Ronin [8]

 

I didn't have much time for shopping at Warfare yesterday but I did get a few more extras for the Ronin project. The main purchase was of four packs of Perry Miniatures figures including a couple of Ikko Ikki packs, a set of armed peasants and some townsfolk. The first three packs will be split up to form the nucleus of a bandit gang, adding to the figures that I already have that are suitable for this, while the townsfolk will mostly be used as civilians with one or two perhaps 'disguised' ninja.

 

I also splashed out on my most expensive mdf building kit to date, in the form of a Samurai tea house from Sarissa Precision which I had my eye on for ages but couldn't pluck up the courage to order on line. It's a really impressive kit just in terms of weight and the number of sheets included in the pack, so it should look pretty amazing when (?) I get it glued together. I just hope it's worth the outlay, as it meant that I had to forget any other spending plans for the day, including some longhorn cattle for the cowboys to rustle and some terrain stuff for the Black Ops project.

Warfare Fistful of Lead: Reloaded Game

The Warfare game was a big success today and I am sure will be equally popular tomorrow. In the end we ran five games, two using the gold mine scenario and three with the scenario in the town. The players all enjoyed the games and the feedback was really positive, both about the rules and the terrain. I also met up with loads of fellow bloggers and some old gaming friends, so enjoyed a good chat about all things wargaming throughout the day. If you are visiting the show tomorrow I won't be there as I'm helping out with a rugby tournament but the game will be in full swing, so please drop by and try it out. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. A big thank you again to Jaye for the rules, cards, tokens and inspiration!

A Fistful of Lead [42]

This was glued together yesterday then quickly painted up this evening, ready for the Warfare game on Saturday. It's a Warbases kit and very nice too, taking no time at all to undercoat, assemble and spray paint in bog standard grey primer, with a light dry brush over the top to pick out the detail. The dollar signs are a bit of a clue about the scenario but you'll have to wait and see what that's about until the show. I still have to paint Dobbin, which is another Warbases model, but he can be done tomorrow after work when I have a couple of hours to wrap things up.

Warfare Playtest

We had a very last minute playtest of the Fistful of Lead Reloaded game at the club yesterday.

This was a bit fraught to start with when we realised that the terrain boards we had planned to use just wouldn't work, for various technical and logistical reasons. A very quick re-think resulted in the decision to use a terrain cloth, which we then realised we hadn't actually got in the club scenery collection. As a result,  I've had to quickly prepare and paint up some mdf boards instead, which are a bit basic but will do the job and will at least match the rest of the scenery. The playtest just used what we could grab from the club scenery box.

The playtest itself went well and involved a run through of the first of the three linked scenarios. It ended up a bit too long but only because of some terrible dice rolling and a few stops along the way to think about the rules. We are now ready, give or take some final little extra bits, so will be heading off on Saturday morning bright and early to set up everything before the hordes arrive at 10am. I think the scenarios will work really well and I hope the terrain will draw people in to ask some questions, take a few photos and maybe even play a game or two?

1864

 

I've finally got round to reading this, having really enjoyed the TV series that came out a few months ago and having also had a very enjoyable trip to Denmark last year. The Second Schleswig War has been an interest for a while, mainly the naval side of the conflict, but I am vaguely pondering the a low level skirmish sort of thing in 28mm, now that the Northstar range has been expanded to include the Danes for 1864.
 

 

This wouldn't be anything big, perhaps a dozen figures a side, but could kill two birds with one stone as the wintery terrain could double up for the Siegfried Line or Ardennes in 1944. Just a thought, so in the meantime I'll just carry on with the book until I get carried away and order some more gratuitous lead for the pile.

Fistful of Lead: Reloaded Kickstarter

The Kickstarter for Fistful of Lead: Reloaded is now up and running with some pretty good stretch goals and some very inexpensive entry level options, should you just want the rules and a few extras. I've backed it and it's doing pretty well so far, with nearly half the target pledged already, so I'm sure it will be a great success. If you want to try out the rules, we're running a participation game at Warfare this weekend, so why not drop by for a closer look?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/592450292/fistful-of-lead-reloaded

A Fistful of Lead [41]

 

 

28mm on the left and 15mm on the right

 

Here's the finished gold mine headframe ready for the Warfare show next weekend. I've added a bit of clutter but have left off the chain winding gear as I couldn't make it dangle effectively, which is the same old story. Anyway, enough of the double entendre and on to the final phase of building construction, the big and very scary Sarissa Precision bank kit, which I may or may not get finished by the end of the week. Arrrgh!

A Fistful of Lead [40]

I was hoping to wrap up this project in forty posts but it looks like I'll have a few more to add before it's over. Here are four more sections of railroad track, this time slightly shorter than the other four sections, based on 7'' laser-cut mdf bases from ERM. They are designed to alternate with the longer 7 1/2'' sections so that the sleepers remain a consistent distance apart, as you can see in the picture.

  

This will give me a total track length of 58'' plus an extra 3'' of buffer stop section if required, which is enough to span a normal 4' wide table. If I can find another train set with this track for a decent price, I'll add another four sections so that I can reach either end of a 6' table. I've also added a third passenger carriage, a flatbed wagon and a second tender to the train, leaving the original tender to be painted up in Chinese markings for the Back of Beyond, which is where it can also be used.

Ronin [7]

 

 

The figures for my revived Ronin project arrived from Perry Miniatures yesterday and I've wasted no time unpacking them and sorting them into buntai. This is the first buntai and consists of seven katana armed martial artists of a Koryu or martial arts school. The seventh figure with the slotta base tab is actually an EM4 samurai that I already had and is a perfect match for the beautiful Perry samurai in everyday clothing. There's another unarmoured figure of a ronin in the EM4 range so I'm going to order one to add to the existing buntai to make the numbers up to a round eight. These are stunning models and way better than the Northstar official figure range so I only hope my painting will do them justice!

A Fistful of Lead [39]

I decided to stuff the work this evening and instead got on with the railroad tracks for the Warfare game. I've only based up and painted another three sections as I realised that, to avoid gaps in the track between them, I'd need to make four long and four short sections in total. I've ordered some 7' laser cut bases from Tony at ERM to use for this, alongside the four 7 1/2'' sections that I already have based up.

I also made a scratch built buffer stop from a section of curved rail cut down to size and some strip wood, which seemed like a good idea if the overall track length isn't long enough to span the table from edge to edge. I may also make a blown up section of track using the same method, as it may be useful for scenarios. The Goldlok toy train gauge is a bit too wide for the track but you don't really notice unless you look closely. I have another carriage and a flat wagon to paint up as well.

I also have the bogies and locomotives from the original toy train sets that the track came from, so I may well use them as the basis of an armoured train for the Back of Beyond at some point in the future. I've built one of these before and quite fancy making another one, complete with a rail gun for a Chinese Warlord or Bolshevik Commissar to terrorize the locals with. I'm sure it would be a great addition to my Back of Beyond arsenal?