Warwell's Wargames: Terrain

Showing posts with label Terrain. Show all posts

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Gaming Status Report

I didn't manage a game last week, but I made some progress on other fronts.

Shipbuilding

A few weeks ago, I mentioned working on some ship counters. Well, here they are.

I happened to find some 1 x 1/2 inch blue bases so I made some single ship counters. I decided to create some very generic ships rather than period-specific.

Here you see (from left to right), medium, large, and small warships.

For modern era, these would serve as a cruiser, battleship, and destroyer. But I could also use them as different sized galleys, or as various sailing ships.

I also found some 1 inch square blue bases, so I decided to make some multi-ship bases. I used the same images, shrunk them down, and but multiple on a single base.

Battleships (top), destroyers and cruisers (middle left and right), and merchant ships (bottom).

Yes, I know that the formations are not correct. But they're just tokens designed to represent a squadron of ships. This way, I can play some larger fleet actions.

Also note the background in the above pictures. I created a 5 x 7 inch board with offset squares. I plan to use it for quick-play naval battles.

The Micro Battle Box Set
I took a 6 x 8 inch jewelry box and put together a game box.

You can see the box with game accessories - terrain, markers, dice, and some battle boards on the bottom.

I stored a grassland, desert, and ocean battle boards in the box.

I have the armies in a separate box. There are just too many armies to fit into the game box.

Buildings

I also previously mentioned creating some semi-flat buildings for my Micro Battle set. Recently, I was inspired by this town from Grid Based Gaming - But Not Always.

I drew out some walls and other buildings and printed them onto sticky paper. I just don't have a proper backing for them yet.

In the interim, I packed some of my 2mm terrain into my game box.

I modified some pieces for use with a 1 inch grid. I originally built them for a 2 inch grid so I had to cut them down. For example, the farm buildings (left) were previously combined onto a single 2 inch base. removed the buildings from the base. Then I cut the walls into 1 inch sections.

X-Wing

I also picked up a copy of the X-Wing miniature game.

In lieu of LARPing during the miserably hot summer, I've been tabletop gaming with my LARP buddies. I introduced one of them to Ace of Aces recently. It seemed that he would prefer something more third person. He is also a big Star Wars fan. These two factors made me think of X-Wing so I ordered a copy.

I noticed they have a second edition but I chose to get 1st edition. Second edition seems to focus on the sequels and I would much rather get ships from the original trilogy. I ended up getting a good deal on the A Force Awakens core set so I went that route. If we like the game, I plan to pick up some original ships.

Saturday, July 13, 2024

My Gaming Developments

Some miscellaneous gaming notes.

The bases are coming! The bases are coming!

Actually, they're finally here! Last month I created and printed some modern era counters. I had to order the bases for them. They finally arrived. I'll be able to put the counters together.

New markers

In last week's Revolutionary War battle, I used some new and some old counters. I like how they enhanced the game.

The red, pill-shaped tokens are casualty markers. I like them because they stand out but are small so don't obscure the counters.
The white pipe cleaners indicate units that fired. I've had these for a while and used them before, but it has been some time. I think it makes the photo battle reports more understandable.

Terrain

My portable battle set uses flat markers for built up areas. They are convenient but honestly don't work very well. Usually, the counters obscure the BUAs.

Last week, I pulled out some old 2mm terrain. The fort (top) worked pretty well (with one drawback). The farm (bottom) did not work well because it took up too much space. The units did not fit neatly into the BUA spaces.

I have a solution in mind - buildings in two dimensions (length and height). Bob Cordery has some excellent examples on his blog. I just need to pick up the supplies and build some.

There is one issue with these, and it is the same quibble I had with my fort. The walls are on the interior of the grid sides. This means that there is not enough room for a unit to fit in a space. I see a few solutions to this problem.

Create buildings that fit on the outside of the grid sides. I just worry that it restrict space in the spaces next to the BUAs.
Create a slightly larger grid. I currently have a 1" grid. Perhaps I could go to 1.25"?
Uses smaller counters. My counters are also 1" wide. 3/4" counters would probably fit better.

