Great Guitar Lessons

Stevie Ray Vaughan Guitar Lesson

2011-01-16T04:15:00.001-08:00

Train--Hey, Soul Sister - Super Easy Beginner Acoustic Guitar Songs Lesson

2011-01-14T06:05:00.001-08:00

Queen

2011-01-14T05:43:00.001-08:00

Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Easy Beginner Songs on Acoustic Guitar Lesson

2011-01-14T05:41:00.001-08:00

More than a Feeling

2011-01-14T05:35:00.001-08:00

Layla

2011-01-14T05:34:00.001-08:00

Learn How To Play Easy Beginner Acoustic Guitar Songs - First Cut is the Deepest sheryl crow simple

2011-01-14T05:23:00.001-08:00

Cat Stevens

2011-01-14T05:15:00.001-08:00

Peace Train - Cat Stevens

2011-01-14T05:14:00.000-08:00

Acoustic Guitar Lesson - Natalie Imbruglia - Torn - Free Online Guitar

2011-01-14T05:06:00.001-08:00

How to Play - Life is a Highway - Rascall Flats - Tom Cochrane - Easy Acoustic Guitar Lessons

2011-01-14T05:01:00.001-08:00

Journey - Don't Stop Believing - Super Easy Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lessons

2011-01-14T05:00:00.001-08:00

Bon Jovi - It's My Life - Easy Guitar Song Lesson With The Axis of 4 Chords simple song

2011-01-14T04:57:00.003-08:00

Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends - Acoustic Guitar Lesson - How to Play

2011-01-14T04:53:00.001-08:00

Love Story - Taylor Swift

2011-01-14T04:50:00.001-08:00

Use Somebody - Kings of Leon

2011-01-14T04:48:00.001-08:00

James Blunt - You`re Beautiful

2011-01-14T04:43:00.003-08:00

Stand by Me

2011-01-14T04:43:00.001-08:00

Let it Be

2011-01-14T04:42:00.001-08:00

How to Play Sweet Home Alabama on Guitar

2011-01-14T04:40:00.001-08:00

Old Time Rock n Roll

2011-01-14T04:39:00.001-08:00

Bob Seger Night Moves

2011-01-14T04:17:00.001-08:00

Night Moves Lesson

2011-01-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

Tommy Emmanuel Lesson on The Music Row Show

2011-01-14T03:58:00.001-08:00

Mark Knopfler interview - Parkinson - BBC

2011-01-14T03:43:00.001-08:00

A great insight into Mark Knopfler's Technique

2011-01-14T03:38:00.003-08:00

Mark Knopfler gives Bill Oddie a Guitar Lesson

2011-01-14T03:38:00.001-08:00

Mark Knopfler Master Class Part 3 (of 3)

2011-01-14T03:37:00.002-08:00

Mark Knopfler Master Class Part 2 (of 3)

2011-01-14T03:37:00.000-08:00

Mark Knopfler Master Class Part 1 (of 3)

2011-01-14T03:36:00.001-08:00

Guitar Lesson: Mark Knopfler Style Lick

2011-01-14T03:35:00.001-08:00

Mark Knopfler gives a guitar lesson 2001

2011-01-14T03:34:00.001-08:00

Sultan`s of Swing

2011-01-14T03:32:00.000-08:00

It`s all in the Die Roll

2010-11-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

Ashton's Corner: An Article by Pastor Alexander Ashton
An Avid HisSim Gamer

Who Says religion and playing games about history can't mix?

It's All in the Die Roll

Anybody looking for a game with perfect play balance where victory is completely dependant on the skill of the individual
should steer away from Historical Simulation Gaming (HSG) because history teaches us that whilst skill and comparative strengths
do influence results it is the unseen hand of providence that seems to determine victory.

Read More:

Lego Japan: Our 日本語 Site

2010-11-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Lego Japan: Our 日本語 Site

Lego Japan: Our 日本語 Site

Lego Spongebob Japan - レゴスポンジボブ　新しい世界を学ぼう

スポンジボブスクエアパンツカートゥーンは、以下のような巨大な成功をおさめています。レゴはスポンジボブの付属品を作ることを決めました。スポンジボブは子供にとても人気があるので、会社もレゴスポンジボブの必要性を無視できなかったのです。

New Star Wars Lego Sets for 2011

2010-11-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

New Star Wars Lego Sets For 2011 - Clone Wars Ships, Battle Packs and More

New Star Wars Lego Sets For 2011 - Clone Wars Ships, Battle Packs and More

By Inger Fountain

Star Wars has to be Lego's most successful franchise and it's not hard to see why. The almost too-good-to-be-true combination of the best building toy in existence with the world's biggest Sci Fi franchise (sorry Trekkies) is a fan's, not to mention a toy-maker's, dream.

