Weekender XLBS: Amazing Hobby Travel Kit & Mega Star Wars Tabletop Chat
October 25, 2015 by lloyd
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![Warcradle Studios Reveal TINY New 10mm Festive Marker! [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/11/christmas-kyle-main-600-338.jpg)
am i first?
Uh huh 🙂
Mornin’ 🙂
Or happy Sunday *jazz hands*
already ordered the osprey black ops. this looks ace
happy sunday
Thanks very much for the intro, @warzan (6:30) – Indeed we’re trying to handle the conflict in the east Ukraine / Donbas with a proper degree of delicate care. Many probably consider this war actually “ongoing” rather than “recent” – although recent news is the last eight-ten weeks seems to indicate the Minsk II agreements are finally taking hold. Let’s hope for the best.
Just to level-set expectations about “insights into how modern warfare works” . . . there are really several “kinds” of modern warfare. These articles will deal primarily with one in particular, the others less so.
Most modern conflicts these days aren’t fought between modern, trained, well-equipped and well-funded mechanized national armies. At least one side is a militia of some sort, a rebel group, terrorist network, or similar ad-hoc body. Obvious examples of these “asymmetrical conflicts” are the Soviets in Afghanistan, Americans in Vietnam, modern Afghanistan and Iraq. Basically, one side is a “militia” of some kind and the other is a national army.
Ukraine was somewhat unusual in that a great deal of the conflict was fought between TWO militia-type forces. This makes the conflict startlingly LOW-TECH. And in these cases, when @dignity asks: “Is it really that much different than World War II” . . . the answer is: “Not as different as you may think.” Even when these groups get their hands on top-shelf weapons (and many times they do), the lack of training means that the weapons are not used to the full potential. This makes the UNIT “low-tech,” even if their weapons are high-tech.
Now, a lot of modern-warfare gamers like to play high-tech, high-training elite special forces teams. In these situations, tactics and technology obviously change radically.
Finally, there the kind of modern warfare which we can only imagine at the moment (thankfully) . . . a full head-to-head between two modern armies. This is radically different from World War II, as we saw in 1991 Desert Storm . . . possibly the last Industrial-Age army (Iraq) fighting the first Information-Age army (Coalition). What might happen when TWO “Information Age” armies are thrown against each other? Drones, satellites, cyberwarfare and cyber defense of military systems, electronic warfare, cruise missiles form 1500 kilometers away . . . Will there even BE a “battlefield?”
Anyway, we’ll be looking at historical engagements that took place between May 2014 and June-July 2015. “Historical” . . . that word sounds odd when your “historical” engagement is four months old . . .
I’m only a bystander when it comes to historical wargaming. But this look at more recent/current affairs actually has me more interested than the true historical stuff. Perhaps it’s the feeling of proximity that it could happen today. Or the what-if of what might happen next.
Looking forward to the presentation. I’m sure you’ll do fine.
Thanks, @bucketknight . Not to give too much away, but the first article starts off with a quick primer on “why play current-conflict games,” and the right and wring reasons to open this can of worms. A big part of the “pro” side is this sense of proximity, immediacy, and relevance I think you’re talking about. Yes, if could happen today. Set up a desert board in Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan . . . and it IS happening today.
You can always use a film as a background story like say crimson tide you can make the table top battle the area around the missile base to prevent the launch? @oriskany I think even top gun had a ground battle mentioned in the news reports in the film?
Happy sunday
Killian that screams kickstarter!
I’m considering it. I need to come up with a version to fit inside an aluminium flight case and a few other modular options for this design.
Love the paint station Killian can you add a box to the base of the station with say wheels and a telescopic handle like the newer suitcases about now? For the compressor.
Happy Sunday!
AT-AT movement – Surely if you put the size 1 turn on the OTHER side of the base, it will turn less (so you turn into the shorter part of the curve instead of the outside of the curve)
I’d be interested in one of those cases that Killian made. That would make life so much easier, especially for shows. I use to run painting demos at shows and this would have been great.
Morning. Happy Sunday.
I’d love that case, not as a carry case but just as a desk tidy. Very useful looking!
Same – my main problem is storage space for everything. That case would work a treat!
Happy Sunday!
@oriskany Looking forward to that series, hope I can add to the debate.
Certainly, @benc . Hope to see you in the comment section. 😀 In terms of debate, I’m really walking right down the middle of the road as far as the two sides of the conflict. Impartiality and objectivity are, I feel, part of the sensitivity that’s so crucial with a project like this.
That said, the Ukraine’s desire to join the EU and very pro-EU outlook tend to make them the “good guys” in the eyes of Western media. So when I “walk down the middle of the road” . . . it may seem as if I’m leaning toward the various factions of pro-Russian separatists. The fact is that a big part of the country DOESN’T want to join the EU or have anything to do with the West. It’s a horrifying prospect to them, enough so that a full-blown shooting war started over it.
