A very informative and entertaining blog!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Paleo-Future
In his own words,"I take a lot of pride in providing
material you can't find anywhere else on the internet"
material you can't find anywhere else on the internet"
Very nice stuff indeed!
http://www.paleofuture.com/
Monday, June 23, 2008
Miniature Wargaming In Sacramento
A beautiful scratchbuilt 15mm VSF robot, the "Firebelly,"
made by Mark C.
Our first Aeronef Battle in Austin
Ever since Mike Cannon from Wizards Workshop emailed me about
the possibility of stocking Brigade Games Aeronef models, we have
been hot to trot to get enough models painted to try it out. Friday
night was the night. The Aeronef rules are pretty simplistic but we
all agreed to try them unmodified for our first game. I showed up
with my Turkish fleet, Lance brought Russians and Francisco
brought his Argentinians. The painted models are just gorgeous.
I brought the uber sea-scape mat that I got from Terrain Mat and
Francisco made some really nice cloud models so the tabletop was
really convention-class pretty.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The memories of our future: Steampunk in gaming
Dystopian futures make for more appealing adventures,
since such worlds to need more saving than other, more
sunny timelines. But despite the fact that most current
sci-fi games focus on the the bleaker possibilities (war
with aliens, oppressive governments, and the impending
doom of all humanity, to name a few), change is in the air.
A niche art style that draws on both the brute power of
steam-driven technology and the elegance of the past is
gaining popularity, and it could bring some fresh air to the
somewhat stale designs of modern games.
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/steampunk-video-games.ars/1
Akira Yamaguchi - Japanese Fantasy War Drawings
Wars are fought by armies of men, but equipment has
always been critical to their ability to perform in battle.
Now, imagine a time machine which could outfit Genghis
Khan with rocket launchers; or Napoleon with a division
of Panzer tanks -- that would change human history,
wouldn't it? Tokyo artist Akira Yamaguchi explores the
idea from a Japanese perspective with the hallucinogenic
history lesson that is his new exhibition, "Japan/China
and Japan/Russia Fantasy War Drawings."
New Babbage
New Babbage is a hotbed of Steampunk in Second
Life - airships, clockwork devices, submersibles,
and other amazing technology!
Steampunk Style
Mercer, who rarely leaves the house without being fully
dressed in steampunk attire, always finds some fans on
the street who accept her. "I have grandmas coming up
to me and asking me where I got my top hat and corset,"
she says, truly symbolizing her personal steampunk
definition of "new world meets old world."
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Full Steampunk Ahead!
Though I’ve been mildly aware of the whole
Steampunk genre before, its allure hit me
smack in the face recently in the form of the
amazing Telectroscope art/technology
installation in London and New York. Just
one look at that incredibly beautiful, completely
awesome and totally hilarious object is enough
to help you sort of get what Steampunk is about
– a 19th Century-influenced literary and
artistic worldview where Victoriana meets
high tech, where the sensibility is joyously
Jules Verne-ish (and H.G. Welles-y), and
imagination totally rules.
Steampunk genre before, its allure hit me
smack in the face recently in the form of the
amazing Telectroscope art/technology
installation in London and New York. Just
one look at that incredibly beautiful, completely
awesome and totally hilarious object is enough
to help you sort of get what Steampunk is about
– a 19th Century-influenced literary and
artistic worldview where Victoriana meets
high tech, where the sensibility is joyously
Jules Verne-ish (and H.G. Welles-y), and
imagination totally rules.
Savage Worlds
From the publisher:
Welcome to a revolution in gaming! Savage Worlds
is a merger of the best ideas in roleplaying and
miniature games!
What's so revolutionary? We're glad you asked!
It's Fast! Savage Worlds is the fastest and easiest
fully-detailed roleplaying game you'll ever play!
You can fight out massive battles quickly and easily
with your heroes, allies and minions in one simple,
fast-playing system!
It's Furious! Characters gain awesome new abilities
quickly, raising their attributes and skills and gaining
powerful and exciting new Edges!
It's Fun! Savage Worlds was designed to be a Game
Master's dream! GMs can write adventures, create
new villains and monsters, and run epic tales, all
without lots of bookkeeping. And you won't need
computer programs, three rule books, and a half
-dozen setting books to do it. You'll find everything
you need right here and in the Savage Setting of your
choice!
It's also a Miniatures Game! Savage Worlds works as
a miniatures battle game as well as an RPG. That means
you can fight out your heroes epic battles to save the
world right on the table-top! Or you can play a competitive
battle with troops of your own design!
It's Complete! Savage Worlds was designed to be used
with any genre from swashbuckling pirates to superheroes
and sci-fi. Inside you'll find complete and simple rules for
epic heroes, vehicles, chases, magic, superpowers, mass
battles, skirmishes, and even guidelines for designing your
own races and worlds!
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/21358
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Why Must We Fight Tribe Against Tribe?
Miniature Rules for Maori Inter tribal Wars c.
