C21 Air War Vietnam Defense

Finished the AA hexes representing 37mm and greater. With a few more 1/300 planes
to order I will be complete with this range.

The larger bases are 1.5" Litko with MSD games AA base hexes. The guns are
various 1/300 Heroics and Ross AA guns.

C21 Air War Vietnam

Slowly getting things done.

 MSD Games Target Terrain, although only 1in, I placed them on a Litko 1.5in
hex. 

 

I used MSD Games Target Terrain, although only a 1" hex, I placed

them onto a 1.5" Litko hex.

 

A "jungle" hex. I purchased the Litko 1.5" hex mat that you spray paint

and the hex line holes leaves a pattern. The problem is after the first spray

it cover up the clear sheet so you cannot see underneath anymore.

The base is a scrubby pad with flock atop. Yeah its fluff but I will have the

NVAF player use it as a table reference for hidden AAA sites.

 

Finishing on my a/c base stands to accommodate the 2 die holder.

I upgraded with I-94's spherical magnet.

Air War Support

I have been busy with work for the new year. Recently I have focused on completing
my 1/600 WW2 and 1/300 Vietnam air collection.

The base stands has Dave's (from I94 miniatures) round magnetics to simulate any
attitude of flight. This really adds to the look of the planes "in flight". I like using
the C21 Air War rules but have looked at and like Dave's Phantom rules.

My Vietnam era will have these target hexes. They are 1.5" hexes from Litko with Marty's
MSDGames target terrain hexes. I plan on making city, jungle and mountain hexes but
more 2D so flight stands can easily balance upon them.

2015 Plans

Last year was a bust for gaming, only twice. This month I played a Chain
of Command game! My "plan" is to have ALL my 1/600 ships based and
painted and ALL my 1/300 Vietnam air planes done by June. Notice the
word "all". I have narrowed my interests to:

28mm: Normandy and Pacific (Bolt Action/Chain of Command)
            Modern Skirmish (Force on Force)
            Japan Skirmish (Ronin)
10mm: Normandy (my new 6mm, not sure on operational rules yet)
6mm:  WW2 Air (Luftwaffe 1946 series)
            Modern Air (C21 Air War, toying with Phantoms)
Naval: 1/600 coastal (Flaklighter II, Action Stations II)
            1/700 modern (Bulldogs Away)
            1/2400 (not sure on rules)

Project: 1/300 Ploesti (Tom Sparhawks game I played years ago, loved it)

Since I only have the weekends, I had to scale down.

Laser cut Terrain

I received my 4ground tree bases.



The pic below shows 2 sets of tree bases. Each small tree stand is about $1.40.
Large is about $1.90.

 The tree bases can accommodate a nice sized tree:

 

Shipping is a flat $16, from ordering 1 to 10+. These tree stands would be nice in
the middle of the table so you can easily remove trees to place miniature stands.

 

Speaking of more laser cut terrain, my Sarissa Prec farm house:

 

Around the entire interior I place a line of PVA glue between the wall and floor to
strengthen it. Between 4ground and Sarissa, the buildings are nice enough for me.

Laser Cut Buildings

I posted a pic of the Sarissa Prec farmhouse I purchased for $23. The assembly was
easy using wood glue. I did use toothpicks at the inside corners to reinforce the
structure. I wonder in a club environment how durable are these buildings? In my
Normandy related scenarios, I feel on a 4x8 ft table, I will only need about 4 buildings
max. I still want to scratch build some buildings. Cost would be lower, time higher
yet I have time...

Jungle Work

Slowly working on the jungle scenery:

Nice bamboo trees, came about 50 per bag. Mounted them on a Litko 2" circle base.

Tree stands built so far

Sarissa Precision Farm house, easy to put together. Cheaper than the 4Ground buildings.

More Jungle Stuff

Little work this weekend, I have a flight to CA tomorrow. Here are pics of updates:

 

 

Once I figured (or stumbled) upon a jungle floor cover look, it was easy to continue

the process.

 

I experimented on adding leaves to the jungle tree tops. I don't like this look. oh well....
I plan my terrain goals in 3 months periods. By year's end I will have all my jungle tree
3 and single stands done, as well as the fields.

The next adventure is making a terrain cloth. Found great ideas via the web.

Next is switching gears to do Normandy. I have a lot of tree stands there to do. A lot of
K&M trees as well as Woodland Scenics.

Jungle ground cover

I decided upon a 'format' for my jungle ground clutter. Within the areas near the base of
either the palm or jungle trees I lay a thick floor of kitchen seasoning. Surrounding this
plainly a mixing of whatever terrain flock I have. This ranges from static grass to Spanish moss.

