News on Rules

Just an update to say that not only am I still working at knocking Big Little Wars into shape, but that a couple of fans are working on making OHMU War Machine available as a PDF.

Whether this is a facsimile of the original, or a revised an updated second edition has yet to be clarified?

There are pros and cons to both approaches, and shades between a facsimile that's revised to more extensive changes that bleed over to modernizing the combat resolution and command and control mechanisms to meet the current standards for wargame rules and making it a new edition.

Either way, if all goes well there will something coming, but as to when, I have no clue. It depends.

OMWB: Insurgent Improvised Mecha: Obsolete

 

I was just sorting out some Heavy Gear miniatures to send a friend, rummaging around in my spares box, but a moment of m̶a̶d̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ inspiration overtook me and I made some insurgent Improvised Power Armor, inspired by the anime show called, Obsolete.

Having made them I needed a name. So I ran a thread on Facebook that generated the  following list of names:

Ambul Haters

ATSW: All Terrain Support Weapon. Mutated to the nickname, "Ant"

Battle Choppers

CKT-M4A "Cricket"DRGW-21, "Dragoon Walker" perfect dragoons, riding those steeds

Dumpy

Footsloggers

Gunrunners

Gunstriders

Heavy Weapons Tactical Mobility Units better known as "Stompin' Ostriches" or "Stompies"

Highly Improvised Mobility Battle Объект

Islagiatt: It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.

JICP: Jupiter Industrial Complex Pattern TKY-974 Storm Walkers though more commonly known to the troops as "Turkey Wankers" for how vulnerable they are to enemy fire. Designed by Herbert Bingle. Although being a well regarded engineer will never admit that the idea come around XMas.

Locust LCT-3A: Light Cavalry Transports

Marcher: MG units

Outriders

Piggybacks

Prairie Cat

Tripp(a)ers: Tactical Response Improvised Plantigrade Pod (Armor ) E R

Zoomer's

With so many names to choose from I ended up making a poll:
 

Gunstriders finished first with 30 points; twice the votes of the next closest contender, the ATSW Ant with 15 points, which was three times more than HWTMU Ostrich/Stompies with 5 points. So Gunstriders will be the official name in the upcoming Bad Dog rules.

And to finish, today's post, I found this picture of the game banner for OHMU War Machine, which you can read a review of on Board Game Geek.

That's all folks. Catch you on the bounce!

VOTOMS in 10mm

These are Takara F/144 micro scale VOTOMS. Oh these are even lovelier than the GZG Hound Dogs. I got quite a large haul of these recently, sixteen boxes of these beauties in fact. These are an inveterate modifier's dream, as they come in lots of tiny-teeny pieces, which saves cutting them up and all. I can see that this may not have been their best selling point when they were first released though. When was that? Back in 2006, which means that I was quite lucky to find these on eBay. The chances of getting more is slim in the short term. In the long term, things come to those who wait.

The models are in a soft plastic, like most gashapons in fact, and as a result they bend a bit. The trick is to put some wire into them, which stiffens them up considerably. Once glued together they then become remarkably rigid. So here is a  shot with two 10mm MechWarrior infantry, a  GZG Hound Dog, and a BattleTech Atlas for size comparison.

I want to go back and tweak some of the models a bit more. Adding at least one bazooka rocket launcher weapon to one of the Scopedogs. Then modifying a couple of the rifles into snub guns too, along with making variants versions of the missile launchers. I also have three more of the blue Rabidly Dog mechs to make, and one more Blood Sucker mech ( the one with the red antennae) to make up. I've also got one Tortoise and three Diving Beetles along with assorted vehicles and accessories to play with too.

Furthermore, acquiring these has made me want to start playing OHMU Warmachine, a game that I wrote, but that I never thought I would want to start playing again.

However, these little mechs are just perfect for OHMU, and I've been inspired to peruse the old second edition files I have. OHMU was always written to be used with the miniatures that one could get hold of, as even back in the day, I didn't imagine ever marketing a range of specific OHMU miniatures. Not unsurprisingly, we got a lot of feedback saying that the game sucked because we hadn't market any miniatures for the game. Yes, we did draw up concept art, but that was for inspiration, and more of an aspirational thing for how the mecha of the world of OHMU looked.

Live and learn.

Anyway, I've also had a rules writer's epiphany and a moment of clarity about how to re-write OHMU Warmachine that came fully formed into my head. I'm trying to fight the urge to get over excited, and too involved in a project that will suck away all my time for very little reward though.

OHMU Warmachine didn't sell well, got reviews that said it was a mediocre to poor game, and generally the project dragged me down into the pit of despair that led to me losing interest in my hobby. Oh, and here is a nice conceit for all you VOTOMS fans.