June Resolution - Week Four

The last week of June Resolution has passed. Overall it wasn't as great a success as I had hoped but I think that was more life getting in the way. I think that given a more stable month, I might have done better.

In the last week of the resolution I only got a few things accomplished. I did manage to convert some more modern weapons onto the last few of the Islanders that needed arming. This was done using blades clipped from older miniatures that were unlikely to get used. A little green stuff to flesh out the axe handles and an approximation of a bone hilt on a Chinese-style sword. Waiting on an order of bases then I can move forward on painting them.

The other project I worked on this last week was painting up some 15mm survivalists for my zombie/post-apocalyptic games. These are all various militia from Peter Pig's AK47 range. Simple, quick and dirty paint jobs done with my withering supply of small brushes.

Also, a bit of a side note here on why no pictures in so long. My digicam is currently out of service for the most part and I am having to borrow camera time from friends. Coordinating that camera access has been tough. I'll get some pics up as soon as I can.

Thanks,

-Eli

June Resolution - Week Three

Another lame week. Doing a little work every day has proven to be much more difficult than it originally seemed it would be. Part of it has to do with the plague that seems to be moving through my household - first myself and then my wife leaving me to be the parent on duty all the time.

Still, I have managed to get a few things done. I have already posted the bit on the conversions for the Islanders. I have had a chance to work on those for a good few hours, so overall, I suppose that counts toward the 15 minutes a day. I have done a lot on the planning front, so maybe that counts for something, though not really the same thing as doing.

I hope this week I am hoping to get some stuff done with some of my terrain but we'll see how that goes.

Trudging on!

-Eli

Gone Native

So, today I found myself starting a fun project during the first half of my shift at work. Yes, while at work. I work in a job that can be very hands free at times and so I sometimes have the luxury of using my hands for other things.

Today, those other things took the form of converting some very Hollywood 28mm African tribals into equally Hollywood Caribbean island dwellers. This project was a start to some pirate gaming that I am hoping to get into in the near future. While I wait for the funds to move forward with the project, I figured it might be fun to do these conversions and make use of some figures languishing in my drawers.

For the most part the conversions consisted of trimming off a number of headdresses and adding new hair. For hair I went with a dreadlocks look that seemed very island to me. On a couple others I did teased out, matted afro-looking hair. The idea I was going for was that the guys were escaped slaves and such gone island native so I wanted to add a few touches of civilizati

To this end I added a few articles of clothing to a couple of them A torn shirt here, a ragged pair of trousers there, even sculpted one guy to be wearing a single boot (thought it would be amusing). One gent got himself a fine tricorn hat and a few others got wide-brimmed floppy hats.

Overall, I am very happy with the figures and am looking forward to painting them, though that may have to wait until I can collect some weapons for them as I am not keen on having them armed just with spears.

More on these later,

-Eli

Terrain Design - Pole Results

Howdy all,

So, the pole has closed and a whopping 26 votes were cast (great showing folks!). It would seem that the vast majority of you either favor removable roofs on buildings or at least see some value in them. I am very surprised by this, to be honest, as I rarely see removable roofs featured in battle reports posted on the net.

I'd like to thank all of you who contributed input along with your votes.

I am not entirely sold on the idea, myself. In past games open terrain has been used extensively. For example, the ruins in Mordheim definitely add extra dimension to the skirmish gaming so I can see how access to the interiors of structures can be appealing. I think I'll give it a whirl, at least in some of the buildings I'm planning, and see how it goes.

Stay tuned and I'll post what I come up with. I already have a few buildings planned that won't be able to have removable roofs do to their quick and dirty construction, but they can be backdrops or something.

Thanks again,

-Eli

Interesting New Africans from Wargames Factory

Hey all,

Cruising through TMP today, I came across the announcement of the new Wargames Factory 28mm Plastic Zulus set. Now, I really have no need of Zulus but when I got to looking at the sculpts and the parts on the sprues I noticed that these figures, while making fine Zulus, are also crafted generically enough that they might make for great Pulp tribals.

Heck, with the right painting and add-on weapons they could be used for Islanders or maybe even the basis for some Stone Age warriors. Being hard plastic, multi-pose kits they are also easily customized and modified. Heck, at 30 warriors for $20 it's almost impossible to pass up!

Might have to check them out.

-Eli

June Resolution - Week Two

So week two wasn't all that great. Between doing overtime at work and a renovation at my apartments that has had all my patio stuff in my living room, I really haven't had the space or time to get much done. I guess you could say that my hobby space/time continuum has been disrupted.

The sum total of what I was able to get done this last week was to begin a set of coastal rocks. These are being built from scraps of styro on CDs. I am hoping to make some nice jagged rocks as obstacles for boats coming ashore and such. I'll post pics when I have more to show.

More soonm

-Eli

New Pole on Terrain Design

As I am planning to start building some new buildings, I thought I'd add a bit of a pole to see what folks do with their own.

The issue whether or not I should both building removable roofs and upper floors for my buildings for my 28mm terrain. I have to admit to being on the fence about this.

On the one hand, it would be cool to be able to actually place figures inside the terrain and have windows and door be usable, but this then requires me to build open windows all around and to make the door hinged or at least open-able.

The other side of the fence tells me that in addition to the extra work, that such things might not even come into play all that often and the extra work might be wasted.

So, vote on the pole and then leave me a bit of input on your experiences. When you have buildings on the board are they there to set the scene more than provide dimension to the battle? Or, are they there to provide another layer to the game? Oooooor, are they something altogether different for you?

Let's hear it folks!

Thanks,

-Eli