Bud's Blast Markers - (11/2/18) - Update:

November 2nd 2018 - Update:

Bud's Blast Markers - "NEW"  Blast Pack💥🔥 you get 1 large 1 medium and 2 small for $25 bucks!!! Great product at a great price, just MHO.

http://budsblastmarkers.com

 

Bud’s Blast Markers!

                                                  Bud’s Blast Markers! 

 World War II - exploding Panther tank and burning building in the background.

These things rock! You’ve got to see these blast markers on the table. I know we’ve all used cotton balls painted in various styles and shapes over the years, mounted on washers or unmounted, etc. Some of these are really awesome and many of you hobbyists are extremely talented. I love making terrain, building, kits, and painting figs, however, I just don’t have the time that I used to and some of my skills are lacking! When I see a cool product for a good price it’s hard to pass that up. 

                            Colonial period: Sudan 1880s - burning gunboat.

I’ve seen markers like these before, but these are the best markers that I have found for representing artillery rounds impacting or explosions. They are also great for representing a burning structure, vehicle, or vessel, and they really look cool on the table top. 

                              Colonial period - destroyed native gun and crew.

They can be used for ancients games all the way to ultra modern, and beyond. Bud makes 3 different sizes, single, double, and triple.  

Here's a picture from the HMGS-South's face book page. Burning Chinese houses during a 15mm TSATF Boxer Rebellion game, "55 Days at Peking" run by Ray Phillips, boy we had big fun. Ray did a great job, ran an awesome game, made amazing scratch built terrain, and great painted minis! The burning bldg markers are Bud's single size small Blast Marker. The report states:

American cow kicks over a lantern or that's the story they are telling. Americans burn their legation not to be out done by the French or the Germans, alcohol is to blame....

 He also has some with fiber optics and in different colors. I’m a standard meat and potatoes historical gamer but if I were a scifi or fantasy gamer I can see how these would be way cool for fantasy and scifi games for blast markers, chemical fires, spells, acid clouds, etc.

                                                      Scifi Air strike!

I recently met Bud and his son at one of our HMGS-South conventions in Orlando Florida. They are great guys and we had a blast gaming. Needless to say we all got and used Bud’s markers in our games. Look him up on FB or email him what you are looking for.

The Hun The Frog & The Lion - 3

                          The Hun The Frog & The Lion - 3: The Boats

The Series continues about this scenario I ran at Recon and will be running again at Hurricon with the naval portion of this battle. The scenario specs called for a civilian transport with a low draft to be converted into an armed steamer to bring the western troops to Mogadir. The French chose the civilian ship the Cite De La Meers. For this boat I used an awesome model made by my friend Last Stand Dan. He calls this boat the "R" Class Steamer and fits the bill perfectly. Dan hides magnets under the decks and glues matching magnets to the underside of the desired armament to keep them in place during games.


                                 French Gunboat: Cite De La Meers

The crew is French but the gunners are all German, as negotiated by their respective nations prior to the raid.

Native Dhows

The scenario calls for the possible arrival of (2) armed dhows fully crewed by veteran sailors and troops returning to Mogadir from pillaging the coast and any targets of opportunity.

Once again I turned to my buddy "Last Stand Dan" for a boat. The one pictured above with grey trim is a two masted dhow that he had made for me. It's another excellent model. All of Dan's boats are exceptional. He builds and sells many varieties of boats to choose from. He makes boats in 25mm as well as 15mm scales.

The Xebec with the green trim was made by the well known ship builder Richard Huston. I bought this boat well over ten year ago from my friend Patrick Wilson of TVAG. He sells Richard's boats as well as all sorts of other cool wargaming stuff.

Landing Craft

The troops need a conveyance to get them to their destination. I've used landing boats purchased at flea markets, ebay, and most recently from a new company based in Miami, Fl. Firelock Games who produce a pirate game supported by figs, ships, rules, etc. Their "row" boat is the perfect size and scale for my colonial games and works perfectly fitting 10-12, 25mm figs on small 3/4 x3/4 magnetized bases. I get all my magnetized bases from my buddy ACW Bill of Good Ground Miniatures, maker of the best 10mm ACW figs around. He sells all sizes of magnetized bases.

