Gaslands at Cape Con 2019

2019 has been a something of a rebuilding year for the South Jersey Gamers Association. The club has a proper logo now, as well as a discussion forum where members can talk about what they're doing (preferably I'd like more activity on there, but you can only do so much).

Visibility has been another big part of the plan to get new members into the club. It's one thing to spread information about the club via word of mouth to existing wargamers, and quite another to introduce the concept of miniature wargaming to an entirely new audience.

The local library system has been a big part of that effort (not least because I'm a librarian in it which offers some advantages). The club currently has a display in one of the libraries with miniatures from half a dozen games, and informational flyers in others.

But a personal touch is always best, which is why I volunteered to be a club representative at Cape Con, a mini comic and pop culture convention hosted at the library system's main branch.

As I mentioned in last weeks post, I chose Gaslands since it fit in pretty well with the pop culture theme of the event. Everyone I talked to instantly understood when I described it as "Mad Max on the tabletop."

There were plenty of questions, and I had about 10-12 flyers go out, and a few more people took pictures of the flyer to save the info.

I explained that the club's focus was on historic tabletop wargaming, with some fantasy and scifi as well. Next month's game of Blood & Plunder also caught some attention - people like pirates and big ships! Other interests were Saga (both Dark Ages and Fantasy) as well as the American Civil War and the American War of Independence.

Next year the event is going to be in February, since September is just too crowded for the library to compete for space. After some discussion with a few members of the SJGA, we're looking at putting on a game of Rebels and Patriots with some AWI figures.

Hopefully this means we'll have at least one or two new people checking out the club in October, but at least we're getting the word out!

Painting Update - Gaslands

With no games played since my last post, my painting progress continues. 

I've got a participation game of Gaslands coming up this weekend at a local comic convention. I'm going as a representative of the SJGA with the hope that we can entice some of the attendees - either the kids, teens, or their parents - to check the club out.

Each team consists of two cars. One has a machine gun, while the other has a "special weapon" (a rocket launcher without the extra rules) with three ammo. This helps to keep the game moving so players won't need to reference different weapons or a lot of equipment.

I had thought about adding some nitrous or oil and glue droppers, but like I said, simple is probably best.

I'll have to review the rules and perhaps run through a solo game since I haven't played in a while. But hopefully this does draw some attention, especially with the fantastic 3d printed terrain Kevyn made.

Also, Gaslands: Refueled was just released, so I may pick that up soon.

Painting Update - Warhammer Fantasy

I've been in a gaming drought recently, so I've spent my hobby time chipping away at one of my biggest projects - a 6th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle Orcs & Goblins army.

It's something I've always wanted to do, but I didn't enter the hobby until around 8th Edition came out, and I wasn't a fan of the massive units required to play or the insane magic spells.

Earlier in the year I stumbled across an old O&G battalion set and some units in the flea market at Cold Wars, and bought them on a whim. I've since grown that force into something that could comfortably play 2000+ point games in 6th Edition, while immersing myself in the Classichammer/Oldhammer community - groups playing in older editions of Warhammer Fantasy without the looming threat of codex creep or the hot new thing.

I actually completed the first unit last month as a test, and I think they turned out well. It's a pretty simple paint scheme that has a lot of black and green but it works well together. This was also a test for the 3d-printed movement trays Kevyn made for me, which I glued magnetic sheets to the bottom. The rare earth magnets under the miniatures' bases keep them in placed for the most part, while still allowing for them to be removed.

I decided to tackle some artillery next. A pair of spear chukkas makes for some decent ranged support in an army that's pretty focused on close combat.

I then went back to the infantry. Two blocks (or a single mob) of Night Goblins from the Battle for Skull Pass set came together pretty nicely. I decided to use the troll from the set as a unit filler, and its blue skin contrasts well against the black and greens of the goblins. I'm still kicking myself for passing up the Dwarf half of that set, however!

Of course, what's a Night Goblin force without a couple of characters and randomness? They need a Big Boss, a Shaman, and a trio of Fanatics.

And to finish up the Night Goblins, I painted up a couple units of archers. Since I wasn't using the unit commands, I had to use a couple totems and a squashed goblin, but I think they add a little flavor to the units.

While I'm working on some vehicles for Gaslands now, I'm going to get back into the Greenskins to finish of