The Northern Front Episode 3

Episode 3 is finally here, although a couple days late.

In this episode we cover many topic to include a couple of listener requests.  It includes an extensive overview of the Black Powder rules and some of the supplements as well as a discussion on figure conversions for lesser know armies for Bolt Action and other periods as well as a brief overview of the new Bolt Action campaign book "Duel in the Sun".

Of course we go on our usual ramblings of what we have been up to with historical gaming and what is on the horizon.


Link to the show (Also available on iTunes):


http://northernfrontpodcast.libsyn.com/podcast/northern-front-podcast-episode-3




Don't forget to visit our Facebook page to tell us what you think and let us know if you have suggestions for future episodes.


Face Book Page:


https://www.facebook.com/TheNorthernFrontPodcast/?fref=nf


Enjoy!

Northern Front Podcast

Welcome to the 1st episode of the Northern Front Podcast.

Brian, Phil and I have decided to start a historical gaming podcast devoted to our gaming interest.

Currently the focus is on Bolt Action, Black Powder and Chain of Command.  In the coming episodes we will expand into other areas to include getting back into my Naval gaming as well as many other historical gaming interests.

Northern Front Podcast

You can also follow along on our new Facebook page.

Nothern Front Podcast FB page

Look forward to your feedback.  If you have topics related to what we are working on let us know and we will try to include them in future episodes.

Hope you enjoy!

ROCKCON 2013

This past weekend I attended ROCKCON in Rockford, IL.  This is a great gaming convention less than 30 minutes from my home that I have been attending for the past 5 years.

http://www.nobleminis.com/RockconWP/

I will get around to posting specific AARs for the some of the games I participated in and the two I ran, but I wanted to get something up today while it was still fresh in my mind.

I did not attend Friday, but was able to stop by and drop of my Auction items for the Silent Auction.  this is one of the best run and organized auctions of any CON I have attended.  This year I brought a number of items and am happy to report that I sold more than half taking home about $400 and more importantly cleaning some stuff out of my game room.  This also meant I had some spending cash for the Vendors and was able to add some Bolt action figures to my collection.



Some of the Crew from WoG game

Saturday AM I reported early in hopes of getting in to the Wings of Glory game.  My Friend Dan I were able to get in despite the roster being filled.  Met a great group of players from the area some of whom get together on a regular basis for scrambles.  While I own the complete Wings of Glory collection I do not get to play as much as I would like.  It was a real treat to participate in a massive game with over 20 planes starting and then re spawning.  I flew to German Albatross to help the Bed Barron accomplish his victory conditions.  I am happy to report that despite the Allies best efforts the Germans were successful...Long Live the Barron!

Bomber has travelled around the world (litteraly)

Graf Spee Captain contemplating
 next move

Saturday Afternoon with the help of two gaming friend Mike and Dan we ran a Naval Thunder Seaman training event.  I had three scenarios ready to go which each take about an hour to play to conclusion so players could come and play one or stay for them all.  In total we had 8 players sign up and then a few more join us and we ran a total of 4 scenarios.  Battle of the River Plate (twice), Battle of Denmark Strait, and Battle of Empress Augusta Bay.  I think everyone had a good time as one of the players cursed me for getting him hooked on a new game.

Pearl Harbor Counter Strike Set Up

Saturday evening we then ran a larger Naval Thunder Alternate History (Pearl Harbor Counterstrike) which a full AAR we be coming.  We had a total of six players and despite the late hour all had a great time.
Sunday I made it back after a short nights sleep to play a Sails of Glory Demo game.  For those not aware Sails of Glory is a new game published by Ares (Also make Wings of Glory) that they launched through Kick Starter.  This is the first ever Kick Starter I have supported so I was very Eager to try it out as our products are due to arrive anytime now.





Eric Explaining the rules patiently

Eric and his wife Sue did an excellent job introducing the game and the scenario.  The models were pre-production samples, but still look very impressive.  We played out a convoy scenario where the British had to stop a French convoy while the French had to protect it.  I started out with a French Ship of the Line.  Some of my teammates had a bit of difficulty mastering sailing a ship with the wind mechanics.  While they were off taking yachting lessons I manged to place my SoL between the Two British SoL and the Convoy.  Unfortunately I did not fair well during a collision and Eric only new how to give me severe damage counters while giving my 

My First command hotly engaged

opponent zeros.  My SoL is now a nice coral reef.  Fortunately I was able to re spawn with a French Frigate and again get into the thick of the action tangling with two British frigates while my team mates were finishing up their yachting instruction.  When the game concluded I had managed to put one of the British ships out of action, but my frigate was badly mauled.

