Sci-Fi Shock Troops

Shock Troops - box cover front

I don't have a great idea of what I would do with Wargames Factory's new plastic shock troops from their Alien Suns line, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to use them to explore some sci-fi gaming. Follow this link to one of their pages about the product and while you are there, check out the box's back cover for a few more ideas on how to assemble and paint these guys.

These troops look to me like retro-futuristic fascist troopers I have run across in British sci-fi - if not outright, then at least a good dose of flavoring. What comes to mind is Dr. Who's "Genesis of the Daleks" and 2000 AD's Rogue Trooper series (not so much the GIs, but the regulars).

In my mind, I see some RPG or tactical gaming inspired by Star Frontiers or Gamma World. These guys would be great for exploring the ruins of New York or London's underground. There's a lot D&D plastic monster minis that would be perfect for that kind of gaming as well - bullettes, ghouls, and illithids (mindflayers). The ratmen of Warhammer or Warhammer 40K would be a good addition as well. 

More on this if/when I make the leap and get me a box of these neat looking figures. If anyone has some plans or works-in-progress for WF's shock troops, please post a comment or links.

1760: Cherokee Victory at Fort Loudoun (A Few More Pictures)

I don't have too much to add to the last post, but here's a few more photos I took at the event. 

Garrison Commander/Park Manager Jeff Wells

Loading Muskets Again

1760: Cherokee Victory at Fort Loudoun

Sallying Forth

I was able to attend the 250th landmark anniversary of Fort Loudoun's surrender to the Cherokees last weekend. Plenty of living history re-enactments, lectures, and guided tours at the Vonore, TN historic park - which includes a reconstruction of 18th Century fort. 

One of the significant aspects of the conflict between the British garrison and the Cherokees is that they had been allies for much of the war, but relationships soured over the lack of justice over the British killing numerous Cherokees further north.

Loading Muskets

The fort wasn't just a military site, it was a commercial and diplomatic one as well. The relationships between the garrison and the local villages was much more complex and complicated than you might think.

Three Cherokees at Village

The Chattanooga Times Free Press published a story I wrote about the event - follow this link.

I was pleased with the quality and dedication of the living historians that attended - that made - the event.

FOW Summer Project: Making Your STUGs Stand Out

Schurzen have been attached to my work-in-progress STUG platoon. Of course, I put them on backwards - I believe the profile of the plates should slope forward. Just one of those little details that helps make my troops unique. 

The GMC trucks are pretty much done except for a little bit of base work. I used mudstone to give them a dry and dusty ground. I added a bit to the tires and dry brushed it on the rest of the vehicles. 


I'm doing some work on the 251/9s (German halftrack with short-barrel 75mm infantry gun) as well. They look like they will be pretty easy, except for the rear AA MG42 - which is all right, because I never bother with them. 


I have misplaced the assembly instructions for the Flakpanzer 38t's, but after a good bit of studying the FOW website images and other Internet sources, I think I have figured out to put the gun together. I'm not sure, but I think I am missing part of the 20mm cannon's gunshield. I think I'm going to substitute a small piece of styrene (probably just clip a small tile piece) and further camouflage the deception with a little lichen. Definitely more on that one later.

Mamluks, Mongols, Maoris, and More in Wargames Illustrated 274

I have to say this issue is a knockout. Even if you do not bother to read any of the Flames of War material, you get plenty of solid articles that cover a lot of historical periods and places around the globe. The writers were really doing great work here. Plenty of depth to be found in conflicts that don't come readily to mind when we think of military history items, and the authors back them up with good advice on collecting figures and wargaming scenarios and campaigns. I think anyone not intimately familiar with the subjects covered in this issue will learn something.

You can follow this link to the WI website to read the summary of articles in the issue. 

This issue includes contributions from some of my favorite authors:

John Bianchi - Ain Jalut, 1260 (Mongols v. Mamluks)

Jim Graham - Marathon, 490 BC

Neil Smith - Churubusco, 1847 (US-Mexican War)

Barry Hilton - First Contact on the Sambre (Napoleonic 100 Days)


Highly recommended.

What God Hath Wrought

In my spare time I've been reading the military-related items in Daniel Walker Howe's What God Hath Wrought, a history of the United States from 1815 to 1848.

