Bad_English
First Post
HERE.
Well, it seems that a manufacturer of "N" scale tabletop gaming and collectable figure series , that have clickable bases, likes to put out new editions or releases every three months. Now they have decided that the MECH WARRIOR: DARK AGES, first release is no longer valid in game play at sponcered events. Which turns out to be the greatest thing since the invention of air for breathing.
FOR GAMING PURPOSES "N" SCALE: 3/4 INCH = 10 FEET therefore 3/8 INCH = 5 FEET
Yep. I tried the Mech Warrior thing for a bit and found it lacking roleplaying, but fun none the less for a time. But with the new release policy every three months, I could not keep it budgeted.
To make it short, in the MECH WARRIOR game there are alot of 'craptacular' playing peices that are nice looking, but of no tactical value till now.
I have at pennies on the figure and a quarter on the vehicals and mechs obtained the garbage run of this series. Which then allows me to adapt these for BULLDOGS! in "N" scale.
If you look in the MECH WARRIOR: DARK AGES range there are many suitable vehicals and figures for many circumstances in a RPG game.
Especially for combat, a plus might be in the smaller scale, it would be easier to hide protions of a starships passages or a urban/rural tactical situation.
Let me say! I have not tested this assertion in a game play session and obviously there will be many considerations.
But the testing will be fun, right until the cola dam breaks or the interstellar sneeze blows everything away.
To help prevent loss of plastic life, I am going to pick up some small round fishing weights and 1/8 inch washers from Walmart for the soon to be seperated individual figures.
I intend to flatten the weights and super glue both the seperated figures and the weight to the washer.
Then using a bit of tape to mask the figure, leaving the base exposed primer it with white spray primer, then paint lines to designate facings to comply with the D20 combat system, after which I will hand seal the primer in a dull sealer.
Of course a larger base will be needed for some of the vehicals, others are too obvious to worry about.
3/8 inch = 5 feet is the easyest for me to adapt for game play and allow for little confusion in regards to rules and playablity. Again I have not done this yet and this is merely conjecture at this point.
I am in the process of; dismounting and remounting on small washers a vertible army of recycled figs, to use in a certain RolePlaying suppliments game.
Obviously I will have to use the large dining room table as a map/game space with a 1/4 or 3/8 inch grid on a larger paper pad.
Although small I think I can make it work for a while until the large 28mm -30mm figures get built and I think those would be for special circumstances such as introduction of a Player or NPC character, an alien race, specific artifact and or place outside of my drawings.
That is if this does not appease the players, which I highly doubt as I have much of what is needed for most game play, through this "N" scale format.
Until then I will sorryfully [SP?] have to make due with; a wide range of troops/figures and vehicals that include hovercraft, tracked, wheeled, and MECHs Ohh and VTOLs.
Yes! I know it is rough but I think I can make it work, especially in BULLDOGS!.
Think about the starship rules and with a bit of a tweaking and using some guessing for movement rates, you can adapt for Mechs, VTOLs, large crewed vehicals. From the basis provided you can house rule keeping it simple to complex.
(SPACEMASTER: ARMORED ASSAULT comes to mind, as a complex system)
But a fast paced game is what I like and visual references are vital to that concept.
With a little work, some of the absurd looking Mechs can become part of a open deck playable space craft, to simulate boarding actions and also have gun emplacements and so on. ( God I love super glue!!!)
Until then, I suggest that you find somone enslaved to Wiz Kids and gently weasel the 'craptacular' and duplicate stuff out of them.
I should note however, that the guy I get mine from actually doubles if not more his investment through E-bay and is quite happy to get the unusable figs out of his apartment, much to my benefit.
He has told me that there are comic book stores that sell individual peices Mech Warrior at a reasonable price for that genra of game and I have bought Mage Knight and Hero Crap ... err Clic at 25 cents a peice, in the past to convert for scifi or fantasy/horror.
OK concerning recycling:
1. When using any of the tools mentioned herein, please use safe operating proceedures and above all wear safety googles.
Good lighting will help considerably.
On to the short (Now long) cover of the Mech Warrior figs recycling.
Concerning removing the figures from the 'clik' base; this is about the most hazardous aspect of the entire project; to reuse the figures for "Bulldogs!".
