Link Correction

My apologies to those who were interested in the expansion of the WW2 Sci-fi Germans from Eureka. It seems that when I set up the link for the 300 Club listing I used the wrong URL. The item number and label in the blog text are correct, so I hope you were able to find the listing, anyhow. I have since corrected the link with the proper URL.

Thanks for your interest,

-Eli

Good News From Eureka

Good news everyone...

Three weeks ago, I emailed Nic Robson at Eureka about the possibility of expanding the line of 15mm Sci-fi German Stormtroopers. These figures are lovely armored troopers intended for Weird War Two games but suitable for other sci-fi settings as well. With all the recent interest in WWW2 gaming, this just seemed a natural suggestion.

Well the long of the short of it is that Nic seemed to be open to the idea and asked me to send him a list of possible poses that I thought might make good expansions to the line. I sent him the following list -


1. Officer w/drum-fed SMG advancing or standing

2. Junior Officer/NCO w/drum-fed SMG advancing and gesturing command

3. Communications w/long-range radio pack

4. Tankbuster w/Panzerfaust (variants?)

5. Flamethrower

6. Vehicle Gunner for use in halftracks, armored Cars, etc – standing figure with attached LMG

7. Sharpshooter w/IR-equipped scoped assault rifle. Not a sniper but simply an on-hand sharpshooter to support armored assault troopers

8. A re-working of the existing MG gunner to make the gun look more like an MG42 with a drum-fed ammo system and rename the existing MG gunner as an "Assault Cannon" - think portable support cannon developed from anti-tank rifles, etc.

Nic has since gotten back to me and is going to post these up on his site as
Sci-fi Germans w/ Heavy Weapons (300CLUBSF07). He will be contacting those who put in orders for them asking which of the 8 possible poses they would be most interested in. Nic and his sculptor Mike Broadbent are pretty sure all of them are viable and possible. The intent is to try to get things rolling in the next three months. Not a bad timeline if you consider this isn't something they have been working on until now.

So, if you are interested in seeing Eureka expand it's Weird World War 2 stuff go and let your voices be heard.

Thanks,

-Eli

Iron Mitten

In a trip through the various strands of the intrawebs, I came upon a beautiful historical miniatures bog titled Iron Mitten.

I have yet to read through the entirety of this blog because there is just so much to take in. From what I can tell the blog covers the hobby of one dedicated historical wargamer with a serious passion for the age of Rome. This blog is full of amazingly painted 28mm figures, but it's more than painting.

There are terrain projects, conversions and commentary on all the work that this gent and some of his gaming buddies have put into their figures. Add to that some lovely illustrations, battle reports and even some quite funny comic strips and Iron Mitten is a must read, even if you are not into the genre specifically. The vibe you get off of this guy and his gaming group is the same sort of vibe I aspire to in mine.

Thanks and check it out,

-Eli

Was There a Cthulhu Cult in Hawaii?

It would appear that their might have been and still is.

Not really but when I found pictures of Hawaiian war helmets made from gourds, I could not help but have this amusing thought. The way these helmets are made, many of them actually look like stylized Cthulhu visages. Round head, large orb-like eyes and dangling tentacles at the mouth, one has to wonder if Lovecraft himself ever saw these artifacts before he wrote of his own elder evils.



There is also some interesting fuel here for RPGs and miniatures gaming. It would be easy enough to morph these striking gourd helmets into ceremonial garb worn by warriors who took blood and glory in the name of their lord who slumbers in the deep. Add to this the whole island location and the you really could have something. I'll likely dodge this angle for my Hawaii project, but it was worth noting.

Have fun,

-Eli

Alter-Nations - Kingdom of Hawaii Part 4

When designing an independent island nation the navy of that nation has to be a central consideration to the project. Without a strong navy the independence of a nation, especially one that is completely accessible by water, is tenuous at best in the face of naval juggernauts both fictional and historical. My fictional Kingdom of Hawaii will have to be able to hold its own on the waves.

We know, from history, that Hawaii had amassed a sizable fleet of ships under Kamehameha I. Details on this fleet have been scarce and difficult to find, especially considering the fact that I have not gone out of my way to secure dedicated resources for this project (I'm not willing to throw that much into this gaming lark). What I have found indicates that their navy was a combination of advanced war canoes and on up through the naval spectrum. The Hawaiian navy included European style war ships in history and we can assume that my fictional Hawaii might do the same, especially if it was able to maintain its military base following the death of Kamehameha I.

