Hello guys,
I am no good for a past year overview/new year plans. This year was supposed to be a year when I finally play campaign of Strange Aeons, yet I only played a couple of games before I got interested in the moderns project.
After more than a year of planning and small steps, I now have a decently sized insurgent army and an ever growing unique force of Slovenes. I would like to thank everyone that helped me achieving this and I hope I will continue playing my campaign in 2015 as well.
I would also like to take some time to thank to you, followers, as I would never keep my blog going without people that comment and read my stuff. I can only promise to TRY to make this blog better in 2015.
I am not sure what I will be doing in next year, but I think moderns will occupy me for most of the early months.
I wish you all a happy, healthy and successful new year and future in general!
Mathyoo
31 Dec 2014
22 Dec 2014
Modern warfare project update
Hello,
I took a short break from hobby lately and I haven't done much that I could show. I am very slowly converting the rest of my Slovenes, while deciding on what kind of scenario I should play next time. I didn't want to let the blog die completely and showing some work in progress also motivates me further, as I realise how much I have really done.
While I did some work on other projects, my focus is still with the moderns. I still have 12 miniatures to convert and/or paint to finish the Slovenes. Once I am done with this I will probably purchase some more packs in future (namely Special Forces, Anti-Tank/Sniper pack and, naturally, a .50 cal pack!).
As of the latest reorganisation, Slovene squad has 9 members. A squad leader and two teams of four. From those eight, two have grenade launchers, two have SAWs, one has a better scope and three are ordinary riflemen, from which at least one would generally carry a disposable AT launcher. Obviously, depending on the need they could carry more or less than that.
For wargaming purposes, I am after two squads of two teams, one team with an AT launcher and one with a scope. I've finished the latter already and below are WIPs of the former:
The one below is actually finished (built from a "patrol pack"), and all it needs is a launcher. This sounds easier that in is and I think I am at my 5th+ try now. My expectations have dropped immensely since and I'm just trying to make it look sort of symmetrical now.
A rifleman with what I hope to look like RGW-90 below. I do like the position of his rifle.
And the real deal here. The launcher has two modes, if the pointy thing is sticking out it's penetration gets improved and it can be used against armoured vehicles (or really well fortified bunkers) and if the stick is retracted, it's more suitable for making holes in the wall, hitting buildings and so on. This weapon belongs to the same family as infamous Armbrust, a weapon associated with Slovenian war of Independence, that proven much less effective than people hoped it would be.
My fourth team is a conglomerate of several packs, as Empress only produces three teams as such. From left to right there is a miniature from the command pack (will be used as a grenadier), one from EOD pack and two from support weapons pack. One had an AT-4 that I am converting into a RGW-90 and the other one actually had a sniper, but I decided to use it as a SAW gunner instead.
Two riflemen:
AT gunner. Note his right hand was chopped off. It was in the same position as that of a gunner on a pic below, so I chopped it off and repositioned it into a proper firing position. I am really fond of this miniature and while it's hard to work on the weapon attached to a body, I hope it will come out nice enough.
Lastly, there is a command pack I barely started working on. From left to right we got a combat medic, a radioman (will be converted into something special!), a guy from an EOD pack (I swapped it for the one used above as it looks more "leader-y" and a leader. The latter two will be used as squad leaders. This means my guys are lacking a platoon commander, but I can always swap some miniatures around, of course.
Medic and a radioman have their weapons touching their bodies and are a huge pain to clean up, I am still recovering from the radioman, before I will move on to medic.
Lastly, I put together this...something. It started as a bunker/trench/something as I was just reading on WW1 again and had to do something about it. I will use it as a heavy cover for a support weapon of some sort.
Unfortunately, as this zombie-converted-to-paramedic proves, two miniatures can't stand in it next to each other. I have no idea what I was thinking when planning, but I did measure the inner space!
This is all for today, I'll try to post next week, but it will probably be a "less gaming related" post.
Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo
I took a short break from hobby lately and I haven't done much that I could show. I am very slowly converting the rest of my Slovenes, while deciding on what kind of scenario I should play next time. I didn't want to let the blog die completely and showing some work in progress also motivates me further, as I realise how much I have really done.
While I did some work on other projects, my focus is still with the moderns. I still have 12 miniatures to convert and/or paint to finish the Slovenes. Once I am done with this I will probably purchase some more packs in future (namely Special Forces, Anti-Tank/Sniper pack and, naturally, a .50 cal pack!).
