Our First DC Gamer meeting

Attendance was good, with three out of our six members being in attendance, myself, Jage, and an old friend of mine, Chris Hyland. I decided to run Fistful of TOWs because I had a lot less painted 6mm than I thought I'd had (With the exception of Battletech 'Mechs). So, onward and upward!

The game was a British Armor Battalion with elements of another one, plus some scratch Brit and German forces against a Soviet Regiment of T-64 and BTR-70, I had a shot up Polish Regiment backing them up (T-72 and BMP-1). Well, I led off with the T-64s on the right, and the Brits opened up at long range. Forced a platoon to run. I returned fire with AT-8 (Only thing that would scratch the paint on a Challenger), didn't even manage that...then the slaughter really began. In the next turn, the T-64 Battalion evaporated under 120mm fire. So, I brought in the Polish T-72s....they didn't even last that long. So, I tried to get the Infantry forward under cover of the hills...no dice, the Brits hung back, and shelled the Soviet infantry into submission. That battalion broke, then the regiment failed it's quality check, at that point, the Polish battalion wasn't going to go forward alone, so it was game over. Only Brit casualties was some Challengers forced off with 120mm Mortar fire. My one airstrike bombed the wrong target.

There was some thought about modifying the scenario, reducing the brits, which I think would have worked, or starting them further back, also a good suggestion, both from Jage, incidentally. I think I probably also should have had more Soviets. Probably two full regiments, or perhaps three. FFT eats battalions, especially Soviet ones like popcorn. Then again, that's not totally unrealistic.

Sadly, I forgot a camera. Do'h! Next time, I will remember!

Something I posted on TMP, but I'd love to develop this further

Well,
It's a new year, and I thought it might be time for us to voice things we'd like to see in the future with various miniatures lines and from specific manufacturers to supplement existing lines? These opinions are mine alone, but I'd like to hear from others…hey, it's why we discuss things on this board, right?

So, without further ado:

Ground Zero Games Specific items:

Tracked and Hover Alien vehicles (Something for our Alien Mercs and or other Alien races?)

More FCT poses (maybe a leader and commo pack?)

More SF Egyptian poses (I know we discussed this, but they need a Leader/HW pack.)

Hammers Slammmers (More poses, perhaps a kneeling/prone pack, some grenade launchers, and maybe some more leader types with SMG/Rifles and a tribarrel ground mount with crew?)

UNSC Hardsuits (Some kneeling and prone figures, snipers and more leader types)

FSE (Some HW (Man portable Plasma gunners and Tac Missile Teams), a leader and commo pack, and maybe snipers in both Kepi and helmet)

Militia (Mounted figures on horseback ala the 25mm line, as well as some "grizzled vets" types wearing elements of their old kit?)

Grav versions of your warbot line? (Not the MAWP, but the newer smaller bots)

NAC types in softer inertial armor ala 2300. Perhaps some could wear a mix of patrol caps and berets?

Khurasan Specific Items:

Felids (More specialist types, perhaps some sappers, a SAW gunner and a commo type?)

Critical Mass Games Specific Items:

ARC Fleet Recon (SAW Gunner Pack, I know they're supposed to be Gauss Rifles, but SAWs can carry more ammo and a bigger battery?) (Tick one on that list, the SAWs are underway and will be out this year. Posted to TMP thread 1/15)

Rebel Miniatures Specific Items:

Sahadeen Mortar/MRL teams? (Cheap arty for guerrillas), and sappers with satchel charges, limpet mines, thermobaric LAWs and flamethrowers?

EF Light Recon types? (Fatigues, floppy hats, Night Vision, heavy packs, lots of commo gear with SATCOM uplink setup, tricked out rifles and some snipers? Perhaps some with active camo cloaks?

EF downed dropship crew or POWs?

Sci fi versions of your contractors? Incorporating some elements of what you'd see in the Traveller Mercenary book.

Sahadeen HVT pack (Charismatic leader and his bodyguards?)

Other Ideas:

Some PA with "non-Western" (ala John Ford, not geographical) themes. I am thinking a mix of cast off BDUs, rags and cloaks? Maybe even some in the remains of NBC gear?

Sci Fi media crew?

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Ok, say it with me folks, we've been begging for terrain in the 15mm sci-fi world for years. GZG was amongst the first to work on this, and their latest efforts have been great...but my jaw dropped with what's coming out of Painted Terrain.com



It's styrene, so it'll be lightweight, and from the general "put together out of bailing wire and scrap metal" look, one can modify it with styrene, cardboard, and green stuff to one's hearts content!

Well done guys!

The Zombies...their moans...they call to me!

MUST RESIST NEW PERIOD!!

