Plague Marines Finished!

Well, "finished" as in the seven I have.

I admit, if I were going to play Grimdark Future (as opposed to Firefight) or play 40K (not happening), I'd build up a full Death Guard force. The aesthetic is great, and best of all, they are easy to paint. 

As it is, I feel like this group could use a few more heavy weapons. Maybe support from a unit of Plaguewalkers ...

But I'll stop here for now!

The fellow in the front row, far right, was the final figure to be painted.

I used Tesseract Glow on the bases (the green bits). I was hoping for something like toxic waste  seeping up through, or spilled on, the ground. 

Not quite the end result I imagined but it's good enough to call done.

Also finished, but not pictured, was Reaper Bones orc that I started late 2023.

The last two of the five Blood Raven intercessors are on the paint table - the red base coat and highlight is done. My goal is to start assembling the Necrons this weekend.

One Hour Wargames : More Machine Age Changes

Most of the changes from this post  and this post on this subject still apply in one form or another, but there are new additions that have lead me to a game I find even more enjoyable.

An Unfortunate Oversight - elongated to 2' x 4'. Units are on 3" wide bases. Each infantry base is a company. 1" = 50 yards approximately.

Activation:

• Each leader figure on a side rolls xd6 to see how many units in their command may be activated that turn
• A poor leader rolls 2d6 and takes the lower
• An average leader rolls 1d6
• An above average leader rolls 2d6 and keeps the higher
• Leaders activate for free.
• Assault units activate for free.
• Units already engaged in close combat from a previous turn activate for free.

 

A sturmpatrol assaults the Italian unit holding the town.

Assault Units:

• Always count as in cover (take 1/2 damage)
• +2 in close combat
• May attempt to self-rally to remove morale result failures.  Counts as activation.
  

Infantry Close Combat:

• Requires a Guts Check prior to rolling to move. If succeeds may roll movement. If fails, unit may not advance and counts as having activated.
• Otherwise, use the modifications from the linked posts above.
  

Movement:

• Infantry, Leaders on foot, MG/Heavy Infantry - 1d6"/2d6"
• Assault units 1d6"+2" / 2d6" 
  
• Field Guns  1d3"/1d6"
• Cavalry  1d6" + 3"/ 2d6"+ 6"

The first number is for rough ground (almost everything), the second is for roads, flat solid ground etc.

Leaders :

On their activation, a leader figure may move and one of the following:

• Before or after moving, choose a unit within 6" recover 1d3 points
• Before or after moving, attempt to rally a unit with a morale failure marker
• Instead of moving, call in off table artillery on a target within 12"
  

Rallying:

Leader rolls 2d6 and if less than the damage taken by the unit, remove one morale failure. Poor leaders -1 to the roll, Avg leader +/- 0, Above Average +1 to the roll.

Meanwhile on the Austrian right, the battalion there effects a river crossing. It is slow and some of the units were more hampered than others.

 

Hit Point / Strength Point / Cohesion Points Recovery

• A unit that does not move, shoot, or engage in close combat may automatically regain 1 point.
• A unit that withdraws (increases the distance between it and the nearest enemy) automatically regains 2 points.

Shoot out across the river in support of the sturmpatrol assault.

Morale Results Test:

Every time a unit takes damage, they take a Morale Results Test.

Roll 2d6, if less than damage taken, fails

1st fail - no penalty, just a marker
2nd fail - May not advance towards enemy, attacks are 1/2 damage
3rd fail - routed

 

Guts Check:

Performed as Morale Results Test with no Morale Results Test failure rules applied. Taken before charging, going over the top, etc.

 

The situation at the end of turn 15. I decided the Italians could not withstand much more, but the Austrians had suffered on their left (the battalion that tried to take the village suffered high numbers of casualties). I ruled it a minor victory for the Austrians.

Recently, having read this post over on Blood and Spectacles  about wargame design, and then reading back through various linked post, I realized that what I enjoyed most in Contemptible Little Armies and in Trench Hammer was the way leader figures mattered.

I determined I wanted to focus my WWI rules around Morale primarily, and its relation to the other Ms (Movement, Melee, Morale, Missiles).

Neil Thomas explicitly notes that hit points for a unit represent morale, as well as casualties, so their recovery had to play some role in this. I wanted to find a way to reflect the leader's impact in some way ( a la Contemptible Little Armies), but also allow units some opportunity to manage their own morale (a la Trench Hammer). 

I settled on splitting the loss of morale from the effects of that loss. The former could be managed by the company commander on down. The latter would require a combination of both the company leadership and assistance from the battalion HQ to keep the unit on the battlefield. 

Does this reflect anything in real life? No idea.

The game pictured played out 15 turns in an hour with over half of the units remaining on the table, as is proper I think. Rather than finishing the game with one or two units total left on the table, they were able to stave off morale loss in different ways.

