The Things You Find When Reading Rulebooks!

  So, I was reading through my copy of Normandy Firefight and I happened on the designer's notes. The designer of the rules, Warwick Kinrade, who is also the designer of the awesome Battlegroup rules (I am a bit biased...) admitted that the game was "old school" and deliberately so...

Taken From Board Game Geek

 To quoth Warwick:

"This is because [the game] is a throwback to the games I played growing up, with influences from the likes of Rudis (a fine game of detailed one-to-one gladiatorial combat I still play), Twilight: 2000 (italics are mine), and the daddy of detailed modern firearms combat - Phoenix Command. With the exception of Rudis, I don't play those other games now - I don't have the time - but I did want a game in their spirit that would last an hour or less."

Well, Mr. Kinrade. I am asking, was there thoughts to doing a modern version? Or will your new project Nam '68 be a nod to that?  So, now I am inspired. Is Normandy Firefight the rules set for Twilight: 2000 table firefights I have been seeking all along? I mean, yeah, it's World War II, meant for 54mm figures (It does have conversion rules for 25mm/28mm and 20mm) and it's meant for small groups of miniatures, but it's a pretty cleanly written set of rules, and the engagement ranges we're playing at means not much has changed except EVERYONE is more than likely carrying some form of fully auto weapon, so I don't think the work to convert it would be all that hard. Might be a bit harder when you get into night vision gear, body armor, and some other modern accoutrements. But again, I don't think we're too far off the mark here. 

In short, this might be an easier conversion process than first thought? So, to set my brain to motion.... 

Short News Post - New Company in 28mm I've Discovered?

 Well, they're new to me. I'd like to introduce you all to Studio Miniatures. I've seen some of their stuff, and it would fit right in for Twilight: 2000. I especially like the National Guard survivors as they're labeled, pictured below. 

Courtesy of Studio Miniatures

I especially like the "Will and Tom Set". These guys have a lot of character.

Courtesy of Studio Miniatures

Having discovered them, I found some of their other sets that would be of interest for someone doing Twilight: 2000 in 28mm, especially if you like certain movies or TV shows? I get the feeling more will be coming? I don't do 28mm normally, but this is kind of piquing my interest.  

There are oodles of figures to interest any 28mm Post-apoc gamer, and I think the sculpting standards look pretty good. All in all, I give them a 4.5 out of five mushroom clouds! Their website can be found at www.studiominiatures.com

Shameless Plug

Almost forgot, my new scenario book, "Red Star, Burning Streets" hit the shelves at Cavalier Books in February. I'm rather happy to finally get a book in print, and all I can say is, BUY THE BOOK!

I'd love to write more, but we'll see where this one goes?

So, what is it about? It's a miniature wargaming supplement set in an alternate 1983 where the Warsaw Pact and NATO came to blows. While it was written for "The Zone" skirmish rules, it would not be hard to adapt to any set of rules for the period. The book has 11 scenarios detailing the 2nd Battle of Berlin, as as information on the combatants, and suggestions for special rules for urban combat.

I promise, my next post will return you to your regularly scheduled apocalypse.

HMMWV in 28mm

Apologies for my absence from this blog.

The US HMMWV is an iconic vehicle in Twilight 2000 (and I have a number of 20mm scale ones somewhere) but this is my first one for 28mm.

The Empress kit is mainly in a white resin with white metal 0.50" HMG, hatch and pintle.

This is the model dry assembled with William Killian for scale.

As we all know, vehicles in Twilight 2000 need to carry all the team's equipment, so they tend to be heavily loaded.

I looked through my collection of Crooked Dice, Debris of War and Empress Stowage items to load up the back of the vehicle together with Greenstuff soft stowage..

Dressing For The Apocalypse - 28mm: more Soviets

Empress miniatures (as mentioned in a previous post) has a small range of figures for the Chechnya conflict. You do have to be careful, as the figures are a bit variable in size.

These three figures are from CWR007 "Russians Fighting".