Ah hell, who the f&*k am I kidding? I already have civilians and troops to fight the zombies...a few more civies, some appros vehicles and AWAY we go.

Heck, if I do it in 15mm, most of my work's already done!

Osprey is already coming out with a book. So, this will ease my "research". And heck most I might need is more pickup trucks, and Zombies of course...

The Slammers are coming

The first of my miniature "meanest bastards who ever wrecked a planet for pay!"

Met some fellows from TMP...and I can finally put names and faces to them!

Went downtown last night (what am I saying, I LIVE THERE...it's a running theme), where I met Jovian1 and Gallowglas from TMP and we ate at Fuddruckers (No jokes about the name please). We had planned on Chinese...but due to my startling lack of a sense of direction..I got us lost. Oh yeah, I can just imagine what would happened with a map and a compass....

We had a good discussion, some of which I won't relate...as it's not my place to, but the parts about GG's views on gaming realism, or lack thereof (he clearly lies in the "at the end of the day, it's a freaking game" school, as do I), were especially illuminating. Too often, I think we're wrapped up in the crunchy bits or nits of the hobby and we just don't think hard enough about the fact that our entertainment happens to be derived from somebody's moment of sheer terror. I'm not having a change of heart about the hobby, far from it, but I feel by doing the prep work right...any fun that is had in a modern or WWII game, can be, if done with reverence for the subject matter, a sort of memorial to those that did the actual deed. Research is your friend in this hobby, and though many historians disagree with me, I find eyewitnesses are a useful part of that. Thanks for reminding me, Gallowglas. And Jovian1 and Gallowglas pointed out a few truths that are of use to anyone thinking of running "cops and robbers" games.

In other news, I am discovering the joys of Kneadite. And are they many...Damn why didn't I buy this sooner! This stuff rocks...I'm just learning it's uses...and who knows...I really would like to learn how to sculpt. Maybe I'll just sculpt those long sought after 20mm Philippine Army folks for Baatan myself. I may not get them any other way...So, if you have any places I can learn the ways of the Kneadite Force, as it were, point them out so I can learn them and get better.

Mark the Date! Feb 27th!

Hi all,
The DC Gaming Group is proud to announce it's first meeting! Feb 27th at 1:30 PM at the Pallisades Neighborhood Library in Northwest DC. This may not be a permanent solution due to time constraints and such, and I am looking into other options, stay tuned on that.

We'll be playing some Dirtside II 6mm stuff to kinda get to know each other and get our feet wet. So come on by, it will be the Small PAL meeting room.

New DC area Miniatures Group forming

Hi all,
I and a few like minded folks are forming a group to handle the gaming needs of folks who aren't up to making the drive out to either Fort Belvoir for Eagle and Empire or Game Parlor Chantilly for NOVAG nights. We're talking about the Palisades Neighborhood Library in NW as a place to meet. It's looking good for our purposes. And what do we need now? Members! So, if you live in Falls Church, Kensington, Northwest, Silver Spring, Wheaton and other places close in to DC that I haven't mentioned, come on in. We'll have a date decided soon! So, join the group here:

DC Gaming Group Page

The KAFERS ARE HERE!

I wrote rules for them for Ambush Alley and Force on Force...and they're free from the Yahoo group...get them while they're hot!

Get them here

A lot's happening these days

Seems the 15mm TFL post had quite the effect of drumming up folks to play with..I guess "if you paint it, they will come" really does work! I am currently working on my USCMC force courtesy of QRF as well as my Hammers Slammers. I have to find suitable vehicles for the Marines. I think these ought to do nicely:



I am also working up what my Zhodani are going to look like, probably going with the New Israelis with the Advanced Gravs for that, and then the Aslan are going to be a mix of the RAFM figures, and the Felids from Khurasan.Probably go the same route with the Vargr.

As for John Connor's resistance army, I am going to get some Toyota pick up trucks from Peter Pig and mock them up with some plasticard armor. Then it's wait for Khurasan to release the Sepulvedan Resistance guys they're promising. I really can't wait for those or when AAG releases Tomorrow's War.

If we thought 2009 rocked for 15mm Sci Fi...Wait till 2010 is through.

..and a late addition to my Terminator army

Some infiltrators to give the humans some more headaches! Now to put together that Mantis I bought from GZG for a Aerial HK!

The Tanstaafl Free Legion-Welcome to Aurore!

Aurore, Tanstaafl Colony, 20th January, 2302.

2nd Lieutenant Hans Schrager looked on in some measure of impatience. He wanted to get on with the latest patrol of Aurore’s Hotback. It had been 5 days since Admrial Borodin and his fleet defending Aurore had smashed the latest attempt by the Kafers to take the colony. He’d let them gain orbital superiority, even begin landing ops, then caught them in a very nasty englobement. Not a single Kafer ship had gotten away, though, true to the nature of the aliens, none had tried.