Over the last ten years Lego has released an awesome range of Star Wars Themed sets, from all six movies as well as the Clone Wars television series and the occasional Extended Universe ship. In 2011 they will continue to come up with amazing sets, if initial images of the first wave is any indication.

Due for release in January 2011 the latest Star Wars sets are heavily focussed on the Clone Wars animated TV series. After the success of previous battle packs, Lego will focus on army builders form the Clone Wars by releasing a Clone Wars Battlepack (7913) and a Mandalorian Battle Pack (7914) both priced at $10.99.

The Clone Wars Battle pack will contain four figures; Clone Trooper, ARF Trooper and two Bomb Squad Troopers which is a nice mix of clones and differentiates this set from earlier clone trooper battle packs. The Mandalorian Battle Pack will come with four of these famous Star Wars clan-based characters, as featured in Season two and three of the Clone Wars cartoon. Each battle pack also comes with a small vehicle.

Vehicles are also featured in this first Star Wars Lego 2011 wave. Set 7915 is the Imperial V-Wing Star Fighter, already the subject of a Lego set back in 2006 (Set 6205) but this latest version comes with a black color scheme for both the ship, pilot and astromech droid.

Set 7929 entitled The Battle Of Naboo is the first Episode One set for some years. It features a large amount of figures, mainly battle droids and a couple of Gungans. The set also comes with a droid carrier featuring a dark red color scheme instead of the rather drab brown versions of the past. The new Gungans look to be more varied and detailed than the versions from 10 years ago. One of the Gungans is, of course, Jar Jar Binks and his headpiece is painted and looks absolutely beautiful.

The Bounty Hunter Gunship (Set 7930) was featured in the Clone Wars Television series Season Two Episode 17 entitled, appropriately, "The Bounty Hunters". The ship is dark green in color with accents in yellow and gray which blend in nicely with the episode's location, Felucia. Widening the scope of bounty hunter minifigs this set comes with the long awaited Aurra Sing as well as Embo, Sugi and an Assassin Droid who were all featured in the episode.

The last set of this first Star Wars Lego wave for 2011 is the T6 Jedi Shuttle (7931) also known as a Jedi ambassador shuttle as featured in episode three of Season two "Children Of the Force". The distinctive semicircular shuttle looks very nicely done and comes with some highly anticipated figures. Finally fans can add the Jedi Quinlan Vos, Shaak Ti and Saesee Tiin to their collection as well as another Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Overall this first Lego Star Wars 2011 wave looks wonderful and contains some notable Star Wars figures that fans, new and old, will be eagerly awaiting.

Inger loves stories and loves to write. As a librarian in a previous life she also has an insatiable thirst for general knowledge. You can visit her latest website which takes a look at the best Learning Toys including Lego, Playmobil and the new Leapster Explorer console from Leapfrog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Inger_Fountain

http://EzineArticles.com/?New-Star-Wars-Lego-Sets-For-2011---Clone-Wars-Ships,-Battle-Packs-and-More&id=4993145

Lego Blocks

2010-10-29T04:55:00.000-07:00

Lego Blocks - Why Have They Successfully Endured The Test Of Time

Lego Blocks - Why Have They Successfully Endured The Test Of Time

By Kevin R Burns

Lego blocks were originally patented on January 28th 1958 - that's more than 50 years' ago. Yet, did you know that you could still use any Lego building bricks you might have bought from that year with the company's current-day bricks?

In to-day's throw-away society, very few products can boast such a remarkably long shelf-life, and the durability of these attractive, colourful blocks is just one reason out of many for their outstanding popularity. But, before we consider the other reasons, let's take a brief look at the beginnings of this renowned plastic brick...

Origins Of Lego

The original founder of today's colourful plastic building brick was a Danish carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen who, at first, concentrated on making wooden toys.

