Here's a nice video on how to make "bottle brush" type trees from Gutter Brushes... that are used to keep leaves out of rain gutters:
http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/index.php/mwg/comments/making_cheap_trees_from_gutter_brushes/


And here is home made flock:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1233706865&feature=iv&src_vid=ntmEP46g40Q&v=5jNiiTr8Lq8


Think I'll try them out.

A collaborative campaign Battle Report

The Clan of the Winds, still reeling back from their defeat by the Humans have a Pillar of Power Chaos army cross their borders and press hard for the Fortress of Bitterdorf. The Orc leader decides to battle on the Plains of Wind rather than immediately fort up.

Orcs on the left, Chaos on the right. Chaos weighted their left with their Knights while the Orcs placed their Heavy Boar Riders on their right to meet the Knights. Centers were mostly Foot troops, though the Orcs had a large number of Massed Bow units and Choas fielded to Elite Handweapon units.

Chaos Left Flank

 

Chaos Right Flank



Orc Left Flank

Orc Right Flank

Orc Center with Balrog

Orc Right Flank Savage Heavy Boar Riders

Boar Riders and Knights crash together

Swarms of Spider Riders try to stop Chaos Right Flank forces

Orc Right Flank Crumbles, Foot is moved to block Chaos Knights

The Chaos Beasts (classed as Small Monsters) suffered terribly, being swept from the field as the first casualties. The Orc right/Chaos Left slammed together in a massive blood letting/armor smashing impact that the orcs suffered the worst of when their attempt to Rally off Disorder rings totally failed the first round!

The Chaos Center suffered from the Massed Bow units showering Disorder markers helter skelter down the ranks, breaking up their forward progress. The Chaos general threw caution to the wind and charged forward as he could to stop some of the barrage!

 

Slowly but steadily the Orc flanks crumbled, then the Chaos Foot was burst through by the Orcs Balrog!!! and right into the open... and the full sight of the Chaos Sorcerers!! (Massed bow units) who concentrated their fire on the now fully exposed and unsupported Balrog.... and he was sent back to the shadows!

 

Reforming what formations he could the Orc commander looked over his dispositions ...

 

With the Chaos Knights about to get a full un impeded charge into his foot units to his right flank and the Chaos Reserves pushing into an undefended gap in his center the Orc commander sounded the Retreat Horns and fell back on his fortress!

 

Chapter 5 Finale Volcano God Appeasment!

So, the team needed to rescue one of their own from the Pygmy Tribe before she could be sacrificed to the Volcano God!  Setting out from their ramshackle rooms at Trader Joe's Beach Side Resort they trekked through the jungle, beating off some giant snakes, and proceeded to enter the Cave of Tunnels that led to the Volcano's top where the sacrifice was to be held.

Traveling through the winding tunnels, they mostly managed to avoid the perilous collapsing floor sections that would have dropped them into a lower tunnel over run with .... creatures!

Arriving at the top of the Volcano Cone ... Behold:

Team Bob is to the right, Lily is on the alter to the left. Statues of Lava Men are to the top and bottom of the huge Lava pool. As they moved closer, the could spot the Pygmy's dancing and chanting. At first Chip opened fire on one of the statues of the Lava Men to find that ... they were statues of stone and nothing else!

Moving around the south end of the Lava pool they drew the notice of the Real Lava Men in the pool!

The Pygmy's offer little resistance as they prepare to throw Lily into the fire! As they get her to the lip of the pit her clothing starts to smolder and she screams as the heat gets intense!  Then, the Idol of the Volcano God stirs and attacks Amanda and Sarge, who have moved past it to take out the remaining pygmy's.

They realize the Lava Men cannot leave the pool! They finish off the last Pygmy but fail to take out the Shaman who disappears in a cloud of smoke!  "PARLEY!"  ... The Volcano God speaks with his only voice and all the team members have to take an Extreme Peril Check! and with the In action, the Idol goes dormant!!!

Lily is saved!

An action shot of some of the group working for Lily's rescue! The lady on the right played her first game as the captive Lily..... I had prepared a script for her to voice act for the group during the action... often breaking everyone up... she did rather well after we explained the format... Saturday afternoon matinee of the action hero's girlfriend in danger type situations!   

