A bunch of shots of a 15mm moderns game

Hi all!

Well, a few days ago a buddy of mine came by, and we played a bunch of rounds of my 15mm moderns game!

The rules are still being perfected, but overall they are a great excuse for pushing toy soldiers around.  Basically you have an objective a certain number of "squares" away, with each square represented by a randomly generated set of city blocks set up on the board.  You go from board to board, getting closer and closer to the objective.

Anyway... I took some photos (although not an AAR type of thing) and thought I would post them!

Here our two squads enter the first city blocks on their search for the insurgent leader.  On the left is a wide-open market place.  The street reaches a T junction midway through the board.

And of COURSE the market is full of bad guys, including an enemy technical!  You can see some Marines who took position on a nearby roof to provide cover, while the Stryker moves around to engage the technical.  One insurgent actually hit the Stryker with an RPG and did HUGE damage to it... not a good start!

A shot in the next block as our two squads approach a possible IED carefully, while possible enemy targets linger to the right.  I don't know why that palm tree is on the building there... I think we put it there and didn't notice!

We did get ambushed in these blocks pretty hard, and while we took it to the insurgents we lost two guys, KIA!  Argh!

Our battered force enters the third section of blocks.

We got absolutely jumped on here by insurgents along the route we needed to take to get closer to the objective.

Here is another shot of that fight, as our armor moved forward, our infantry sheltering behind it.

My buddy's squad was pretty beast all night; they cut down the enemies who were trying to ambush our troops!

Here one Marine barrels through a building to get to the enemy.  I figured that I should take a photo, since the building interior was finished:)

Just a money shot of two technicals:)

The next section of streets was interesting, as there was a HUGE clump of potential targets in a small alleyway market.

And another potential target in a delivery area.

Our vehicles took the lead...

While three of my soldiers took up overwatch positions on the roof of a local mosque.

A possible IED slowed the whole advance down.

... just in time for a MASSIVE ambush!  Two RPG rounds JUST missed the Stryker and the Humvee, which was shot full of holes nonetheless.

Another shot of the pretty nasty ambush... an enemy technical waited at the end of the road!

A FEROCIOUS storming of the enemy position REALLY paid off, though!  My buddy's Marines hit the place with grenades and then stormed in and absolutely SLAUGHTERED the enemy, who maybe weren't ready for an assault.

More Marines advance, using the Stryker as cover.

Insurgents shoot down from windows across the street.

And the technical pulls out and puts fire on the Stryker, doing damage... the Stryker is smoking and limping along at this point.

But the Stryker and Humvee return fire, turning the technical into a giant fireball!

We left off there.  I did take a shot of my buddy's dominant squad, which cleared enemy position after enemy position (with some help from their Humvee!)

And here is the entire US crew.

Anyway... it isn't really an AAR... just took shots of the game as we played!

Some fantastic 6mm Napoleonics

Hi all!

A buddy of mine purchased a FANTASTIC collection of painted 6mm Napoleonics down at Fall In.  I mean, they are BEAUTIFUL.  Of course, they are all he will ever need... although he then went and bought a ton of unpainted figures to add to it!

Anyway, here are a few photos!:)

A great Christmas gift...

Hi all!

Well, I thought I would post about a fantastic Christmas gift I got!

I had seen that the Perry Twins, who I think are the best in the business, put out a book of pure toy soldier eye candy goodness.  To me, that is maybe the greatest news in history, and thankfully my family bought it for me!  It is called "Masters in Miniature" and wow, what a fantastic thing to own!

It has shots from all of the Perry collections, including of course the Napoleonics...

The ACW... love those havelocks!

And the Rev War!

There were, of course, other impressive bits.  I particularly liked their samurai... wow.  I did wish that a few of the photos were lit a little bit better, particularly in the Napoleonic section, so we could really enjoy the color of the uniforms, but overall it was really beautifully done.

 I liked this page most of all!  Ah, to dream that they've maybe once happened upon my blog... ah.  It can't hurt to dream!:D

A bunch of money shots of the new 15mm Modern Middle East terrain

Just two shots to show off the new 15mm Modern Middle Eastern scenery... the oil unit, the fencing for it, the gas station island, the fences for the yard, the middle-of-the-street dividers/planters, the propane tank, and the shipping crates... all new, thanks to some inspiration and a few hang-outs with a buddy!

In the top shot you can see the new propane tank, the new air conditioner unit on the roof, the new gas station pumps, the new gas holding tank, and the fencing

Here is another shot, showing off more new fencing, the shipping containers, and the center-road-dividers.

A building boasting a new awning.

A building with a new bit of paint.

Another building with new paint.

Some nice gold balcony work.

The new mosque (courtesy of Christmas!)

The shipping containers, finally dug out and painted!

And some new 15mm modern scenery work coming up...

Got a LOT to show for tonight.  Much more coming tomorrow.

 

Some 15mm Moderns coming up...

Hey all!

A buddy of mine stopped by tonight to hang out, and we played some rounds of a 15mm modern game, and then did some scenery work!  Thank you, Generation Kill, for the inspiration!:D

A second "Blucher" tray...

Hey all!

Okay... I decided to attempt another "Blucher" tray.  This time I wanted to divorce the unit info from the tray itself, so if I need to use the tray for different units, I can!  The unit information tile is removable, and can be switched around/slid back and forth at will.

Overall I am really happy with this one, although it does have some blank black spaces at the back when it is infantry or cavalry.  ONE of those spaces can be used for an officer, which I can use as a marker for the unit being prepared.  

This style will take a tiny bit of paperwork to... well, work, as you have to keep track of what tray is what unit.  I am thinking of doing a little pocket thing with numbers that match the number on the blind side of the movement tray, and then you slip the info card into the appropriately-numbered pocket.

I love how the artillery looks... it has room for the limber, which just looks right:)

What do folks think... is it okay that the bottom of the movement tray is black?  Or should it be green?

"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!