I think for a lot of terrain building, once you have a certain assembly line technique, you
can produce a lot. Once I get all my palm and jungle tree stands done, next is painting
the synthetic fur for fields.

More Jungle Terrain

A little more work with the Jungle trees.

I use Woodland Scenics Tree Armatures 5-7" TR1123, a heavy pair of snippers,
a good sized metal file, and sand paper

I snip off enough branches for a 'tall jungle tree". 

Sand of the stubs with the file and sandpaper.

Then twist the tree armature. I used furnace filter which I sprayed with black undercoat.

Then a spray of green.

 

I put 3 per stand (http://www.renaissanceink.net/catalog/index.php?cPath=7). Although

the website look resin, Jay has switched to plywood. I tease out the painted furnace filter

and with glue attach the filter. I do paint the tree trunks a dark grey, with lighter gray

dry brushing. 

Here is a collection of super market spices. I am doing an age test of how long it takes

them to turn brown. Many pictures of a jungle floor shows fallen decaying leaves. At a

certain point I will hit them with a good coat of spray sealer. Any yes it smells very nice.

My assembly line. I only get about 4-5 hours a weekend to work on these, but I have time.

More Jungle Stuff

I tried to simulate rows of cane fields. You can see the base of the mat, which I painted
brown to break the green pattern.

Here is my version of large jungle trees. Woodland scenics trees with the lower
branches snipped off. Furnace filter atop. Work in progress.

 

 Close up of the undergrowth. I used a variety of plastic aquarium plants.

In tandem with my planned village, they have to have crops. The banana trees are the
Pegasus plastic line. They are nice but the leaves are "fiddly".

Palm tree stand and small hill in progress. The tree stands I use from Renaissance Ink
website. Work in progress. Trying to get the "right" jungle floor scatter.

It is surprising what can be done with a few hours a weekend. Of course that takes
months.

Rules I have learned in terrain making:
1. Don't rush
2. Don't do too much at once or you get burnt out
3. Look at a lot of terrain pictures to get a "feel" for it
4. Use the internet, there are ALOT of great ideas out there

Jungle Terrain

My work schedule has me traveling Mon to Fri every week. This makes gaming very slow. Over the months I focused on jungle related terrain. My first goal was to make enough to cover a 4x8' table.



I tried to use terrain that has the right height for a 28mm figure. This is a variety of

aquarium plastic mat plants, various size palm trees, and synthetic fur. I used the

idea from a website about using the mat holder as the base. I made individual tree

stands to break the "clear" look of a field. The fur comes in a tan color yet after

review a lot of Pacific island pictures, they are more greenish. Yet I do like the color

contract. Each plant stand has been highlighted with a green/yellow to break the

monotony of the same color. I visit Michaels, Jo-ann's craft store a lot for terrain.

 

 

 

Next step is to finish the palm tree stands. More photos to follow.

Merry Christmas

<Hello all. As I look out the window and view a snow covered lawn, layered
in 13 deg temperature, I reflect on 2013. I have not done squat! Mid year my
job changed to being a "road warrior" almost 5 days a week. This makes
motivation for the hobby slim. I will say I started to paint this week, a 28mm
German infantrymen. Wow, talk about starting from ground ZERO. I have also
undertaken the grim task of cleaning and organizing my basement. I wonder
why I keep those hobby magazines from the 70's??

Oh well, happy Holiday to all

With a recent introduction to Bolt Action I have decided to work on terrain first. Jungle terrain first, then the Normandy hedgerow. I have made a number of purchases via Amazon for aquarium grass mats which offer alot of plants for a good price. Palm trees also have been purchased, and there not the birthday cake specials. (they are good for 15mm, but IMO too small for 28mm). The stands are either 3" x 2" plywood, or stainless steel washers. I hot glued the plants onto the bases. (You quickly appreciate how hot the glue gets when it gets on your fingers). I then applied Durhams Water putty, then lightly dashed some sand and pebbles. I will flock later when dried. I only purchased plants that don't look too "over bearing" in size.

