Pause 3

Hi all,
           You will be pleased to know that I have finally got around to purchasing some more models  for the Blog. em4 and Crooked Dice Games came up with the goods for me. Thanks to Colin on the Nordic Weasel Yahoo Group Forum for pointing me in the right direction with some handy suggestions.

As someone almost once said, "Mr.Scott, ready to beam down goodies."

"Aye, Sir. Energizing now."

The postie has arrived, unfortunately, so has the Xmas move around at my shop. this means I will not have much free time to do my other stuff for a bit. I'm also mid decorating, but I may do a bit of priming during a break.

Just added a few names to the Hugemont cast list.

I do want to be generating more posts than I am at the moment, but real life keeps butting its nose into everything. Just had to buy a new Digital aerial, I have fitted it and it works ok, I have just got to get some more co-ax cable to reach the tv downstairs.

Just painted the missing bits on the model. Pictures posted

Next day, loose keys - so have to change lock barrel on front door after I get home (had a spare key to get in with), check for cable extenders while shopping, all gone.

Frustrated, yet again.

I have finished off my Corner ruin, unless I find other bits to add to it.

Thanks to the person who bothered to vote in my poll,which is situated right at the bottom of the blog, on the left. I will try a different question and see what results I get this time. Maybe a different place would be better, if you think so, leave a comment here.

Another shout out and thanks everybody who has taken the time to have a look at my site, I have now topped the thousand mark. Please feel free to comment on anything I have done or suggestions.
                   I am wondering, what is the difference between a follower and someone who has me in their circle ? Google plus is in a world of its own.

Ivor

Terrain - Building 4Ground Corner Ruins Type 3 plus D.I.Y. Additions part 2 of 3.

Hi all,
           This is part two of my 4Ground "Corner Ruin Type 3" build, with additions made with foam core and recycled bits of lolly sticks. Originally posted in one part, it was getting too long, so I decided to put it into three parts.
                     The wooden floorboards on the upper layer have been glued in. They were carved so that they would rest on the walls to give extra support, not just having the line of glue along the floorboard edge. There is mock brickwork added, to the right of the soldier.

The things you can do with lolly sticks. (Still to be weathered).


"Looking for tracks."

The back of the house, showing weathering details.

This project is continued in Part Three.

Part One.

Regards all,
Ivor

Terrain - Building 4Ground Corner Ruins Type 3 plus D.I.Y. Additions part 1 of 3.

Hi all,
          This was meant to be just a short, quick post for the Wastelander's out there. You are not forgotten. It did run away with me a bit. On the 25th September, I built the 28 mm scale pre-decorated "Corner Ruins Type 3" from 4Ground. It is mainly aimed at 19th century to WW II scenery, but it will do for the "Post Apocalypse" setting with no problems, even fantasy with some extra props.
              Please note - their difficulty rating is - 14 and older. PVA wood glue is recommended. There are simple easy instructions or photographs, apart from the door. The door in the diagram is painted dark green and it is hard to make out the details.
             Item V (a choice of two colours) is the handle and goes sideways into the door slot, item W goes on the inside of the door, fairly low down. I added a piece of sellotape along the inside of the door to give a working hinge.

What you get

This is almost the complete official assembly, minus the ladder, window. door and the brick and floorboard rubble supplied. I was enjoying myself so much, that it inspired me to put a base on it and get out some foam board and continue to add to the model. With a bit of recycling of lolly sticks and cutting, I am now at this stage.

I have some more work to do on it, painting the white walls brick red to roughly match the original, putting down more floorboards and adding the details provided by 4Ground, (spare bricks, wood, ladders and tiles).

He is one of my partially painted Heroes of the Wastelands.

I've weather worn the back section to blend better, not sure what details I shall add. The floorboards need adjusting, perhaps more weathering.

