"Paraphenalia: the Sudan" Topic

People talk about the time involvement in painting new units/armies when you embark on a new period.

Sure, figure painting is time consuming but I'm finding assembling the paraphernalia associated with new rules/new period to be equally daunting.

The case in point is the Sudan using 'The Men Who Would Be KINGS".

Whilst painting large-ish bunches of Beja & Ansar (& interminable numbers of camels) etc, I am contemplating terrain.

I have a certain amount of suitably desert-items from my NKE gaming & though I will reluctantly be unable to use my pyramids & temples, I should have some vaguely correct items but will need to create more place & period specific terrain pieces. Some buidings are crying out to be bought/built. And sometime I'm going to have to add the Nile & a gunboat or three.

Then there's markers. KINGS has its own nomenclature & unique morale & order states that I am addressing. More to do.

And Unit Cards. Each unit needs an often slightly different one which I've devised, printed & am in the process of laminating. And QRS. And some acceptable scenarios. And…..you get the picture?

I'm feeling buried in the "extras".

I like TMWWBK…can't understand what you mean by needing extra stuff to play it.

One of the points about the rules was that you shouldn't need special stuff for it!

Markers for units- you mention that theres different morale states. Well, theres "pinned". And "Not pinned". Surely you don't need a marker for both states?

Orders: Most orders are carried out immediately and you don't need to remember later who did what. No markers required.
The only two exceptions I can think of are Close Order (which can be marked by moving figures of a unit in to close order) and gone to ground. I suppose you might need a marker for that.

So thats two markers plus a rostersheet /unit cards and QRS which can be printed off from the Osprey resource site.

I can't help thinking that its a lot quicker and easier to do that than it is to put together another 100 plastic zulus…

Your inconvenience is my heart & soul.

I love all the little details. That's why I pick the genres I do because I'm fascinated with it and love exploring the main game as well as all the supporting stuff that make it possible. That, to me, is the hobby itself: planning, organizing, building, creating – the game is just the cap stone.

If there's history to be understood along with it then all the better!

@ Mike:

Leaderless, Close Order, Pinned, Gone to Ground. I want markers for all these.

Units completed, so far, 7 Egyptian & British & 10 Sudanese.
Each different in terms of name (even if it's Beja #1) & different qualities. I like the Unit cards to look good so specific illustration & colour.

My approach to the game may be a little more demanding than yours &, yes, I know I'm doing it to myself. So probably no sympathy but still: demanding.

Re: Sudan gaming needs.

I just completed 3 battles in the Sudan as part of a campaign. My thought was how little terrain was needed.

1) I use a desert ground cloth.
2) Added some hills under it.
3) Some common stones scattered about near the hills.
4) Some tan reindeer moss for rough terrain and (in one action) a zareba.

I had the same kind of trepidation when I contemplated doing a set of winter terrain for games. Seemed like a gargantuan task.

However, as VCarter shows, sometimes representing a particular part of the world or climate only requires a few basic cliche pieces.

In the end, I simply spray painted a painting tarp with some brown and white spray paint. Winter surface was taken care of. Then for a 4 x 6 board all you really need is maybe five or six stands of winter trees with bases, maybe a couple rock bases. Walmart Xmas trees, at most you need maybe 12 or 15 trees on several bases. I already own hills for spring and summer games, so those are just placed under the tarp. I have a modular rive in blue which can be used for any gaming season or climate.

Right there that serves the needs for 99% of any winter battle. The only truly specific terrain I would have to make would be like for Frostgrave if I decided to do a few ruined buildings with snow effects.

"So probably no sympathy but still: demanding."

I thought making a rod for your own back was what this hobby was all about ;)

"though I will reluctantly be unable to use my pyramids & temples" "
it seems that your knowledge of history more that "demanding" is appaling..ahahahahahaah

+1 Flashman

+2 Flashman, kind of the same mindset. I love the discovery of history when starting a new period. I too am starting this period with TSATF and although I understand Ochoin's point of view I see it as just part of the great good, (limbers, cache's, terrain, markers etc)

Well, *I* for one can commiserate with ochoin.

After all these years, I know better than to think starting a new project is a simple matter of getting a few miniatures painted. In reality, painting the miniatures is a small fraction of the effort. In fact, painting is only about the same level of effort as basing, and those together are rarely more than half of the effort to get a first game together. Sometimes the financing is the longest-running effort… I've actually gotten really good at spreadsheets during large-scale ordering offensives, while trying to keep a handle on the overall budget when sourcing miniatures and terrain and new markers and so on from multiple points of origin, but such money-engineering can easily spiral into weeks, months, or even a year of pre-calculations before any triggers get pulled.

OTOH, I say "commiserate" with tongue firmly in cheek. I enjoy making markers and terrain and unit rosters and OOBs and such like. I guess I'd better – such efforts constitute a pretty significant portion of my hobby time. I just spent about 3 weeks fleshing out the fleet lists of the major navies in the pre-dreadnought period (well, okay, 1885ish to 1910ish, but it's a loosely defined "period" anyway). Now I know what ships I need for the RJW, for the "what ifs" that didn't happen before, during, and after the RJW, what manufacturers to get the models from in 2 different scales (1/3000 and 1/2400), the different basing schemes for each scale, some OOBs for various games to play… and on and on. Wheeeee!

- Ix

I'm with Flashman14 et al. Making things, painting, writing scenarios and orders, finding things to use, and playing at the table are all elements of the hobby, and I enjoy all of them.

+++ to Flashman and others

++++ to Flashman.

Of course I like making/buying/acquiring the figures & bits & pieces. It's the hobby, after all.

Still, daunting when you're itching to get a game going.

ochoin, I feel your pain! I wanna do Plains War with "Kings" I bought a ton of old Foundry figs, most from here on TMP, now all I gotta do is paint em. That alone is pretty daunting! I have pretty much all the terrain, well except teepees. I have markers all ready to make, then cast for pinned, etc. But it's all those Mounted and dismounted warriors & Troopers. Not to mention dead Warriors, Troopers, mounts, ponies, saddles… I could go on but I gotta go paint some more!
Peter
board2deathterrain.com

Check out Blotz – They have a subsection of TMWWBK counters!

Although rather than the ones with written descriptions we only use the "Zulu" shield token for G2G status and crossed muskets for close order.

blotz.co.uk

Old Glory makes some decent teepees in light-weight resin, Ceterman.

Naturally your first game will be the Ceterman Massacre.

I went to a craft store and bought a bag full of wooden cubes about 5/8" (20mm) to a side. Then I painted each side a different color and put a simple code for unit status. That way there's no hunting for the right marker, they're all there. I did it for one game by making the sides with clip art in powerpoint, printing it out and gluing the paper to the cube. Of course, if your status markers must look like battlefield detritus this might not make you happy.