The Geek's Gaming Closet

GHQ Terrain Maker

2013-02-01T17:45:00.000-05:00

For some reason I am always drawn to modular terrain. Some of my older posts show some of my efforts in the past. But one that has never even made it to the gaming table is my collection of GHQ's Terrain Maker system.

The hexes come in 1/4", 1/2", 1", and 1 1/2" sizes. The 1/2 " is the standard hex used to models flat terrain, roads, farms, and anything without much of an elevation change.

The 1/4" are great for modeling rivers and trenches. The 1" and 1 1/2" are for hills.

Sample hexes - small creek, country road, and uhhh...empty.

2.5' x 2.5' ACW skirmish

GHQ is known for their 1/285 micro armor and the Terrain Maker stuff works great at this scale. The biggest complaint I have about it is that the lightweight Styrofoam hexes tend to shift around quite a lot during play. Especially if you have a fat fingered gaming partner.

One solution I came up with was to cut up flexible magnetic strips into small pieces and then lay the hexes down on a board coated with magnetic paint. I haven't tried this yet, but with the fast approaching need for a WW1 style trench set up I have a feeling my remaining blank hexes will be devoted to trenches and no mans land.

If I had to make one more complaint it would be the set up time required to create a playable surface. Though Im sure with proper planning this could be mitigated somewhat. GHQ does also offer an interlocking board that can be used with the hexes. Never tried it, anyone who has is welcome to comment on its effectiveness.

All in all, I love the Terrain Maker system. It is incredibly flexible, light weight, and not its not oppressively priced. For $9.95 you get 24 1/2" hexes that can create a surface of 2'x1.33'. Not cheap mind you. But consider that the competing Hexon II system from Kalistra runs around $75 for a 3x4 surface and doesn't lend itself to easy three dimensional representations.

Great War Germans

2013-01-31T02:34:00.000-05:00

So, my good friend Bob over at Back to the Keep, has been passive-aggressively cajoling me to finish up a few languishing projects. Specifically, our 10mm Great War project.

Some years back we found out we had a mutual interest in the war. For those unfamiliar with the American attitude towards the war, its not much higher on people's radars here in the states than the Spanish-American War, War of 1812, French & Indian War (I could go on). We seem to think of it more as a practice round for WW2. Which is understandable since the US barely got its feet wet in the trenches by European standards.

None the less, we embarked on a quest to do some small wargaming projects in preparation for the 100th anniversary. If you clicked on the link up above you'll see Bob has finished off his Tommies/Stephens (I think Stephen is what the Canadians called their soldiers. Nobody look it up though.) Naturally, his paint job is of a much higher quality than mine. I really do despise painting. In retrospect, I probably chose the wrong hobby.

After seeing his results I resolved to finish off my Fritz's once and for all.

I chose to represent late war Germans.

I painted and based pretty much all day long and finally finished up around 1:45am. I'm a night owl by nature so it works out fine for me. The total force composition is 21 regular infantry bases, 13 Sturmtruppen bases, 6 machine guns, 3 field artillery pieces, and 1 command base.

Up close...THE HUN

I based the Sturmtruppen 3 figures to a base to differentiate them from the Vanilla Fritz's in the force. I still need to paint their camo helmet designs, probably get to that later this week.

Small details like this are why my mother frowned
upon this hobby when I was younger.

This guy needs something to justify his upright binoculars.

Unfortunately, I'm hardly done with this force. I need to sexy up the bases a little bit so they have some more visual appeal on the table. I'm open to suggestions. I tried a few different barbed wire bases, some better than others. They each took me around 10 minutes to get right, and with 34 bases the tax on my free time just doesn't add up. Maybe I'll only do a few with wire, some others with random battlefield debris, crumbling brick walls, dead horses...who knows.

Land Ironclad Campaign

2013-01-29T03:32:00.000-05:00

Lately I have been running a Land Ironclads campaign simulating a German invasion of British soil in the mid 1890's. In the previous few battles things have gone very poorly for the Germans. After initially establishing a beachhead and capturing a small port town the Teutonic hordes were stopped by stout British defense at every turn.

A close German defeat at the crossroads
village of South Newburgshiresvilleton.

Bob... mercilessly destroying all of my Class 1 Ironclads.

As a response to the most recent German loss the British General Staff laid plans for a wide sweeping maneuver around the German flank designed to cut off a significant portion of the invading army from its supply depots along the channel coast.

Part of this plan involved a feint aimed at a cross roads village where the British forces barely held against a brigade of German armor support by mechanized infantry.

Since the battle ended in a strategic stalemate the General Staff concluded this would be an excellent area to focus their feint on and then swing their right hook at a weakened flank.