Other figures by Empress, such as the Insurgents are useful. This is the PK GPMG figure from the INS03 set that is useable.

This figure is based on the illustration of a South Ossetian Irregular in the Osprey publication "Elite 197: Russian Security and Paramilitary Forces since 1991".

Dressing For The Apocalypse - 28mm: British Army

Currently Under Fire Miniatures have a range of Cold War figures comprising Soviets, East Germans, West Germans (police and army) and US. Unfortunately there are (currently) no plans for adding British figures to their range (but there is a possibility of a compatible range from another manufacturer).

In the meantime, I want a set of figures representing British infantry that are a nice match with the Under Fire and Empress figures that I currently own.

Luckily, I have a number of figures from Crooked Dice that will fit the bill.

Crooked Dice publish the 7TV skirmish rule set designed for games based on the film and television output of a fictional British production company (and their American subsidiary). They have a matching set of figures for a number of their productions.

There are two main ranges that will be the source for my British infantry.

The first is their Army figures.
This is one of their Army Privates with Rifles.

The figures are supplied with tabs and (25mm diameter) slot bases. In this case I cut off the tabs, filed the soles of the boots flat and drilled, pinned and superglued it to a 25mm diameter Renedra plastic base.

He is armed with an L1A1 FN SLR battle rifle. The range also includes figures with Sterling SMGs, a recoiless rifle and a medium machine gun.

The rifle is a bit anachronistic, as by the time of Twilight 2000, the standard British infantry weapon was the L85 (SA80) assault rifle. However, when the original weapon was issued, there were a number of significant issues with it, and it was not until its first use in infantry combat in the 21st century were they fully overcome. For Twilight 2000 purposes, the UK would still have a stock of L1A1s, so they may have been issued to units.

I do have a pack of Hasslefree miniatures L85 rifles that I may try and use as a replacement of the L1A1s. I also might try changing the heads to ones with helmets.

The second is their Department X range.

This is one of the X-Commandos from the X-Commandos 1 pack. They are supplied with a head with a beret. I used one of Empress Miniatures British helmets with extra camouflage (BRIT13).

The figure has rather bulky body armour, similar to that seen in use in that period.

To base the figure, I used a Warlord lipped 25mm base and added a couple of strips of plastic card to make a slot for the cut down tab on the figures feet.

I added a Warlord British Commando rucksack on the back.

Greenstuff was used to add straps and a scarf.

Here it is painted with a Woodland DPM pattern.

Dressing For The Apocalypse - 28mm: Bundeswehr

As mentioned earlier, Under Fire Miniatures do a range of Cold War period 28mm figures.

I bought a set each of Soviets, East German (NVA) and West German (Bundeswehr).

Having assembled (converted) and painted the Soviets, I started on the West German infantry.

This is Bundeswehr pack 1, comprising four infantry armed with G3 battle rifles.

For my use I used Renedra 25mm round bases. I drill a 1mm hole in the figure base and a matching hole in the round base and use a piece of 1mm Evergreen rod to pin the two together and then glue it with superglue. Milliput is then used to smooth the two together.

There was then the decision as to what colour to paint them.

For my reference, I had a look at a contemporary Osprey book "Nato Armies Today".

I also  had the Tankograd book on "Bold Sparrow '87".

I decided to go for the simple grey green colour scheme (I have Flecktarn to look forward to on the Empress modern Bundeswehr).

The figures were undercoated black with Citadel Chaos Black followed by PSC German Field Grey.

The webbing and packs are Vallejo USA Olive Drab.

The figures were dry brushed with Citadel Dry Nurgling Green.

The figures were then shaded with Citadel Athonian Camoshade (it came out a bit shiny so I used some Humbrol 49 acrylic varnish).

Group shot.

I have an Empress Miniatures M113 APC which is undergoing conversion to an M113G to provide them with some mobility.

Man, Have I Been Prolific This Month! And, Some News of Interest.

I seem to keep writing a lot for the blog these days, and the painting contest is currently being judged. I encourage all of my readers to sign in and make their vote known. I'd like to see more responses as we had five entries, and all of them look like the contestants did their very best.

