Crimson Skies Thursday

Got chance to pull out an old favorite, Crimson Skies. Every time I play I think, "why don't we play this more?" I love painting the planes, love playing even more. Tight rules, great background, too bad it's out of print.
This scenario pitted an incursion of Missouri airspace, by ISA planes. The valiant 13th Missouri Air Militia rose up to fight them.

Both sides got chewed up in the fight. It ended up being a draw, with two planes barely making it back to their respective airfields.

More Swashbuckling Swordsmen

I kinda phoned it in on these, but I'm kinda in a "clear off the table" mood. I'm working on the Four Musketeers themselves next. Then, hopefully start on some more Renaissance.

The more observant viewers might have noticed a new link on this blog. It's for the Unkerlant Chronicle, a place for all of your coverage of the interbellum conflicts in our favorite, tiny Imagi-Nation.
Also, this Saturday, another foray Beyond the Wall will be launched. So make sure you check the Beyond the Wall link next week for the further OD&D adventures of Mellion, Miss Adventure and the rest of the stalwart party.

3 Whites and a Red

Finally got some paint time in. The results? Some MG support for my RUssian Civil War troops and a Swashbuckling hero.

Lewis Gunners. I painted these in "regular" Russian colors so they could be used for any White faction.

A Maxim crew, again available for multiple uses.

The hero known only as the "White Mask".

And finally, the Reds get some support with these Naval Infantry gunners.

R.I.P. Frank Frazetta

This illustrator is one of the reasons I got into drawing myself. Also gaming. He made Conan, Tarzan, John Carter, all come to life.

Bringing Unkerlant into the 20th century

As the readers of this blog know, Unkerlant is an angry little Imag-Nation somewhere close to Central Europe, but not quite on any maps. So far, it has only existed as an early 18th century kingdom, wracked by civil wars and its own rampant xenophobia. A few in the Imagi-Nation community have started expanding this idea into other realms. So, what would Unkerlant look like during the Interwar period (1920s and 30s)? 

In its first foray into the wider world, did it get entangled by foreign treaties and forced into the Great War? Was it bankrupted by its losses in both men and money? Did old regional rivalries rear their ugly heads?

Below is an artist's rendering of a member of the Volborgian Freistaat Provincial Militia.

His uniform is similar in both cut and design to late war German soldiers. Only the color and shoulder patch identify him as a member of this elite paramilitary organization.

Renaissance Thursday (Rules test #2)

I dug out my, until now much underused Italian Wars miniatures again. This fight we used Warmaster Ancients rules with the modifiers and lists described in "Renaissance Commander".

Gotta say, I think Warmaster gets a bad rap. With the right group, its fun to play. The Command and Control rules were better than the "line 'em up and let 'em go" rules of TACTICA. Having to roll to move your troops frustrated some (Scott), but I really liked them. You'll notice in the pictures not only did I have to repurpose my WotR commanders again, but I mounted everything on shadow bases. This is because Warmaster, like  a lot of games, requires common size frontage. I didn't feel like rebasing 500 minis for a playtest, so there ya go.

Some of the Renaissance mods change how Warmaster is played and make it more like Blitzkrieg Commander. For instance, there is no seperate Shooting phase. All fire must either be "Ordered" or done as part of the "Initiative" phase. 

Overall, it felt like right. I said that abot TACTICA, but more so here. It had more of a gradual wear down to the fight. You really had to grind at a unit to bring it down, with the occasional blow out. I didn't pull stands when they were eliminated, but this proved a problem later on when supporting stands became an issue. Skirmishers acted more like skirmishers and boy do early Spanish pike suck.

So far, it's beating TACTICA, but the next game will be Renaissance Principles of War. I ordered it last week, but it might take awhile to show up from the UK.