AD 1600-1872 and Eastern North American Indian
Inter tribal Wars c. AD 1400-1816
plus:
Maori-Pakeha Wars c. 1845-72
Settler-North American Indian Wars c. 1600-1860
AD 1600-1872 and Eastern North American Indian
Inter tribal Wars c. AD 1400-1816
plus:
Maori-Pakeha Wars c. 1845-72
Settler-North American Indian Wars c. 1600-1860
By Trevor Brabyn
http://home.earthlink.net/~cyberkiwi/soldiers/rules.html#maoriorg
The Natives are Restless Tonight
Boxer game rules but can be used for any colonial garrison
under attack by ferocious natives. The defenders must try
to survive until the relief column arrives whilst the
attackers must attempt to wipe out the defenders and free
their country from the imperialist overlords. The game is
designed for 28mm figures and all ranges and distances are
given with this in mind.(easy fix to convert to 15s)
under attack by ferocious natives. The defenders must try
to survive until the relief column arrives whilst the
attackers must attempt to wipe out the defenders and free
their country from the imperialist overlords. The game is
designed for 28mm figures and all ranges and distances are
given with this in mind.(easy fix to convert to 15s)
They Don't Like It Up 'Em
Colonial Campaign Rules
by Martin Porter
These rules are designed to recreate campaigns in the colonial era 1860 to 1914, although they can also be used for such later theaters as The Arab Revolt and inter war colonial conflicts in Morocco and the Northwest Frontier of India. They have been accumulated over the years to accompany my rules for tabletop battles, which I won't print as they have a more than passing resemblance to rules by a certain Mr Richard Brookes, which have appeared in various journals!
The Sword in the Philippines
A TSATF variant, this time for 'very early 20th Century
Moro Rebellion in the newly-acquired Philippine islands .
Mark Stevens has used these, along with striking terrain
features, to run games at HISTORICON, some years ago.
Can the U.S. Army and "Big Bill" Taft (Secretary of War)
clear up the mess in the islands? You must have "The
Sword and the Flame" to play this.
Moro Rebellion in the newly-acquired Philippine islands .
Mark Stevens has used these, along with striking terrain
features, to run games at HISTORICON, some years ago.
Can the U.S. Army and "Big Bill" Taft (Secretary of War)
clear up the mess in the islands? You must have "The
Sword and the Flame" to play this.
The Sword in Tibet
Chuck Turnitsa's variant for fighting battles between the
British and Tibetans, including two scenarios. As with the
other variants, this presents just the tables & charts. You
should know and have "The Sword and the Flame" to play
this.
British and Tibetans, including two scenarios. As with the
other variants, this presents just the tables & charts. You
should know and have "The Sword and the Flame" to play
this.
Death In The Desert
The rules are designed to have the Legion defending some
type of fortification against large numbers of Arabs. We have
fought open field battles with these rules also.
type of fortification against large numbers of Arabs. We have
fought open field battles with these rules also.
Beyond The River Don
A campaign game that takes maybe 30 minutes to
create from scratch, with limitless scenarios, a
different map each and every time, and has counters
representing the following armies and their
equipment: Reds, Whites, Greens, Estonians,
Latvians, Finns, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Poles,
Armenians, Turks, French, Greeks, Japanese,
American, British Empire and Freikorps.
Last Exile : SkyWar
From A Sky Full of Ships group:
A pair of fan videos of the Anime:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6okRQZMGdI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5boCKoH1Wg
http://www.lastexiledvd.com/
Was commented that:
I'd think that Aeronef or Iron Stars would be closer
matches...
We've seen this before but, "I quite agree!"
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Trans-Balkania
Also found in the Soldiers Companion and literature, a
very likely candidate for a new nation.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Ruritania
Looking through my copy of Space 1889 Soldiers Companion
I ran across this nation, took a while to realize that it was
from the novel "Prisoner Of Zenda"
***************
Once upon a time - long, long ago - there existed a kingdom, a
nation which has now disappeared off the map without a trace.
By many it was regarded as a beautiful, romantic land, with
castles, palaces, a place of fairy-tales. Words like honor and
romance were held in deep regard. In a word, Ruritania
was an idyllic land.
***************
However, by others it was believed to be a place of dread, of
small-minded pettiness, a country ruled by despotic, nationalistic
leaders who often use the word 'honor' but have no real concept of
it. In this country, racial strife and ethnic tension are a daily
occurrence. In a word, this Ruritania was an oppressive state.
***************
Although the concept of Ruritania was invented by the writer
Anthony Hope and sold to the world most famously in The
Prisoner of Zenda, there is a great possibility that this concept
- the idea of such a region - existed in the minds of Europeans
for a long period of time. The idea probably still exists.
Commentators often talk of Europe 1 and Europe 2 - those who
joined before and those who joined after.
***************
What the above two descriptions of Ruritania tell us is that this
place was/is a fantasy, or rather a place of extremes, intense
emotions and vivid occurrences. Ruritania is often posited
somewhere in Eastern or Central Europe. Ruritania
encompasses a great part of what the Poles fondly refer to as
the Kresy, 'Borderlands', as well as parts of Eastern Poland,
Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.
***************
I think this makes for an interesting nation to build.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Koenigin Louisa
Strictly speaking this isn't one of our Nef, however it's such
a fantastic model that we really wanted to give it the exposure
it deserves. It was made by Aaron Freed in the US who sent us
the pictures completely out of the blue. Aaron's written some
notes about the construction of the Louisa as well. We're so
impressed that we intend to make a more conventional
1/1200th scale version as soon as time (and other projects)
permit.
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/NoFrames/Galleries/VAN-10.html
Monday, June 9, 2008
Latest Deals
From ebay I got a great deal on WWI/Colonial era
Bulgarians(445) and Russians(270)
Bulgarians(445) and Russians(270)
From a trade I got (all WWI) 120 Russians, 120
early war Germans, 120 early war Austrians,60
early war French and a few Late war British and
French.
I figure on using Bulgarians and Russians for both
Colonial and Russian revolution.
Colonial and Russian revolution.
Where I got some inspiration:
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
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