Woodland

I've been a bit unproductive on the miniatures front for weeks, but this weekend I made these 15mm-scale tree bases for use in Hordes of the Things & 28 Dice Later games.  They are laser-cut ply discs from Fenris Games, each with a 2p & 2x 1p coins glued to the top for weight, before I textured them with several coats of paint thickener. I then drilled three holes in each to insert the cheap ready-made trees, painted them brown, & finally coated them with a special flock mixture which included oregano & mixed herbs to simulate a carpet of leaf litter & fallen twigs.  It's a tip I'd not tried before, but I'm really pleased with the results.  I'll make an area base for these to stand on, so that the trees can easily be removed to allow figure placement within a defined area of 'Difficult Ground'.

Two more rickety fences

Finished a couple more lengths of rickety fence for Ronin & Chain of Command games.  These are laser-cut ply pieces from Fenris Games, glued to large hobby lolly sticks.  The basing uses various Gale Force Nine flocks & Gamers Grass tufts.  Pictured with a pair of my Japanese peasants for scale.  I have plenty of these rural fences now.  Time to work on my more substantial Japanese walls & Sarissa Precision buildings next.

More jungle scenery

Frances & I made a couple more bases of jungle scenery for the Lustria collection.  Hers is on the left, mine is on the right.  We have plenty of these CD-sized jungle bases now, so it's time to work on some pieces of ruined Lizardman temple/statuary, some spawning pools, & maybe some large rainforest tree trunks...

Sacred orchid

I completed another piece of scenery for my Lustria collection recently.  It's another piece of large scatter terrain, based on an old CD - the same recipe as these previous ones. 

I started with the idea of an ancient flagstone path leading into the jungle, but ending mysteriously amidst the foliage, but as I was fitting the jungle plants, I decided to have the path lead to a sacred orchid, perhaps greatly valued by the Amaxon tribeswomen of Lustria (maybe it has significance in their rumoured immortality?)

I used some of the techniques for smaller plants that I picked up from Frances's jungle base - they really help layer & enhance the scenery!

28 Dice Later game: Fatal Collision

Frances & I recently tried the tweaked rules that I'd been working on for 15mm zombie apocalypse skirmishes.  These are essentially Osprey Wargames Black Ops by Guy Bowers, but with a few changes to suit the setting of a modern-day UK caught-up in a terrifying zombie pandemic.  This initial trial scenario was of my own devising, & as it was for testing the basics like card activation & turn structure, it didn't make use of the main feature of Black Ops that attracted me - that of the stealth rules.  I call my tweaked zombie survival version of these rules 28 Dice Later...

For this scenario, set during the initial hours of the apocalypse, I played the Infected, & Frances played the Uninfected.  In this setting, freshly-infected victims are known as 'Ragers' (28 Days Later-style zombies), while injured or decaying victims are known as 'Shamblers' & 'Crawlers' depending on their state (classic Romero-style zombies).

The story was that a speeding 4x4 had crashed into a tree in a narrow country lane.  Farmer Giles Scrumpy & his sheepdog Patch had got out of their tractor to help, & he had called an ambulance, as well his wife Rosie back at the farm to tell her about the collision.  The driver was badly injured, with a suspicious neck wound, while a passenger who had not been wearing a seat belt appeared to have been thrown through the windscreen & bisected (gruesomely, only their legs remained inside the 4x4).

Jungle scenery

This week my partner Frances made her first piece of wargames terrain - a base of jungle scenery, which turned out amazing!  Incredible detail, & it fits right in with my existing Lustria jungle terrain. It inspired me to model-up a blank hill that I had waiting to be finished - as another jungle piece.  Put together with the rest, I have a decent amount for running small skirmishes on my 2' x 2' Ronin board (I've been thinking of trying Lustria skirmishes using the Ronin stat-builder & my Warhammer Quest figures).  Could do with a bit more variety for this jungle set now - some overgrown ruins, murky pools, & perhaps a river!

Frances's scenery was based on an old CD, which first received a cardboard top, & then several layers of 3mm & 5mm foamboard cut to resemble a slight hillock (the depth was necessary to fit the plant stems into).  The foamboard was slathered in moulding paste to make a smoother hill, & when dry was painted dark brown, with splotches of olive green where the grass would be.  After various flocks & Gamers Grass tufts were glued on, the plastic aquarium plants were glued into holes drilled into the foamboard.

My hill followed the same recipe, but the base was entirely foamboard, with some 2p coins glued into recess in the bottom layer, to add some weight.

Below are some photos of the assembled terrain, with some of the denizens of the Lustrian rainforests lurking amidst the steaming undergrowth.