Tug Boat Mystery

So we applied a different approach to our regular game. A mystery killing of one of the crewmen on the Tug Boat Team Bob is traveling on.

3 colors of poker chips with 3 each of that color. Each color was marked with a Who, What or Where clue. These I scattered through out the boat. Players could travel 6 inches a turn. Black chips represented an unknown encounter but not a peril check.  When a player was sure he had found the pertinent clue for a color of chip he could ignore any he had not checked out and search others, thereby making it possible to not have to check all 9 chips.

Unknown encounter was the shadowy suspect who had 4D10 shooting and was triggered when a player announced he was going to cross over a black chip that blocked the passage way. He would roll and the players could attempt to dodge only, make any required health checks, then he "disappeared into the shadows".............(Players were not allowed recovery checks or cards that allowed them to recover!)

What Chips:   Wrench, Club, Bloody Knife  : easy to figure which was used for the crime
Who  :  Hapless Crewman , Clueless Crewman,  No Alibi
Where:  Tidy work space,  All in Order, Signs of a fight

The WHO chips had to be interrogated using Cunning or Finesse with 2 Success or 2 health checks when the subject got violent for a bit, though in the next turn you could put him to the question again as you didn't get to roll attacks on him.

So, traveling about the ship, collecting clues and sometimes some damage Chip (sidekick of Lily) ran afoul of the Shadowy Suspect and was gunned down.  Atchison took a beating and Amanda a black eye. Bob called Finished! First and was right, Sarge second and was right, Amanda 3rd and was wrong.....

The pictured pieces all stack up and assemble into the complete Tug Boat.

Chapter 5, Episode 3, Denizens in the Deep!

((preamble, deep sea diving suits pose a risk to the players, if they get a puncture they have to make a simple peril check of one success on their finesse or they are auto Knocked out of action. Also each had to chose what to take down, a hauling hook and a knife...the hook for attaching to a chest to be hauled up or a spear gun only. Also, once under water the players are given dry erase boards and a pen to write/communicate with one another... heh))

On a recovery mission Team Bob is sent off the island a short ways to deep water to recover scattered metal locker boxes from the bottom.

Movement was 3 inches a turn as they slogged along, locating boxes till.... duh duh doooooo

The sharks get closer and closer, then one attacks! then another !  Chip's suit is punctured and .... uh oh, he fails his check and is KOA!! Amanda makes her save as does Iron Kidney Joe! Sharks are speared and knifed till only a few are left ... and they are feeding on all the dead sharks.

Recovery of cases continues until they get to close to a set of ruins....

Iron Kidney Joe is grappled and being pulled into the giant maw of the horror!  He makes his Might check and breaks free, signaling to the ship above to pull him in. The rest of the team decides now is a good time to head up as well!!!  As they start their assent they notice bodies floating down to the depths ... dead bodies of natives and ships crew!!!

Stay Tuned for the next exciting episode!!!

Chapter Five.............. Off to the South Pacific.

Upon the completion of the Air Pirates Super Weapon the Commission decided to send the Team Bob to the South Pacific to aid an older member of the Commission with a problem his Hotel had being attempting to deal with.

 TEAM BOB: you are being dispatched to Toratunga, a small island in the south pacific where you will assist George Dukedem with a local problem he has himself been unable to settle out.

Your methods, whether negotiation or armed conflict, to resolve the issue is up to you.  Transport has been arranged and accommodations at a 3 star hotel lined up.

 Air line tickets will get you to your transfer point and then a state of the art sea plane will get you the last leg of the distance. Once there you will meet with Sydney Trifoil at the Hotel and resolve his issue. It is possible further contacts with HQ will occur during your stay.

Upon completion of your mission you will be returned with all haste for further assignments.

Chapter Finale : Attack on the Super Weapon

The defensive equipment shipment got through, though at the cost of many civilian casualties on the train during the intense efforts of the Barons Air Pirates to take the train or destroy the shipment.  On arrival the shield was installed and an air fleet sought out and engaged the Barons Air Pirate fleet with its accompanying super weapon. During the battle, the super weapon was damaged and force landed to be repaired, the Allied fleet withdrew due to damage suffered and the Commission was requested to send in a elite strike team to destroy the weapon and capture the lead scientist overseeing the repairs.

