Foundry Street Violence

Spent the last couple of days basing six packs of Foundry Street Violence minis I ordered last month. The order (which was quickly and efficiently dispatched by the Ansells) consisted of:

• Juno's Crew (SV018)
• Sergei's Corporation (SV024)
• Street Cops (SV031)
• The B Team (SV037)
• The Lovemore Detective Agency (SV057)
• Shotgun Cops (SV065)

The minis required a bit of cleaning, which is to be expected of casts from molds as old as these. If memory serves this line started back in the late 90s and should be old enough to legally order a beer now.

Sergei's Corporation and Juno's Crew, two packs I owned years ago but have since lost or damaged enough to make a reorder prudent, are intended to form the nucleaus of an organized crime force. I definitely want some Russian mobsters and both packs should serve as the core of that force; I will have to experiment with using a pen to add tattoos to the minis's necks and hands. Italian mobsters are also something I will field, but I don't think Juno's crew has the look I want for them... more track suits and guts. I'm thinking more like the guys from The Sopranos, Juno's crew is too hip looking to be goombahs - (which is saying something for twenty-plus year old minis).

My included two packs of uniformed police officers, both six-mini packs. I plan to remove the cast on sleeve patches from each of them, as they aren't placed very well on a number of the minis. Given the 8-point caps I will likely paint these up as NYC-style cops... French blue shirts with dark navy trousers, caps and ties. I may make some water slide decals to use as patches. We will see. Twelve uniforms should be all the police I need to field at any one time, particularly if the are augmented by a couple detectives from the Lovemore packs, or SWAT minis from a future order. The Lovemore Detective Agency is, I believe intended to represent a group of P.I.s but a couple of them are very city detective looking, with what appears to be a detective shield clipped to the belt.

The B Team was picked up to go with one of a pair of 1:50 scale A Team vans I picked up years ago. I have no idea what I will do with the second van yet, but better to have two than only one. Perhaps a Punisher battle van.... hmmm. Anyway this pack is decent, but I must say the new not-A-team minis from Crooked Dice may be better... I havent ordered them yet, but the pics look excellent.

About two years ago I started to switch from washer and token bases back to sports base types. Part of the reason for this was the difficulty in mounting minis with sports tabs. Many newer minis featured much slighted ankles that made it challenging to pin on a base that could be firmly glued to the washer or token.

I found that by creating a void in the slotta base, backed by a 20mm washer glued to the underside, I could get a flush mount for minis with cast on bases. The washer adds some nice weight, and the overall height of the mini is nearly identical to the height of the mini on a token. Additionally slotta bases come in a much wider variety of shapes giving me more options for mounted and motorcycle minis. It also gives a vintage 90's feel to my tabletop that I rather like.

April Paintings

Aside from doing a bit of work on the UltraModern Armoury. I also managed to paint up some WW2 infantry this month.

First up were seven USMC, the Ceramcoat Sea Green airbrushed on as a color base very nicely, and was able to be touched up by brush. German Camo Beige web/canvas gear, Leather Brown boots and holsters, and helmet covers of Khaki with Camo Olive Green and Mahogany Brown spots washed over in Khaki. Weapons are Gunmetal and Mahogany Brown; base is Iraqi Sand.

But that is a lot of white folks. I think one of the things that has kept me from historical WW2 games is the segregation of US Forces. So one of the things I decided was to integrate my units. There was some integration of combat units, notably K Company of the 394th Infantry Regiment (coincidentally a Pittsburgh unit) after the Battle of the Bulge; I have decided to fudge the dates and have my platoon, based on K/324th, integrated while the unit was fighting in North Africa. It's ahistorical, but I don't care... so much of the hobby is ahistorical... I'm changing this one.

So here are my first Army guys:

Eleven Minis Painted and Counting...

I've actually gotten some painting done. Six old west minis (mostly Foundry and an Artizan) that were actually started back in Pittsburgh at one of our paint nights... what... three years ago? Four? Well they are finished.

