OMWB: CASE-2X Mod-1 Kneeling Conversion

 

Above is the start of my next radical conversion, which is using a Desert Sharks Hunter as the reference to make a kneeling version of a RAFM Jager. First step was to cut apart a standing Jager.

 I have a few spare old RAFM Heavy Gear random parts that I scooped up as job lots of mismatched models.

After a lot of sawing, some drilling, filing, and a casting of Hunter foot I started assembling the parts for a kneeling CASE-2X Dog. 

Oh yeah, I had to carve out the other leg, which a bit of a faff. My wrists hurt after doing it. The other original foot wasn't such a chore, and now I'm ready to bring all the parts together.

Two views to show what I have to sculpt to complete the conversion.

That's a lot of volume that needs filling with Milliput to make the model whole again. That knee joint is alone is going to take some careful sculpting.

And I also found that the assembly wasn't as rigid as I would like it to be. Therefore I added a reinforcing bar, which I would have to do before basing the model. So no big deal.

That's all for now. More work to follow.

Catch you all the bounce.

Russian Commonwealth Infantry

These are using the same colour palette to go with my walkers that a posted here.

And another two jump-off marker for my SF version Chain-of-Command games.

And that's it until later.

K'Kree Finished

Only a year from the last post showing the start of painting these, and five years from priming them, to now finishing these my Martian Metals K'Kree.

This must count as one of the longest lead pile to completion in the hobby, given that Martian Metals went out of business in the mid-eighties, and I acquired these in 1984.

Happy New Year - 2023

Decals to do, but otherwise done.

And here we are. The end of another year. And here I am slipping in the last painted miniatures of 2022.

It has been a quiet year on the blog, for reasons. Those being the need to get my arse in gear and back to writing, which has not gone as well as I would like. Add to that ongoing health issues and here we are.

But, making and painting models have been good for my general well-being. So no grumbles.

I don't make resolutions as such, though I have some goals for next year. Namely get a working draft of Big Little Wars written. The current one is a mess, bloated, over written, and not working as it should to be a set of understandable rules.

That comes from having large aspirations to be the best rules I could write. Failure to deliver said rules being its own critique. But, I can learn from that, and remain hopeful I can pull the rules together.

After all, how hard can it be? Hard, but not impossible.

So, Happy New Year to one and all. Let's hope 2023 is better than the last three years.

Seasonal Salutations

Posted a little later than I intended due to circumstances beyond my control. They say timing is everything, and this post illustrates this succinctly. Something about prior planning prevents poor performance.

This year is another low key Xmas.

Given the state of the world this seems to be a thing. The presents under the tree were all things we agreed on, at least in principle, that we both wanted to read or watch together.

That's all. Catch y'all on the bounce.

Acquisitions: All the Shiny WIll Be Mine!

Perhaps not all, but like most wargamers I have that tendency to buy new toys that catch my eye. As an old time grognard I know one thing, all that is new now will be unavailable sooner or later.

So buy it now. Buy More!

Okay, the Evil Dead aside, hey you gotta keep up with the asides, references, and plugs here. I ain't got time to explain it all.

Ongoing work. The Russian Walkers first picture and above, and repairs to broken bits and using the excess Milliput to convert a heavy missile pack for my American force's combat armor suits below.

 

And other acquisitions. After a year of waiting, I finally acquired some Grym power armor from Hasslefree Miniatures. Six bodies with only one repeat pose, which is nice.

And, and assortment of arms and accessories to go with.

The swords and axes will be replaced with proper ranged weapons or grenades, and I also plan to add flight packs, as these miniatures are meant to represent the Chinese FATS-Cs. 

But I may change my mind as they're a lot smaller than I expected. There again they will match nicely with the Dream Pod 9 Gears I have.

I don't know, I just make it up as I go along. That's all for now.

Catch you on the bounce.

Mostly Done

And these are nearly done. Just need to put decals on, but as luck would have it (me forgetting to check), I've run low on the necessary duplicates of warning labels etc. So I had to put an order in for more decals from Shiny Games.

I've also finished three new jump-off points too (terrain that can also be objectives for the opposition to capture).

And finally, a GW paint pot holder. Printed by my beloved to prevent the pots from being easily tipped over.

And the decals and a couple of 'mistakes' arrived on Wednesday from Shiny Games (by mistakes, purchases I hadn't intended to buy, but the shiny called out to me. So, now it's time to start cutting out the decals to ready the mecha for the table.