The Team Bob was selected to take down the super weapon. It was composed of the leader character for each player. Their Brief for the mission included information about the Baron and his hate of the Commissions interference to his world domination efforts to date.

The Team was parachuted in (using small pieces of paper to be dropped to figure out their landing spots.) Lily choose to drop just about on the weapon itself and engage the close in guards with her katana!

Bob landed to the east behind a hill, the rest of the team to the west of the weapon. Working their way in they realized that there were further out forces deployed waiting for the..... IT WAS A TRAP!!

Cultists came from the west, Air Pirates from the East, Thule Agents from the south, apparently called in by one Air Pirate at the tent encampment, who stayed on the radio for nearly the entire fight!

Bob crests the hill as the Air Pirate squad moves to engage him... choosing self sacrifice he detonates his explosive charge in an attempt to take out the squad............... and he managed to make a series of saving throws that left him stunned, vaulted him down the slope and escaped alive!!!

Various team members make it to the site, capture the scientist, plant and detonate charges, Weapon Destroyed! As the team made their exfiltration, Atchison decided to take out the radioman at the encampment, only to discover he was the Baron himself!  After a rough and tumble fight in which Atchison go the worst of it, he managed to Break Away and high tail it off the field.

AAR : A Train to Trieste, Chapter 4, episode 4 ....

((Here is the set up, the players are defending the trains shipment of equipment to be used as a defensive screen vs the Barons Anti Airship Super Weapon beam! Traveling through the mountains on their way to Trieste from Germany, a trip of several days, they are hoping to get past the Barons total control of the air by using rail.  Secret Agents, spy's and saboteurs.. will make things difficult and of course the Barons forces have control of the air!))

The train pulled away from the station towards night fall. The Team put together a patrol list of who was on guard, who was off duty and who was asleep. ((random diced when action took place to keep them from arranging their "best" coverage))

 

 

 

Overhead a Zeppelin lowers towards the train, many ropes drop and Air Pirates zip towards and land on top of the train. Bob, leader of this teams Mission, responds to the sound of multiple boots hitting the roof overhead by leaping up and grabbing the stop cord and yanking it, response to the action is the train slamming on the breaks!  Several air pirates tumble over the edge of the cars, several others are left hanging on to the edge of the roof!

 

Lily is on duty and races to the top of the train and engages air pirates as she works her way down the roof line, dispatching several with her katana.

Amanda (in a stylish blue dress) also on duty climbs onto the roof of the lead passenger car and blazes away at air pirates near the engine.

 

((not having made roofs for the cars lead to using some of the Pulp Alley cards to hold the roof top people up out of the cars to reduce confusion on who was where))

The slowing of the train led to the Zeppelin overshooting but it corrected its reactions and landed another wave of boarders. In the mean time in the passenger cars, civilian riders were milling about when several threw open their coats and pulled pistols out and a fierce gun battle ensues!

******************game held over due to time of night************  so a cliff hanger ending for the nights play for 2 weeks till everyone can get together again to finish the action packed episode!!!!

 

New Engine

Modifications are done except a painting touch up on the new version of the Train To Triesta engine.

Gave it a more European look. On to the modified cars:

Flat car and two passenger cars. I started making domed roofs for the passenger cars... then realized they would stay on for about the first 30 seconds of the game till the players needed to move their characters about!  On wards with out.

Time for a train Ride.. hmmm all I have is this wild west train set...

For 28mm figures ... bit way to small, cars are about 6 inches of train car and short hook up assemblies.... so..

Train Cars are now about 11 inches long. Planning on 2 passenger cars, 2 box cars and 1 flat car that the Team will be escorting... secretly on a regular passenger train.... what could possibly go wrong!???

Filled in side walls. This is the basic form for the passenger and box cars.

Next.... work on some windows and such for the passenger cars... nope, not going to cut them out...print and glue is the way to go with the short time frame I have......

Storming the Cliffs of Dispair! Chapter 4, Episode 3

The teams mission is to knock out 3 sensor platforms on the cliff sides to allow a zeppelin force to bombard the Air Pirate Base on the very top of the cliffs as a precursor to taking on the Barons Super Weapon! Then they were to take and search the Sensor Control Blockhouse on top of the cliff to earn extra advantage in the next scenario.

