Airbrush techniques course

Last weekend I attended an airbrush techniques course run by the guys at SnM Stuff in association with Anarchy Models. I'm not associated with either, but I was part of their Kickstarter campaign for the Anarchy Models HD airbrush stencils project. When the stencils arrived there was a discount voucher for the airbrushing course and since my airbrush skills are entirely self taught I thought I'd invest in a little tutoring.

The course is run in the back of the SnM shop near Farnborough, and was a 2 hour drive for me, but I'm not aware of similar courses elsewhere, so I was happy to spend the time. The instructor, Brian, was the driving force behind the stenscils, and he had a number of test models with him on the day that I'd seen during the kickstarter showing the effects that could be achieved.

The course ran from 10 am to 5pm, with a break for lunch. In the morning we covered a variety of basic airbrush techniques, including accuracy, stroke types, the amount of paint to put down on a model and how to clean the airbrush. The exercises were delivered in a clear and easy to understand way and built up our techniques well, learning how to get the paint where wanted it, how to make sure we were putting the right amount of paint down, effective use of the trigger and so on.

After lunch we started using the stencils and Brian talked us through how to apply the basic stencils, placement for some of the more complex ones and how to use the positive and negative stencils to achieve some really nice effects.

We also got to practice our skills on the test models we had brought along. In my case this was a £1.99 Mig 29 model kit from The Works. I undecorated it in Halfords grey primer (excellent stuff - highly recommended), which I also used as the base colour for the 3-tone cammo pattern I was going to try out. I used one of the mini-hexcam stencils and went for a grey, black and blue colour scheme:

I only painted 1/2 the model as I'd have been there all day trying to add the masks to the whole thing...

The masks give a nice, crisp edge  - the overspray around the wing root and on the panel line mid wing was my attempt to add some shading.

Shading along the fuselage and wing root.

Overall effect is quite spectacular - not what you'd call low observability but certainly would serve to break up the outline!

I was very impressed with the stencils. They adhered well, even along the curves of the wing and tail edges - you can see in the picture above where the pattern flows around the vertical stabiliser to cover both sides. Removing them was slightly arduous, as they are very thin and I ended up with a few surface scratches, but I expect that with practice this will be much easier.

One of the biggest selling points for me, though, was that they are reusable. The tack on the stencils is enough to allow them to be used 3 or 4 times, and there are LOADS of stencils on a sheet, especially the micro ones that I have. I have used the Mask FX stencils from Critical Mass Games before and achieved good results with them, but I think the Anarchy Models stencils are going to be more use to me. The CMG stencils are a waxed paper and much thicker, meaning that they have a tendency to only really adhere to flat surfaces and tear as you are removing them. The extra thickness does mean they are easier to remove, though. There is also a difference is in price - CMG are currently £4.50 for an A6 sheet and Anarchy Models are £8.99 for two A5 sheets, so you are getting more bang for your buck with Anarchy models.

We then went on to practice shading techniques, using the airbrush to add weathering and shading to a base coated model. My Mig wasn't really conducive to this, as the colours were quite dark, it was quite small and you don't tend to get a lot of mud and dust on a fighter jet. Instead I tried out some shading effects on the two Ash Wastes kitbash tanks I'd also brought along (Armourfast Pz III with various bits of sci-fi gubbins added).

Shading along panel lines and in the hollows of the model. Ideally I'd have shaded the turret ring before attaching the turret.

The tank on the right has some individual hexes added to the rear deck where I was practising using one of the negative masks (you use the mask to isolate areas where you WANT the paint to go instead of using the mask to cover up areas and leave an impression of the colour below) 

I only had a blue-black paint in my airbrush at this point, but the tracks and wheels could have benefited from their shading been in a dusty beige or muddy brown. Shading between the wheels gives the impression of shadow.

Some rather heavy handed shading on the front of the rear tank - precise trigger control is very important

Showing the panel line shading on the running boards and engine decks.

We used Vallejo Model Air paints during the day, and I was very impressed by them. Brian also pointed out that the Tamiya paints I usually airbrush with are based on an mixture which includes alcohol. AGG is always complaining that she gets headaches whenever I airbrush, even when I'm using my extractor fan. As Brian pointed out, atomising the Tamiya paint will also atomise the alcohol in the paint and thinners, which isn't great to inhale and is no doubt what is giving AGG her headaches.