Continued in Part Two  and Part Three.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

12 July 2015 - Barrage Wargames Show, Stafford UK

Hi all,
          Here are some pictures taken at the Barrage Wargames Show this year. The venue was in a School about 15 minutes walk from the Railway station and about an hour to walk to the Castle, (There was a pub on the way). Unfortunately I cannot attribute tables to their owners, as I was not expecting to be publishing them at the time. All Copyrights reserved on behalf of their owners.
          This was my first time attending the show. There were two halls, one of which I nearly missed out due to lack of signs. The catering was basic, a Burger Van in the car park, but the burgers were tasty. The participation games were virtually all booked up before hand, so I did not get to play any of the games.
     
All being well, I shall be back next year.

Stafford Wargames Show Barrage 2015

Ivor

P.S. There was a music event at the castle, (approx. £3 entry fee), so check if this is happening again in 2016.

Dropzone Commander _ Hawk Wargames.

Dropzone Commander

WH 40 K ?

That's something you don't see everyday down the High Street.

Horror setting using Very British Civil War Rules ?

Aliens v Predators.

"Holy Gothic Guns, Batman"

Russian Campaign

 Barrage Wargames Show, Stafford UK

Drop zone Commander

A very British Civil War ?

Victorian setting

Wh 4ok. Getting stuck in.

I hope you liked them.

Ivor

Thoughts - Aliens

Hi there Wargamers all,
                                       I have just been trawling through the Wargamers Net, looking for 28 mm Mini's to add to my cast of heroes for my science fiction campaign, (C) 5 Parsecs From Home. I did see some very fine work and have found some I think will find a home with me, but some cast members positions are still vacant. I still have some sites to check out, so my findings are not totally set in stone yet.

Two things did stand out so far.
                     Firstly, there are not a great many civilian mini's out there, apart from those carrying dirty great big guns. Male and female in all sorts of get up with BIG GUNS. Unfortunately, not what I was after today, next week, possibly.
                     Secondly, aliens, or rather, "not so very", alien. Most were two arms, two legs and a body, with an alien head, slightly longer or shorter shaped arms or legs, with more BIG Guns, maybe, but they were just not ALIEN enough. Aliens should look nothing like us at all.
                     An Honorable Mention goes to the "Avian aliens", (ones with a long neck and a bird head) and the Aliens with the 4 claws instead of legs and there is the big plant-type one and a small blobby one, The 6mm Starship Trooper Bugs get a wave too, but they were designed from a film. At least the artists who sculpted them were thinking outside the box and trying to do something different. Where are all the weird critters that make you go WOW ? I'm still looking, I hope to find them yet.

I'll leave you with this quote from one of my friends today, They ask, "Where are all the Aliens ? If you were an alien, would you come here with the amount of troubles we have going on ? Not in a million years ! Just occasionally, throw big rocks at us. Job done".

Ivor

P.S. So, am I putting myself in too narrow a field ? Do you know of any good Alien figures to match my desires ? Who would you nominate as the baddest baddie figure out there and please leave a link to it.
       It seems like there are no baddies out there, or just maybe they are in hiding, or should that be plotting up another evil plan.

Thoughts On - Choices - Updated 03.05.2026.

Hi everyone,

                   I have been slightly disheartened by the time it takes from deciding to try a new wargame to actually generating your first battle report for yourself or the wider YouTube audience out there. Do the rules have expansions available with extra lore or settings? Do you need to buy them now or later on, once you have found out if you want to go deeper into the game? Is there lots of lore to wade through before you can plan what sorts of terrain and props you will need? You may have some terrain that is suitable from other sources; if not, you may decide to do your own. If you have the skills, you may go the paper terrain route or buy it on eBay or from local stores.

                 The same goes for your miniatures. What scale shall I go for? (54,28,15,10 or 6mm). Does it need to be transportable? If so, this limits your size options. Don't forget, have you got enough storage space for all of this new stuff that will be coming your way?  Will you want to sell other armies to make space?

                 Shall I stick to what I am used to or try something new? How many minis do I need? (Does that look like a couple of armies at least, or just a few characters and monsters?). Am I going for a fast-paced skirmish game or a full-blown battle with loads of scenery? Where do I get them from? - online or at your local game store if you have one in your area, possibly at a Wargaming show? (If you can wait that long). If it's a local store or show, there is your journey time and browsing during a precious day off, but that does have the bonus of meeting up and chatting with like-minded people, even possibly having a small game.