I would recommend that children do not do this and if they are very convincing, they should not do this without adult supervision present at all times.
Lay the figure on it's side on a suitable cutting surface like one of those self healing hobby mats or a wooden cutting board.
Hold the base firmly with one hand.
Carefully placing the edge of an heavy duty Exacto modeling knife so on the place where the figure base is attached to the 'clik' base and position the sharp edge of the blade moving in a downward motion.
Remember to always cut away from yourself.
I found the 60 degree angled blade gave the most control and do not use the smaller thinner blades with the small knife and the retractable 'snap off' bladed knives do not hold up to the pressure either and both will break; throwing peices of razor knife blade and plastic.
Not good at all.
Back to work.
Rock the blade back and forth while applying even downward pressure most of the time the figure will come away with a couple of tries of the above technique, and in regards to vehicals and Mechs use a combination of screw driver and knife to seperate the figure from the 'clik' base.
If you work slowly this reduces the chance of the blade slipping and damaging the figure or yourself.
Vehicals and mechs have no additional basing, so I will continue exclusively about the individual troops, starting with observations.
It seems several different processes were established to fabricate the base and the troop figures themselves, in some cases the base was of the same semi-rigid soft plastic as the troop, and then others had thinner bases made of a different more brittle plastic and yet even others had bases that the base was softer in texture than the figure.
No matter the physical approach however to seperating the individual figures from the base peices tended to fly, again safety glasses are a must.
The best and most consistant means of seperating the figures from the base was:
First using a model sprue cutter seperate the individuals (which the groupings of figures of two, three and five) by carefully cutting the base apart with the sprue cutter.
This also helps in breaking the bond of the adhesive used to mount the figure(s).
Then using the spue cutter again carefully cut towards the models feet in a clockwards pattern as close as possible to the feet. I did an average of five cuts with the sprue cutter and more if needed.
This again helps in breaking the bond of the adhesive used to mount the figure(s).
Often this alone will cause the base fragments to pop away from the figures mounting, and to assist you might have to use a pair of needle nose pliers to help pull away the more tenatious base fragments.
The individual figure should be free.
The above method worked best, although there will be some figures that will loose feet or boots due to a flaw, previous breakage, and/or an exceptional over glueing.
These can be used to repair other figures or as cauality markers and/or even as part of a terrain peice.
Have I mentioned my love for super glue and I should also mention how hard it is to tpye with small foot troops glued to my fingners.
Other methods tried.
I tried freezing, which did not work, as the base and the figure attained the same consitancy and became prone to cracking as I worked with it.
I even tried using a pin vise (drill) to remove the pinning, but that was inconsitant as the soft material allowed too much movement and I did the same damage with the pinvise as without it.
And I will not go into the shotgun or chainsaw methods; although the effort was satisfying the results are inconclusive, as the figures tended to disintgrate.
Bills were tight this month so I could not use the Particle Acellerator either.
In seriousness.
I did have to use locking forceps and needle nose pliers to work some of the base material away but found making more cuts with the spue cutter worked to better results.
In semi-related creative experiments.
I left some of the vehicals intact as military and of course a few of the more interresting Mechs.
The rest using a combination of the above techniques I am going to convert to civilian utility or special purpose vehicals and one of the two classified in the MECH WARRIOR tabletop game as "Bricks", useful for holding down the table top, either a command vehical or an ambulance as an Exploration/PC vehical.
Some of the bits left over from dismantling of the more "Transformer" looking mechs are goint to be adapted for manned and automated gun emplacements, bunkers, landing gear for space craft, Small Drop ships and even medium sized cockpits in some instances.
The tech looking scraps will be added to terrain and possibly modular gaming sections.
In a seperate topic post, I will cover a couple questions concerning rules but so far, it is easy to see the various units being used easily and understandably using the rules provided, with little or no modification.
But as I am note taking phase, that will be after a bit.
Hmmmmm, now if I could just simulate explosions...
Take one tsp. of C4 and a regular 9 volt battery for a hand radio and some wire.
Dude!!
I just blew away the cat!
Maybe I can use the trick from the movie, "The Boondock Saints".
Now where is that picture and the scotch tape...?
OLD URSID
_________________
ON A WALK ABOUT...
