enough, I do think this is true. But the wargamer in me saw something else, and it is what I have always loved about this game. The squares effectively serve like terrain in a wargame. If the square does not have a "forward" facing arrow in it, the piece cannot move in that direction. This really is an abstraction of terrain in a wargame!</p><p><br /></p><p>So, in an effort to return to my roots with crafting figures, I decided to make my own pieces for the game "All the King's Men." The board? I will try, but I know it is going to be difficult. But I will try.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Consistent with the original, I am going to make a brown colored army and a cream colored army. I am also sticking with the medieval theme of archers, knights, and a royal (I am going to do one King and one Queen however just for fun and also as a shout-out to the new Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit"). I am just going to use peg people and paint the designs on them to indicate the different playing pieces. Keep it Simple Stupid approach here. I am going to base coat all of the peg people in black and then paint the colors on top of this black base coat, being careful to use the "negative space" (in other words leave black showing throw) to create definition and a break between the different parts of the piece. I am not shooting for something "realistic" or even necessarily proportional here. In fact, I am only doing the figures from the waist up. Instead, I am aiming for interesting looking playing pieces for a board game. Also, I know that pieces of the same type will differ slightly from each other. I'm okay with that. This is supposed to be a "handmade" game, not a manufactured one.<br /></p><p> </p><p>Here are some photos of the brown colored army.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DB2YiMlnl_k/X--HzedTWrI/AAAAAAAABjs/-vh-cMmK-NctTBoetkAgAHyFvCQDStz5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DB2YiMlnl_k/X--HzedTWrI/AAAAAAAABjs/-vh-cMmK-NctTBoetkAgAHyFvCQDStz5wCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>The King is about 3" tall, the Knights are about 2.5" tall and the Archers are 1.75" tall. I did nothing to these pawns other than paint them. The armor and weapons are somewhat abstracted, and I purposefully did not paint facial features on them. This, along with their size difference, gives them more of a board game "playing piece" feel than a historical miniature wargame feel, which is what I was going for.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V4AnoMImxmY/X--I5rTLxoI/AAAAAAAABj4/fcbFSkpV8-o_kpPrNe4NlamMYeUix1ZygCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V4AnoMImxmY/X--I5rTLxoI/AAAAAAAABj4/fcbFSkpV8-o_kpPrNe4NlamMYeUix1ZygCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Here are the two "Royals" side by side, King on the left, Queen on the right. Obviously I chose to use base colors for their outfits consistent with their army (brown and cream).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dSSu3MLFBgo/X--JLgdeUZI/AAAAAAAABkA/j-fa70ENlS4IpLl5-6uI9Zmfr6trXYoaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dSSu3MLFBgo/X--JLgdeUZI/AAAAAAAABkA/j-fa70ENlS4IpLl5-6uI9Zmfr6trXYoaQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The Knights might be my favorite pieces. I wanted them to have some plate armor on but also holding swords in their right hand and shields over their left arm. So really, the plate armor is really only visible when looking at their helmet and their right arm holding the sword. Again, I used the brown or cream colors to paint their surcoats as well as their shield front to make it easier to see in which army they serve.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EbpuhrIc_pQ/X--JfTeQJVI/AAAAAAAABkI/cPK5KjGJRy8uXpGhmwHhf5OGvaCJNy-pgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EbpuhrIc_pQ/X--JfTeQJVI/AAAAAAAABkI/cPK5KjGJRy8uXpGhmwHhf5OGvaCJNy-pgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Here is a better shot of the sword. Super easy to do and I like the way they came out.</p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zVCy5louGIs/X--O5HTQFRI/AAAAAAAABkk/4C1vA7rnAkQR2CyUrYg0YWIDgDmVzlTvQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zVCy5louGIs/X--O5HTQFRI/AAAAAAAABkk/4C1vA7rnAkQR2CyUrYg0YWIDgDmVzlTvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Here is a better shot of the right arm holding the sword. Again, my goal was to create a "plate armor" look.</p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-thnuR_JA8dY/X--JtI0Nv8I/AAAAAAAABkQ/3D3k-fSdjnUtVZlISDu2fX9FYXdLfA3NACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-thnuR_JA8dY/X--JtI0Nv8I/AAAAAAAABkQ/3D3k-fSdjnUtVZlISDu2fX9FYXdLfA3NACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The archers were the first figures I did. I couldn't decide whether to paint their mail head and shoulder covering as mail or just leave it gray. I went with the more simple option of not painting the mail and just leaving it gray. The bows they hold in hindsight I should have put in their other hand, but that's okay. I used different colors for the bows to give more visual distinctiveness to these pieces as they are the smallest on the board.</p><p><br /></p><p>The board will be tricky. I have some ideas but even if I can't pull it off, I am happy with these playing pieces.