Sunday, May 8, 2016

Gaming Mat Taking Shape!

So far, so good!  Using my crude, printed hex shape, I'm drawing 2 1/2" hexes on this cheap green felt gaming mat (25 dollars from "The War Store and a perfect 6 x 4).  Using a brown sharpie and I think it's doing the trick so far.

my crude tool with "up" and "D" on the edges.  Close enough for government work!

The lines aren't too dark but are dark enough that they're easy to see.  Perfect for a tabletop game of Squad Leader, Battle Cry, or Command Colors: Napoleonics!  These hexes will accommodate my 3" sabots perfectly.

In other news, going out to cut the grass now (something I used to do during the week) but this could be the solution to my time crunch crisis!  I was also up at 4:00am this morning painting Napoleonic French.  More on them at another time.  Today I'll get at least half of the hex mat finished, then I'll start on priming my Bavarians.

Stay tuned!

10 comments:

  1. Looks good indeed! Yes start with those Bavarians! :-D

    Greetings
    Peter

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    1. Thank you Peter! Bavarians should be getting their basecoat this afternoon. :)

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  2. Great start to some hybrid gaming. The options are quite expansive on chit/board games that could be played with three dimensional game pieces. don't forget that GMT has links to many of their rules in digital format.

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    1. David,
      Yes this is my answer to finding more time-appropriate games. That and I really want to play CCN again and try BattleCry and Squad Leader on my table! All of those games give a good, satisfying account of themselves in a relatively short amount of time. What's not to like?

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  3. This looks really, really interesting Stephen. Will be great to see how the rules develop. I have many 4" hexes and have simply not used them enough.

    This chap here
    http://flagsofvictory.blogspot.co.uk/
    does a lot of work re-interpreting rules for hexes.

    Will watch development closely.

    One Hour Wargames and indeed, GDW Team Tankee, are practically crying out for the tabletop hex treatment... and of course SLiM.

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    1. Cheers, Darren.
      I was fortunate enough to play a game of Command Colors: Napoleonics with miniatures and we played the entire battle of Talavera in a little under 3 hours. I was hooked. And of course Squad Leader in Miniature!
      Come to think of it, I could technically play GDW's Team Yankee with 15mm miniatures now, especially considering the hexes are 2.5 inche lines.
      That, Panzerblitz, you name it! Also looking for some operational level rules where I could play with large units, enough to fight an entire battle on the table.
      Yes it's going to be a busy campaign season!

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    2. Yes indeed.
      Now operational level rules are something I am looking for with hexes.
      Megablitz and Hexblitz are two sets I've been looking at.
      I feel some combined efforts in the offing again LOL.

      (Hexblitz is here:)
      http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

      My aim here was to use my 4.75" hexes, fit them on an 8x5 foot table, and be able to do Operation Market Garden.

      Depending on scale, it might mean running up the table 'twice' - i.e. two 8' x 2.5' tables with bridges etc.

      The key at this level is logistics and supply.

      Also see the 'Not Quite Mechanised' blog for ideas.

      (As you can guess, I'm quite taken with operational concerns).

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    3. Darren,
      Operational level I think allows you to fight big battles with historically accurate TOEs. What's not to love there?
      Your Market Garden game sounds fascinating.

      These hexes will accommodate my largest bases which are 3" squares (Volley and Bayonet "massed" Brigade bases) - they utilize 2 1/2" lines and this gives me the maximum amount of hexes on the table to play "squad leader" or another hex based game.

      The other blog you sent is fantastic! I want to try his "Quatre Bras" game but I don't know if I have the figures.

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  4. Replies
    1. Paul,
      With a 3 1/2 year old running around and a lawn to mow, there's scant other time for me to do it! That being said, when it's just you and the birds outside and all is quiet and everyone is sleeping, you wouldn't believe the amount of painting you can get done - if you're willing to go to bed at 8:30 at night!!

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