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Scatter terrain for Zombieville

August 5, 2015, 7:51 pm
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I picked up some scatter terrain for my brother's All Things Zombie work-in-progress. These are all from Reaper Minis'Bones line. Here you see them with some Heroscape minatures for scale.
The shipping containers and dumpsters are all made from hard plastic. I just gave them a coat of spaypainted color, and they look pretty good next to Agent Smith (or is that Agent Coulson?). The only problem is that the dumpsters are a lot bigger than they are in real life--almost as high as the shipping containers.
This weapons locker is also made from hard plastic and just took a coat of spraypaint. It looks even better now that I painted some black details onto it.
These wooden crates were made of the softer Bones material. I painted them a tan color with a brush, then drybrushed a lighter shade of tan, followed by an ivory white. The Bones terrain offerings are pretty cool, and I recommend them for your modern and sci-fi gaming.
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Stopping the Ogre AAR

August 15, 2015, 10:15 pm
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Last weekend I took along my portable Ogre setup to an out-of-town family gathering. Defending the command post against my brother's Mark III, I managed to stop the Ogre before it could destroy the CP! It was a rare victory for me as the defender.
My setup was different from my usual: no howitzers, just six GEVs, three heavy tanks, and a trio of missile tanks. I had the heavies and four hovercraft to the south, The rest of the armor and my infantry, grouped in squads of two, was further back.
My brother drove the Markk III straight for the target, and I sent my fast movers in to take out his weapons. Some good shooting destroyed the cybertank's main and one secondary batter early on. And because he refused to take the bait and kept heading toward the command post, my GEVs were able to scoot out of range behind him.
Some of my armor did get too close and ended up crushed beneath the treads, but my GEVs and missile tanks were able to bombard the Ogre's treads and slow it down, enabling the infantry to pace the monstrous robot tank.
In the end, I stripped the treads and weapons while the Ogre was well short of the command post. I feel good now that I have another victory against the Mark III. Now it's time to start mastering the Mark V defense ...
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Marlinko, man

August 21, 2015, 4:48 pm
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The latest installment in the Hill Cantons canon arrived in my mailbox this week: Fever-Dreaming Marlinko. I've had the PDF for awhile, but I like my games in print, not just pixels. This product, the result of a stretch goal from the Slumbering Ursine Dunes kickstarter, describes the city of Marlinko (nee Marlankh--you can still see a couple of serial numbers that didn't get filed off), which served as an adventuring base for our tabletop group of adventurers.
It's chock-full of adventure hooks, colorful nonplayer characters, numerous cultural references, and great art--including the front cover pictured up top and this city map on the back cover. So go check out Fever-Dreaming Marlinko, and tell 'em Mandamus sent you!
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Warhammer buildings

August 22, 2015, 10:43 am
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Well, it only took three-and-a-half years from the time I purchased the box to assemble the cardboard buildings that came with the fifth edition Warhammer boxed set.
Here you can see the results, pictured with the commander from the Nightmare Legion for scale. These aren't diorama models, but they will do nicely for wargames.
In addition to the tower, there is a large house or inn as well as a small shed. I would like to find some more old Warhammer scenery like this, but this type of thing is relatively rare and expensive on eBay.
The buildings were relatively straightforward to assemble--just punch out each die-cut section and use some white glue to fasten it. I also used scotch tape on the inside to ensure the pieces stayed together. Pro tip: line the edges of each piece with an appropriately colored permanent marker to make it look less like paper and more like a building.
These three structures will make a nice area to fight over or around once I have some Oldhammer forces to put on the table. They will also go well as terrain for Song of Blades and Heroes games, or even Book of War.
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Five years of Super Galactic Dreadnought!