Views of: Bolt Action game, I was Marines; All Things Zombie; Gutshot, Western game; Dropzone Commander; Dr. Who--Damn those rocketmen! All games run at charity event Battlefield of Dice

General Comments

Wow, March? I have a nice lull in work travel in a few months. I have not picked up a paint brush since then. I recently hosted 2 games at Battlefield of Dice game day in Massillon Ohio. This was the first time for this game day, adding to it was 100% of the proceeds being donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. There were ACW, Western, Zombie, WW2, Sci Fi games available. Alas only a very few players showed up. Since I had no players, I gamed in a Bolt Action Pacific and Dr. Who game. Both of which I never gamed. I had a great time, I hope the player base increases. The two games I supported with were Flaklighter II and Kamikaze 1946. I realize since CY6 came about, my Air War C21 and K46 rules have had very little interest. One game I participated in was a Dr. Who scenario. I had FUN. Even though the dice gods were angry with me, it was enjoyable. It made me think of putting a fun game vice "historical/modern" versed. I have thought about a Godzilla type game. Oh now, who doesn't remember the old Godzilla movies when we were younger? Suprisingly, there are quite a few rules out there. The other set is "It came from Beyond the Still" rules. You have to love the title. Hillbillies vs. Aliens can spark some creative scenarios.

Bulldogs Away Scenario

Today at Cincycon I hosted Dave S. North vs South Korean naval
scenario. Thanks to Burton Cambell who joined the game, yes was
the only player. Interesting facts about Burton, he has been gaming
only 2 years, hosted a Dr. Who game the night before AND was
in North Korea this year.....so he took North and me South.
The inital 3 to 4 turns were figuring out blips from targets. The picture
below is my grand creation.

The blip is the black counter. The counter was made from a popsicle

craft sticks painted. The number reflects an ID. When a blip is detected

it goes to the green side (same number). When visually seen, the

miniature is put on the table. The mini is a 1/600 Yugoslavian vessel

converted to a fishing vessel by PTDockyard.

On the table was 6 fishing vessels, 4 South, 2 North. The North player

elected which trawler was assisting the spy vessel. At turn 4 all minis

were on the table, and me the South player elected to fire first. (what

a troublemaker!).

This pic shows the line of NK vessels with my lonely vessel under gunfire

attack (splashes) and torpedo attack. It didn't last long. My other vessels

were on the other side of the table, too far away to help. Overall I lost

1 vessel with another heavily damaged. The North lost 2 with others damaged.

We had to stop due to time. The spy vessel was fixed last turn but would have

passed by 3 undamaged SK patrol ships, which was its doom. Since I fired

first, I was was also doomed as a captain.

Overall I had fun, so did Burton. I am thinking of running this scenario again

in the future.

Bulldogs Away

  Yesterday we had a Bulldogs away game using Dave S. N.Korean scenario on
the Naval Gazing blog. It was mainly a learning game and playtest for the upcoming
convention game at CincyCon 2013.
  The NK sub sank a vessel but was sunk by the helo. Two more SK vessels sank
due to gunfire. Due to interesting damage rolls I had sunk only 1 of 8 NK vessels
but wiped out all weapons/speed capability on 5 others.
  The variable damage levels are neat. The detection rules are good, somewhat
cumbersome initial turns due to large number of counters on table.
I posted on the Yahoo Narrow Seas group for questions on the rules.

I was told one person pre-registered for the game, which is better than the Air
War C21 game last convention.

Modern Naval

I was introduced to "Snapshot", a set of 1/700 based modern ASW rules.
Website at Leeds Wargames Club at: http://snapshotmodernsub.webs.com/


It looks FUN, so I dug out my stash of 1/700 models. I will use the same bases
as my C21 Air War game. First I find the center of gravity, then glue a rare earth
magnet (large) inside. I will use plexiglass rods for the ships since they are at
a static depth. The bases for them will be larger and thicker base washers. Many
1/700 models are cheap. There is an exception though, Combrig models has
many resin ships & subs BUT at a huge price. I plan to add dipping helos, sonobouys,
underwater explosions (geeky yes). In any case it gives me a chance to build
models again.
    Thanks to the Massillon area gamers: http://www.massillonareawargamers.com/  who added to the rules.

Naval Ships

A post a long time coming...

I ordered Panzerschiffe WW2 ships and dressed them up. I found at the
1/2400 scale, I don't need super detail nor the price that goes with it.
I recently purchased Naval Thunder and put together ships for the first
Guadacanal scenario.

The bases are large craft popsicle sticks. I love using them! You can easily
cut to your specs and low in cost. The rounded edge is perfect for showing
direction of a ship. I use them also for my 1/600-700 naval ships.

I added styrene rods for towers. I added artist matte medium to simulate the
ocean waves. I may add 1/2400 scale sea planes. I also added several layers
of gloss medium to the base. The bottom of the base I glued a Wargames
Accessories 1/2 x 1/2" metal base so I can add it to my magnetic lined box.

I am experimenting with shell splashes. Will post later.