As of the latest reorganisation, Slovene squad has 9 members. A squad leader and two teams of four. From those eight, two have grenade launchers, two have SAWs, one has a better scope and three are ordinary riflemen, from which at least one would generally carry a disposable AT launcher. Obviously, depending on the need they could carry more or less than that.
For wargaming purposes, I am after two squads of two teams, one team with an AT launcher and one with a scope. I've finished the latter already and below are WIPs of the former:
The one below is actually finished (built from a "patrol pack"), and all it needs is a launcher. This sounds easier that in is and I think I am at my 5th+ try now. My expectations have dropped immensely since and I'm just trying to make it look sort of symmetrical now.
My fourth team is a conglomerate of several packs, as Empress only produces three teams as such. From left to right there is a miniature from the command pack (will be used as a grenadier), one from EOD pack and two from support weapons pack. One had an AT-4 that I am converting into a RGW-90 and the other one actually had a sniper, but I decided to use it as a SAW gunner instead.
Lastly, there is a command pack I barely started working on. From left to right we got a combat medic, a radioman (will be converted into something special!), a guy from an EOD pack (I swapped it for the one used above as it looks more "leader-y" and a leader. The latter two will be used as squad leaders. This means my guys are lacking a platoon commander, but I can always swap some miniatures around, of course.
Lastly, I put together this...something. It started as a bunker/trench/something as I was just reading on WW1 again and had to do something about it. I will use it as a heavy cover for a support weapon of some sort.
This is all for today, I'll try to post next week, but it will probably be a "less gaming related" post.
Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo
7 Dec 2014
Rebel GPMG team
Hello guys,
another short post today. I am still going strong with moderns and I finished insurgents machine gun team. It's supposedly representing a Zastava M84 machine gun (or soviet PK if you prefer). I converted it from BAR gun, so it's not the best, but it looks suitably generic. Gunner is from Warlord games US Marines sprue, while assistant gunner is from the same company, German Infantry sprue. There is little need for prone figures, but they do work well for machine gunners, I'd say. It is a perfect counterpart to Slovene MAG team I painted a while ago.
It can't be seen clearly on my bad photos, but the assistant gunner carries an AK with folding stock. Here known as M70AB2 (and produced by Zastava), it used to be a standard issue rifle in Slovenian army prior to introduction of FN F2000S. As far as wargaming goes, I just wanted to model a folded stock for a change.
They both use same camouflage pattern jackets, but the gunner also has Chinese "cloud" pattern pants. They came out horribly wrong and it looks like he is either a weekend clown or still in his pyjamas!
Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo
another short post today. I am still going strong with moderns and I finished insurgents machine gun team. It's supposedly representing a Zastava M84 machine gun (or soviet PK if you prefer). I converted it from BAR gun, so it's not the best, but it looks suitably generic. Gunner is from Warlord games US Marines sprue, while assistant gunner is from the same company, German Infantry sprue. There is little need for prone figures, but they do work well for machine gunners, I'd say. It is a perfect counterpart to Slovene MAG team I painted a while ago.
It can't be seen clearly on my bad photos, but the assistant gunner carries an AK with folding stock. Here known as M70AB2 (and produced by Zastava), it used to be a standard issue rifle in Slovenian army prior to introduction of FN F2000S. As far as wargaming goes, I just wanted to model a folded stock for a change.
Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo
29 Nov 2014
Moderns AAR: The pursuit
Hello guys,
I played another game of moderns and I have to say I am quite enjoying the experience so far! Instead of playing patrol again, I decided to continue my campaign (without any repeating characters, may I add) from where I left it.
MISSION OBJECTIVES
Following the attack on the International Forces during a patrol in Evergreen Fields, Slovene and EGA troops are tracking down the gunman that escaped into the jungle. A squad worth of troops dismounted near disused cemetery and ancient ruins. It is believed that the rebel is hiding somewhere in the area. He has to be arrested and taken into custody for questioning.
Troops on board:
Two SAF Fireteams, veteran quality.
EGA Fireteam, trained quality.
Available support:
A pair of Humvees transporting EGA Commandos team will be in the area to act as a quick reaction force if needed.
Bomb squad is on a stand by as a standard.
Expected opposition:
International troops have moved deep into the jungle, that offers good cover for rebel activity. Beware of possible ambushes and be prepared for a possible meeting engagement.
I will roll for insurgents' skill randomly on group basis (to make tracking easier) with 1-3 being militia, 4-5 fanatics and 6 mercenary. Insurgents will only appear on the board by a chance of event as per the event table.