To that end I purchased two of the Vallejo Model Air sets, the collection builder and the WW2 Allies paint set. This should give me a nice variety of colours to use instead of the Tamiya. I don't think I'll stop using the Tamiya paints entirely, as I have loads of them and can't afford to just bin them, but I'll certainly use the Vallejo ones more often to give AGG's nose a break.

Overall I had a very enjoyable day and learnt a great deal. I think the techniques I picked up will stand me in good stead, and I am looking forward to using the stencils and shading on some models on the workbench.

Tomorrows War AAR number 2

After our last game of Tomorrows War we were left a little underwhelmed. The disparity between troop types had made it a turkey shoot for one side. However, we decided to give the game another go and play another scenario. We had 3 players this time, my brother and my two nephews (Goblin, 11, and Orc, 13, - get 'em young!) and I was referee and rules looker-upper. Goblin chose to lead the Green Berets and was suitably hyped up on Pepsi Max and doughnuts to approximate the adrenal boosts that the Green Berets had.

We chose Last Stand at Red Ridge. A small group of US Green Beret's have dropped from orbit and landed off course behind enemy lines. They are trying to regroup but the enemy is closing in from all sides...

The US forces are equal in quality to the approaching Brazilians, but are equipped with powerful suits of powered armour (I told Goblin they were like Iron Man suits - he liked that), with advanced sensors, Gauss machine guns and autodocs to keep them patched up.

The initial set up was as in the map and diagram below, with the Green Berets (the blue icons)  on the slopes of the eponymous red ridge, but split up, and the Brazilians (the green icons) approaching from all sides. The light green is dense jungle and the brown is light jungle (it's the Amazon). To the SW of the ridge line is a dense boulder field which is heavy going and provides hard cover. The sides of the ridge line also provide hard cover as they are scattered with gullies and boulders. The Green Berets would make good use of this cover....

Map view of setup - US in Blue, Brazilian in Green

View from the south table edge. US in Blue and Brazilian in Green

The first turn saw the Green Berets move towards each other, with squads 2 and 3 moving directly towards one another, and squad 1 moving straight up the ridge line. The Brazilian forces couldn't see any of the US troops, so didn't get to react and just moved up into position.

Brazilian troops slog through the jungle.

Turn 2 saw the Green Berets to the south side of the ridge begin to move towards the crest. The Brazilian troops of Squad A and B spotted them and opened fire. The Green Berets elected to abort their move and return fire. One of the Brazilian squads, team A, failed it's reaction check with a 1 and thus prompted a Fog of War card - Excellent Position. They had found an area of jungle that offered them superior cover. The other squad, Team B, took fire from Green Beret squad 2, causing just one casualty. They returned a huge volume of fire and managed to score 9 out of 10 hits on the Green Berets! Both suits went down, the Autodocs pinging away.

Green Beret Squad 3 then moved to advance up the hillside as well, prompting both Brazilian Teams to again react and pour fire on. Again the Green Berets aborted their move, hunkered down and returned fire. They won one reaction test and lost one, and the Brazilians again rolled a 1 for a Fog of War card. A random member of the Brazilian forces encountered a natural hazard and was injured. One of the Grunts in squad C stepped on a snake and got himself seriously Injured.

I then made a big error here and totally forgot that Team 3 had a AP/AT4 missile pack and instead just gave them the Gauss SAW the same as the other teams. They could considerably have made a much bigger dent in the Brazilian teams at this stage, but the vanilla SAW just didn't put out enough firepower to dent the Brazilians. Team 3 weathered the incoming fire from Squad A, fired on Squad B causing a couple of casualties and was then peppered in return by squad B to no effect.

The Brazilian armoured car trundles through the jungle.

The US Green Berets, far from home, with no hope of rescue, surrounded by enemies on all sides, decide to go for a nice stroll.

Turn 3 saw the US troops lose the initiative, which they never recovered. From now on they were simply reacting to the Brazilian moves. Brazilian squad A and B opened fire on US team 3, as team 2 were no longer combat effective (they were still casualties as their turn hadn't come round to determine what their wound state was). The US lost the reaction test and were peppered, both becoming casualties.