Number 3 is the least likely option because it would require redoing all my armies. Number 2 would be fairly easy - I just need to create 2 new battle boards then create BUAs that match the grid size.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Project Updates

1683 Vienna Project

I've been doing research for my 1683 project.

I picked up a couple of rulesets:

Baroque is an Impetus variant. It has a few army lists, including Imperialists, Ottomans, and Poles.
But I am most interested in Pikeman's Lament from Osprey.

It's really geared toward smaller actions, but I find the campaign system very intriguing. It follows the fortunes of your commander, as he leads a company through a series of actions, and (hopefully) rises in experience and rank. I'm thinking of creating an Austrian officer and running a campaign for him.

PL's force lists are geared for western European armies, but I found some online suggestions for eastern armies.

I currently have some 3mm figures that will do for cavalry. I placed an order with Magister Militum for some infantry and dragoon. I can do 1683 as a small side project.

Byzantine Project

I placed my orders for my Byzantine project.

Miniatures will come from Magister Militum's 3mm line. Here is my shopping list:

Byzantines:

Heavy/Medium Infantry will represent the skutatoi
Skirmishing Archers will be light infantry
Parthian Style Cataphracts will do double duty as Byzantine Cataphracts. At this scale, I can't really tell the difference
Likewise, Parthian Style Horse Archers will do double duty as Hunnic allies

Sassanian Persians:

Parthian Style Cataphracts and Parthian Style Horse Archers for the cavalry
Persian Sparabara will be levies
Skirmishing Archers as light infantry
and Seleucid Elephants

I also ordered some terrain; the Roman Buildings from PicoArmor.

Operation Last Train

I wanted to order PicoArmor's Desert Buildings for my Operation Last Train sci-fi project. Alas, they were out of stock. I'll keep an eye out for them.

Saturday, August 15, 2020

MicroBattle Enhancements

Over this past week I made a number of enhancements to my MicroBattle game set-up.

Storage
First, I switched storage boxes. I had my 3mm figures split across multiple pencil boxes. I moved my generic shock, horse & musket, and sci-fi minis into this 9 x 11 inch box (I evicted my skirmish miniatures from it).

The nice thing about this box is that it fits an 8 x 10 inch battle board without having to fold it. No more creases.

Here is the interior of the box filled with terrain (cork hills, pot scrubber woods, little wooden buildings), markers, and woods.

The box also fits my miniatures. I have 2 generic armies (blue vs. red) in the plastic boxes.

Each army includes massed infantry and cavalry suitable for ancient to horse & musket periods, horse & musket artillery that could work for modern, skirmishers usable for any period, plus some tanks.

I also have some extra armies in bags (an evil black army, some knights in shiny armor, and some sci-fi robots).

With these armies, I have a lot of choice regarding which era to play.

Terrain
It's hard to see above but I have upgraded my terrain. Below is an example laid out for battle.

For reference, the figures are 3mm Magister Militum.

The battlefield is cork board with a grid of 8 by 10 1-inch squares. Hills are made of cork and woods are made of pot scrubbers. The village (top) is one I made years ago out of cardboard and wooden buttons. Fortuitously, I decided to hold onto it (and other scratch made buildings).

Rules
I further refined my MicroBattle rules changes that I mentioned last time. The base concept is that the score to succeed a test (whether attacking, defending, morale, etc.) depends on whether the tester is advantaged, neutral, or disadvantaged.

Major Disadvantage 6+
Disadvantage 5+
Neutral 4+
Advantage 3+
Major Advantage 2+

Major Disadvantage / Advantage occurs when there are multiple disadvantages or advantages. Also note that disadvantages and advantages cancel each other out.

I have a list of situations that cause advantage or disadvantage, but you don't really need to check them. Any experienced gamer should have no trouble just eyeballing the situation and then ruling on the status. It is quick and intuitive, enabling a speedy game.

Note that combat involves 3 tests:

Does the attacker hit the target?
Can the target negate a hit (via armor, superior morale, etc.)?
Is the target forced to retreat?

This is not as onerous as it sounds. Tests 2 and 3 are only needed if the attacker succeeds (hits) in Test 1. Then Tests 2 and 3 can be rolled simultaneously (I suggest using different colored dice).

The Test
Once I put everything together, I played a test game. Stay tuned for a battle report in a few days or so.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Expanding My Boxed Game Project

I was so pleased by my experiment with a boxed portable wargame that I decided to expand upon it with additional terrain boards.

Here is the result - space, desert, and sea:

The boards consist of scrapbooking paper glued to stiff 8" x 10" artist board. I chose paper because I figured it would be thinner than felt and therefore allow for more stuff in the box. I played a test game with a road cut from some paper. It tended to slide, a problem I didn't have with my felt boards. I'm thinking of switching to felt (although laziness may postpone this idea for a while).

The space and sea boards are divided into an offset square grid, which I think will work better for ship maneuvering.

My plan is to get a Tuff Box for each board. I'll fill the box with everything needed to play a game. In addition to the board there will be dice, terrain (as applicable), a copy of the rules, and two opposed miniature armies. My ship and spaceship miniatures are too large for these grids so I will need to turn to smaller alternatives.

Anyway, I'll post my account of my latest experiment - the next battle in my Zirconian sci-fi campaign.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Notes on Medieval Francesia

Having the day off and inspired by the receipt of my latest Baccus figures, I decided to run another Redgravian Raiders scenario. I realized, however, that I have no buildings for 6mm.* How can I raid a village if I have no buildings for a village?

* Actually, I don't have any buildings anymore. Overly enthused by my 6mm miniatures, I started to divest myself of my 10mm stuff and prematurely gave away my Village in a Bag to Goodwill.

So I decided to put together some buildings. During my latest visit to Hobby Lobby, I picked up some balsa wood and other wood bits and pieces which I now put it to good use. Here is a sample:

New buildings pressed into action. The glue is still drying on the hut.

Inspired by Bob Cordery, I decided to make thin buildings, such as the one on the right, that would not take up much space in a square. I also picked up some wood buttons to make huts (left). In the spirit of Village in a Bag (and sheer laziness) I only painted the roofs while adding doors and windows with marker. For stability and a little height, I mounted the buildings on wood stands. I still need to paint the base edges.

I'm taking a new approach with my 6mm figures. I picked up a couple of these divided craft organizer boxes at Hobby Lobby. I want to keep everything I need for a game (except for the board) in one box. I currently have my medieval figures, trees, building, and casualty markers in this box. My current hills won't fit so I just made some new, slightly narrower, ones that will.

Anyway, I took my new toys (not the hills - I made them after the battle) and played out a raid. The battle report follows.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Plots and Thoughts

Some random musings:

As a birthday gift for myself, I ordered some Kallistra 100 Years War miniatures. They are going to form two armies from Francesia's medieval past.
I made some trees from a green kitchen sponge. Cheap and decent-looking except for the color, which is a very bright green. I may need to paint them. I hope to run a quick skirmish with them soon.
As I mentioned yesterday, there is tension in the capital of Grayrock. I'm thinking of running a revolutionary mobs in the streets scenario. I'll need a decent battle board first.
I played Skyrim last night and may get sucked back in today, which could put a damper on my mini gaming.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Thoughts on the Francesia Project

I played another battle of the Grayrock Revolution this morning and wanted to jot down a few thoughts while they are fresh in my mind. I'll post a battle report once I get around to downloading the photos.

Terrain

Mountains - The scenario involved a forced passage through a mountain pass, so I needed some mountains. I thought about making them out of blocks of foam, but I don't have any handy and I was eager to play. Instead, I used some spare cork to make extra levels to add to my hills. I think they worked out nice (you'll have to check out the battle report to see them).
Buildings - I really like the Village in a Bag buildings. It creates a nice "toy" feel that fits with the Risk soldiers.
Trees - I really need some trees, although the Village in a Bag ones are growing on me because they don't take a lot of room in the space. I still would like to replace them with something more tree-like but still with the "toy" vibe.

Miniatures

I'm sure that there are hardcore miniature wargamers who will scoff at me, but I like using the Risk minis. I'm toying with the idea of giving them very simple paint jobs (e.g. flesh on the soldiers, horses, and guns) but I have no qualms about using them unpainted. From a distance, they look very colorful.

Command and Colors Dice

Picking up the C&C dice was a good investment. It really speeds up combat because it is immediately obvious if hits are made.
The dice also worked for unit activation. In this battle, each side rolled 4 dice to activate units. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery symbols obviously activated 1 unit of the respective symbol. Crossed sabers allow the player to choose.
I added a little twist to unit activation. Previously, I mentioned that I was unsure what to do with the flag symbol. I also wanted a way to allow infantry to move an extra space (a forced march). I solved both problems by combining them. A flag symbol allowed the side to move 1 of its activated units an extra space. However, that unit was not allowed to engage in combat. It worked out well. There were many times when a side could not use the flag (I either wanted a unit to engage in combat or a unit I wanted to force march did not get the die roll to be activated) so it was not overpowered but it did come in handy at times.
I want to get or make a nice dice tray for rolling my dice. Today, I was using a box from a case of cat food. It worked but it wasn't pretty.

The Revolution

I may have been unfair to the Bluderians. They were forcing a mountain pass held by a small force of veteran Grayrockians. However, rebel militia could pop up randomly to ambush the Bluderians. The militia did not count to the Bluderian flag total (in this scenario the Bluderians earned flags by eliminating Grayrockian veterans or by securing the road out of the pass). In the future, I may allot 1 flag per 2 militia eliminated.
In one sense, the Bluderians were fortunate because the militia did not arrive in the numbers I expected. Ah well, the tides of war.
I have deviated from Bob Cordery's Restless Revolutionaries campaign. After the Grayrockian defeat at Dardona, battle should have shifted back to the regional capital of Maraconi. I did not relish the idea of fighting over the same battlefield so I decided that the Grayrockians would make a stand in a mountain pass (one of the benefits of playing solo is that you can change the rules on the fly even if it is unfair to one side).
What next? SPOILER ALERT! With the Grayrockians holding the pass, it seems that the revolution is in a stalemate. So where does it go from here? The Restless Revolutionaries campaign doesn't really help, but I have some ideas to make things interesting. Wait and see.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Oops

I goofed up with my tiles.

I came up with a simple idea to determine the direction of any new tile placed. I drew a little black dot in one of the doorways of each tile. When a tile is drawn, the Space Marines enter through the marked doorway. Simple!

I then dived the tiles into 3 piles and marked the same doorway for each tile in a pile. That way, there is an even distribution among the doorways. I then tried it out and had a straight shot to the the objective room. It then dawned on me that for each tile there was a 2/3 chance of having a doorway straight ahead. Well that blew my goal of forcing a meandering path. For a second, I thought I'd have to redo the tiles!

I then came up with a simple solution. I blocked of the doorway across from the entrance for the air lock tiles. Now, the Space Marines will need to turn left or right after entering the derelict. Problem solved (I think).

Thursday, January 24, 2013

My "Portable Wargame" Set-Up

Akin to Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame, I put together my own board today. It is a very simple set-up for use with my Risk figures. The board is set up for the Battle of Maraconi, which will be the first battle of a Restless Revolutionaries campaign set in my imagi-nations of Francesia.

The board, measuring 12" x 18", is made of an olive felt attached to a foam core backing. It is divided into 2" squares. Hills are cork. Woods are represented by a tree made of railroad modelers moss attached to toothpicks. Houses are just wood cubes. Troops are attached to wooden bases. All the terrain items were purchased from Michael's.

I will probably make some modifications over time. 2" squares don't hold as many troop stands as I'd like, so I may make a bigger board. I will probably remake the trees using model railroad foliage clusters, as the moss seems a bit too flimsy. Yet I'll be giving this board a tryout fairly soon. Stay tuned for a battle report!