[Devon Start]

do you mean the original volley gun in 28? i have that and can measure it

[Devon Start]

basing your minis individually shouldnt matter to how you buy them. Mine are based for easy eight battleground ww2.
i still buy figures from flames of war.
here is the hint. count the minis on the page, they show pictures of everything in the set.
in the end however what matters is what you are looking for.
it says ” 1 mg team” for instance.. the skinny is youre getting one MG. how many figs you get to service it, well thats sort of irrelevant. youre going to get at least one gun and one loader maybe a spotter depending.
so go count the minis on the site- for instance it looks like the rifle platoon has 74-75 minis in it.
you can also email them as you will 100% get the correct answer. we are all going to guess just like you

[Devon Start]

i mean hell i painted up the entire line of black tree design dr who minis, and i painted them in the outfits they wore on tv. i tracked down every episode and watched those to get an idea of the colors to use, patterns etc.
For some of us, that research is the fun.. sorry you dont have the mental fortitude for it

[Devon Start]

wait the color of the uniforms have little to no bearing on the outcome of the battle?!?!?! how smart you must feel to make that comment.
Gee who would have thought.

here is the other thing. this is a BIG hobby and you occupy a very small corner of it. the way you do things represents a tiny insignificant (word chosen specifically) way of doing things.
personally i prefer to paint than to play. probably why my shit is in books and i win awards for painting.

so for me, who wants to paint more than play, getting the uniforms correct is the fun part.
Knowing what there is to know about it, even if its limited(and understanding what that means, and that sometimes you have guess or make things up-especially when doing colonials and all the natives) getting the minis as accurate as current information can make them is, for a segment of the hobby, a lot of fun.
Those books/articles/debates are there for them. will it help you understand why napoleon won(do you really think anything other than being in the mans head will actually tell you, because THAT is some funny shit right there) those books arent for you but you dont get to roam about Gate Keeping. slow your roll guy

[Devon Start]

The other rules are more appropriate i realize that there is a difference between answering to get a dopamine hit for talking about your favorite rules and then there is actually answer the question

[Devon Start]

Giles Dorrington wrote:

Bloody Big Battles! might be worth a look. There are scenarios for both Montebello and Palestro (both of which would broadly fit your requirements, although you might have to tweak the unit sizes a bit) in the files section of the Groups.io Bloody Big Battles group https://groups.io/g/bloodybigbattles And if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous one of the scenario books, Bloody Big European Battles, has scenarios for both Magenta and Solferino.

i was going to suggest bloody big battles but the OP did mention he actually wants small battles with just a few units per side, so bloody BIG battles is probably right out. However these rules or the 1866 rules are what i would use for this period.

[Devon Start]

I agree that Niel Thompsons rules are really cool, and for small battles. the rules are like 9 pages and the rest of it is his thought process on the rules. it was a really good read hostely.

[Devon Start]

Gone Fishing wrote:

I agree with Howard that reading too much Howard (Robert E., that is) can be a little hard to take. His portrayal of women can be pretty cringe-inducing. Mr Whitehouse, if you see this: any chance of Chainmail Bikini being released any time soon?

I was rereading this thread and this struck me.
Belit and Valeria. are you familiar with them? they might be two of the most bad ass women in sword and sorcery!
Conan stories dont mention or have a lot of women in general. there are the occasional princess and queen, but they are powerful in their own way even if conan needs to rescue them.
But there are two women that stand out from howards writing, Belit and Valeria. Belit is so bad ass she is conans mate and HE TAKES THE BACK SEAT.. she is 100% in control. (queen of the black coast)
valeria is easily conans equal. while she does end up a bit damsel in distress, so does conan, and both of them kill plenty of people in the story.(red nails)
youll note that i did not mention red sonja.. she isnt howard. she kind of is but not really.
in the 70s roy thomas was the guy who wrote the conan comics. Like decamp et al he was fond of taking other howard stories and making them conan. the story his Red Sonya(different spelling intentional) is from is an historical one set in the 1500s.(shadow of the vulture)
initially when Thomas debuted his Red Sonja she wore more sensible clothing, it was a full chain shirt, so she was, again, dressed like conan.
Later she changes to become the current character and gets the chainmail bikini.
But its not howard at all that wrote that character nor did he ever describe any of his female characters in such a garment.