What had complicated things was that not all the landers had been caught, and a number of Kafer lifepods had made planetfall. Any Kafer who had made planetfall was dangerous. Kafers were hermaphrodites. They could reproduce easily and a three year old Kafer was an adult. And they had a nasty habit of being able to use anything from sharpened sticks to captured human firearms once they “got smart”.

Tanstaafl was an independent colony. It didn’t have a Terran government back home to support it. It had been fighting the Kafers on its own, with only its militia and mercenary “Free Legion” to keep the Kafers away since 2298. This was slowly changing. Rumors were that American Marines and Texan Rifles would be arriving any day now. Schrager hoped so, his men and equipment were worn out. His “Ramrod” platoon was being called out after an all too short rest and refit cycle to do a 250-kilometer sweep of the Hotback where radar in Tanstaafl City had detected some Kafer landers go down. Recon flights were too risky, as the area was too thick with Kafer “Snapfire” remote SAMs.

Schrager walked the line of his troops, stopping here and there to make sure a trooper had secured extra ammo or water. The Hotback gave new meaning to the words “desolate” and “barren”. They were a far cry from the lads he’d led against the frogs at the Somme ten years before as an Oberfeldwebel in a proud Bavarian regiment. Post-war reunification politics had done him in. He was a Bavarian, and that was all that mattered. After knocking about as a hired gun and bodyguard up and down the French Arm, he’d found a new war on Aurore. And he’d done well, he’d taken a Texan wife and was expecting his first child any day now, which made this deployment all the more galling.

To make matters worse, the TFL’s fame in taking on the Kafers had attracted an influx of recruits. The colony’s leaders, as well as the TFL had been able to be picky. The good news was that all the men and women who had come, they were willing to fight. After that, the headaches had compounded. Schrager, thankfully, was blessed with several quality NCOs and his vehicle crews had been with him since he’d arrived two years ago as a Corporal. Promotion came fast in the TFL, all you had to do was two things..survive and prove your competence. Neither came easily. If the Kafers didn’t kill you. Aurore just might. Oddly, Schrager wouldn’t have it any other way. He smiled grimly at that thought.

His helmet headset crackled and the singsong voice of his platoon sergeant came over the platoon push. Sergeant Major Lien’s voice chimed like fine porcelain over the tinny speakers, her Manchu accent in full force. Her German and Texas accented English was fluent, but she had never lost the Manchu accent.

“Boss, Company wants us out there already. Captain Gross wants that sweep yesterday, that and we have to go check on a downed relay near Distant Thunder.”

Schrager shook his head. Such things could be nothing more than mechanical problems, or, they could be Kafers. Either way. Ramrod 131 would go check it out, and deal with it if there was something the militia couldn’t.

Time to get on with it..”Ok, Lien, mount the kids up and let’s get this done.” As he responded to Lien, the old Kangaroo IV APCs spooled up their MHD turbines with whines of protesting metal and sputtering fans. The old machines were past their prime, battered and pockmarked by stray rounds and splashes from spent plasma bolts. But, they’d done well for their second war. But he’d seen what happened when the Kafers had caught one straight on. It wasn’t an accident that APCs were called “coffins” in TFL slang.

Schrager shouldered his AS-89 and sighed again in resignation. What would happen, would happen. He was a soldier, and this was his world now. Time to go do what they paid him to do, thus, another day on Aurore began as Murphid cast it’s blood red glare over the open plain as Ramrod 131 departed in a flurry of dust and the whine of turbines.

How to for TFL Infantry

It's pretty simple as paintjobs go.

1. Prime Black

2. Using a mix of Vallejo Pastel Green (885) and American Uniform (922), paint the exposed uniform parts, I did a American Uniform base, then a wash of Pastel Green.

3. Paint the Helmet, webgear, pouches, vest, shoulder armor, knee and elbow pads American Uniform

4. Do a dot camo with a 15/0 or a 20/0 brush (this is the eye straining part) on the Helmet, vest, and shoulder armor pads with Flat Brown (984) and German Camo Dark Green (979).

5. Paint face and hands with Dark Flesh (984) and then hit it with Privateer Flesh Wash.

6. Paint the Rifles/SAWs Dark Gray (994)

7. Flock the base and seal.

Almost forgot to mention

Got my new Grav Tanks from Top Gun Marketing They're as nice as advertised and the trickiest part was the magnet installation, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'll have a detailed review later, but for now...you might want to check out the news they'll be having a painting contest!