Paper or PDF?

Every now and then I’ll get an email like this one:

Hello Tim Coombes,

You can re-download SuperSystem 3 to get the latest version, the 3rd printing.

Please follow the links to download the file(s).
They will be active for you until Aug/01/2010
SuperSystem Third Edition: http://www.wargamedownloads.com/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you
Greg Moore
http://www.wargamedownloads.com

This is one of the main reasons that I prefer the pdf rulebook over the paper versions.  Why bother with FAQ’s and addendums when you can just get a corrected copy of the book?

I still print out the pdf books for use at the game table as I like to highlight certain rules and passages to help when playing the games, not something I’d like to do to an actual rulebook.

I’m very keen to get my hands on an iPad or similar device so I can try that out at the game table.  Having all the rules at your fingertips in an electronic format allows you to search entire libraries for certain keywords.  Better still it allows you to look stuff up on the Internet when the rulebooks don’t seem to have the answer you’re after.  Hmmm… maybe I could buy my wife one for Christmas.

Eureka 15mm Naps Arrive

The Eureka 15mm Napoleonic miniatures arrived today.  These are great quality miniatures that require little to no cleanup.  There is detail everywhere, much more than I’m going to bother painting but the great thing is that all the usual weak points such as plumes and bayonets have been sculpted a little thicker to make them stronger.  Which will help since these are going to get a bit of handling being used for skirmish gaming.

I was going to use 20mm washers for the infantry and 30mm for the cavalry but decided to go down a slightly different path.

They’re maybe a millimetre or two smaller and they’re not magnetic like the washers would have been but they’re cheaper.  And cheap is always good.

All based up we have the Russians to the left and the British to the right.

All done in fifteen minutes and with $1.10 worth of “bases” left over.  I’ll leave then to dry tonight and I’ll start painting the Russians tomorrow night.

Sorting out the Super Heroes

Searching through the mass of HeroClix miniatures it quickly became apparent that it was going to take “a long time” to find the dozen or so figures I needed.  So I foolishly decided to kill two birds with one stone and sort the miniatures while I went along.

This is what it looked like about halfway done.

I had previously started to sort the miniatures into their appropriate release sets but this time I decided to group them by their teams affiliations.  WizKids have made this easy by putting team affiliation logos right there on the base.  This has left me with about a dozen plastic bags worth of teams and two huge loose piles of figures, the non team specific ones and a whopping pile of bits where the mini has come away from the base.  These are mainly the flying characters which come shipped separate from the their base.  Sorting them out is going to be a couple evenings worth of Googling and gluing.

Right now though I have found all the minis I need and have a small collection of other cool looking minis that I’ve verified against the S2 Character Sheet Builder.  So when I the mood gets me all I need to do is grab a bag of miniatures and start making some cards for that team.  Justice League is up next and then I’ll switch to the Marvel universe and have a look in at the Avengers.

All that will have to wait though because tomorrow night me and the boys are going to roll some dice.

Making the Hero Cards

With the final look and feel of the cards sorted (well for now anyway) I decided to get a couple printed out and laminated.

I started by cutting out the cards, using a cutter makes quick work of this.  Then fold the cards along the centre line.

 

My first thought was to put six cards per A4 sheet but I ended up sliding in the last two once the sheet had taken and was rolling though.  It’s very important to hold the sheet while it’s moving through the laminator as you don’t want the cards to move.

Once its though you’ll have something like this.

And when you’ve done them all you’ll have this.

Which after you’ve cut up will give you this.

I just use scissors when cutting these out, they don’t need to be stacked or shuffled so their size isn’t so important.  Just make sure to leave 3-4mm around the edges to keep the seal and your fingers will also appreciate it if you round off the corners.

I’m working my way though both the DC and Marvel universes and trying to match up miniatures I have with stats that have already been created for the Super System.  There’s a few annoying omissions such as no Harley Quinn but that’s something I really can’t complain about and it’s something I can remedy by sitting down and nutting it out myself.

Now to sort out the rest of the miniatures.  I started this ages ago and have got six boxes like these full of teeny little heroes.

Just got two more boxes to unpack and sort…

Almost 2,000 of the little buggers before I stopped counting.  What else can I say except I love those 99 cent deals on eBay.

I’m thinking about debasing some of these and putting them on the 30mm rolled shoulder display bases such as these from eM4.

A bit of work but they should look nice.

Holy Skirmish Rules, Batman

I recently picked up a copy of Super System 3rd Edition and wow what a great set of rules.  I won’t go into too much detail about them until I’ve played a few more games but I will say that if you’re looking for a deeper set of rules for your Hero Clix minis then you simply can’t go past these.

The core game mechanics are simple but still have a lot of flexibility.  Most dice rolls are opposed and you tend to roll a lot of dice with plenty of rerolls.  Characters don’t tend to die often either, they may get weakened or hurt but they’re be back next episode.

Best of all the character creation rules are deep enough to create any character you can think of, or in my case you can easily recreate your favourite comic book heroes.  Better still is that someone has already done a lot of that work for you here.  One nice touch is the section on adding non combat related skills to your characters to add an RPG element to the game.

I’ve created a few hero cards for the game, mainly because I like pretty cards but also to help my kids get a grip on the system with colour coded stats.

Here’s a link to a PDF version of the cards above.  Just print, fold and put them into a card sleeve or laminate them like I have.

I’m very keen to get a few games going with the kids so I’ll post some reports up when I can.

Aren’t You A Little Short For A Gladiator?

I’ve had these Museum 15mm minis laying around for a while now and I thought they would be good to practice on before the Eureka Miniatures 15mm Naps turn up.

The paintjobs are simple but effective.  The photos bring out every blemish and missed brush stroke so you’ll just have to trust me they look better in person.