I also finished five Copplestones (I think the biker is one of his Grenadier sculpts from EM-4/SG mirlington) from scratch. In the background are two 1/55th scale cars... the Unimog 1500 is from Siku and was picked up on Ebay last fall... the Honda CRZ is from Majorette and was one of two I picked up at the supermarket two weeks or so ago.

I've got about a squad's worth of WW2 US Infantry from Artizan cleaned and mounted, and a platoon's worth of Copplestone Casting's Chinese troops that will be painted as WW2 Royal Thai Army, all waiting for dry weather to be primed.

Modern Armor for "Tanks!" by Armourfast

Playing "Tanks!" by Armourfast with my daughter, the only problem is Armourfast kits are rare, and thus expensive in Japan, so we are using Arii, Tamiya, and Academy motorized 1/48 scale tanks.

I think that's cool, but they are all post-WW2 designs; so here we have some modern tank stats for "Tanks!" that I whipped up.

M48A2 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 4/6
M48A3 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

T55 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

M60A1 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 4/6

M60A2 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 3/4 (cannon; missile range 4/6)

T72 - Armour 5 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4 - Range 4/6

Type 74 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

M1 - Armour 5 - Gun 5 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

M1A1 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

Type 90 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

Type 10 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

Making modifications to 'the only fantasy world map you'll ever need' because I needed more Africa and Asia. Still debating where to put my Skraelings... in a pocket in the moutains of what would be Asia, or off the map to the west.

Originals by EotBeholder:

Basing Revisited

I've reconsidered my basing ideas... I had been using black anodized 1" fender washers, but it was creating a height difference between my slotta-base and cast-on base minis.

I favor Mark Copplestone sculpts, particularly his work on Grenadier's Future Warriors line. The original line (now available from EM4 and Mirlington S.G.) used GW style round "slotta" bases and miniatures with a cast on tab. After the demise of Grenadier, and the Future Warriors line, Mark set up his own company (Copplestone Castings) and resculpted most of the line as Future Wars... with cast on bases. As I mix the two lines (and others), I had been gluing the Copplestone Castings mini straight to the washer, and clipping the tab off of the Grenadier minis; gluing the soles of the feet directly to the washer. This created a height difference in the finished minis... accentuated by the tendency of the Copplestones to be a slight bit taller than the original line.

I basically had three options:

1. Ignore the difference (ha!) 
2. File down the cast on bases to make them paper thin, then glue them on the washer. This is a humongous pain in the ass. 
3. Base them on thicker bases, and recess the cast on bases. 

I realized that between the washer thickness, and the cast on bases, the Copplestones were sitting pretty much as high as a slotta based Grenadier... so I decided to use those. For the Copplestones, I'd carve out a void to fit the cast-on base, then back it with plasticard. I tried it on a couple minis and it seemed feasible... but I needed to order some 25mm slottas.

Backing the Mantic Dead Zone Kickstarter project helped refine the plan; before I could order slottas, I received my first backer shipment... chock full of these 1" plastic bases with a 15mm recess in the middle. I realized that the Mantic recessed plastic bases were a perfect starting point for the Copplestones. Many of the female figures had a small enough base to just be glued in place. Some of the others, with the base carefully trimmed to the soles of the boots, would also fit an unaltered base.Wider stance figures were traced onto the base, and then an X-Acto blade was used to enlarge the recess to accommodate the base.

As the Mantic bases were not tapered like GW style slotta bases, I chose to use MDF rounds to base the tabbed minis. The tab is trimmed to create two small pins, one on each foot, these are plotted on the base and then it is drilled with a bit of roughly the same width as the pins. Apply glue, press into base. I had a supply of Gale Force Nine's MDF bases, which I was a huge fan of, but as they seem to be discontinued, I ordered some rounds from Back 2 Base-ix in Australia, cheap, relatively near, and good bases. They are unfinished, which means I need to paint superglue over the surface before using watery basing materials like Vallejo's pumice compound. But that isn't a big deal.

