Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Some 15mm ACW pictures with the new camera

Hey all!

Just figured I'd post some more work done with the new camera... I clearly need to keep working, but I'll get to it.
I think I might take down the 15mm ACW setup soon, actually, as I am dying to play another game of the 10mm Nappies, and this time take some NICE photos as I go... we'll see what happens!




Sunday, December 27, 2009

Photos with the new camera

Hey all!

Well, one of the Christmas gifts was the camera that I took those high res Napoleonic shots with earlier in the year! I've started playing with it, and took a few shots this morning... I don't have a lot on the table at the moment, but there will be more coming soon!

Friday, December 25, 2009

A Christmas gift!

Hey all!

Well, I did pick up a FEW toy soldiers bits for Christmas... mainly, a copy of "Black Powder" as well as a SUPER nice camera for photographing toy soldiers, both courtesy of my father in law!

I thought I would snap a few photos as practice of the bears I painted for the wifey... let's see how they turned out!


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The Workbench


Well, the bears are basically done! All that remains is painting the pole of the flag and straightening out the piece at the top, adding a few bushes, and voila! I am very happy with the way they turned out... very rich, vibrant colors, very toy soldier like... really, I think they turned out great. When I finally give them to the wife and I can openly have them around I'll take some final photos with a good background, but for now, this ain't bad!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The Workbench

Well, the bears are almost done!

I ended up going with a few different shades of brown (and even one black bear) but overall I think they turned out looking good.

All I have to do is grass them and get the flag on, and they will be ready to go! The grass might actually be an issue; I am almost out, and am not sure if the local hobby place will have any! I hope they do...

Anyway, as always, comments and suggestions welcome!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The best video game ever


Howdy all,

I don't often post about video games, unless it is one I've worked on, but I just have to post once about the Take Command: Civil War series.

It is, without any shadow of a doubt, the greatest video game ever made.

I just played a game today... three Federal corps against roughly the same from the Confederates. I was in command of one corp, and advanced my two divisions to a secondary objective. After about five minutes of marching through the lush American countryside, one division arrived at the objective, a large wooded hill, while the second deployed in fields to the right of it. But... where was the enemy?

Then, in the woods to my front, I saw the head of a Confederate column. Quickly my right-most division got into line, and a ferocious firefight ensued... the Confederates pushed up with a great number of men, but close in artillery support, as well as some cavalry used as a flanking element, helped hold the Confederates back and, eventually, push them off.

It seemed the Southerners had been defeated, so I began to move the Division holding the objective towards a distant, Confederate held objective... only to run into the second Confederate corps, which had flanked me through the woods while the first attacked me! Half of my division was smashed to pieces before I could bring up more men, holding the hill against wave after wave of Confederate infantry! A good number of Federals ran, and one entire brigade had to make an emergency withdrawal after being caught flat-footed...

Eventually, using my entire corps, I was able to hold the determined Confederate attack back, only to have ANOTHER Confederate corps appear in the woods in my initial front! Thankfully my computer allies engaged them, allowing me to move what remained of one division up and to their flank, where I was able to get the attacking southerners in enfilade... they almost broke my allied troops, but at the last minute, we pushed them back, even though a number of my men ran out of ammo and had to withdraw to be resupplied.

The game lasted a solid two hours, and included at least two BRILLIANT flanking attacks by the AI, something which happens with great frequency with Take Command.

If you have never had the opportunity to play this positively amazing game, I cannot recommend it enough. Best video game ever made.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

The 15mm ACW table is done!


Howdy all!

Well, the 15mm ACW table is, basically done.

The table features a river that runs down the center of it, the outskirts of a small town in one corner, and most importantly a large set of Confederate entrenchments overlooking the town.

There is a road leading across the board to the town. This is actually the first time I've attempted to do a road using flock rather than the cork roads, but I think that they look okay. I might like to sprinkle a few other colors in with the road flock to shade it, but overall I think it looks good, and allows me to have as much road as I want.

On an aside... I did not clip the photos this time so the background is visible... hope it is not a distraction?
Any comments or suggestions MORE than welcome! If you see something that could use moving or changing, or heck, if you even want to suggest where the soldiers should go, please do!

Friday, December 4, 2009

The Workbench

Hey all!

Well, after a VERY busy work time, I managed to get a little more work done on the wife's Christmas present today... the two musicians are nearing completion! A little work with black on the eyes and drums, and a bit of touching up, and I think they are good to go!


I am going with the idea of all the bears being slightly different. I thought about a panda, but am not sure it would work... same with a polar bear... namely because there would be so much white on them, and since they already are wearing the red and white of British soldiers, I am afraid it would be too much! But who knows...