Village Games' Blog - General Gaming

Messing Around With The Picture Machine

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:16:05 -0600

A STEEP LEARNING CURVE – BUT AN EXCELLENT SUBJECT

I have been playing around with our new camera some more. There seems to be a rather steep learning curve on the technology and skill of taking good pictures. Have no fear though, gentle reader, for I shall persevere and learn how to do this right (or I will just get fed up and return to the camera to the store… J).

Anyways, here are a few shots of an M4 Sherman Tank I just finished for my 15mm American North African/Italian campaign WWII army. I am especially pleased with how it turned out as I used some new techniques for it. Specifically:

MiG Pigments were used to weather the tracks and road wheels. This is a product which come in a powder form (which is how I used it for this application) that can also be mixed with different mediums to create washes, caked on mud, etc.

Woodland Scenic’s rock molds were used to create the rocking outcroppings on the base. I only have a couple of the molds, but they are very easy to use and produce great results. I didn’t even paint them, that is just washes (including the Woodland Scenic’s Earth Wash) over the casting material!

The base was prepared with Valjello’s Grey Pumice and then given a light base coat of tan. After that it was just a quick series of washes to get a great realistic ground look. I didn’t even drybrush or highlight it!

I used Testor’s Decal Set on the star decals, which really helped take the shine off of the decal and allowed it to be successfully weathered and blended in to the rest of the model – the lack of being able to do that has always put me off of using decals in the past.

The vehicle was given a wash of my house “Magic Dip” solution, which I thought gave a great tone to the underlying colors. I will be doing that on all of my vehicles in the future as well.

I hand painting the tank’s name (“Birdshot”) on the hull. It wasn’t that hard, and it opens up a host of possibilities for futures projects.

All of these steps were surprisingly quick and easy to do. The tank, with 17 stands of infantry, were done in about a week with these results. In today’s world the name of the game is speed, and yet still having really great results. I think we are really developing these at the shop these days.

Anyways, I am very please with how the tank turned out, and I will be giving this kind of treatment to all of my vehicles in the future – and hopefully, even getting better at doing them. If you have any questions about the products (which we do carry) or techniques I used please stop by and I would be glad to talk more about them!

Well, until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Let's Try Try This Again

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:12:40 -0600

WHAT’S GOING ON?

It has been a while since my last entry, but this has not been for a lack of things to post about. We have been going through tremendous changes at the shop - new and expanded check-out area, a dozen new upright racks, new product lines and expansion of existing lines. There is even new terrain and terrain tables on the way!

Of course all of this has to be designed and built by us (Dan & Carl) - with a lot of much appreciated help from our regulars at times. In addition to all of this, I have been working on a 6mm Afrika Korps army, a 15mm German Paratrooper force from the Cassino battles in 1944, and now a 3mm Oddzial Osmy modern force. I have also been building proficiency with my airbrushes and other modeling tools in preparation for giving classes and workshops to support the modeling supplies (Tamiya paints and modeling supplies, X-Acto tools, Mig Pigments, Badger airbrushes, etc.) that we are bringing in more and more. All of which has resulted in my not quite having as much time to post as I would like.

I am going to try and get back on track here though. There have been some really neat and creative games going on at the store and I want to share that. There are also a lot of exciting new genres, scales, campaigns and leagues being kicked around in the shop and I want to try and get the word out about those as well.

So bear with us as we grow and expand, and hopefully it will result in more interesting, creative, and fun (& accurate for you historical buffs) gaming and modeling in the shop!

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

SEEING AND OLD FRIEND

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:19:33 -0600

AN OLD CLASSIC…

Recently a couple of regulars, Geoff J. and his son Monty as well as a few of their friends, stopped by the shop for a quick game of the old Games Workshop classic Talisman. This was no reprint or replication but the real deal!

It looked like they were having a great time, especially given the amount of pieces, tokens, etc, spread out on the table. I snapped a quick pic just to show that even though a game may not be available anymore, it is not forgotten!

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Unabashed Self-Promotion

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:29:00 -0600

I am doing this entry simply for the purpose of showing off my hard work. Recently I spent the better part of two days reorganizing one of our wall racks in anticipation of the additional racks we are going to be adding. It most definitely was a painstaking chore as every item had to be removed, sorted and re-pegged to the rack. I couldn’t have done it without some help – thanks to Gabriel and Aaron for their efforts!