In 1934, the carpenter named his company "Lego", from the Danish "leg godt" which, roughly translated, means "play well". However, it wouldn't be until the year 1940 that the company started to offer plastic toys. And, it wasn't until nearly 10 years' later - in 1949 - that interlocking bricks were introduced, sporting the now-famous round studs on one side, and rectangular hollow on the other.

Reasons For Their Success

When originally introduced, the little building bricks were not particularly versatile. Also, plastic was not considered in a particularly favorable light when compared to wood. However, the Company, with its motto of: "Kun det bedste er godt nok", or: "Only the best is good enough", continually worked on and improved its toy.

Nowadays, it's renowned Worldwide, perhaps being fairly unique in the fact that it pleases both children and their parents: kids derive hour upon hour of fun from it; whilst Mom and Dad recognize that playing with the toy is developing their offspring's creativity, dexterity, as well as problem-solving faculties.

Here are just a handful of other reasons for the never-ending popularity of the bright little bricks:

• Safe, suitable, and fun for children of all ages... adults too!

• Versatile - most ranges are compatible with each other.

• Durable - you can even pass them on from one generation to another.

• Value-for-money - once purchased, they could last longer than you!

• Easy-to-clean - just wash in warm, soapy water.

• Easily-obtainable - from local stores, the Internet, or eBay.

• Environmentally-friendly production and marketing.

• Many different styles - from the ordinary building bricks through to boxed, up-to-date themes such as Harry Potter, Star Wars and Space Police, which include all people and items to fit the particular theme.

The Company continually strives to improve its product. Nowadays, you'll even find Lego Education Centers, complete with qualified instructors, and fun, Legoland Parks, where you and your family can enjoy castles, dinosaurs, pirates, wild animals, and even water parks.

Fads come and go but, one thing's for sure... Lego blocks are definitely here to stay!

Kevin Burns is creator of Burns-Brick-Country.com, where you can read about and share your stories of the famous Lego blocks.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_R_Burns

http://EzineArticles.com/?Lego-Blocks---Why-Have-They-Successfully-Endured-The-Test-Of-Time&id=5269506

Where to buy Games?

2010-09-08T17:19:00.001-07:00

The perennial question comes up!

If you are in Japan, then Maelstrom Games in England offers free worldwide shipping for orders over 10 British pounds. An outstanding deal. They sell GW, Privateer Press and a few of the other big names. I have had excellent service (UK to Japan in a week). http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk/

If selection is more important, The Warstore, you know the one, in New York has a very big selection of all kinds of games, even some of the smaller, independent ones.

Great Canadian Games has a good reputation too but mainly deals with the larger companies like GW.
http://gc-minis.com/

JIGG Magazine

2010-05-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Please visit our brand new site at the link below for the latest news and articles
from Japan`s International Gamers Guild. Join us too if you love to play
games and live in Japan:

http://kintaro63.wordpress.com/

Pictured: Games Workshops, Eldar Codex

The Dead Games Society

2010-02-24T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hi guys, been a while since I last checked in.

Most likely, not many any longer remember me, I'm Chad, the guy who took the picture of the dice used on the homepage here and was also one of the guys who started the whole Magic night atShakey's in Takadanobaba.

Anyway, I wanted to let all know about a new group Iam involved with called the Dead Games Society. We are all about playing andpromoting out-of-print games whether through running them at conventions or justhosting discussions on our forums board. I thought I would link JIGG to oursite and was hoping JIGG might do the same for my new site.In any event, I hope I'll see some of you over on our forums:) www.dgsociety.com

Regards, Chad Parish

Christmas 1968

2009-10-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

It was Christmas Day in 1968. I was five years old. Santa Claus had come
I was sure. I had done my best to be a good boy. As good as I could be.
I loved toy cars, I loved teddy bears, and I loved trains. What would
Santa have brought down our chimney?

I left my bedroom on the second floor and padded down the stairs to the family
room, where the Christmas tree was--a white tacky, plastic number that grew to
represent this festive day to me.

What greeted me was a site I still remember over forty years later. It was an
S scale American Flyer train set that my parents and older brothers had cleaned
up to give to me. It had been in the family for a while at that point, but
was still in good condition. They had rewired and scraped off any rust that
was apparent on the solid metal tracks.