August 23, 2015, 9:14 pm
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This weekend marked the fifth anniversary of my blog (and like an idiot, I missed the actual anniversary date), which I launched with this blog post. So to celebrate, I amassed all my starfleets and took some photos. The group shot above is a little fuzzy, but I will be posting some detail shots in a weeklong celebration.
Meanwhile, here is a closer look at the fleets of the Five Powers--the original polities in the background for Starfleet Wars, the game and minis line that inspired me as a kid. I also had to share a closeup of my Terran ships, which are my favorite fleet, and the faction I started playing Galactic Knights with.
Thanks for reading Super Galactic Dreadnought, and stay tuned for more starship pics.
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Blogiversary celebration continues

August 24, 2015, 6:40 pm
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Thanks for all the kind comments on my five-year anniversary post. To continue the festivities, please enjoy some more photos of my various starfleets:
The pride and flagship of my Terran Red Fleet, the Victory-class Super Galactic Dreadnought.
Constellation-class Galactic Attack Carriers and a Formidable-class Galactic Battlecruiser from the White Fleet.
Transports of the Slannish Treasure Fleet (Star Frontiers and Stardate:3000 minis).
A Gryphon-class SGDN with Condor-class DNs and Nest-GACs form the backbone of my Avarian force.
The Carnivorans have their own SGDN, as well as a carrier and other capital ships.
Civilian transports came from the Star Frontiers and Stardate:3000 lines, with a few Citadel models thrown in.
The Aquarians have Stingray-class carriers with a Shark-class battlecruiser up front and a Leviathan dreadnought in back.
The Entomalian ships all have that distinctive insectiod look, including the Hive-class carriers and the Swarm SGDN,
The Flying Roadshow (Star Frontiers minis) is a combination acrobatic troupe and mercenary force.
The Vogon Construction Fleet is another mercenary unit with craft from a variety of sources.

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More anniversary starship pics

August 25, 2015, 5:01 pm
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As my weeklong celebration of Super Galactic Dreadnought's fifth birthday continues (previous pics here and here), have a look at some more photos of my assembled fleets:
This space station comes from the Battlefleet Gothic line of miniatures.
Another look at the iridescent Entomalian fleet. I still have some more of these to paint.
I like the details in this side view of my Terran Red Fleet.
But the ships look even more impressive from head-on.
I got lots of compliments on the paint job for my Shadow Fleet of ships from Garrison Miniatures.
Here's a detail shot of my Avarian fleet.
And a dramatic overview of the Aquarian starships.
I also have plenty of ships to comprise my Terran White Fleet.
The Capellan Raiders is my only fleet where I didn't do all the paint jobs. The two huge kitbashes (a gift from Don M) and the three Silent Death minis (via eBay) were already painted when I got them.
Here are some one-off paint jobs. I want to use these to run a roleplaying campaign where each character gets a ship.
Finally, the Flying Roadshow. I haven't used these in a game yet. Time to come up with a scenario ...
Hope y'all are enjoying these.
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A few of my favorite posts

August 26, 2015, 7:06 pm
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With a few of my favorite starships.
I started this blog because I wanted to see more material about miniature starship gaming. I kept doing it (off-and-on) because I enjoy it. I'm obviously pretty happy with what I post to Super Galactic Dreadnought. Still, there are some posts that I'm especially proud of:

In order to learn more about the game and the minis I enjoy, in 2011 I emailed Scott Spicer, who worked with his father Ron Spicer to sculpt the Starfleet Wars models for Superior Models. Scott graciously responded with an essay about the creation of those fantastic sculpts that gave new insight into this line of miniatures.

I took a multi-part, up-close look at the rules that I had originally derided as too complicated. Turns out the game play is pretty elegant, and this review inspired me to run and play several games of Starfleet Wars, including a short-lived campaign.

My very own  published starship combat rules, co-authored with Ed Teixeira of Two Hour Wargames. The Star Navy ruleset was the result of playtesting, revision, and more playtesting. I had a blast developing this game with Ed, and I'm really happy with how it came out. 

I got to play the version of the game that introduced me to roleplaying--Dungeons & Dragons. I DM'd for a group of players who hadn't sat down for some good old-fashioned dungeon crawling for years--or even decades. I got to create and run my very own attempt at a megadungeon. Although it was only a few sessions, it was fun while it lasted.

Those are some of my favorites. Readers, what about you? Any posts on SGDN that really stood out for you?
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Taking up Kings of War

September 30, 2015, 6:15 pm
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Wow, September's over, and I managed to avoid posting a single blog entry.
Anyway, here are some work-in-progress shots of my latest project: a Lizardmen army for Oldhammer/Salamanders army for Kings of War. I like getting my minis cheap, and using them for more than one game.
The figures above are not my paint job; I got them already painted from eBay. Below are some more I've based and need to prime that came from my Half-Price Books score.
I may also use some of these guys for Hordes of the Things as well as Book of War. As I said, I like to get mileage from my figs.
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My first games of Kings of War

October 29, 2015, 9:10 pm
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OK, this was from almost a month ago, but I'm just now blogging about it. I played my first games of Kings of War at Great Hall Games in early October and had a good time.
I built my army from one of the new forces previewed on their website: Salamanders. It's mainly a lizardmen army analog, but it does include fire elemental troops, so I was able to use some of my new and old Hordes of the Things minis--the Sons of Muspel.
In my first match, I managed to defeat one of the Kingdoms of Men armies made from historical figures, despite my regiments' tendency to waiver (i.e., turn chicken, as indicated by the marker).
It was an escalation league; the idea being to start out with small points values and build your armies up over several weeks.
My second game was against an Oldhammer goblin force that ended in a loss.
I like the way the game plays, although I flaked out on the league and only played one more time. Still, I enjoyed it.
I need to finish my armies and have a few more games.
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Ground Effect Ogre (work in progress)

October 31, 2015, 3:29 pm
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I'm working on a Ground-Effect Ogre (GEO), using a Matchbox hovercraft as the chassis. In addition to some spare Ogre parts, I'm using a craft bead for the turret, and a whole bunch of green stuff--which is very difficult to work with.
It should look better after some sanding and a paint job. I'm also drafting rules for the GEO, which I envision as faster than a typical cybertank, but far more vulnerable because of its hover system. It's about the size of a Mark III, and I haven't decided how many weapons to give it.
I also rounded out my Ogre Miniatures collection with a number of light tanks, both PanEuropean (of which I already had a handful) and NA Combine (missing from my roster until now). 
A dip in the Pine-Sol and I can paint them up to match the rest of my forces.
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A long time ago ...

November 22, 2015, 10:08 am
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... back in 1977, Marvel Comics published a monthly Star Wars comic book, beginning with a six-issue adaptation of the movie, that ran for 107 issues before ending in 1986. 
In 2002, Dark Horse Comics started reprinting the series in trade paperback format. Reading through my collection in anticipation of the new movie coming out next month, I found a few interesting artifacts from the adaptation of the original movie (before it was ever referred to as Episode IV).
For one thing, the comic that made it onto newsstands contains scenes that didn't make it into the theatrical release, such as Luke witnessing the opening space battle between the Rebel blockade runner and the Imperial cruiser from the surface of Tatooine.
There's also the hero's encounter with his friend Biggs before the latter departs the desert planet to be seen again in the attack on the Death Star. In addition, the comic contained a much different version of Jabba the Hutt--humanoid, not slugg-like--in an encounter with Han Solo.
There are other minor differences in dialogue and terminology between the print and screen versions, but no big changes in the plot. I did find it interesting that the Rebels referred to the X-wing pilots as Blue Squadron instead of the Red Squadron familiar to moviegoers.
The first six issues were a fun start to a series that had some great writers and artists over the years, back before there was an Expanded Universe or any continuity other than the blockbuster movie called Star Wars.
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Hordes of the Things game day

February 6, 2016, 2:48 pm
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More than two months without a blog post---and even this is from last month. I blame general laziness as well as Fallout 4.
So in January, I made it down to TableTop in San Antonio for some Hordes of the Things. While we use repurposed Warhammer figures, we arent' afraid to get creative. In that regard, I brought out my Space Invaders army: fifteen Hordes (the Space Invaders themselves), two Sneakers (the ghosts Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde crossing over from Pac Man), and an Airboat general (the saucer).
Their first opponent was Johnny's fantasy Romans with a whole bunch of Spears, a couple of Blades, a minotaur Behemoth, and a Hero general. Before his line could engage my massed army, the saucer captured his stronghold with the aid of the ghosts.
My next game was against Grant, who brought his AT-43 army. I mainly remember he played it with a Aerial Hero general and a Paladin, along with Blades and Shooters and a Behemoth. His Hero and Paladin ended up taking out my Airboat general to win that one.
I also faced off against Blake's Chaos army (mostly GW figs and a D&D prepaint), but I switched to my skeleton army (Magician general, Spears, Shooters, Artillery, and Lurker). His Hero, accompanied by Knights, ended up getting around my flank to kill my Artillery, and he eventually won on points.
Meanwhile, Chip's GW Empire army took on Johnny's Romans. I can't remember how that one turned out.
The GW Empire army also fought the AT-43 force. Don't know the result of that, either.
Finally, we had a big battle: Chip's dark elves joined my undead against Grant's AT-43 army teamed up with Blake's GW Empire force.
My Magician general forced Grant's flyers to flee off the board. Then Chip and I drew in the enemy commander-in-chief and finished him off to claim victory.
A fun day of Hordes of the Things. Next time we play, we want to do more of a scenario-driven game--Ragnorok. Time to dust off the Sons of Muspel!
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OGRE Designer's Edition play

