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Back in the Shed
Well, school holidays allowed me some time back in the man-cave. The COVID-enabled frantic painting output has died off (I've mostly been experimenting with homebrew rules and PC gaming with my son)....
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Revisiting Jet Wargames - 2022 #1 (Movement)
I've generally been discontented with aerial wargames; generally decrying excessive complexity, slow play, recording, and old fashioned mechanics. I made a manifesto identifying factors like energy...
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Revisiting Jet Wargames 2022 #2 (Detection)
In Part #2 of revisiting aerial wargames, I'd like to make sure I stay focussed on my manifesto:-Energy management (potential vs kinetic vs position to foe) -Detection - Pilot skill -Aircraft...
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Revisiting Jet Wargames 2022 #3: Missiles, Lethality, "To Hit"
I'm still avoiding activation/initiative as I'm paralyzed by indecision about a few key factors (reactions, etc). So I'm going to do 'shooting' as it's pretty simple and logical.I'm still mulling over...
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Revisiting Jet Wargames 2022 #4: Actions, Reactions, Stress
Small Chunks of TimeNow I'm starting to think about Activation and Initiative. Normally this is #1 for me when designing a wargame (how and when you act) but streamlining movement seemed more urgent...
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Revisiting Jet Wargames 2022 #5: Initiative & Taking Turns
This is kinda the flow of the gameplay. Who goes first? In what order? Can you interrupt an enemy turn?Now if planes are undetected (or at least, not clearly tracked/acquired) or have a lot more energy...
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Cheap Wargames Terrain: Toy Medieval Castle Repaint
This was part of a $20 find at "Lifeline" - the secondhand charity shop.(There's more stuff but it has already been claimed for the sandpit!) I decided to only use cheap craft paint and old brushes;...
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More Fast Cheap Terrain-from-Toys... "Wooden Block Cityscape"
It's holidays. Mum is sick, so the kids and I camp out in the hobby shed, leaving her in peace.Dad is cleaning, the kids are ferreting around in boxes messing stuff up discovering old toys, some of...
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Cheap Spaceship Minis & Tanks (Repainted Toys)
Painting in the shed with my 7-year-old, I have been repurposing old toys (and even seeking them out in department stores and thrift shops).They are (a) extremely cheap and (b) usually sturdier than...
View Article"Delta X" - Simple Modern Skirmish Rules (Two Hour Challenge)
I went to buy a copy of Spectre:Operations to play with my kids but discovered it was $100AUD - and $50 of that was postage. Living in Australia makes wargaming a hobby of the rich. Annoyed, I decided...
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Lord of the Rings + "Hogwarts"
My daughter and I spent an afternoon in the shed - she painting her toy Hogwarts into a medieval monastery, and I pottering around finding and painting some LoTR models - I found 9 Easterlings from...
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LoTR: SBG - Wrapping up Rohan
With these minis, I've kinda finished the main stage of my LoTR; to have ~6 heroes, ~12 "special" troops, monsters or cavalry and ~50 regulars for each faction.There are a few things I'd like to...
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Procrastination via Painting
Well my Battletech box arrived. I'm going to probably whack a sacred cow by stating(a) the new sculpts are much better than the 'iconic' and 'characterful' (aka crap) older metals(b) the rules haven't...
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Ragnarok: Heavy Metal Combat in the Viking Age (Rules Review)
A campaign skirmish game. With vikings. Using epic god powers and pulling off awesome moves. Viking Mordhiem? Sounds epic. I've actually struggled to find reviews or much online on this (a bit from a...
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Last of the Mohic... ...Tyrannosaurus?
This is a spin-off of my homebrew medieval Middleheim rules. The British and French clash alongside Indian allies, in battle to control the lucrative dinosaur hide and ivory trade.The Ohio Valley has...
View ArticleGame Design: #91 - Victory Conditions (Devaluing Death)
I've decided to do some game design posts with a series of shorter sections with different topics, labelled "Discussions", rather than one big, in-depth article. This is because sometimes I change my...
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Painting Progress + Tank Game
This is the latest painting progress - a bit of a diverse haul. I now have a decent force of ~12 each French Indian Dino War 'faction' - enough for a Middleheim warband to test homebrew rules....
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MESBG with Kids
It's weird that for all my dislike of GW and general espousal of indie games, its LoTR product is my most-played, most-collected and most-painted game.I do like LoTR in general; currently my 7-year-old...
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The 60-Minute Balrog (and other LoTR minis)
As a model I've procrastinated over for a while, I was amazed how easy this model was to paint. The Balrog hides in the toy castle my daughter and I repainted a few weeks ago...Black...
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LoTR - New Purchases
The LoTR painting campaign continues with another 38. This includes some of the first new models I've bought for a while. $150AUD for 14 models - yikes - there's a reason I merely rely on my...
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