A Fistful of Lead [26]

 

I had a go at painting some old Citadel plastic modular hills yesterday and, although I still have a couple more to do, there are now enough to run a scenario off the beaten track rather than just in town. They were spray undercoated then over-sprayed in Halfords Ultra Matt Camouflage Khaki, which is great for this sort of thing, before being dry brushed with two stages of Foundry Boneyard and Boneyard Light. They were then decorated with some Army Painter Highland tufts to add some interest. I'll get the rest of the hills done during the week and hopefully some scatter features as well to provide some cover.

Fistful of Lead Reloaded Game Report Four

 

I promised my middle sprog a game of Fistful of Lead Reloaded this weekend and so I had to deliver, as he'd been waiting ages and was about to explode with anticipation. I set up a simple gunfight game between four lawmen and four bandits, both gangs being armed with the same weapons - a shotgun, a rifle and two pistols. The gangs also rolled for positive traits, with two for the gang leader and one each for the back up. I set the countdown a six turns and the action began!

 

The game was great fun, as the lawmen advanced up the street to confront the bandits, only to be met by a hail of gunfire, in which three of them were eventually shot down and one ran away. The bandits had one killed and one wounded but, otherwise escaped relatively unscathed, thus holding onto their control of the town in defiance of the long arms of the law. It was no surprise that I was playing the lawmen, as the little ****** has an unpleasant habit of thrashing me every time we play a game!

Star Wars Empire v. Rebellion

I saw this in Waterstones this afternoon and thought it looked good as a game that I could play with the kids. It's a fairly straightforward two player strategy card game but with the advantage that it's set in the 'proper' Star Wars of the first three films. The middle sprog is keen to try it out tomorrow but I have quite a lot of work to do, so we might have to postpone it until a later, less hectic date. I've also promised to run a Fistful of Lead Reloaded game for him, so he'll have to choose which one he really, really wants to play! 

A Fistful of Lead [25]

 

A very small but not unimportant addition to the mdf mountain this afternoon, in the shape of half a dozen rickety fences from Blotz, which are available to buy in sheets of two fence sections each. These were very simple to construct, consisting of only three pieces per section including the front panel, the frame on the reverse and the base. A very handy bit of scenery which will no doubt cause all sorts of inconvenience to the rival gangs as they try to climb over them without getting shot at!

A Fistful of Lead [24]

This weekend I'm fairly busy with this, that and the other, so I'll be aiming to get a few small things done rather than tackling the very large and slightly scary looking Sarissa Precision brick built bank kit. These will include some fencing, a 4Ground wagon, some Blotz furniture and possibly the Warbases stagecoach, although I may also have a go at painting up some plastic modular hills. The terrain side of things has been neglected a bit so I've bought some assorted  plastic cacti to add to the trees that I already have, which will add some extra scatter for scenarios out in the bad lands.

A Fistful of Lead [23]

Here's the latest addition to the Old West building boom, in the shape of a ranch house from Blotz, which I've put together over the last week or so. This is a really solid kit and shapes up into a very sturdy model, complete with double layer walls and a strongly built detachable roof. I'm thinking of adding an mdf base to the house in order to blend it into the terrain a bit more and so that I can add some clutter around the exterior walls. I'm also looking for some outbuildings, sheds and stables and have my eye on the Warbases range to kit out the ranch in the long term.

The model was easy to put together and will be ideal for scenarios set out of town, either on the local ranch or in the bad lands, where it will make a very commodious hideout for the bad guys. I have also ordered a windmill and some fencing from Blotz as they are very quick to deliver, reasonably priced and have some really useful things in their range. They also have a fantastic saloon model which would be a great addition to any collection but I already have two saloons, so a third would probably be a bar too far?

Fistful of Lead Reloaded Game Report Three

 

 

I set up another run through of Fistful of Lead Reloaded at the club yesterday and, despite forgetting to pack my figures or a terrain cloth, managed to squeeze in two consecutive games. The first was a re-play of 'The 4.10 to Yucca' scenario and the second one a new scenario we hadn't tried out before called 'Snitches get Stitches', which involved an attack on the jail to eliminate an informant.

 

The two scenarios worked really well and ended in a win for both sides in turn, so everyone went away happy. There were some edge of your seat moments, particularly at the end of the first scenario, along with a few rules queries that we were able to resolve with a closer inspection of the rulebook and some educated guesswork. A big thanks to Alan and Andy for the loan of their figures too.

 

I got to use my newly assembled and painted terrain, which went down well with the crowd, although this had to be plonked down on top of a paper tablecloth that I had to rush out to get from Sainsburys next door! In the end this looked surprisingly effective and was only three quid, so I've kept it for emergencies and until I can make my own purpose built terrain boards for the game.

A Fistful of Lead [22]

I've had the dreaded lurgy the last couple of days so haven't been up to much to say the least. However, I'm over it now and to celebrate my new found sense of well-being, I've splashed out big time on a brick built bank kit from Sarissa Precision. This will form the starting point for the final phase of my Old West mdf marathon, along with a handful of buildings from the ever useful Products for Wargamers range and some extra bits of scenery including some old Citadel plastic modular hills, some fencing, a wind postmill and a proper track bed for my railroad. The deadline for this lot is half term in three weeks time, so I'll have to get cracking!

Back of Beyond Magazine Special

 

I saw an advert for the next issue of Wargames Illustrated in the current magazine and thought it looked very interesting (for a change). The theme for next month is the Back of Beyond including terrain construction, how to make adobe buildings, some scenarios and even an article on armoured trains in 28mm. All good stuff and there's a very nice specially sculpted figure of Trotsky in 28mm as well, which I think I will have to get hold of for my Bolsheviks! I wonder if my scratch built armoured train will make an appearance?

A Fistful of Lead [21]

 

The last of the Products for Wargamers buildings was assembled late yesterday night, give or take a few extra details which I added later including the boardwalk, barrel and sacks. The kit had some missing pieces so I didn't have a porch or boardwalk to glue on to the front. Instead, I adapted the backing for the false front to use as the boardwalk and added the barrel and sacks as structural support. I like the toned down shade of the walls which is Halfords Ford Tuscan Beige, although it looks rubbish when you first spray it on, only looking good once you've drybrushed and matt varnished over the surface.