Random events generator
I modified events generator from previous mission to better suit the area. IED attacks are not likely in the area, but there is a higher chance of larger enemy groups attacking from ambush. Search areas are possible enemy hideouts and are basically objectives (as buildings were in last scenario). I tweaked the exhaustion roll a bit to give the victim a chance to return to game.
Every turn a D6 is rolled - a roll of 6 means an event happened.
Roll a D10 for result:
1- Raid attack. D3 groups of D3+3 rebels enter the board
2- Civilians at the check point! A vehicle of D3+1 civilians arrives down the road.
3- AMBUSH! A group of D3+3 rebels appears in a running distance of random friendly team. It automatically wins the initiative.
4- Next searched area is very suspicious and needs a closer examination (search lasts until 5+ is rolled on a D6)
5- One man army. Roll a D6. Roll of 6 a sniper, roll of 4-5 support weapon (1-3 RPK 4-6 RPG), 1-3 AR. Appears in a random direction, fires a volley and starts running away.
6- Contradicting orders. Randomly chosen fireteam misses out a turn
7- A hidden stash! Intel suggests randomly selected search area is being used as a weapons storage. Investigate!
8- Mortar attack. Target is a nearest group (civilian or military) to a randomly selected search area.
9- Exhaustion. Randomly selected soldier passes out. Call for MEDEVAC and help him out. (Roll D6 after medic arrives, on a roll of 5+ soldier can't continue this mission and is sent off board)
10- All-out assault. D3+3 groups of D3+3 rebels enter the board
PREGAME:
EGA Fireteam used its vehicle to block the road, while Slovenes spread out on both sides of jungle in search for the gunman. Every yellow beam indicates a location to be searched (card is drawn every time a fire team comes close). To simplify things, if rebel is found without any other rebels on the table, he will not resist. If there will be other insurgents on the table, he might open fire and try to reach his friends.
TURN 1 - event!
With even being rolled for, I had high hopes for an action packed game!
Both Slovene fireteams moved out in the jungle. Fireteam Ankaran (right side of the road) has started searching around especially dense forest patch in case the gunman tried to conceal himself there.
4 was rolled on the event table.
TURN 2
Fireteam Bled swooped through their area and found no traces of the gunman. In the mean time, Fireteam Ankaran got bogged down investing their part of the area.
TURN 3
Nothing to report, team Ankaran still searching, while team Bled pushed forward
TURN 4
Team Ankaran ended the search of the area that bogged their progress without success, while Team Bled already reached an impressive piece of ancient ruins and started searching for possible hideouts.
TURN 5
Team Ankaran pressed forward to search the cemetery, while team Bled was not successful in finding the fugitive yet.
TURN 6
Both teams searched their areas and still haven't found the gunman they were looking for!
TURN 7 - event
Slovene fireteams continued their search, while EGA fireteam on the roadblock got some contradicting orders from the higher command and had to resolve that problem.
I rolled 6 on the event table and die roll determined EGA fireteam misses out a turn, which had no impact on game.
TURN 8
The search continues without any incidents and both teams push further along the road.
TURN 9
Fireteam Ankaran started searching the last possible hideout, while Fireteam Bravo turned back towards the roadblock.
TURN 10 and 11
Fireteam Ankaran found the insurgent they were looking for and cuffed him. They reported the situation to command and started moving towards the roadblock to head home.
TURN 12 - event!
While Slovenes were returning to the roadblock with their prisoner, a small car arrived down the road and was stopped by the troops at the roadblock. Elderly pair inside was kindly explained that a search will have to be preformed because of the rebel activity in the area (search stops on roll of 5+).
TURN 13
Due to cooperation of the two civilians, the car was searched very fast. Nothing much happened, team Bled already reached the roadblock and team Ankaran is not far from it.
TURN 14
Saw no events, so I called it a day.
POST GAME THOUGHTS
When I was mid-game I started thinking I was speeding up too much, as fire teams should stop at the search point, search it next turn and only move the turn after, while I played so that they searched it and moved on in the same turn. This would buy me some more rounds for event I was hoping for, but I decided not to restart the game and just go on with it.
While the game saw even less action than the one I played last time, the capture of the rebel gave me a chance to play a bit more action oriented game where the international forces could be either ambushing a high ranking rebel or even attacking a rebel base in urban or forested area.
I wish I'd put more time into playing the game, but I have to say I quite enjoyed playing it nonetheless, I like the random factor where things could go much worse if I would roll for the rebel attacks instead of the events I rolled for. I think this unpredictability is what makes solo gaming a lot more interesting than a brutal team deathmatch.