The rowboat to the left is the one from Firelock Games.

Next up: Post -4: Meet The Hun The Frog & The Lion.

Here's a list of the boat vendors of toys used in this post.

Last Stand Dan: http://laststanddan.blogspot.com/

TVAG - The Virtual Armchair General: http://thevirtualarmchairgeneral.com/

Firelock Games: http://www.firelockgames.com/

Figure bases, Good Ground Miniatures: http://crackerlineminis.com/

http://www.hmgs-south.com/

Market Stalls

Market Stalls

I was recently asked about the awnings on my market stalls. The wood supports are bamboo skewers glued with super glue and tied together with hobby nautical rope. Sometimes I use coffee stir sticks as the counter tops. For the awnings I use off cuts and pants legs from my worn out BDU's (Battle Dress Uniform). The desired shapes are cut and then glued in place. Once I'm satisfied with the shape and placement I then paint the entire structure, awnings included with an Elmers wood glue and water mixture. Left to dry for 24 hours.

Once dry the whole thing gets spray painted black. It's left to dry for at least 24 hours then I paint the wood using the Foundry 3 tone system using the color "Spear Shaft" using a dry brush technique. The awnings are painted various colors as desired and once dry are weathered with a then black wash until I get the right look and feel. The bases are then textured and once everything is fully dried and cured I spray them with a flat clear coat sealer for protection.

Military BDU offcuts from my old worn out uniforms are used for awning covers, tarps, and flags. Cut to shape and size, glue in place, then cover in a water and glue mixture. Once dry prime and paint.

                                                     

                                                   


                                                   
                                                       

The Hun The Frog & The Lion - 2

                                     The Hun The Frog & The Lion - 2



I’ve been building, painting, and sourcing when needed because of time constraints due to real life intrusions, family, work, friends, beer rec hockey league, hockey tourney, another cool project, etc…

So here is the next installment of the preparation for my convention game coming up at Recon-17 in Florida. Check the HMGS-South website for con details.
http://www.hmgs-south.com/

The allied troops will be transported to a point just over the horizon from Mogadir aboard the armed transport Cité de la Meers. From there the German and French Marines will board landing boats to make shore before being spotted.

For the part of the French armed transport which will bring the allied Marines and long boats I shall use this awesome boat. It's my favorite piece of this entire project. The awesome gunboat is designed and made by my buddy Dan at Last Stand Dan’s Boatyard. It’s a wooden handmade R Class Gunboat which will play the part of the armed French transport, the Cité de la Meers!   Check out Dan's blog for details, AAR's, WIP, etc...        http://laststanddan.blogspot.com/

The “Ocean” will be Aspen Grey 18x18” floor tiles from Lowes.

My excellent gun pits and rough ground pieces were made by Bill’s Gamers Garage (wdaniel994@comcast.net).

The market place will be made up of market stalls that I’ve made myself using bamboo skewers and coffee stir sticks.

If I can’t make more in time I may supplement with some of the small Miniature Building Authority market stalls.

(http://www.miniaturebuildingauthority.com/proddetail.asp?prod=10147)

The beach and land will be my ancient arid / desert drop cloth which has seen the blood of many a lead soldier….

Stay tuned for part III. Meet The Hun, The Frog, & The Lion.

Cheers,
JB

Recon 2014 - The Wind And The Lion

The Wind And The Lion - Recon 2014

This game was run at the HMGS-South's Recon 2014 convention in Orlando Fl. on April 24^th to the 27^th, 2014. Here's the convention link. http://www.hmgs-south.com.

The battle we played is the final engagement of the movie where the US Marines attempt to return Mrs. Pedecaris to America and the Riffian Berbers attempt to free the Raisuli while the Bashaw's forces and their German and French allies try to prevent his liberation. 

