Primed it and have given it two coats of Dark Green paint. Will put mast and rigging up last. Not really happy with the deck funnels, but they’ll hold place until I can find something better. Have to figure out some contrasting colors (black?!) to break up the monolithic look, and a way to exchange mast flags so it can be used by any and all sides.
Finished the “Rest Of The Story” aircraft. When I set it next to the plane featured in “The General Is Pleased”, I could only think of these TV Cartoon characters. Something about the two side-by-side. Related, but definitely different.
As generic and spurious as these planes are, what I like about them is that the are in-scale. Just received a Fokker D-7 (which was a staple for both sides in the RCW), and it is way too big.
Now that these two are painted, have started hammering away (literally) at the RE-8. Feel like a medieval orthopedic surgeon (Theodoric?). Engine mount all messed up. Didn’t notice it when purchased…..typical. Should work, despite the promiscuous use of pliers, files and screwdrivers. More on that later.
Any Back of Beyond game worth its salt needs a Gunboat. Started channeling Bob Cordery and the possibilities of scratch building one. So, off to my home(s)-way-from-home(s), Hobby Lobby and Home Depot, as well as a Wargamer’s-Site-Of-Choice, Google Images.
Picked up all types of raw materials and bits, and started working on it. Something generic, easy to build, but looks good on the table. The key to all of this was the picket fence post I chopped up while working with some cheap lumber on another home improvement project. In the midst of that sludge, see something mundane, and….jeez this might be something….because it had a bow, which can be damned hard to carve.
It’s a fun project…….
Update to follow…..
With apologies to Paul Harvey……Two similar aircraft, a modeling Body Double.
My last post featured the second aircraft I had purchased at Hobby Lobby. The first was featured earlier, but my clumsy attempts at removing the wheel spats and pilot head rest relegated it to garage purgatory. The problem was that I insisted on using what remained of the metal landing gear struts for the new – more period appropriate – gear.
Well, after I finished the “spatted version”, I saw the landing gear problem differently. Get rid of the metal struts and use the existing wheels (freed from the spats), and wood struts. What kind of wood….matchsticks worked perfectly. I drilled holes in the fuselage to anchor the gear, applied superglue to the cut-down matchsticks and..,…..
Back From Purgatory & Ready For Priming
Added a force multiplier that will please any would-be Warlord. Finally finished one of my Back of Beyond aircraft. It’s the Hobby Lobby ship….not historically correct, but no assembly required and, after priming, painting and dry-brushing, it looks OK. Should be nice on the table and add something extra to the scenario mix. Will keep it in neutral colors/markings so it can be all things to all armies whenever the scenario deems it so.
As mentioned earlier, finally getting back to playing my dormant Renaissance Scenario, It’s a replay of one reported earlier, but with a few tweaks. Will dispense with impaired photos.
Used percentage dice to dictate the Polish infantry entry through the village. They entered much earlier than last game.
Shifted the Polish Hussars to the left flank to engage the Russian Sipahis, rather than battering themselves silly against the Streltsy infantry.
Finally, allowed the Streltsy to advance against the two Polish infantry units in the center. Suck them in so they cannot effect the work of the Hussars and Pancerni on the flanks.
Along with the percentage dice, I started using some of the other dice I purchased back in February.
Now using the “Yes, No, Maybe” dice for command decisions and reaction. For example “Should I Commit My Reserve”, or, for the latter, “Do I See The Poles Flanking My Position?.
From a solitaire standpoint, things get easier….it’s not you…..it’s the bloody general that’s doing these things.
Not cutting edge, but it does liven things up.
finished up my 15mm Arab Village using JR Miniatures buildings. The following photos also include the palm trees I painted from my Weapons and Warriors Pirates set, as well as scratch-built camp (for DBA) and a small caravan using Essex figures.
Glad I finished it up, and hope to use it in my East Africa campaign.
While bogged down in Thunderbolt/Apache Leader, I took a break to finish off the Pulp elements for my BoB campaign. These are Bob Murch’s castings. Speaking of bogged down, I’m currently dealing with a bad case of painter’s block with my Copplestone White Russians. Anyway…….here’s a photo of a couple of stands of the Zeps and Mercs.
What a dog fight! The Poles right wing is shattered, with Tartars enveloping that flank. However, the Dvor Sipahis’ attempts to repulse the Polish Haiduks threatening the Russia rear failed.
The Polish cavalry are now a beaten command, with only the Hussars having a reasonable chance of being steadied. The left flank Pancerni have been attrited and the light cavalry is incapable of any real resistance.
With all that, I still might play a couple more turns to see how the doughty Haiduks fare.
Been thinking about my solo play of DBR and ways to artificially interject some variety. By artificially I mean using random generators for a scenario, rather than just pre determining scenario inputs.
I won’t bore you with the overall thought process. What thinking that did take place was random and unfocused, flitting about with all types of tables and charts to reflect temperment, efficiency, and morale by CinC, sub-general, troop type and unit. After messing around with various and increasingly arcane methodologies, it dawned on me that I had to work “inside” the rules, not outside of them.
Let’s assume that Phil Barker is a superior game designer. If that assumption is made, then the parts are connected to the whole and his system, at the very least, abstracts many considerations that are presented in a far more granular manner in other rule sets. Think Gush’s (very good) Renaissance rules.
When this series of assumptions is made, then any changes reflecting my three criteria (temperment, competency, morale) must be inside, or within Rules as Written (RAW).
If the objective is to add variety, but directly and without undue complications, then some general assumptions have to be made.
First and foremost is that the army will reflect the temperment of their general. I’m playing games with about 150-200 points, so only need a CinC. There’s no way I want to get into the business of creating an AI to guide the behaviors of various types of generals. However, I can directly, and within, DBR’s rules guide how the army will behave.
The three categories for the CinC are rash, steady and cautious. Elements or groups in a “rash” army will always followup and pursue, regardless of troop type. A “steady” army will follow RAW, since Barker has built in typical behaviors into his troop types. A “cautious” army will not followup or pursue in any situation.
Individual unit competency will be reflected in their (as Barker puts it) “efficiency”. Units can be up or down graded from the “Superior”, “Ordinary”, and “Inferior” ratings contained in RAW. I did not mess with “Fast” since this seems to be heavily dependent on fighting style. A change in ratings effects combat outcomes, and for shooters, a decrease in effective range. I decided not to downgrade movement for “Inferior” shot units to that of a “Horde”, or from 150 paces to 100.
As with my CinC ratings and effects, morale will be army-wide.
Morale is reflected by changing the criteria for a “Beaten Command”, as well as the rallying and steadying units of a Beaten Command. RAW has an army becoming beaten when casualties exceed one-third of its individual element strength. When this threshold is crossed, groups of elements can be steadied (in that turn, only), if not steadied, the units rout, but can be rallied element by element during subsequent turns. All of this takes Player Initiative Points (PIPs), which are generated by a D6 roll for that turn.
An army with good morale will use the RAW over one-third element criteria. An army with high morale will become beaten with a threshold over forty percent, and an army with low morale will have its threshold drop to over twenty-five percent.
An army with high morale takes one PIP to rally an element or steady a group. An army with good morale takes the RAW two PIPs per, and an army with bad morale takes three PIPs per.
How all of this works in a campaign is another question. I’ll try this out once I finish the current Pole vs. Russian game.