What you are looking at (closest to farthest) is our Flames of War stuff, our Command Decision stuff and finally our 6mm Micro Armor selections. Soon the wall won’t end at the micro armor, instead it with go to the end of the room and then hang left to run the entire back wall of the shop and meet up with the wall racks at the north end of the retail area.

So, dull as it may be, savor my labors! J

Until next time….

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Pizza & Baseball

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:02:00 -0600

Another new game that some of the guys are playing at the shop is Pizza Box Baseball. It is from the Pizzabox family of games (obviously) which includes the thoroughly entertaining Pizza Box Football. The games are simple enough to be quickly learned, but sophisticated enough to reflect the strategies and nuances of the games they simulate. Everybody who plays them always walks away willing to play again (maybe with a different pitcher on the mound, and a slight tweak to their line-up though…).

Mark & Mike Z. Chew up the Diamond

If you are interested, stop by the shop and see if Mike Z. is around. If you ask (beg, nag, buy him a soda, etc.) enough, he might just give you a demo. He is that kind of a guy! J

Well, until next time, enjoy…

Cheers!

Dan

New Opportunities

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:08:00 -0600

A NEW APPROACH TO AN OLD FRIEND

Recently, I have been reading a lot about the merits of painting and gaming with 1/72 scale figures. Cost savings, more manufacturers and lines available than ever before, ease of painting and durability of the figures. Well, having started my gaming career oh-so-many years ago with those same 1/72 figures and still having a soft spot in my heart for them, I decided to give them another try.

Armed with all the modeling and painting experience of my adult life, and decked out with far more sophisticated tools and paints than I ever had as a kid, I bought a pack of Italeri 1/72 WWII British Paratroopers and prepared to dive in.

The Set - One of Two Sprues in the Box

WHY PLASTICS?

First I should explain why I even decided this experiment was worth trying. I love miniature gaming in a variety of scales and time periods. As with most gamers I have what we call around the shop my “Primary Games” (e.g WWII 6mm & 15mm miniatures) and my “Quick Games” (e.g Cosmic Cow, Pirates’ Dice, etc.). What I would like to do is broaden my selection of “Secondary Games” – those games/time periods that I have more than a passing interest in, but do not want to devote a large chunk of money or time to prepping and painting. For me some examples of this would be American Revolutionary War skirmish gaming, WWII North African skirmish gaming, Modern infantry combat at the platoon or company level, DBA at a larger scale than 10mm or 15mm, etc.

What the 1/72 figures offer is the chance to delve into these areas with a minimum of cost and effort. Usually the figures come 30-50 to a box for $9-$14. They are typically the equivalent of 24mm-25mm figures, though they tend to be more slender in their proportions (which some would argue to be more realistic for soldiers on campaign). Now while the detail on these figures is usually quite good, they usually do not have an overabundance which one feels obligated to highlight in detail. This, coupled with their slender size, makes them perfect candidates for the “Magic Dip” process of painting.

With all of this in mind I decided to set two goals for myself in this test to see if it would be worth it to pursue the scale further:

1) I would use some advanced techniques of figure prep to see if the old difficulty of the flexible plastic can be overcome.
2) I would speed paint these by doing nothing more than blocking in the base colors and giving them a heavy wash of the Magic Dip (if you aren’t familiar with the “magic dip” do some searches on the web for it; there are many excellent articles on the technique and dip concoctions).

THE TEST

Well, I set out with just three of the figures for my test. Starting with cutting them from the sprue I timed the whole process. Bear in mind also, that while I was working on these three I was also watching the shop, so I had more than a few interruptions to help customers and stuff.

I performed the following steps in painting the figures:

1)      Cut the figures from the sprue, and trimmed flash. A rough trim, I didn’t want to have to spend a real long time on this step. I mounted the figures to a popsicle stick for ease of handling.
2)      Gave the figures a light wash of watered down wood glue – had to be careful to dab at the recesses while they dried to make sure the runny glue didn’t build up in them and ruin the detail. I then put them in front of a fan to dry.
3)      A light white primer coat and back in front of the fan.
4)      Blocked in the basic colors. Not too careful here; I was counting on the wash to hide areas where the primer was showing. Back in front of the fan.
5)      Magic Dip/Wash (Black ink, Vallejo Smoke, Water and a generous amount of acrylic floor wax). Back in front of the fan.
6)      Sprayed with Testors Dullcote and back to the fan.

THE RESULTS

Bad Shot, But Gives an Idea...