S Scale as some of you will know, is larger than HO scale. The trains have
heft and fill your hand, or are too big for your hands when you are only five.
They make a solid train sound when they run over those rails on a
wooden board, and if you get your little five year old head down to that level
and watch the train coming, it feels like you are really there and
that pine forest is real.

The transformer had a speed gage which I loved. You could choose at what speed
to run your engine at, I think I chose to cruise at 60 miles per hour but might
run it at over 100 on the straight aways. I was careful not to
de-rail. I had important packages and needless to say, passengers I had to
deliver safely to their destinations.

My family had painted a large 4' by 8' board green. They had a mini-tree
forest and there were lichen hedges to complete the scene.
There was an operating train crossing that would set off lights and bells
when the American Flyer approached. Moreover, the man at the factory would
react when you stopped in front of his chute and pressed a button. A box
would slide down the chute into the waiting box car. We were a little behind
schedule. TBut that was okay as soon the boxcar door would close and off the
American Flyer would go I imagined to unload her cargo in some far off miniature
city.

There were no computer games when I was five, no Playstation 3. Life was
simpler then. But I could spend hours with that American Flyer train and
imagine alternate futures I might have. There were no thoughts of being
a doctor, lawyer, accountant nor teacher for me then.

Being the train crossing man did not enthuse me.
I didn`t really relish being that factory guy in the blue suit and hat. I
didn`t merely want to to push a box down a chute, I wanted to drive that train.
Would I be the engineer? I thought so. That was the only job for me. And
I could be anything I wanted at five.

Santa didn`t give me the American Flyer. But it didn`t matter. My family
gave me one of the best presents I have ever received.

by Kevin Burns

R/C Supplies in Kanto

2009-09-02T14:46:00.001-07:00

Pictured: The awesome Type 74 tank. Oooh Santa, could you?

Christian Pugh from a post at JIGG`s Yahoo Group

Go to Akihabara. There are lots of electric parts stores there. For specifically R/C you could try Yodobashi Camera, they might have some in the train section. There is also an electronics specialty store that is hard to find but has a lot of the kinds of things you can only get at Radio Shack. I forgot the name offhand. But it is on the other side of the street from the station, behind the sega world i think?
There is an 8-bit billboard of Mario and Pac-Man on the wall at the end of the alley where the store is. It`s a really small shop.

The other big place to get electronic and all modeling parts is Tokyuu Hands. There are at least 2 in Tokyo.

One is in Shinjuku, and I think the other one is in Ikebukuro? Google the locations. There may be a third one somewhere.

How to Make Warhammer Modeling Flock

2009-07-31T03:03:00.001-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

Spending almost $200 of your budget for a modeling flock is too big just to produce a 4' x 4' grassland gaming board. Is always be a problem you will face in making a gaming terrain but this will not be a hindrance for you to experiment on what decision to undertake. Because you want to work on a small budget this is something you had get over.
Doing research on Yahoo or Google on how to create a modeling flock or by just simply asking a friend who knows how to create one. That can lower the $200 to a $10 or less. But be sure to watch and read on the instructions for they will cause you problems in the results of your modeling flock. You should admit that making your first modeling flock will not be that easy for it will not produce similar to the modeling flock that cost $200. You should not be afraid to try every thing every possible way to have your modeling flock be the flock you want.
Without further delay the content of this article is the detailed instruction on how to make a modeling flock.

Step 1 - Get Your Materials Ready
Here is what you’ll be needing:
-a container to mix it in (we use a gallon sized ice cream container)
-a cookie sheet to dry the modeling flock on (don’t use new ones, your mother / wife won’t be happy)
-a tube of green paint (in the picture it shows a tube of blue paint and a tube of yellow paint, but we found it easier to just get a tube of green paint)
-water
-a stirring stick
-sawdust (that’s right, modeling flock is just dyed sawdust!)
-a fine strainer
The tubes of paint that we use are 4 U.S. fl oz, or 118 mL. We buy them at the dollar store for $1.
You can get the sawdust from any lumber mill that near your place. They should be more than happy to hand over a garbage bag full free of charge. If not, then just find someone you know who is a carpenter.
Take note that the sawdust should have been made from sanding, not from cutting wood.

