Dystopian Wars: Redesigned Stat Cards for the People! Rejoice!

     I am experiencing a revival of Dystopian Wars amongst my amigos due to the updated rules and shiny new model syndrome. I was gifted the FSA Starter Naval box, so I picked up the John Henrys because I love me a big robot.

While trawling through the Spartan Games forums, I found these redesigned cards made by user Youlooklikeanail. These cards are amazing and will speed up our games substantially. I suggest you print out a set yourself.

Linky: Gotta Catch Em All

 They include the rules on the card. No more flipping the cards for the lazy. No more checking the rule book for special rules. FREEDOM, brothers!

My favorite card lists the "To-Hit" for EVERYTHING. It gets confusing mid-game, sometimes, but in my case, all the time.

WarmaHordes-style cards for tracking damage and crits. Smell ya later, cardboard chits!

Class Dismissed

Blacker Bombard: WW2's Most Impractical Weapon?

      It was an anti-tank infantry weapon created for the British army during the lack of artillery as a result of the Evacuation of Dunkirk. The weapon was so impractical and heavy that British soldiers refused to use them. Supposedly, soldiers were even trying to trade their Bombards for Thompsons! One officer even said they were good for nothing but "scrap iron!"

     Here is the weapon as used with my Sikh HQ in Flames of War. Since my Sikhs were given the short-end of the supply stick in the war, which makes me even respect them more for the dedication.

The weapon was most effective in a hidden roadblock from a distance of 75-100 yards. I cannot imagine lying on my stomach in the dirt waiting for a Panzer to roll up that close to me before firing. I would definitely need a change of pants...

More information can be found at Pillbox Study Group

I probably just like this weapon from my childhood of watching "American Gladiators."

Smoke Effects: Made Easy, Cheap, and Fast out of LED lights.

Want to spice up your game visually? Don't like to work that hard? Boy, do I have the tutorial for you! Here is a picture of the required materials.

++ Glue gun
++ LED Electric tealights 6 pack (found at Michael's Craft store) ~$6
++ Stuffing used for pillows or stuffed animals (also craft store) $2
++ Black spray paint (Krylon, is what I used)

The process of construction isn't really rocket science.

1) Grab a grapefruit portion of stuffing and shape it all smoke-like by pulling at it in random directions.
2) Slather hot glue all over the top outer ring of the tealight.
3) Slap the smoke cloud on top of the tealight. Hopefully, without burning your fingers.
4) Take it outside and spray it lightly with the paint. Best part is that the paint will hold the stuffing in place, so no need to glue anymore than in step 2.
5) Done.

I went dark with mine to hide the tealight. Also, I found it looked better NOT to take off the fake bulb from the LED. It somehow makes the light brighter and more flame looking, even though it is only a cheap piece of plastic. It is a mystery.

Here is the explosion from the Land Raider before it is flicked on. There is a little toggle switch on the underside. Also, one can replace the batteries in these lights, but it is cheaper just to buy more tealights.

Bonus: I took left over stuffing and Penny coins to make little smoke markers for my Dystopian War ships. They will represent one point of damage. I made these by putting stuffing in my fist and rubbing it as a child would make a sausage out of clay.

I figure that I will use the smoke markers as damage markers since I am not a huge fan of the cardboard chits. Also, it is more cinematic this way,, too. It may get too cluttered.

Class dismissed.

So, a Chaos Sorcerer and a Warjack walk into a bar....

....and they both said "OUCH!"

I got bored of running 2 Ironclades in Warmachine since they are good at what they do, but not good enough to ever run two. There were many times that I wanted to have a Defender and a Cyclone, so it was time to change my old metal Ironclad into a Cyclone.

I love the Cyclone for 2 reasons. First, big chain guns! Second, 2 handed throws allow me to go all Macho Man in game.

Here is my Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord from the newish plastic kit. I hate, hate, hated his goofy sword, so that had to be clipped off. I want to put a little marionette puppet in his hand to represent the Infernal Puppet wargear, but I am not sure how to pull it off.

