Modern Archives - Page 2 of 2

The Convention Plan

The Historical Miniature Gaming Society (HMGS) has either two or three conventions a year. The big one, Historicon, is in July. There is then Fall In! in the Autumn and Cold Wars in the Spring.
Recently the attendance at Cold Wars has been low and it is looking increasingly likely that there will not be a Cold Wars show next year.

Where possible, I like to run a game at each show. I also don’t want to be known as the person that brings the same game to every show. However, it is difficult to have a new game to display at every convention when there are multiple conventions a year. It therefore takes some advanced planning to keep things fresh. In this post I will share my convention game plans up to Historicon 2025.

Historicon 2023

In a couple of weeks I plan to attend Historicon 2023. With the number of big projects that I am working on, I have not had time to put on a totally new game for this convention.
Several years ago I ran the 1651 Battle of Berestechko. Since that time I have painted a lot more cossacks and increased the number of war wagons. I therefore plan to put on a new and improved game of this battle. I have never won an award for my Cossack Uprising project, so hopefully this will be the year for me to get some recognition for it.

I also plan to put on a modern naval game using Harpoon V rules between the US and China. This is a project I have done for me because I enjoy understanding the technology.

Fall In! 2023

The theme of Fall In is “America, Rise to World Power, 1898 to Present”. Again, as time is short, I plan to build on a project that I already have. I plan to utilize my modern British Afghanistan game that I ran at Cold Wars earlier this year. However, I will remove the British and their Forward Operating Base and replace them with US Marines, a convoy and about 15 new buildings. The game is in 28mm and will use Force on Force rules. Below are two picture of my game at Cold Wars and then a picture of some buildings that I started to paint this weekend.
At Historicon I need to purchase about 30 US marine figures and about four HEMTT vehicles for the convey.

Historicon 2024

I am assuming that Cold Wars 2024 will not take place, so Historicon 2024 will be the next convention.

For this show I plan to do a two part game of the modern day Battle for the Senkaku Islands. This game will be a battle between the Chinese and Japanese. Part 1 will be a 1/2400 naval game using Harpoon V rules and Part 2 will be a 20mm (1/72) amphibious assault on the islands.
Many of the vehicles are in an early stage of construction, but here are some work in progress photos:

Fall In! 2024

At the moment I do not have a plan for Fall In! 2024. With my plans for Historicon 2025 being huge, I probably won’t do anything new. So I will need to repeat a game or sit this show out.

Historicon 2025

2025 is the 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Pavia from the Italian Wars. I plan to do the largest game that I have ever put on the table. Separate blog post will cover this topic, but for now here is a picture of one of my Italian Wars games.

This month’s work

This month I have been continuing my Pavia project, but also getting a naval project ready for Historicon in July. This won’t be a long post, but I want to show a few pictures of what I have been working on.

Modern naval project

My modern naval project is set off the coast of Yemen. It is set in 2024, with three Chinese ships, a Type 55, a Type 54A and a support ship carrying out a port visit. In the region, two USN Arleigh Burke class destroyers are carrying out anti-piracy operations. 4,500 miles away, war breaks out across the Taiwan strait, plunging the US and China into war.
The scenario explores some of the most modern naval technology. I will be using the excellent Harpoon V rules to run a game for four experienced Harpoon V players.

The project uses 1/2400 scale models and a ground scale of 1cm = 1nm. I will do a full report on the game after Historicon, but here are a few pictures for now.

Container cranes are 3D printed and purchased from Shapeways

Italian wars figures

I have recently painted 24 Italian arquebusiers and 28 Landsknecht arquebusiers. This is just the start of my push in painting extra figures for the battle of Pavia. Next on the painting bench are 60 French heavy cavalry (archers to support the gendarmes). These figures will bring the total French heavy cavalry to 150.

28mm Afghanistan Force on Force

Yesterday we play tested the modern 28mm Afghanistan Force on Force scenario for Cold Wars 2023. The scenario involved various Taliban units trying to attack the 3rd Para British Forward Operating Base.

The game result was that the Taliban inflicted heavy casualties on the two units of Afghan National Police. Eventually, the British forced the Taliban to withdraw under heavy fire. The British remained within the defenses of the Forward Operating Base rather than coming out to engage the Taliban at close quarters.

As a result of the play test I will be modifying some of the initial deployment positions and adjusting some of the victory conditions. I want to encourage the British player to be more aggressive.

I took most of the photos below before the game started, showing the initial table set up. As I was busy running the game, there are less photos once the game commenced. As a result there are not many images of the actual combat.

Photos of the battle.

An MQ-9 Reaper drone’s view of the board. The FOB on the left and the market town on the right.

Inside the Forward Operating Base – the HESCO bag and barbed wire perimeter can be seen,

The Base entrance guarded by a unit of Afghan National Police.

An Arial view of the other end of the market.

Looking down the market street, with the Taliban taking a roof top position.

Taliban troops in, and above the market.

Taliban rushing past the fish and meat stalls.

Another view of the builders yard and fields.

The view across from the Forward Operating Base.

More back street action. The minivan contained a large IED which was never detonated.

Another shot of the minivan with the IED.

The apartments the other end of town, with washing on the line.

Overall, the play test went very well. The 28mm Afghanistan Force on Force captured the feel of modern combat.

