CapnJim's Modern Stuff - Balczaki-Soviet Bridge Fight Full AAR - Pg 54-10 Aug 25

[Grumpy Gnome]

Well those bring back some fond memories. Hoo-ah!

[CapnJim]

@mikedemana:  Thanks, Mike.  I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

@Grumpy Gnome:  Yeah, me too...

 

[CapnJim]

My wife and I went to the Michigan Toy Soldier Shop in Royal Oak, MI (a suburb of Detroit) on my birthday this Wednesday past.  There, among other things, we found some new gaming mats.  They are by a company called Gray Matter Gaming, and they are based out of Troy, MI (another suburb of Detroit).  They produce a variety of neoprene gaming mats in a variety of sizes.  I bought 2 scaled for 28mm games, in 36" x 36". 

The first is called Modern City 1.  Here is a pic of it without any other terrain on it...



And here are a few shots with terrain.  This one I set up as a North American town (US or Canada)...







The 2nd is called Modern City 2.  Here is a naked shot....



And here are a few shots set up as a European-style town...







FYI, they cost about $50.00 each at the store.  I'm happy with them.  They will definitely see some games played on them...

[carlos marighela]

Happy Birthday! Seems we are a day apart.

Nice looking mats and something I need to make.

[has.been]

They look very nice, now you have populated them.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Those are very nice mats.

[CapnJim]

Happy Birthday! Seems we are a day apart.

Nice looking mats and something I need to make.

Happy belated birthday!

They look very nice, now you have populated them.

Those are very nice mats.

They are nice indeed.  I may get some more...and as I said (typed...), they are sure to be fought over...

[mikedemana]

I have yet to make it up to that store, Jim. I do shop their booth when I go to Historicon -- they have lots of nice stuff! You should talk them into being a vendor at ATC next year... 

Oh, and Happy Birthday! Good presents...

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

Good idea.  I'll try to remember to do that next time I'm up that way...

[H.M.Stanley]

Nice thread! I'll be checking this out in detail for inspiration.

[AKULA]

Love the new mats... wide open spaces = kill zones 

Your buildings look excellent as wel.

[CapnJim]

Sorry about the delayed response - been on vacation and just now getting caught up on stuff...

Nice thread! I'll be checking this out in detail for inspiration.

Thanks!  I suspect I'll be putting up more modern stuff as time goes by here in the next several weeks...

Love the new mats... wide open spaces = kill zones 

Your buildings look excellent as wel.

Thanks!  And yeah - maneuvering in open streets in a firefight can be a bit of a bitch...  

[CapnJim]

As I (inadvertently) mentioned in my Vietnam thread, I picked up some modern stuff at Advance the Colors earlier this month.  I got most of it from Miniature Building Authority, including 2 diecast 1/43 Humvees.  I got 2 28mm .50 cal weapon stations and gunners to go with them. 

Well, they needed a proper NATO tri-color camo job and the weapon stations needed a bit of assembly and or course painting, which I have now done.  As you can see from the pics below, they are a bit on the big side (they do indeed scale out to 1/43), but I think they'll work out fine.  As you can see, I've included a couple pics with 28mm figures to illustrate scale.  Here they are:









Up next is some Balszaki infantry (Balszakistan is my fictional 1990s former Soviet republic) - painting on them starts tomorrow.  Pics to follow once they are done, of course, and they, along with the US infantry and Humvees have a scenario waiting for them......

 

[carlos marighela]

Nice!

If you ever change your mind about the Humvees then Tamiya do nice ones in 1/48. Currently on my list for a future Panama 1989 Just (Be)cause scenario.


PS:  Knowing you to be a fellow creative with plastic figures, the Rubicon US army figures with AKs swapped out from their NVA box make very acceptable PDF. Just need a few Kpots. Actually they make pretty good 'anyone with a mix of surplus Soviet weapons and BDUs' which covers a wide variety of folk both past and present.

[Ash]

Good job on the vehicle camo Jim.