TOO BAD YOU CANNOT HAVE AN OPEN CONTAINER OF BEER
Well, it seems that a manufacturer of "N" scale tabletop gaming and collectable figure series , that have clickable bases, likes to put out new editions or releases every three months. Now they have decided that the MECH WARRIOR: DARK AGES, first release is no longer valid in game play at sponcered events. Which turns out to be the greatest thing since the invention of air for breathing.
FOR GAMING PURPOSES "N" SCALE: 3/4 INCH = 10 FEET therefore 3/8 INCH = 5 FEET
Yep. I tried the Mech Warrior thing for a bit and found it lacking roleplaying, but fun none the less for a time. But with the new release policy every three months, I could not keep it budgeted.
To make it short, in the MECH WARRIOR game there are alot of 'craptacular' playing peices that are nice looking, but of no tactical value till now.
I have at pennies on the figure and a quarter on the vehicals and mechs obtained the garbage run of this series. Which then allows me to adapt these for BULLDOGS! in "N" scale.
If you look in the MECH WARRIOR: DARK AGES range there are many suitable vehicals and figures for many circumstances in a RPG game.
Especially for combat, a plus might be in the smaller scale, it would be easier to hide protions of a starships passages or a urban/rural tactical situation.
Let me say! I have not tested this assertion in a game play session and obviously there will be many considerations.
But the testing will be fun, right until the cola dam breaks or the interstellar sneeze blows everything away.
To help prevent loss of plastic life, I am going to pick up some small round fishing weights and 1/8 inch washers from Walmart for the soon to be seperated individual figures.
I intend to flatten the weights and super glue both the seperated figures and the weight to the washer.
Then using a bit of tape to mask the figure, leaving the base exposed primer it with white spray primer, then paint lines to designate facings to comply with the D20 combat system, after which I will hand seal the primer in a dull sealer.
Of course a larger base will be needed for some of the vehicals, others are too obvious to worry about.
3/8 inch = 5 feet is the easyest for me to adapt for game play and allow for little confusion in regards to rules and playablity. Again I have not done this yet and this is merely conjecture at this point.
I am in the process of; dismounting and remounting on small washers a vertible army of recycled figs, to use in a certain RolePlaying suppliments game.
Obviously I will have to use the large dining room table as a map/game space with a 1/4 or 3/8 inch grid on a larger paper pad.
Although small I think I can make it work for a while until the large 28mm -30mm figures get built and I think those would be for special circumstances such as introduction of a Player or NPC character, an alien race, specific artifact and or place outside of my drawings.
That is if this does not appease the players, which I highly doubt as I have much of what is needed for most game play, through this "N" scale format.
Until then I will sorryfully [SP?] have to make due with; a wide range of troops/figures and vehicals that include hovercraft, tracked, wheeled, and MECHs Ohh and VTOLs.
Yes! I know it is rough but I think I can make it work, especially in BULLDOGS!.
Think about the starship rules and with a bit of a tweaking and using some guessing for movement rates, you can adapt for Mechs, VTOLs, large crewed vehicals. From the basis provided you can house rule keeping it simple to complex.
(SPACEMASTER: ARMORED ASSAULT comes to mind, as a complex system)
But a fast paced game is what I like and visual references are vital to that concept.
With a little work, some of the absurd looking Mechs can become part of a open deck playable space craft, to simulate boarding actions and also have gun emplacements and so on. ( God I love super glue!!!)
Until then, I suggest that you find somone enslaved to Wiz Kids and gently weasel the 'craptacular' and duplicate stuff out of them.
I should note however, that the guy I get mine from actually doubles if not more his investment through E-bay and is quite happy to get the unusable figs out of his apartment, much to my benefit.
He has told me that there are comic book stores that sell individual peices Mech Warrior at a reasonable price for that genra of game and I have bought Mage Knight and Hero Crap ... err Clic at 25 cents a peice, in the past to convert for scifi or fantasy/horror.
OK concerning recycling:
1. When using any of the tools mentioned herein, please use safe operating proceedures and above all wear safety googles.
Good lighting will help considerably.
On to the short (Now long) cover of the Mech Warrior figs recycling.
Concerning removing the figures from the 'clik' base; this is about the most hazardous aspect of the entire project; to reuse the figures for "Bulldogs!".
I would recommend that children do not do this and if they are very convincing, they should not do this without adult supervision present at all times.
