"Blucher" Proof of Concept - Custom Movement tray/card

Hi all!

Well, the blog might be generally dead, but I am still doing the occasional bit of toy soldiering, when I am not taking care of the newborn or working.

So I thought I would share my latest!

Now, Sam Mustafa's rule set for large scale Napoleonic battles, "Blucher", is coming out relatively soon.  I've seen the cards, and while I love the idea for newbies... well... I, Sir, am no newbie!  So I thought I would play around a bit with a combo card/movement tray!

So, here is the first attempt.  It is using a low-res copy of the card itself, obviously, and isn't perfect, but I like the general idea.  I tried to keep it pretty close to the actual cards, because I like that idea:)  That said, I think I am going to work on a different version... one that A) includes the information in a more condensed form of some sort, and B) one that has the tray itself separate from the unit information, so that you can change the unit info game by game.

But still... I think this looks very cool.  To be honest, it looks EXCELLENT in person... the blinds almost have the feel of old-school wooden block representations of soldiers!

I actually have a few upcoming posts, including some Christmas goodness and FINALLY a great zombie product I've had sitting on my workbench (now a cardboard box) for a long time!

Fall In 2014 - The Photos!

Hi all!

Well, Fall In has come and, by the time I post, largely went!

Now, I was NOT able to make Fall In this year, because my wife and I just had our second child on Monday night, and things have been understandably hectic!

That said... my best buddy DID go down, and like a good friend send me text photos during the weekend of what he saw, because he knew how much I would miss it!

So... fresh from the reporter in the field... here are some Fall In photos!

At the top is a Gettysburg table, near the Round Tops.

An ACW game.

The Carnage and Glory guys put on a mean AWI game, as always!

Another shot of the AWI... love that church.

A great Samurai diorama for sale.

Another shot... love the ninjas crawling all over it, and the daimyo killing himself on the top floor as his castle falls.

A great 25mm ACW game from the same guys who did that huge game last year.

Great looking, muddy water.

Love those boats!

Another shot of that game.

Another shot of that Gettysburg table... really rocky and great looking.

A really pretty Napoleonic game... love those fields.

The main hall.

The gangster game was a BIG hit... fully lit, tons of figures and vehicles, and of course a cool concept!

More of the gangster game.

And more... look how huge that table is.

A shot of the various gang cards... anyone know anything about the rule set?

I wonder if there is some liquor in that there truck...?

Here it is again.

Cool cars, right?

The damn game was PACKED!  Ridiculous!

So... sorry that's all I have, but heck... for not even being there, it ain't THAT bad!:D

And btw... below is my newest little work:)

Some spoilers from "Blucher"... an army list!

Hi all!

Well, one of the advantages of living in northern New Jersey is that you might get to meet Sam Mustafa, who has written some cracking rules and is a good all-around fellow.

One advantage of meeting Sam is sometimes getting to see bits and pieces of upcoming rules sets early!

So, having said that... here is what an Austrian army builder page looks like for his latest grand scale game, "Blucher."  Parse what you can from it, and enjoy!:D

A fantastic 40mm AWI Fall table!

Hi all!

Well, it has been a LONG time since I posted anything toy soldier!  I actually have some stuff waiting (a great 25mm zombie product actually) but my buddy over at Echoes of Glory offered up his 40mm AWI figures for some photos for the House of War.  

For years and years we always felt that the AWI simply looks best on a fall table... something about that season just screams Revolutionary War!  So he recently put together some scenery to make a fall table!

Give it a look!

A wooden Thomas the Train table!

Hi all!

Well, as I mentioned... I've been working on a new project; a new wargames table!

Well, okay, not wargames... but a train table:)

So, as everyone knows, my war-games room was given the boot in order to become my son's room.  Turns out he loves Thomas the Train, and the wooden train sets.  So I thought I would use my war-game table building knowledge and build him a train table.

Here is the mountain and the bridge, made by a buddy of mine.  The bridge comes out, so you can play "The bridge is out!" scenarios, which seem popular on Thomas.

The ferry... there are two docks, and the ferry can go between them, shuttling trains as it goes.  It fits neatly between the piles so that the rail lines up.  I MAY end up remaking the ferry, though, as right now the trains have a habit of falling off the end of it.  I might need to build a slightly longer one with a rail system to hold the cargo in place.

The draw bridge.

I made five little houses and based up some trees for the table too.

The table is built on some storage shelves.  This side has three deep toy buckets; the other side has six shallow ones.  The entire thing is on wheels... in fact, the same wheels as my old war-games table:)

Finally, here is the train yard, where all the trains can be stored.

Overall it was an exhausting project, but a fun one, and he ADORES his train table:)

My next GRAND project...

Hi all!

Well... I know things have been quiet at The House of War... as everyone knows, I've lost the actual Room of War to my son.  Now, I have been doing a little work on his room (the photos here are from his mural in his new room, which we are about to move him into... the Africa ones were from his current "baby" room) but I do have another project planned!

A new Wargames table!!!

Well... sort of.

A beautiful breathtaking war-games table with customized buildings and bridges and waterways that might possibly dedicated to... Thomas the Train?

Yep.  I am making a train table for my son, who ADORES Thomas the Train.  It will actually be very similar to my old war-games table... build on rolling ikea shelves, custom foam, trees... just with a train set running about it!

I plan to start with these shelves, which have storage space for these big, slide-in plastic tubs... perfect for toy storage.  I am considering using a taller one... the one pictured is only 14 inches tall, but there is a roughly 24 inch one as well... which do you think is best for a toy table?  I'll screw casters on the bottom so the table can roll around.  Across the top will be either a thin sheet of 3x5 (or so... I have to test the railroad layouts before deciding on the size exactly...) plywood or a frame.

Over this whole will be a pink foam world, with a few rivers cut out... basically the under board will be the level of the water, and the foam will the the land.  The land will be sanded and painted, the rivers painted, and some detail done.

I will run the track over it, using a bunch of wooden train track pieces I have from when I was a little kid and some more pieces we bought recently.  I've got a few bridges and turntables and the like to fancy it up!

I then plan to base up some of my 25mm trees, and create a set of interchangeable buildings... basically, building a new "war-games" table!:)

I'll post the work as I go... it should look pretty wood, when it is all said and done!:D