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.

Big Buster Mostly Finished

I've mostly finished the rebuild CAS-4CP model. It still needs a coat of gloss varnish before adding decals, and then afterwards I will need to spray matt varnish.

I'm so glad I've finished this rebuild because this rebuild has been a bit of a slog.

I think the added bulk really adds to the feel that the Buster is big, much bigger than the conventionally sized Ape and Dog combat armour suits that the Army and Marines use.

Kneeling Combat Armor Suit Mostly Finished

Mostly finished meaning that I need to spray some gloss varnish and then add decals and then spray again with some matt varnish.

So, this is the third Special Forces CAS-3-Mod-1 mech finished for my Combat Armor Suit Detachment Alpha  that appeared in my second novel, Strike Dog.

The remaining three mech models for my Special Forces unit are waiting some TLC on my workbench. As they say, watch this space.

OMWB: Kurganets-25

I recently acquired from Badger 3D a lovely resin printed Kurganets-25. I need to clean some minor flash off before painting, but the quality of the resin print is outstanding.

You may be asking why I bought this? Well, I reckon that this IFV will be around for the foreseeable future and is therefore perfect for games in my SF setting.

Besides which, I mention the Kurganets-25 in my World of Drei series of short stories.

Great Wargaming Survey 2023

Three takeaways from the 2023 Great Wargaming Survey are resin printers are popular, 98% of wargamers are in the hobby for life, and the average age of historical wargamers is rising.

Actually, go watch the video, it's worth watching.

My takeaway, we are all getting older, even us SF &F wargamers. The survey while an outstanding achievement is still self-selecting for those who know and can be bothered to answer. Caveat, none of us are getting younger.

That's all. Sharing because I care about stuff I do.

Thanksgiving Aftermath

It has been a long time since I posted a Thanksgiving post, but today we're recovering from last night's meal with Susan's colleague from work, Simon Bland, who really appreciated being invited to share a feast with us. He's lovely.

And while Simon didn't want his picture taken, and Susan was far too flustered to have hers taken, she took a lovely picture of me, which I'm going to share just because I love her for taking it.

Y'all have a great weekend, and catch you on the bounce.

Warfare 2023 Show at Farnborough

For the first time since Covid lockdown in 2020 we've been to a wargame show. We met up with Paul from The Man Cave. He described our conversation as erudite, which is totally flattering given the amount of cussing a typical conversation with me entails.

I looked around the show, but only bought some size 0 Kolinsky sable brushes that were on offer. I saw a lot of bargains, but I need more stuff to paint like I need another hole in my head.

Susan took a picture of me looking at temptation and resisting the urge to buy more stuff. There were plenty of great looking games being run.

Above and below are a couple of pictures of the impressive games on show.

For a full on video showing what we saw, check out Big Lee of Miniature Adventures, who has you covered.

And Susan caught me on camera wondering around the vast hall. As you can see there was a plethora of tournaments games being played on the day too.

And afterwards I gave Paul a lift back to London in my M1009 CUCV Chevy Blazer.

We were blessed with nice weather and had a great day out.

Big Little Wars: Post 12 - Small Robotic Attack Platforms (SRAP)

Small Robotic Attack Platforms (SRAP)

Small robotic attack platforms (SRAP) is a generic catch-all term that covers all remotely operated small robotic vehicles. Human oversight is required for them to move and attack.

Remotely operated SRAPs come in a range of configurations with different capabilities. The most commonly seen are small flying drones, more correctly referred to as a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle).

Civilian SRAPs are only available at defense of 2, because they are commercial platforms rigged to carry weapons. Armoured military variants have a defense of 4.

However, unarmed reconnaissance UAVs are often deployed by the military as semi-autonomous vehicles. See Semi-Autonomous Combat Platforms (SACP) in the Armoured Fighting Vehicles section (coming soon in a separate post).

Small robotic platforms are not affected by shock, so they are not assigned a shock rating. But they can be hacked. Small robotic platforms are bought as needed, but are not always available to players in all scenarios.

Creating Small Robotic Attack Platforms

The base cost for each small robotic attack platform is the movement added to the defense value. This section provides examples explaining how to use the tables below to create and cost the value of unmanned robotic attack vehicles. 

SRAPs must pay to mount weapons and the for cost of the weapon. All movement is in meters.

The weapons for SRAPs can be found below, added at cost. Chosen from the available weapons for the size of mount chosen.

I'm all too aware of the time between this and the last post about these rules. No excuses, it's all down to me dropping the ball.

Finally, thoughts and opinions always welcome.

NB: Big Little Wars posts to date.

OMWB: Frustrating Big Buster Rebuild

This is what I've been working on for the last month, with additional delays due to new glasses and general life events getting in the way. I wanted to improve the fit of the torso by seating the magnets better.

However, the first delay was waiting for more magnets to arrive.

This model is one of a pair I originally built as reference for the artist I commissioned for the cover art for my novels. So this build served a dual purpose.

 

I also wanted to take the opportunity to refit and upgrade an earlier conversion with ball joints. Adding ball joints appeals to my inner nerd. 

 

Shock horror, it did not go well. There was much buggeration with the old two steps forward, one step back. But, challenging setbacks are an opportunity to improve.

The other part of the rebuild was changing the backpack and pop up missile pack using parts from a RAFM Kodiak I'd acquired.

 And here it is. Looking totally bad ass even if I say so myself.

But, another mishap occurred when drilling the attachment points for the ammo chute (not seen because, duh!), when the drill bit broke. So, still a work in progress.

It is what it is.

The Big Scopedog: Blogoversary too!

I've got my new glasses and can see to start work again, but everything on the table is still very much a work in progress, where progress can be defined as close to zero as to make no difference.

Sucks to be me.

Still, I got my big 1/12th scale Takara Scopedog down off the shelf to dust it off, and reassemble the cockpit that had come astray when showing the mech off to friends.

Now dusted, and photographic proof to boot.

NB: Added as I just realised this is the same date as my first blog post that was 14 years ago. Doesn't time fly?