Another of the big questions in the Ukraine conflict is whether the Russians were actually involved. I think enough circumstantial evidence has now piled up to make this pretty much a given. But how much were they involved, how directly, and where and when, is certainly still up for debate.
Lastly, the kinds of questions I really HOPE we get will revolve around how to capture this kind of low-intensity, asymmetrical, or “non-kinetic” warfare on the table top. I have a few ideas on the subject, and Ambush Alley’s “Force on Force” game I feel allows for a good fit for reasons I’ll go into in the articles. But I certainly don’t pretend to know everything, this is my first real push into modern warfare miniatures gaming. 😀
@warzan, you can’t reveal a tease, then go straight on into another tease! You sir are a bounder! I have a heart condition you know.
Still, two hinds will go some way to recompense me but six would be better
Black Ops has the rules you need for counter strike. Stealth is a big part of this, Rules on guards and there movement is a good dice idea. This based on the rules will take you up to ghost recon future solider. The only thing missing is the mini drones, but easy to work into the rules. Looking forward to testing with the the thoughts of “strike back” ghost recon wildlands and the division on the table top…even read dawn..!!!!
Happy sunday
For the AT-AT movement, use the inside of the 1-move template. That will make it turn slowly.
was just about to say the same thing!! great minds eh? 🙂
black ops is a must pick up for me sounds great, and this team yankee bootcamp is officially op as fuck, you lucky bunch of sods! happy sunday btw
So, now i still need to scoure the internet to find out what is actually in the army deal…
Don`t expect me not to spoil my findings in the bootcamp threat though 😉
Happy Sunday!
Nice work Killian
Wouldn’t you want the at-at to have 1 die attack and not 5 if if does 3 damage for each hit, will slaughter a model every turn if not. Angle of fire is largely irrelevant when all possible targets are flying down a corridor at you, bit of a duck shoot really.
It balances out with their slow movement, limited numbers and narrow angle of fire. Playtesting is underway to see how they preform on the table.
You have an at-at walking up a narrow corridor of trees, everything is in it fire arc flying at it
There’s a great bit in one of the old EU X-Wing novels, “Isards Revenge”, where Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron take their X-Wings into combat against a force of AT-AT’s, and the result of taking a starfighter up against them, versus the Snowspeeders of “Empire Strikes Back”, where blasters & tow cables have been replaced by laser cannons & photon torpedos, and the outcome swings heavily back to the Rebels 🙂
And if you want a feel for X-Wing combat over Couruscants streets, dig out a copy of “Wedges Gambit”. Z-95’s vs TIE Fighters as the Rogues and their allies attempt to bring down the planetary defence grid, whilst one of the deadliest storms in the planets history rages around them.
Also, the Rogue Squadron games on the N64 & GameCube were great for depicting starfighter battles in a planets atmosphere. There’s a couple of standouts – a mission to rescue captured pilots from an Imperial Prison that requires using the Y-Wings capabilities as a bomber, a linked set of missions that involve an asssault on a Star Destroyer that causes it to crash and then jumping to a coastal assault where the partially submerged SD and it’s surviving crew fight you off…
Black Ops seems great. I will use my Elhiem 2010+ US Rangers with NV googles and all. A four man team for £3.25 and plenty of cheap vehicles and scenery in 20mm about as well 😎
Killian’s case is awesome!! I would just need a compartment for all those plastic sprues.. 😉
@dawfydd
The Xwing game in the Game Cube was phenomenal..tempted to search the loft now…its gotta be there somewhere..!
Black Ops seems great. I will use my Elhiem 2010+ US Rangers with NV googles and all. A four man team for £3.25 and plenty of cheap vehicles and scenery in 20mm about as well 😎
Killian’s case is awesome!! I would just need a compartment for all those plastic sprues.. 😉
@dawfydd
The Xwing game for the Game Cube was phenomenal..tempted to search the loft now…its gotta be there somewhere..!
@warzan
Ref flooding myths and the like – when the last ice age locked up much of the oceans water the geography looked vastly different: there’s the cases where evidence has been found for settlements on the bed of what is now the North Sea & English Channel, and the Mediterranean would have been much lower as well. Temerpatures were also much different. Case in point – the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. Today effectively a dustbowl, but even 4000 years ago would have been a paradise thanks to the cooler, far more temperate climate. There have been ancient burials found where bodies have been buried with pots that contain the coiled remains of snakes. This, coupled with some portions of the ancient epic poem “Gilgamesh”, have given rise to theories that this would have been the historically origin of the “Garden of Eden” myth…
loads of stories, but never heard that one – cheers @dawfydd!! one of the big ones I’ve always known about is the flooding of the black sea – as sea levels rose, it breached the dardanelles (which had acted as a natural dam) flooding the basin beyond and giving rise to the black sea. Scary stuff! Glad I live in one of the highest parts of England haha
Not a problem @bigdave! I trained in Archaeology for 6 years and it’s always stayed an interest. And what you say about the Black Sea is pretty much what is believed to have happened to a degree with the Med, with the Atlantic flowing in over the natural barrier that was in place linking Europe & Africa.
