Cold Was 2011 Part Two: Pictures!!!

Just a few of the pics that came out from Saturday:

A beautifully chaotic Trench Wars game

A naval game using opaque plastic panels over blue felt. Sparkly!

Ooooh! Ruins!

A cardboard Western town

All the King's Men 54mm fort

Age of Steam Sci-Fi? Tricorner hats and DaVinci Machines

Up, Up, and away in my beautiful balloon

Civil War using HeroScape

Jungle Terrain

A game of Epic (Space Marine)

Fleet Action game for control of the Canals of Mars

Pirates! Arrrrgggghhhh!

And a mandatory Napoleonic shot...

Next up: Part Three - Gnomes!

Cold Wars 2011 Part One: Overview

I made my visit to Cold Wars this Saturday in Lancaster. It wasn't until the end of this week when I knew if I could go or not, so I thanked my lucky stars that I got there at all.

I left the house at 530am with my satchel, a Legions of Steel boxed set, the Gnome Wars Swiss Engineers, and a shopping list. I got to the Host at 730am and headed directly to the Hopewell Room, where I met Nichols for the exicitment of the day: The HMGS board meeting. Now, I did sign an NDA as the legal issues revolving around "The Baltimore Fiasco" were discussed, and I plan on honoring the paper. Let me just say that I'm okay, you're okay, and the HMGS is okay. I'm glad I attended, as it put to rest piles of rumors I've heard.

Registration was almost painfully slow. I'm not quite sure if it was volunteer, training, or participant related, but I'm happy I paid in cash.


We then dashed down to the Tennis Barn for the dealers. I couldn't tell you who was specifically missing, but their abscense created more room for some dealers, and sometimes better table displays and overall attitudes. I went through my regular batch of dealers, MBA, ATKM, Brigade, Eureka and the Warstore and lightened my wallet. I only got hit with two surprises in the hall: (1) Splintered Light was there and I could see their anthromorphic animal packs. They are way too tiny! (2) Lon at Brigade proudly released the Gnome Wars Highlander mortar....

Outside of the items I was previously aware of, there was nothing that struck me as "must buy" stuff. Same thing goes with the flea market. There was some heated, but flexible negotiations, but nothing I would want. I had seen LOS packs at the flea market every other con, but this time there was nary an item that had brushed up against a blister pack of Nightmares.

We wandered around a bit more and found Steve at a Civil War game played on Heroscape. Jeff we found extremely excited in a Black Powder game pitting American, Mexican, and French Foreign Legion together.

Besides another disappointing run to the afternoon flea market, the focus of the rest of the day was Gnome Wars (to be seen in part three). Besides following a car-carrying tractor trailer all the way up 72 to get to 81, the drive back home was uneventful, but very very late.

Needless to say, I'll be back to a guy's weekend, as a GM, to avoid the paperwork lines. I may even ponder using the Host for the hotel room. I love the Continental, but I think trying to cross traffic in March has become a bit old.

Next up: Cold Wars part two - The Pictures

The "Box"

Since we've moved into the house, I've had a shoebox of random minis stowed away on a closet shelf. With an overactive toddler looking for something to do, I brought down the box and we sorted through the *primed* lead.

And yes, we washed our hands. Safety first with two under two in the house!

It was a futile effort to separate and sort the items with a little girl who wanted to play with "The no-nos!" She was even more excited when she discovered a couple Ape Shamans and a Pack Ape, so she had "Mo-Mo No-Nos" (Translation: Monkey Gnomes).

The box was largely all the Hackmaster minis I've accumulated during the great run I had buying all things Kenzer & Co. You can see the multiple packs of half-painted orcs, all the character figures and the two giant ogres. Each figure is easily 30mm, and oversized at that and the Ogre is close to 75mm!

The painted figs behind the orcs are all individual figs I've picked up from Pictors Studios over the years. And I'm not sure of the manufacturer for the troll, but that one is Maja's and it's not for sale.

Maja found some puppies (Aarnz Hounds) and had a great time. After Cold Wars I think we'll break out the painting (finally!) and I'll let Maja have a go at one of those Ogres. I can always Pine-Sol them, rinse, and repeat. I love my No-Nos!

The tradition lives on!

With the birth of my second daughter, the terror of an extended hospital stay, the general chaos of two children, and my impatience with a tax return check, my trip to Cold Wars this year will be, at best, a day trip. At worst, a playdate supervising my two-year old and a friend back home, and somewhere in the middle, Nichols might come up and play some Legions of Steel Saturday.

The only tiny regret was that we couldn't make it another "guy's weekend." The last two years Nichols, Steve, and myself stayed overnight at Steve's place in Allentown Thursday night, drove down to Lancaster early Friday, passed out at the Continental that night and gamed till 8-ish Saturday. The first year, Steve's best friend Jeff accompanied us and it was epic. With only three of us last year, it was a bit subdued. However, with the exception of one event, we all gamed together for two whole days and no one got on each other's nerves. There's a blog post from last March about it. Look it up.

With a possibility of no Cold Wars, I shot for the next option. I called Nichols, and if he didn't get up early enough, Casa del Viscount was open for the above-mentioned Saturday gaming. To be certain I sent out my broadcast email, just to see if there were any other takers.