Cold Wars 2023 project update

My Cold Wars 2023 modern Afghanistan project is on a tight schedule. I have a play test in two weeks time and then there is only another two and a half weeks until the convention. the rule set will be Force on Force. This post is just a very short update of some of the things I have been up to for the project.

After the play-test on the 18th February, I will post some pictures of the completed layout.

I still have many things to complete, the most demanding will be painting another 30 Afghan civilians that I am expecting to arrive from Empress Miniatures in the next few days.

As they did not arrive before last weekend, I found that I was short of things to do. So I pulled out two M777 Howitzer kits that have been sitting in my To Do pile. These are from Table Top Tactical Simulations. Although they will not be used in the game, they can provide a scenic piece inside the Forward Operating Base. Over the weekend I managed to assemble, paint, weather and base these huge howitzers.

The lighting for the photo is not great, but the colors do look good in real life. As they are only for scenic effect, I do not need to paint the crew for Cold Wars. The town in the game would be much too close for these guns to be used. Also the game will be full of civilians which would make artillery use impractical.

I also constructed some very nice British vehicles from White Dragon Miniatures. These are two Foxhounds and two Mastiffs. Again these will not be used in the fighting but will be add to the scenery of the FOB.

In addition to the civilians, I have a range of scenery to complete. The items include, blue rain barrels, road signs, explosion markers, and a petrol pump. I also have a large Chinook Helicopter that I hope will arrive to carry some SAS troops. If all goes well everything should arrive soon and should be painted for Cold Wars 2023 in March.

Afghan market town in 28mm

Cold Wars 2023 will be taking place from March 9th-13th. There I plan to run a Force on Force battle with Taliban attacking a 3rd Para Forward Operating Base just outside an Afghan town. As Force on Force requires a lot of terrain for a realistic battle, I decided that I needed some extra buildings and a market for the Afghan market town.

I had previously bought about six, two story Afghan houses from Etsy, and I was pleased with them. So I decided to go back to Etsy for some larger buildings, as I wanted to create height on the table. I found a row of shops/small businesses and a larger concrete apartment building.

Preparing the Afghan market town buildings

Like many of the buildings on Etsy, they had been 3D printed. I washed the buildings in a mild soap solution. I don’t know if it is necessary with 3D printed models, but it is a simple step. Finally, I primed the buildings black with a hand applied Vallejo black primer.

Base coating the buildings

I then spray painted the buildings sand on the outside. As I have a lot to do for Cold Wars, I decided not to detail the insides. I left the insides black. I can always go back and detail the insides later.

To break up the flat texture of the models and to hide any printing layer lines, I took a sponge and applied a layer of a slightly darker sand. This instantly improved the building appearance.

I then added model railroad ballast to the roof and secured with scenic cement.

Weathering the buildings

After the roof of the apartment was dry I got to work with a couple of weathering powder colors. These take some time to apply with a brush, but they really bring the building to life. I then added some Afghan signs to the buildings. I cut the signs from internet photos and printed onto paper. Afterwards, I then applied them with white glue and weathered them. I also added some model railroad graffiti decals. Finally, the door and windows were painted and weathered. I then sealed the buildings with a coat of matte varnish.

The finished Afghan market town

I then took some pictures with some of the market stands that I recently made. I purchased all of these items from Etsy, Internet vendors and trade show vendors. The base is just my kitchen counter as I did not have time to get my desert terrain mat out today. I will be play testing this game early February and I will have some pictures then. I have about 50 Afghan Civilians that I am half way through painting, so they will add to the market hustle and bustle.

The following pictures show the completed scene, which I think captures the feel of an Afghan market town.

British Forward Operating Base.

I have been slowly working on a 28mm modern skirmish project using the Skirmish Sangin rules. As part of a scenario I am putting together I have been building a British Forward Operating Base for Helmland Province, Afghanistan.

I decided to only construct the front of the base as that is where all of the action will take place. I built a guard tower at each of the corners. The walls of the base were made from Hesco bags with razor wire on top and in front of them.

Overview of the base covering about 2′ by 6′

S&S Models made the Hesco walls. The image above shows two approaching British Foxhounds (still to paint). White Dragon Miniatures produced the two Foxhounds and these will support two larger Mastif MRAPS. I also have 4 quad bikes for SAS interdiction scenarios.

The entrance to the base guarded by British troops supported by the Afghan National Police.

The entrance to the base consists of a guard shack, New Jersey barriers and a barrier all made by Miniature Building Authority. I will also add a moving chain link fence at the back.

Along the road I have some billboards. One of the billboards was built from a model kit, the other two were scratch built. I will be installing some Afghan election posters on the billboards.

On top and in front of the walls is some razor wire made by Army Painter.

In the back-ground of the above photo is a command post and barracks. These are made from containers from the Miniature Building Authority with one of their satellite dishes on top.

British soldier from 3 Para watching the entrance from atop of the Hesco walls.

The Hesco walls at the front of the base have a lower level of Hesco bags behind allowing soldiers to patrol the wall. Many of these design choices were made after viewing photos of actual Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan.

View of the rear of the walls and a guard tower.

The guard towers were made by using two containers as the base. A staircase and platform were then made from Plastruct girders and other items. A Hesco bunker from S&S models was then placed on top of some H beams. The roof of the bunker is removable to put figures inside.

I will be purchasing a better, larger desert terrain mat as well as adding more ground clutter to the base including pallets, oil drums, signs and a table tennis table.

I am also working on scenario to include the British Forward Operating Base. This will be a large scale Taliban assault on the base.