TAG Heian/Gempei War Samurai and Followers - WIP +1

Finished up most of the armor - knots, cords, gilting, etc.

Cloth/leather covered areas of the armor, and clothing next.

Thanks for checking out the blog, and wishing you all the best.

TAG Heian/Gempei War Samurai and Followers - WIP

 Started on the TAG Samurai and Followers - finished the flesh/faces and armor lacing.

I had to use a couple of the older figures for reference as it's been many years since painting figures from this range.

I also used an old site for lacing patterns - Sengoku Daimyo. Thankfully it's still alive here: https://sengokudaimyo.com/katchu/katchuch05a

Next up will be finishing up the other parts of the armor, and then on to the clothing. Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

Enfilade 2024 - New Location - Old Friends (And Some New)

Well, just got back from another Enfilade convention. This is my 18th year attending our big annual convention (big for us, anyway). All of the previous ones I went to were held down in Olympia (Washington), and this year was the first time held at a new location. It's now located near the Port of Tacoma at the La Quinta Inn - and actually a closer/faster commute for me. The main hall is about half the size of the one at the old place, but the convention staff worked hard to make it all work out. We had about 350 attendees - some coming from Idaho and California, as well as the loyal crew from British Columbia. There was about 110 games spread over the weekend. I hosted my RJW TMWWBK game in both Friday periods. On Saturday morning, I played in Bruce Meyer's (owner/operator of Company B Miniatures) "Thriller in Tukwila" game - a "what if" scenario of Japanese paratroopers assaulting Boeing Field. Fun game using his homebrew rules. I sat out Saturday afternoon's session, but got into an AK-47 in Africa game that night. It was four of us players in a cutthroat game trying to take over a town. Another fun game and one that I would play again without hesitation. This Sunday morning had me in Kevin Smyth's (A Gamer's Tale blog) "The Wooden Hand of Captain Danjou" game. All in all another great Enfilade and one that was well attended and received - quite an achievement as the new location was only worked out in the last 6 months or so. We will likely be working out new contracts with the hotel for future conventions. The staff really appreciated our stay there and want us back. They were pleasantly surprised at how well-organized we were. Here are some pictures from some of the games over the weekend - including my two RJW games. I should also mention my two game went off very well with the first having a Russian victory and the second one a Japanese victory - an indication that it's a balanced game, maybe?

A couple shots of the RJW game using TMWWBK. The first game had several of our Canadian friends in the game - and most were familiar with the rules as they said they play it often back home.

Both RJW games went for 6 turns. The victory conditions for the IJA was to have a least two units within the first line of trenches and/or one unit within the top trench area. The first game had about four IJA units in the first line and none at the top line. However, as the defending Russians ended the last turn, they were able to destroy all but one of the IJA units. The second game had a sole IJA unit reach the top and survive the game.

The Wooden Hand of Captain Danjou by Kevin Smyth

A miniature representation of the actual wooden hand - the box was made by one of our local games for Kevin. He actually contacted the museum in Corsica where the original is kept to get some specifications of the box. The rep at the museum was very impressed and happy to hear that the legacy of Captain Danjou is being kept alive and honored.

Thriller in Tukwila by Bruce Meyer of Comany B

The AK-47 game - my faction got into the town, but another faction held more of objectives.

A Battletech game run by my buddy's son. He ran it in two periods with great success. Kudos to him.

A nice F&IW game - this year's convention theme was "New World" - so there were quite a few F&IW  games.

Whale Wars - not sure of the rules, but it looked pretty cool - although I don't condone the hunting of whales or other sea mammals.

Gnome Wars.

Not sure of the rules or scenario, but it was a very nice looking game. I think the fortified village in the background was the objective.

Pegasus Bridge game using Chain of Command. I helped playtest this game a few months ago. It was Best of Period on Saturday night.

A Bolt Action Battle of Mahiwa game run by my buddy - the one who's son ran the Battletech game.

Not sure of the rules or scenario, but there were several great looking games with ships. I'm pretty sure it was something to do with the New World theme.

Of course, there were still a few Napoleonic games - can't be a real historical gaming convention without them.

Another nice game with large scale ships.

The German side of the Pegasus Bridge game.

Another shot of the Pegasus Bridge game.

The Battle of Mahiwa game - it had such lovely terrain and figures.

A F&IW game using 40mm Sash and Saber figures. Really impressive. It won Best of Theme for the Saturday night period.

Battle of the Causeway - it won Best of Show. All the terrain and figures were 3D printed by the game master.

The Battle of Mahiwa game using Bolt Action.

Battle of the Causeway - a very impressive game.

Well, time to recuperate from the long weekend - once rested up, plan to start working on getting a Tribal game in using a Heian/Gempei war scenario. Until next time, thanks for visiting and wishing you all the best.

Samurai Castle/Wajo Walls And Gate

Finished up the project today. The fit and finish of the stone walls aren't the best, but should be good enough for gaming.

The top walls and gate are resin pieces from Tabletop Terrain. Very nice and sturdy. The gate can swing open on brass rods inserted into holes provided in the door and frame.

The corner sections were made by using the ready-made end pieces and adding sections from extra straight wall sections. This was only done because I used my own scratch-built lower stone walls. Tabletop Terrain makes the lower walls which would fit the corner sections they also make. Figured I'd try to save some money and make them myself.

Glad to have finished this up - especially since I just received an update from TAG that my order has been shipped. It was delayed a few weeks due to issues with their machinery - according to Pete.

As you may notice, the inner walls don't align well with each other very well, but again, should be good enough to game with.

A WIP shot.

Thanks for checking out this blog update, and hope you all are doing well.

Samurai Castle Corner Wall Sections - WIP

Started on two outer and one inner corner sections of stone walls. May add more corners later, but with this tentative configuration, should work out okay, placed on the corner of a table. Also, didn't want too big of a footprint for them. As the top walls are removable, I may someday make some other types of upper walls - possibly for a Mycenaean fortress.

Here's the start of the construction - styrofoam cut to shape, and covered with spackling. Another reason I decided to stop with just these three sections was due to it getting messy with the styrofoam in the house, and didn't want to continue outside in our typical Pacific NW damp weather.

ADDENDUM:

Started on the gate while waiting for the spackling on the wall corners to dry. This is another piece from Tabletop Terrain. Very nice - and it can open and close using a brass rod inserted into the slots provided on the doors.

On the gaming front, getting ready for our annual big convention, Enfilade, later this month. I'm hosting two RJW skirmish games using TMWWBK. After the con, plan on going all in with Tribal. Just received the book yesterday, and already have gaming aids for a planned Gempei War game. As the game uses cards for activation, movement, and other rules, ordered 6 decks of cards with large numbers/lettering (jumbo index). From the recent Trojan War Tribal game, I found using cards that were too "fancy" made it hard to read not only the numbers but figuring out the suits. Also picked up some suitable honor tokens - Chinese style coins. I've been wanting to get my Gempei War figures back on the table again, and Tribal should be just the ticket for rules.

Anyway, just wanted to update the blog and wish you all the best!