While I've made no progress on my Lustrian-themed Warhammer Quest dungeon tiles lately, I was pleasantly surprised how much 'above-ground' scenery I already have to hand for the same setting.

Ronin game: Escort

My third Ronin game against Frances - this time, the Escort scenario from the North Star Magazine website, modified slightly to suit the story arc of our trilogy of games.  This will be a pic-heavy post.  In the previous game, Lady Ishida Mitsu's sister, Sakura had been kidnapped by the villainous Yakuza 'Black Hand' gang (played by Frances).  Lady Ishida ('the Red Widow') has used her influence as a member of the Samurai class to rouse the local villagers to one last act of resistance against their Yakuza oppressors.  Sakura is being escorted to the Yakuza hideout for ransom, & my Peasants (with a little help) were to attempt a rescue en route.

We upped the points value to a larger game again - 150pts each this time.  This allowed a bit more variety in our factions, & enough points to hire some mercenary swords for our generally poorly-skilled fighters (especially for my lowly mob of Peasants).  Frances's Yakuza - escorting Sakura to their hideout - consisted of a Lieutenant & five Thugs with a katana (sword) each; two Thugs with a matchlock & katana each; two Ruffians with ararebō (cudgels); plus two hired Ronin, one with a katana, wakizashi (short sword) & Kenjutso (sword skill) attribute, & the other with a nodachi (great sword), wakizashi & Powerful (extra strength) attribute.

Facing these Yakuza, my Peasant force consisted of Lady Ishida & her loyal Yojimbo (bodyguard), each with katana, wakizashi, & Kenjutso; Bokusui the Warrior Monk with bō (quarterstaff), & the Acrobatic & Bōjutsu attributes; two Peasants with bamboo yari (spears); & eight Peasants with improvised weapons (farming tools).  I had also hired a swordmaster, Kuma ('the Bear').  He was a notorious drunkard, but said to be possessed of prodigious fighting skills in the art of Niten ('two swords').

Ronin game: Capture

Another Ronin game against Frances - this time, the Capture scenario.  My Peasants were trying to reach Lady Ishida Mitsu's sister, Sakura, before the dastardly Yakuza 'Black Hand' gang could kidnap her.  Sakura was placed in the centre of the board, & the deployment roll resulted in setup on opposite edges.

We scaled-up to medium-size (100pts-a-side) forces this time.  I deployed Lady Ishida - 'Akai Mibōjin' ('the Red Widow') - On the track leading through the village on the right flank, with her bodyguard beside her.  My peasants were stretched out behind the smaller house, & in the field behind it, with the warrior monk Bokusui leading the left flank.  Opposing them, Frances set-up her lieutenant on her left flank, backed-up by a pair of ruffians with clubs, & a thug with a matchlock. On Frances's right flank, she placed her five thugs with katanas.

Ronin game: Skirmish

This weekend my partner Frances played her first ever miniatures game, against me.  We played Ronin from Osprey Wargames, & she beat me, slaughtering my entire force!

We chose a small-size (50pts-a-side) straightforward Skirmish scenario to begin with.  I played as the upstart Peasants of Sangawe village, who were out looking for a fight with their oppressors, the local Yakuza 'Black Hand' gang.  My 50pts of Peasants were led by the traveling warrior monk Bokusui with a bō (quarterstaff), who has taken a shine to the villagers after discovering the Black Hand gang runs a gambling den in the abandoned temple at the edge of Sangawe.  Bokusui has the Acrobatic, Bōjutsu, & Fearless Attributes, meaning that he ignores Difficult Terrain effects, gets re-rolls when fighting with his bō, & has unshakeable morale.

Bokusui led five Peasants - very feeble fighters, four armed with farming tools (improvised weapons), & one armed with a bamboo yari (spear), the latter at least benefiting from a +2 Initiative bonus from his weapon, increasing the likelihood that he may strike before his opponents.

Frances's Yakuza force consisted of  four thugs armed with katanas (one acting as leader), & a ruffian armed with an ararebō (studded cudgel).  The ruffian is as feeble a fighter as my peasants, but the thugs are a level above them in skill (& properly-armed!)

Third Ronin game

Here's a short report on my third game of Ronin from last weekend, against my friend Tim.  For our third introductory game of Ronin, we kept our buntai values at 100pts, but I took on the role of the Koryû (sword school).  Unlike the generally low-skill katana-fodder of the Peasant & Yakuza factions, the Koryû are generally high-skill fighters.  This meant that I only had three figures against the nine of Tim's Yakuza mob!