Step 2 - Dilute The Paint
First you will need to dilute the paint that you are going to use to dye the saw dust. The amount of paint that you water down will determine how much flock you will make.
You will discharge the entire 118 mL tube of green paint into the container and then fill the container 3cm (about 1 1/4 inches) full of water.
WARNING: If you water down the paint too much your flock will be brown.
This is the common mistake which will end up with ugly stuff and waste. Even though it started out a nice green it will end up an ugly brown, which was useful only to be used as dirt and not grass. But we are going to create a grassland so better careful.

Mix the water and paint with a stirring stick. You can use any typical stirring sticks that you get from the paint stores, but you can really use anything that you don’t care getting stained with green paint.
(Important Note: The colour of your flock will be slightly browner than the green paint that you mix, so choose a colour paint that is slightly brighter than your desired modeling flock colour.)

Step 3 - Add the Sawdust
The next procedure is to add the sawdust on the paint. First add a small amount just to turn the watered down paint mixture into a compact sludge. Then continue adding more and more sawdust until it is mixed in well with the paint.
The easiest way to tell when to stop adding sawdust is when you add a bit more and it is very hard to mix in (i.e. it is hard to get rid of the brown sawdust). This is the point where you should stop.
Warning: If you stop sooner your flock will not be fine enough.
However, don’t expect your flock to be as fine as the Games Workshop version at this point for they already perfected the mixing of the paint and the sawdust. That will come sooner or later.
Once you have finished mixing the flock you are ready to move to next step.
Step 4 - Spread Out Your Modeling Flock to Dry
You will now need to spread out the modeling flock to dry. You can use two cookie sheets to dry out the amount of flock made with your desired proportions.
In spreading out the damp modeling flock it should be evenly as possible, then put it in a cool dry place and not be hit by strong winds for 24-48 hours. Make sure it is completely dry before proceeding to the next step, or else you will not get the same quality results as what Games Workshop produces.

Step 5 - Screen the Modeling Flock To Make It Finer
A fine strainer with a small openings you will have in doing the last step and that is to screen the modeling flock through it. There may be bunches that are just too hard deal with. You should really work if this happen until you cannot screen a dust from it. This will not be garbage cause it can be use as a mossy rock on another models.

MiniWarGaming.com provides useful tips and tricks on creating Warhammer terrain, Warhammer 40K terrain, and more. Read more of these tips and tricks in our fully illustrated MiniWarGaming site by visiting http://www.miniwargaming.com

Tags: google, budget, garbage, hindrance, flock, doing research, oz, ml, tubes, cookie sheet, sawdust, dollar store, grassland, carpenter
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_252226_14.html Republish How to Make Warhammer Modeling Flock Bookmark and Share
Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

Warhammer 40k Bell Tower Project: WIP Part 3

2009-07-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

(Scroll down for parts 1 & 2 of the Bell Tower Project--Editor)

In the second part of this project we discuss how to paint and prime the bell tower. And we also create a rooftop base to support the bell. In this last part of the sequel on how to create a Warhammer 40k Bell Tower its time to finish what we have started.

Step 1 Create Rooftop base

Cut a base that would fit the rooftop with appropriate side walls. After you finished cutting the rooftop base glue the walls to the base.

Step 2 Glue decorative pieces to base

This step gives beauty and characteristic to the base. You can use the windows from the walls you cut out in the first part of the project. Glue them appropriately to the base in any fashion you desire. Then let it sit to dry.

Step 3 Paint rooftop base

Acrylic black paint is also what to use in painting the base. Make sure that it is strong and can stand on its on foundation before you begin painting.

Step 4 Create upper tower walls

These walls will be used for the bell area. Be sure to make the windows large in ratio against the walls so that you ca clearly see the bell outside. You can damage them a little too if you want a wrecked outlook. As for me i like doing it for new look on the structure nothing is as boring as perfectly in tact buildings.

Step 5 Apply codex gray.

After you finish priming the upper tower walls with acrylic black paint, coat them with codex gray paint. Next step is to coat everything else with codex gray.

Step 6 Flooring

This step is very important for the reason that it adds loads of realism to your structure. Start by cutting the ends off a stack of Popsicle sticks. Lets not count or nor will i give exact number on how many Popsicle stick you cut because it will depend on the structure you decide to make. After you have cut the exact amount of stick you needed in making the floor glue them on to the floors .
You also going to accent the wood floors with snakebite leather then lightly dry brush with bestial brown.