[Devon Start]

every time i comment, its the last comment.

[Devon Start]

I suppose it also matters as to what you think zamora looks like. there is a lot of lee way here.

[Devon Start]

it means stop watching tv. kill the babysitter. in this case the babysitter is the TV.

[Devon Start]

it depends on the company but there is a lot of wild variety in quality even in the same maker.

take foundry.. who you might be referring to anyway.

Back in the day they had great historical sculptors who have all gone and got their own companies. But the quality was good, even in the late 90s they had some fantasy minis that were very nice(just really niche)
then they came out with the batch of minis that would be casting room and the quality is lacking, especially compared to the old sculpts(but to be fair some of the old foundry stuff was bad, like the maximillian stuff)

[Devon Start]

kill your babysitters

[Devon Start]

this guy 

[Devon Start]

as for a zamoran with a dagger.  the best place to look is the frostgrave minis(they have a few conans too)
the guy in the top right is clearly supposed to be Malek, his little companion guy from Conan the Destroyer. Still looking for a grace jones mini

https://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=11777

[Devon Start]

mark leslie wrote:

There’s the rub, hulking barbarian in anything other than furs. Off the top of my head Fenris Games/Dark Fable-Egypt. Not hulking, not Zamoran but dressed for civilised lands and has a bit of a Conan vibe. His companions are also interesting.

might be late to the party here. but..
That is 100% a conan on the left. I imagine this is from the comics when he does spend some time with Belit(the marvel comics 70s version is available from this same seller)  in stygia.

the woman on the far right is from the Dark Horse her name is Janessa(i think) she and conan work with a priest of Ibis for a couple of stories but shes a bad ass.

[Devon Start]

Not Connard Sage wrote:

Devon Start wrote:

It might be. But it may help to have a games name in the listing title im also rather good at thebasing part and enjoy doing that

If you want to make money selling pre-paints it’s not about what you enjoy but what other people want to buy. As others have said, put them on temporary bases. Also, until I turned up no-one has been insulting you. Grow a thicker skin.

i dont know about a temp base. the whole point is to sell a nice product that goes together. I have anice 3d printer. it works very well for making movement trays etc. That plan would be to mount the minis individually and then make bases for groups. the minis can be removed f rom the bases as needed.
think of the bases as value added.

as for thicker skin, there is a gulf of difference between being offended by something, and pointing out that you recognize someone is being a dick and treating you poorly. Its impossible for you here to offend me, I dont care what you think of me or what i do. so those negative opinions really hold no water. but i will point out bad behavior.

it appears too that the comment and my reply are both missing. i assume they were removed by the moderator, so yeah you probably didnt see anything. I have a feeling that was the point of it being removed.

 

[Devon Start]

It might be. But it may help to have a games name in the listing title

im also rather good at thebasing part and enjoy doing that

[Devon Start]

I didnt think id find much agreement thats why i asked

but you know ive noticed that a lot of games have suggested bases. So i wasnt looking for a standard

thanks for assuming a moron. Ill remember that

[Devon Start]

I play a game called disc golf. It started as an excuse to get out every weekend. I live in Florida so its always summer time here. when its not rainy or wet we play.
essentially it is like “ball golf”( a term regular golfers seem to hate us using) same basic rules and scoring.
only you throw specialized frisbees(although thats a brand name) you have drivers, putters, mid ranges etc.
takes about two hours give or take. In fact im leaving shortly to meet my friend and play a round. I will likely do so again tomorrow.
im not that good. but i  enjoy it.

my other passion, rather than hobby (which to answer your question in the OP is what watching sci fi films is rather than a hobby) is music. I love music for music and not one or two genres. I would like to play music again, but its been well over 30 years since i did and while i own a double bass, i cant find a teacher

[Devon Start]

Wouter Wolput wrote:

In the games I play with my son, we usually limit the number of bows to three, unless it’s a larger engagement with the hero getting some help. Another thing to consider is the use of terrain, you can’t shoot what you can’t see and we have learned to approach carefully when there are opponents with bows on the field. I think both bows and combat are abstracted, something not uncommon in both miniature games and RPGs alike, but given the flexibility and simplicity of the rules it kind of works. While not perfect, the limited amount of rolls make gameplay really fast and excellent to play with children. Burning Sands isn’t a game to play competitive in my opinion, but rather a toolbox to create great stories with (not unlike roleplaying games).