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-90619678620932451262020-08-23T19:19:00.002-07:002020-08-23T19:19:55.350-07:00And Still More Lankhmar Goodness!<p> Finally got those two figures painted, the thief/slinger and the other bravo type guy. Here they are.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nql9oD4VrEY/X0MhNX_czOI/AAAAAAAABhk/9COzr95dZLoMKUlwGjtz0Cql7hbI6IXZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nql9oD4VrEY/X0MhNX_czOI/AAAAAAAABhk/9COzr95dZLoMKUlwGjtz0Cql7hbI6IXZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I like how they turned out, especially the slinger although the leg position on the other figure turned out well too, I just don't like his head much. More on that later.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZA3EoqBr0DQ/X0MhcZ6yR8I/AAAAAAAABho/Qdlt8Kh7MtILIKPB8ehDB6e0UlyLfYL-QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZA3EoqBr0DQ/X0MhcZ6yR8I/AAAAAAAABho/Qdlt8Kh7MtILIKPB8ehDB6e0UlyLfYL-QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Same lunging legs as before, the bent knee leg being a flat plug and the long straight leg being a tile spacer. I continued to try and get a little more creative with tile spacer pieces to make it look like he is wearing baggy pants. Hard to see here but his left extended leg has some additional tile spacer pieces on the top and inside bottom of the leg to mimic draped cloth.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GGpNr3XjUfc/X0Mh-yhwk2I/AAAAAAAABh0/YAvOsz4gxq8utr2wP_AA4Gsc4VUKAlB1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GGpNr3XjUfc/X0Mh-yhwk2I/AAAAAAAABh0/YAvOsz4gxq8utr2wP_AA4Gsc4VUKAlB1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Head, body, weapons, and arms are just like the Gray Mouser figure. The sling was fun. It's just paper with a small round bead glued into the loop end and painted to look like a rock.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gQIwhj173qg/X0MiNoO-i4I/AAAAAAAABh4/WlS_6DldjIkmZqabUgNGP6-Ga8R5Q2WfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gQIwhj173qg/X0MiNoO-i4I/AAAAAAAABh4/WlS_6DldjIkmZqabUgNGP6-Ga8R5Q2WfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The bravo has a different leg positioning that's actually easier to see in the first picture. His right leg is bent as normal and is a flat plug, but his bent left leg with the tip of the toe touching the ground only is also a flat plug for the upper part of the leg, and a tile spacer for the leg from the knee down. Tile spacer feet and arms as normal. I wasn't sure if this leg position would look good, but it turned out okay.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v76GAkRrGyk/X0Mik8-Dk4I/AAAAAAAABiE/iuFqBowoCAkF0sSG8okhFNVjDKIFWWJqwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v76GAkRrGyk/X0Mik8-Dk4I/AAAAAAAABiE/iuFqBowoCAkF0sSG8okhFNVjDKIFWWJqwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I don't like his head, though. I like the close-cropped shaved head look, but I tried to give his leather armor a collar and I don't think it looks very good. Makes him look like he has a really long neck!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RssZlCgiUrs/X0MiytTgNBI/AAAAAAAABiI/ZqJwQ409N5ogUdhc_mWnr_3_lbwSqc7cgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RssZlCgiUrs/X0MiytTgNBI/AAAAAAAABiI/ZqJwQ409N5ogUdhc_mWnr_3_lbwSqc7cgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>You can see the left bent leg better in this shot. Also, I used a small barrel bead for his upper torso. I do like this look and at least with arm positions like these it works fine with the tile spacer arms if you first cover the holes on the end of the barrel bead with paper.</p><p><br /></p><p>I've got several experimental builds on my table right now, but I'm not sure when or even if they will get painted. Time will tell ...<br /></p>GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771761388078945047.post-77500401555242931752020-07-07T21:41:00.000-07:002020-07-07T21:41:01.201-07:00Even More Lankhmar Goodness!Played in the Lankhmar game a couple of weeks ago. It was really fun. The DCC version is probably the best one that I know of on the market. I like it slightly better than the old AD&D 1st or 2nd edition attempts, and I definitely like it better than the Savage World Lankhmar game books although I will say that they are very beautiful and well-done books. I just don't like Savage Worlds that much as a game system.<br />
<br />
Anyway, all this means I just did more figures. And actually, I have all the figures done for the first part of my Lankhmar minis convention game that I want to do. A few more bravo/thief types and I will have them all finished.<br />
<br />
Anyway, here are some wizards for you. The one on the left with the rat familiar is the infamous Hristomilo reading his arcane scroll. The one on the right is one of the PCs in the game, a Mingol wizard from the Steppes.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YW-eCKVwX_g/XwVI-vbDjAI/AAAAAAAABgY/R4I_XR_y7_cDVkl0TReZ0K-pe0quTFU5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YW-eCKVwX_g/XwVI-vbDjAI/AAAAAAAABgY/R4I_XR_y7_cDVkl0TReZ0K-pe0quTFU5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Hrisomili is simple, he is just a milk bottle body with a large cap on the top with his head glued down on the cap somewhat to give him the proper "hunch back" posture and tall height that he has in the stories. His scroll is just parchment paper wrapped around toothpicks on each end, then glued to his hands in a way that makes it look like he is reading it.<br />