I do not think that they would have ever gone so far as to build full-on battleships but smaller warships from cruiser size and down would be reasonable with most of the fleet being fast-moving lighter vessels that would allow them to patrol the open waters and maneuver through and around the islands that made up their home. There would, of course, be transports and other commercial vessels, no doubt built on the same scale as other nations, but my Hawaii's military vessels would be focused on protecting sovereignty and maintaining commerce.

Gunboats, torpedo boats, and floating batteries would be used close to the shore and in the harbors with frigates and corvettes sailing along with their commerce vessels. At home, you might even see the continuation of the armed war canoe, especially with provincial and home defense units. This latter design would allow ill-trained islanders with a part-time military service to use their civilian sea-fairing skills in the service of defending their home.

This of course is all a quick overview and as I am not a naval wargamer there are bound to be things that I have overlooked. I will say that the naval considerations have little bearing on most of the gaming I will be doing but they do add to the background of this version of a Hawaii that might have been.

As usual, I am open to comments and welcome suggestions and ideas.

Thanks again,

-Eli

[Image Note: The image with this text depicts the private yacht of King Kamehameha II c. 1821. This was a real vessel and shows that the historical Hawaiians did have modern sailing vessels. ]

Hi, My Name is Eli and I'm a Gaming Dad...

Driving home from dinner out tonight, my oldest asks the question, "As a person gets older, does it affect how how easy it is to damage them?"

Without missing a beat, the smart-ass gamer dad in me says, "Yeah, as you gain experience, your Hit Dice increase."

My poor wife practically drove us off the road laughing and I was soundly buffeted across the back of the head with a travel pillow by my daughters in the back seat.

-Eli

Wargaming Terrain Blogs

Just a brief post to prop a couple of DYI terrain blogs out there. First off there is the simply-named Gaming Terrain which is a spin-off site from my buddy's J. Womack's Voctoria's Boys in Red. The next site is a gem of a site Take The High Ground.

Both of these sites are full of good and pretty straight forward ideas for making effective terrain for your table. Surely some of the projects are geared toward specific genres and games that the bloggers are involved in, but many of them are generic enough to be useful regardless of what you play.

Take a look and enjoy,

-Eli

Alter-Nations - Kingdom of Hawaii Part 3

WHAT FIGURES TO USE

Taking a break from the background story of fictional Hawaii I have begun to give some thought to what sorts of miniatures I might use to represent their army.

For my fictional version of the Kingdom of Hawaii, I wanted to have a military that reflected both European and island traditions in the same uniform. This really is a tough decision because, unless I want to spend an eternity converting little 15mm figs, I am going to have to work with what's out there and last time I checked their wasn't a company catering specifically to my mad imagination. So, with that in mind, I have to think about what is available out there.

There are plenty of naval infantry and marines out there as well as tribal forces from other nations, some of them even island nations. Wide-brimmed hats come to mind, due to the sun and such, but not all armies that fought in hot and sunny environments wore sun helmets or wide-brimmed hat. I suppose I could go with a sun helmet as well.

One thing I have considered is finding some native infantry, askaris or some such that have short pants on or, if I can find them one of those wrap around skirts. that seem to be popular in the more "civilized" Hawaiians. The question is, can I find the right lower wear on a figure with a suitable military style jacket.

I did find some miniatures in the Freikorp line of figures that might work or at least give me something close enough on the table. The figures in question are the following -

PAR03 Paraguayan Infantry, loin cloth
PAR02 Paraguayan Infantry, poncho & kilt
PAR23 Paraguayan Spearmen

There are also command and other support and military elements that go with these gents, including some in more conventional uniforms. These figures appeal for a couple of reasons. First of all, they all wear high peaked shakos that seem to sweep forward and bear a resemblance to traditional Hawaiian headgear. Secondly, the figures in ponchos and kilt might make for a sort of odd Hawaiian uniform that includes the skirt I was looking for as well as something that give a nod back to the traditional cloaks that were worn by islanders. Lastly, the loincloth-wearing soldiers and the spear-wielding ones would make for very interesting provincial militia - ill-equipped and poorly uniformed.

