My buddy's insane 15mm Old West table is coming together...

Hey all!

Well, I thought I'd post this... my buddy has his 15mm Old West table somewhat together... still missing some bits (such as the fort, which is going to the righthand side near the intersection) but it is basically together.  Now we are going to start gaming on it... basically building our gangs and then having them wander the world, hunting deer and robbing stagecoaches and getting in blazing shootouts down town!

I am heading over there next week, and I'll get some shots of the games we play, and maybe some detail shots as well.  He is also getting some good lighting for the room which will look sharp.

Anyway, for a LOT more shots, head over to his blog, Echoes of Glory!

A Glimpse at the new game project

Hey all!

Just thought I'd share a quick VERY very very very very very very early shot of the new XBOX game project, which will be a modern combat sim... above you can see a force of Special Forces troops, Marines, and Army infantry moving across a dense part of the city... there is a LOT left to do, as the UI is basically being redone and a lot more is being done, but still, should be a fun little cheap XBOX game when we are done, in three or four or so months!:)

Anyway... more toy soldier goodness coming soon!

15mm Cowboy "White Hats" all done

 Hey all!

Well, the "White Hats," which will be used as the generic NPC "good guy" gang or posse in my buddy's persistent 15mm Old West game, are all done!  After I got them basically done we talked a bit, and felt that they were not "hanging together" enough as a gang of good guys... I made a few changes, including adding a few gray pants and, most important, painting ALL of the hats white.  I think this did a LOT in making them more consistently "good guy" looking.  Yeah, it is a little Spaghetti Western, but that is what we are shooting for with this gang of good guys!

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys!

15mm Cowboy "Camp" base

Hey all!

Well, finished up the "Camp" base, which will be used in our game to indicate where the player gang has left off for the evening when we are done playing.  Here is a shot with a cowboy in the spot for the figure.  Overall I think it turned out pretty cool!

Anyway, I'll have the "White Hats" tomorrow, and then some civilians, and then I think I am done with 15mm Cowboys for now... I'll have to figure out what project to tackle next!

Working on a really neat piece for the cowboys...

Hey all!

Well, thought I'd put up some WIP of a project I've been messing with today...

So, as I've mentioned I have a friend who is doing a whole 15mm Old West table that he wants to keep up for some time.  We've been working on some rules for a game on it, which include a number of options for play, including hunting, stagecoach robberies, train robberies, gang raids, and shoot-outs.  I'm trying to make it so that each "type" of gameplay takes a different amount of time (you can do a hunt in three or four minutes, whereas a full-out train robbery or shoot-out can take an hour) so that you can just jump to the table and play whenever you feel like it!

The idea had come up about creating a little "chit" to represent where your gang left off when you last played, and my buddy had the idea of doing a little "camp" scene as that chit.  The idea is that you take your gang boss and slot him into the chit, and then put the camp down wherever you left off, so at least you get a little visual of where your gang is.

So, here is the one I am working on for my gang!  I used an old poker chip to give it some weight, and then a piece of balsa-like wood for the whole.  I sanded it all down smooth, and then added the horse.  Some spackle, and then I added the fire, the treasure chest (I imagine the gang leader spends his time by the fire checking out his loot!) and then a log to sit on, with some dinner on a plate balanced on the log where the cowboy just put it down!

When it dries I'll undercoat it and then start painting!

Some shelves of Napoleonic French

 Because it is always fun to look at shelves of miniatures with mirrors behind them!:)

More work done on the "White Hats"

Well, did a little more work on the "White Hats" as, after some discussion with my friend, it was decided that there needed to be a bit more white.  It is a hard balance to strike, using realistic colors while still creating that feeling of "good guys!" all across the gang.  I think this is it, although I may have to redo the guy in the long coat... I tried drybrushing it white but I think it turned out badly:(

Another Posse of 15mm Cowboys finished, and more...!

Hey all!