                 Not of little importance is how you have worked out how much all of this is going to cost you?  Have you got al of your modelling gear and paints?  Have you decided to get a 3D printer to do your own thing? They do not come cheaply. Are the rules free downloads, or will you have to buy a PDF to print out and get bound or order a large printed book? (They are nice to own). Can you slowly scale up the size of your battles to ease the pain on your wallet, or use Plan B, to use a mate's minis until you have your stuff painted and ready to go? 

                 If it is the net, you are in multiple-choice mode. How many companies do stuff for that setting? How complicated is their website? What Minis are available? Can I reuse some of the minis I already have?  This is always a good idea. When buying minis, have a particular adventure in mind that they could be used in, and also keep in mind their reusability value. Can that monster fit in with other games? Will they need repainting? Should I opt for plastic or lead minis? Which looks the best when painted? Are there reader reviews available? (Yes, usually on the company website or YouTube). What are the costs? How long do to wait for delivery times? Are you stuck on finding the right mini to suit your character?

               Once you finally have your miniatures to hand, there is the task of painting them. Are you any good at it? Clean and primed, good. Unfortunately, the better you are, the longer they take to paint because you lavish more detail on them. It's allpart of the fun.
               At last, you are ready to go; you have your minis sitting on your nicely laid out terrain, all you need now is an opponent to show up at the appointed hour, unless you are playing in Solo mode. Have you printed out the rules or got the book handy? Are character sheets all in order? Are tape measures handy? Are templates and status markers sorted? Have you got enough dice of the right type? Do you have refreshments to hand?  Have you got snacks handy? Great, Away you go.....

Almost There.

              Hang on, you do want a record of this epic battle, right? Have you got your camera or mobile on a stand? Are you going to shoot a video or just photos? Are you going to shoot it with your phone or a digital camera? A video will take a while to edit and narrate in a PC or laptop, along with the software needed. (A good quality microphone and a stand is another expense, possibly a hard drive as a backup too), 

Click

What is the best shot for this scene? Will all the forces fit in or will I have to do a pan shot? Does the lighting look right? Do an edit. Is it blurred so you have to do it again? Don't forget to have a script on what has gone before and scribble down some notes as to what turn it was, how the dice landed and who moved where and shot XYZ, how long will that spell / armour last. Try not to lose them afterwards.

             (TIP: At the start of each turn, I advance the "Turn Dice" by one and then take a photo of it. It helps in the editing process later, no wondering if a gangster got killed in turn three or four.)

   Finally

Victory or not. Shake hands with your opponent and thank him/her for a good game. Packing it all away, unless you have a dedicated area for gaming (lucky you). Next is sorting out what pictures to use. Do I need to add speech bubbles or captions to them? Lastly, turn your notes into an action-packed story of heroic and good deeds. Do another edit or two, with the spell checker turned on this time. Are you happy?  Super, hit the Publish button. Bing. All done.

            If you do one-offs, you can relax for a bit, but if you do a campaign, you have some working out to do. What are the implications of the result? Did our heroes get to their goal and get the treasure? Did the forces of evil triumph? Is there character rolling for possible upgrades? New weapons to dole out to the party? Were any vital supplies used up? Do any of your forces need to be "healed" or replaced? (Does this mean some more minis to buy or just do a repaint job on the losers?)

            Do you know where your characters are going to go next? (Does this mean more terrain to design/build/buy? Or have you got the very thing from another project you can tweak). Consult those plot tables, decide what works best for the story and scribble some notes for the next chapter. Phew.

            It all takes time, and that is before you have slotted real-life events in the way, too. Hopefully, the delays will get fewer, and the actual games will get more frequent. When you do play your next wargame, really enjoy it, win or lose, because you will have worked jolly hard to get there.