All was going well with the initial phases of the British plan and German reserves began to concentrate at the site of the previous battle in order to stem the tide of the British offensive.

Unfortunately for the Tommys they launched their right hook too soon at the German flank. Instead of catching a skeleton force protecting an important east-west road they ran straight into the German reinforcements on their way to their new positions defending against the British feint.

Initial German and British Positions.

The important road junction linking the German extreme left flank with their center was being guarded by an infantry battalion supported by a squadron of Class 5 ironclads. The initial positions of the force gave it a commanding view of the northern approaches to the town.

The British commander in charge of the leading edge of the right hook ordered a mechanized infantry battalion, and supporting patrol boat aeronef, to make initial contact with the Germans and attempt to force them from the vital town.

RMS Phantom causes havoc on the hilltop. While a German
contraption battalion moves into a flanking position.

Signs of trouble for the British infantry as the
German contraption battalion scores several hits.

The German force had no AA capability and was at the mercy RMS Phantom's bombing and strafing. The British commander on the scene attempted to send for reinforcements to capitalize on the weak German position. But the messenger stop for a pint at a local inn and the request never made it.

Enter the German Luftmarine

The German commander was much luckier however. With the reinforcements already moving through his area he was able to send a dispatch requesting assistance. Unfortunately no major land forces were in a position to move in to help in a timely manner. What he did get was a patrol squadron of aeronefs, a light cruiser and two patrol boats.

The British finally got a message through and were reinforced with two squadrons of Class 5 and 4 ironclads. The class 4 immediately set to raking the northern hill in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to dislodge the two German ironclads positioned there.

Not a good day to be a foot slogger.

After some back and forth firing from both sides, with little effect, the German patrol boats set to bombing and strafing the British mech infantry with devastating results.

Both sides desperately tried calling for more units to join the fray but sniper fire and confusion ruined any chances of getting a message through to friendly forces.

By this point the British and German had both suffered 15% casualty rates and morale was beginning to slip. The lightning advance the Brits thought they were going to execute was now bogging down in a stand up fire fight. The Germans on the other side were equally concerned about the large enemy force appearing where none was thought to be. The breaking point would come soon for one of these forces.

Oh the humanity! SMS Dortmund fires a devastating
volley at the Phantom, knocking her out of the sky.

It was within the next few minutes that the answer would come when the German light cruiser engaged the British patrol boat and fired a devastating volley from her starboard guns. Realing, the RMS Phantom struggled to fire back but suffered a catastrophic engine failure and fell from the sky taking all 126 crewmen with her.

The British commander on the scene attempted to rally his forces and make one final strike at the hills over looking the objective town. Before his advance could even begin to take shape the German flotilla succeeded in destroying a vital bridge. At this, the British commander judged it to be more prudent to make a tactical withdrawal and come back with a larger force, than to suffer under the blows of a superior naval force.

Life Update and Near Future ACW Battle

2011-09-21T01:46:00.002-04:00

Here we are a solid 6 months after my last post. 2011 had many surprises in store for me...divorce, job relocation, increase of alcohol consumption. But now back to what is really important. Tiny metal soldiers.

Here today I offer you my after action review of the second battle in my Near Future ACW campaign. I had to abandon my game group so I've been playing with myself recently (get your mind out of the gutter) and I've been mildly satisfied with the system I've come up with to keep myself guessing at my own actions during play. Hint: Dark Beer

As you may recall, our first skirmish left the advanced elements of the Chicago Combine's 3rd Division short of their initial goals. Stymied by determined Indiana Free Republic defenders and poor command and control the 3rd has attempted to swing south of the well defended and fortified IFR positions. Just outside of the small Indiana town of St. Joseph lies a strategic intersection of major roads that would allow the northern and southern forks of the Combine's advance to link up.

The crossroad objective was randomized after the
IFR deployment was finished.

The Combine would need to secure this crossroad to keep its supply and communications lines open as it closed the net around Evansville.

To keep myself guessing a little, I had the IFR/Texan contingent set up first without knowing which of the 3 potential crossroads would be the real objective.

Both Commanders were also allowed 2 preset artillery bombardments within the first 5 turns of play.

After the first turn nothing much had happened. Some positioning for next turns fire runs and some sporadic reactive fire with no results.

Then came both commander's first artillery salvo. The IFR succeeded in scuffing up some farmland and creating a few new fishing holes. The Combine's artillery was far deadlier, knocking out several platoons worth of Infantry and Armor.

Impact area's for first artillery salvo.

This cleared the way a bit for the Combine's assault at the beginning of turn 2.