On the North side of the ridge, Brazilian Squad C had finally found their way out of the jungle. Opening fire on the Green Berets of team 1, they lost the reaction test with ANOTHER 1. The Fog of War card indicated that a thick mist had dropped and all movement was reduced to tactical and no fire combat could be conducted at further than 18 inches. The armoured car and (we decided) the powered armour suits were immune to this as they had thermal imaging systems (I couldn't actually see in the rules that the PA suits had advanced sensors, but we figured it'd be a pretty rubbish suit of $3 billion  powered armour if it was stopped by mist...).

Squad C and the armoured car fired on team 1, to no effect (Orc found the string of 7's and 8's from Goblin to most annoying). Team 1 then advanced onto the crest of the ridge and team 2 and 3 made their casualty checks - one light and one serious wound for team 3 and both of Team 2 were A-OK.

Turn 4 opened with The US again losing initiative. Brazilian squad 2, snug in their improved position, fired on team 2. The exchange of fire resulted in both suits falling as casualties again to no real effect on the Brazilians.

The Green Berets take fire. Two unconfirmed casualties on the right and a light and serious wound on the left.

 Brazilian Squad B fired on US team 3, winning the reaction test and knocking them down as casualties again. They then advanced down off the ridge towards the downed suits.

On the North side of the ridge the Squad C were now out of sight of team Team 1, now lost in the mist at the crest of the ridge. They advanced out of the jungle, cautiously looking for snakes. The armoured car, however, could see team 1 just fine and blazed away with it's Gatling laser and Gauss SAW, knocking both suits out as casualties. All of the US suits were casualties now, and as their turn rolled around they made their first aid rolls.

Tragically, team 2 and one member of team 3 failed their rolls and were KIA. The last remaining member of team 3 was still seriously wounded, so combat ineffective. Team 1, on the top of the hill suffered a serious wound and a light wound, halving their firepower.

Turn 5 opened with the US again losing the initiative. Brazilian squad B advanced on the last member of Team 3 to capture him. At the last moment his triggered his self destruct mechanism and as the Brazilians closed on him he detonated in a blast of flame. The quick witted Brazilian troops, however, managed to dive away from the blast and his sacrifice was in vain.

The smoking remains of Bravo-2 and Bravo-3 are inspected by Squad A as they move out of cover.

On the north side of the ridge, squad C continued to creep out of the jungle, and the armoured car did a hill climb up the side of the ridge, spraying fire at Team 1 as he did so. Team 1, reduces to just 1 combat effective figure, unable to hurt the oncoming armoured car and seeing the Brazilians closing from all sides, sprayed fire down onto Squad C and prepared for their last stand.

Turn 6.

The Brazilians again won the initiative (although only because you retain it on a tie). The armoured car advanced still closer, spraying fire over team 1. Both suits fell as casualties. Squad B, bloodied by the self destruction of Team 3, advanced cautiously.

Last Stand at Red Ridge.

The two green Berets, crawling through the Amazon mud, tried to trigger their self destructs as they were surrounded by Brazilian troops - anxious not to be interrogated by the brutal Brazilian Secret Police. Through a haze of blood, Bravo-1-Bravo triggered the charges and his suit brewed up. Bravo-1-Alpha was not quick enough, however, and the Brazilians of Squad B surrounded him and took him captive, to disappear into an Amazonian prison camp....

For you, Yanqui, the war is over...

However, despite the eventual loss of all of Bravo Squad, the Brazilians had failed to capture or neutralise the US troops quickly enough. Their brave and defiant last stand was captured by a US recon drone, the last moments of the film showing the brutal treatment that the wounded Bravo-1-Alpha suffered.

The Brazilian objectives were to capture or kill quickly. The US objectives were to hold out as long as possible. The final victory point score was Brazil 8, USA 10, so a marginal (and pyrrhic) US victory.

In summary, we all enjoyed the game, but felt there were still a few areas open to improvement. The Brazilians were constantly frustrated that they might score 6 or 7 hits on one of the Green Beret teams, but only cause 2 casualties. They felt that excess hits should somehow affect the casualty roll, or prompt multiple wounds.

The US player felt that his fire should have been more effective. There was some discussion about squad size vs firepower, but I think the weapons on the PA suits were just underpowered. A two man squad, firing on the Brazilians, had 5 dice. 2 basic firepower (2 man team), +1 each for the Gauss SAW, +1 for the tech level advantage for 5 dice. I haven't re-read the rules, but I have a sneaking feeling that the Gauss SAW negates some or all of the targets armour.

