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For the bamboo I would use an old curtain I have from the 80’s, it’s basically long cocktail straws with a thread around it (pull the string and it “rolls” up).  Cut pieces to length.  For the woven pattern I’ve used this burlap edging stuff from a craft store.

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I flip-flop between podcasts and music, mostly metal.  Now that I’ve found podcasts of horror short stories that’s my go to.

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I have the 5th ed and bought into the Rising Sun KS.  I had the 2nd ed (sold it) and still have 3rd I picked up at GenCon years ago.  I’m going to start up a campaign once lockdowns clear, I really dislike gaming over the web.  That will give me time to hammer out the magic and faith systems so it goes smoother.  Re-reading the magic system has really put me off 5E magic.  We were going to do Harn but C&S has more potential for fantasy elements, good since most of the players are coming from 5E and will want some fantasy vs more historical rpg.  But, I do like the rules and the way magic is handled.  We won’t be using all the faith parts because we’ll be in their fantasy land vs real world.

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Looking at the FB site I see this “Buildings are important to the game and should be the primary terrain type populating the board, . . .”

How important are they (if I don’t use buildings will the rules break or some really odd results happen)?  I generally don’t use buildings in my games outside of an objective.  I’m using 8″ vinyl figures but it’s the fiddle factor I’m concerned about.  Things like constant knocking of buildings over unintentionally,  having players navigate a forest of buildings, and such.

We’ve played Monster Island mostly but have tried Giant Monster Rampage.  I  have most (99%) of the kaiju we use.

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I did put together the 1/48 scale zsu23-2 from from ACE models with the intention of using it for my airfield but after finishing it I doubt I would get more of those.  The bits are really fragile, parts placement is spotty, and I had to watch a Polish youtube ad for their upgraded zsu23s to figure out what some parts were.  Once done it’s not a bad looking model but getting there is a bear in case that model ever comes up as something to use.

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I picked up 2 of these from ebay this week.  They are diecast prepainted from the old USSR.  The legs spread and the gun elevates.  They’ll be part of my imagi-africa cold war games.  The same company makes BTRs and BRDMs in metal, usually for less than what you’d pay for a resin model.  I’m going to eventually repaint all of them but since I have unpainted minis these will remain in their original color.  Mighty durable for gaming.

 

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What is your favorite / most liked / most played set of rules for WW2 squad level gaming? – Most played: Disposable Heroes (1st ed), Battleground WWII, A Corner of Hell.  I have a lot of rules, all of the ones already mentioned.  There are rules I’d like to play and having read them feel like they have something to offer but it would be a one-off game so never really able to utilize a ruleset fully, Nuts! is one for sure I’d play but the reaction system is just new enough that I’d like to have a veteran player involved.

If you play WW2 both with single-based and team-based figures (f.x. Nuts and Command Decision) do you do so in different scales or the same?  – Yes different scales.  28mm for single based, 6mm for any team based.

Is squad-level gaming the primary type of WW2 game for you or is it a secondary/occasional thing? – It’s a primary game.  A game where more than a platoon is on a stand I would use counters.  Platoon=stand games really don’t interest me much in miniatures and that’s because of the visuals.  A single tank is 3-5 but the house is a house?  It can be handled by using different terrain but I feel that few games I’ve played in at stand level have anything other than single structures and suddenly a tank platoon is “hiding” behind a house.  If it’s stands then I want to use templates like in AK-47, usually a terrain appropriate colored felt and buildings that are removable but can be put back to pretty things up. I play this level on the PC (East Front and it’s sisters) and that is fine but it’s hex based really.  I don’t play much squad based games due to other’s interest but squad-level gaming is my primary interest and what I buy & build for.

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As long as the victory conditions allow for either side to “win” I’m in but a game that’s part of a campaign and the speedbump force is just to inflict what casualties they can is fun as well.  A small, highly motivated force in good terrain, or some tricks, would be fun to run against a larger less motivated force.  When I first read through Stargrunt II and got to the mission motivation rules I was hooked on the idea.  When I’ve played the speedbump force, especially at a con, we’ve had more fun than the larger force.  We had a freedom of action that fades when forces are equal.  If the other side doesn’t know what the speedbump force is, or how small, there’s plenty of opportunity to “psych-out” the opposition.