I am interested in hearing any ideas for the continuation of campaign!
Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo
I played another game of moderns and I have to say I am quite enjoying the experience so far! Instead of playing patrol again, I decided to continue my campaign (without any repeating characters, may I add) from where I left it.
MISSION OBJECTIVES
Following the attack on the International Forces during a patrol in Evergreen Fields, Slovene and EGA troops are tracking down the gunman that escaped into the jungle. A squad worth of troops dismounted near disused cemetery and ancient ruins. It is believed that the rebel is hiding somewhere in the area. He has to be arrested and taken into custody for questioning.
Troops on board:
Two SAF Fireteams, veteran quality.
EGA Fireteam, trained quality.
Available support:
A pair of Humvees transporting EGA Commandos team will be in the area to act as a quick reaction force if needed.
Bomb squad is on a stand by as a standard.
Expected opposition:
International troops have moved deep into the jungle, that offers good cover for rebel activity. Beware of possible ambushes and be prepared for a possible meeting engagement.
I will roll for insurgents' skill randomly on group basis (to make tracking easier) with 1-3 being militia, 4-5 fanatics and 6 mercenary. Insurgents will only appear on the board by a chance of event as per the event table.
Random events generator
I modified events generator from previous mission to better suit the area. IED attacks are not likely in the area, but there is a higher chance of larger enemy groups attacking from ambush. Search areas are possible enemy hideouts and are basically objectives (as buildings were in last scenario). I tweaked the exhaustion roll a bit to give the victim a chance to return to game.
Every turn a D6 is rolled - a roll of 6 means an event happened.
Roll a D10 for result:
1- Raid attack. D3 groups of D3+3 rebels enter the board
2- Civilians at the check point! A vehicle of D3+1 civilians arrives down the road.
3- AMBUSH! A group of D3+3 rebels appears in a running distance of random friendly team. It automatically wins the initiative.
4- Next searched area is very suspicious and needs a closer examination (search lasts until 5+ is rolled on a D6)
5- One man army. Roll a D6. Roll of 6 a sniper, roll of 4-5 support weapon (1-3 RPK 4-6 RPG), 1-3 AR. Appears in a random direction, fires a volley and starts running away.
6- Contradicting orders. Randomly chosen fireteam misses out a turn
7- A hidden stash! Intel suggests randomly selected search area is being used as a weapons storage. Investigate!
8- Mortar attack. Target is a nearest group (civilian or military) to a randomly selected search area.
9- Exhaustion. Randomly selected soldier passes out. Call for MEDEVAC and help him out. (Roll D6 after medic arrives, on a roll of 5+ soldier can't continue this mission and is sent off board)
10- All-out assault. D3+3 groups of D3+3 rebels enter the board
PREGAME:
EGA Fireteam used its vehicle to block the road, while Slovenes spread out on both sides of jungle in search for the gunman. Every yellow beam indicates a location to be searched (card is drawn every time a fire team comes close). To simplify things, if rebel is found without any other rebels on the table, he will not resist. If there will be other insurgents on the table, he might open fire and try to reach his friends.
TURN 1 - event!
With even being rolled for, I had high hopes for an action packed game!
Both Slovene fireteams moved out in the jungle. Fireteam Ankaran (right side of the road) has started searching around especially dense forest patch in case the gunman tried to conceal himself there.
4 was rolled on the event table.
 |
| Game board, representing a road running through the forest. At the bottom of the road, International troops set up a road block, while two teams spread out to search the forest. |
 |
| EGA fire team in road block, fireteam Ankaran right and fireteam Bled to the left of the road. |
TURN 2
Fireteam Bled swooped through their area and found no traces of the gunman. In the mean time, Fireteam Ankaran got bogged down investing their part of the area.
 |
| Team Bled searched the area and found no traces of the terrorist they were searching for (a joker card was not drawn). |
 |
| As per the event, it took a while to search the area team Ankaran was working on. |
TURN 3
Nothing to report, team Ankaran still searching, while team Bled pushed forward
TURN 4
Team Ankaran ended the search of the area that bogged their progress without success, while Team Bled already reached an impressive piece of ancient ruins and started searching for possible hideouts.
TURN 5
Team Ankaran pressed forward to search the cemetery, while team Bled was not successful in finding the fugitive yet.
 |
| Another possible hideout empty! |
TURN 6
Both teams searched their areas and still haven't found the gunman they were looking for!
 |
| Team Ankaran in the graveyard. |
 |
| Team Bled searching the ancient ruins |
TURN 7 - event
Slovene fireteams continued their search, while EGA fireteam on the roadblock got some contradicting orders from the higher command and had to resolve that problem.
