Bits, Bobs and Future Projects

 I have been working on a lot of projects simultaneously, so thought I would share what is coming in the future. First off, if the map is not a giveaway, there are the campaigns. WWII Toy Soldiers, see previous post, 19th Century Unification Wars, Dog Wars, and another project are all being given maps. The first two will be sharing the same map, or at least s similar one. The rest will have their own as their setting are quite different. 

Painting, painting and more painting. My never-ending chore that is self-inflicted. Like most gamers I have enough figures already to keep me at this for two lifetimes. OK, more like three or four lifetimes. I will never be done, as there is always a next project. I don't really finish any project, I just need to add a few more figures. Honest! Everything just needs that extra unit, or two, or three, or dozen, or ... To that end I added the new Army Painter SpeedPaint 2.0 to my collection. It's just a few colors. OK, OK, it's 89 colors, including 10 metals, and as SpeedPaint that means no deep shades, highlights, just each one doing a single full shade coat. Will I use all of these? Oh sure. 

Organized and Ready to Go. 

WWII Toy Soldiers painting continues. I have completed all the basic forces and am now on to the filling out stage, things like more First Line Infantry, Mortars, Anti-tank Rifles, trucks, tanks and so on. I have multiple sets of rules to tryout, Arriba Espana, Xenos Rampant, and Chain of Command. Each of these has their own feel and complexity and I need to decide which works the best for the games I want to run. 

Republican MGs

Royalist MGs

Royalist SMG Unit

Royalist Mortar and Anti-tank Rifle

High Command of Both Sides and Kaboom Markers

Bob and I got in a few play test games of Arriba Espana and Xenoes Rampant. I need to create a crib sheet for Arriba to help track all the things you do in the game. Xenoes turns out to be a bust. We played two games in under twenty minutes, and both were disasters. Xenoes looks like it would be fine to play alternative rules for 40K, but not very good at WWII. 

First Turn of Game One. 

Start of Game Two. We Both Have Learned a Few Things from Our Earlier Playthrough. 

End of Game Two. Bob Nearly Won This as His Forces are About to Breakthrough When His Army Becomes Exhausted. My Own Army was on the Brink of Exhaustion Too. 

WWII Toy Soldiers Progress - Part 2

 

I have started working on a map for amongst other things the WWII Toy Soldiers. This is the outline I am working from and there is a lot of changes I will be making, but this is the starting point. 

I got some more figures completed and am close to having enough ready for the first play test. My target is to have that ready early next week. No new troop types like Machineguns and Mortars added yet, but those are next on deck. I thought while I was posting I should add some better pictures of the Republicans. 

Royalist First Line Infantry

Royalist Second Line Infantry and High Command.

Royalist Artillery 

Royalist Army

Republicans and Royalist Side-by-Side View. 

Republican First Line Infantry. 

Republican Second Line Infantry.

Republican Artillery. 

The Republican Army. 

Royalist Defending a Border Town Against a Republican Attack. 

Republicans Storm the Town. 

Republican and Royalist Second Line Infantry Clash Outside of Town. 

WWII Toy Soldiers Progress

 

I have gotten a bit farther on both the world design and the painting sides of my game. The two sides are now the Royalists and the Republicans, not very original, but it covers the immediate needs of describing them. If you know anything about my style it is that I like Civil Wars with both sides being similar, with only slight variables. 

Background: After the Great Wars the victorious Nations dictated the abdication of all their adversaries' ruling families and their replacement by elected governments. The losing Nations would also have their territories broken up to prevent future wars. This all seemed grand to the victors by promoting democracy around the world, and self-autonomy to the various "repressed" peoples. It was not viewed as well by the people who had lived together for hundreds of years and whose cultures were split apart and given a form of government they know little about. Needless to say, things did not go over as expected. All the reforms did was replace a well governed kingdom with a group of small, self-serving countries. 

Coming: The Return of the King.

Here are additional pictures of the progress. These are not the best, and my wife the photographer would chastise me for taking the group shots facing the sun. I got it right on the rest. 