I have ordered a couple packs to take a look and see if they fit the bill and will continue to look around to see if I can find other figures that might work well. If you have any suggestions or even an alternate idea on what they might look like, let me know.

Thanks again,

-Eli

Alter-Nations - Kingdom of Hawaii Part 2

CORRECTING A FEW MISTAKES

So, as I said in the last post, I was going to be posting more about this idea. Now that I have had a chance to digest some of the things I've read, I am seeing that my initial responses to The Kingdom of Hawaii idea were way off base. Of course I am going based on what some quick research can determine and without a lot of in-depth knowledge, but it's clear that Hawaii didn't barely make it, but rather that they made it and then they were torn down.

One of the big things I can see that would need to be adjusted is that the dynasties of Hawaii would have had to have been a bit more savvy when dealing with foreign nations. I remember reading a bit about how at one point they considered who they should trade with and somehow ended up entering into an exclusive trade agreement with the United States. This was a mistake, because it made them dependent on the US for support and trade and hurt their relations with other nations that might have provided them with useful goods and trade routes for their own. This is especially bad when you consider they had been recognized as a sovereign nation by almost every major nation in Europe. Hawaii continued to trade with other nations but it really had hemmed itself in with its relationship with America, a relationship that ultimately led to its downfall at the hands of that very nation.

I suppose that in a way, what I am envisioning for Hawaii is a nation that did not lose so much of itself but managed to enter the world as a player just the same. The real world Kingdom of Hawaii was a Christianized nation that left most of its cultural identity in the past to make way for progress. As can see in the image accompanying this text, depicting the last king of Hawaii , Hawaiian nobility had pretty much adopted a very European mode of dress, including a chest full of questionable ribbons and medals.

The key to the version of Hawaii I would like to see for a game setting lies in a change on the route it took. At several points in Hawaiian history there were attempts to return to their cultural roots and to allow for the more Hawaiian version of Hawaii that I am looking for, perhaps it would be fitting to have one of these movements take off. Perhaps one of the various cultural overthrows succeeded and created a nation that managed to fuse both western and island cultures together.

The major issue in trying to re-invent Hawaii in a fictional form is how to maintain their viability and yet keep more of their cultural identity and invites several strong questions. Would Hawaii have been accepted by Europe and America if they had not taken on such a European way about them? Would Hawaii have been able to stay united if they had retained more of their tribal culture? How do you sidestep the plagues and epidemics that shaped the course of Hawaiian history? I am sure there are more, but these are those that pop into my mind.

There is much to consider when trying to develop an alternate version of a country. Most of what I want out of this project stems from mental imagery I have of a cool-looking fusion of Island and European styled dress. I mean, I could just say it's this way because I want it to be, but that wouldn't be my style.

Thanks for reading along,

-Eli

Atler-Nations - Kingdom of Hawaii Part 1

It's funny where a simple chat can lead. Recently, in a comment to a post on "Victoria's Boys in Red", I half-jokingly threw out the idea of doing Hawaii as a power in a VSF setting. Nothing big, just a lark. Then I talked to other geeky-minded folks at work and some more with Mr. Womack and the concept really started to take form.

I think what makes it a great idea is that Hawaii almost made it, they really did. If not for a few little problems, easily glanced over or corrected in an alternate history, they might just have made themselves into a Pacific island nation of note. Add to this the fact that their history really is a fascinating one and you have good makings of a VSF nation.

The first thing you need to do is to change a few things and have things go better for Hawaii. King Kamehameha was enamored with western cultures and really strove to learn about them and bring the advantages of those places to his people. What didn't go so well were his dealings with foreign nations which really ended up setting his newly formed united Hawaii up to become the puppets of other countries.

If we can concede a more forward thinking Kamehameha or successors to him that might have carried on a more productive continuation of what he started, we can imagine a Hawaii that became a trade partner to many nations, becoming a sort of trade point nestled in the middle of the Pacific and accessible to those plying their trades through Asia and India and beyond.

One can also envision a Hawaii that continued to learn and master elements of European ship building and developed its own shipyards capable of building and maintaining a home and trade fleet as well as offering port services to ships moving through the pacific. Add to this some rather exotic exports such as sugar and several fruits and Hawaii could become a comfortable little island nation, indeed.

