India - Large Rural Hut

This is another Indian hut with a thatched work area. It has aloft area accessed by a ladder out the back. I used filler again but with only a few patches of wattle and daub showing through. (Click the images to enlarge)

India - Rural Hut

I finished off a couple of Indian huts today. At least they are what I think Indian huts might look like.
They are cardboard based, with a covering of "weed mat" and a towel thatched roof. (Click the images to enlarge)

M.O.A.B. 2009

Rotary and me went to MOAB yesterday at Sylvania in Sydney - it was pretty good and I enjoyed myself (I think even Rotary did as well!). We've been before and it hasn't been too crash hot. But it was better this time round, probably because I'm so keen to get some wargaming up and going. They had quite a few games on (mostly Warhammer) and some had decent terrain. There were some good stalls and I picked up some cast terrain pieces from Battlefield Accessories, some gabions, dressed stone and rock walls. For the price they are very reasonable. Rotary picked up his Hyboria/Conan boardgame for a decent price and some cool resin skull piles from Mike Broadbent. I hadn't realized there were so many Australian distributors and got a good stack of business cards. One thing that was seriously lacking was participation and skirmish games, which there was none of either.

Old Glory - Pathan Tribesmen

I got a good deal on these mounted Pathan Tribesmen from Old Glory. I'm not a huge fan of OG but I think these are good poses and have character. There are a few tribesmen who have their muskets plastered again the sides of their heads and look a little odd, but the majority are good. I have posted some pics of a couple of the best ones, because finding images of them on the net is a bit hit and miss. They will serve many roles in our game.

"The Alamo" - Warhammer Historical Rulebook

I picked up Legends of The Old West "The Alamo: Victory or Death" from Warhammer Historical yesterday. I've read over at the Indian Mutiny Wargaming Yahoo Group that they used a home brew version of it to run their company based games, which look really interesting. Although not overly happy with the Legends of the High Seas supplement, I think the unit based Alamo rules could work. It is a nice book and well worth a look, as is most of their stuff - for eye candy alone!
As a bonus, in the future, large naval engagements could be handled with the new Trafalgar supplement which looks great as well, tying the whole thing in.
The only other options we have tried as a group is Triumph and Tragedy - a set of rules created by a few guys over on the Lead Adventure Forum. They are very good and I recommend them.

Barbary Corsair "Tartane"

I scratch-built this ship from foam board and card. It is modeled off Gary Chalk's ship's boat template that comes with his pirate ship plans. (Click the images to enlarge)


I scoured the Net for images of Barbary Corsair ships and the closest images I found were of xebecs. It seems that the Corsairs used different ships throughout their infamous reign, including captured European vessels. I required something more exotic than a captured brig, but something a little smaller than a xebec.


I found reference to a smaller Mediterranean tartane, and although found no actual reference that Corsairs possessed them, used that as inspiration. The lateen sails gives it the exotic look I desired.


I used cheap jewelry beads as decoration and some Eureka swivel guns and cannons from http://minimi.co.uk/pirates/.

Below, the notorious Barbary Corsair captain, Faruq Reis, and his corsairs set sail.

Below "The Dervish" is in action, up against a British sloop.

Adobe Building - Jail House

Here's another adobe building, this one I call the jail house. It doesn't really look like a jail house, but it does have a sturdy barred door at one side. It has been used as a scenario goal before. (Click the images to enlarge)

Front view

Side View

Rear view

Adobe Building - Wealthy House

Here is one of the Middle-Eastern inspired buildings I have created recently. I have found this style of building can be used for many different games and are relatively easy to create.
This particular building is the one that Faruq Reis, the notorious Barbary Corsair captain and two of his corsairs are posing on in the title shot. (Click the images to enlarge)

Front View

Rear View

Side View