Really loved the game and cannot wait for my copy to arrive.  Many thanks to Eric for putting on the game and all our antics as we learned the mechanics.

After Sails of Glory I decided to close my gaming experience at ROCKCON 2013 to score some points with household Six by being home early. 

Detailed AARs will be forthcoming as I have time.

Shapeways and a new era of miniature gaming

Some time ago I was introduced to Shapeways 3D printing service due to my involvement in a couple of games (War at Sea and Wings of Glory).  As gamers we all have a desire for miniatures that are not yet produced by the traditional gaming companies.  Apparently 3D printing is a solution to that problem.  The issue is 3D printers are very costly, so along comes Shapeways.

https://www.shapeways.com/

As I understand it Shapeways either owns a bunch of 3D printers or out sources their work to 3rd party printers (I suspect a combination of both).  Either way they allow individuals who have knowledge of the CAD software to upload their designs and then print them on demand.  Once a design is uploaded and approved anyone can order it.

The buzz started about Shapeways on gaming forums I am a member as gamers started to turn to it as a source to create new minis or obtain hard to find collectible minis.  I was skeptical for some time and resisted trying it.  Now that WotC has more or less abandoned one of my favorite games, War at Sea, and there have been two new fan produced "sanctioned" card decks I decided to give it a try.

Once ordered the models arrive in about 10 days give or take with a flat shipping charge of $6.50 no matter how many models you order.

Two orders placed close together arrived on the same day

WOW, am I impressed.  The minis do not come pre-painted and do require a little work.  You can order products in various materials which increases the detail, but also how fragile it may be.  So far I have only ordered white strong flexible (WSF) which when it first arrives appears to have a grainy texture. 

First Shapeways minis I ever ordered upon arrival

After some trials I can now produce minis that are hard to tell apart form the factory made ones WotC produced and in most cases the detail is much better.  Most importnatly it is a means to get models that are playable in the game that no comapany has produced or are not easily proxied with existing models.

This is the basic process I currently follow to produce my desired results:



Some of the products I use

1. Brush the model with a soft bristle tooth brush to remove all excess material that may be present.

2. Blow of the model to ensure all residue is gone.

3. Brush on two heavy coats of matte varnish (Currently use Vallejo).

4. Spray on gloss coat of clear finish (currently use Rustoleum)

5. Spray on Gray primer (Again use Rustoleum)

6. Paint desired colors

7. Apply black wash to desired affect

8. Spray on Gloss coat

9. Dry brush to desired affect

10. Spray on 1-2 coats of Tester's "Dull coat" matte finish

Step 1 and 2 complete and models sorted with their stat card

Step 3: Two coats of Matte Varnish applied

Step 4&5: Gloss Coat and then Primer applied top and bottom

Here are some completed examples:

Super Yamato "Tsushima"

B-14 Flying Fortress

HMS Roberts (Monitor)

Once completed using the above method the Shapeways models looks and feel just like the WotC factory produced ones.  I will admit a very small amount of detail is probably lost due to the many coats of varnish and primer, but this completely eliminates the issue of the model having a grainy finish that some complain about.

Obviously this is not for everyone.  If you have no desire to paint what so ever than 3D printing is not for you.  The process is pretty easy now that I have it done.  I can get a batch of models to the prime stage in one evening.  Then I can paint to completion several at a time.

Here is a video on how it all works:

https://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/2225-Take-a-Tour-of-the-Shapeways-3D-Printing-Factory-in-Eindhoven-VIDEO.html?%2Farchives%2F2225-Take-a-Tour-of-the-Shapeways-3D-Printing-Factory-in-Eindhoven-VIDEO_html=&ca=email&ct=082213&cr=t03

My guess is many will have questions about cost.  So far I have found the cost comparable more or less than most WotC models.  In some cases they are much cheaper due to the collectible nature of the WotC models.  A few I have avoided because the cost seemed a bit high to me.  Over time my guess is the costs will start to come down as the 3D printing process is further refined.

Later on I will likely replace some of my duplicate WotC models with Shapeways and sell the WotC version which will cover several shapeways models due to the highly collectible nature of some of the WotC models.

In the end I am very happy with the results and 3D printing has opened up a entirely new realm of possibilities for my gaming.

P-40B "Flying Tigers" and Mitsubishi G4M "Betty

I was not sure these would get done in July, but I had some rare free time and a spurt of energy to finish decals last night.

These are all Armaments in Miniature (AiM) 1/200 models.