That's it for now. Catch you all on the bounce.

Russian Walkers

Hard to believe, but it's all true, I started assembling these Heavy Gear walker back in 2016. They are suitable for both 10mm as large crewed mecha, and when used for 15mm games as smaller crewed mecha and robotic drones.

I drybrushed them first with off-white/light grey.

It's hard to see in these pictures but I've blocked in the grey on the undersides with GW Contrast Apothecary white (which is also a light grey). Then I applied brown on the sides, then green for the top surfaces.

I'm going for a simplified version of the scheme I did here.

These are meant to be what the Russian's use as combat armor in the Gate Walker universe. So I'll be using these as Russian Walkers for my Big Little Wars games. Makes sense, huh!

My intention is to paint up some power armor infantry to go along with these to make a playable army.

One Step Back

Woe is me. I varnished my current models yesterday, ready to apply the decals, and dropped them. Clumsiness of old age

Patience is a virtue, virtue is a grace. Grace had dirt upon her face.

So, I let the varnish dry before assessing what damage had been done. Examination of the miniature revealed a crack in one torso piece.

Lucky it was just the one model, but damnation, I didn't need this.

That'll learn me... I guess.

So superglue applied, now all I need to do is file the surface smooth and refinish. I may be some time...

Damn.

Big Little Wars: Post 9 - Asymmetrical Battles of Tomorrow 2

Here's the second post describing what makes this game different from all the other wargames out there. The near future setting of Big Little Wars is one where technology is unevenly distributed. A reflection of the current situation here on Earth, projected onto the future.

The Gate Walker stories are set in a universe where alien civilizations millions of years ahead of us exist.

In some sense, the setting hearkens back to the warfare between mismatched forces of the colonial period. Except now, the boot is now on the other foot.

The game's rules must allow battles between asymmetrical forces.

This is opposite to what most conventional science fiction wargames try to do. The biggest franchises rules are for competitions between two player. Battles between nominally equally balanced armies, facing each other to see who wins.

Instead, Big Little Wars aims to provide rules to make playing unbalanced battles fun.

The emphasis being on the need to play to a force's strengths to achieve the scenario goal. Games where it is possible for both players to win or lose. The outcome of games creating stories for the reasons the battles were fought.

I stole this idea from role-playing games.

So, one step to achieving this is to focus on command and control. I originally intended to label these as different tech levels.

However, feedback suggests this name conveys engineering and weapons, which it sort of does. And, that's not the whole story of how technological sophistication is a force multiplier. Rather, my thoughts are that technology improves the ability to command and thereby control a force.

So, the four different levels are based on the ability to integrate technology to leverage command and control of a force.

    •    Command Level 1: Early to mid 20th Century (approximately circa 1920 to 1980).
    •    Command Level 2: Late 20th to early/mid 21st Century (approximately1980 to 2040).
    •    Command Level 3: Late 21st Century (starting circa 2040 to 2100).
    •    Command Level 4: Advanced alien technologies (specific to the alien force).

Let me expand that snapshot and my assumptions

Command Level 1 

My assumption is that this is the natural outcome of industrialized warfare (sorry, I'm working from  a data-set of one, so assumptions have to be made).

We see this transition from traditional first-generation warfare, maneuver of line and column, change when faced with machine guns and indirect fire. This led to what is called, second-generation war of fire and maneuver.

Command Level 2

This covers the developments that come from improved technology and training.

The transition from forces maneuvering to face each other, to wars of outmaneuvering the enemy, so called third-generational warfare.

Command Level 3

I've taken the liberty of disconnecting this assumption from the military theory of generational warfare.

This is the idea of a connected battlefield; warfare as an internet of things. Whether this will realistically be the case is another matter, but the war in Ukraine gives us a glimpse of war where a drone can be sent to deliver a package to an enemy soldier that will ruin his day.

Command Level 4

Is a catchall term for what comes next. A civilization where technology, psychology, and society have advanced so far that  it's like looking into a singularity, where all within is hidden.

Or, if you prefer,:

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” 

– Arthur C. Clarke

In Big Little Wars, command level four will be reserved for aliens, or for settings that fall outside of the Gate Walker universe.

So, while I may not be planning on writing any scenario books involving giant super robots, or Kaiju that doesn't mean the the rules can't be used in such settings.

They're just not settings I'm expending my time on.