Lots on incredible things in this book, especially if you only accepted the sanitized version of US history they teach in elementary and high school. They tend to get a little more realistic in college level courses in American history, thank goodness - but back to the subject at hand. Expect a lot of myth-busting, not just of any beloved or despised personalities (Andrew Jackson comes to mind), but of the ideals and attitudes we cherish about our country's growth into a true nation. One thing really helped my understanding of the period, and that's how the earliest period of the industrial revolution outweighed the "frontier spirit" of volunteer-supported armed conflicts of the period - and Howe makes the case for it at The Battle of New Orleans and 30 years later in the Mexican War. 

It took a book like this to really make me understand how Spain's dwindling interest in its New World territories really gave the United States the opportunities it needed to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific. There's no big coordinated 30-year plan to conquer North America - it happens in fits and starts.

While this book doesn't specialize in the Seminole Wars, the Texas War of Independence, or the US-Mexican War, the material in it gives the reader a good insight into the military-political perspectives of their origins, prosecutions, and resolutions. I picked up a softcover copy of the book pretty cheap from an online retailer (less than $15) - not a bad price for all the above, when compared to the price of an Osprey. Now if you really, really dig the era's zeitgeist, then this book is a fantastic value - there's got to be 800+ pages in it.

FOW Project: Stug III Gs

Time to post some words and pictures about the Flames of War summer project. I've had some odd success with my Stugs. They have turned about better than expected and a lot of that I can attribute to happenstance. 

I initially sprayed them in black primer, but had to get in close with diluted paint and ink; I was afraid I was going to end up globbing too much spray primer. I encountered some problems with my bottle of Model Master dunkengelb - it seemed to still be too thin even after a second coat. It could very well have to do with the age of the paint. So I painted over the assault guns with Valejo desert yellow, which looks pretty close. I used the blocking method again and purposely avoided an all-covering coat. This left hatch areas and decks with what appears to be worn areas. 


My next step is to attach the schurzen, do camouflage, and paint some more details.

More Flip Mat Goodness from Paizo

I have been very pleased with Paizo's Gamemastery Flip-Mat line. I recently picked up a copy of the Dungeon (see right). In a lot of ways, this makes me think of the sample dungeon from the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide from about 30 years ago.

You can read more about the Dungeon flip-mat on Paizo's website. 


The blog posts will occur less frequently over the next few weeks. I have some major deadlines that will require a lot of my attention. 
 

Wilder's Brigade in Wargames Illustrated 273

My thanks to the WI team for believing in my vision for the 1863 campaigns for Chattanooga, which included the Battle of Chickamauga and the siege-breaking battles on Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. 



One of my favorite pieces is the review of Wilder's Lightning Brigade. The brigade was mostly armed with Spencer repeating rifles and had an over-sized battery (commanded by Eli Lilly, whose pharmaceutical company exists to this day). The article also includes some guidelines for choosing and converting figures for these soldiers. Frankly, they look more like Confederate troopers than Union cavalrymen. They will stand out one the tabletop. The article backs up the conversions with some great black & white photos. I highly recommend Richard A. Baumgartner's Blue Lightning, which I used a primary source for the article.

Luftwaffe Field Divisions

Years ago I took an interest in the Luftwaffe Field Divisions, Goring's answer to the manpower shortage on the Eastern Front. The ranks of the Luftwaffe field formations were filled by ground crews and other personnel that could be spared at the moment. They lacked comprehensive training, weaponry, and heavy support, at least in comparison to regular troops. I had to admire their determination in the face of the odds they were up against.

[Pictured Right: Osprey Luftwaffe Field Division title, which I found quite useful]


It looks like I may be able to use some of my mid/late war Luftwaffe Field Division troops to help fill the company ranks of my Flames of War HG panzergrenadiers, as a number of them also wear the 3/4 camo jacket. As far as that goes, some of the LFD miniatures might also look right in late war paratroop formations as well. 

FOW Summer Project: US GMC Trucks

The Stug G IIIs have been sprayed with primer, disassembled by dropping, and brushed with thin coats of black. More on these tough guys later...


In the meantime, the US GMC trucks have gone pretty smooth. I did a little online research to see the colors used on the vehicles. The drab olive/dark olive green for the metal and wood parts was easy enough, but I was curious about the color of the canvas tarps. I found examples that included dark green, khaki, and olive shades. I also took a look at the example from the FOW site.


I used yellow olive (Vallejo Game Color) for the truck bodies. On one truck I used catachan green (GW) for the tarp, but it looked too much like the yellow olive, so I painted dark gray (Folk Art) over it; Folk Art's dark gray has quite a bit of dark olive in it. I put the dark gray directly on the other truck. The undercoat of catachan green made a big difference between the two vehicle tarps. 