The end result, after all of this, are miniatures that appear to all be based the same way. That is good.

Chaos in Cochise County Kickstarter

I am incredibly stoked about this Kickstarter for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it's Weird West, with an extensive line of gorgeously sculpted heroic scale minis (think Chronoscope sized), which is completely awesome in and of itself.

Second, it uses a variant of the SuperFigs rules, which is a Pittsburgh-developed rules set concocted by acquaintances from one of my favorite games and comics shops, and friends-of-friends.

Thirdly, this particular game and the newly launched minis company behind it is brainchild by my friend Lee, one of the most talented miniatures painters I've ever seen, and a fellow that shares my twisted, and dark sense of humor, and love of history. Oh, and he wrote Chaos in Cairo (and other "Chaos" wargames), which might ring a bell for you.

So, a new minis company, with great sculpts, by veterans from the industry, who are hardcore gamers in their own right.

Just. Back. It.

UPDATE 10 SEP 2014: Sadly the Chaos in Cochise County Kickstarter was suspended. I am able to report that it is being retooled, many lessons learned, and will be back, better than ever (with videos detailing gameplay!). I'll keep you posted.

Super Dimentional Fortress Macross

When I was a kid, I watched Robotech. It was one of the early anime influences on me. In junior high school, I rediscovered Robotech through a friend who had the Palladium game books. It was at this time that I discovered that Robotech was a bastard creation of the late Carl Macek, who took three unrelated series and slapped them together. As offensive as I found the concept of changing someone elses work, I came to love Super Dimentional Fortress Macross and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA in their original form. Soon after that I discovered how incredibly awful Palladium's game system was, and the search for better modern rules lead me to Cyberpunk and Mekton.

So there is a silver lining to the incredible pile of crap that the Palladium Robotech game represents.

Macross gaming holds a special place for me, but has been stunted by very limited miniature availability. I have a couple of the lead Battletech knockoff Valkyries... but not enough to really do anything with. I've also picked up a several soft plastic Valkyries from Japanese vending machines over the years - but Zentran mecha have been notably absent - so again, little utility in gaming.

Imagine my suprise at finding something on Kickstarter. Imagine my mixed feelings at it having both the Palladium and Robotech names attatched.

I decided to back it anyway. The rules have nothing to do with Palladium's percentile system, and they seem to realize that by keeping the three eras of Robotech distinct, Macross fans like myself will show interest.

So at the end of the year it looks like I'll be getting a good number of (round about a dozen) Valkyries and tons of Regults and such. Gotta start thinking of squadron colors. The Macross Compedium has a breakdown of a Valkyrie group being:

Group        Squadron     Team         Tactical
Commander     Commander    Leader       Fighter
                                   --- VF-1A
                      --- VF-1J --|
                     |             --- VF-1A
         --- VF-1J --|     
        |            |             --- VF-1A
        |             --- VF-1J --|
        |                          --- VF-1A
VF-1S --|          
        |                          --- VF-1A
        |             --- VF-1J --|
        |            |             --- VF-1A
         --- VF-1J --|
                     |             --- VF-1A     
                      --- VF-1J --|
                                   --- VF-1A
Type
S            J            J            A

I'll probably bastardize that down by removing the group commander level and upgrading the squadron commanders to S variants. Even with that I'm looking at fielding two squadrons, thus two paint schemes. I might do that, especially if the models can be clearly numbered. Otherwise I might make groups of four (S, J, and two As) in 3 or 4 different squadron schemes. Yeah, I actually like the sound of that better. One will be the tan scheme cannon fodder squadron, a Skull squadron (possibly of the movie scheme rather than the series), the Blue Impulse inspired scheme Max flew with... and something else yet to be determined.

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.

---

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.