terrain would make a difference, but there isnt much to hide behind in a big open temple complex for instance. plus cover doesnt make a lick of difference. Hide behind that shelf or dias, it wont effect shooting. its the same if you are behind the dias or standing out in the open. no die to dodge you get hit.

and yeah its totally great for co op games and story telling, this is waht makes it so appealing to me.. but you know as well as i do it just takes that one person to start min maxing to ruin it. Once someone finds out that a bow is an almost automatic hit, story telling goes out the window.   the evil big bad just spend his dice summoning a monster, well ill just blast him with an arrow, range doesnt matter nor does cover(as long as i can see him) so every turn ill just have two or three low lever jobbers keep his jobbers busy and shoot his wizard with my bow armed hero and never move.. i dunno its a place where jackassery could arise and i like to lock down the jack assery early lol

how old is your son? thats cool. My dad is a wargamer from way back and we used to play games together all the time growing up. Mostly Sword and the Flame.

[Devon Start]

i didnt see them as standing still, that sort of makes sense. I have also only played a few times, my frustration with shooting made me stop.. its that much of an issue for me, ive come back to it because i like the rest of the rules

i suppose i see it as all happening at once, so while gonan is chopping up guys 1-3 guys 4-6 are shooting at him, guys 1-3 are potentially spoiling the aim.  So that even if you are out of vitality, you werent standing still during the turn.

dont feel bad, ive had the same issues with Crom! which this is based on, the shooting just doenst quite work. I suppose its not that big a deal conan didnt like to use bows personally so archery isnt that much of a thing.

I dont know if i would see shooting as an opposed roll, that feels more like a skill check rather than a struggle between two peoples skills

[Devon Start]

id probably use them in space 1889 as some kind of french space force for either mars or venus.  id be using gaslight or something similar for larger games rather than the soldiers companion(the 1889 wargame rules)
the other spot is to use them as either IG or Judges in rogue trader games. maybe the household troops of the Rogue Trader.. they have a lot of uses really

[Devon Start]

Rhoderic wrote:

I’m interested in playing and designing miniatures games that emulate the feel of video games. Such games would be based on “video game logic” that would make absolutely no sense in other contexts, but nor would it have to make sense. There would be spawning/respawning, extra lives, healing items, PvP arena-style terrain set-ups and, yes, power-ups. But I have a very broad spectrum of miniatures gaming interests, and video game “emulation” games are just one thing in that spectrum. I could see “power-ups” working in some other contexts (fun adventure-based games that don’t take themselves too seriously, like Pulp Alley) but not all of them.

have you played gloomhaven? they are essentially trying to make a video game using cards. the enemy are all run by cards, no GM required. so all the “thinking’ an AI would do is done with the cards. its really cool. but i find the game takes too long to set up and that shit just gets in the way

 

[Devon Start]

ive played the alamo more than once, that is a fun game. ive been the mexicans and the texans and yeah you arent going to “win” the battle as the texans. its impossible, there was no way to win, and there is no way to win.. the battle. that doesnt mean the game doesnt have victory conditions. at least in convention games its about holding out longer than the guy who played last time.

 

historicals will have this issue far more than fantasy or sci fi, as you design the scenario and make it up. History however, in many wars, one side was always going to win due to something.. better tatics, better technology, better understanding of war. whatever it is. and yet we still have games for things like custers last stand(very popular too) you know custer isnt beating the indians, it just cant happen. but people play anyway.

[Devon Start]

i dont think it would make much of a difference to the game. someone already said you dont really use the corners much anyway, sometimes but not always.
the round seems also to really funnel in the action to a central point.

i dont see this working well for a huge pitched battle, a “proper” wargame.. but for RPG lite and skirmish style games i see this working really well.
i also feel that round looks more natural than square, like i prefer a diorama with a round or irregular shaped base than i do a straight one. so the round b games above sort of have that feel, especially the one with the cliffs(heavy gear?)

[Devon Start]

well poop. i cant find a copy anywhere.. bummer. thanks though!

[Devon Start]

i dont like the scale creep and the bigger models in general, but i have never had an issue with the setting or GW in general.  I also have a shed load of original rogue trader stuff to paint! i also have copies of the original rule book. In fact my dad(an veteran wargamer in his own right) said half way through the one game we played last years “with all this paper work.. this is a kids game?”

