Back before Fall In (November 2015), Bob Murched released a new line of figures within his Pulp range focusing on cowboys, Villistas, etc. I picked them up at Fall In, and I am just now getting them painted. They have Bob’s usual character and animation. I think they are excellent figures. We recently played a cowboy game, so I have high hopes of getting them on the table soon.
The folks at Cigar Box Battles have just posted the fourth and final installment of my serialized article on the design of Combat Patrol. Enjoy.
After a few weeks of coordination, I am excited to announce that I have teamed with Sally 4th to make Combat Patrol(TM): WWII more easily available in the UK and Europe.
Sally 4th is the maker of quality wargaming terrain, including their photo textured buildings.
Potential customers in the UK and Europe complained that the price of shipping one set of cards nearly exceeded the price of the set of cards. Chris Abbey at Sally 4th kindly reached out, and after a little back and forth, we determined that we could make the game available with a UK printer through his Web site for about the same price as they are available from DriveThru Cards but without the high cross-ocean shipping charges.
Lest there be any confusion, the rules remain available through DriveThru as well as Sally 4th. I am very happy with the support and service from DriveThru, and they produce the kind of high-quality, professional cards I wanted for Combat Patrol. Sally 4th will provide the same service and quality on their side of the ocean.
Potential UK and European customers, please check out Sally 4th’s Web site and order your copy of Combat Patrol(TM).
I just posted another Combat Patrol (TM) Instructional video on YouTube. This one describes the process of anti-tank fire. You can get to it through the rules’ Web page or directly on YouTube. Check it out!
I wrote a longish article on the design process for Combat Patrol(TM): World War II. It was originally serialized and posted on The War-games Website. After the six-month exclusive period expired, the articles have been reposed on Cigarbox Battles. The first three parts of this four-part article are posted now. Please give them a read and let me know what you think. I have always found reading about how other serious designers go about their design process. If you haven’t heard of Combat Patrol(TM), see the rules’ Web site here.
Part 4 will be published in February.
While you are at the Cigar Box Battles site, this is a fun article.
I have been collecting figures to adapt Combat Patrol(TM): World War II for science fiction skirmishes. I have the Woodbine figures from the movie Aliens, the Sergeant Major’s Miniatures Firefly crew, and a bunch of Reaper Bones science fiction figures. Chris pointed out that for an open-field type science fiction skirmish we needed some vehicles and support weapons. I am working on a a scratch-build APC (more on that when I finish it). Someone directed me to Pig Iron’s Web page, where I ordered a bunch of heavy infantry with support weapons. Until those arrive, I found this box of Games Workshop Warhammer 40k support weapons. This weekend I assembled and painted them. The interesting thing about this box of figures is that it comes with crew for three weapons, but enough parts to make three each of several different weapons. I guess you are supposed to choose which weapons you want to build; however, I wanted to be able to use any mix of them in a game. As a result, I assembled them for maximum flexibility, sacrificing some aesthetics. The figures don’t look as much like a permanently-mounted two-man crew any more so that I can mix and match them during a game.
With a sharp hobby knife I scraped off most the GW wings and skulls to make them more generic. There were MANY to scrape off.
There were also a bunch of extra canteen, rifles, ammunition, and other bits. When I build my space ship, I will use them to equip the arms room.
Even though the flexibility meant that the figures didn’t fit as nicely behind all the weapon, and some of the poses are a bit off, I am happy with the final outcome.
Friday night we had two miniatures games at the club. Eric ran a Hogwarts themed game with Blood and Swash. The other was Zeb’s cowboy free for all using the old TSR Boot Hill rules.
The game was a wild affair with various groups fighting to break a prisoner out of the jail, keep him in the jail, and/or pump him for information.
In the end I was able to hold onto the prisoner; however, Bruce and his “opportunists” won the game by bartering their services for gold.
It has been many, many years since I have played Boot Hill. It was in many ways nostalgic to play a game with percentile dice. While it had quite a few modifiers and charts, it didn’t take too long to pick it back up. Everyone had a good time.
I was in Orlando this week for work. This evening I had a chance to play a largish X-Wing game with a guy from work at a local hobby store, Paladin. My dice were characteristically cold, and I was down from 6 to 2 ships in just a couple of turns. The game was nonetheless fun.
I posted another Combat Patrol (TM) demonstration video to the rules’ Web page: http://www.bucksurdu.com/Buck_Surdu/Combat_Patrol.html.
The question came up on The Miniatures Page about how people store their X-Wing ships. I found this to be the most cost-effective — and safest — way to store mine. I started with a 4-liter Really Useful Box. I cut a piece of 1/2-inch blue insulation board to fit inside. Then I drilled holes in the foam that are about the same diameter as the slight stand sticks. I leave the top stick in the ships and then stand them up in the foam. They don’t bounce around or bump into each other. It also minimizes the risk of breaking the tiny little flanges on the bottom of the ships. Cheap and easy.
