Grid Wargaming Blog

[Gridmaster]

Hi all,

Very happy to be here with you all and look forward to spending time here.

My Name is Mike Smith and I’m the Author of Grid Wargaming and of my Book: Tabletop Battles 2nd Edition.

I’m rather new to Blogging and have had a lot of help from my Stepson with Blogging and my Book, Forums are a new experience so bare with me.

I and my book cover a lot of era’s like Ancient, the 18th and 19th century, Black Powder, Horse and Musket, as well as Fantasy and Sci-fi, even covers Aerial Combat, Seafaring and Skirmish, as well as Solo play.

Well you can find my Banner here, I hope you enjoy my Blog, that it may help you in some way and I look forward to interacting with you all in the future.

Best Regards

Mike Smith

 

[Whirlwind]

Hello Mike, I have had a quick look around your blog, very interesting, especially for those of us who like using small tables.  I know there is quite a lot of interest in using grids in the hobby at the moment, so maybe your time has come!

I’d be interested to know more about your terrain.  I have always found that one of the bigger problems with getting a good set up in gridded games, particularly how much terrain per square and how to do relief so it fits with the game and looks nice.

 

[Gridmaster]

Greetings to you. When I started using the grid, contoured terrain was a problem. Storage space was another. I decided to use squared terrain to fit the grid. Firstly, by doing so it is immediately apparent wether a stand is on or off a hill or outside of, or within the confines of a wood. The Base of the wood is either 8″ by 8″ ( 20 by 20 centimetres) or 6″ by 8″ ( 15 by 20 centimetres), the trees being movable. The hills  are made from 10mm thick mdf  which is 8″ x 8″ (20 centimetres x 20 centimetres) square. Being square also makes it easy to stack the terrain in boxes at the end of the game. If your cupboard space is as limited as your playing space this is a bonus. I have put a few paragraphs in the rulebook on how to set up the terrain for a one- off game. This can be altered if an historical set piece is to be attempted. I have found that if a reasonable paint job is employed it does not detract from the aesthetic look of the game. Best regards.

Mike Smith.

 

[Gridmaster]

Also in the back of my Book there’s a Sources page with all the Manufacturers and Suppliers I use for Terrain etc.

[Gridmaster]

I like to make my own scenery occasionally. The reason being, that finding scenery to fit the two inch ( 50mm) grid is rare indeed. The items I use are

*  picture framing cardboard.

*  PVA glue.

*  Texturing Paste.                               

Building your own scenery can be just as rewarding as painting figures. Even if it doesn’t turn out quite right the texturing paste and a basic paint job hides any mistakes!. Also, the more you make the more you learn.

[Blackhat]

Hi Mike

I am interested in your book – can you give us any more details such as number of pages and a list of the contents?

 

thanks

Mike

[Deleted User]

Really liking that fort.

[Gridmaster]

To Mike at Blackhat miniatures. Sorry, I cannot reach your e-mail address. The book is 58 pages in length. The points system covers the Ancient era right through to the 19th century. There are also sections covering Fantasy and Science Fiction. Further sections give basic rules for sea and air warfare. There are two historical and one fantasy map provided for a campaign. The rules themselves are pretty generic. When I put them together the idea was to be able to have army sized combat in a small space so, 2mm to 20mm figures are ideal. The rules can cover 28mm skirmish as well. Having written that they would just as well for the larger figures on a much larger table if you were lucky enough to have that facility. At a basic level the sci- fi rules can cover WW1 and 2 but I concentrated on earlier periods as far more in- depth rule sets exist for modern Warfare. My blog is at http://www.gridwargaming.co.UK which will give an idea of my style of war gaming.

Best regards

Mike Smith.

[Gridmaster]

To Thomaston. Thank you for that comment. In past times I could not afford scenery and could rarely find any that would fit a two inch grid so I started making my own. The guy who owns S and A Scenics has made me some purpose built terrain pieces, and I still like building scratchbuilt stuff. It’s not brilliant but it serves a purpose and its all part of the hobby.

[Gridmaster]

I’ve  recently started doing my version of historical battles. I’m using the 3 foot by 2 foot table ( 90cms x 60cm ). At this size I am only putting items on the table that influenced the battle. The latest one is Ceder Mountain, which is an American Civil War battle.

[Mike]

What do the coloured areas denote, I am guessing blue is a river?

[Gridmaster]

Hi to all,

I’ve recently posted another battle on my Blogsite. It is for the Battle of Luzzera. Once again it is the 18th century. I must admit that out of all the periods that I have wargamed, the 18th century stands out as my favourite.

[Gridmaster]

Hi Mike.

My apologies for missing your enquiry. Yes the blue thin cardboard represents a river, yellow being the fields. I use cardboard because you can then have any size or length of river quite cheap. When you look at the Luzzera layout you can see I used mdf  sections from Sarrisa precision. I made them for a recent participation game at Warfare.

The road is also light brown cardboard for the same reasons.

Best regards

Mike.

 

[Author]

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