Step 7 Destroy and paint the roof top

The bell tower should be demolished from the back corner all the way down to the bottom. Therefore we are also going to destroy the roof top to match the subsequent levels. Just simply use a utility knife and carve out chunks off the foam board in scraggy shapes. After all the cutting and carving its time to paint the edges with chaos black to add a scorched look.

Step 8 Tarnish the bell

Its time to stain the shiny bell to add new look into it. Use fine grit sand papers or a sanding block to wear away your bell surface. Apply yellow ink then brown ink in generous amounts that can give a tarnished look to the bell. After being tarnished place the bell wherever you want. You can place it on the main floor of the bell tower, on the roof top level or even up on a built contraption.

Tags: step 6, step 2, glue, exact number, step 3, flooring, tact, decorative pieces, realism, wood floors, black paint, sequel, side walls, bell tower
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_460179_32.html Republish Warhammer 40k Bell Tower Project: WIP Part 3 Bookmark and Share
Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

Warhammer 40k Bell Tower Project:WIP Part 2

2009-07-31T02:58:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

In the first part of this project we discuss on how to get started in making a bell tower from marking the windows up to gluing the structure together. The steps we tackle in the first part is only the basic in preparation for the second part which is more of painting and beautifying the bell tower. With out further do, this is the continuation of bell tower project. So don't worry if in the last article your project was not finish. Lets start the work going by

Step 1 Cut out base

After cutting out the windows you're going to cut a base out so that the walls have something to stick in to. You can made it just large enough to fit two space marines along the outside of the building once in place.

Step 2 Glue popsicle sticks

Start this by slicing popsicle sticks width channels in each level. Next glue popsicles sticks according to its place. These will give enough support to the structure when everything is glued together and in order. Once finished gluing all the popsicle sticks let it sit to dry for 5-10 minutes.

Step 3 Glue structure together

This is where we make busted up flooring. Make it so it’s able to rest on both walls for stronger support. Hold the walls up perpendicular to each other and glue down the floors until it dries up. This will enable the building to stand by itself. Be sure that the wall can stand up all by itself. Next glue supports to the base. Use the windows that were cut from the walls.

Step 4 Prime the structure

Use acrylic black paint in building when going to base the building. Its better to include when painting the beneath the floors so that if you want to take a picture of it there is an art.

Step 5 Create Rooftop base

Cut a base that would fit the rooftop with appropriate side walls. After you finished cutting the rooftop base glue the walls to the base.

Step 6 Glue decorative pieces to base

This step gives beauty and characteristic to the base. You can use the windows from the walls you cut out in the first part of the project. Glue them appropriately to the base in any fashion you desire. Then let it sit to dry.

Step 7 Paint rooftop base

Acrylic black paint is also what to use in painting the base. Make sure that it is strong and can stand on its on foundation before you begin painting.

Step 8 Create upper tower walls

These walls will be used for the bell area. Be sure to make the windows large in ratio against the walls so that you ca clearly see the bell outside. You can damage them a little too if you want a wrecked outlook. As for me i like doing it for new look on the structure nothing is as boring as perfectly in tact buildings.

This will encouraged you to do more terrains when looking your wrecked and slightly damaged bell tower cause it there will never be a dull moment when you are playing with it.

Tags: step 1, step 6, step 2, glue, continuation, step 3, dries, flooring, decorative pieces, black paint, side walls, bell tower
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_459512_32.html Republish Warhammer 40k Bell Tower Project:WIP Part 2 Bookmark and Share
Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

Warhammer 40k Bell Tower Project:WIP Part 1

2009-07-31T02:55:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

In our article for today is all about building a bell tower. So lets just set aside some of our worries and focus our mind in creating something wickedly awesome a Warhammer 40K Bell Tower. The most important component in building a bell tower is a brass bell which can be purchased on a dollar store which is abundant during Christmas season. Now that we had already the brass bell we can already ready to construct. So pull up your socks, demist your glasses and repeat after me,”Warhammer is my life”. Did I say that out loud? Anyway, let’s build some terrain.

Materials list:
• 20?x30? foam board
• utility knife
• pencil
• ruler
• popsicle sticks
• white glue
• an Ipod playing Zeppelin and a little patience while cutting the foam board.(you’ll see what I mean)

Step 1 Marking the Windows

I tried making a Gothic/Imperial guard/city of death look to it. This is the part where your artistic instinct license comes in. Feel free to design and let your mind and basic instinct come to play in choosing your desired design of the windows. Draw your chosen design of the window on the foam board. It would be better to create a lot of windows on your tower. It creates a more clear feeling while looking through the building.