As you have probably figured out by now we are HUGE fans of the rules set, The Sword And The Flame, we have used the TSATF 20th anniversary edition in 25/28mm scale for this game. A recent post on TMP about this game prompted this blog entry. One of my club mates Bob wrote up a great AAR for this game so I have decided to use his version of the battle to tell the story. I have asked other players if they wish to write up their own AAR and if it happens I will post those AAR's as well. I have added pictures to the AAR which show the details described. I know Nick and I had as much fun running this game as the players did playing it. We have been asked to run the game again, and we will at Hurricon 2014. Please see the above attached link for details of the con.

                          Morocco 1904 – a small village S.W. of Rabat

All is quite in the vill during the early afternoon heat. The garrison goes about their daily duties as if nothing is about to happen. A sentry on the perimeter is alerted to a faint rumbling coming from out in the desert. He climbs to the roof of a flat topped bldg. on the outskirts of the vill. A dark wave with a huge dust cloud seems to be approaching. Is it a storm, one of the hot desert winds, what could it be? As the sound get louder an officer climbs up next to the sentry and looks through his binoculars, Alarm, stehen auf, Feind näher! Bringen Sie die Waffen! The Berbers descend upon the vill, the battle begins...

What follows is an AAR by Bob Walton with a few comments by me under some of the photos.

 An AAR by Bob Walton: Herewith, my after action report from an earlier e-mail to HMGS South. Jeff will be running this again at Hurricon 2014 in September (Orlando).

"La pièce de résistance was Jeff Baumal's rendition of "The Wind and the Lion", along with assistance and figures from Nick. This movie has to be one of the best films for us history/action junkies, if perhaps one of the least known. If you have not seen it, rent it or buy it. Now. Soundtrack is awesome. Yes, I brought the CD but no one had a CD player. Can anyone spell MP3? Apparently not an old fart like me.

The basis (very loosely) of the film is the Pedicaris Affair in 1904. On May 18, the Raisuli, a Berber chieftain, kidnaps the supposed US citizen Pedicaris from Tangiers and demands $70,000 _USD (economic power value of that income or wealth is ~$45,300,000.00 in 2013 dollars!) in ransom and extensive political powers. On May 20, six American heavy cruisers and the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales are ordered to Tangiers. The Raisuli was unimpressed (of course, he's played by Sean Connery, a strange casting call but one that [mostly] works). On June 22, the American government sends the dramatic cable "We want Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead." (note that it's an election year in the US). Thus setting the stage…

Jeff had set up a very nice TSATF 28mm recreation of the village battle near the end of the film in which…wait, spoilers…the Raisuli was held captive. In play are American Marines there to rescue Mrs. Pedicaris and her two children; the Germans were there, along with the Basheer's Guard, to keep the Raisuli "from harm" (aka captive); the French (a cavalry unit allied with the Germans…wait, what?), and of course hordes of Berber cavalry mad with rage and intent upon rescuing their leader, "Mulay Ahmed Muhamed Raisuli the Magnificent, Sherif of the Riffian Berbers". [Yes, I have watched the film too many times.] The Berber cavalry come charging across the open desert in mass, screaming and waving their spears, swords and rifles when BOOM!, the German 77mm opens up, tearing holes in the advancing heathen (12 D20s if you are curious).

                                     

As the Berber horsemen approach the outlying wall, the German infantry along the inside hold, and extract their pound of flesh from the horde in a firing line, then the Berbers hit home in melee. The German lads still hold their own (for the moment), but already Berber cavalry stream in over the wall on the right as horses come jumping in over the dying Soldaten…only to be met with another BOOM! from the other 77mm on the German right, blasting a gaping hole in their advancing cavalry. The first wave is grinding to a halt but for every Berber killed another spawns, so more units come in off the desert through the sand and smoke and haze of blood.

                                     
                                   

                                 
                                      


 And then we have some spectacle. The French. Ah the French. They have been milling about deciding what to do, que devons-nous faire?, and with a blare of shiny trumpets, the impeccably uniformed horsemen begin pouring out of a gap in the wall on the Berber right with cries of vive la France! The Berbers are not quite sure what to make of them, and simply charge by. The French appear to be content to watch them do it, and continue their parade maneuvers.