MILITARYWhat would their military look like? I have found little information on their army or its uniforms but I do know that its early armies were little more than up-gunned native troops. This isn't much fun for a VSF army, though and we can draw on the Hawaii dynasties' love of things European as an inspiration of how an organized army of the Kingdom of Hawaii might look. There might still be ill-equipped, poorly uniformed provincial troops in support of the standing army and they might look much more like traditional Hawaiian warriors.

When I tinker around with uniform ideas, I imagine that most of the Hawaiin army would function in a dual capacity as marines as nearly every part of their kingdom is accessible by water and a short march. But I do not want them to look just like the marines of other nations. What I can imagine are solider wearing conventional uniform coats and possibly some wide-brimmed hats on the upper portion but wearing either short pants or even those waist wraps you see there now days who;s name escape me now. I also imagine that they might fight in bare feet.

Cavalry might exist but would likely be rare, perhaps drawn from local farmers and herders or island police forces. Their dress would depend on what capacity they filled in their regular daily lives with police wearing a variation of the military uniform and militia cavalry wearing typical Hawaiian provincial dress.

Artillery would likely be in the form of smaller guns, often those taken from ships' armaments and moved along with infantry. Kamehameha I used this sort of rolling gun tactic well in his wars of unification, even marching guns in fights up mountains. Mountain guns and light pack guns might be the norm.

Thus ends the first installment of a look at what might be a plausible VSF alternate history Hawaii. I hope you enjoy this and look forward to reading your responses and input. I'll be posting more about this idea when I have time and after I have a chance to digest some of the feedback I've received. It should be noted that I am no expert on Hawaii and also that this idea is likely full of a lot of holes that really needn't be addressed in the context of fictional history.

Thanks,

-Eli

Wargaming 101

If you haven't picked up "Wargaming: An Introduction" by Neil Thomas then I strongly recommend it. This is a small, portable book that provides a wealth of information on the history and background of the the wargaming hobby. It also includes several sets of sample rules as well as army lists for genres that might be played with those rules. This really is a primer of sorts for those who might like to get into the hobby or for those who are looking for a very straight forward treatment of the what and how of wargaming.

I would also like to point out that this book makes a great book to take along on a trip where you might not be able to carry along all of your gaming stuff. With this book, a couple of dice and some add-hock pieces (paper, army men, salt shakers) you could easily play a wargame anywhere or demonstrate your hobby to interested parties.

Presently, my oldest daughter is showing an interest in wargaming as well as RPGs and I am considering using the sample skirmish rules included in this book to create a wargame based on Splintered Light Miniatures' fine new "Druid's Children" line of anthropomorphized woodland animals with medieval gear.

All in all, this is a good book for the lifestyle gamer. It's educational, interesting and a great addition to your collection.

Thanks all,

-Eli

I Hate Painting...

...or is it just that I'm not very good at it?

I find myself looking over my projects, old and new, and thinking about how they all seem to reach that same final stage of unfinished spoiled glory. You know the place, where they sit on your shelf in that same motley collection of raw bits parts or that special shade of primer that was going to be the secret to making your figures ten times easier to paint. But they aren't painted, are they?

Perhaps it is a certain fear of failure, or success (never understood that one) but I cannot seem to get myself jazzed about painting. Even when I receive kudos for my extremely lame attempts to put pigment to metal, I cannot get the satisfaction that drives me forward to paint more. To me, painting has always been that chore that comes at the end of the joy. It is the cleanup after the glorious artistic mess and the material indulgence that is collecting, converting, kit bashing.

Finding that special piece that will make that thing that will look so cool on the table is a special moment. Figuring out the trick to make that piece of terrain look just so or that new kit bash stand out just a little bit more is a real thrill. I have never found myself talking at any length about how I tackled a paint job with anywhere near the same zeal that I have when describing the steps that I labored through to get that particular effect with the construction of a hill, a copse of trees, that rocket, or whatever modelling mayhem I have been up to.

When it comes down to it, I think it come down to the fact that painting only really works when you follow a formula and deviating from that formula, regardless of whichever you chose is such a quick route to disaster. One could argue that the modelling side of things is also formulaic and that is true, to a point. The place where I feel they differ is in the consequences of breaking the rote of those processes. I can fly off on a tangent of creativity and slap together a new ironclad or turn some random putty work into a collection of cloaks and accessories for a group of figs much easier than I can invent a new painting technique or flex my creative muscles with the brush.