Also, I found out a couple of months late, but Wargames Illustrated did an article about using Twilight: 2000 as a miniature wargames background! Yep, that's right. In WI 373. there's a lavishly illustrated article that includes rules reviews, figure reviews (including a few I was kinda "meh" on, but YMMV), and a good summary of the Vistula Trilogy.

Cover of WI 373, image taken from WI website.

In short, if you don't have a copy, go out and get one. It's a good read for those just getting into this as a milleu.

Come the new year, I plan on getting some forward momentum on my own Twilight: 2000 miniatures and to figure out how I am going to work things out vis a vis doing Iran during the Twilight War in 20mm. I have a fan project I have been working on for years called "Blood Upon the Risers" that I really need to just finish up, and get out to the masses. That said? I do have some other paid gigs I need to give their due attention.

The next post will be blog entry 100, and we've come a LONG way from the humble beginnings of this blog. We're now at 51 followers, and 60,000+ page views, and I know the only way is up, really. I am so excited about where this blog can go?

So with that, I'd like to take a survey, what articles would YOU like to see more of here? Let me know in the comments section!

• Scenarios?
• Product Reviews?
• Tutorials?
• More discussion articles like in the beginning?

I want to make a real splash with entry 100, so it will be the beginning of the future of this blog, and the way forward. As for a question I asked last month, I think for now, I am going to put that on the back burner. As much as I would like to perhaps move to a WordPress format, there's far too many questions about how it work for me to feel comfortable making the switch. 

That's all for now, can't wait for the BIG 100! 

Submissions are Closed, and the Voting is Upon US!

Well, everyone! Our call for submissions has ended, and we have five submissions for people to judge and vote on. Please come on down to the Facebook page, and vote. You have until midnight on December 30th to cast your vote.

Just to give you all an idea of what we got for submissions this year, I have decided to post one picture from each entry.

So come on down and vote, our submitting artists would appreciate it after the hard work they have put in.

Painting Contest Developments!

Hey all, I got prizes in from Ehliem Figures and Michael Moore (Thank You very much, guys!), as well as a couple packs of the old Grenadier Twilight: 2000 line up for grabs for this thing. And, they're the Post Apoc "Gaslands" inspired line for Ehliem, which I reviewed in an earlier blogpost, Well, having seen some of the stuff in person? I am impressed. I am still trying to lock down the Game Craft Miniatures gift certificate, but if any other manufacturers see this and want to contribute to the prize pool, it's not too late!

Remember These Beauties?

So, get your entries in, you only have until this coming Sunday, and then, voting begins on the Facebook page, so don't forget to like the page, so you can vote for your faves! (I will be also posting pics here, and Grimace of the Good Luck, You're on Your Own newsletter will also be posting your entries.)

So I forgot to mention what needs to be included with your entries:

1. Good pictures. Sadly, we cannot judge your stuff in person, so good pics are going to make the difference. This is a pretty good article on how-to, but one of the best is by Henry Hyde in his book The Wargaming Compendium (We reviewed it a few blog posts ago.) And take multiple angles, it helps!

2. Name, description of the piece and a "short how did you do what you did", we won't give out your real name if you ask us not to, but we'll need it for the prize information!

That's pretty much it. Please send all entries in either .png, .bmp, .gif, or .jpeg format. It's a lot easier to work with when we post these things to the internet.

So, you're running short on time entrants!

GET PAINTING! THE WORLD WOULD LOVE TO SEE WHAT YOU COME UP WITH!!

Truck Utility Medium, Fitted For Radio - 28mm

Vehicles specifically for Twilight 2000 in 28mm are quite rare, so occasionally you have to improvise.

Crooked Dice have a miniatures game (7TV) and a matching range of figures, most revolving around the film and television output of a fictional British production company from the 'sixties to the 'eighties.

To provide transport for some of the characters, in 2016 they introduced a vehicle which has a remarkable resemblance to a Series III Land Rover.