I rolled 6 on the event table and die roll determined EGA fireteam misses out a turn, which had no impact on game.
TURN 8
The search continues without any incidents and both teams push further along the road.
TURN 9
Fireteam Ankaran started searching the last possible hideout, while Fireteam Bravo turned back towards the roadblock.
TURN 10 and 11
Fireteam Ankaran found the insurgent they were looking for and cuffed him. They reported the situation to command and started moving towards the roadblock to head home.
TURN 12 - event!
While Slovenes were returning to the roadblock with their prisoner, a small car arrived down the road and was stopped by the troops at the roadblock. Elderly pair inside was kindly explained that a search will have to be preformed because of the rebel activity in the area (search stops on roll of 5+).
TURN 13
Due to cooperation of the two civilians, the car was searched very fast. Nothing much happened, team Bled already reached the roadblock and team Ankaran is not far from it.
TURN 14
Saw no events, so I called it a day.
POST GAME THOUGHTS
When I was mid-game I started thinking I was speeding up too much, as fire teams should stop at the search point, search it next turn and only move the turn after, while I played so that they searched it and moved on in the same turn. This would buy me some more rounds for event I was hoping for, but I decided not to restart the game and just go on with it.
While the game saw even less action than the one I played last time, the capture of the rebel gave me a chance to play a bit more action oriented game where the international forces could be either ambushing a high ranking rebel or even attacking a rebel base in urban or forested area.
I wish I'd put more time into playing the game, but I have to say I quite enjoyed playing it nonetheless, I like the random factor where things could go much worse if I would roll for the rebel attacks instead of the events I rolled for. I think this unpredictability is what makes solo gaming a lot more interesting than a brutal team deathmatch.
I am interested in hearing any ideas for the continuation of campaign!
Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo
23 Nov 2014
Bassano del Grappa
Hello guys,
Nothing got done hobby-wise in the last week unfortunately. I was on another short trip to Italy with my dad, however, and we visited an Alpini (Italian mountain troops) museum in Bassano del Grappa (named after Monte Grappa, where Entente stopped Axis advance after the battle of Kobarid/Caporetto).
Bassano is a pretty unfortunate city and saw battles in Napoleon era, WW1 and WW2. The most prominent feature is it's bridge:
You can see some bullet holes on the houses on one side of the river:
Museum only holds a small collection and is accessible through a pub (clever, eh?)
This is it for today and I will hopefully find enough time to play a game by next week!
Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo
Nothing got done hobby-wise in the last week unfortunately. I was on another short trip to Italy with my dad, however, and we visited an Alpini (Italian mountain troops) museum in Bassano del Grappa (named after Monte Grappa, where Entente stopped Axis advance after the battle of Kobarid/Caporetto).
Bassano is a pretty unfortunate city and saw battles in Napoleon era, WW1 and WW2. The most prominent feature is it's bridge:
 |
| Alpini uniforms through ages |
 |
| Mountain equipment, mind the wicker boots for soldiers on guard duties. |
 |
| Various WW2 helmets |
 |
| WW2 weapons |
 |
| Another Sten. I always find it interesting just how crude those SMGs were. |
 |
| Spiked traps of WW1 era. |
 |
| A very bad photo of German pickel haubes. I always liked those helmets. |
 |
| A military bicycle. |
 |
| Bersaglieri (not Alpini) hat, with an african fez next to it, I believe. |
 |
| WW1 US uniform left, Alpini officer middle, not sure about the last one. |
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| Another great case, bunch of WW1 grenades. |
 |
| Austro-Hungarian stormtroopers. Slovenes were in units like that, as well. |
 |
| Various allied hats, including highlanders' |
 |
| Made-shift periscope, French invention. |
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| It was not labeled, but those sickle-like swords were used by Ethiopians. Below is an A-H sabre |
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| They even had a concentration camp inmate uniform, along with US made "disinfection pump". |
 |
| Wire cutters and WW1 trench melee weapons. |
 |
| The one far left is German, others are Austro-Hungarian |
 |
| 1990's Alpini paratrooper |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| WW2 Alpini soldier |
 |
| 1960's uniform |
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| Unlabeled exhibit, but looks like WW2 uniforms and a soviet machine gun. |
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| WW1 sentry |
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| Mule "saddle" |
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| German sentry equipment, I am really fond of the camouflage on the helmet. |
This is it for today and I will hopefully find enough time to play a game by next week!
Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo
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