When it comes to painting, I just feel the whole creative process grind to a crawl. That's not to say I think it is less a part of the hobby, but it is, for me, a lesser part of my enjoyment in the hobby. I know some guys who are incredible painters who can make the rendering of a miniature into a living, breathing being in art look effortless. I simply cannot.

Anyhow, enough of this prattling, but I think that this kind of philosophical babble does have some place on a hobby blog. I can't be alone in how I feel and I am sure that others feel similarly about other aspects of he hobby - ones that I may not have so difficult a time with.

Take care,

-Eli

Other Than Mars or Venus

The esteemed Mr. Womack over at "Victoria's Boys in Red" has been kind enough to post a topic based on a discussion he and I have been having through email. The discussion is about alternate settings for VSF, mostly within our own solar system. As you know, this is something I have tinkered around with - Laputa, Terra Secundus, etc, but I thought I might post a link to his post so that we could gather the responses in one place. So, check out the link below -

http://vbir.blogspot.com/2009/04/other-than-mars-and-venus.html

Thanks,

-Eli

Land Ironclads - WIP Snapshot

Nothing much to report just yet, but I had an urge to tinker with some more scratchbuilt Land Ironclads and this is what I came up with. It's essentially a really big gun, like a cut-down Verne cannon that rolls along on it's own tracks. I have been tinkering with this concept since I used the carriages for these guns for one of my other LI designs.

I'll post more on it later, but hope the crappy snapshot will tide you over.

BTW, the little dots in the middle are some 2mm skirmishing infantry that will do a good job of representing teams of gunners waiting for the weapon to need reloading. The minis are based on the standard 2mm minis base and cannot be removed, but that shouldn't pose too great a problem as I can stform or something. they were standing on a platform or something.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy this sneak peak.

Take care,

-Eli

RPG Spotlight - Hellas: Worlds of Sun and Stone

One of the RPGs I picked up at GameStorm 11 was a really cool game called Hellas: Worlds of Sun and Stone. Quite simply, this is Greek Myth in a sci-fi setting. The setting is pure Space Opera but with a mythological bent. But the game is much more complex than that.

At the core of this game is a very workable, functional system that allows for quick and simple action resolution. All tasks are based on trying to his a target number of 11 for a success. To do this you simply add Ability + Skill + Modifiers and roll a D20 to see if you hit that target number. The result of your roll determines the degree of success or failure, allowing for marginal successes, failures and critical results at either end of the spectrum.

Characters are generated through a life path system that allows for you to work out background and skills all at once. The cool thing about the life path system is that it really enriches the character generation and can create some truly interesting character ideas.

Races in Hellas are numerous and mimic the people and species of myth and history but in creative and imaginative ways. For example, the Myrmidons are not simply another race of man with a mythological origin as uplifted insects, they ARE uplifted insects. Centaurs are represented by the Zintar, who are an invertebrate race of cephalopods who interact with Hellan society through mechanical suits - their battlesuits are centauroid constructs. There are many more races in the main book, each one being an interesting take on some mythological race or creature.

One of the interesting points about characters in Hellas is that a player is not going to play just a single character in the course of a campaign. Hellas is designed to tell the tales of the epic journeys through the heroes' lineages. So, you will create your basic character and then you will create his descendants later in play. The success of one character, reflects in the next as you build on the glory of your previous characters until you are a true hero and leave the universe to reside with the gods.

The setting is what really make Hellas a cool game. The mythic Greek angle is reflected in every aspect of the universe. Everything is derived from something in classical Greek culture, history, literature, etc. Even the area of space is intentionally designed to look like the Greek world. On the map, you can see Troy is where it should be in relation to the other Greek cities. The universe is rich and full of interesting places and denizens. There is a full background for the universe which lays out the history and many mysteries which will be invoked during game play.

I am looking forward to running a Hellas campaign very much. The ability to combine science fiction and a classical Greek myth setting together is just too inviting. If you are looking for something different and new, I strongly suggest Hellas from Khepera Publishing.

If anyone picks this up or is playing it already, I'd love to hear your thoughts, so don't be shy.

Thanks,

-Eli