A tour of the new House of War

Hey all!

Well, I thought I would FINALLY share some photos of the new war-games room!

As I mentioned, we moved in a little over a month ago, and I knew that the downstairs would be my new war room.  It was really roomy, had GREAT lighting, and would be perfect!

I built two 6x4 tables (although they ended up not coming together as perfectly as I would have liked, thanks to some warped wood and everything being on carpet)... I wanted to be able to have one table as a long-term table for stuff like Napoleonics, but also have a table for more regularly-played games, like X-Wing and Armada.

In the above photo you can see my painting station on the left, flanked by two cabinets of troops.  The cabinets have some of my antiques on the tops.  Two more cabinets are on the right-hand side of the room, along with a bookshelf.  Of course you can see several prints and a scattering of weapons hanging around too.

Here is a view from the far corner in the above shot.  You can see the stairs that come down (which actually have a nice glass door at the top.)  You can also see where the big comfy couch is (it is a fold out, so this room can be a guest room if need be) and where my big TV with my Xbox One is.  Of course, you can see the other weapons and displays too!

Here is another shot of the end of the room, with the two band zouave rifle hanging front and center.

Here are two of the figure display cases at that end of the room, with some books up top (as well as a couple of my smaller displays... namely Harry Potter and Zero Dark Thirty).

Here is the book shelf, with one of my packs inside.  The lighting is just from ikea, and hooks into the lighting for the display cases.  Inside are a bunch of war DVDs and all of my Wargames Illustrated.  The top shelf of this case will be for my son's figures.

Here is the TV/couch end of the room.  The four swords are all originals.  The photos are by my father!  It is a lot of fun to sit here and play Xbox, and to be able to look left and at the war-games room of my dreams:)

Here is my painting station, suitably busy!  A bunch of Armada stuff is on there now...

One nice thing about the tables is that they were built to go end-to-end.  Now, I have one set up for Armada, so they don't look right, but I thought I would put them together just to give a sense of how big they will look... as 12x4 table, when all is said and done.

And here is a shot from the end of the table.  It is crazy how much room there is still with the tables combined... there is a solid six feet at the end from which I'm taking the photo, and on the other side it doesn't even interfere with the TV and couch!

So!  That is the new House of War!  I hope everyone enjoyed the photos... and if you are in Northern NJ, shoot me a message and maybe we can get a game in!:D

New A-Wings for Star Wars Armada

Hey all!

Well, I've TOTALLY found one of my favorite things to paint... Star Wars Armada squadrons!  They take about five minutes to paint, total, and BOY do they look neat!  Following the old rule of "the smaller something is, the cooler"... well, these are pretty cool!:)

I did one Green squadron, and then one that I might call Shadow squadron or something... something a little mean looking.

Finished Viking archer unit

Hey all!

Well, I got a few things done today.  First up?  That Viking archer unit!  It is based as four, same as the bezerkers... I figure the "regular" units will be 8, and the specialists 4.  I did give it one customized guy without a helmet, with the idea that he is sort of a leader for that group... I am not sure if I want a leader outside of the two on the command stand... maybe I'll need to change it up?  But overall I think the unit looks sharp, and the army all together now looks good:)

The Workbench

Hey all!

Well, I've got a few things on the workbench right now!

First up... I decided to change up how my vikings are based.  So I took the archers off of the two infantry units and am using them to create a dedicated archer unit.  I have to build three regular infantry to take their spots, and then also had to make a fourth archer to fill out that unit.  I gave him a no-helmet head, to show that he is a leader.  The base is all made, and these guys should be done today!

I also have some more Y and A-wings ready for Armada!  They are SUPER fast to paint up, so I should have them done in a day.

Absolutely SHAMEFUL... Or at least, it *was*

EDIT:   Thankfully Apple has restored the game to the App Store!  I am glad there is SOME reason in this world!

This story is absolutely shameful.