Step 2 Cut out your Windows

Cut out your windows according to what you have drawn, it should be pretty strait forward. This will test your patience sometimes cause you have drawn more windows so expect to cut more windows too. Although this is where you'll need to bite the bullet for a good while and just cut till you are so occupied in your work that when somebody come sup to bother you and call up your name three times, that only the time you begin to respond cause you do not want to be disturbed when cutting out the windows. After cutting out all the drawn windows its better to sand the insides to have a smooth sides.

Step 3 Cut out base

After cutting out the windows you're going to cut a base out so that the walls have something to stick in to. You can made it just large enough to fit two space marines along the outside of the building once in place.

Step 4 Glue popsicle sticks

Start this by slicing popsicle sticks width channels in each level. Next glue popsicles sticks according to its place. These will give enough support to the structure when everything is glued together and in order. Once finished gluing all the popsicle sticks let it sit to dry for 5-10 minutes.

Step 5 Glue structure together

This is where we make busted up flooring. Make it so it’s able to rest on both walls for stronger support. Hold the walls up perpendicular to each other and glue down the floors until it dries up. This will enable the building to stand by itself. Be sure that the wall can stand up all by itself. Next glue supports to the base. Use the windows that were cut from the walls.

Tags: step 1, patience, worries, glue, christmas season, step 3, pencil, socks, ruler, basic instinct, dollar store, utility knife, bell tower
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Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Warhammer Stepped Hills

2009-07-31T02:54:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

A stepped hill for a warhammer! In able to create a warhammer stepped hill you should have focused and set your imagination with warhammer games in mind. So that you come up with a very nice and unique warhammer terrain. By the doing this you should remember all the war movies you have watched and try to imitate the hills that you have seen in the movie. Therefore the top of the hill will be a same as the size of an envelope 3 5/8 x 6 ½ inches in size. On the bottom level it will be wider than on the top of the hill and there should be enough space and room to place a line of at least ten space marines.

Materials:
Polystyrene (Styrofoam insulation)
Envelope 3 5/8 inches x 6 ½ inches
Masonite
brown paint

Step 1. Cutting the top level

Get the polystyrene (Styrofoam insulation) with at least 1 inch thick and then draw the outline of the envelope into it. Next step is to draw an oval shaped guideline 1 – 2 inches around the polystyrene. This will create a gradual slope on the outer edge of the top level. Cut out the top level.

Step 2. Designing the sides

Once the top level has already been cut, begin shaping the gradually sloped sides by slicing away thin shavings of polystyrene it is recommended that use a wire cutter. Give all your best to be able to create a rounded, 45 degree angle without cutting into the envelope outline. Just do all your best and repeat again if it not correct. Be sure to incline the sides with a 45 degree angle so that it will look like a real hill.

Step 3. Making the Bottom level

Then you make the bottom level by tracing the outline of the top level into another 1 inch thick piece of polystyrene. Next draw the outline of the bottom level by tracing around the line of space marines. Continue by rounding off the edges like the top level.

Step 4. Gluing the sides

The Masonite is marked by tracing around the bottom level. Use a beveled edge when cutting out the edge. The only difficult part of this is here, try your very best to make the angle fit with the curve of the bottom level. Glue the three pieces together using hot glue or white glue. You can also reinforce the hill by putting in two toothpicks in between the levels. To speed up the drying process and save some time you can use a hairdryer.

Step 5

Apply a filler to merge the gaps between the steps(Spackle will work fine). Glue clusters of sand and gravel on the hill to give your hill the effect of stony ground. Next is to paint the whole model using any brown paint.