The only response I've gotten has been from Steve. Apparently, he and Jeff have decided to continue the now 3rd Annual Guy's Weekend. No details, but I'm absolutely amazed that he organized the trip. I do believe that we may have a tradition that might survive without my constant coddling of the group.

I just wish I had been included on the email list :-p

(Gnome Wars) Gnome Wars Goodness at Spring Fever

As posted at http://www.brigadegames.com/ message boards:

Gnome Wars at Spring Fever 2011!
April 8th-10th
Raleigh, North Carolina

Saturday
Title: Gnome Wars!!!!!
GameMaster: Brian Robinette
Description: Les Legion du Chocolat Suisse take on their arch rivals the
Jägermeister for control of Croakerton. Feel free to bring a 320 pt unit and join the fray!
Maximum Number of Players: 8
Ruleset: Gnome Wars
Scale: 25mm

Oh boy, Les Legion du Chocolat Suisse rocks on toast!

http://www.trianglesimsociety.org/?page_id=27 for more information

(Gnome Wars) A Very Gnomish Civil War

I was perusing Tim's Miniatures Wargaming blog (see below post for link), and unfortunately, it got me thinking...

I love his battle reports because (1) I love the eras and the forces he uses and (2) I spend way too much time deciding if I would need to tweak the boards for a Gnome Wars version. Hey, tunnelling and cheese throwers were the least of the KAR's issues!

One of the games he's posted on was A British Civil War. Basically society in 1930's Great Britian collapses and various factions fight over control of the Island. Fascists, Royalist, Trade Unionists, Free Scots, Royalist Scots, the variety of groups was impressive. Better yet, it's a great alternative history subject, since you can use your Great War figures, early WW2 vehicles, plus all those Pulp/civilian figures you just had to purchase at the last con.

Somewhere between thinking of the painting I need to do for Tanga, and staring at a large elephant planter that I knock over and chipped part of its face, I came upon an epiphany.

A Very Gnomish Civil War

In a world where the Allies finally subdue the German military machine, Swiss culture has changed, and not for the better. The simple cheese-loving, beer-drinking, tunnel-happy gnomes have become militarized, industrialized, and fragmented. Quaint cities worth the front of a picture postcard have turned into dirty mechanized sprawl. The countryside has barely changed, at least those parts that survived the ravages of war. With population displacement due to the demilitarization, the Swiss economy fails. The simple Swiss forms of government falter soon thereafter, and numerous factions will take up fight to rule the mountain gnomes.

First off, this game is Swiss-on-Swiss action. I can picture some Germans peasant mobs, possibly trying to achieve the upper hand, but their country is periously close to the Swiss perdicament, so no overt military actions. I can also imagine a unit of Sikhs or two, who did not make back home before the Le Merde hit La Fan. Throw in some Gnomo Sapiens, who came out of the mountains, looking for a good time.

I imagine the main game for about 12 players, each with specific instructions and "potential" allies and enemies. The main playing board is at least 6 x 10 and would focus on a "capture the flag" theme. One corner will be a true gnomish village. I'm picturing mushroom houses moreso than MBA buildings. The center will be the Wonders of the Gnomish World. The elephant planter gets turned into a Sphinx-like object, surrounded by smaller statues. The far end will be a refinery of some sort (oil, molten cheese, beer), that will use those plentiful Enfamil bottles I wrote about previously, along with a piece of garden hose, cut in half, to represent the half-submerged pipeline.

This is NOT your regular Historicon Gnome Wars game. I'm tapping the lawn ornament vibe that the Swiss always project and turning it up to 11! I'll take the derision of those who scoff at a historical game... with gnomes and shove it back in their faces threefold! Hell, I broke a shovel chopping away at ice this winter, I may turn the handle in terrain!

Any suggestions, advice, or smacks upside the head would be appreciated. And, oh yeah, I'm thinking about doing this for Historicon, so help is doubly appreciated.

This is just one of my favorite blogs....

Have you ever tried to read an established blog from end to beginning? It's a daunting, but much more interesting read than even the expected read from post one to the present. Instead of an evolution of blogger, it's a devolution.


I'm a big fan of Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog (http://saskminigamer.blogspot.com/). I'm a big fan of his current gaming and while he might not win painting competitions all the time, his work is always solid, and to call his output prolific would be like saying a hummingbird flaps its wings every now and then.

When you're a wargamer in Saskatchewan, I guess you game when you can, and you'll play whatever the other players want to (a good rule to have no matter where you live.) So far I've read from today back to November 2009, and his play is varied and well balance: Colonial, Fantasy, Dark Ages, SYW, and Clan Wars to name a few.

But his painting production is the thing that makes me jealous.

Whethter it's a unit of WW2 Japanese, a random Zulu, or a few vehichles, something is always being completed, and well done, at that. Plus the fellow plays Savage Worlds, so the plethora of random figs is quite apparent.

Currently the Battle reports focus on either Black Powder or Colonial/Great War Africa. Since I still have Tanga scheduled to start next month (*gasp*), I'm absolutely loving the boards and terrain he's using. They wouldn't win awards at Historicon, but he has gotten so much more use and enjoyment than any fancy terrain dioramas.

But check out his blog. If you are even a tiny bit of a wargaming, you will not be disappointed.