Strange Aeons, 2nd Edition Kickstarter

Uncle Mike's Strange Aeons Kickstarter is live (and already over 200% funded).

I was turned on to the original Strange Aeons by my good friend Obsidian, who I turned on to miniatures gaming when we were both stationed here in Japan (a decade ago).

Heh. You are welcome businesses that sell gaming supplies.

Anyway, for those that don't know, Strange Aeons is a great Cthulhu Mythos tabletop skirmish game set in the 1920s. Players control either evil cultists, or agents of Threshold, a sort of Delta Green type organization. Games are quick, fun, and only require a modestly sized playing area, 1 square meter is fine.

Second edition incorporates dome rules refinements and changes to the weapons table and costs.It should be an excellent successor.

Jump in now, the Kickstarter ends on November 3rd. Check out the existing Strange Aeons line here.

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.

Enforcement Droid Series 209

"OmniCorp is proud to present the future of urban pacification..."

Last month, while shopping at Joshin Electronics with the wife, I spotted a Gashapon (like those gumball machines with the cheap toys in the capsules in the States, but way better toys here) with soft plastic models from the 2014 RoboCop film... three of RoboCop himself, maybe 3" tall - too big for gaming. The fourth possibility was ED209... in what looked to be something close to 28mm.

I dropped in my ¥400 and lucked out on the first try. I cracked it open right away and was very pleased with the size; he stands 66mm tall overall, making him just about 1/50 scale. Here he is built, pinned, and based; he's actually a 13 part kit (2 feet, 2 lower legs, 2 upper legs, lower chassis, upper chassis, 2 arms, 2 weapon pods, and the mini gun). The round is an 80mm MDF round I got from Back 2 Base-ix Wargaming Products of Adelaide Australia. Nice quality, inexpensive, and quick shipping to Japan. Gale Force Nine MDF rounds were my favorite, but they seem to be gone for good, it's nice to have a handy replacement. One difference is that these rounds are uncoated MDF, so they can be sensitive to water. This base has been coated in superglue to seal it, so that it will tolerate Vallejo Pumice basing compound, which is quite watery.

Since I was basing a big old robot, I also dug out of it's shipping box an Alpha Forge DemoBot. I picked it up as part of a large Star Mogul order I made when Mega Minis folded; finally had the time, and a big enough base, to put him together.

*Ex-Grenadier Future Warriors biker tossed in for scale.

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.

Access Granted

After nearly a year of being locked out of my account... I've managed to regain access. Yay!

Over the next few days, I'll try to fill in the posts I'd written, but been unable to post since last year.

Tabletop Police Cars

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

*******

A discussion on BBC Autos, and an acquaintance who makes Kustom cars here in Japan, got me thinking about designing a killer Restomod police car.

Here's my idea:

1977 Chevelle Malibu 350 4dr sedan (wagon for special services)

Swap the front clip for one from a '77 Olds Cutlass (both were essentially the same car); fill and cut the cowl to accommodate a '70 Chevelle SS grill; racing type suspension, with a slight forward cant; finish with Chevelle SS badges, and some deep-dish slotted aluminum wheels.

Now, if I can just get a high-res 3d model of this, stretch the design to be 1/50 in length and height, 1/43 in width... have a master printed, finished and cast in resin; should have a great sedan to use as a patrol car and taxi with my large-scale Hot Wheels.

Gundam Army Men

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

*******

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.