Regards,

Ivor Cogdell

Just for the record

Greetings fellow bloggers and visitors,
                                                         I am not sure if I am the norm or the exception to the rule, being a newbie to reading and writing Blogs, but I amend my posts to keep them up to date, rather than just posting a few lines in a new entry. So, you may not see a new post on my site very often, but it does not mean that the blog itself has not been changed in some way, shape or form. I don't think the status reflects whether the file has been amended or not, you just get the original blog posting date and that's that.
                         For instance, as I have been gradually painting up my Gang miniatures, I have been adding the pictures to the original Gang entry, not posting about the characters individually, plus I have been keeping the Pause 3 entry up to date, reflecting how far I had come and what I was planning to do next. I have amended the character information, which will constantly change over time according to the circumstances in which they find themselves.
                                     
What it boils down to is this, if you are following a particular story arc or section, (thank you very much for that), please review the previous pages every so often, just in case I have added some more details in there to add to the spice of the piece. I would hate for you to miss something because you did not know to look out for it.

If you are a blogger too, which is quite possible, what do you do on your site? Are there any other tips you would like to share with us?

It seems that the bloggers are all too busy writing their own stuff to be reading my flannel, as there have been no other thoughts posted here. Are you going to be brave and be the first?


Ivor Cogdell

5P - Hougemont - Rostof Mine Spaceport Cast - Updated 2023.04.14

Hi everyone,

                   Here is my NPC list 1 for the Port Rudolfus and Mine area.

Planet Hougemont

 Rostof Mine

Joe Murphy - Rostof Mine 1, Liason Officer.
Gaz Brartson - Rostof Mine 2, Liason Officer.

Spaceport Rudolfus

Dr. Agrav Blink  - Director of Maintenance Bay 2.
Cy Bowman - Security Officer.
Pat Clark - Security Officer.
George Chun - LC Tower Ops.
James Dobson - Unity Lab Reception.
Jane Erickson - PA to Mrs. Hanson.
Dr. Alex Hanson - Director of Maintenance Bay 3.
Rick King - Security Chief.
Kong Yi Wang - Bartender at the Square Helmet.
Colonel Hassan Malik - Spaceport Controller.
Carver Matcherson - Director of Maintenance Bay 1.
Harry Richards  - Security Officer.
Pete Robson - Customs Officer.
Dave Whittington - Duty Controller.

Unity

Minny Pook - Security Liason.
Hilton Stayright - Tax Inspector.

Gangs

Hammerheads
Jays
Odins
Reileys
Scum of the Planet - See Entry.
Tramps

Underworld

The local "Fence" - Someone who buys stolen goods at a reduced price. Rusty "Gold" Fenton.

Safe House - 

A few more positions filled in for you.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

5P - Gang - Scum

Hugemont Gang - The Scum of the Planet

Pete

Leader - Peter Janse, Alias The Poacher.

Background - He came from a mining area, but ran away to find "better things." Not that he found much of it.

To start with, he tried the lawful profession of Bounty Hunter, he caught some of the crooks he was after and missed others, some by just bad luck
            The ones he did capture, he got talking to them and kept getting the feeling that he would have done the heists in a much better fashion than they had done. Possibly, it was that he was just catching up with the losers of the gangs.
          He is the one who tracked down Pony to the Hugemont Spaceport bar. It was she who had heard of the robot exchange through hacking a local spaceport computer and they agreed to hit it together and split the profits. The others he recruited the same way.

Motivation - Survivor.

Talent - Evasive Move (Not subject to Guard fire).

Weapon - Shotgun (Range 12" = 1 Kill Dice, 1 Shock Dice or Range 4" = 2 Kill Dice).

Simon Bannister Alias Specs.

Specs 1

Specs 2

Background - His first job was as a laundry worker on a deep space Science Vessel. They were on a science mission, looking for Gravitational Wave Anomalies in nearby galaxies. He was thrown off at the first opportunity, which was at Hougemonte, for putting forward his political views and annoying everybody in sight.
         His platform was that males over 21 should only get any voting rights, as teens were too boozed up to the eyeballs to think straight and women had to look after the youngsters and were too emotional anyway, so did not deserve the vote. He has been causing trouble and being disruptive. Naturally, his ideas did not get along with the women and teenagers of the mission or later, the women in the gang. But his services did come cheap.

Career - Mercenary.