Lay the figure on it's side on a suitable cutting surface like one of those self healing hobby mats or a wooden cutting board.
Hold the base firmly with one hand.
Carefully placing the edge of an heavy duty Exacto modeling knife so on the place where the figure base is attached to the 'clik' base and position the sharp edge of the blade moving in a downward motion.
Remember to always cut away from yourself.
I found the 60 degree angled blade gave the most control and do not use the smaller thinner blades with the small knife and the retractable 'snap off' bladed knives do not hold up to the pressure either and both will break; throwing peices of razor knife blade and plastic.
Not good at all.
Back to work.
Rock the blade back and forth while applying even downward pressure most of the time the figure will come away with a couple of tries of the above technique, and in regards to vehicals and Mechs use a combination of screw driver and knife to seperate the figure from the 'clik' base.
If you work slowly this reduces the chance of the blade slipping and damaging the figure or yourself.
Vehicals and mechs have no additional basing, so I will continue exclusively about the individual troops, starting with observations.
It seems several different processes were established to fabricate the base and the troop figures themselves, in some cases the base was of the same semi-rigid soft plastic as the troop, and then others had thinner bases made of a different more brittle plastic and yet even others had bases that the base was softer in texture than the figure.
No matter the physical approach however to seperating the individual figures from the base peices tended to fly, again safety glasses are a must.
The best and most consistant means of seperating the figures from the base was:
First using a model sprue cutter seperate the individuals (which the groupings of figures of two, three and five) by carefully cutting the base apart with the sprue cutter.
This also helps in breaking the bond of the adhesive used to mount the figure(s).
Then using the spue cutter again carefully cut towards the models feet in a clockwards pattern as close as possible to the feet. I did an average of five cuts with the sprue cutter and more if needed.
This again helps in breaking the bond of the adhesive used to mount the figure(s).
Often this alone will cause the base fragments to pop away from the figures mounting, and to assist you might have to use a pair of needle nose pliers to help pull away the more tenatious base fragments.
The individual figure should be free.
The above method worked best, although there will be some figures that will loose feet or boots due to a flaw, previous breakage, and/or an exceptional over glueing.
These can be used to repair other figures or as cauality markers and/or even as part of a terrain peice.
Have I mentioned my love for super glue and I should also mention how hard it is to tpye with small foot troops glued to my fingners.
Other methods tried.
I tried freezing, which did not work, as the base and the figure attained the same consitancy and became prone to cracking as I worked with it.
I even tried using a pin vise (drill) to remove the pinning, but that was inconsitant as the soft material allowed too much movement and I did the same damage with the pinvise as without it.
And I will not go into the shotgun or chainsaw methods; although the effort was satisfying the results are inconclusive, as the figures tended to disintgrate.
Bills were tight this month so I could not use the Particle Acellerator either.
In seriousness.
I did have to use locking forceps and needle nose pliers to work some of the base material away but found making more cuts with the spue cutter worked to better results.
In semi-related creative experiments.
I left some of the vehicals intact as military and of course a few of the more interresting Mechs.
The rest using a combination of the above techniques I am going to convert to civilian utility or special purpose vehicals and one of the two classified in the MECH WARRIOR tabletop game as "Bricks", useful for holding down the table top, either a command vehical or an ambulance as an Exploration/PC vehical.
Some of the bits left over from dismantling of the more "Transformer" looking mechs are goint to be adapted for manned and automated gun emplacements, bunkers, landing gear for space craft, Small Drop ships and even medium sized cockpits in some instances.
The tech looking scraps will be added to terrain and possibly modular gaming sections.
In a seperate topic post, I will cover a couple questions concerning rules but so far, it is easy to see the various units being used easily and understandably using the rules provided, with little or no modification.
But as I am note taking phase, that will be after a bit.
Hmmmmm, now if I could just simulate explosions...
Take one tsp. of C4 and a regular 9 volt battery for a hand radio and some wire.
Dude!!
I just blew away the cat!
Maybe I can use the trick from the movie, "The Boondock Saints".
Now where is that picture and the scotch tape...?
OLD URSID
_________________
ON A WALK ABOUT...
TOO BAD YOU CANNOT HAVE AN OPEN CONTAINER OF BEER
