The ‘Affair of the Long Lost but Now Found Pyramid of Dloser' - Includes the Making of a 1/56 Pyramid!

During June 1877 the northern Egyptian plains experienced the worst sand storms in living memory. On the morning of the 30th thanks to the shifting sands a small group of lowly Arab camel herders were surprised to see the ghostly image of the apex of an ancient pyramid emerging from the dunes. It was the long lost Pyramid of Dloser last resting place of the Pharaoh Butwejustmet that had been revealed by the fierce winds (insert dramatic music). One of the scruffy camel herders with a decidedly European complexion and displaying amazing British spunk inquisitively approached the edifice...

Later that very same day at S.O.E. (Stealthy Overseas Executive) Headquarters in London...while the Head of Operations was enjoying his afternoon cup of tea and slice of lemon cake a junior secretary looking rather bothered burst into his office. "Sir, an important Marconi message has arrived from Agent Edward Bigger in Egypt...” and after a short pause to catch his breath he continued, “while he has been there acting for us in the guise of an unassuming Arab Travelling Camel Salesman he has come into the possession of vital information! The long lost Pyramid of Dloser has been discovered!” He handed over the missive. After briefly glancing at the contents of Agent Bigger’s communication the Head of Operations roared, “By God Man summon Captain Darling and Professor Tangent immediately this is just the break we’ve been waiting for, we are now one step ahead of that Evil Genius Doctor Von Hades! We must organise an expedition to the Dark Continent post haste...”

So began the ‘Affair of the Long Lost but Now Found Pyramid of Dloser’...

The  Pyramid of Dloser can just be made out in this the first photograph taken of it by S.O.E. Agent Edward Bigger.

Okay so there you have it another 'Pulpy Search' Scenario in the making! Now what do you need when your scenario is based in Egypt and specifically around an ancient Egyptian Pyramid? Well an ancient Egyptian Pyramid of course! Okay off to the workbench Robin! Now I didn’t take any WIP pictures of this quick and nasty project but I can give you an outline of what happened! I started out with a piece of Masonite, a whole batch of foam packing bits in various cuboid shapes, a tube of gap filler and some old house paint. I simply glued the foam blocks together roughly on a piece of Masonite then let the gap filler dry overnight. I then painted the lot and added some sand to the edge of the base...nice and simple. I didn't overdo it as this will probably be a once of use item!

The starting point!

The finished product...I've include  my S.O.E. Agent Edward Bigger figure (1/56) so you can judge the size of this 'edifice'...

Some of the details; the pyramid has a hidden doorway...

...which leads to the secret burial chamber! 

Well they don't build them like that any more (thankfully!)...

Not sure when we'll get to play this scenario but I'll get the background blurb and the OOB up in a post soon. I suspect it will turn out to be the FUBAR VSF Christmas game for the year! Now I gotta work out a Christmas twist...DOH!

Next Time...Hmmm maybe more about The ‘Affair of the Long Lost but Now Found Pyramid of Dloser'...

Little Wars Adelaide 2019 Review!

Well Little Wars Adelaide 2019 is done and dusted! Overall looked as if it was a huge success. Talking to the top dog the number of games and traders was an all-time high. The crowd did appear less than the last time the show was run though.

Colonel Puddin facing down a Martian Fighting Machine manning the Rapid Fire Artillery piece to the last man!

From my point of view, it looked to be a very successful event! It was good to see a huge variety of games in one location. Also having interstate traders in town so you can see their wares ‘in the flesh’ (so to speak) is very nice!

There were only a few games I was interested in having a go at this time but as my War of the Worlds FUBAR VSF Table was so busy I didn’t get a chance! These included a game on the Glenrowan Siege (Tribal Rules), A Gladiator game (Tribal Rules again) and a game covering a colonial battle set in Adelaide Australia (TMWWBK Rules).

Luckily, I have arranged with George who ran the Glenrowan Siege game featuring the Kelly Gang to catch up with him and have a go at it one evening soon...excellent news!

Regarding Traders I picked up only a couple of items (I am on a strict budget);

- From Victoria Miniatures I picked up some wheels and an ammo box from their ‘parts bin’

- From Eureka Miniatures I bought a 1/72 or 20mm resin & metal Sentinel Tank

My FUBAR VSF table kept me busier than I expected! I was planning on running three games during the course of the day but ended up ‘umpiring’ five complete games and running a three turn rules demo! All the players were interested in the rules and everyone enjoyed their game. The coolest thing was when two players after completing their first game decided to swap sides and play again! At one point during the games the Martian Tripod which thanks to a lucky 'Event' had covered 45 inches of the required 72 in just three out of the eight turns suffered a critical hit! A six was rolled on the Damage Table and the player then rolled another six on the Catastrophe Table resulting in a spectacular explosion and a quick game! In another game the British player seemed to spend more time fighting the Breakdown table than the Martian Tripod! All good VSF fun!

I actually think a few people may download the FUBAR VSF rules and give them a go from their comments. The other thing that was exciting for me was my models attracted positive comments even from some punters who didn’t even play the scenario! That was very pleasing!