I tried - with some success - of using the 'block technique' found in several of the FOW vehicle and artillery painting guides. I think this looks a lot better than if I had just spray painted the trucks in olive and then touched up on the canvas and wheels. The block technique simply means not painting over the black primer at joints and lines; this helps define the parts and might even contribute to the illusion of wearing. Probably depends on how loose or precise you do it. With all the straight lines of the trucks' wooden slats, the blocking really stands out.

The trucks are not finished, but here's some photos of the works-in-progress. 

Update: Hannibal and The Fall of Carthage

I previously reviewed the game Hannibal: Rome v. Carthage here, and a little bit of Andrian Goldworthy's The Fall of Carthage here. Here's some updates concerning both. 

The new edition of Hannibal has some new rules that make it a somewhat different and better game. In the old edition the game immediately ended with the capture of Hannibal or Scipio Africanus. This is no longer the case. If Hannibal is lost, Carthage loses major prestige (5 political control markers, which is about the equivalent of a province) in addition to any political losses from simply suffering defeat in a field battle. This occurred while we played a game recently and it greatly hampered the Carthaginians, as you might expect. What we think we learned is that losing Hannibal might not necessarily spell defeat for Carthage if they are already in a decent position. It seemed incredible that Carthage lasted 4 or more turns after losing their best general by the third turn. For a change, I did not play Hannibal...but I could have used this rule back in the 90s.

I finished reading The Fall of Carthage and I am please to see such harmony between its contextual political, social, and military review of the Second Punic War and how the Hannibal game plays. The concept of losing political ground based on battlefield defeats rings true. The reluctance of the armies and their commanders to commit to battle - and even their lack of ability to force their enemy to engage - also rings true with the game mechanics for activating army commanders. If it seems hard to get things done sometimes, that's because it was that way. Don't forget how the limits of communication affected the ability to gather intelligence and make decisions. The players get to view a game board map of the western Mediterranean and at least see what forces are currently in the field. The real commanders did well to know what was happening in the nearest provinces. 

Again, I highly recommend both the game and book. 

Summer Project: FOW

I mentioned in a previous post that I was interested in building the Hermann Goring Division and the US 3rd Division forces for an Italian campaign. I have purchased some platoon packs of infantry, but before I start painting them I thought I would work on some vehicles that have been waiting too long in box on a shelf in my home office. I'm sure some of you know the kind of thing I'm talking about here.

Anyway, I am working on a platoon of Stug G IIIs, a couple of US trucks, a couple of Flak Panzers, and a couple of SdKfz 251/9s. The Stug Gs will have a spot in one HG panzergrenadierkompanie, as might the US trucks. I thought I would paint one of them to look like it was captured and redone in dunkenkelb. I'll probably leave the canvas in US Army olive or dark green. 

I'll post some pictures later of the finished models, but in the meantime I thought I would show a picture of resin models soaking in mildly soapy water. I'm pretty sure the blue-gray color is not just the liquid soap; I'm pretty sure that is the reagent or whatever it is that sticks the miniature after the molding process. As the Battlefront folks suggest, clean the resin models before painting!

I'll be up front here - my miniatures and my photos of them probably won't knock you out. But I think I can say that I'm probably one of the few hobbyists who will show you a picture of miniatures taking a good soak after a good toothbrush scrubbing. 

Also, here's a picture of the Stug G IIIs and US trucks drying.

Missionary Ridge: WI Online Bonus

I submitted some guidelines for playing Missionary Ridge to Wargames Illustrated, with the intent that the bonus material might appear somewhere in the magazine or as an online bonus. It has the hallmarks of a tricky battle to portray, even if you have enough troops for the tabletop: lots of terrain that will make a different game based on ground scales and movement rates.

Take a look at the online article and see what you think. You can also download a PDF of the article there.

Of course, there's some good gaming still in the magazine article for the siege of Chattanooga - and that focuses on Sherman's less than orderly attack against Cleburne's position on the right flank of Missionary Ridge. I think that part of the battle often gets overlooked in light of the heroic Union actions that took place along the main line. In actuality, Sherman's assault was supposed to be the big victory.

Free RPG Day 2010

I wrote a news story for the Chattanooga Times Free Press about the fourth annual Free RPG Day. You can read the online version here.

