Three "Walking Dead" survivors painted

Hey all!

Got three figures painted from Mantic's "The Walking Dead" set!

These are the first two guys; both big dudes.  I am not sold on the eyebrows on the guy on the right... might redo them.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I added some baggage to these guys... I like to think that survivors would carry what they need to survive with them!

Here is another guy, this time armed with a fire axe.

As with some other guys, I gave him a backup weapon, and of course a canteen!

Here is a shot of the new guys mixed with the old ones... I think they generally match just fine!  These two guys happen to be big dudes, so they stand out a little, but I think they generally look good.

The Workbench: Some more zombie survivors

Hey all!

Okay, I took the day off to take care of my daughter, who has a cold... who doesn't, at this point!:(

She napped for a bit on the couch, so I took that time to do a little work I've wanted to do for a while!

I picked up Mantic's "The Walking Dead" some time ago, and while I really like the figures, I didn't like one thing in particular, about them... they have NO bags!  I am a big believer that zombie survivors should be loaded down... they should all have packs, and every one has to have a canteen.  So... a little green stuff and some bags, and voila!

So this is them.  I think they turned out rather good... I'll get some paint on them, and hopefully they will match up with the survivors I currently have!

Miniatures for sale; PRICE REDUCED!

FOR SALE!  PRICE REDUCED!

Hey all!

Okay, so I really want these guys to find a new home.  So... I'm dropping the price a bit!

$115 per lot of four units.

So let me know if you are interested!  Email me at grenadierguardscampaigns@yahoo.com if you would like to buy one or both!

Thanks!

Looking for some playtesters for a big new project!

Hello all!

While I cannot share a ton of details yet, I am finding myself looking for a group of playtesters for a game that is under development for production.

The game will be a division-level American Civil War tabletop wargame. It will be a somewhat "modernized" game… think a traditional wargame mated with something like FFS's Armada. We are shooting for something that

…is quick to play (end goal is an hour or so)

…reflects some of the "list building/tweaking/upgrading" aspect of modern games that many people enjoy

… focuses on and reflects the personalities of the leaders

…and incorporates what we expect from a Civil War wargame… dismounted cavalry scouting the battlefield, lines of infantry being managed by screaming officers, famous battalions fixing their bayonets and charging into melee… the whole nine yards.

We are looking for several GROUPS of playtesters who would be willing to run a number of versions through the grinder over the next six or so months. We'd ask you to play quite a bit, giving feedback as you go, and trying to push the game to the limits and break it if you can!

There will be a bit of a "payment" for working with us… if you stick with it and do a nice job, we'll repay you in the form of many miniatures!

Anyway… if this is something you are interested in AND feel you can devote time and energy to, please do shoot me an email at gpa@alumni.duke.edu

Thanks all!

Selling some miniatures from the collection!

FOR SALE!

Hey all!

Well, I'm going to be selling a few groups of miniatures over the next week or so... need the money, so while I hate to part with figures, it's got to happen!

First up?  Two lots of 15mm ACW Confederates!

Both lots are pretty similar... four units of five stands each, with a total of a hundred figures per lot.  They are painted to a decent war-games standard; they CERTAINLY won't win any awards, but they look nice on the table... grubby like Rebs should be! 

Above and below are lot #1.

And then below you have lot #2.

Here is lot 2 again, below.  The "Tigers" don't have a command stand, sorry!

Anyway... they've served their time in the field, and I'd like them to go to someone who can lead them to (further) glory!

I'm asking $130 per lot.

Shoot me an email... grenadierguardscampaigns@yahoo.com if you are interested!

Thanks for taking a look!

The most infuriating war-games experience of my life

Hey all

So, this happened a few years back, and honestly it got me SO upset I couldn't even post about it.

Anyway, found some figures that connected to it, and thought I would finally share.  Curious to see people's' take on it!

So, some years ago I took part in a Longstreet campaign with a local group of wargamers.  Not everyone had an army of the correct size and basing, so I thought it would be good of me to do what I could to help!

I went ahead and put together four Longstreet armies, using figures I had had for years and years.  You might remember that I posted about the process, here...

https://lordashramshouseofwar.blogspot.com/2013/09/three-more-longstreet-armies-done.html

Unfortunately, the campaign wound down without a true "ending" and that's when trouble started:(

Two of the armies never really found their way back to me.  One person moved out of state, and the other didn't really game with us much.  He lives about an hour away, and I just couldn't get down to get it.

But the third army... that's what kills me.

The person who borrowed them brought them back one day... and they were DESTROYED.

Now, I had gone to GREAT lengths to make them nice.  I had done work on the basing to make it look better, with tufts of grass and flowers and the rest.  I made sure everything was edged nicely, created counters to represent skirmishers and heroes, and made sure all of the base sizes match all of the other armies in the campaign.  You can see them above.

But for some damn reason, when I got this army back... they had been torn up.

Here is what the bases looked like when I loaned them out...

One inch by one inch, same as every other army in the campaign.  Tufts, blacked, etc.

And here is what I got back.  For the ENTIRE ARMY.

Some figures torn off their bases.  Some bases cut in half, for some unknown damn reason.  Some bases cut in half, and then glued back together onto thick wooden bases.  Some bases with the bottom half ripped off (they were mounted on card.)

THE ENTIRE DAMN ARMY looked like this.

And the person who gave them back to me didn't say anything.  Like... nothing.

I think I was in such shock that I didn't say much.  I honestly cannot even remember what I said, but there was no explanation, no apology, no nothing.

The ENTIRE ARMY.  Ruined, torn up, cut up.

This was a few years ago, and it still BLOWS MY MIND.  Figures I had had for YEARS, and which I worked HARD on, and which I really cared about.