Meanwhile, the US Marines are leading Mrs. Pedicaris (or is it the other way around?!) to where the Raisuli is held prisoner. Not wanting an international incident, neither the Germans nor the Marines fire on the other, but watch each other tensely, as do the Basheer's Guard alongside their Pickelhauben Brüder. Who is on who's side here anyway? Ach du lieber!

 

The Berber onslaught continues as the Germans "advance to the rear" in good order, making morale roles and holding their own against the rising tide (but seeing the inevitable end). In a truly remarkable "movie moment", the Berbers charge full tilt into the German gun on the right. In a furious melee, the Germans hold their own until no one is left but the officer in charge of the German gun, who, still facing several Berber horsemen, manages in melee to dispatch not one, not two, not three but all four remaining Berbers, firing away with his Luger (and perhaps a borrowed Mauser C96 in his other hand!). The smoke clears and his team returns to the gun, which retires to a protected arch to take on the next wave. The Germans cry "Für den Kaiser!"
                                   

                                     

                                      

  

Then the Marines line up behind the German gun in support of..no..wait…BLAM! The Marines fire point blank into the German gun crew!! Was zum Teufel?! Sie sind alle verrückt? Where is the honor?! Wounded, surrounded by the dead gunners, our gallant German officer is carried from the field. Ein Eisenkreuz für diesen Mann!

Gloves off now, the Marines and Germans go at it, but with a new, covert contingent of Berbers piling in through an unguarded gate in the rear to aid in releasing the Raisuli, and Berber cavalry now flowing in unchecked from the front, the end is nigh. The Germans and their allies have made it to turn 10 but the situation is deteriorating too quickly to hold on any longer.

           The jail is attacked as Major Faust cowers behind the sand bagged position!

Berber cavalry closes in on the jail compound while being shelled by a German gun and being fired at by German Marines.

 The Marines have captured the right flank German gun and have turned it against the left flank gun!

                       The Germans and Bashaw's troops are surrounded.

But wait, the French! Where are the French cavalry? It's our only chance to last even one more turn (and meet German Victory Conditions). All heads turn, and watch, stunned, as out on the open desert, cantering in parade fashion, the French are riding away from the battle! Without firing a shot, drawing a saber or taking a casualty – and especially without soiling their uniforms – the French officer declares a major French victory for France and rides off into the sands.

Alle Hoffnung verloren, the Germans and their remaining allies collapse under the horde. The German commander aims his Mauser C96 at the Raisuli but instead fires in the air, showing his respect. Sensing the tide is totally turned, the remaining Basheer Guard look about and wisely fire into the air as well, in celebration of their Riffian Berber leader's freedom (as opposed to firing into the Raisuli as originally intended…).

The Raisuli rides by Mrs. Pedcaris' boy and takes an upheld rifle from his stunned arms, escaping on his horse (cue ululating in the background from the women). The battle is done – the German Empire will not win Morocco, Mrs. Pedicaris and her children are safe and the world is free for democracy once again. At least until 1914…

Meanwhile, the French unit is lost in the desert, never seen nor heard from again. Perhaps not coincidentally, soon after a little cafe and bar is established at 248 Rue Sour Jdid, in Casablanca…"

                                   

 The right flank gun has pulled back to the arch for cover after defeating the Berber cavalry in a brutal melee where the gunner officer was the last man standing to his gun, pouting accurate close range fire into the attacking mass. He was awarded the Iron Cross in hospital several weeks later.

                                                   Wait for it...........

The Marines take positions in the vill as they try to outflank the Germans and the Bashaw's troops guarding the Raisuli in the jail.

               Custom made wooden game markers by "Last Stand Dan"!

  

Left Flank German K17 Gun and Crew prepare to fire into the advancing horde.

                  Right flank village tower made from foam core and wood filler.