England is an interesting case as when much of Southern Europe, Africa & Asia had far more forgiving climates, it was 90% covered in glaciers (hence some of the utterly fascinating geography we can find) so the plains that have since been submerged were the only places you could live…..
So Killian, when are you taking your project to Kickstarter for mass production? Because I want one. Maybe not so much as a carry case, but as a convenient quick to pack hobby station.
If you made a design about half the size that might work better as a carry case. Of course then you have to be more selective about what you want to bring along.
And I found the discussion about AT-AT movement options quite interesting. But perhaps that’s just because I have an interest in game design.
Fanhunter looks interesting in a weird way, but it might be challenging to produce such a game. I’m wondering if Vesper-on will find enough support for it outside of Spain. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite companies for originality though.
I don’t know anything about Fanhunter and the look of it doesn’t particularly interest me, but I’m glad companies like Verper-on are making things like this. Variety and new ideas are always good things!
preppie
Characterizes a young, wealthy individual who keeps up with the latest fashion trends, usually styles which include brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, Polo, Nautica, and others.
Feels elevated from the masses or commoners in terms of style, social graces, popularity, and suaveness. Hobbies include lawn games, golf, boating, and being seen.
Typically the offspring of a yuppie. Most likely will develop into a frat boy or sorostitute once they reach college before becoming yuppies themselves.
“Look at that preppie over there. After class, he must be going up to the lake to ride around on his dad’s Cobalt boat.”
AKA a spoilt rich git?
At this stage I have the “Project Box” from GW which to date I think is the ssingle handed best “Accesory” product Citadel has ever released.
But it doesnt even begin to compare to this… Not at all
Unfortunately Id never be able to carry this on the motorbike like I can the Project Box in my Battlefoam Bag
Happy Sunday!!!!!!
with the black ops game you mentioned us infinity players and a also recon haqqislam would work to a degree too.
Happy Sunday!
Justin’s ignorance of the pink blowpipe remark, was a thing of true beauty
Me too. What is the origin?
The “arse onist” pun had me applauding vigorously until my wife asked me why I was clapping…then I felt weird.
just had a morning full of panic, i get up fresh as a daisy after my extra hour in bed to find no internet and no weekender as a result. an hour later its still no internet and all my tricks exhausted. Thank god for tech support and a very nice chap called Chris after a further 15 minutes some head scratching by him and what seemed like a masonic hand shake at the end we found the problem……………bloody windows 10 and the bar stewards who created it!
now though ive had my xlbs chill out and all is well again time for some hobby and a big pot of coffee great show as always chaps loved KIllians storage idea but if its so heavy why not put it on wheels like a suitcase the problems solved then
The Fanhunter characters look like the Moomins! Remember them? I thought it was going to be some weird mashup with the Moomins and guns. 😀 In fact, someone make that a kickstarter game, Moomins ‘n’ Guns. It sounds amazing. I’ll back it.:D
Oh Killian it wasn’t Benedict Cumberbatch (which is a shame), it’s Andy Serkis that you heard in the first trailer 🙂
Killian, that case is absolutely brilliant. It may have taken a long time to create, but it looks phenomenal and I would bet any gamer/hobbyist would be quite proud to have something that unique and, honestly beautiful, to transport their precious (not inexpensive) items. Kudos to you mate!
Cheers!
Happy Sunday everyone 😀 .
Cracking show ( as ever ). One thing though, I think the AT-AT rolling 5 attack dice is powerful enough, you shouldn’t need to have any hits rolled multiply into 3. Just use them as they are and watch the damage mount up on the ships ( what with the critical hits funky effects and such as well ), you would knock out most rebel ships in next to no time.
I liked that slasher movie game, that’s something I’d want to play, looks like a good laugh.
A preppy is the American name for a group of people that always have the most current and up to date fashion and act like it. As most schools don’t have uniforms this really shows up in school where they dress better than all the others. They can include the cheerleader and the jock but usually not any of the other groups.
Thanks for the f-ing flash back to High School @warzan, now I am going to have that nightmare about having my degree taken away because of a paperwork error and I have to redo High School. 20 years out of HS and 15+ with my BA and this one still shows up every once in awhile.
