10mm

By Tom Gall

If you have a resin 3D printer and have been watching the variety of Kickstarters going by with STLs to choose from there seems to be an explosion of offerings for tabletop wargamers.

I’ve been very skeptical of printing my own 10mm/15mm infantry figures. Sculpts and print quality are my primary concern, as things get smaller, would the results be reasonable? What happens when small resin figures are on the tabletop, with dice, dropping, etc, will there be shattered sadness?

Before we get to my own experiences, I want to highlight the work of Henry Turner who has a Kickstarter up for NATO troops set in 1983. Within the Kickstarter, he has both US and British infantry in a variety of poses that are meant for a variety of scales. At £30 or $50US for both sets it’s a good deal and you’ll see why in a moment.

By Tom Gall

The Wargaming Company, publishers of the Napoleonic Ruleset announced on December 19th they have been working to create their own line of figures for ESR.

This is especially exciting as of all the Napoleonic rulesets, ESR is thoughtful in their packaging. When you buy a particular formation for ESR, you’ve always received the exact number of figures that you needed to field that particular formation. Truth be told, I’ve often found an extra figure your two in the pack.

For me, as I’ve been working to paint and base my ESR army this is extremely helpful. I don’t need to be stressing over having to buy yet another package of something to meet some correct minimum so I can play.

By Tom Gall

The Wargaming Company makers of Et Sans Résultat (perhaps better known as ESR) have started to update and release their line of campaign books. The first in the refreshed line is To Assure My Dynasty, . These new campaign books are collectively called Series 3 to set them apart from past volumes.

With the book in your hands, the very first thing you’ll notice is, it’s a hardback. The prior series were spiral-bound volumes. Definitely a noticeable increase in quality but what about the content?

The campaign guide is 184 pages, all in full color. The book is broken up into several sections, first giving you a bit of background about the peninsular war, the countries, armies, and personalities involved in the conflict.

The next section covers how to use the book, with guidance on the size of the table, players, how to set up the maps, working with rosters, and how to handle scenarios that last for an extended period of time. After that is the campaign, 13 historical battles broken up into two logical parts. Last but not least is an extensive guide to the army uniforms each unit wore.

by Tom Gall

In this article we’re going to focus on infantry for Battlegroup NorthAG by the Plastic Soldier Company. How should we paint and base them?

Painting British

Let’s start out with British infantry, as their camo pattern uniform is a bit more complicated. For the models, I’m using the Plastic Soldier Company 10mm Ultracast, mechanized infantry box.

Starting with a base coat, I primed my British black. Starting with Helmets 888  as the initial coat of Vallejo, followed by a dry brush of 886 Green Grey Vallejo.

By Tom Gall

This article is about how to make your game table bigger, by fearlessly going to a smaller scale. In my case, I’ve been gaming in 15mm for Team Yankee and Battlegroup NorthAG, but want to convert to 10mm to get more gaming space for the same sized table. 3-D printing is a major portion of my success getting into another scale.

With NorthAG, the Plastic Soldier Company has a good line of models that continues to expand. Other companies of course can scratch the 10mm itch as well. The great thing about a 15mm to 10mm conversion is the smaller vehicles, infantry, and so on paint a lot faster. You’ll get to the table sooner and not have to invest tons of time in detail.

By Tom Gall

This is a quick mini-review and painting guide for the Plastic Solider Company Shilka and PT-76 10mm models. These are great for Battlegroup: NorthAG, the recently released “what if” WWIII ruleset by the Plastic Soldier Company. They are certainly usable for other rules, Team Yankee in 10mm would surely result in a whole lot more table space and make your battlefield look far less like a crowded shopping mall parking lot.

Let’s start with the that was first introduced approx 1951 and is still in service today. This is one of the treats that Battlegroup NorthAG brings, a much larger collection of hardware to field on the tabletop as compared to WWIII: Team Yankee.

By Tom Gall

PSC’s new line of 10mm figures for Battlegroup: NorthAG is beginning the reach the hands of those who ordered. We’ve looked at in the past so let’s take some time to look at some of the hardware PSC makes for the game and paint it up.

, contains 10 T-64, gobs of infantry (>100), 10 BTR-60s, and 2 BDRM-2s. Everything comes on a sprue, so you’ll need to snip them off, and file a little excess as normal.

At 10mm scale, the first thing I noticed was the material, which isn’t hard plastic, but not exactly a soft plastic either. PSC calls it ultracast. It’s quite pliable, surprisingly so, bending a comparable metal or plastic gun barrel, you’d be looking at some amount of damage. This material impressively takes it no problem.

For our second article on Battlegroup NORTHAG we’re going to take a closer look at building your force for a game. NORTHAG uses a points-based scheme for force building your, which makes for a great scheme that you and a friend can agree to a number of points ahead of a game and show up at the tabletop with matched forces.

Game Size

There are 3 recommended sizes, 500 pts for a Platoon sized game on a 6×4, 750 pts for a Company sized game on a 6×6 or 6×8 and 1000 points for a Battalion sized game as a 6×10 or larger, but of course, you’re free to choose!

List Building Basics

When constructing a force you utilize the menu of options associated with the nation you’re building for. Currently, within this very first book, the options are limited to Soviet or British. We’ll see further books and unofficial lists via the Battlegroup: NORTHAG Facebook page in time.

By Tom Gall and NDNG Dane

The (PSC) will be releasing shortly* a much anticipated new set of rules covering World War III, while a “what if”, a conventional war has touched off and the forces of NATO and WARPAC are enjoined in battle across Europe, each in a desperate struggle to take/give ground before presumably, the nukes might fly.

Titled Battlegroup: NORTHAG, the book focuses on the Northern Army Group section of the front, thus NORTHAG. The setting is 1983 which Warwick Kinrade choose as it was a time of heightened tensions between the powers and was the dividing line before the introduction of a wide range of new equipment.

In this series of articles, we’ll be looking at the rules, the British and Soviet army lists that are included with the new book and finish up with a couple of BatReps.

Et Sans Résultat or better known as ESR is a Napoleonic ruleset that we’re devoting several stories to over the next few weeks. In this edition, we’ll be looking at one of the essential elements of the game. Minis!

Miniatures, of course, represent your army on the tabletop. In ESR a single stand represents an infantry battalion, a cavalry squadron, a formation commander, an artillery battery or a reformation area. The size and shape of the base and the miniatures mounted on the base specifically identify what the unit is.

As with all miniature war games, one of the early choices you must make is what scale will you play it in. Many games select the scale for you and don’t let you choose anything else. ESR offers the rules such that if you want to play with 6mm, 10mm, 15mm, 25-28mm or other scales it’s a snap. The quick reference sheets .