At the Sharp End and In the Sticky Stuff

Just a couple of quick tips today.

First, Wayland Games has a post free promotion until the 12th of february.

Just head over to Wayland Games and use the code above at check-out. (Not available if you live in Brazil or Russia though, bummer if you do.)

Buy this now!

Second, TooFatLardies has released a campaign supplement for their innovative WW2 rules, Chain of Command. Titled "At the Sharp End" this is a 48 page PDF detailing how to -- you guessed it -- run a small campaign centred around platoon sized forces.

The system uses a "ladder campaign", where each battle is represented as a rung on a ladder. At each end of the ladder is the objectives for either force, and the outcome of each battle will see the campaign climb up or down on the ladder until it reaches one of the objectives. What "At the Sharp End" does is tell us how to apply a lot of window dressing to this simple system to give the campaign both flair and a compelling story. The supplement contains info on both how to roll up the Big Men for your campaign as well as casualties, reinforcements and replacements. Your platoon commander must both succeed with his missions to appease his superiors while keeping the losses down to keep his men's trust. The system will also track your platoon commander's mental health, will he succumb to Exhaustion after loosing too many men, or will his string of victories make him an arrogant bastard?

The final chapter shows us how to put everything together and build a campaign. Richard Clarke talks through the process of aquiring info about the 5th Wiltshire regiment during the battles around Hill 112 in Normandy. Several actions are suitable for a platoon sized force such as the taking of the village Maltot. In showing us how to construct the campaign we also get to see the end result, meaning the book features a ready made campaign to play. Just add water, as they say. (And figures, and an opponent, but you knew that.)

At only £6, At the Sharpe End is a extremely good value for anyone thinking about putting together a small campaign for WW2. With some small changes it will also function for other periods like the Spanish Civil War and Korea or Vietnam. Adding to that the text is very entertaining to read as well. So what are you waiting for, go buy it now!

It's the secret ingredient in Noodle Soup!

My last tip is Instamold, or Oyumaru as it's originally called in Japan. I have had a hard time finding some as I didn't know what the real name was, but a friend who visits Japan quite frequently brought some back. If you do not know what Instamold is used for, let me just say that it's a reusable re-shapeable substance that can be used to make press molds with. It's like magic, just read on after the break.

Oyumaru comes in sticks of different colours. When you immerse it in hot water for a couple of minutes it goes soft.

For my first try I copied the backpack and bag on this CoC jump off marker.

I pinched off five lumps and pressed them onto the bags. They were then set aside to cool down.

It's hard to see, but the details are there.

When cool I pressed green stuff into the molds.

Wait until the Green Stuff has hardened before removing it, I was too hasty and deformed half of them.

Even though only one bag out of ten was good enough to use I still think my first try was successful. The original item had a small air bubble on the backpack which the Instamold replicated on each of my copies. (It's visible in the picture above.) I was also too impatient to let the Green Stuff harden completely before removing them from the mold, resulting in deformed backpacks and me squashing the details. You also have to be careful not pressing too hard when filling the mold with green stuff, even though the mold has cooled down it is slightly flexible and will bulge outwards if you press hard enough.

Excess GS cut off and the bag glued to a soldier.

One bag however was good enough to use on a miniature. Now on to making more backpacks! And when I'm done I can just throw the molds into hot water to reuse them.