Wanted (Hugemonte) - For disrupting Women's rights meetings, damage to property etc.

Weapon - Blast Pistol and Blade. (Range 8" =  1 Kill Dice, 1 or 6 = OOA).

Joseph Morales - Alias The Blade

Blade 1

Blade 2

Background - He was just another down-trodden low-life resident of Hougemonte Habitat Ring Number 1.

He, like many others, was bored senseless with the same old humdrum life on the Habitat 1 ring, so he took matters into his own hands. Hacking the console with a stolen pass key, he stole an emergency lifeboat and went planetside, looking for some action. He found it.

Motive - Fame.

Wanted - 

1a). Assault (Habitat Ring 1) - James Morey.

1b). Theft (Habitat Ring 1) - Qty 1 x Pass Key Lifeboat Area.

1c). Theft (Habitat Ring 1) - Qty 1 x Emergency Lifeboat.

1d). Piloting an Emergency Lifeboat without permission.

1e). Endangering the lives of citizens (Habitat Ring 1) -  Through Count 1a-1d.

1f). Emigration Law (Habitat Ring 1) - Assorted Customs Violations.

1g). Immigration Law (Hougemonte) - Assorted Customs Violations.

2). Murder 2nd Degree. (Hougemonte) - A bar fight that went wrong and he killed a Lab worker.

Weapon - Blade.

Jessica Raffles Alias Pony

Pony 1

Background - She is from the subjugated colony of Brevan on the alien world of Ristavn. She belongs to a middle-class family, who are working in the Chemical industry. She invented a fuel-enhancing additive. With her last funds, she managed to buy her way off the planet. 

             She wants to start a new life, but the local "Energy Boys" don't want her messing up their nice setup here. They have been hacking her project to make it look like she is testing a bomb. They turned her into their worst nightmare. For bombing an Eenergy Company Research Lab, to disrupt the opposition. 

Motive - She wants fame and due recognition for her invention. She needs money to pursue the project and complete her tests.

Pony 2

Class - Scientist.

Wanted -

1a). For Unlawful manufacturing explosives.  (Hougemonte) - Class 2.

1b). Destruction of Private Property (Hougemonte)  - Eenergy Company Research Lab.

1c). Theft of Intellectual Property - (Hougemonte) - Data Protection.

1d). Disturbing the peace.

Weapon - Blast Pistol.

Suzy Singleton Alias The Slasher

Suzy 1

Suzy 2

Background - She escaped from a Science Vessel -UT DSS 590 "The Borderlander", that was mapping the local system's Oort Cloud, aboard a cargo pod heading for Hougemonte. For hacking into energy company Research Lab records (before it was blown up). She was seeking info for Pony to see if they were going to use her formula on this planet too.

Motive - She dislikes authority and authority figures.

Talent -  Hacker
Able to get into places and computers.

She was hired by Pony, but they are not friends.

Wanted - 

1a). Unlawful Termination of Employment Contract.(UT DSS 590 "The Borderlander")

1b). Unlawful  Stowage Aboard a Cargo Pod.(UT DSS 590 "The Borderlander")

1c). Immigration Law (Hougemonte) - Assorted Customs Violations. 

2a).Theft of Intellectual Property - (Hougemonte) - Data Protection.

2b). Aiding in Destruction of Private Property (Hougemonte)  - Energy Company Research Lab.

Miniatures made by -(C) eM4 Miniatures.

The Aftermath of the Attempted Robbery

Pete Janse - The Poacher - In custody, Med-block with a broken wrist, awaiting charges.
Suzy Singleton, The Slasher -  In custody, Med-block with head wounds, awaiting charges.

Jessica Raffles, The Pony -  In custody, awaiting psyche evaluation and charges.

Joseph Morales - Deceased. Case Closed.

Extra charge of Attempted Robbery, attempted murder, and Trespass of Private Property.

Simon Bannister, Alias Specs - Wanted for Attempted Armed robbery, attempted murder, Aiding in Destruction of Private Property (Hougemonte)  - Energy Company Research Lab, Trespass and Disturbing the Peace. (Did not become a Rival).

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell