Qumari Police Emblem

With a recent purchase of Force on Force, and some lovely miniatures and vehicles from Empress currently whisking their way to me as I type, I've decided to set my Middle East scenarios around the Sultanate of Qumar. Qumar, a key U.S. allied nation north of the Straight or Hormuz, has a somewhat problematic human rights record and a growing insurrection.

I've started binge-watching all the West Wing episodes featuring Qumar to glean as much of it as I can. I'm fairly certain that it is an Arabic speaking nation rather than Farsi, despite being carved from what in our world is Southern Iran (Al No'mari played Abdul Ibn Shareef, and spoke to President Bartlett in what can be assumed to be his native tongue, I have yet to check with someone more knowledgeable about whether that was Arabic or Farsi, but given No'mari's heritage, Arabic seems more likely). Assuming the Arabic language, and reflecting Qumar's status as a former British Protectorate, this is my first draft of the Royal Police insignia for the police car doors (RQP cars will look like a cross between Kuwaiti Traffic Police and Iraqi Police designs).

Gundam Army Men

Filling in some back posts from my time locked out. Originally posted on my supersecret Facebook page.

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Spent the day in Toyama, even got out to the Toys R Us near the University. While I was there, I found these: Gundam Army Men. I bought three bags of each faction. Very very cool. They look to be a good match for 1/300th or so.

We'll have to see how they take paint. I hear Army Painter paints stick to softer plastic pretty damn well. Naturally I'm currently stocked with Vallejo.

LBX Mecha: 10 or 28mm?

Okay, the gaming man-crush post is coming... trying to find a decent picture of Mark Copplestone... But for now lets talk giant robots.

I've picked up a few Danbōru Senki (Cardboard War Story) models over the past few months; got this one, LBX Gunther Yzelphar, and threw it together yesterday. They go together quickly and are molded in various color plastic, could benefit from some deburring with an Xacto blade, but looks okay as is.
They run about 4.5" tall (114mm). I'm trying to decide if I should use them at 10mm scale or 28mm. From the pics you can see how it compares to a Copplestone Casting 28mm. The chest could be used as a cramped cockpit... somewhat along the lines of the Scopedogs from Armored Trooper Votoms. Not all of the models would work in this manner, the female form models (Minerva and Pandora) have rather small upper torsos. The alternative is to use them as 10mm (1:161) scale giant mecha. The data chip compartment under the chest armor could stand in for a cockpit access hatch in that scale.

I haven't decided... I suppose I'll probably try them out in both scales and maybe decide later. I game in both, Heavy Gear and CAV are 10mm games, while most everything else I do is 28mm.

These are rather nice little kits that run about ¥1000 (~$10), but can often be had for about 30% less. They are fairly poseable, equivalent to an 80's GI Joe figure, but for gaming they might be more durable glued/pinned to a static pose.

The hands are rather simple, so I've taken to swapping them out with Ganpura (Gundam plastic model) detailed hand kits to provide more variety and dynamic poses. Weapon kits are available for the LBX line, and 1/44 scale Ganpura weapons work nicely too. And the best part is that the LBX models use standard connectors allowing you to mix and match torsos, legs, heads, arms, and such. Good deal.

Wargaming Survey

This survey made the rounds on many of the blogs I follow, several months back. I started a response then but never got around to posting it. It's been sitting in my draft folder. Time to fix that.

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1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?

28mm (at eye level) near future. Always drawn to near future sci fi & technothrillers. Cyberpunk 2020 was my maturation into gaming; It's where I really began to write my own stuff, tweaked rules and really made the games my own. Because of that, near future (modern/cyberpunk-post-apocalyptic) is my favorite place to play.

2. Next period, money no object?
Star Trek based sci-fi. Real Star Trek not that crappy J.J. Abrams shlock. But the whole shebang - Original Series to Star Trek: Online. Have to be in 28mm of course.

3. Favourite 5 films?

Doomsday - all the fun of Road Warrior, Escape From New York and 28 Days Later, but crammed into Rhona Mitra's tight pants.  
Miller's Crossing - Best period gangster movie ever. Finney and Byrne are epic in this movie.
Terminator - not only is this a fun action/horror/sci-fi flick - it is also a superbly crafted film. Sad that Cameron's editorial eye has weakened over the years.
Apocalypse Now - best Vietnam themed movie.
Silverado - while I generally prefer spaghetti westerns, this is probably the best western I've ever seen. The only movie I've ever actually seen someone "cowboy up" in.