The Black Hang gang had the same roster as in our second game - consisting of a Lieutenant with katana, a Thug with a tanegashima (matchlock) & katana, five Thugs with katanas, & two Ruffians with ararebō (clubs).  My Koryû meanwhile had a Sensei with the Fast & Intuitive Attributes, plus two Senpai, one with Fast, the other with Intuitive.  All three were armed with the weapons of their school - a katana & wakizashi (sword & short sword).  I liked the idea of each of the Sensei's senior students having focus in one area of his own mastery.

Second Ronin game

Last weekend I had my inaugural games of Ronin with Tim.  Here's a little report (with plenty of photos) on our second game.  We stuck with the basic Skirmish scenario, but upped our buntai to 100pts each, & swapped sides - I played the upstart Peasants, & Tim took on the role of the dastardly Yakuza this time.  I rolled the Minor Goal of controlling all quarters of the board at the end of the game (difficult!), while Tim rolled that he mustn't lose more than 25% of his force (Boss Matsuda was clearly displeased about losing so many of his goons in the last encounter!)

My plucky villagers of Sangawe consisted of local land-owner Ishida Mitsu 'The Red Widow' - a Samurai lady with katana & wakizashi (sword & short sword), her loyal bodyguard also with katana & wakizashi, Bokusui the eccentric Warrior Monk with bō (quarterstaff), a Peasant with bamboo yari (spear), and six more Peasants with improvised weapons.  Tim's Black Hand Yakuza mob consisted of a Lieutenant with katana, a Thug with a tanegashima (matchlock) & katana, five Thugs with katanas, & two Ruffians with ararebō (clubs).

The random starting zones resulted in us facing-off from opposite edges.  The Yakuza deployed their main group (including Lieutenant & matchlock gunner) centrally, while a single Thug & the two Ruffians were heading for the crop field on Tim's right flank.  My armed villagers were split into a group each side of the house, with the Samurai & Warrior Monk on my left flank, & most of the Peasants (including the one with spear) on my right.

First Ronin game

Today I played my first three games of Ronin with Tim.  It was an enjoyable introduction, with the attack/defence counter pool mechanic adding nice granularity to melee, but still being fast to play.  Here is a quick report on our first game - a little 50pts Skirmish scenario between the Black Hand Yakuza (me), & the plucky villagers of Sangawe (Tim).

My Yakuza mob consisted of four Thugs (basic-level) with katana, plus a Ruffian (low-level) with araebō (club).  One of the Thugs acted as the Leader.  They were opposed by five Peasants (low-level), four with improvised weapons, & one with a bamboo yari (spear). The Peasant mob was led by a Warrior Monk (mid-level) armed with a bō (quarterstaff).

The starting zones were random, & resulted in our mobs beginning on opposite table edges.  We both formed tight groups, & advanced at pace along the track towards the central choke-point between the stable & house.

Japanese rural scenery

My rural scenery set for Ronin is now more-or-less finished, other than completing a couple of rice silos.  Here are some photos of the 2' x 2' skirmish board featuring the rural pieces, with some peasants for scale.  The board itself is covered in brown felt, which cushions the underside on tables, as well as providing a quick & easy playing surface.  Haven't decided whether I will do any more to the board (e.g. dry brush with a lighter brown). 

The tracks & fields are simply cut from felt, with flock mixes glued on & fixed with matt varnish spray.  Seems to be minimising flock shedding so far.  The buildings are laser cut sets from Sarissa Precision Ltd (with removable roofs).  The crop fields are just sections sliced from a doormat - a very effective solution hat I have seen lots of wargamers use.  Lastly there is some of my scatter terrain pieces, made with real stones, a mixture of resin & plastic barrels & boxes, model trees, & a selection of flocks & Gamers Grass tufts.  The pile of firewood by the shed is off-cuts of plastic sprue.  The floor of the shed/stable is even lined with fake straw  :-)

I have a set of wider, straighter roads & a few more buildings (to be constructed) that will allow me to play village/town skirmishes.  I'd also like to get a lot more trees, so that I can run woodland fights.  Beyond that, I'd quite like a river with a traditional arched bridge, & boggy ground / rice paddies with raised walkways.  I'd also quite like to make a graveyard for an atmospheric chanbara showdown setting...

Japanese village house

Today I finished painting my first building for Ronin (28mm-scale chanbara skirmish).  It's a Japanese Village House / Outhouse from Sarissa Precision.  These laser-cut kits are easy to assemble, & after a good coat of spray primer, they take acrylic paint well.  After base colours I used dark washes followed by simple dry brushing to quickly achieve a slightly weathered appearance, good enough for tabletop gaming.  The window shutters & door are perforated, allowing them to easily be cut from the main structure to position as desired. I chose to leave the door shut, & used a variety of positions for the shutters.