For those not in the United States, the issue of the "Confederate" flag is being discussed.  After a mass murder in Charleston, SC, in which a white supremest slaughtered nine African Americans in their church, and after countless photos of this murderer waving the Confederate flag (really the battle flag of the ANV) were found, a wave of anti-flag sentiment spread.  The Confederate flag has been flying, in one form or another, over a great number of Southern government buildings, and thankfully now it seems that might be changed.  I, for one, welcome that change, as not only is it the battle flag of a traitor nation responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans, but it subsequently became a primary symbol of a great number of hate groups in our nation.  It has no place, in my opinion, flying over government buildings.

But now?  We've gone WAY too far.

Apple has removed ALL apps from their store that have any imagery of the Confederate flag.  That includes games like Ultimate General: Gettysburg, a fantastic game I talked about in a previous post. Apparently this is because of the flag, which is properly featured in the game.

I am absolutely STUNNED by this.  The idea that a historically appropriate flag is suddenly not allowed to be displayed in appropriate settings is just sickening.  What's next... all the WWII games will have to go, because they have Nazi imagery in them?

This is just one of the more ridiculous things I've seen.  People should let Apple know that they are being absolute idiots, and that such over-the-top, senseless censorship should not continue.

Some new 28mm Vikings finished

Amazing what a shelf with space will do!

I painted up my first few units of vikings some time ago.  But then I stalled on them, on black powder came back to the forefront.

But now, with a shelf with plenty of room, and an amazing viking ship given to me by my buddy (more on that in its own post later) I got the urge to finish up some more units of vikings!

So here is the latest... a unit of eight warriors.  Pretty heavily armed and armored, and, like with my other unit, with a single bow-armed scout.

Here is the back rank.

I AM going to make a change, though.  Originally I was going to have a single bow-armed warrior in each war band, as a scout of sorts, but I think I am going to do a full unit of them... well, a unit of four.  That way the force has some sort of mirrored structure... two units of eight regular infantry, and two "specialist" units with four... one berserker, and one archer.

I am also going to paint up two objective markers... I'll share those soon.

Thanks for looking!

The House of War: Shelf #2

Hi all!

Well, I thought I would finally get the second shelf up!

This is the shelf to the left of my painting station.  Like the other one, I've added some shelves to it, and frankly I have a feeling I'll be adding one at the bottom soon enough.

Here is shelf #1... my 15mm moderns.  From left to right, vehicles, you see my wrecked humvee objective, a hummer, a stryker, my m1a1, and another humvee.  As far as infantry it is the civilian contractors, my main group of infantry, and my specops guys, with the EOD team at the front.

On the second shelf is my Longstreet campaign army!  This force was not just for gaming, but also a bit of modeling and toy soldiering... as outlined in previous posts, as the campaign wore on I repainted uniforms, added dead to represent battle casualties, battered up the flags... all of it, to show the passage of time and friction of war.  This group has a lot of history, so they get a good spot on the shelf!

The next three shelves are 10mm Napoleonics.  This one is a huge chunk of British infantry, with rifles skirmishing out front, and the Brunswickers at the rear.

Here are more 10mm Napoleonic British... some artillery, some cavalry, some infantry, some allied infantry, and my square objective, front and center!

These are primarily my British allies... I believe they are older Prussians, but honestly I use them as Spanish more often... the Spanish uniforms were pretty varied and colorful, and I don't know a huge difference, so it works for me!  Of course there is a smattering of cavalry and artillery in here too.

And finally, here are some of my 15mm ACW.  Now, most of this collection is on the table, so this shelf is a bit sparse... plus, with the white bottom, it photographs pretty poorly:)  I'll see about getting a better photo of the shelf soon.

Thanks everyone for coming by for a peek!

Star Wars Armada: Royal Guard Interceptors and B-Wings

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Star Wars Armada: TIE Bombers and Darth Vader!

Hey all!

A few more Armada squadrons to show off!

First up... Darth Vader!  I don't plan on painting both squadrons of TIE Advanceds (I feel like they should ONLY be used with Vader) but of course I had to paint up the big guy.  And, like a lot of folks, I had to have him on a stand with two TIE fighter wing mates!

And here are two squadrons of TIE Bombers... they are pretty heavy duty, and able to really hammer on enemy ships!

Anyway... next up I'll share the B-Wings and the Royal Guard Interceptors!

Thanks for looking, all!

Some "Aurelian" photos

Hi all!