Resin (Aim) models as they arrived with decals

Instead of hand painting these this time after washing and priming I decided to apply a base coat using spray enamel especially due to the size of the Betty.  I then painted the underside and camo pattern by hand.  I had read that decals tend to work better on a gloss surface, so before applying them I gave everything a gloss clear coat to seal the paint.  Overall I was happy with the results.  Once the decals were on I applied the normal dull coat to give them the military flat finish.

Finished Betty:

Flying Tigers:

Once again I was very pleased with the AiM models and decals.  The decals really make the difference on these models and the very of detail amazes me.  There were even more provided such as stripes for the Betty and tail numbers for the P-40s that were just to small for me to take the time on.  If you have the time to paint the cost just cannot be beat with $5.00/fighter including decals and $11.00/bomber with decals.  More importantly they have a wide selection of aircraft that are not yet available from other manufactures as I use my planes for games such as wings for Glory, CY6 and Axis and Allies Air Force.

WWII Pacific planes 1/200 AIM (Part 3) Finished

After a late night last night and Household Six letting me put off the "honey do" list this AM I was able to finish my latest addition to the Pacific Air fleets.

All 20 Models 4 Val, 4 Zero, 8 SBD Dauntless, and 4 F4F Wildcats

Drop Tank on Zero

I really like the AiM models as they have more detail than I expected and painted up really nice.  I was very impressed that the Zeros included drop tanks and the SBD and Vals had bombs that were additional parts as opposed to molded on or none at all.

SDB Dauntless

The most impressive part were the decals.  I could not believe the level of detail for a 1/200 game model.  they include individual numbers many of which I could not initially see printed in white, but make all the difference when applied to the models.

The decals were also the most difficult and time consuming part of completing these models, but in the end very much worth it.

F4F Wildcat

The models themselves were $4/ea and a decal sheets for 3-4 planes was another $4 so essentially the total investment per plane is $5/ea plus time and effort in painting and detailing.  in the end I am very satisfied with the end product and highly recommend AiM to other gamers.

SBD Guadalcanal

This addition opens up many opportunities to my air combat games.  I can now put entire squadrons of SBD Dauntless in the air.  I have enough to do the majority of the pacific scenarios for CY6 or anything I can dream up for Wings of Glory or AAAF.





 While the decals are very historical I opted for some variations on my paint schemes giving me both green and gray VALs as well as Zeros.

IJN VALs

Zeros

Early War and Midway SBD

With the Americans I took some liberty as well.  The SBD were for Guadalcanal and USS Enterprise Scouting 6.  I opted to make a couple of the SBD early war.  There were only enough Guadalcanal decals for 3 of the Wildcats so the 4th also took on and early war scheme as well.

Wildcat Early War and Guadalcanal

Until Next time.....Watch your Six!

WWII Pacific planes 1/200 AIM (Part 2)

For anyone that was in doubt 1/200 is my WWII scale.

Making progress on these models:

All have been trimmed, washed, primed and assembled.

These are the first fighters I have ordered from AiM previously B-25s and BF 110Cs.  Very impressed that bombs and drop tanks were included. WoG models do not even have these.

Starting to paint tonight. ;)

Wings of Glory at The Last Square Game day 22 June 2013

This past Saturday The Last Square in Madison, WI hosted a benefit game day.  Two of my favorite games Wings of Glory and X-wing were on the schedule.  Unfortunately due to other commitments I was not able to make it until mid afternoon just in time to get some of Karl's famous brats and take part in a four on four WoG melee in the skies.

We had several rookie pilots so we stuck to the standard rules and organized a four on four contest.  It started as two Camels and two SPAD vs. two Albatross and two Folker DRI.  I teamed up with the Germans in my new Albatross.  Each time a pilot was downed they regenerated with a new plane and started at the table edge.  We were playing for tickets to put into the door prize drawing.  Each time you downed an enemy you earned two tickets.

It started out pretty even with two separate battles forming at each end of the table.

Soon the German's gained the advantage downing a Camel.  A Entente pilot made a crucial error and maneuvered away from the action allowing the German's to have a brief 4-2 advantage.

The British and American pilots were determined to be accounted for and soon downed my wing man in his trusty DR1. Unfortunately for them they had taken too much damage.  I was hot on the tail of a Camel when it limped off out of the battle area with only 1 point remaining denying me the kill .  My fellow flyers downed another camel and the odds were now 4-2 again.

As time was drawing to a close there was one remaining SPAD which was able to get off a lucky round downing a final German and then made a hasty retreat out of the battle area.

Overall a German Victory downing 4 Entente flyers to 2 losses.  Most importantly fun was had by all.

Until next time, Watch your six.........

