15mm Board Test AAR

Despite the slightly curly edges, MacSver and I had a battle to test out the slightly smaller (22" x 22") board size.

I was the Orcs (MacSver) vs Undead (myself). Three treasures were place across the centre of the table. Whoever got the most home (or routed the other side) won.

15mm Skirmish Box - reworked board, work to do!

I've been reworking the board for the skirmish box.

Instead of 4 x square foot tiles I've changed to 6 tiles covering a 22 inch x 22 inch area. The reason for this is to avoid the complications and quality issues with having to apply a number of paper sheets to the same tile. This size lets me print one sheet of A4  to one tile, looking  to give a smoother and less gappy finish. Hopefully the loss of a couple of inches to the board dimensions will make little or not difference to the enjoyment of play.

 Also I have moved from printing on standard printer paper to 210gsm card (the same grade as the buildings). This gives a more durable playing surface I feel and applies to the adhesive tile better (no problems with the print flopping or wrinkling)

On the setback side though I've found that may tiles are curling up at the edges which isn't ideal at all.

This causes problems for my "smooth and less gappy" play surface brief. The problem I think come s from the way the tiles are manufactured. I'd assumed that they were flat, but looking again there is a slight bevel in them, so the the edges stay flush to the floor if the adhesive fails. Of course I'm using them upside-down, so this translates to the edges naturally curling upwards.

I'll have to figure out how to solve this or move to a different board material or setup.

Why all this R&D I hear you ask? Well, almost as if I was short of projects (which I'm not), I'm looking at producing a few of these skirmish boxes to see if there are any interested customers out there. If I can run a small batch and they go then we'll take it from there.

So far already it's been an interesting experience just considering the processes of upgrading something I bodged together for myself to a cost effective product that is practical to build and with an end product that I'd be happy paying hard cash for.

By the way, don't worry, I'm well aware of copyright\IP issues and have already made contact with relevant parties. No piracy here (unless its a theme for a future Pirate boxset!)

Hang 'Em High

MacSver has almost finished the final details of his Wild West Town. Finished enough to get a in a game, in fact.

It was to be Lawmen against Desperados.

 Lucky Luke had gone and got himself caught by the local Law, and sentenced to swing. Mad Dog McNut couldn't allow this to happen, so took his boys into town.

15mm Skirmish Box - Orcs

The third of my initial Skirmish Box warbands, The orcs.

Mounted Leader and 2 Cavalry

Remaining Command Group: Mage, Standard Bearer, Guard and Hero

Orc Warrior Horde

Whilst not all figures make it into the Skirmish Box pre-built warband the list is:

• Mounted Orc Leader; 92pts; Quality 3+, Combat 3; ;Leader,Long Move,Mounted;;
• Mounted Orc Boar Cavalry;47pts; Quality 4+, Combat 3; Long Move,Mounted;;
• Mounted Orc Boar Cavalry;47pts; Quality 4+, Combat 3; Long Move,Mounted;;
• Orc Warrior;23pts; Quality 4+, Combat 3
• Orc Warrior;23pts; Quality 4+, Combat 3
• Orc Warrior;23pts; Quality 4+, Combat 3
• Orc Warrior;23pts; Quality 4+, Combat 3
• Orc Warrior;23pts; Quality 4+, Combat 3

301 Pts

Foundry Queen Victoria

My first proper "In Her Majesty's Name" warband is on the paint table now. Thought I may as well start with Her Majesty herself.

The other group members on the table consist of a Foundry Maid and a Lady in Waiting; Ironclad Miniatures House Staff and a small squad of Bearskin wearing Grenadier Guards, also from Ironclad.

I'll wait until I've completed the whole group until I get the basing done.

15mm Skirmish Box - Human Barbrians

Second of the initial 3 warbands is the Human Barbarian Force.

The figures on display have again just been primed white and ink washed (Vallejo Sepia this time) for a bit o quick colour on the table and help with the details. Not all these are in my pre-generated warband, they are the pack contents from 15mm.co.uk I used.

Command

Ranged Section - an archer and 2 slingers

Spearmen

Warriors

Taking these shots has been really helpful for me to see what detail these figures actually have, as well as where I've missed a bit of tidying up pre-paint.

15mm Skirmish Box - The Undead

Thought I'd do some small profiles of the "pre-generated" warbands I've done for my 15mm Skirmish Box project. First of all the Undead.

All the models are from 15mm.co.uk. They have a quite a large and varied 15mm fantasy range to choose from. Mostly geared towards large army battles, but they also sell small packs containing the diferent sculpts to encourage 15mm skirmish gaming. Unfortunately their online store photos are a bit indistinct and make the details difficult to see, so I've taken some close up pictures of my prep'ed models. Not all make it into the warband list, by the way.

(left to right) Mounted Leader, Cavalry and skeletal horse.

Human Skeleton Warriors

Undead Horde

Song Of Blades and Heroes stats:

• 1 x Undead Leader (88pts): Quality 3+, Combat 2: Leader, Long Move, Mounted, Undead
• 1 x Undead Cavalry (58pts): Quality 3+, Combat 2: Long Move, Mounted, Undead
• 3 x Skeleton Human (26pts): Quality 3+, Combat 2: Undead
• 3 x Walking Dead (18pts): Quality 5+, Combat 4: Slow, Undead
  
• Total: 304 pts

All these profiles are straight from the Core "Songs of..." ruleset.

X-Wing - Enter the Big Boats

This weekend saw MacSver push out his new Rebel GR-75 transport for a test.

The escorted Rebel Transport makes a bit for freedom.