Well, in a little something new for this blog... I thought I'd share just a few photos of some Romans!

I have the fortune of knowing Sam Mustafa, who has been writing wargames rules for a long time.  He lives near me, and I've had a chance to get a little involved in testing out some of his games from time to time.  Recently he has been working on something very new for him; a trip out of the era of gunpowder and into the era of pilum!  "Aurelian" is his upcoming ancients game, and I must say... as someone who has never had an interest in ancients, I've enjoyed the HELL ouf of the game (even though I've lost an awful lot!)  There are cards involved, as with a few of Sam's other games, but as always I feel like they bring a lot of flavor to the game... having your Romans standing firm and hurling pilum as barbarian hordes stream towards you is great fun.  And the campaign looks like another ABSOLUTE winner, which would be expected after seeing how great Longstreet and Blucher handle those sorts of things.

So I took only a few photos of our most recent game (several didn't come out for some reason) and thought I would share!  This was a game versus some Persians... we used our cavalry to hold our flanks, and a HUGE long line of heavily armored legions to do the dirty work.

You can see one of our objectives here... a wonderful mill wheel.  Those Persians won't get our bread!

It ended up being a pretty good game.  The Persians had a lot of horse, and we did not, so it made for a really interesting conflict... in the end both armies had been ground down and were completely exhausted.  It was as close a game as any I've ever played.  Personally I think DJ took it easy on us:)

Anyway... thought I would share a bit!

Some painted Star Wars Armada Y-Wings and A-Wings

Hey all!

Well, like a lot of folks, I look at the unpainted squadrons that come with Armada and see a wealth  of possibilities!  Now, the ships are AWFUL small, but still... they are fun to paint, because they are Star Wars... and because, you know, they are AWFUL small!:)

So here are the first few finished... the A-Wings and Y-Wings!

Next time I'll post some of the Imperials... I finished Vader, the bombers, and the TIE Interceptors... decked out as Royal Guard Interceptors!

The House of War: Shelf #1

 

Hi all!

Well, it has been a busy time for me!  Moving, a new kid, the end of a work year... but thankfully I have finally gotten my new war room all set up!  Thanks to the help of a buddy (and some kind donations from him) and of course for years of great gifts from friends and family... as well as many years of painting toy soldiers... it has all come together!

So over the next few weeks I'll share some photos.  First up?  The first cabinet of toy soldiers!

The cabinets are Detolf cabinets from Ikea, with shelves added (thanks, AesSedai!)  They really work nicely.  The only issue is that packed-together soldiers block the light from hitting the bottom few shelves effectively... but honestly the room is so well-lit it doesn't matter.

So, here it is!

All of the Shelf #1s have the tallest figures I own.  This one has a sampling from my X-Wing collection (including a Royal Guard Interceptor I converted and painted.)  It also has the commander for my old Warhammer army, my Empire General on Griffon.  In the back right I have my little Deadwood diorama that I did.  In the front row are my Space Wolf terminators, and then my growing collection of zombie survivors!

Next shelf is PURE WWII Flames of War Germans.  I made a LOT of sandbags for this collection!:)

The next shelf is another mixed bag... my Fellowship of the Ring and some assorted 28mm Confederate command stands (painted for a game that they weren't actually needed for!).  Then, in the back, I have my small group of 28mm ACW Federals and then a random standard bearer I made when I was a little kid... I figure a throwback or two doesn't hurt!:)

The next three shelves are pure 10mm Napoleonics.  First up?  The Old Guard!

I simply don't have enough shelf space for all the 10mm Napoleonics... a lot of them are still in boxes.  I only had one shelf to really put out 10mm French Infantry... so I decided to do a 1:1 French Battalion!

And finally, here is some of the 10mm Napoleonic French cavalry, ready to run some enemies down!

So!  That is cabinet #1  I'll have more photos tonight, including hopefully of the workbench, where I've just finished some Star Wars Armada ships and started in on another batch of Vikings!

Thanks for coming by!

The House of War is BACK!

Just a single photo, for now, as a teaser... more coming over the next day or two:D

SO nice to be back up and running... a LOT to share, including a ton of Star Wars Armada, some Aurelian, some Napoleonics... just a BUNCH:)