Big News - The Flying Pig Terrain Co.

Hello everyone!

Well, the good news is that I'm not dead ... I've been very busy in fact.  A short time ago I had the opportunity to purchase "Rick's Scenics" - a company you've likely seen me blog about before since I have used their roads (dirt, cobblestone and so on) for a long time in my wargames.

I've relaunched the business as "The Flying Pig Terrain Company" and even got a neat logo to boot!

Since purchasing the company I've been busy revamping the range a bit (for example, adding a range of 3.5" dirt roads and sections that transition between the different ranges), getting a website up a running and establishing the "official" business in the state of California - lots of paperwork and such.  The vast majority of all the setup and restructuring is complete at this point and I can now just focus on filling out some additional products in the online store and start filling orders.

Here you can see the cobblestone roads being
used in a 28mm Bolt Action game.

Here are the 2" dirt roads (painted dark) being used
in a Muskets & Tomahawks game.

I used the roads "integrated" with the base
for my Fort William Henry model.

Two key factors have always drawn me to these roads for wargaming.  First, they are thin (relatively speaking).  Since I almost exclusively do modular terrain, a product that is thinner looks more integrated into the tabletop when you use it.  The "Battlefield in a Box" roads and many others roads you get are triple if not quadruple the thickness of these roads ... sticking up into the air at unreasonable heights for tabletop wargaming.  Second, they are made from a polyflex material (rubber like) that is extremely flexible.  So the roads can conform to uneven terrain very easily (within reason of course).  They store easily (I jam all mine into a plastic bin).  They take paint very well and are easily static grassed or flocked to complete their appearance.  All in all, and very good product that I'm happy to say I now have for myself in unlimited quantities.

I'm particularly happy about the 3.5" plain dirt roads ... finally a dirt road that is 28mm in size ... you can see below that a 28mm Warloard Panther tank fits very well on the width of these roads.  I have connector sections for going from 3.5" to 2" roads ... for each of the types (plain, tracked and cobblestone).  I can't wait to get these new sections into my games.

The new 3.5" dirt roads go well with 28mm vehicles.

I have several additional products to be added up in the online store over the next month, rivers, streams, foot paths/trails, craters and more.  I will of course still be working on my own projects as well, in fact I'm about a month away from running my first 28mm Black Powder ACW game ... and I have big plans for a SAS/LRDG airfield raid in North Africa as my summer project.

Lastly, I'd like to extend a 10% discount to you all - good from now until the end of June.  Use the code "WELCOME10" when you check out.  If you have any questions, please contact me at sotek486@yahoo.com.

I'll be attending KublaCon this coming weekend.  My group has several games planned and I'll be taking lots of pictures.  We'll be playing an eastern front Bolt Action game on Friday.  Saturday in our Black Powder Napoleonic game and another go at the French Foreign Legion game in Africa.  Sunday will be a Modern "Skirmish Sangin" game in Afghanistan along with some SAGA and Dead Man's Hand.  So lots of gaming is about to happen and I'm excited!  Hopefully I'll see some of you there - stop by and say hi.

General Update - 5/3/2015

I've been busy with several projects on my plate.  The good news is I'm just about done several new things for both ACW and Bolt Action.  It is a bit funny, if you've ever stopped to look at your paint table and wondered "How did I manage to get all this stuff on here?" ... WW2 troops and tanks mixed with ACW infantry and artillery ... hum.

Well, I figured I share some pictures (taken from my phone) of my painting table ... just trying to get everything to the "basing stage" ... almost there ...

Three new ACW Union infantry regiments.
Just need to gap fill with green stuff, sand,
dryburshing and static grass.

ACW Confederate limber team.  Need to gap fill and
sand, drybrush and static grass.

The first of my DAK - trucks are loaded up with troops!
I used a thick business card to make each side of
the truck a "strip" of troops so you can
remove them when they deploy.

The big guy in his SdKfz 250 ... I still need to do some
painting on the recce Kubelwagon .. the gas cans
need to be desert tan and it needs weathering powders.

Three Panzer III's are ready for weathering powders.

A mix of platoon command and support teams waiting
for sand, drybrushing and desert tufts.

Rest of the DAK infantry waiting for sand, drybrushing
and desert tufts.

Union brigade commander and DAK MMG and medium
mortar teams waiting to get their weapons
assembled and painted (then based).

Union and Confederate division commanders - I'm
waiting on the flags for these guys from GMB Designs
before I base them.

Confederate brigade commander waiting for basing.

The unlimber confederate artillery waiting for basing.
I glue the guns on after I finish the based to make
it easier to sand and drybrush.

Well, there you have it ... lots of stuff that is almost done.  KublaCon is fast approaching in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to that.  I also have some other big news that I will share soon - but I'm not ready just yet to spill the beans.

French Foreign Legion - An Adventure In The Desert!

Somewhere in the vast Egyptian desert, professor Von Dorf and his daughter, Cora Von Dorf, along with their valuable archaeological finds, have been taken prisoner by a local band of Arabs who a displeased with the infidels intrusion into their territory.  A detachment of French Foreign Legion who are operating in the area have been sent to provide security for their return journey, arriving just in time to intervene ...

Today, Matt Hilzendrager brought over his awesome colonial French Foreign Legion game that he runs at the local conventions.  Thomas Foss (of Skull & Crown) and Matt ran the Arabs and three units of FFL were run by John Lantz, Dan Kerrick and myself.

You can see the table setup below.  In the central ruins a small force of Arabs have the good professor, his daughter, associated assistants and baggage hands held captive.  The adobe building in the corner houses an ammunition supply from the expedition.

The FFL must take the central ruins, rescue the professor and his daughter, secure as much of the baggage as possible, and make a orderly retreat using the vehicles that are onsite.  As ammunition is also low, it is important to secure additional ammunition from the expeditions ammo dump.

The three FFL units converged on the three closest edges of the ruins while peeling off a few men to get additional ammunition from the ammo dump.  You can see pictures below of the FFL in the "first phase" of the game, taking the ruins, rescuing the captives and consolidating their position before the local tribes counter attack.

The first Arab reinforcements arrive ...

Additional Arab units arrive, mounted and surrounding the FFL position.

The FFL position is becoming desperate ...

After suffering heavy casualties on both sides, the FFL consolidate towards the middle of the ruins ... their constant fire takes a heavy toll on the Arab units ...

The local tribes decide the price is to high and withdraw back towards the adobe building allowing the FFL to move to the vehicles and mount their escape.

A victory for the FFL, the mount up and make their escape ...

And that's it folks!  A great game all around.  This is also a great beer and pretzels kind of game - easy to play and many beers were indeed consumed during the action!

The rules used are a "home brew" set that Matt uses.  We may try to publish them in some way as they really should be written down at some point.  The "short" version is:

• Each model can take two actions (move/move, move/shoot, shoot/move or shoot/shoot).
• d10s are used to resolve fire a melee.
• Movement sticks are used - marked in "half" for each movement action you can take.  Short stick is used for foot movement, longer stick for cavalry.
• A yard stick is used for rifle fire (a shorter one for pistols) - marked from 9 down to 1.  You put the "9" end at your model and see the number that your target is at --- that is the roll (or lower) you need to hit.  Modifiers (moving, cover) push this number out (below 1 is an impossible shot).
• If you take casualties, you take a morale test at the beginning of your next turn.
• Each player/group rolls for initiative at the start of the turn ... roll a d10 and activate units from highest rolling player to lowest.

That is the cliff notes version ... but should give you a quick idea about the rules.