February 7, 2016, 11:00 am
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Another belated game report; this one from the day after Thanksgiving, when I had a couple of friends over to enjoy the oversized awesomeness that comes in the massive OGRE Designer's Edition box.
First was the advanced Breakthrough scenario, with me as the attacker and Jonathan as the defender. Rob, who had played a game of basic Ogre with me a few weeks earlier, watched. I had a margina victory, not getting nearly enough GEVs past the defense like I was supposed to.
For the next game, Rob and Jonathan brought a couple of Ogres against my conventional armor force in a Raid variant with more units and a built-up city at my end of the board.
There was much destruction of town hexes as my defenders tried to use the terrain to their advantage. In the end, though, the Ogres triumphed.
I always enjoy playing Ogre, and I hope to host more games. I want to try out a massive invasion scenario using at least six of the eight GEV map sections that come with Ogre DE.
The defender sets up north of the river, lake, and stream that starts in the middle of the left side of the map. Use the overlays to fill the remaining clear hexes with town on that penninsula at the top, and have the attackers come from the bottom edge. Their goal is to capture that city. Who's in?
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Monopolis traffic report (civilian cars for Ogre)

February 8, 2016, 7:30 am
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These are 1/300 scale architectural models from a Chinese seller on eBay. I figured they would fit right in with the 1/285 Ogre miniatures, and I was right. They also look good next to the 1/285 military trucks.
I want to use these vehicles for more than just scatter terrain for my Monopolis setup for games of Ogre--although they will work great for set dressing. 
These tiny models were cheap enough that I bought 300 of them, so I can make roads jammed with traffic that will play a part in future battles around the city of Monopolis.
They should be easy to paint en masse: I will get several colors of spray paint and take care of them in large groups (after first spraying the undercarriages black). Maybe a wash to bring out the windshield and windows, and I'm done mass producing cars.
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Furnishings for Zombietown

February 9, 2016, 7:30 am
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More scenery for my brother's All Things Zombie setup (a.k.a. Zombietown). A couple of Jersey barriers and picnic tables and benches in 28mm scale. You can also see some wooden crates ready for shipping. These are from Reaper's Bones line, and a cinch to paint: base color, drybrush lighter, drybrush even lighter, done.
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Off defending the Commonwealth

February 28, 2016, 5:26 pm
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You might have noticed my blogging has been sparse lately. I blame my wife, who got me a videogame system for my birthday. I've been playing Fallout 4 over the past few weeks, and I'm having a (nuclear) blast.
(image from Wikipedia)
If you're a videogame fan, you know what I'm talking about. For you old-school analog gamers, it's pretty much a sandbox, slightly less gonzo, Gamma World-style exploration game, where you roam across a nuclear-ravaged Massachusetts some two centuries after an atomic war. You gain skills and levels while making alliances with various organizations. Or you can go around just shooting things. Just like when we played GW back in the day.

Either way, Fallout has me craving some post-apocalyptic tabletop minis gaming. For rules, I want something a little more rules-light than Gamma World and a lot more miniatures-focused. Something like Mutants and Death Ray Guns from Ganesha Games, or maybe something adopted from one of Ed's Two Hour Wargames rulesets, like After the Horsemen.

I already have plenty of prepainted Heroscape minis I can use for skirmishes, and I'm sure I can track down some Clix prepaints for various purposes as well. And Gunbird's blog 20mm And Then Some has lots of inspiration regarding terrain for Fallout games. 