Well, just got back from my buddy's place earlier this evening, and wanted to tackle two projects!

First, when I was over there he gave me a pot of the paint he uses for bases, and a sliced-off sheet of Silflors tufts... that way, I could finish the gang up myself!


So, I did!  Above you can see the second posse of five cowboys that I have put together for my buddy's 15mm Cowboy table (minus their final dull coat.)  Again, I used a real mix of earth tones and natural tones to get them looking good.  I especially love the far-most left hand guy... really feels "Bill the Butcher"ish to me:)  I also like the older guy on the far right.  I think my buddy's basing method looks GREAT for these miniatures.

Now, these guys paint up quick, so I also went ahead with another project.  While my friend wants to make sure that each Cowboy has a mounted and foot version, he ALSO wanted to provide some NPC figures for the game that did not necessarily need to do this... they are meant to be "generics" to fight against the player gangs.  So, he made up a gang of generic "White Hats" and "Black Hats," and gave me the good guys to paint up!  So, here is the work so far... there is a bit more to do, but I think when finished, dipped, and based they will look REALLY sharp, and uniform.  The "Black Hats" should look mean when my buddy does them up... they include even a woman!

Oh, and that buddy I mentioned?  Well, he has cleared off the 25mm ACW display seen on this table in the photo (keep in mind, that is not even the main 25mm ACW "collection"... he literally painted every one of the infantry units SPECIFICALLY to be put on the table, so he wouldn't really have to clear any infantry out of his cabinets, where they are in line like they are on parade!) and has the basic cowboy layout down.  It looks RIDICULOUS... maybe the coolest wargames table I've seen, with more "height" than anything seen before... wait until you SEE the mountain passes and camps!  When he has it ready, I'll snap some photos:)

Being polite and the internet

Howdy all!

Okay, I have some finished cowboys coming, and some other neat stuff, but for now I need to vent just a touch:)

So, in a post from some time ago I used a few photos that I hadn't taken... I just needed a few shots of some specific minis, unpainted.  I found one when I did a Google image search and, using the "insert link" thing in blogger, showed the picture.  I didn't think much else about it.

I just got a message that, to be honest, seemed very rude.  Maybe it is just the "tone deaf" nature of the internet and I am totally mis-reading it, but it went something like "Do you make it a habit of stealing peoples photos and bandwidth?  Take my picture down or credit me properly."

Now, that strikes me as rude.  Personally, I would have approached it with a "Hey man!  Hope you don't mind, but I think you are using one of my photos, and it is actually costing me a bit of bandwidth.  Would you mind taking it down?"

Am I reading too much into it?  Or was it simply rude?

I did remove the photo... I had no idea it would cost anyone bandwidth, and I suppose I didn't think that a photo of a pair of unpainted miniatures out of a blister was hot property.  Funny, too, because I would have been happy to remove it, as well as put up a new post all about the person's blog in attempt to say sorry, if the initial message had been even remotely polite.

Oh well.  That's the internet, I suppose!:)

Anyway, coming up next... some finished cowboys, and maybe some photos of my buddy's cowboy set-up, which he is now putting up on the MAIN table, instead of the secondary 6x4!

A glimpse at the Cowboy rules I'm working on

Hey all!

Well, as loyal readers know, we've been doing some cowboy gaming recently, using some home grown rules... I've been working on them as being both useful for shootouts, as well as for the gradual build-up of a gang over time, AND to use for things like hunting, robbing stage coaches and trains, and the like.  Honestly, I've been working towards creating a tabletop version of something like the XBOX game Red Dead Redemption.

Anyway, the rules are still being worked on (in the midst of doing the hunting rules and the robbing stagecoach rules... they seem pretty neat so far!) but I thought I'd share a few shots of a VERY early draft.  I am trying to make it as simple as possible and yet fun.  It works off of an Action Point system, with a little tweaking, and so far in the four playtests we've run it is quick and it creates a VERY nice narrative and inherent game strategy.