The combine rushed all infantry and armor units into close combat inflicting and receiving high casualties.

A company of Combine infantry supported by a plused up armor company began forcing IFR defenders from the woods surrounding the objective.

On the IRF's right flank the Combine kept up steady pressure in order to prevent the Texan reinforcements from aiding the IFR in a significant way.

The IFR center was immobilized due to a combination of suppressing fire and poor command.

The aftermath of the Combine frontal assault was a near blood bath with both sides losing 1/3 of their total starting forces. Both commanders were forced into morale checks. The IFR center held, but both flanks were forced from their positions into a head long retreat. The combine commander had to pull back his left and center. But was able to follow up on the right with a crushing blow securing the necessary crossroads.

Pictured: Total Defeat

Having lost the disputed crossroads, and now under threat of enfilade fire from Combine positions, the IFR/Texan command decided it was time to pull back, regroup, and make their stand on the outskirts of Evansville.

Napoleonic Hair Curler Army

2011-02-26T11:08:00.003-05:00

All these came from 1 larger hair curler.

Long, long ago Andy Callan wrote and article for Miniature Wargames newsletter detailing how to create cheap armies out of plastic hair curlers. A few years back I decided to take a crack at this method. I scoured all the local bigbox stores looking for plastic hair curlers. These were pretty hard to find it turns out. But I eventually found a set of 3 large curlers at a K-Mart for a few dollars.

These pictures detail my results with English and French Napoleonic armies. Up close they look awful, just plastic with lines of paint. From a few feet away they don't look half bad on the table. You eye just blends the colors together and picks out the flags for the most part.

The thin red line...of womens hair dressing items.

I downloaded flags from warflag.com and used a very narrow gauge brass rod as a flag staff. The brass rod was a random find at a DIY store. I haven't seen any since so maybe it was divine intervention.

Painting was simple. Base color, small dot of color for trousers, flesh for faces, black for hats, green on the base of the curler. Done.

The cavalry was a serious pain to make. The article details how to do this correctly, but I definitely glued my fingers together more than once. Though, maybe I could get good results with white glue and not use super glue next time.

All of this took me an evening to complete. Not bad bang for my buck and a lot of fieldable units in a short amount of time.

Here is the link to this article in the files section of 6mm Miniatures Yahoo group. You may need to join before you can download it.
Hair Curler Armies Article

*UPDATE*
The above link is dead now. I can't seem to find a copy of the article anywhere so instead here is a link to an even better resource on the SUBJECT

6mm Napoleonics Project Artillery and More

2011-02-22T17:43:00.001-05:00

Baccus French and Prussian Artillery

A quick update on my ongoing quest to defeat my painting table. Ive completed the next phase in my 6mm Napoleonic project. My French and Prussian artillery batteries are painted and based. Now in all truthfulness, I have more artillery for the French to complete, but I decided this was a good starting point for a table worthy force.

Box by Calvin Klein

Total bases completed to date

French

5 Infantry Brigades

2 Cavalry Brigades

4 Batteries

Prussian

5 Infantry Brigades

4 Batteries

Up Next, Prussian & French Cavalry

As an added bonus in this update here is a test base I made for a 10mm Great War project myself and a few friends are working on. These are late war Germans running across a downed barbed wire fence.

6mm Napoleonics Project

2011-02-16T19:20:00.001-05:00

5 brigades of Prussians

In a little under a week I was able to make more progress on my 6mm Prussians than I was able to make in the preceding 104 weeks. I now have 5 fully functional bases for use in the glorious struggle against the hated French.

I used a new mixture for the grass on these bases than I have in the past. Currently my French having nothing but static grass from GW. Whereas the Prussians have a mix of the following Woodland Scenics products.
Coarse Turf Earth, Light Green, and Medium Green. Light Green Foliage, and of course the same GW static grass.

Now, what to start on next. Cavalry or Artillery? Also Im considering having the command bases painted for me.

6mm Napoleonics Project (2 Years and Running)

2011-02-09T09:51:00.000-05:00

Around 3 years ago I discovered Baccus. No, not the ancient Greek god of partying like a rock star. But the modern manufacturer of quality 6mm scale miniatures, obviously the far cooler Baccus. My first purchase was the ACW box set from the now gone Old Rivertown Minis. After some fiddling in the ACW arena I finally made the decision to ruin my financial future and get into Napoleonics. This was my first venture into the era and I knew little else but that there were a lot of options and foreign words involved.

French Battalions next to pipe cleaner trees based on 3mm foam.

I chose to start with the French (of course!) and Prussians, because who doesn't like the Germans? The above picture was my first test base. I chose to use the Fast Play Grand Armee rules set because I liked the command and control elements, wanted larger battles, and free is always good.