Anyone else doing some After-the-Bomb gaming? If so, what rules do you recommend? Also, what minis?
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More minis for Hordes of the Things

March 16, 2016, 3:46 pm
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At our last Hordes of the Things gameday, we talked about putting on a big battle scenario for HotT--Ragnarok--using larger-than-normal armies for the frost and fire giants. To that end, I purchased a bunch more Heroclix (and one D&D Miniatures figure) to add to my Sons of Muspel:
In addition, I saw some minis that inspired me to start working on a Frost Giant army to compliment my fire giants. I have enough figs here for about 8 AP worth of elements--probably Warbands--one-third of a standard HotT army:
Finally, while these models don't fit a current army, I like the translucent green. They might someday become part of a new force, the spirit of nature army.
Anyone else building new armies, for Hordes of the Things or any other game?
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Friday night D&D

March 20, 2016, 9:07 am
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Last weekend, I ran a game of Dungeons & Dragons for my wife. While she's played D&D before, adventuring with me in the Hill Cantons, I had never DMed for her. Using the Labyrinth Lord Advanced rules, she rolled up her character--Casandra, an assassin recently downsized from the Guild due to the economy (that's her in the blue cloak).
In need of work, she started the game at the Green Dragon Inn, in Portown. There, Casandra encountered rumors of a nearby dungon complex that was attracting adventurers, opportunities at a distant keep located on the borderlands, some sort of trouble at the palace in a not-too-distant kingdom, an abandoned hideaway of two famous adventurers, the missing son of a local lord (who would pay handsomely for his child's return), and treasure in the cellars of an abandoned sorcerer's tower located next to the graveyard and not too far from the sea.
She chose to investigate the corridors beneath the tower, but not before gaining a few adventuring companions: the hobbit Banker Baggins (no relation), Nestor the cleric, and Abercrombie (Abe) the dwarf. Their first foray brought them into a room with smashed coffins and a couple of hungry ghouls. They ended up defeating the pair of undead creatures, but Banker had fallen, so they went back to town to recover (but not before finding some platinum coins and a handful of gems).
On their return, they walked through a room they thought was empty, but which contained animated skeletons hidden in alcoves. A word from the cleric Nestor sent the figures clattering away, and they continued until they found a room with a man in robes accompanied by a bodyguard behand a table with all sorts of wizardly implements. A good reaction roll meant that instead of ordering the fighter to attack, the man conversed with the explorers and even mentioned that he had seen some idiot kid wandering around the dungeon, heading to the west.
The adventurers continued on, discovering a room containing a statue, the facing of which controlled which door would open, and defeating a giant snake in a circular room with a staircase leading up. Before they could explore any further, a group of wandering dwarves entered from the south. Although Abe tried to talk with them, a very bad reaction roll had them on the verge of hostilities, so the explorers withdrew. At that point, we called it an evening.
My wife had a good time adventuring, and she played smart. She had never mapped before, and she did a good job charting their route through the dungeon. I hope she decides to play again soon--after all, that lord's idiot kid is still down there somewhere.
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OGRE products update

March 26, 2016, 9:27 am
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In case anyone was wondering what's coming up in the world of new OGRE products, here's what I've been able to glean from various sources, along with some rank speculation:

ASSAULT PACKS
What: Small expansions for OGRE Designer's Edition containing new scenarios, new rules, new unit counters, and terrain overlays. Information on these is restricted to Kickstarter backers only, so I don't have much. The ones I know of are:
     Black Mamba Down (perhaps includes Ranger counters from the assault pack preview)
     Operation Rubicon (reportedly includes "Troll" unit and self-propelled gun)
     Rise of the Golem (maybe referring to Israeli cybertanks?)
     Storm Dragon (anyone have any idea?)
When: Not scheduled
How much: Unknown

DESIGNER'S EDITION EXPANSION
What: Large expansion to ODE promised as part of the Kickstarter campaign. Will have two new map (G-3 and S-3), one counter sheet (including one new 3-D unit--probably the Ninja), and scenarios.
When: They say late 2016
How much: Under $65

NEW OGRE SET
What: Standalone game in Designer's Edition scale with only the oriingal OGRE map and rules, with counters in new colors. Will include at least one new scenario, GEV Screen.
When: They say summer or fall of 2016
How much: Trying for $49.95

POCKET GEV (speculative)
What: Pocket sized edition of the sequel to compliment Pocket Ogre. No telling if this will actually be produced, but I have some suggestions on the counter mix.
When: Not scheduled
How much: Probably around $10 or $11

Anybody else excited about these new products? I plan on buying the expansions, but probably not the new OGRE box.

If you have any more information on any of these--especially the Assault Packs--please let me know.
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