Village Games' Blog

A Trip to the Italian Coast

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-07-18T06:34:00Z

15’S ON THE RISE

In August I will be running a 15mm WWII miniatures battle at the local miniatures convention – Recon. The last couple of weeks I have been feverishly painting away to have the forces for that battle ready in time. Well they are almost done (at least respectable enough to play with) so this past weekend I play tested the scenario I will be using with the Combat Cards.

The setting is the Anzio perimeter in Italy, 1944. The Americans are preparing to breakout from the beachhead, and are conducting a series of probing attacks to determine the best location to concentrate their efforts. The Germans, consisting of elite parachute troops from the 1^st Airborne Division, are holding this section of the front and are tasked with stopping the Americans.

LOOKING FROM THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

We ran the scenario twice – once with a new fellow who had stop by the shop (welcome John) and one of the historical regulars (Chris L.); the second time between Chris and I. Both times the scenario proved balanced and very exciting.

THE GERMAN LEFT FLANK

The Americans have a depleted company supported by a pair of Sherman tanks and a battery of M7 Priests (howitzers). The Germans had a battle worn platoon with four tank-hunter teams (panzerschrecks and fausts) attached, no armor and no artillery support. They were able to dig into optimal defensive positions though.

A GERMAN PARACHUTE TEAM HOLDING THE LINE

The first game the Germans were able to repulse the American assault relatively easy (time just ran out on the Americans), but in the second game the Americans steamrolled over the German positions (although towards the end the Germans were able to inflict some serious losses on the Americans).

THE AMERICAN RIGHT FLANK

Both games were tense, fasted paced and exciting – even the first game which I was essentially watching. The best tactics proved to be the ones really used by the combatants (using firepower to pin your enemy in place, and maneuver to flank and isolate them).

THE GERMANS MOUNT A LOCALIZED COUNTER ATTACK

In my game, even though I was getting the worst cards at the least opportune times, I had a blast. It was a real challenge to my command abilities to hold things together and try to slow the Americans. In the end I couldn’t prevail, but I had fun which is what it is all about! I can’t wait until we can play another game of the 15’s – I think I sense more painting projects on the horizon…

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Another Sort of Conversion

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-07-16T06:15:00Z

CONVERTING TO MINIATURES

In previous entry I wrote about a couple of our regulars who have been working on converting a very good board game (World at War: The Battle of Eisenbach Gap) into an equally enjoyable miniatures game.

Recently the brought the game up to the shop again with some new terrain specially made for it. It really looked great, even though it was hexed based. The layout game me ideas as well for some games I play that could benefit from the hex gridding to convert them to miniatures.

Terry and Doug are planning to bring the game up on several more occasions to play. As they are very agreeable to teaching new players, if this interests you you may want to watch the calendar or send “Grumpy” at message on the Forums.

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

NECROMUNDA Part Deux

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-07-14T23:58:23Z

BACK IN THE UNDERHIVE

Last week the Necromunda League kicked-off at the shop. The League runs every other Thursday through the rest of the summer. At the end, the League Aministrator (Chris L.) has plans for a really big finale as well.

Some of the Tables Being Used

Anyways, for the first night there were 9 players, with each playing their confirmed league game and then typically getting in two or three more “fun” games after that.

Everybody seemed to have a great time, with the possible exception of Jeff P. He had the worst dice of the night, by far and away, which resulted in his gang losing ground (experience, money, etc.). He does seem to have regrouped since then (at least once we talked him down off of the roof J) and is ready for the next League night.

Check Out the Great Terrain

Look At All of the Gear They Have To Carry...

With the energy and passion for the game evident that night, it appears that the League should yields some entertaining battles and storyline. I can hardly wait.

Never a Good Spot to be Caught in a Firefight

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Starting at the Begining

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-07-09T06:25:00Z

A LITTLE FOUGHT CAMPAIGN

Recently Chris L. and I played another WWII skirmish game using the Combat Cards. This time though is was during a campaign that is not often explored – the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.