I rock a bit of wet blending on the staff to try a new technique.

Oh, yeah. I also threw together this easy Nurgle Sorcerer out of spare pieces from the Corpse Cart that I bought for a Warshrine. His out-stretched hand is from an Ungor. He may be too vampirey, but I don't know what to add.

 I wanted to make him look like he is shooting a spell at his target since I use him to snipe characters with the Nurgle signature spell. He really saved my bacon against Vampire Counts by killing the BSB.

Meet da Boss: Krumpa Sam - Hero of the Waaagh

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him.........

We have the technology........

We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. .........

Better, stronger, faster............

I got tired of my plain jane AoBR boss, so I decided to give him some ZAZZ. Now, he is all spiffy. Rocking the jetpack Attack squig and all.

Now, I just need to decide if he should be based off Uncle Sam or Abraham Lincoln colors.

Also, here is what caused the peg-leg, my painboy conversion.

 He can actually cause REAL pain.

Circle of Orboros: "Bark at the Moon"

     I am trying to limit my unpainted minis around the Casa de Gigawatts. I've had an unpainted eThagrosh Legion of Everblight Hordes shredder spam army for about 6 months, now.  One of my buds wants to sell his Circle of Orboros eKaya army, so I offered to sell my stuff to buy his. Now, I have a painted army for Hordes! Yea! Cheat to win! Cheat to win!

I love the color palette he used for this models and it really ties them all together. I wanted the army mainly for his skills, which far out class my own skills a.k.a. brown wash. Also, I wanted a nature themed army, and WHFB Wood Elves are.....let's say "vintage."

Kaya got a hand swap to eliminate what my bro described as "Derp hand."

I love em'

Class dismissed.

DIY Dystopian Wars Water Board: "The motion in the ocean"

Hey, wait a minute...what are you going to play Dystopian Wars/Naval game on? Let me show you! Cross-posted from my post at  www.sistersofbattle.org.

I am going to give you a rundown/inspiration to make your own water table for any Naval battles system. Here is a picture of the table with my Empire of the Blazing Sun fleet from Spartan Game’s Dystopian Wars.



Shopping List Estimated Total Cost ~$70

    6 ft x 4 ft of 1/2 thick MDF board
    2 shades of cheap blue acrylic paint
    roll of paper towels
    a paint roller and an old sponge
    32 oz of Pour-able Epoxy Resin
    A container to mix the resin (note: the resin will ruin this container)

All of these materials can be found at hardware store. If go to a big box store, you can even convince somebody to cut the board into three equal sized panels. The most expensive item is the resin and to get enough for a 6×4 table, it will run you roughly $32. The resin is the key ingredient to the table, so you don’t want to skimp here. Also, I suggest getting 1/2 thickness MDF board, to avoid warping from the resin and to prevent the gameboard from being bumped off a table.

First, pick a place that the boards can sit undisturbed overnight, while the resin dries. Second, lay down some tarp/plastic/newspaper to work on because this could get messy. Next, find something to prop up the panels off the ground. I used several buckets to accomplish this. I suggest doing this indoors because random debris, i.e. leaves, bugs, and etc. could get stuck in the resin while it is drying.

Now, apply your basecoat on the board with the paint roller. Allow time for the basecoat to dry. Next, to achieve a ocean-like effect, take an old sponge and stipple another shade of blue over your basecoat. You could add more colors, but I stuck with 2 to keep it simple. The resin box looks like the picture below.

The instructions are pretty simple. One exception to the instructions is to use an old brush to apply the resin instead of pouring it. My reason for this is that we want the resin to bead up in sections across the board, and pouring will cause the resin to pool up. After you apply the resin, use paper towels to gently stipple across the board to create a ocean-like wave effect. Do this softly in order to avoid creating air bubbles in the resin. Afterwards, the board will need to sit overnight. Warning, it will be ridiculously sticky and any little thing will stick to it.

Congratulations, ya salty dawgs. You now have your very own sea gameboard.

 Class dismissed.