All told, with drying time, the three figures took me just shy of an hour. And I could have finished a lot more without much more time if they had been on the stick too! The quality of the paint job far exceeded my expectations – I had even given them the camouflaged Denison smocks worn by the Brits! Unfortunately, my camera isn’t really capable of taking the best close in pictures so all I can post are some rather suspect ones. It does give you some idea of how they turned out though. And as for the durabilty issue with the flexible plastic, it appears that with the wood glue wash and the floor polish finish they are going to be plenty sturdy (dropping them more than once accidently helped prove this).

Again, at least it gives an idea...

So give the time involved, the effort and cost, as well as the look and durability of the final product, I would have to say the test was a rousing success! I later went on to pain the rest of a 12 man section in less than three hours, again with numerous interruptions as I was working at the time.

Armed with new techniques and an old friend I have now set my sights on a host of new armies and time periods to dabble in. In fact Carl and I have decided to bring in a sizeable stock of the 1/72 in a variety of time periods for us…er, I mean our customers, to choose from. I am truely excited about the potential with this!

If you would like to get a closer look at the finished product, or ask more specific questions about how I did anything, please feel free to stop by the shop and I would be glad to answer them.

Well, until next time, enjoy…

Cheers!

Dan

Boarding Parties

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:15:00 -0700

PREPARE TO BE BOARDED…

We have been seeing a lot more board games being played around the shop lately, which is really great. I think there is a definite renaissance of interest in the board game genre, at least in our neck of the wood, as we get more and more questions and inquiries about board games everyday.

Recently there were a couple of games being played on what is normally a miniatures night at the shop (For shame!), so I snapped a couple of pics as I was shooting the other games.

Carcassone

The first game was a rather sizeable Carcassone layout (I believe using several expansions), while the other was a rousing game of the relatively new Fantasy Flight game Tanhauser.

Tanhauser

Everybody seemed to be having a good time, so hopefully we will be see more of these types of games being played at the shop (just not on the sacred miniatures night…J)

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

Here Thar Be Treasures

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:43:00 -0700

BOARDING ALL THE RAGE

We have really been seeing a resurgence in board games being played around the shop lately. For me its been Combat Commander, but for others its been everything from Carcassone and Settlers of Catan to The Battle of Eisenbach, Formula De and Axis & Allies. It’s wonderful to see, as there are some great new games out there (as well as some classics that need to be played more often). Hopefully over the coming weeks we will be able to morph all this board gaming into a regular couple of nights for people to count on.

Pirate's Cove

The pictures are of a game of Pirate’s Cove and a large game of Zombies!!!

Zombies!!!

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

A Gift

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:52:47 -0700

COOL IS STILL COOL

A few weeks ago, a regular member of the shop (Chris L.) donated a really cool looking terrain table to the store. He needed to get rid of it to make space for his daughter’s new room (what a good daddy J) and was going to have to trash it, so we told him to bring it up to the store. Chris has a lot of talent when it comes to terrain making which, along with the time and effort he put in, really show on this project.

Originally constructed for a Warhammer 40K game at a convention, the table has now been used for 40K, 40K Apocalypse and AT-43 games – with some sci-fi man-to-man skirmish games planned for the future as well. The rather unique design and layout of the table leads to some very difficult scenarios, but so far just about everybody has enjoyed the challenge.

Unfortunately some of the table may have to be scavenged for parts rather than refurbished for long term use. The elaborate castle and canyon section is a little too fragile for the constant beating it gets at the shop, and the height of the canyon walls make playing in the valley extremely difficult at best.

Fortunately the front half of the board, the part with the trenches, bunkers and dragons’ teeth, has proven to be very playable, and well liked. That part will be refurbished and given a more solid frame so it can join our other terrain boards in regular circulation.

The pictures show the board in us in a couple of different AT-43 games. They give you some idea of the coolness factor of the table, and the challenges you face playing on it.

Well, until next time…

Cheers!

Dan

The Human Side

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:17:00 -0700

A SLICE OF EVERYDAY LIFE…

I had a couple of shots of one of the game rooms in the shop I thought would be nice to post. The one directly below is a typical Thursday night. In the far back there was a playtest game of “Sci-Fi Commander” (more on the playtesting we are doing for that in the shop in a future post). In front of them, others were preparing for a game of Federation Commander.

Our resident Blitzkrieg Commander / Cold War Commander resident fanatic John (to the left) was in the middle of a BKC game. In the forefront is Mike Z. (our resident AT-43 fanatic) ogling all of the new stuff we just got in – stuff which I get to spend my night checking in and putting away. I guess someone has to be the martyr J. Behind Mike are a group of 40K players busy prepping models, painting and working themselves into an Apocalypse frenzy.

