Archives
New Chicago Skirmish Wargames Forum … Join Us!
Things have gotten a bit sparse here on the CSW blog of late, but never fear — we recently launched a new forum and have moved much of our discussion and content posting over there. Check it out! Big thanks to CSW member Josh for kitbashing this forum for us…we’re particularly pleased with the rotating ... Read more
Fully Painted: Pig Iron Sci-Fi Infantry, and More
A couple years ago, I got my hands on a big ol’ box of gorgeous sci-fi infantry figures from Pig Iron Productions. Now, if you know me, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for anything by Pig Iron. The gritty, near-future aesthetic of the figures aligns perfectly with my sci-fi wargaming interests. I’ve already got ... Read more
Cleared to Engage: The Mystery of the Atom
Last week Josh and I got together to try out Cleared to Engage, a fun, fast-playing ruleset written by P. Todoroff and hosted over at his blog Stalker7. As you might surmise, the intent of the ruleset is to provide a basic framework of rules for running sci-fi, post-apocalyptic and/or cyberpunk skirmish games. These are ... Read more
A Harryhausen-Themed Stop-Motion Monster Warband
I have always been an avid fan of stop-motion effects in film. Once the bread and butter special effects in the age before digital animation and CGI, they are now seldom seen. I grew up on films such as “The Seven Voyages of Sinbad” and “Clash of the Titans” wherein actors hacked and stamped in ... Read more
Bridges and Scuttles from O-Scale Train Cars
Over the past few years I’ve picked up a number of broken O-scale train cars, and I’ve finally put them to good use. Most of these damaged in some way, usually lacking wheels and trucks, but that didn’t bother me since I didn’t need them anyway. Aside from price, the main benefit to using model ... Read more
The Grimy Jewel Campaign: Session 5 Report
“There are strange things done ‘neath the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold…” – Robert W. Service The wretched Harba watched from the shadows as the his tales spun from straw… tales of gold and vast wealth filtered down through tellings and retellings down to the mercenaries, villains and adventurers who now ... Read more
The Grimy Jewel Campaign: Session 4 Report
Here’s the action from a recent session of our Song of Blades & Heroes campaign, written in glorious narrative fashion by new club member Joe! In retaliation for last harvest season’s peasant uprising instigated by Bishop Stuka’s outlaws none less than Burggraf Wallenstein of Vildeburg himself dispatched Ritter Ludvig VonDraken to bring the holy man ... Read more
Shipping Containers from Micro Machines Playsets
A while back I came across a bag of old Micro Machine playsets at a resale shop. They were largely incomplete, but the bag contained 11 of them and the price was great, so I picked them up as a basis for sci-fi shipping containers. In their original form they would have looked something like ... Read more
The Exchange with Mattias, Part 2: Escher Gang
Before his departure to Hawaii, Mattias and I arranged a trade of terrain and miniatures. Earlier I showed off the buildings and cliffs that I built for him. Today I’ve got 15 Necromunda figures that he painted for me. All but one of these are unmodified Games Workshop Escher figures, based on Inkwell Industries resin ... Read more
The Grimy Jewel Campaign: Session 3 Report
Kevin and I met up last week to play the “Swordfight” scenario from Hour 11’s book of Song of Blades and Heroes scenarios as part of our ongoing campaign. Our warbands met while exploring some long-forgotten ruins and barrows now overgrown by forest. The photos here are from early in the game, as our warriors ... Read more