A slightly out of focus William Killian (another Crooked Dice figure, sadly not currently in production) for scale.

This makes a nice shortish wheelbase hard top Land Rover.

Recently Crooked Dice have run a Kickstarter for a Post Apocalyptic version of their 7TV game. They added a number of conversion items including a Medium Stowage Set. This includes one piece that fits neatly on to the front of their Land Rover, and another that makes a great roof rack load.

In the Tankograd book on Key Flight '89, on page 28 there is a photograph of a Land Rover series III with stowage in that exact same location.

As it mentions in the title, this is Fitted For Radio, so I added an aerial mount using a piece of 4mm square section tube (with 4mm strip ends) and an aerial base made from brass rod to the front right side of the bonnet. The photograph in the Tankograd book has two aerial mounts, but the Land Rover 110 on page 15 has only one (and is a hard top).

Though the pieces fit fairly well, there was a slight gap between the front of the roof stowage and the roof itself, and the piece sitting on the bumper did not balance well.

The former was fixed by adding a tarpaulin made from Greenstuff, the latter had some square section rod added underneath.

This was one of the vehicles I mentioned when I was writing about the Soviet infantry.

It is base painted (PSC British Tank green), but needs decals and weathering.

A British infantryman armed with an L1A1 (FN SLR) for scale. He was converted from a Crooked Dice X-Commando using an Empress British Infantry helmet with extra camouflage.

So now my British have some transport, now I need some British troops.

Dressing For The Apocalypse - 28mm

As mentioned in an earlier post on 28mm figures, Under Fire Miniatures do a range of 28mm Cold War figures.

As supplied, the Soviet infantry (in this case Soviet Pack RMR2) are accurately dressed, with the uncomfortable high boots.

These would be fine for forces at the outbreak of war, but after four or five years of conflict, their kit would change. The obvious thing would be replacing the boots (and trousers) with more comfortable items - either manufactured for the troops, or those that the troops have picked up.

The first change was to add some small squares of Greenstuff to the front of the boots, sculpted with a scalpel blade to represent the laces. This was allowed to set before more Greenstuff was used to extend the trouser cuffs.

Soviet Motorised infantry were trained to be no more than 200 metres from their transport, so they do not tend to have large quantities of equipment, so only a couple of small bags or pouches were added.

The other thing is that they are quite likely to have non standard gear, or in the case of the NCO, he has discarded his helmet for a warmer and more comfortable wooly hat.

This is a head from the Empress Universal Soldier range. He is also wearing a scarf, more Greenstuff.

He also has picked up a rucksack (from the Rubicon Miniatures Allied Stowage Set 1). This was blended in with Greenstuff.

There is also a square section plastic rod and Greenstuff ammo pouch.

Once finished and based (Woodland Scenics ash ballast over Milliput), they were undercoated with Citadel Chaos Black spray. As I was painting some British vehicles at the same time, I used Plastic Soldier Company British Tank spray as the base colour.

The wooly hat was painted with Citadel Caliban Green. The rucksack is Citadel Castellan Green. The scarf is Citadel Zandri Dust. 

The NCO's jacket camouflage is Citadel Steel Legion Drab followed by smaller splurges of Citadel Zandri Dust.

The NCO, having experienced more than enough Instant Sunshine(tm), has changed his trousers for a pair with a camouflage pattern of Zandri Dust and Vallejo German Camouflage Black Brown,

The rest of the squad's camouflage spots are Citadel Zandri Dust, the helmets are Vallejo German Extra Dark Green.

The figures were dry brushed with Citadel Dry Brush Nurgling Green. The "woodwork" of the guns was Citadel Mournfang Brown. 

Once dry the green areas were washed with Citadel Athonian Camoshade, brown areas with Citadel Agrax Earhshade.

The bases were then covered with a mixture of Woodland Scenics Burnt Grass Fine Turf (finely minced sponge) and some anonymous static grass bought from a model railway show.

Here is the NCO and one of Empress Miniatures Chechnya figures.

Same source of wooly hats.