Closer look at the trees.

I may not have mentioned this before, but I hate painting minis. Im not very good at it and my attention span does not allow me to paint like some of you for hours on end. Hell, I'm barely able to get through this blog post without jumping onto Steam to play Day of Defeat for an hour.

Anyway, after much delay, several side projects, geek space renovations, etc I was able to complete a grand total of 5 Infantry bases and 2 cavalry.

Pictured: 2 Years of Effort

Not to say Im not very satisfied with the results. Im just annoyed it took me 2 years to get to this point. Now all I need is another 2 years to get to the same point with my Prussians.

Close up of Le Petite Armee de Nick

Fear my poorly painted Chasseurs and Hussars.

NFACW Skirmish

2011-02-04T23:27:00.000-05:00

The first battle in my 3mm Near Future ACW campaign took place tonight. Advanced elements of the Chicago Combine's 3rd Division were tasked with securing an important crossroads dominated by a large semi wooded hill. Opposing the Combine were Indiana Free Republic soldiers and tanks of the 4th IFR Regulars.

The Combine was able to call up additional infantry reinforcements bringing their total strength to a full battalion of mechanized infantry supported by a company of T-90 tanks. The Combine lacks ready access to former US Army equipment and has been forced to purchase much of its armament from Russian arms brokers.

The Combine commander deployed his infantry in echelon for the maximum chance of break the IFR left flank and thereby securing the crossroads.

The IFR has a dominant position on the hill and in the woods. However the IFR commander has spread his forces thin with no reserve.

Initial contact took place in the small woods between a full company of Combine infantry and 1 IFR infantry platoon. The IFR was forced back due to over whelming firepower from the Combine's BMP-3's.

Combine Infantry push hard against the IFR left while the T-90s pin down the hill's defenders. After much effort and heavy casualties a break through is achieved. While on the hill a company of BMP's knocks out several IFR M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley IFV but fails to secure the top. The gains made at great cost are for naught as the cost high enough that the cross roads and hill are securely back in IFR hands by the end of the engagement

The skirmish has delayed the advance of the Combine 3rd Division into the Ohio valley near Evansville long enough for the IFR to link with their Texan allies. But even with the addition of an expeditionary brigade the IFR/Texan force is still outnumbered by the Combine by a 2 to 1 margin in the the theater.

More to follow...

3mm Near Future American Civil War

2011-02-01T16:51:00.001-05:00

Ive always enjoyed smaller scales. Mostly because my poor painting skills aren't as obvious. So recently I invested some money in some of Oddzial Osmy's 3mm moderns. My intention was to create a campaign for a few of us to play through centering on the break up of the US into dozens of independent nations.

The first grouping of scenarios I came up with deals with a 3 nation struggle over the territory surrounding the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers near Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.

Greater Texas

Greater Texas encompasses a large portion of the southern US. Their primary strategic goal has been the acquisition of the Mississippi River as a geographic protective boundary and the potential resources of surrounding agricultural states. Greater Texas has allied itself with the Indiana Free Republic (IFR) and Lower Ohio Federation(LOF) against the Chicago Combine for control of the aforementioned territory.

Greater Texas has a large supply of US equipment due to the numerous former army bases spread throughout the lower states. The forces present in the Ohio valley are minimal due to other combat commitments farther south. As of now Greater Texas is supporting its allies with a battalion of M2A1 Abrams.

Indiana Free Republic

The IFR has been in a state of war against the Chicago Combine for several years, losing some territory in the process. Recently with the influx of Texan support the Hoosiers have been able to stage several counter attacks at key points severely weakening Combine positions.

Prior to the collapse of the US, Indiana had one of the largest and best equipped National Guards in the nation. Multiple combat deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Mexico have created a large cadre of well trained and professional soldiers.

The IFR is armed primarily with former US equipment. M1A2 Abrams and M2A2 Bradley's comprise the majority of their fighting capability. Though there is a significant artillery and air support contingent as well.

Chicago Combine

The Combine has been attempting to push its influence south towards the transit hubs of Indianapolis and Cincinnati for several years. Things came to a head 2 years ago with Indiana and the Lower Ohio Commonwealth signing a cooperative defense pact as well as several economic agreements that essentially cut off the Combine from needed raw materials and markets. In response the Combine made a two front surprise attack against the IFR. After several initial gains low quality combine troops stalled against well prepared IFR defensive positions.

The Combine has a standing contract with the Russian Federation to supply it with military hardware and support. The armor battalions are a mix of T-80 and T-90 tanks supported by Infantry mounted in BMP-3's.