The leaders had a lot to do putting out fires and I enjoyed the decisions between rolling to remove a morale failure or removing hits on a unit. Logically there are times where one always makes more sense than the other, but there were often times where it felt like a gamble and I struggled to make the "right" decision.

Other changes I added this time around were simply to increase friction in a way that I find leads to an enjoyable narrative and solo gaming experience - activation pips, test to charge, the variable movement rate, that kind of thing.

These points of friction make a more dynamic and interesting game in my opinion,while still maintaining the underlying beauty of the One Hour Wargames Machine Age rules.

p.s yes, I re-based AGAIN. I decided I like the multi-figure bases best for the majority of my WWI gaming. I easily see them as companies, and have followed Hordes in the Trenches basing suggestions for number of figures per base (doubled in width due to figure size). If I decide to do individually based figures, I'll do it in 28mm or maybe 1/72.

In the Emperor's Name, Let None Survive

From 1917, we jump ahead 39,000 years ...

While I had wanted to paint the Space Marines in the blue of the Ultramarines (the different "chapters" have different names and color schemes), my son really wanted Blood Ravens. And, in the ongoing quest to entice him into playing games with me, Blood Ravens it is!

Blood Raven Intercessors. Chapter symbol decals have been ordered but are shipping from overseas. 

They won't win any awards, but they are easily good enough for the tabletop. They also continue my exploration of this method of painting - base, wash, base again, highlight - which is light years away from my usual, Deetail-inspired toy soldier painting. I really enjoy the results - although sometimes, mid-way through, after the wash is applied, I wonder how I will ever salvage the figures.

Also, this red was a bear to paint. 

Last weekend, I made a trek to the game store for paints, but they were out of Mephiston Red which I had wanted to use (based on a video I saw). Some quick searching on the web and I found that Army Painter Dragon Red was supposed to be a close match. They had it in stock, so I bought it.

It might be a good match, I don't know. I just know it took what seemed like 100s of coats to get an even finish.

Perhaps it was the white primer? I could have bought Mephiston Red primer but it's spray, and it's been so cold, that wouldn't be an option anyway.

Also, last weekend, I finished the second group of three Plague Marines:

These were painted with the drybrush-wash method.

After my lizard folk in various sizes, these are my favorite figures by far. I love their aesthetic, even if half of the time, I'm not even sure what different bits are supposed to be.

Obviously, basing still has to be completed. for both Blood Ravens and Plague Marines. Although I think I have a plan now, I have one more Plague Marine and two more Intercessors to paint before I will tackle that project. 

Country Road

Inspired by a rewatch of Many Wars Ago combined with a couple of situations I came upon while scrolling through Infantry in Battle, I put together a little scenario for the Southern Front.

An Italian column is in retreat when a scout comes under fire and orders a halt. In Many Wars Ago (Based on  Emilio Lussu's A Soldier on the Southern Front), the commanding officer become incensed that the column has halted and orders the scout shot. Hilarity ensues.

In the movie and the book , an already dead soldier is used to convince the commander that the execution was carried out.

 In my scenario, the lead, well you can call it a platoon of four sections and a platoon leader, takes cover in the treeline and the platoon leader organizes an effort to eliminate the gun so the column can pass. The Austro-Hungarian force has improvised some defensive cover on a hilltop. It consists of a machine gun team and a security detail of 8 men (all of my "sections" are 8 figures), and low ranking leader type to oversee the whole thing.

The PL starts in the road. He is very brave or very stupid.

A group of soldiers on the Italian right draws a portion of the Austrian rifle fire.

A section is sent forward on the Italian left and struggles to reach the hill.

In the middle things are going terribly as MG and rifle fire take their toll.

The Italian assault reaches the objective. Bayonets clash!

Alas this did not go well for the Italians. As a result they failed two morale checks and can't advance towards the enemy - except for the one stuck in close combat. The PL takes off at a run to rally them but he is nowhere close.

The PL sends the adjacent section to storm the hill and to relieve the stalled effort.

They reach the top and finish the job. The MG team is struck down and the game is over. Italian victory!

 

Rules were Contemptible Little Armies(CLA), played at the author's stated scale of 1 figure = 1 man (although he's clear that it's whatever you want it to be). The pathetic rifle ranges were adjusted to cover the entire table (I may use Bolt Action's shorter, more cinematic ranges next time). 

Shooting in CLA is figure to figure - which allows the Austrians to split their rifle fire between Italian units. Most rules I have are unit to unit shooting, which would severely hamper the Austrians. That said, in CLA, in practice, I tend to do either figure to unit, or small subset of unit to unit. It works for me.

I think going forward I will implement GASLIGHT's method of distributing hits on a target unit - that way, your group of figures may score three hits on the target unit, but all three end up on the same individual.

The game went 10 turns overall, which surprised me, as I had thought 6 would be sufficient. However, the Italians, due to poor movement dice, took forever to get to the hill let alone engage in close combat. 