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The Eastern European buildings from Charlie Foxtrot go together nicely (those are the ones I have).  The instructions could be more robust but if you dry fit the pieces it’ll make sense.  One nice thing is everything is keyed to a side, so lets say 2 short rectangles for end walls would have different slots for the floor making it difficult to glue pieces in the wrong place.  The window panes, frames, and doors are separate pieces making it easy to paint them, especially the inside.

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What I would like to see are 1/2 or 2/3 figures for matchbox scaled cars (around 1/72).  I cars with open interiors but by design the leg area is usually solid or very small.  The figures would need to be probably plastic since metal ones aren’t as thin.  FYI: 1/72 barrels for airplane machineguns are nice.  I went overboard and got brass ones that have porting.

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I agree with the railroadiness of modules, we played Strahd and Barrier Peaks and both felt like connect-the-dots-games.  I’m tying the modules I’ve picked up into my own campaign but I like to run a pretty open world, but I think the party is used to the directed nature of printed materials.  We’re set in Greyhawk after the wars so I’ll have them popping all over and hopefully breaking up any monotony that comes along.  I like 5E, not as much as 2E, and it feels more free-form regarding modifiers and coming up with target numbers on the fly.  Half the group, myself included, started with the old box sets and the rest are very good at remembering rules (which helps me) so we could have pretty classic arguments but I think the group, again including me, have matured to the point where we’re “going with the story” and not worried about modifiers and such to a point where we slow down discussing every rule.  I’ve been running convention minis games and that’s helped me with running the games and avoiding a lot of book checking.  They’re about 1/2 through the caves and after Quesqueton they’ll be hitting badlands and running into some homemade encounters.  These won’t be “by the book” so some magic effects are going to be happening “you don’t know how”.   We did have some good laughs about system shock/resurrection and the combat mods we used to have in olden times.

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I’ve played Diablo 3 through to the end a couple of times and my wife has been playing.  We’ll get 4 when it comes out, mostly so we have something new.

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Thanks for the info.  They’re still slugging their way through the reworked B1/B2 from Goodman Games and I’ve been picking up some old modules from ebay.  The players are all very experienced so having a bunch of enemies isn’t so bad for them, it keeps it interesting.

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I dropped 20mm in favor of 28mm because I don’t need so many scales and my terrain can be used for multiple periods.  For rules I’m looking at Spectre Operations, Skirmish Sangin, the old Recon rules by Palladium, and At Close Quarters.  The games will be low in figure count but heavy in terrain, on a 8×5 table.  I know I won’t be able to fit a lot of vehicles, helos, and arty but if I really want that then I’m going to use 6mm, which I have for WWII and modern.

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Finishing bases for 10 28’s and 4 dinos.  The Old Glory 28mm hotel is next to get finished then some 1/35 and 1/48 models that have been sitting around.

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So far I’ve only based up my infantry for Schwere Kompanie.  The number of figs represented the stand so for example 3 = line inf, 4 = assault, 2 = cmd, MMG/HMG singles.

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Maybe a subset of the film/tv (media) group?   Does anyone have a “master list” or maybe we can create one of the podcasts out there?  I have 3 gaming ones I subscribe to (Wargaming Recon is on there!) but there’s got to me more.  They make great listening while painting.

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My attempt at getting pics out.  The star map is a 4×6 Hotz mat and if you spot the big 6 legged thing in the corner, that’s the kid’s latest addiction, Star Wars Clone Wars action figures and their various vehicles.  It’s tempting to start running games in that scale, they’re about 3.75″ tall.

my table">my table

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I play in the finished (more like work in progress) side of the basement.  I have 2 2.5×8 conference tables but am going to start using the custom 5×8 table a friend built for me.  It folds in the middle on a piano hinge.  It has side walls to stop errant dice and 4 handy little boxes that hang on those walls in which to put thinks like drinks, dice, minis, etc.  I put a grid system on it, not the neatest, but it helps with things like hidden placement and games with subs/cloaked stuff. If I can make some room I may pull it out and see how it fits.

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I like Mein Panzer for games with a company up to battalion per side (modern and WWII).  I like the nuts & bolts but understand it can drag down once more than 2 platoons are on the table and I feel MP gives enough speed without making everything generic (light tank,med tank, large tank; same for all nations just different name).

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If you have critters that like to move into sheds and garages some blocking of that would be in order.  I have chipmunks that invade my garage (a constant battle) and don’t leave anything there in case they start to chew or build a home.

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I’ve never run a campaign but the TFL “At the Sharp End”, on first quick reading, will probably be my choice for running any WWII-> sci-fi campaign, with appropriate modifications as needed.

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