Chicken Race on the Arumbaya

[Centaur_Seducer]

I really look forward to this project, and obviously more pics with the man and his dog

[Hammers]

I really look forward to this project, and obviously more pics with the man and his dog

True story: the man in grey recently walked into a bar with that equally grey mutt in tow. The man claimed the dog can talk. "Give me a beer and I'll show you." The bartender poured him a beer to him and the man asked the dog, "Hey, what is that above our heads?" The dog says, "Roof!" The irritated bartender said, "That's not talking, he sounds like any other dog." So the man said, "OK, how about this - Listen, cur, who was the best baseball player of all time?" The dog answered, "Ruth!" At this point the bartender threw the man and the dog out of the bar, which compelled the dog says to the man in grey, "Ya think I shouldda said DiMaggio?"

[Centaur_Seducer]

Classic, and still funny!

[Hammers]

I've started to prime some flamingoes but I realize that four of them won't make a flock. Who but Mega Miniatures make flamingoes in 28mm?

[gamer Mac]

Great looking project
How big is the river going to be?

[Hammers]

Great looking project
How big is the river going to be?

Glad you asked, because that's what I need some help with. The river board (I am thinking a roll of mud coloured vinyl or similar) will have a band of dense jungle along both long sides. There will be at least three channels at the starting point  and plenty of island and reeds in the river creating different routes.

So, to answer your question, the river needs to be wide enough to fit jungle on both sides + three ships + a challenging enough shooting distance between them roughly according to T&T gun tables.

My personal experience is that few games with a bit of dicing and cross referencing in each turn benefits from running more than five rounds. Therefore the (stretch of) river needs to be one ship length + 5 times the maximum speed per turn of the fastest ship.

[Wirelizard]

My personal experience is that few games with a bit of dicing and cross referencing in each turn benefits little from running more than five rounds. Therefore the (stretch of) river needs to be one ship length + 5 times the maximum speed per turn of the fastest ship.

That's shaping up to be a very big board indeed! Maybe rent a school gym during the summer and play on the floor? 

What are the dimensions of the steamer in your LPL entry photo, and what's the envisioned maximum speed of a fast steamer?

[Hammers]

That's shaping up to be a very big board indeed! Maybe rent a school gym during the summer and play on the floor?  

What are the dimensions of the steamer in your LPL entry photo, and what's the envisioned maximum speed of a fast steamer?

Oh, the Cacafuego, the biggest in the armada can't be very fast, that decrepit old thing, whatever the Paquadorian Navy claims. It's roughly 35 cms, stern to bow. A top speed of 60 cms per turn would mean 3 meter table which isn't unmanageable. There is of course another possiblility, that old wargaming SFX trick to build the river in modules and rebuild the board in front of the ships with modules they have left behind them. That would also render an impression to the gamers that they are venturing into unexplored areas, and thus, among other things, can't plan their route all the way to the goal.

[Hammers]

Classic, and still funny!

Well, you're from Göteborg, of course you like worn out old jokes.

[Frank]

WOW! What a great project. Interesting story, beautiful miniatures (these Amazon Indians are fantastic) and your plans for the gaming-board sounds promising. 

[Westfalia Chris]

Oh, the Cacafuego, the biggest in the armada can't be very fast, that decrepit old things, whatever the Paquadorian Navy claims. It's roughly 35 cms, stern to bow. A top speed of 60 cms per turn would mean 3 meter table which isn't unmanageable. There is of course another possiblility, that old wargaming SFX trick to build the river in modules and rebuild the board in front of the ships with modules they have left behind them. That would also render an impression to the gamers that they are venturing into unexplored areas, and thus, among other things, can't plan their route all the way to the goal.

60cm per turn (24") sounds a bit fast, although not unreasonable. I see the problem in that T&T doesn't have a fixed ground and/or timescale, but considering that passenger cars have a maximum speed of 30" on good roads, I would consider scaling back boat speed to maybe 18", which would still require a 108" table, or 280cm - not much of a saving.

That said, I think the key point when determining vessel speed is that if undamaged, they should have a speed advantage over native canoes/dugouts/whatchamacallits. The paddled ones moving less than 12" just wouldn't look right, too.

I am quite enamoured with the rolling table concept. You could do a compromise in having the outline of the river static , but add the surrounding terrain as the first boat enters the new section (they would have some maps of more or less adequate quality, so they know the course of the river, but none of its surroundings). This would either leave the banks blank until visible, or cover all the table in trees and replacing them with other features as required.

[Hammers]

Yeah, they ship speed was more of a rough estimate. I want to think the whole thing through but I don't want the end result to become complicated rules to just to make it 'realistic' (which I have always felt is a rather absurd concept in miniature wargaming). The game is supposed to look good and be fun to game. A good story.

[Hammers]

I really look forward to this project, and obviously more pics with the man and his dog

Speaking of him, I feel I must shoehorn him and the dog into the game somehow. Perhaps the goal of the teams should be to see a man about a dog.

[Westfalia Chris]

Yeah, they ship speed was more of a rough estimate. I want to think the whole thing through but I don't want the end result to become complicated rules to just to make it 'realistic' (which I have always felt is a rather absurd concept in miniature wargaming). The game is supposed to look good and be fun to game. A good story.

Don't get me wrong, I would definitely prefer a "looks and feels right" approach to number-crunching realism myself.

That said, a top speed of 24" might not be too out of place for the steam launches. Without unnecessarily complicating things, one might just have ALL vessels be able to move the same maximum speed, but add some "restraining element", for example, a higher chance to hit a snag or shallows at higher speeds? This could increase excitement while forcing players into some tradeoff decisions.

Another idea I had, although I am not sure if I will add them to the gunboat rules, would be to "share out" the ships movement, i.e. have the players set a speed during turn plotting (1-6", 6.1-12", 12.1-18", 18.1-24") and then move each vessel at the same time after each regular unit activation bound for an appropriate fraction of their movement. So, if each side had three "regular" units, the maximum number of activation bounds (# of cards in the unit card stack) would be three. If a vessel was set to move 18" in a turn, this would mean it would move 6" after each infantry bound is completed.

This somehow removes the vessels from the normal activation stack and makes them more akin to "moving terrain pieces". I think it would be most suitable to the large, lumbering vessels, whereas the smaller ones could be moved more like "land" vehicles.

[Hammers]

Speaking of knots an ships, apart from the Cacafuego I have not shown you the other vessels I  will be converting, building and using, have I?


Steam launch à la African Queen from Brigade:



This kit was plainer than I expected. I am not dissatisfied, but since I want two crafts for the adventurers or sailors I think I can do better scratch building the second. I haven't decided if the sailors should man two self propelled vessels or if the launch should tow a barge or a raft full of armed men and cargo. The latter would of course mean a speed penalty for the sailor team.

Two 1/48 Rescue boats from Glencoe models.



These kit I am currently converting to motor launches from the destroyer HMS Reckless, affectionately named 'Humpty' and 'Dumpty' (or something of a similar ilk) by the RN landing party manning them. They are supposed to be motor launches so I may have to give them a speed bonus.

As you can see I am hoping to give each team particular vessels, each with its particular drawback or advantage. The Federales team will have only one medium fast vessel but it will be armed with a deck gun and can take more damage. With a bit of thinking though and game testing I hope I will strike some sort of balance.