"Easter Eggs?" Topic

Do you deliberately embed surprises – sometimes known as 'easter eggs' – in your wargaming armies?

Such as one figure with bare buttocks among other infantry levy?

Or one figure on a base facing the wrong direction?

Easter eggs? we don't need no stinkin' Easter eggs…

I have a Wizard with a machine gun.

I have Mel Gibson in a militia unit, lying paralytic and covered in his own wee.

No, but I have a plastic Easter Egg that I'm working on for another project, so I guess given that, then technically "yes" to the original question posed.

I have put a Dr. Who Tardis tucked away in an alley.

Nope. Never did that but it is a cool idea. (Do I lack creativity, much?)

I have several ACW 15's shooting the moon and one or two waving their pecker. I can't remember the maker (Peter Pig?) but I love them.

Once in a 28mm Napoleonic battle a regiment of Zulus held a copse and deterred movement in that area for 2/3 of the game until my opponent discovered what they were. Once laughs were had I swapped them out for the real unit.

I like to have a character in a unit when possible. A marching unit would have one man out of step, a crossbow man drinking while the rest of his unit are in combat posses and so on.

Foundry did a lot of them but some come from other makers.

Wisards with a rifle as a wand of thunderbolts was anouther favorite.#

x42

When I was running 3D D&D games I had two skeletons, the first was carrying a pizza and the second had a wine bottle in one hand and a six pack of beer in the other. I planted them near the middle of the dungeon and when they were uncovered it as time for a refreshment break.

Does a chain-mailed, mounted Dervish Emir brandishing a Thompson smg count?

I have a unit of Dwarf "Thunderer" Handgunners painted as the Tennessee Titans. (It's 10mm, so it's not all that obvious, but the colors are there.)
That's about as Easter Eggy as I get, minis wise.
(But in my D&D adventures, I will include the rare punny name or oddball object from time to time— such as a deck of goblin UNO cards. Marked, of course.)

I don't know if this counts as an "Easter Egg". My decades old D&D group played a lot of scenarios in the City State of the Invincible Overlord" setting & my son played with us when he got interested. Fast forward to his college years & he & his buddies wanted to play so I restarted a CSIO campaign. In one session he & his gang went into a tavern in which a table of 6 drunks are being loud & harassing the waitress. My son's party think this is bait for a brawl so I describe the louts in detail & he recognizes them as my old gang all of whom had advanced to 10th level & had 1 or more magic weapons; he wisely told his buddies to restrain themselves.

A Gentleman Gamer of my OLD acquaintance was new to TSATF in 1982 and began collecting/painting MiniFig Zulus.

During one of the first game with his figures added to the table, there was one Zulu (forgot the regiment) I suddenly noticed didn't have an Iklwa or knobkerrie. On closer examination, I realized he was holding a scratchbuilt Boom-Box against his right ear and was trucking his away across the veldt.

Magic moments…

TVAG

I included The Brunswick Boys from the Band in a Bennington scenario. Just because. Just because the legend surrounding the battle had the Stealth mission to steal horses and cattle had a brass oompah band, and the dismounted Dragoons wearing 12 lb boots. Even the most sober historian could not resist snickering about them. I've come to believe they are semi mythical. Maybe. But it's not a hill I'm willing to die on.

So I collected drummers, fifers, horn players, even oboes and bassoons from the Eureka Saxon range. I made them a baggage guard and made certain rulings I clearly didn't think through. They took every shot made in their general direction and never checked morale.
It was a memorable game.

Had an Al Capone figure, complete with Tommy gun and cigar, in the command group for my Napoleonic Italians.

I should have remembered my ultimate Easter Egg— though it's one that's kinda hard not to notice:

Nope.

I put a bandanna on large hog and used him for security on a farm, and moonshine still.

Love the Snoopy bit! And now it is all about forget about where Waldo is and where, oh, where, is the lovely Waldina for me?! ; )

My 15mm Prussian generals for 1806 are commonly rated "Despicable" by the rules we prefer. So on one corps commander stand I fabricated some Minions from the Despicable Me movie franchise.

etotheipi, where did you get ALL of those wonderful civilians from?

Are they Clix figs from various ranges?

I could use some more of those.

Everyone knows if I am hosting/running the game, not to do it. Most of my games I provide both sides anyway. So it rarely happens. In fact I can remember it happening only once but it wasn't my game. It wasn't a skirmish game, it was a regimental ACW game and it was a modern building on the battlefield.

I do like to have the odd quirk, but they are generally fairly obvious.

The civvies are indeed 'Clix. Including Wanda and Waldo:

inlgames.com/where.htm

I tend to scarf up civvies as I play a lot of modern era, near future, pulp, and scifi skirmishes, so I have tons. I am especially proud of some of my B-Movie conversions like Enter the Dragon Jim Kelly.

If you don't want to scrounge (though I personally enjoy that and recommend others give it a go), I could sell you a flat-rate box full – converted or 'raw": etotheipi at inlgames.com

My closest approach is in fantasy & SF. Ratling snipers have uniforms derived from Napoleonic rifle and jaeger regiments, and my cheap plastic knights have the colors and logos of local college and universities.

But pride of place goes to my Amazons--a mounted commander in Vassar colors, peltasts with Playboy logos on their peltas and the aristoi--my best Hoplites--each have on their shields the logo of some trendy cause from "no smoking" and recycling to Planned Parenthood. Sadly, in a 24 casting unit, I only have two duplicates.

I have painted various designs in hoplite shields such as Mickey Mouse ears. On the front of some scythed chariots I have painted a couple of national flags like Brazil. For my 28mm Arabs, I have painted various words on the shields in Arabic, such as "pizza" etc. I had one opponent who could read Arabic and he said that he was impressed.

Got bored and did the same, back in the dark ages, with some 15mm hoplites. Can't disremember them all but there was a single digit salute, chevy emblem and "this space for rent". Good times <lol>

Much like Thresher01, I have some painted plastic Easter eggs. Someday I'll get them on a gaming table.

All my noizemarinez are wierd, but I'm especially proud of these …

This shady back-alley arms dealer looks like someone you all have heard of …

And the plastic Easter eggs …