Republic Army First Line

Republic Second Line Troops

Republic Field Artillery

Republic SMG Troops

Republic Line Officers 

Royalist Test Figures. Still Undecide on the Helmet Color. 
Left side is Brown Violet, Right side is Olive Grey. Opinions Welcome. 

Same as Above, just a more Distant Look. 

A Comparative Look at Royalist Tests and Republican First Line. 
The Royalist Figures are not yet Satin Sealed. 

Republican Army in the Field. 
Note to Self. Keep the Sun at Your Back. 

Another New Project - WWII Toy Solders

 I have started another small project, this time it is Between the War/WWII era using toy soldiers. The figures are from Mark Coppelstone's Little Soldiers, which he refers to as pseudo-nostalgic Neo-Retro. What I call them is simple cool.   

This is more of a quick side project as I gear up for the new REALLY big thing, more on that in a future post. I have built two, as of now, unnamed forces, both organized along similar lines of four units of rifleman with a supporting LMG and officer for every other unit. There are two HMGs, a mortar group, anti-tank rifle and artillery gun with crew of four. There is also a second line pair of units, along with either and LMG, or HMG depending on the side. 

This is Army A Awaiting Painting. 

Here is Army B. 

I am envisioning these forces as something along the lines of Balkan's nations, or perhaps something like the opposite sides in the Spanish Civil War. I will be trying out a number of different rules sets such as Xenos Rampant, The Portable Wargame, Command and Colors WWI, or even something of my own design. 

I am also doing something different, at least for me, with all of these figures getting a Satin Varnish coat instead of the normal Dullcoat I use. This to me really changes the look from Historical Figures, to Toy Soldiers. 

First Basic Test Colors Based somewhat on US Regulation Uniform of the Era. 

A More Comple Version that I Rejected. 

The Final Unform for Army A. You can See the Shiny Effect of the Satin Coating on These Vs the Previous Image. This is the Standard Squad of Four Riflemen. 

HISTORY - IN THE BEGINING

 When Suddenly…

Having no access to this other blog anymore, I decided to repost parts here in a kind of history lesson. 

About a decade ago I decided that rather than build numerous armies for the Horse & Musket period I would simply build a pair of armies that would be used for all the rules I wanted to game. Having chosen this radical approach I knew that gamers being gamers, I would encounter those that could not wrap their head around the idea of Seven Years War figures being used for Franco Prussian Wars, or Napoleonic’s being used for the Glorious Revolution. That drove me to my second radical step. I would build armies from Eureka’s Toy Town line. When asked, “What are you playing?” I would simple answer, “Toy Soldiers.” I knew this would not be to everybody taste, but if you have read this far then you must be one of those that this appeals to.

 The idea was liberating. I could paint figures in any uniforms I could dream up. I could pick flags I liked and even create new ones. No one could ever come to my game and say, “Sorry, but that is the wrong color for the 43rds turnbacks, and they had seven buttons on their gaiters not five. How can you play with them knowing that?” When asked, what are they painted to be? I simple say, “They are cool uniforms.”

One of the Earliest Games 
The Armies of Otherwhen (Foreground) and Nodd on the Fields of Mars

 Since I was not using historical forces I needed to create ImagiNations. For my inspiration I first chose an army from one of my favorite stories/movies, The Wizard of Oz. I have always had a soft spot for the Wicked Witch and so was born Otherwhen. I based my second army on the idea that as a youth the prince of the neighboring kingdom, Nodd had been betrothed to the princess of Otherwhen, but had fallen in love with another beautiful fair-haired maid and married her instead. This insult would put the two nations at war for all eternity. Thus was born the Toy Soldier wars of Nodd and Otherwhen.

FROM TINY ACORNS...

 Projects grow into giant oaks, and so it goes with my Toy Soldiers army. Back around 2009, on a whim, I decided to pick up some of the Eurika Toy Town figures with the idea of putting on a Christmas game. This was a small project as I was only getting about 130 total figures to represent both sides. I painted them up, dug out some simple rules, I think it was Sword and the Flame, and played a few games using a rug, books, and as I recall even a small Christmas tree. That simple project turned into something a bit bigger. I added a few more figures, about double, wrote some simple rules, and put on some more games and to my surprise people really liked this. I had also discovered I really enjoyed putting together these armies, especially coming up with a little background story for each army and why they fought, and oddly, I really liked painting them. I find I keep adding more, continue to tweak the rules, and run games...OK you get it. I am obsessive about these figures. Every time I decide enough is enough and go onto other projects, inevitably during the Christmas season I pull them out for an annual game, then my mind drifts into the dangerous spot of thinking, "You know what would be cool?", and below you can see this year's results.   