The 7th Continent sounds like a really great game in solo as long as you can leave it set up between sessions and I think I will pledge for it because it might make a nice alternative to Pathfinder. And speaking of Pathfinder you guys really, really need to crack open that Rise of the Runelords box sitting on the shelf. Reach out to me on Skype and I’ll talk you through it.
As for the Star Wars stuff, if you DO decide to do another in-atmosphere table why not turn things ok their side and expand on my vertical ‘mat’ with actual magnets so you can wall mount it properly instead of using tape and blue tac like I did!
http://www.freewillstation.net/StarWars/corr2.pg
Great show guys, the Team Yankee weekender will be brilliant; the star wars universe can be a brilliant place for battles how many admirals will be fighting to be the (new) emperor with fleets off stardestroyers squaring up to each other as rebel forces extend control of areas contested, @warzan use a 45 degree angle before or after the ATAT moves for the turns? Meteor 2.0 needs a Bruce Willis card to instant win? The 7 continent sounds good, crimson creek sounds to much like all the scream/ last summer/ Freddy films to me.
The only thing that bugs me about Crimson Creek is that it is billed as an homage to 80’s slashers but the art style doesn’t match it – though the game mechanics do. I think I would liked to have seen photography ( real-world creepy locations, characters in 80’s clothing) used for the card art.
Oh wow! I want that transport box from Killian! Amazing work!
Another great Weekender 🙂
Nice to have Killian and Ben on board. Killian’s case was marvelous. Nicely designed and once he gets a mini compressor he is all set!
The Team Yankee boot-camp sounds like it will be a blast! Lucky chaps who are able to make he journey to the Studio to hang out with the BoW team and game all weekend.
Osprey’s Black Ops sounds like something anyone in to modern gaming should look at. I have toyed with gaming rules for this sort of thing before so nice to have Osprey put this out. As for Star Wars, had to skip the movie discussion section as I just don’t want to know…yet! lol 😀
The Endor game however, is exactly the kind of stuff my gaming friends would be in to. We are having a game of Imperial asault this afternoon, starting the boxed campaign. Love to combine ground and air forces within X-wing so have been following the ‘Endor’ developments with relish.
I have been so busy of late I haven’t had time to game or enjoy any tabletop hobbies. The Weekender has motivated me to make time, hence the Imperial Assault game today, so thanks guys for keeping the enthusiasm flowing in every post.
great show welcome again Ben, Kilian when you will start selling your magic box? if now will you share file/blueprint so we could print it?
For the X-Wing rules, considering how fast flyers really move in comparison to ground vehicles, why not make the AT’s move every other (or third turn)? Then you could use the standard templates with no modifications. I’m not sure how often they should be able to shoot.
happy sunday and see you next saturday!
Does anyone have a problem with it being called “The 7th Continent”? We already have 7, so shouldn’t it have been the 8th? Realized something was bothering me about that and it dawned on me that we have 7 the hidden one should be the 8th.
i remember watching an 80s show about special effects that said model spaceships had a black line around them when they were put on film back-screens. This meant the models worked well in space scenes but blue sky and Hoth were very difficult to film…
think of the tech back then –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jgq0E5gxVo
My wife say’s for the model chest “couldn’t you put a handle and wheels on like a suit case?”…..great Idea ehh!
Definitely interested to see how Killian’s case develops. I like the sound or a lighter external case to fit everything in and the potential for other storage/internal components seems like you could be on to something there! Out of interest what is the make/model of the mini-compressor that was mentioned?
Will be keeping an eye out to see if DeepGreenX Designs pops up on Kickstarter, although would recommend a pledge to have it arrive built as not sure I would fancy putting that together myself 😉
I hate C-3PO
Right there with you. One of the most overrated characters in Star Wars. He doesn’t ALWAYS need to be around. Characters can just stop appearing!
really interested in that laser-etching stuff. A Heroquest fan cut an entire replica board using this…
Wow that case is awesome. I thought it was a professionally constructed kiy when I first saw it. I’d want to invest in one as a desk tidy for my small hobby workspace. It’d be brilliant I reckon.
@warzan A prep is someone that dresses very clean and trendy, usually used to describe rich high school and college students. Also the horror short about the blob in the middle of the lake is (I believe) from creepshow 2.
The Painting-in-a-box was amazing! Maybe a bit to heavy to carry easily, but with a reinforced bottom and wheels it can be a great roller of some sort.
The Fanhunter universe was a big thing here in Spain a decade ago, and it surprises me they are making another miniatures game (the old one is not very good looking, but it did have the “classic” Fanhunter style). All said, I really love the series, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the miniatures, because that Killer Dog it’s just great.