At the end of the day the win tally was the Evil Martians four wins to one win for Her Most Imperial Majesty’s Red Coats (keeping in mind that the scenario is biased to the Martians to keep in the theme of the War of the Worlds book where the Tripods were pretty well immune to humanity’s Weapon systems).

Here are a few pictures from my ‘Table’...

Set up and ready to go!

The first game of the day gets under way!

The British attack balloon closes in on the Martian Tripod as the Armoured Steam Wagons deploy...

The Tripod about to exit the table turns and gives the British a final salvo!

Colonel Puddin resplendent in his Dark Continent gear (his last posting) commands the men of the Royal artillery...

More pictures from the day covering the Games and Traders are on the Little Wars Adelaide and Little Wars Australia Facebook Pages!

Next time; Hmm now that’s a good question!

Little Wars Adelaide 2019 - AARs & Game Update

Not long to Little Wars! On Monday we played the Martian Attack FUBAR VSF game in preparation. I wanted to check I had everything required for the day ready and to record the table layout. It all went very well we played two games; one ran for 65 minutes lasting the full eight turns and the other went for only 20 minutes lasting only three turns.

Game One

Dave took the side of the Evil Martians and Al the stout British defenders.

Initially Dave charged forward and was able to score hits with on the British damaging two Armoured Steam Wagons while suppressing their Artillery. The British on the other hand were having issues with their Activation and hit rolls and then when activating hitting their target.

On turn five one of Al’s vehicles imploded due the result of a required roll on the Breakdown Table! Meanwhile the Martian Tripod suffered some superficial damage while effortlessly gliding forward firing at every opportunity.

Turns six and seven the British continued to fire on the Martian Tripod which arrogantly halted for a turn to fire all of its weapon systems causing havoc amongst the British. Then on turn seven came the crucial roll, the Martian failed its activation roll (a one in six chance) giving it a activation penalty for the next turn!

Turn eight and the Martian within easy reach of it’s objective failed to activate, game to Her Imperial Majesty’s Army...”Rule Britannia...”

Game Two

Al’s turn to take control of the Martian Tripod!

Turns one and two the Martian powered forward at full speed firing rockets while on the move. The Tripod scored a couple of hits on the British who took on a strategy of just lining up along the edge of the table and firing for all their worth!

Turn three and the Martian had to consult the Breakdown Table due to encountering rough ground and it resulted in a power surge gaining an extra 10 inches of movement...in three turns the Tripod had advanced 48 inches of the 72 it had to cover in the allotted eight turns to win the game with next to no damage. Things were looking bad for the British!

The plucky British ignoring the martian good luck opened fire in their half of turn three. Several hits failed to even scratch the Alien Fighting Machine but one hit required the Martian to roll on the Damage Table...a six that required a roll on the Catastrophe Table...another six...BOOM a critical hit, the Tripod toppled over leaving a twisted heap of Illudium on the green fields of Ol' Blighty!

A few pictures from the night...

During our games I found a couple of ‘things’ which needed to be addressed to ensure smooth games on the day;

A Typo on Martian Force Sheet regarding weapon special rules that was amended

A turn grid was added to both Force Sheets

Added the Human available weapon attributes to the British Force Sheet

Created labels for Suppression, Speed and Turn markers

Created a label for the Martian Heat Ray ‘reload’ marker

All set to go now! Given the above I may should be able to squeeze a fourth game in during the day, I need to allow a bit of time between games so I can check out all the Vendors and other Games!

Don’t forget less than three weeks to Little Wars Adelaide so if you can make it roll up on the day and support the show to ensure it’s future! Here's the website...

Little Wars Adelaide 2019 Home Page

and even though I don't use Facebook there is a site there too...

Facebook Little Wars Adelaide 2019

Next Time; probably a report from Little Wars!

Home Made Dice Tray

For years I have been using the top of a photocopier paper box lined with some felt as a dice tray when the tabletop is too crowded to throw dice easily. Well when in an Op Shop the other day I spotted a set of cork placemats decorated with British Army pictures from the 19th Century. It triggered a thought in my mind "You must make a dice tray that would suit all sorts of period games and can include these placemats for VSF games". So I bought the placemats for the princely sum of $3.99 and headed home and to work.

My fancy new British Army cork placemats perfectly themed for my VSF games...

First up I cut a piece of scrap timber from an old chair seat to match my recently purchased placemats and coated it with some stain, I had a base! Then I cut from my 2mm thick styrene sheet a 70mm strip to build the dice trays sides. I glued these together wrapped around the base to ensure a snug fit.

The dice tray parts ready to go...

Okay after the glue had dried I sprayed the assembled sides in black using a cheap rattle can and used some brass nails to fix them in place...job done!

Finished dice tray...

...and with a VSF feel thanks to one of my new placemats...

With all my dice stored...

So now for less than a couple of Dollars (not counting the placemats) using stuff on hand I have a dice tray (which doubles as dice storage when not in use) which I can use in three ways; the classic wood finish, add a piece of green felt into the tray for that cool casino look or insert a fancy British Army placemat for VSF gaming!

Next time: Some gaming stuff!