Our scenario was a simple one: two patrols have a meeting encounter in a small Polish village. Both are scrambling to position themselves for a counter-attack to push out the enemy (the next scenario). We were fighting this using our 1/72 scale minis and our usual 25mm terrain (you can hardly notice the slight scale difference).

The Germans got off to a very slow start, the almost seemed a little surprised that the Poles were even attempting to aggressively probe. Quickly though, both sides figured out that speed was of the essence as they began to each seize houses one by one.

In the end the battle came down to a farmhouse in the center of the village. The Germans moved into to it first, but the Poles charged in, in force. In a final desperate act, the last German soldier in the house flung all of his grenades and dove for cover. Incredibly it worked! He forced a couple of the Polish soldiers back out of the house, while wounding and killing two others.

That last act was what tipped the balance in the German’s favor for victory points – they won the scenario by a one point differential. Truly they had no business winning after their atrocious start, but apparently their fearless commander’s persistence paid off! J

All-in-all though it was once again a very enjoyable game. Chris is a great opponent to play (especially when you play two grenade cards in a row), the Cards always give a great game and the mini’s looked terrific. We even had a couple of folks watching, who then went on to get some 1/72 troops of their own to start painting!

Anyhow, enjoy the pictures!

Dan

PS: The Stug III you see in the pictures wasn’t actually in the battle. Some of you may notice that it is an anachronism, the long barreled Stug III didn’t arrive on scene until 1943. I had just finished painting it though, and wanted to admire it a bit. It sat motionless in the corner the whole game. Hopefully though, that isn’t a harbinger of things too come in future games… J

Even the Small Can Look Great

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-07-07T22:48:30Z

AMAZING RESULTS

One of our regulars (Terry) recently brought up some of the Oddzial Osmy (“O8”) 3mm miniatures he got from us all finished - painted, based, etc. The results were absolutely amazing!

Bear in mind these miniatures average only about a ½” in length. The obvious sculpting detail is brought out even more by Terry’s realistic paint job and basing. The details really add to them as well - notice the telephone poles on the helicopters’ bases. He really did a great job, and he said it wasn’t too hard to do.

One of the real perks of these 3mm is the ability to place an entire unit on a single reasonably sized base; especially useful if you play a rule set that uses a one stand equals one platoon or company. It gives a real sense of the scope of your forces if you can still see a one-to-one vehicle representation (albeit grouped on stands) on the table top.

The O8 line is growing rapidly, and we are planning to expand our selection as it grows. The only problem for me now is what units should I paint up first – early war WWII or a massive Cold War force? Maybe even an ultra-modern force?

Ah decisions, decisions….

Until next time – may all of your commands be productive!

Dan

Fighting in the Underhive

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-07-01T04:02:17Z

NECROMUNDA ON THE HORIZON

Several of the regulars have been busy recruiting for a Necromunda league they are going to run this summer at the shop. Necromunda is a skirmish game from Games Workshop set in the 40K universe. The premise is rival gangs fighting in a ruin industrial city (the “Underhive”), on a world abandon by the Imperium. The gangs are fighting for every resource they can just to survive. After each fight, the players can add to their gang member’s skills, equipment and so on in preparation for the next battle.

Two of their tables side-by-side.

And when I say they have been recruiting, they have definitely been recruiting. They have taught four or five new players how to play who, all of whom are planning on joining the league. Because of the simplicity of the rules, and the fact that everybody loves a campaign game, it should be fun just watching them play.

A little blurry, but a shot of one of the gangs in action.

They are still willing to add players, so if you are interested stop by the shop and see if you can get in on a demo game (who are we kidding, these guys would teach a dead guy if they thought he wanted to join the league). Anyways, stop by on a Thursday night and get involved with a very entertaining, and highly addictive, game!

Well, until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Messing Around With The Picture Machine

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-06-20T19:16:05Z

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

Another Mega Battle for the Lucky 13's...

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-06-18T06:04:00Z

RUMBLE IN THE DESERT

The 40K crowd participated in another mega-battle a couple of weeks ago related to the Lucky 13’s Campaign that GW is hosting this year. This time the battle was fought over the rocky spires of a vast desert expanse.

Custom Made Terrain for the Event by Ryan F.

As always with these Apocalypse events, there were lots of models on the table – with a fair amount painted to quite a high standard. There were about ten players for this game, which did cause it to bog down slightly, but in the end everyone seemed to have a good time.

For the next battle though, the organizers came up with some ways to improve things to assure a faster moving and more exciting game. It should be interesting to see the forces for the next one, given that everyone seems to be coming to each battle with more and more stuff painted really nice.

Well, until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Zombies, Zombies and Yet Even More Zombies...

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-06-17T01:34:00Z

CAN YOU REALLY EVER HAVE ENOUGH ZOMBIES?

We were lucky enough to have Chris L. run one of his world renown Zombie games at the shop the other day. He was using the All Things Zombie rules from Two Hour Wargames. They are very good rules for the zombie hordes scenarios, which give very entertaining results without too much effort.

The Town - Note the Prominent Dance Club. That is A Chris Trademark...

A Close Up of the Sacred Church - Note the Cool Long Grass Around it by Yours Truely

I was playing a pair of hostage rescue team members that I had from the Copplestone Future Wars line. Most everybody else was playing some sort of law enforcement characters (with varying degrees of dubious abilities – note the slice ‘o pizza in one officer’s hands…). The one notable exception was Jay, who was playing the parish priest and nun who were definitely on a mission to destroy the unholy. J

Can You See the Slice?

Another View of the Chris Trademark...

Some of the Rescuees

All in all, as always, it was a thoroughly entertaining game full of bizarre twists and turns. It was also chock full of Chris’ far too large zombie collection – and I guess he has been adding to it too!

Who Are These Studly Hostage Rescue Fellas?

Fighting From The Rooftop

Needless to say, having played in my share of these warped scenarios, I managed to keep my guys alive. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for everyone else though. I believe the final body count ended up being fairly substantial on both sides!

Zombies, Zombies...

... And More Zombies!

Well, until next time enjoy the pictures…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

The Beauty Can Come Through

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-06-07T06:35:00Z

NEW CAMERA

We just got a new camera for the store – one that can take great zoom and close-up shots as well as a host of other neat features. I need to get some special lighting equipment to take the best shots, but here are a couple of pictures just to test it out.

The first is a close-up of one of the 1/72 scale British paratroopers I painted a while back (see the previous post on painting these). The shots I had of the fig’s then left a lot to be desired. While this one still needs some lighting work, you can get a much better idea of how they turned out. He is Sten gunner from the Red Devils:

The other shot is of some 15mm WWII German paratroopers that I just finished up. They were painted in the camo smocks that were issued in North Africa, and more importantly for my purposes, in the Italian/Monte Cassino campaign. Again, the lighting isn’t the best but you can see a lot of the detail. (Note: These guys were base coated with my airbrush and then speed painted in the same fashion as the paratrooper above using the “Magic Dip” method):

I have thrown out a challenge in the shop for someone to paint up a matching New Zealander, Indian or Polish force to take on the Germans in a Cassino mini-campaign, but so far no one has risen to the occasion. I still have hope though…

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Football Fantasy Style

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-06-06T17:32:52Z

BLOODBOWL BREWING

A few of the regulars have been kicking around the idea of running a Bloodbowl (the old GW game) League at the store. Several guys already have teams – that are painted quite nicely – which they break out periodically to get in a few games.

I took a couple of pictures the last time they were playing, and I promised that I would mention it in the blog. So if you are interested in joining in the league, go to the Forums and check out the posts. I would also suggest posting your interest to give them an idea of how many people might be interested.

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

Boardgames in Miniature

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-06-03T04:09:27Z

INTERPRETING A NEW WAY

Recently one of the regulars (Doug M) and his friend (Terry) were playing a miniatures game at the shop that they had adapted from a board game. With the cool looking terrain tiles and well painted armies, it definitely caught my eye.

The original game was World at War: The Battle of the Eisenbach Gap from Lock ‘n Load games (which we carry), which is about a Soviet invasion of the West during the Cold War. Doug and his friend really liked the board game, but being miniatures players, they were looking for a way to translate it into a tabletop version.

Using some pre-printed hex tiles, and drawing from their extensive 6mm Micro Armor collections, the pair played a couple of great games that afternoon. Now with a new version of the game coming out (“Death of the 1^st Panzer”) they have even more reason to utilize the rules and expand their armies relative to the game’s scenarios.

After a great afternoon of combat, both agreed to come up and play it again. It appears though, that they are going to start using the new Oddzial Osmy 3mm miniatures for the pieces (that way a stand that represents a platoon will actually have 3-4 tanks on it, and yet will still fit in the hex).

Until next time…

Enjoy the pictures!

Dan

Let's Try Try This Again

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-05-29T18:12:40Z

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

Hills Suck...

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-05-14T03:12:00Z

FIGHTING OUR WAY OUT OF THE HILLS

The other day I got in another game of WWII Micro Armor with Mark. I was the Americans launching an assault on a small French village from a series of hills to the north of the town, while Mark was a very small German force trying to delay the Americans long enough for other German units to escape.

I set up in a staging area back in the hills, while the Germans set-up anywhere in the village. The American objective was to push through the German lines as quickly as possible and get as many units past “Phase Line - Green” (a road running through the village parallel to the American front) before the end of the game. The Germans objective was to hold the Americans shy of their Phase Line for as long as possible. For rules we were using the Combat Cards.

The American Attack Moving from Left to Right

The game started out beautifully for the Americans – if you are a fan of chaos and confusion. The rocky, hilly terrain proved a nightmare for launching an attack from. Units had trouble getting clear of one another, as well as getting to their jump-off points for the attack. Then a wave of panic spread through the American forces about an imminent (but non-existent) enemy spoiling attack, which resulted in numerous commanders relocating their command posts further to the rear creating more chaos.

The Americans Finally Getting Out of the Hills

Finally, and despite sporadic German sniping fire, the Americans were able to get their act together and start mounting their attack. Unfortunately, the primary axis of advance for the American attack along the northern edge of the front became bogged down by an aggressive Panther tank which wreaked havoc on the spearhead.

German Defenders on the Northern End of the Village

Fortunately for the Americans, on the southern edge of their front the artillery came reigning down fast and furious on the German positions, disrupting their defensive plans and giving the Americans an opportunity for a daring dash through the German lines. The Americans, desperate for any kind of an opening, seized the moment and sent everything they had through the gap in the German lines (was that a kitchen sink that just went by?). And they needed all of it!

The Americans Poised to Assault the Village

Realizing that he was in trouble, the German commander quickly responded by beginning to reposition his remaining Panther tanks to counter attack the American breakthrough. However, in a very fortuitous break for the Americans…er, I mean through excellent planning, time ran out on the Germans. The game time was up and victory points were awarded, which resulted in a very narrow victory for the Americans.

The Final Assault Into the Village

In reality though, the push through the German lines had cost the Americans so dearly that a couple more turns would have resulted in the Germans sealing the breakthrough and essentially ending the American’s hopes for a breakthrough this game.

All-in-all it was a great game which really went back and forth! I am left with an excitement for the next game and a chance to apply the lessons I learned from this game.

(UPDATE: I was so motivated after this battle, I prepped and finished another platoon of American infantry, Sherman tanks and M3 halftracks after this game in preparation for the next battle.)

Until next time…

Happy Gaming!

Dan

40K - GOOD FOR THE EYES

nospam@example.com (Dan Hobot) — 2008-05-07T06:44:00Z

GOOD LOOKING 40K

Pretty much every Thursday now, there are Warhammer 40K games being played at the shop. With the regularity of play, we are starting to see more and more of the armies getting painted and finished up. Recently there were a couple of real big multi-player games played at the shop – one on a ruined urban table, the other on a rocky green wasteland.

As you can see the quality and creativity of the players in finishing their armies is really getting good. And now with some of the players being inspired to start new armies, I can’t wait to see what hits the table next!

Until next time…

Cheers!

Dan