There needs to be a win condition for the Austrian force, too - perhaps casualties inflicted or "hold out for X and then retreat", otherwise there is no natural stopping point other than a fight to the last man for one or the other side. I'll be setting it up for another go soon.

First Figures of 2024 (sort of)

I started in on my goal of painting everything I got for Christmas with the Plague Marines.

They came assembled and primed and I had all the colors I needed already, so they were the obvious place to start.

I used the dry brush + Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade final wash method that I used with my Nurgle Rotters and that I learned from Commander Cheapskate on YouTube.

The majority of the paints used here were craft brands. 

The bright green is provided by my new favorite paint color, Lime Sherbet (from Apple Barrel) which I used for the Rotters previously. It was dry brushed over a Russian Uniform Green base (Vallejo) which more or less disappeared between the dry brushing and the wash, but it's there. 

That's as much a note for my future self as anything - I have four more to paint.

I tried a rust effect - orange paint over gun metal on the chain mail, vents on the legs, and other bits - visible on the leftmost figure. I like how it looks.

I'm pretty happy with the overall result. I think they qualify as "Battle Ready" (that's like a GW term or something). They obviously need their bases finished but I haven't decided how I'm going to do the bases for this project.

I can't decide if I want each team's basing to be unique, or if they will all be uniform - like I do for my other collections, other than Blitz Bowl.

I need to think on that, so the paint queue will keep moving on.

New Year, Who Dis?

 Happy New Year!

As this is my favorite time of year for reading everyone's posts reviewing the previous year and making plans for the coming year (realistic or not), it would be poor form if I did not offer up my own similar post.

2023 A Quick Overview of Gaming Stuff

Somehow, I managed to paint most everything I said I wanted to, and plenty of extra (oddly, I didn't do any of the Southern Front things I thought I would, but I did paint additional infantry). I'm most happy about finishing three Blitz Bowl teams and bringing my Tanitians and Lizards up in strength.

I played quite a few games, many of which were not documented - I rediscovered the joys of playing without feeling the need to record the proceedings. One Hour Wargames, rules-as-written (Ancients) as well as modified (Machine Age), saw the bulk of the action. 

I would have never expected that a year ago.

Not OHW but my own grid-based amalgamation of Crossfire, Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit and The Portable Wargame. It was immensely satisfying to get my PTO figures re-based and back on the table.

 There were a lot of rules tried, however. And that leads nicely into:

2023 Top 3 Posts 

I don't normally look at my posts to see which ones have the most views - that's not why I write. But I was curious, after seeing what some others have posted, to see if there was anything to learn from the exercise.

So, what were they?

1. WWI Rules Review Sort Of 
2. The Next Day Somewhere in Europe (One Hour Skirmish Wargames)
   
3. Contemptible Little Armies and the Late Arrivals

I'm not at all surprised by the top spot - it's a review, sort of, and so it potentially has value to a wider audience than my usual ramblings. Indeed, it was shared on The Miniatures Page which led to most of the views.

Setup for The Next Day Somewhere in Europe

 The other two however, I can't explain. Perhaps it's that the post tile for each mentions a specific rule system? If you're actively trying to increase the views per post, that may be something to keep in mind.

2024 Plans

And now the part where unbridled enthusiasm seizes its opportunity.

Well maybe a little bridled.

As I've mentioned previously on this blog, 2024 will be the year of Grimdark.

For Christmas, as shown in that linked post, I gifted myself 48 Games Workshop figures representing four factions : Space Marines, Death Guard/Plague Marines, Tyranids, and Necrons. This is my primary goal/plan for 2024: paint all of them.

Space Marine Intercessors from the Fireteam game assembled. They'll be painted up as Blood Ravens, at my son's request.

It's more than feasible at just 4 figures per month but I do hope that I can paint them a little faster than that.

My second goal/plan is NO NEW FIGURES that aren't purchased with gift money (I mean, I can't help that people give me money because they don't know what to get me).

Lot's of us will make a similar vow for the coming year. Fortunately, in my case,  I did this for pretty much the last six or seven moths of 2023, so I've had some practice exercising restraint in this matter. It turns out it is surprisingly easy - or it was, once I realized I didn't need to buy figures every time an idea popped into my head.

This ties in somewhat with my efforts to reduce the size of my overall collection - painted and unpainted. Mostly though, I am trying to avoid accumulating for "someday" because 1)there isn't much space for that kind of thing in my apartment and 2)I'll probably have to move it at some point in the next few years and the less I have to pack the better.

I have all sorts of ideas about games I think would be fun to play, but at the same time, I hesitate to suggest that there's any kind of commitment in mind when I think of them. Instead, as I play games, I will make an effort to track them - even when not taking photos for the blog - so that I can see which collections are getting used and to what extent. 

That said, a mini-campaign or two are high on my list of possible undertakings.

***

I hope 2024 brings you whatever you want out of your gaming hobby and that your dice always roll high (except when you want them to roll low)!