One player also felt that the basic mechanic of FP vs Defence dice should be changed. His opinion was that defence should be static - it's not an opposed roll - as the song says, you can't dodge a bullet. I advised that the defence dice represent taking best use of cover and so on, but his retort was then why add extra dice for cover and armour? Either the armour works or it doesn't.

Nevertheless, I still think that the scenario worked well. It was certainly a tense and desperate fight, that might have gone differently had I remembered the US had the missile pod. The final showdown on the top of the ridge was especially nice, as the one lightly wounded Green Beret stood watch over his badly wounded partner, Brazilian troops advancing through the mist and the armoured car grinding on towards him, Gauss rounds bouncing off it's armoured sides....

Tomorrow's War - Review Part 1

Tomorrow’s War- First Impressions.

I’ve been lucky enough to be given a review copy of Tomorrow’s War by Osprey Publishing and Ambush Alley Games. I’m not affiliated with either, and haven’t been involved in the playtesting or development of the game, so beyond getting a free copy of the game I hope I can be reasonably objective.

I have only skimmed the book so far (in casualty whilst I was waiting for Amazing Geek Girl to get her head X-rayed after a nasty collision during her adventure race yesterday), but I’ll give you my first impressions.

The book is hardbound and full colour throughout (like the new version of Force on Force). The interior text is crisp and readable, and the pages are well laid out with good use of art and graphics. Pictures of models from a variety of Sci-fi ranges including (that I have seen so far) GZG (of course...), Khurasan, Old Crow, Pig Iron and Combat Wombat.

The first section of the book details the default setting for the TW universe, which I dipped in and out of. It seems perfectly serviceable, but I already have a background in mind for my games, so will probably just steal bits from it. I do like the names, though - The Republic or Arden and Democratic Peoples Republic Of Glory - with its Dear Leader Mk1 and Mk2 tanks- very North Korea In Spaaaaaaace.

The rules that I read are similar to the the aforementioned Force on Force and use a couple of systems that I'm unsure about. The first one is that in each turn, events are effectively dictated by who gets initiative. The player with the initiative (IP) activates all of their units one by one, and the non-initiative player (NIP) then tries to react to them. Once the IP has finished activating units, the NIP gets to try and activate any that are left. There are a couple of wrinkles to this basic system, but essentially it means the IP gets to act, the NIP gets to react.

I quite like the thought behind this, and can see how it reflects modern/near future combat where if you act decisively and aggressively towards achieving your goals and you can keep up the initiative of your actions you will be more likely to succeed.

I, however, have been accused of being a very Queen Theory, reactive war gamer (Queen theory - you concentrate on taking out the most units or the biggest, baddest unit on the table; King Theory - you concentrate on meeting the objectives) who is good in defensive scenarios, but too timid in attacking, so I'm not sure how I'll take to it.

The other area of uncertainty for me is that the figures on the table don't actually represent where the figures are, but an "area of control" for that unit. You don't fire at individual figures, but at the unit, and the majority of the unit has to be X for X to take effect - cover, AOE attacks and so on. To me, this is open to abuse. I like simple, unambiguous situations where it's clear what is and isn't the case. I've had too many arguments about rule interpretations over the years and can see that this would cause many more (another thing I've been accused of more than once is being argumentative - I, of course, disagree with this most strongly...).

Throughout the book there are many examples to show how the rules work in effect, which is most welcome. The rules are also divided up sensibly, with scenarios using the rules at the end of each section, so you can apply what you have read about in a practical way. This is a very nice touch as it means you can get playing without having to digest the whole, weighty tome.

There are rules for differing tech levels and how to build interesting alien races, so you could have plucky human resistance fighters facing off against weird high-tech aliens, or tech savvy marines fighting against toothy, acid blooded aliens, or stealthy, invisible hunters. All of these could be created very easily using those rules.

My next step is to have a game with my two nephews, who I'll call Goblin (11) and Orc (14). They enjoy gaming and enthusiastically critique each rule set we try them out on. They are both fans of the TV series Falling Skies, so I might try a scenario with some plucky human resistance fighters facing off against weird high-tech aliens.

In summary, I'm very impressed by my first look. I don't think I've seen a set of war games rules with such high production values for a long time. The rules are clear and well explained and appear to comprehensively cover everything that i was looking for. Ambush Alley and Osprey have clearly got a good partnership going if this is anything to judge by and if they can keep the quality of content and product up, they will be on to a winner.