(( The party had to list, in general, what they were taking with them to scale the cliff side. Their instructions included Radio contact for when the sensors were down. 3 sub teams of two players were to select a route up the cliff side, take out their sensor target in a coordinated blast and then repel down the cliff side to make their escape.  They were given a climbing skill that was the average of their might and cunning skill dice size and totals. Each turn of climbing was considered to be a extreme peril unless they were on a ledge of some sort. ))

Arriving in the vicinity of the Sensor array the 3 sub teams split up and made their way slowly up the cliff face.

On the left is Amanda and Sarge, to the right is Professor Ice and Iron Kidney Joe, further on down the cliff face is Moren and Atchison.

((I made push pin platforms to hold the figures as they "climbed" by pushing them into the paper machete))  Here Ice and Kidney climb on up while Sarge and Amanda close in on the lowest platform, only to fail a peril check and starts an alert!.... Ack! The sensor platform is a decoy setup!

((Here's  a pic of the entire cliff face...my arm and some of Mo.....))

Ice and Iron make the top of the cliff and right into a hail of fire from Air Pirate Security members!

Here Atchison and Mo top the cliff into ever more Air Pirates responding to the alarm!  A gun battle ensues until Mo decides she will run through the buzzing swarm of hot lead and try to plant her demo charge on the sensor!  Atchison dodges and weaves while laying down the best covering fire he can....but to no avail and goes down but not over the cliff... KOA!

Ice also races to his sensor platform and begins planting his demo charges. With no chance to use a delayed timer, the opt to set their repelling gear, set off the blasts while flinging themselves off the cliffs!  Ice executes his maneuver and 3 peril checks flawlessly! Mo... well she gets away from the blast but slams against the side of the cliff and is knocked senseless, and falls to a KOA status....

((3 platforms were the minor plot points, a block house on top of the cliff was the Major plot point. They failed to take out the blockhouse so will not get the extra advantage it would have given them in the next scenario.....................A Train to Trieste!))

Below we see Amanda and Sarge making their escape down a cliff ladder with the unconscious Atchison!

Cliffs of Dispair update

Surface basics done and a coat of paint.

Now I can get to the Kel Seal and fix up spots that look to much like tape or paper!

Cliffs of Dispair

Started up a fast cliff side board measuring 2 feet by 4 feet for the next episodes adventure, where the team will have to scale the cliffs, destroy sensor arrays and over see the destruction of the sky pirate base! First of course is the construction of the cliffs......

Here is the art board with to back braces. Angle is about 45degrees. Figure in the foreground is 28mm Pulp Action figure for scale.

Underlayment supports. Styrofoam hot glued into place.

First layer of paper machai applied.

And then the second

Drying time... well, have a fan on it outside so hopefully by later tonight it will be ready for a quick spray coat so I can add some texture where needed.

Characters and Wreckage

Long summer break, back to Pulp Alley , next episode to get ready for.  First off some wreckage of a crashed prototype super zeppelin destroying weapon to be investigated.

Here is the base and a card board tube sliced up and hot glued down. Everything, except the figure are primed with spray paint to give a structure to mount the broken debris in. For the surface I used some aluminum foil to give it a crumpled look.

Bah , blurry photo, but it gives the idea. Painted it all grey and then highlighted with silver to pick out the crumpled edges where the paint would have flaked off after the crash and fire.

Assorted bits hot glued together and then inserted. I left the hot glue stringers dangling where they fell, then pushed them around when cooled off to give the effect of wiring. Sprayed the entire interior with a flat black, then dark metal dry brush followed by a silver dry brush of prominent edges.

Base still to work up with plowed piles of dirt etc.

Characters. Several of the players lack the skill and resources to assemble their own character figures so I chipped in and here we go.

Iron Kidney Joe, an attempt at a super soldier that sort of panned out. Extra die in brawling, and one less in shooting and spotting rolls are reduced by one due to his being nearsighted to the point of needing large lens goggles............

Lily, a take charge and hands on problem solver.
And here's Amanda's side kick Fenris

And a final group shot.