Picking up those brushes again.

Hi and welcome to the occasional mutterings of Dave Doc, a military modeller and some time gamer. Gaming and model making has given me a real education, History & Geography(obvious really), Artistry, Politics, Economics, Logistics, Project Management -you try building miniature armies without the last 3.

I will use the blog to record my creations & the odd occasion I actually do some gaming.

I have always been inspired by the aesthetic side of gaming. Playing on well constructed terrain using excellently painted units is always a joy.

Thursday 31 March 2016

Sudan - Terrain and game aids.

I have been pressing on with more items for the up coming game. I have completed work on the batch of buildings. I picked these up second hand - they just  needed some work to lighten them up as they were too dark for my tastes. So a few shades of light brown, off white drybrushing later this is how they look now. Usefully the simple square ones will do duty for the Old West Mexican village too.


I have also finished the 3 vac form hills I picked up at York. These were filled with polystyrene packing balls, based on 1/16th ply, given a coat of PVA glue and then had the sand mix sprinkled over. Once dry a few shades of light colours drybrushed on. The steep sides were already textured by the vac form , so these were given a few shades of colour by drybrush too. One all dry I added in some scrub tufts and hit it all with varnish.


These gives an idea of the scale of them against figures.- overall not bad for £9.50 I thought. I will be going for some fully sculpted terrain eventually , but this will do for now.

Next up I wanted to create my own version of the random events deck cards (Carlo does supply cards with the rule set , but i wanted more blanks , and having used Artscow for cards previously they pretty robust , have a shiny look to them , they are cheap and arrive quickly - So i have 2 deck for events and a complete deck of blank for writing up my own or using as blinds . Here is a view from the design section of the software - they are on the way  over from Hong Kong at the moment. 



The rules use a roster sheet to record casualties and ammunition use. I have made these up into A5 laminated sheets with one for each Imperial unit. I have used a photograph of the unit for recognition and created a slide master on Powerpoint using an 1880's Sudan map as the background.



So its been a busy week. The first play test game is booked in for the 16th April - it wont have all the bells and whistles terrain wise - but I am looking forward to it. Its on my old friend Gerry's big table...check it out at the SITUATION ROOM blog


31 comments:

  1. Cracking good stuff

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  2. All looks good Dave and I hope the playtest goes well. But 16 April? Does that mean you won't be joining us at Salute?

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    1. Thanks Tamsin, I decided to skip Salute this year. I spent about £200 getting there last year and ended buying very little . So I am going to spend the traveling equivalent another new project and get Loki to paint some of it..

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  3. Nicely done. The cards look great!

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  4. All coming together splendidly my good man!

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  5. I really like the laminates Dave, far more durable and can be used repeatedly

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  6. This is all cracking stuff and very inspiring. Job well done!

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  7. This is looking bloody fantastic Dave - especially like the Roster Cards and the work on the Random Event Cards. Really looking forward to seeing heaps of photos of your game at Gerry's mate.

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    1. Cheer Carlo, looking forward to it myself

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  8. Hmm, those random event cards all seem to favour the Mahdist forces somewhat. Can I take it that other cards in the set are neutral or favour the British/Egyptians :-) ?

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    1. Hugh - oh all the cards have some effect on the Imperials - the Mahdist armies are all controlled by random event cards and reaction tables. it needs ot be that way to provide the balance against firepower!

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  9. Cracking work, the terrain and paraphernalia of making a great game is often overlooked. I do like the idea of making custom cards....

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  10. Looking good mate! Like the laminated unit cards. Very neat indeed.

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    1. cheers Mate..not as good as your skill with the publishing , but they will do

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  11. Grand work! Been working on some similar buildings myself of late. :)

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  12. Ah good luck with the test Dave. When are the big outings planned for?

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    1. Cheers Phil.
      Got medium on in June, and then October/November

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  13. Really busy! Great cards and terrain.

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  14. Lovely terrain Dave and nice work on the card. A stage for your little actors!

    I really like what Gerry at the situation room has created.

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