 

 

 

The obligatory “comparison shot”.

I bought these way back when I picked up a copy “Red Sand Blue Sky” from Two Hour Wargames.  I’ll have to drag it out and have another game or three, once I finish the skirmish table that is.

Building the Skirmish Table

After a trip to Bunnings I was ready to start building the skirmish table.  The plan originally was to make the table 600mm square but the materials I got were already pre cut to 600x900mm and 900mm long respectively.  I really didn’t want to make any extra work for myself and decided to leave the board as is.  The extra space will come in handy for 28mm skirmish games.  Besides the lengths of pine were exactly the same length as the particle board.  Not surprising since they’re supposed to be 900mm long but a lot of the MDF stuff from Bunnings is often 4-5mm larger in any given direction.

 

The lengths timber of timber came with a useful but annoying watermark that needed to be sanded off first.  Three of these were really easy to do but the last one must have taken a good 15 minutes worth of sanding to remove it.

The first side is on, wood glue and three bugle screws should keep it in place.

The lip around the edge looks high in the shot below but once a terrain board is in place it only sticks up about a centimetre or so.

 

Almost done, each of the short sides are also screwed into the end of the long sides to give the corners extra strength.  When this is done you’ll be able to pick up and carry the board by the edges without worry of them breaking free.

The two holes are so you can poke up from below to help remove terrain boards once they’re in place.

 

I would have stained the edges and sealed the particle board but the weather today was terrible.  I’ve got a few pieces of particle board and MDF laying around so look at getting some terrain boards made up soon.

15mm Skirmish Terrain

One thing that rears up every time you start a new scale is the issue of terrain.  Sure I already have some stuff that would work ok but most of what I have will be out of period or slightly too big (28mm) or too small (10mm).  Luckily most of my buildings are pdf/cardstock so all I need to do is reprint them at the appropriate scale.  I’ll wait until my miniatures arrive before I make any decisions about trees and hedges (I’ve made enough of them lately anyway).

The one thing I can start on now though is the terrain boards.  Just about all the skirmish games I play recommend an area of 60cm square (2 feet in the old measurement). 

So the plan it to make a 60cm game board with a raised lip that holds the boards in place and rogue dice on the table.  Simple enough and shouldn’t cost much to make.  The only dilemma I have is what size should I make the terrain boards?  Option 3 (30x30cm squares) offers the most flexibility but there’s more “join lines”.  I’m not sure if this will affect the aesthetics of the board.  I’ll flock all the boards so that should help hide the joins but they’ll still be noticeable.

I’ll probably go with option 1 to start with and have a river flow through one corner of the board.  I’ve always wanted to make some river sections so this will be good practice.

Alright then I’m off to Bunnings.

What? Another Scale… in Another Period

Yep, 15mm and Napoleonic's.  I’ve had the rules for Ganesha Game’s Song of Drums and Shakos (SDS) for a while now and had neither any miniatures or interested opponents.  I’d get a bit of attention at the club when I’d mention Napoleonics but I’d always lose them when I mention that SDS was a skirmish game.  Apparently that’s a dirty word in the Nap community.

Anyway when Mick mentioned an interest in the game I jumped to it and ordered some miniatures.  We eventually went down the 15mm path for a few reasons:

• Price: cheap, nuff said.
• Availability: there is just so many manufacturers to choose from.
• Small usually means easier to paint.
• Smaller playing area (and less terrain), maybe 3 feet square for most games.
• Mick already had some.

So I did a little reading, did some thinking and placed and order with Eureka Miniatures.

1812 Russians

1 x Mounted officer
3 x Musketeer/Jager, advancing
3 x Musketeer/Jager, firing and loading
2 x Musketeer/Jager, march attack
1 x Standard bearer (senior NCO)
1 x Musketeer drummer
2 x Kurassier, charging
2 x Kurassier
1 x Kurassier officer

Peninsula British

1 x Rifle officer
1 x Rifle bugler
3 x Rifleman, skirmishing
3 x Rifleman, marching at trail
1 x Mounted officer
1 x Highland piper
1 x Highland infantry officer
2 x Highland infantry centre company, marching, shoulder arms
2 x Highland flank company, skirmishing

I was going to get some cavalry for the British but they’re really just my second army and when I say these guys I just had to get some.

Can’t wait for these to arrive, and being just a few hours down the road I should get them mid next week.  Which should give me time to get them cleaned up and based ready for painting next weekend.

Storing All The Star Wars Minis

My week at home with the kids has kicked off to a great start.  Finally managed to get some plants planted in the garden we've been working on for far too long, and I've actually been able to spend some time doing some actual wargaming, woo hoo!!

I've been busy with a few things, first is I've been able to get a spot playtesting a new game from Ganesha Games called Songs of ShadowSea.  It's a stand alone supplement based on their Song of Blades and Heroes system and is being written by Dragonblood Miniatures for use with their range of miniatures produced by Cavalcade Wargames.  Played a few games so far and I'm pretty impressed with the system, especially the way they've tweaked the rules to manage magic and artifacts.  I've been using proxy miniatures for my games (hence no photos or AAR's) but I think I'll have to pick up a couple of their Dark Mariners miniatures, wow they look nice.

On the Star Wars front I've finally managed to get all the miniatures sorted, boxed up and packed away.

No seriously look here they all are all packed away in boxes labelled by faction and troop type.  A lot of mucking around but it's a lot easier to find that damned Jawa box when I need it now.

And speaking of storage, here's a shot of the shelves my wife managed to win in an auction for me.  Most of my stuff all in the one spot and in an orderly fashion too boot.

I'm hoping to get a few more Star Wars Commander bases made up this week and with a little luck I'll see if I can wrangle someone into coming over and giving the current rules a run through.