At least for the moment - this list is in somewhat of a constant state of flux: Often including Hardboiled, Sono Otoko Kyobo ni Tsuki, Run Lola Run, The Wrath of Khan... etc.

4. Favourite 5 TV series?

Max Headroom - far before it's time.
The Wire - never thought I'd like a series more than Homicide...
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. - no comment needed - perfection.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - the high water mark of the franchise.
The Venture Brothers or Flight of the Conchords - it's like something I would create myself - if I was that creative.

5. Favourite book and author? 
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets - David Simon
That's my favorite book, but my favorite author is probably Lovecraft.

6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
Oda Nobunaga - The man neutralized a province of ninja to dominate the country. Show me one other general who has done that.

7. Favourite Wargames rules?
Combat Zone. Rules made in a spirit in direct opposition to Games Workshop philosophy.  Foundry's Street Violence and The Rules With No Name are also favorites.

8. Favourite Sport and team?
Japanese survival games (airsoft)... Hamamatsu J's Unit   (><)v 

9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?
October 1966 and cock block J.J. Abram's dad.

10. Last meal on Death Row?
Japanese Korean-style barbeque with kimchi and Kirin. The kind you get in Japan not Korea - it's like pizza in New York versus Rome.

11. Fantasy relationship and why?

Monica Bellucci. Have you seen Monica Bellucci? Look at Monica Bellucci and be happy...

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
Michael Fassbender is almost cool and handsome enough.

13. Favourite Comic Superhero?

Grey. He was a complete badass before he died and they made him into a flying weaponized cyborg.

14. Favourite Military quote?
"A sucking chest wound is nature's way of telling you to slow down. "

15. Historical destination to visit?
Someplace old I suppose. 

16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
Buying a Warhammer starting set at a GW shop in 1999; Oh what I could have done with that money, that didn't suck.

17. Favourite Fantasy job?
Making movies.

18. Favourite Song Top 5?

London Calling - The Clash
Girl U Want - DEVO
Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher) - Gogol Bordello
Bullets - Archive
National Anthem of the Soviet Union - Sergei Mikhalkov

19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
Naming all the soldiers in a German infantry squad after characters from Sesame Street.

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?
Conservative politics and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek.

Alarm für Anton Zwölf

It's been a busy month - not much gaming or painting in September.  Getting ready for a big move and a promotion at work.  I did pick up an XBox 360 and a couple games this week though, and I've been playing Autobahn Polizei a lot.

I'm thinking that it would make a fun table top game, and would go well with all of the Siku and Majorette cars I have collected over the years - not to mention the Need For Speed Mega Bloks.  The game is based on Alarm für Cobra 11, a comedy/action/drama from German TV network RTL. Essentially it is equal parts Starsky & Hutch, CHiPs, and CSI combined with the kind of explosive car chases you might find in a Michael Bay movie. It's not particularly complicated: Two autobahn police detectives (yes highway patrol "detectives") chase and investigate the crimes of bad guys intent on causing great harm, resulting in gratuitous automotive destruction.  In a recent episode terrorists stole a truckload of Botox in order to poison the city's water supply (Botox is derived from botulism), and the main characters alone went through three cars in stopping the plot.


Car action is a genre that I particularly am drawn to.  But one that is a bit hard to do on the table top.  Speed Rally is a great game for Speed Racer type races, but lacks the RPG aspects needed for a crime-fighting campaign.  A few years back I did do some Death Race-type highway combat based on Savage Worlds chase rules. I think it would make a good start point, but that means I need some vehicle stats - and for this genre, generic vehicle types just won't do.

Class I Frigate - Miranda-class

And they shall have a starship...

USS Oberon NCC-1880, Miranda-class. Here is the technical order for the class - in the style of Fran Joseph's Star Fleet Technical Manual, based on Ghostrunner's Callisto miniature, kitbashed with parts from Vance's Toolkits.

Some of the work of the late Franz Joseph (Schaubelt)

Ghostrunner's Callisto-class research ship at Shapeways

Vance's Toolkits for original series and movie era ships