[Devon Start]

i am very curious about the morale aspect to the rules so id like a copy for sure

[Devon Start]

that would be an incorrect assumption. these rules are nowhere to be found on the web, and searching for them only brings me your blog and news about a swiss cheese pervert who shares the name of the author of these rules.
do you have a link or anything.. how did you get them?

[Devon Start]

why would it be Dr who? im curious what about it gave you the notion that there would genre over lap. its essentially the lion the witch and the wardrobe for atheists..  they made the not so good movie a few years ago, golden compass

as for world building and not understanding all about the world at once, yeah thats story telling. good shows use it

 

[Devon Start]

Whirlwind wrote:

Mike wrote:

To not care about what is popular and to not be diverse would I feel, be incredibly remiss of some one in my position.

Mike, a question for you: do you think that print and social media coverage of gaming, especially miniatures gaming, is skewed towards historical gaming and away from fantasy/SF gaming, given the assumptions made about the numbers of people playing? I don’t mean “disliked” or “ignored”, just that the percentage coverage doesn’t reflect it. Or is it that there is a ton of fantasy and SF stuff out there (magazines, blogs, social media stuff) that I am just not seeing?

hey whirlwind.. you must just not be looking. if you think its skewed toward historicals, that because you are in the historical bubble.  Sci fi and fantasy makes way more money.  for instance according to this site gw will make about 175 million this year. for comparison we have warlord games(probably the biggest name in historicals at the moment) they are going to make less than a million.

links below to check my work
https://www.owler.com/company/warlordgames

https://www.owler.com/company/games-workshop

[Devon Start]

sci fi and fantasy are likely the most popular. just look at what you actually find in stores. if you go to any FLGS in the US or UK you are going to find a lot of gw stuff, reaper stuff, star wars games etc.. you rarely see historicals,

if you wanted to know what game is most popular i have no idea. but i have a good idea as to the genres

like isaid, first its probably sci fi, then fantasy-but in the 80s and 90s i would have said it was the other way round, with fantasy being the bigger. then its the historicals. I would say in that over all genre, napoleonics and ww2 are likely the most popular. WW2 maybe being bigger with games like bolt action being pretty big, but im not 100% those are two genres i have only passing interest in.
then i would say ancients, those are pretty damn popular with a lot of games coming out. Thats another way to tell, you have a lot of new games for those three genres.
then i would have to say stuff like 7tv and where heros dare and pulp alley.. that sort of o movie based stuff that really only gets a lot of play with historical players(or so it seems, ive never seen a pulp game at a regular gaming con that i didnt run myself, but i see them all the time at historical cons.. i think its because stuffy historcal wargamers can convince themseles its not sci fi/fantasy becasue its loosly based on history)

[Devon Start]

20mm and i say charlie company by rafm.. not the miniatures those arent so great, but the rules are really cool. i like the whole take on the game, everyone is americans you play a platoon or squad leader and you have to survive your 6 games that are your tour of duty.

i have a bunch of SHQ figs that are pretty sweet, but there are a few guys that make 20mm nam

[Devon Start]

wow all of this is amazing. the ships the terrain!

[Devon Start]

another thread i killed

[Devon Start]

yeah my understanding is something happened to them personally. they had some really great figs its a shame

[Devon Start]

as usual i kill the conversation dead.. is it my breath?

[Devon Start]

this is just hard to do. my buddy and i were thinking of software to help with this. but not sure how
a buddy works for microsoft and he showed me a video of some software they have the is scary as hell really, but damn good for runnign games like this. Essentially its hooked to a camera and understands what an object is, you can assign the object certain rights, so lets say its a construction site, you can make it so that equipment that needs special training is marked, so any employee(alos marked) who is not authorized to touch it will set off an alarm.
thats the scary part, its going to be used to watch you. But
imagine if you can tell the program that X is a miniature unit with this much movement, this fight character istc ect.. you would be able to then have a central table with everyone connected via the net.

There was also a really cool game i think i saw in Wargames illustrated where the main table was set up in a remote location from the players and when it was time to move a camera was set up at mini level and they cold only react to what they actually see on the table. that one was pretty neat looking

[Devon Start]

they run a bunch of demos at hmgs events here in the states. and at historicon they sometimes do a giant lord of the rings game. i have the supplement for that somewhere

 

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