<br />
Next to Hristomili in the middle is Slivikin, his rat familiar. He is supposed to have human-like hands. Can't really see them well in this picture but that's okay, he's just a rat. Tile spacer head, arms, and feet, with a body that is two beads, smaller on top of larger. He has a paper tail that you can see better in the next picture.<br />
<br />
The PC Mingol wizard was really tough to do, but I'm really happy with how he turned out. The player wanted me to use actual Mongol Shaman as inspiration and they look really cool but they have these long hair-like things coming out of their hats that fly around impressively as they chant and dance. It looks extremely cool in real life, but trying to mimic that in one of these figures was tough. But I did it with twisted paper and I think it looks good. He's got his interesting drum in his left hand and drum stick in the other.<br />
<br />
Now for a rear view.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lBzvee--n6Y/XwVKDn1O4uI/AAAAAAAABgk/87ZhVIR33GIvgvMQic6RpPFeubGDJsAtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lBzvee--n6Y/XwVKDn1O4uI/AAAAAAAABgk/87ZhVIR33GIvgvMQic6RpPFeubGDJsAtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Better view of Slivikin's paper tail and Hristomilo's spell scroll. Two very different looking wizards, but both very consistent with those in the Lankhmar setting.<br />
<br />
Now onto some bravos ...<br />
<br />
These intimidating-looking chaps are from the Slayers Brotherhood, a guild that the Thieves Guild often uses for protection. In the first minis game I plan on doing these three are the main opposition for Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (the players) and they guard two thieves who are carrying the valuables that Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are trying to procure. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xkGfkfPSn3I/XwVKo0I5WxI/AAAAAAAABgs/IQmBeQWD79UCr4Qy2Qr7tpbOaJQHK40eACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xkGfkfPSn3I/XwVKo0I5WxI/AAAAAAAABgs/IQmBeQWD79UCr4Qy2Qr7tpbOaJQHK40eACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Lots of inspiration for these from the graphic novel. The only interesting build here is the bald guy on the right. He is the first shirtless guy I tried doing using in this case the small barrel bead construction (I didn't want him as big as the barbarian figures but I still wanted him to look muscular). I put a leather armor girdle around his waist to give him some protection. He originally was going to just be wearing a loin cloth but I did the legs wrong for that look. I will try that again in the future though. Also, the middle guy has two legs that are made using the plug construction with no tile spacer leg like I did with the lunging figure like the Mouser. I wanted a crouching guy and I am happy with him too. He actually looks better in person. Plus he has an eye patch!<br />
<br />
And from the rear ...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_MVRmH-KWMo/XwVLXHmP-aI/AAAAAAAABg4/Q7NZcxisdu0_5SHW925x1dN-2TstwOgSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_MVRmH-KWMo/XwVLXHmP-aI/AAAAAAAABg4/Q7NZcxisdu0_5SHW925x1dN-2TstwOgSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
And now for the two thieves these guys are guarding. Their names are Fissif and Sleyvas and they are from the story "Ill Met in Lankhmar" as is the idea for the minis game, to be honest. Fissif is a "fat" thief and Sleyvas is supposed to be tall, though I didn't make him that tall.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VH53ETirXGg/XwVL2yTgy-I/AAAAAAAABhA/Grd9K8rYDqYSmKwA8mfJ6sSvFkyFVHTWgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VH53ETirXGg/XwVL2yTgy-I/AAAAAAAABhA/Grd9K8rYDqYSmKwA8mfJ6sSvFkyFVHTWgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Again, the inspiration for how these guys look comes from the graphic novel. Sleyvas is nothing new, milk bottle body construction. Fissif, however, is new. He is a large barrel bead for his entire body and lower legs, but the bead is vertical instead of side ways like it is in the barbarian and other "strong guy" figures. He has tile spacer arms and feet, a bead head, and paper is glued to cover the top and bottom of the barrel bead. His hat and shoulder pads are paper.<br />
<br />
And from the rear ...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6RCig9jQOpU/XwVMa5Uq_cI/AAAAAAAABhM/_h2TndKZc7AHycOBN07RcgZqaISR7KniwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6RCig9jQOpU/XwVMa5Uq_cI/AAAAAAAABhM/_h2TndKZc7AHycOBN07RcgZqaISR7KniwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I am particularly fond of Fissif but that's not surprising, even in the stories he has far more personality than Sleyvas. I just love his jaunty little cap!<br />
<br />
I've got a slinging thief and another probably bravo character on the painting table. I also want to try making some of the buildings that will serve as the terrain in the first game. The three bravos are escorting Fissif and Sleyvase from one board edge to the other and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser have to get the treasure from the two thieves without killing them (but they can kill the bravos) before the thieves get to the other side of the table. Ambush and swordplay abounds!GrayMouser65http://www.blogger.com/profile/09544842688532761550noreply@blogger.com6