Force on Force Updated

Here are all my FoF figures to date with a little bit of an update. Plus a bonus at the bottom.

US

UK

Taliban

And to add some flavor our missions my brand new News Team with body guard

Work Stations

So this is where the magic happens.

My work bench 

  and my wifes 

Desert Landscape

So I don't have room for a nice big game table or for table sections so this was my alternative for my FoF games. Took an old curtain that was roughly sand colored and then added some paint. Should work nice with some terrain on it.

Before

After

2000 VIEWS!

Ok so went over 2000 views today for this blog. Now I don't really think its that big a deal because I don't make any money off this and I'm not giving advise or anything important. It is, however, nice to know that my blog has been viewed over 2000 times. Hope you all keep coming back and enjoy my work and that it helps inspire you in your war gaming

Brits and Yanks

Just finished painting up mu Elhiem British and US infantry. Might go one and touch them up a bit and not sure if I'm going to use any quick shade yet but otherwise done.

The lot of them:

The 2 British fire teams:

The 2 American fire teams:

For uniforms I chose a reference picture for each. For the US its the Army's newest multi-cam.

And the British:

Taliban

Got in my order from elhiem figures. They are the first 20mm miniatures I have ever had and painted. I got 8 US infantry, 8 British infantry, and 24 Taliban. Still trying to decide how to do the US and British infantry uniforms so in the mean time I painted up the Taliban today and here they are:

The whole lot

Each group of 6 has a leader, RPG, LMG, and 3 rifle men.

Road to Baghdad, FOF

Road To Baghdad is a supplement for Force on Force by Ambush Ally covering the coalition invasion of Iraq in 2003. The book starts off with a overview of the historical events that took place at that time, covering the units that participated as well as descriptions of the sequence of events.

Each time in the historical section that a particular engagement is talked about there is a reference to one of the 19 scenarios that will cover that particular battle.

Each scenario starts off with a brief overview of the setting with an excerpt of the historical outcome. There is a map showing the table layout for the game then a brake down of each sides mission, force structure, and available assets, if any.

The rules explain that during this conflict a large number of the Iraq forces simply surrendered or fled and a large number of objectives where taken with little to no opposition.  The scenarios they provide for those types of encounters give the Iraq forces that would have been likely encountered in taking the objective instead of what was actually their (meaning none).

Their are no new Fog of War cards for this supplement so the original ones from fof are used. However they do provide a list of samples forces during the period so players can develop their own scenarios. 

Force on Force Rules Review

Overview

Ok, so I have had the Force on Force (fof) rules by Ambush Ally for about a month now and have done some play tests with it. I have to say I'm very pleased with the rules.
The rules are designed to be used for squad level combat from WW2 to present day (though mainly more for the last 25 years or so).
The book starts out with an overview of the turn sequence then it goes into a brief description of each component then later into a detailed description of each component. They start off with Infantry combat and at the end of that section provide a sample scenario you can play to use what you learned. Both the Vehicle and Air Support sections fallow the same pattern. Towards the end they provide additional optional rules to add more diversity to the game play.
Instead of basing actions off individual figures the game revolves around fire teams, usually consisting of 4 or more figures. A side might consist of 2-3 fire teams making up a squad. Line of sight, line of fire, cover, and movement are all based on the fire team as a whole and not the individual figures. Their is a big emphasis that the playing table is more of a representation of the battlefield as appose to an actual model. This means that buildings might have more entrances or firing points then depicted on the model, or that a figure occupies the area its placed in not the exact spot it sits on the table. This can be a confusing concept at first, specially if your use to having everything represented "As Seen". However, once you except the new concept you get a much more fluid and realistic game play.
Vehicles do not play as major a role in combat as in other games because the size of the game table is considered to be practically point blank for vehicles. While they are used and can be key to victory in some scenarios you wont find big armored battles like you might be use to in other games.
Likewise, Air units are very rarely ever represented on the table. The only example given in the rules where they would be used is when units are deploying from or be extracted by transport helicopters. As for air support no models are used as the rules explain that in real time they would either be so far away they would not appear on table or that they would fly through so fast that you could not represent them in the time flow of the game.
The game uses a universal system where your dice roles are always trying to get 4+ to succeed, sometimes this will be apposed by the opponent who will try to not only get a 4+ roll but a higher one then you. To represent the difference in quality of training, moral, and skill in soldiers units are given different dice levels. An average military unit from a first world nation might have a Troop Quality level of D8 which means for all their tests requiring Troop Quality they are rolling a D8 to try and get 4+. I feel this is a good way to distinguish the likelihood a unit is to succeed at something. The downside is you might need to buy some new dice as you will need about 10 of each type (D6, D8, D10, & D12).

Cons

There are a few typos in the beginning and one entire chart is missing. The chart can be found in a free down loadable Errata from the Ambush Ally website. The rules also take a few read through and play tests before they really start to click as they use an unfamiliar system.

Pros

• The Ambush Ally forums has a rules discussion section which is very helpful.
• They system used for play means there is never a time when a player is just sitting waiting for their turn to do something as you can react to every action your opponent makes.
• A game can be played with as few as 8 figures a side on a table no bigger then 2ft x 2ft.
• The book contains photo copyable Fog of War cards as well as extensive quick reference sheets, both of which can be downloaded for free from their site.

Terrain Update 2

So I tried a different paint scheme this time and I like it a lot better.

Terrain Update

Tried painting one of my Middle East buildings but unfortunately the primary paint I selected was way to yellow. I did the best I could to salvage it but I'm still not thrilled with the result. Will most likely pick up lighter color and try again.

Russian Attack Bear project update 2.

So I have been working on some rules for a steampunk game set in WWI based on the Leviathan book series. The Russians, who are Darwinists, use giant fabricated attack bears in their army:

I started by ordering a Schleich Grizzly Bear off of Amazon.

I then used Millput to attach the rider and sculpt some armor and gear (my first time every using the stuff).

The driver is from scarab miniatures

Terrain Old and New WIP

I have very little experience building and painting terrain and don't consider myself very good. That being said, here are some of what I have done.

First couple of photos are some terrain pieces I made for a post-apocalypse game and first time I tried to paint rusty metal. 

Shed: 

Car Port:

Together:

The next couple of photos are some modern buildings for my Force on Force games set in the Middle East. They mostly just need paint and think I'll go with an adobe paint scheme.

Big Building:

Medium Building:

Small Building which still needs door frame:

Wall sections: