January 20, 2022
Oak & Iron
When I started painting Oak & Iron miniatures, I didn’t think I would be rigging them, I assumed they would be too small and the mast sculpts to simple to give good results. But they are really easy to rig and with a little extra effort, you can take your models to the next level. Ship rigging can be split into two types. Standing rigging …
June 5, 2021
DBA, Tabletop
Pyrrhus is a wargaming classic! Famous for defeating Rome in battle but at a massive cost, coining the term Pyrrhic victory* The Pyrrhic war was the first time the Roman legion went up against the Macedonian Phalanx pitting two of the most famous infantry formations in the ancient world in head to head battle. Pyrrhus is also famous for his use of elephants, another new …
I wanted to make removable flags for my Black Seas ships so that I could have a flexible fleet, able to provide two medium size forces when I’m supplying all the models and a single large fleet when playing against other collections. To make my flags removable I have glued magnets to the ship models, and built my flags around metal ‘flag poles’ made from …
Although a nice idea, there are some shortcomings with the ship cards included in the game. Many of these are fixed by the after market options available, my favourite being Battlewiki’s ship trays. These look amazing and provide all the required functionality, but New Zealand is a long way from Europe and so I wanted to see what I could make myself.
May 6, 2021
DBA, Tabletop
Like many people getting into historical wargaming I went for the classic match up of Rome vs Carthage for my first two armies. Everyone has heard of Hannibal crossing the Alps, and you get to play a number of famous battles filled with Romans and elephants. This is not those armies!
May 5, 2021
DBA, Tabletop
There are a number of rules sets available for linear , narrative style campaigns, something that can be easily played in a couple of club nights. ‘Super Steve’s Map-Less Wars’ campaign system published at fanaticus-dba.fandom.com is a fantastic example of a simple campaign system that links a number of battles together in a way that is simple but more interesting than stand-alone battles. I’ve taken …
UPDATE: Since publishing this article I have improved the process used to balance parts. The article has been updated accordingly. The first version of Universal Storage was balanced using real world examples. This involved researching storage techniques for each resource, using space program examples where possible, then calculating what each Universal Storage part could contain based on the model’s volume. This made for a accurate …
When I lived in New York we would have our food delivered monthly. However we found we were throwing a lot of food away as it rotted in the fridge. Eating out and eating ‘unplanned’ meals was the primary cause of this and we become increasingly annoying with the food waste. My solution was better planning via excel (of course)! The idea being to compile …
A simple method for creating tough building tiles using 2 minute tabletop's modular building system. Backed with thick board and coated with clear lacquer to protect the print, these should last for many gaming sessions.
June 15, 2017
Making stuff
Join me in my quest to make the ultimate cat litter box! Big enough for two cats, it features a large door to access the tray for cleaning, room for tools and spare litter, and my personal favorite, a motion sensor light so the cats don't have to go in the dark!