B-17 over France-Wings of War

The below scenario was developed almost two years ago when Wings of War WWII was still fairly new.  Now Wings of War will be called Wings of Glory by Ares games and is about to release the third set of WWII minis as well as a brand new starter set with updated rules as I detailed in my earlier blog.  My son and I really enjoyed this scenario, so I wanted to make sure I captured it here.

Hope You Enjoy!

B-17 over France

Germans:
3x ME 109-ME 109s are active once the B-17 reaches the river

Allies:
B-17
P-40-escorting
P-40-Support which enters play once the B-17 crosses the river on the return trip

Objective:
Bomb town on far side of River and make it back to friendly skies(Bomber just has to pass directly over the town)

Used the B-17 cards I found on the Web:

I thought this would be fairly even as the B-17 can take alot of punishment and dish it out as well.

Mission started out well with the B-17 scoring several hits on attacking 109s while only taking minimal damage. Germans quickly learned a head on assault is not the prefferred method of attack.

Then the B-17 started to take some serious hits as it made the turn and lumbered along while trying to make it back home.

The Allies were struck a serious blow when the first little friend went down in flames by drawing the explosion the first time it was hit......OUCH!

The tail gunner was effective and scored several hits and was able to splash a ME 109 as it crossed the river.

The 2nd P-40 rushed to the rescue and was able to score some hits along with the Flying Fortress to send a second 109 down in flames


The scenario ended with the third ME 109 scoring several more blows to the Bomber as it barely limped off the map scoring a victory for the Allies. The B-17 was so shot up it was on fire and down to three damage as it left the game. Probably would not have reached base.

Thoughts on improving the scenario:
You do not realize how slow the bomber is compared to the fighters until you actaully play it. Like history the ME 109s were only able to get a couple bursts off before flying past the bomber and having to come back around for another pass. You definately do not want to make a head on attack.

The B-17 is one tough plane capable of taking alot of punishment as well as dealing it out.  Our scenario was close, but mostly because the first P-40 went down early.

Possible changes:
1. Remove explosions from the game...had the B-17 drew one the scenario ends early....or make and explsion do x amount of damage to the B-17 (12?)

2. Remove one P-40....or make both P-40s come into play after the B-17 crosses the river on the return trip.

3. Add a ME109 for the Germans initially , but in time replace it with ground AA emplacements around the town.

Optional  rule I will add: B-17 can have up to 2 fires going at once. If it takes a 3rd fire representing three engines on fire at once it crashes no matter the amount of damage.

Overall a fun scenario that allowes us to incorporate our B-17 into game play we now have 3 and have worked to expand this scenario to include a basic box fomation.

The Planes:

Although this is a scenario for Wings of War none of the planes pictures are from Nexus.  They are all custom 1/200 scale models by AIR200 which I purchase locally from "The Last Square" and painted.  AIR200 planes are sold in 2 packs of fighters and single bombers for a very reasonable price.  They do not have all the detail of the actual Wings of War models lacking clear canopies and propellers, but they fit in well.  The stands are readily availabe from Litko. I do own a complete set of the official Wings of War models, but I find these a very affordable way to increase the size of my airforce and I enjoy painting them myself.

In the future I hope to expand my bomber fleet.  The rumor is that now that Ares games has taken over the Wings of War product line (Now Wings of Glory) that bombers will be releases at some point as originally scheduled by the game designer.  In the meantime you can check out the many customs and scenario ideas at the Aerodrome.



Until next time.....Watch your Six!

Planes, Planes and More Planes

Despite currently being half a world away from home and my gaming hobbies I am eagerly awaiting the release of two air combat games that are both due to release in January and February.

The first is an old favorite, Wings of War, being released by a new manufacturer, Ares games, with a slight name change, Wings of Glory.  Those that know me or have read some of my other articles already know that I am a huge fan and supporter of Wings of War. 

I currently own the complete collection of both WWI and WWII products that were previously manufactured by Nexus games.  I was disapointed to learn this past summer that Nexus was suddenly folding due to poor fiscal mismanagement.  As a result I evaluated my collection and decided to procure the few missing items I did not yet own and complete my collection of what Nexus currently offered for fear it would ot be available later.  Before I deployed the news broke that the game designer had retained the rights to Wings of War and was looking for a new game company to manufature it.  At the time I figures it would be at least a year before any new releases came out.  I am happy to report that I was wrong. 

Wings of Glory is now scheduled to release this month, January 2012, and pick up right where Wings of War left off with a WWII Set 3 (8 new models)  and new WWI bombers set (4 new models). 

In addition, they are releasing a new deluxe starter WWII starter set.