My thanks to Erik Mona and Wes Schneider of Paizo Publishing for taking time to offer comments for the article. Also, my thanks to Katie Page of Porter Novelli who commented on behalf of Wizards of the Coast.

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Paizo's Pathfinder adventure module, "Master of the Fallen Fortress." The new Legend of the Five Rings quickstart offering looks interesting too.  

Pictured Above: The cover of "Master of the Fallen Fortress. Paizo advises that if you miss a free hard copy at the local gaming store, you can order a copy from them for $5 (plus shipping) or download a free pdf. Well, you can read all about that by going to its link posted above the picture.

Preview: Wargames Illustrated 273: Campaign For Chattanooga

I pitched the 'Campaign For Chattanooga' as a theme to Wargames Illustrated back in January; Dave and Dan gave it the greenlight and we did a fairly quick turnaround. As it turns out, I also wrote most of the articles for the theme, too. I am looking forward to seeing the Chickamauga piece - it's my understanding that it evolved from a very nice game presented at Cold Wars or Fall In. You can see a preview on the FOW site here.

I believe this is my first venture into a historical period outside of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. I'd love to see your comments on the issue.

The issue also includes Part Two of 'Wargaming the Roman Army'. I'm eager to see how it turned out. I relied a lot on Guy Halsall's Barbarian Migrations, which I have reviewed in prior posts, to bring out some subtle points on the nature/character of the Late Roman Army.

Living History at Chickamauga Battlefield

I got to do a news story on the 37th Georgia Living History Regiment while they appeared at Chickamauga Battlefield Park last weekend. They gave interesting talks on camp life, equipment, and recruiting. They also performed a number of different musket-firing drills. 

You can follow a link to the online version of the Chattanooga Times Free Press here.

The above photo is one I took with my old digital camera. A much cooler slide show of images taken by the staff photographer may be found at the bottom of the online article.

Fort Christmas

While in Florida, I visited Fort Christmas, which is at the southeastern edge of Orange County (Orlando). The park contains a replica of Fort Christmas, built as part of the United States' campaigns against the Seminole Indians in the nation's second war with them.

The original fort was abandoned within three months, its purpose ended by the army's southern advances. The replica has two 20' x 20' blockhouses and a few buildings. The original is long gone. I'm sure it didn't have central air conditioning in the blockhouses, as the modern version, but no complaints from me on that point. 

The replica was built as part of an initiative to celebrate the nation's bicentennial.

If time had allowed, I would have visited some of the other prominent Seminole War sites, especially the replica of Fort Foster and the Dade Battlefield.

Summer Reading: The Fall of Carthage

The blog took another break last week while I spent some time in Florida visiting relatives, playing on beaches, and lazing about. I took some time to put some paint on some Late Roman infantry and some fantasy miniatures. I may post some pics when I have completed those small projects.

I have been reading Adrian Goldworthy's The Fall of Carthage in my spare time. The author attempts to place the three Punic wars in context with each other and the wider Mediterranean world, and not solely in juxtaposition to Rome. He defaults to Polybios whenever he presents differences in evidence or traditions. Even then, he is careful to point out the limitations of the ancient historical accounts. Furthermore, Goldsworthy does his best to put the reader in the frame of mind of the ancient world and not let the modern thoughts on political and military motivations drive the narratives.


From a gaming perspective, I think there's plenty of material here for creating and modifying Carthaginian army lists. For that matter, its probably worth a look for its review of the naval aspects of the First Punic War.


I highly recommend this book. It's a good introductory to the period. Even if Goldworthy has made errors - and I am no expert who can say what's right and what's wrong with it - I still think the reader will come away with a better understanding of the big and little pictures of Rome's wars with Carthage.

Wargaming the Roman Army - Online Extras

Wargames Illustrated asked me to write a piece (which turned into a two-part series) on the Roman army from a wargaming perspective. This was what I considered one of those Holy Grails of tabletop gaming assignments - right up there with the Vikings and the First Crusade. 

The first part appears in issue #272, right in the midst of the biggest collection of Napoleonic articles I think I've ever seen assembled. I'm honored that my work was included in such a magnificent endeavor. 


Anyway - when I took a look at the Roman army, I went all the way back. There's few figures for the earliest warriors, but a fair number of worthy substitutes and - you guessed it - lots of opportunities for conversions. Here's a link to the Wargames Illustrated extra online content for some cool conversions by Matt Parkes (see picture on the right for a sneak peak at the even bigger sneak peak of Wargaming the Roman Army).