The Newest Additions Since Christmas.

The 1st Udderwhere Battalion: The Winter Guard.

The 1st Oberhere Hussars. An Important Addition, as This Gives Both Sides an Independent Light Cavalry Brigade. 

Who the Heck are These Guys?

CHRISTMAS TOY SOLDIERS GAME 2022 - SLAY BELLS RINGING

 

Another Holliday Season is upon us and that means it is time for the annual Toy Soldiers Game. This was the first outing for my newest Fast Play rules. The rules are targeted for larger numbers of players to be able to understand easily and play games of around 15 turns in 4 hours. They still need some testing, polishing, and a little expanding so, I will post details on them later. 

The game pitted the attacking forces of Queen Azkadellia's (The Wicked Witch) army of Otherwhen against King Charming's army of Nodd defending an area of high ground in front of the Mighty River. After losing the resent battle of Tinsel Town, King Charming had given orders for a general retreat, then parted the army to review the construction of the defenses around Sugarton. The King left his fiery General Hans C. Anderson in charge of the army in his absence.  Rather than retreat back to Sugarton, General Anderson decided he could stop Otherwhen's advance here and erase the loss of Tinsel Town from his reputation. General Anderson's confidence of victory grew when he saw the small size of the pursuing forces of Otherwhen. 

Unbeknown to General Anderson was that General L. Carrol in command of the Guard, had been given direct order to save the Guard and "Get them to Sugarton" by the King himself on his departure. Torn between duty to the King, loyalty to his comrades in arms, and his own desire to seek revenge for the insult of Tinsel Town General Carrol delayed his Brigades withdrawal to see how the battle turned. 

Otherwhen Forces Appear Ready to Give Battle Against Nodd. 

Arrayed for Battle the Otherwhen Forces Appear Outnumbered. 

Nodd's Army Offers Battle Feeling Secure on Their Superior Position on the Highground.  

On Their Right Otherwhen Forces Advance Up the Valley to Avoid Fire from the Nodd Artillery Covering the Opposite Valley. 

As Massed Otherwhen Reinforcements Appear Nodd's General's Anderson and Carrol Realize Their Mistake in Trying to Hold Here. 

The Trap is Sprung as Elite Combined Forces of Otherwhen Suddenly Appear Behind the Right Flank of Nodd's Army. 

Nodd's Right Flank Being Assailed from the Front and the Flank Have Been Forced to Retreat Back Through the Woods. 

With More Enemies Continually Arriving Nodd Forces are Unsure Which Way to Go.

With Artillery Firing Directly in Their Faces Otherwhen's Elite Cavalry and Infantry Continue on Pounding on the Enemy Flank.  

On the Opposite Side of the Field Seasoned Otherwhen Troops Emerge from the Valley Driving the Nodd Forces Back. 

Lead Forward by Otherwhen's Famous Zeebatillion "Orcas" with Fire and Steel They Drive Back Nodd's Celebrated Black Barron's Brigade.

With the Situation Desperate Genral Anderson Personally Rides Forward to Attempt to Inspire his Troops to Hold as The Guard and Others Attempt to Retreat Across the Mighty River Bridge. 

By battles end General Anderson had saved the entire Guard and nearly half the rest of his army, but at a high cost. His best cavalry and infantry lay fallen on the field. Otherwhen had been slowed, but their losses were minimal. In a day they would have rested and reformed and again be on their way to battle King Charming. 

For the most part the rules ran smoothly. A few issues arose, such as no rule for Command casualties, and the low casualty rate from shooting. Basic mechanics all are sound, and Command Control worked out the way I wanted it. Rules are tweaked, missed parts have been added and a fuller roll for the army C-in-C is being worked on. All this leads me to the conclusion there will be a new battle sooner than later.