As I understand it Wings of Glory will be completely compatible with all the earlier released Wings of War products.  The designer has taken this opportunity to slightly revise the cards (mostly art work) as well as modify a few of the advanced optional rules such as altitude.  I know the above deluxe starter as well as a complete set of the planes will be on my wish list.  I am eager to see what all the changes are and how they will affect game play. 

On the WWI front the new bombers have long been awaited (Gotha G.V. and Caproni CA3) by the die hard WWI Wings of War fans. There are only four new models being release (2 models with 2 paint schemes) with this first release and they will compliment the previous flight of the giants boxed set that was the last WWI release from Nexus.  I know they will be a welcome addition to my WWI squadrons.

The second game I am looking forward to is Axis and Allies Angels 20 (AA20).  This will be the third WWII miniature related game produced by Wizards of the Coast (WotC).  The previous two games Axis and Allies Miniatures (WWII Land Combat) and Axis and Allies War at Sea (WWII Naval Combat) both enjoyed immense success in their own right.  They both are centered around the concept of providing players pre-painted miniatures and a simple gaming format.  The other unique aspect to both these games unlike any other WWII miniatures game is that they are a Collectible Miniature Games (CMG) where players buy boosters and receive random units.  Of course if you are a die hard like me you purchase the boosters by the case so you ar sure to get them all and in multiples.  Needless to say I am a huge fan of both games and own complete collections.

Although I have completely bought into both of the other WotC product lines I am approaching AA20 a bit more cautiously.  This game will again be a CMG, but I am not convinced that is a wise move for a WWII air combat game.  Like the other two games AA20 will have a starter set (includes six non-random planes) with a complete set of rules, a paper map for the planes to manuever around, and a complete set of statistic cards for each plane they produce in the first set (30 models). 

  

Like AAM and WaS, AA20  will also  have random boosters each conatining three random planes.  The Starter MSRP is $39.99 and each booster MSRP is $24.95.  This is the first mistake I think WotC is making with this new game.  They are entering a market that already has well established pre-painted aircraft models.  By charging $24.95 for a chance to buy the plane a gamer wants I fear they will not achieve the sales they desire especially when there are other games (see above) that offer similar or better quality models at the same or lower price and the gamer can choose which models they want to purchase.  Due to the fact that there is already a well established market I do not think making this game a CMG is a smart move.

The other thing that concerns me about AA20 is the scale of the models.  The planes will be 1/100 or 15mm plastic models.  Based on the pictures I have seen it appears the quality will be about the same or slighlty better than the aircraft models they provided for AAM only bigger.  In my opinion 1/100 scale is just to big for a table top WWII aerial combat game.  Then I have read that some play Wings of War with 1/72 scale models, so I guess anything is possible.

As you can see from the above picture the quality seems OK, but the lack of a clear canopy and prop tell me that WotC is cutting corners when the established competition already does not.

The other issue that concerns me about AA20 is the fact that it was recently announced that key members of the design time were laid off right before the holidays.  In my mind this creates doubt for the possibility of future expansions for AA20.  Sure there is the possibility that the game designers can be hired back as free-lance contractors, but announcing they were let go 60 days prior to the release of a new line does not give most alot of confidence.

My hope is that the saving grace for AA20 will be the rule system.  Not having played the game yet I really cannot speak to it.  I have read a handful of posts from people that have play tested AA20 and they really liked the dice based system using stat cards similar to the systems used in both AAM and WaS.

The other possible saving grace for AA20 may be the many devoted Axis and Allies fans who seem like they will buy anything made by WotC and get into the collectible aspect of these games.  This has definately been the case with War at Sea and for a while AAM.  I have been one of these players in the past.  I hope WotC is not counting on this factor too much as I fear price and competition as well as being late the to the scene (others like me already play other air combat games) may keep some away especially in a poor economy.

As for me I will definately be giving AA20 a try and buying at least a starter and if available a few select planes as singles on the secondary market.  Unlike previous WotC prodcuts I have no plans to buy these by the case.  This is 100% due to the competition factor as I already own a product with which I a very happy.  I have no plans to sell off my Wings of War/Wings of Glory collection at this time or any point in the future. In fact I plan to expand with the new releases coming out.  If I really like the AA20 rules when I get home I will find compatible stands (Most likely litko) and use my Wings of War Air armada with these new rules on occasion.

Either way I am hoping AA20 will be a success for WotC because I fear that if it fails WotC may fold on all the their hsitorical games.  The Avalon Hill line of games has always been a secondary effort for WoTC which is a shame as I and many others really enjoy them and will continue to support them if they continue to make them.  Mostly I hope AA20 will relase on time so I can get a copy and enjoy some relaxing game time while I am deployed.  It will also give me the opportunity to write a detailed review of the game for a future blog post.

More to come......