The other shot shows a bunch of Warmachine / Hordes plays on an early Saturday afternoon. I had to include their picture, as they come in every other week to play a bunch of games and always appear to be having so much fun!

Well, until next time…

Cheers & Happy Holidays!

Dan

Back In The Saddle Again

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:50:00 -0700

I know, I know, I have been remiss in my blogging lately. In large part this was due to some changes that we have been going through at the store, which also kept me from playing in many games.

Hopefully the dry spell has come to an end. I have a massive backlog of pictures and recaps of games that have been played at the store - I spent the better part of an evening sorting through the pic's and trying to make some sense of them - that I need to get posted so I can clear out some file space.

So hang in there dear reader, and ye shall be rewarded. Unfortunately not all of the games will receive the detailed descriptions they deserve, but most have some pretty great pictures to look at.

Until next time...

Cheers!

Dan

Catching Up...

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:52:00 -0600

It has been a long while since my last entry. There is a reason for that. Since the last post we have:

Secure a new domain name (we are now at VillageGames.net) and moved to a new host
Renewed, transferred and parked the old domain name on the new one
Ran two official Games Workshop tournaments ('Ard Boyz Qualifier and Regional events)
Ran our own in-house Village Faire/40K Tournament
Built four more terrain boards (including winter and desert ones)
Re-arranged a good third of the store to make more space available
Designed & produced a new print ad to go in the Con of the North events book
Learned to play a new game (AT-43)

I am now hoping to be able to catch up on some of my blogging (especially since I have a backlog of pictures to post). So be patient and ye shall be rewarded.

Until next time...

Cheers!

Dan

Testing the Terrain

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 22:58:00 -0600

NEW TERRAIN BOARD

Just a quick entry about a new terrain board we are testing out at the store.

The basic concept is an underlying board with removable adhesive on it. To this is stuck plain Styrofoam hills carved in whatever naturally irregular shape desired � the hills also have adhesive on them. Then the whole table is covered with an appropriately covered stretchy cloth, which is pushed down onto the adhesives contouring to every nook and cranny.

The board has worked well so far, minus some difficulties with the adhesives. It has proven durable, versatile and yet realistic in appearance. If the kinks can be worked out, we will probably due a couple more boards like this.

Here is a picture of the board in use for a Blitzkrieg Commander game:

There have been a couple of other posts on the blog with pictures of the board with different fabrics on it as well.

Until next time�

Cheers!

Dan

It Begins

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — Sat, 20 May 2006 13:48:50 -0600

Well, here it is - here first entry into the "Chancellor's Rant". I hope to use this as a place to let people know what games I have been playing/enjoying, share some of my thoughts on different games and the industry as a whole, and maybe give a few sneak peaks at plans for the store and so on. Just about anything that crosses my mind related to gaming.

Anyways, I played a very fun game of Blitzkrieg Commander last night in (6mm) Micro Armor. BKC is a WWII miniatures ruleset that emphasizes command and control issues. We played a late '44 Russian counterattack against a hastily assembled German defense.

The game went back and forth for the entire battle. However, despite the Russian artillery observer's massive blunder (not a good idea to drop the Katyusha barrage on your own troops!) the Germans were unable to stop the Russian advance. Of course maybe if the German artillery observer had laid off the schnapps and actually called in some artillery strikes of his own, the Germans might have had a chance! Oh well, such are the risks of command...

Blitzkrieg Commander is a very enjoyable set of rules from the UK usable for any scale from 2mm right up to 20mm. I think I may have to run a 15mm American breakout from the bocage country (circa France 1944) for my next game. Keep an eye to the event calendar for that!

I am also looking forward to a set of WWII skirmish rules - "Nuts!" - due in on Monday. I have already started prepping my 25mm US Paratroopers for this.

Also due in on Monday is a futuristic skirmish/man-to-man combat rules set called (appropriately enough) "Future Wars". The rules are based on the successful "At Close Quarters" mordern skirmish rules and portray small bands of corporate soldiers, sewer scavengers, biker gangs, netrunners, and even aliens among others vying for resources in a futuristic setting. I am not sure yet what kind of troops I am going to build, but I am sure I will end up building a couple of different types as the minis are really cool! (And as a side note the minis are great for all of you role-players out there looking for decent futuristic figures - the line even has zombie troopers!).

I guess I am going to have my hands full painting stuff for a while - not to mention all of the new terrain that will have to be made for these games.

Well, enough for now. Until next time - cheers!