Notice Board 2 - Update 4

Hi all,
          Larna, one of our Circle Battlegroup GM's was kind enough to give out some 15 mm figures that she had spare at the club last week and it encouraged me to treat myself to some Dwarf figures from Pendraken Miniatures to go with them, along with birthday pressies, Barbarians for Martin and Romans for Richard.
           I have not tried painting at that scale yet, but once done I will pop them on here.

Any links or tips for painting at 15 or 6 mm, Please drop me a note in the comments section.

I found How I paint things -15 mm and 15 mm fantasy figures.

For instance, using models from one genre to another, e.g. 15 mm Pendraken Miniatures "Alien Bugs" as D and D "Carrion Crawlers" if your carrion crawler order is stuck in the post or "holodeck Simulations" - your modern characters in Fantasy / Historical locations.

Blog Maintenance Note: I have just added links and a quick addition to the Aftermath, to my Project Z posts and added a new section of "Art". These are some of the fantasy and science fiction images I have done over the years, in watercolour and acrylic. My work is not up to Alan Bean standard, but I enjoy doing it.
       
Terrain - I updated my "4Ground Ruined house corner type3", adding links to the various parts and where it finally appeared in a game.

On the slightly different topic of Role Playing Games, which often uses table top models, so I'm not too far off base. I want to give a Shoutout to Johnn Four and his roleplayingtips.com/blog/  He has lots of tips and freebies for the overworked GM, such as a free NPC tracker.

Another game / tool for the GM is  "How to host a Dungeon"  (C) 2008 by Tony Dowler.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Merry Christmas

Festive Greetings to one and all.

I hope you and yours are having a great time over Christmas and hopefully getting in a bit of game related fun. I have just been watching a TV program about the Must Farm archaeological excavation, a 3,000 year old, Bronze age settlement that has been preserved by fire, mad as it may sound. The wreckage dropped into the water below the platforms the village were built on.  They are calling it Britain's Pompeii.
                    The preserved textiles, wood, bronze swords, bowls and beads are giving the archaeologists a glimpse into the lives of the people living there with hints of the overseas contacts for trading. So for all of you Ancients battlers out there, take a look, it might give you an idea for a game.


http://www.mustfarm.com/bronze-age-river/archaeology/


Ivor

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 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

Review - 4Ground Walls

Hi all,
          I was going to do a review of the 4Ground Disposable Walls I brought from the 2015 Alumwell Miniature War Gaming Show. But, as I had guessed, someone has beaten me to it.

     http://gravengames.co.uk/damageable-walls-terrain-review/

Its a good review. Take a look.

I plan to use mine in my 6mm "Camp Livingstone" upgrade and as obstacles in my 28mm Wastelands Campaign. The bottom line is that I have now bought another item of theirs, Corner ruins type 3, (Build shown elsewhere), so that points to their quality.

Ivor