Anyway... it's honestly frustrated me so badly that I've never posted about it.  I started a post about it a few times, but never finished it because I got so pissed.

It is just TOTALLY alien to me.  Not only do I love toy soldiers too much to ruin them, but I also have WAY too much respect for other peoples things.  If someone lent me soldiers, I'd guard them with my LIFE.

Has anyone out there ever had this happen to them, where they loaned someone figures and gotten them back totally ruined?

Some shots from a playtest...

Hey all!

Sorry I haven't kept the blog rolling recently... been really super busy over the holidays!  Lots of family time, which is fun, but is also a bit exhausting!

Anyway, a few nights ago a buddy came by and we playtested a very rough rule set I am working on, for the American Civil War.

The game saw the US and CSA forces fighting it out to control a vital crossroads, which the American cavalry held for a while, before being forced back.

Here is a quick look at one of the bits of the game... although it will change a LOT by the time it's all done!

One funny thing... rather organically, we ended up recreating the attack on the Sunken Lane at Antietam.  The Irish Brigade struggled this time, too:(

Overall the game ended up well... the Rebs just couldn't take the crossroads.  The game itself felt rather natural and organic, but still took too long... I am looking to get a game that will be done in, at the VERY most, 90 minutes, and this one took over two hours.  It's a shame, because there are some really cool elements, but I think I have to do some editing down, or maybe even a large-scale tear down to get it where I want it to be!

A great new Holiday addition to the House of War!

Well, courtesy of St. Nick (or, more accurately, a whole host of family members!) I found this under the Christmas tree this AM!

So... I've been a fan of samurai for nearly as long as I can remember.  When I was maybe seven or eight I saw "The Seven Samurai" and it completely changed my life.  Since then the samurai have always held a place in my heart... through the board game "Shogun" and the online game "Shogun Total War" and everything else.

This Christmas I was able to add a little something from that era to my war-games room... namely, this great Takeda helmet!

While is tough to paint, there is nothing quiet as beautiful as samurai armor.  The lace, the lacquer, the mustaches... it is so bad ass that they based Darth Vader's armor off it.  I thought a helmet is the perfect piece of samurai kit; instantly recognizable, and with the full personality that Japanese armor can have.  Mine was courtesy of Iron Mountain Armory, and I am chuffed with it:)

So... it was great, and long, Christmas day, and now I retire to the couch for some snacks, some X-Box, some reading... and this cool helmet!:)

A more detailed look at the build of my "Walking Dead" board

Hey all!

Well, as promised, here is some more info about the actual build of my first "Walking Dead" board!

I based the layout on a play-mat I had.  I designed it with versatility in mind... the large 7-11 store I have can only go in one corner, but it can face either way.  The smaller building can go nearly anywhere!  Of course, you can play without buildings as well.

Here is the original as I was doing work on it.  The sidewalks are made of balsa rectangles, with the curbs and cracks etched in using a pen.  The concrete and asphalt areas are done with cork-lined contact paper, and the grassed areas are sanded and then flocked.

Here is a closeup of the street.  You can see one of the drains here... I cut out underneath them, so there is some depth when you look in there.

I made a LOT of tufts for this thing... four strips to be exact... three shorter strips (4mm and 6mm) and one longer (12mm and down.)  In retrospect I should have done as many longs... you really need long grass when mankind has stopped mowing!  I used four or five different grass colors to do it, ranging from wheat to vibrant green.  Above are a deeper green set and a lighter green set.  Note that I did some tufts in long strips for sidewalk cracks and borders.

Here is the board mid-paint.  Fairly simple stuff... dry brush each surface with a few different colors.  I then went in afterwards and did some weathering with brown, black, and green inks.

And here it is, totally cleared off.  Note that the smaller building can be put on the narrow side of the street in three spots (left, center, right on the pavement) or on the near paved area or anywhere in the larger grassed area.

So, here are some closeups.  Here is the striped parking lot.  I measured this one out carefully... the idea is that, if there is NO building on here, it can be a parking lot.  But if you DO put the smaller building here...

... I measured it out so it completely covered the lines, no matter which side faces the road.  It works well, I think.

Here is drain #1.  It was a lot of fun doing the inks here, and building up all the stuff around the drain, which is naturally where a lot of detritus would end up.

Here is the other drain.  Note the Time Magazines near it (and one even caught in the drain) of Donald Trump.  Any connection to the end of the world?  I'll never tell!

Here is the smaller lot.  I added stuff especially to the edges of each lot... I wanted to keep the CENTERS clear for buildings, but wanted it to LOOK wild, and found that edging each area with grasses did that well.  I just had to stay away from the sidewalk edges because I want the buildings to be able to butt right up to them.

Here is one of the fields.  Again, note the paper in the corner... out of the way of whatever building would go in this space.

Here is the intersection.  The yellow lines REALLY went a long way towards "finishing" the board... a bit of painters tape and voila!  The only thing I didn't include was the white lines along the sidewalk... I don't think I'll go back and add them, although I will likely go back and touch up the black lines of the sidewalk cracks and the like.

So that's that!  Hope everyone enjoyed!  I have three more coming... a more rural one, one with an industrial feel... and then I am not sure, but I might try a water effect!

I built a board for "The Walking Dead"

Hey all!

Well, since I bought "The Walking Dead" I wanted to make a custom board to play on... so I did!

It was a lot of fun to work on weathering the thing.

The roads are made of cork... the main body of the whole thing with foamboard with a wooden frame.

Here is another shot.

And another...

The survivors look for a car to run away!

There's one!

I'll take a few more specific photos of some of the specific bits and pieces I put on here (there are some Donald Trump TIME magazines scattered about) when I can, along with much more specific shots of the table, how I made it, and the many different ways it can be put together!