Step 6

By painting the whole model with brown paint it seals the polystyrene. Dry brushing other brown paint can actually be done it is not necessary needed seeing as it will be covered with flock. To finish all of, apply a thin layer of white glue over the hill do not include the rocky areas. And sprinkle with Warhammer modeling flock

Tags: step 1, step 2, enough space, step 3, slope, degree angle, top of the hill, outer edge, shavings, polystyrene
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Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Basic Warhammer Bases

2009-07-31T02:52:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

After all the days work and at last your Warhammer army is now freshly painted. As you looked into your great work of art you can see that all the sacrifices, creativity and patience paid off. But hey your just looking at the Warhammer army and not the whole thing. The bases where the warhammer armies stand on are purely black and without color. You can ignore it and continue playing with the warhammer army. But looking on the big picture putting color in your bases makes the whole item more elegant and adds beauty to it. As we all know that even though you just painted your warhammer army the best paint you cant deny the fact that the base will also add some beauty to it.
So for this article we are gonna learn some important tips and tricks on how to make basics warhammer bases. Doing this project is just like taking the cookie away from the baby. So its time to gather all the materials and continue on painting your warhammer army beginning with the base.
Materials list
-paints (A whole array of color choices are workable for bases)
-brown ink
-small paint brush
-PVA glue (white glue)
-GW sand (This can also be bought from a hardware store or picked up from a nearby beach.
-modeling flock
-newspaper (for setting your minis on while they dry)

Step 1 Priming
Priming the base, for this basing project our theme is the rocky wasteland. Because of its simplicity we will not have a hard time painting the base. Prime the base with scorched brown.

Step 2 Adding Sand
Next step is adding more texture onto the base by doing this you are adding more life on the miniature. So brush PVA glue (white glue) onto the base, you can apply more glue so that there will be a lot sand that will stick onto it. Now sprinkle sand on it, you can choose between dipping the base with glue into a tub of sand and then rap off the excess sand or just sprinkle the sand into the base. So lest just prefer sprinkling cause we can choose the right granule of the sand that we will be putting on the base.

Step 3 Adding a layer of brown ink
After the sprinkling of the sand we can see that theres a lot of loose sand particle in the base. So to get rid of those unwanted loose sand particle, add a layer of brown ink to the whole base for it will lock all the loose sand particle. Because the sand particle is already been compressed and lock it will also give you comfortable time later in painting the next layers of the base.

Step 4 Dry Brushing
After adding the sand and getting rid of those loose sand particle by adding a layer of brown ink. We come to the final detail part of the project the dry brushing. Dry brush a layer of vermin brown and then terracotta to add color. Now the last part of the dry brushing is the adding of bestial brown and snakebite leather.
By adding these layers of dry brushes you’ll refine the bases’ ground terrain and add realism to it.

Step 5 Flock it!
After sitting to dry the base, simply brush on PVA glue (white glue) for the last procedure of the project. By brushing white glue to random parts of the base you can see that it add more variety to the base when you sprinkle the flock.

Tags: step 1, step 2, big picture, glue, hard time, hardware store, flock, work of art, color choices, sacrifices, paint brush
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Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Fast Warhammer 40k Barricades

2009-07-31T02:50:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

In every battle or every war nothing is more important than life or saving your life. You have to find a quick cover or something where you can hide your self. This process is also be a challenge during battle in Wargaming. Not just in real life situations but also in Warhammer gaming.
Instead of finding quick cover where there is a slim chance that you can escape the enemy or avoid the attacks that will be brought to you, why not throw up a or build a few fast barricades to ward or block off some of the incoming enemies. While having a barricade you can think of ideas of how to counter the attacks of your enemies.
For this article you will find and learn tips and tricks on how to make fast and efficient warhammer 40k barricades and ideas for different cover terrain.

Materials to be used:
polystyrene (Styrofoam)
cardboard
straws

Barricade 1 concrete and rebar/corrugated metal scraps

For this step you will need a piece of polystyrene (Styrofoam) and cardboard (ie. From a pizza box)
Simply shape and cut your Styrofoam into any small shape you can think of. This includes cinder blocks, rebar (made from wires), scratch the Styrofoam with a utility knife, bust out chunks to resemble explosions, basically your finished product will resemble a pile of random debris all piled together into one lump.
After you finally piled together the debris of the Styrofoam,base coat it with an acrylic black for the concrete parts of the debris. Afterwards dry brush it heavily with codex gray. Then lightly dry brush it with skull white.
For the corrugated metal parts, apply blood red paints and then dry brush it with graveyard earth, then finally dry brush with bolt metal gun

Barricade 2 Rusted metal pipes

For the metal pipes it is automatic the we use bendy straws, so grab a stack of plastic bendy straws. Cut them up into various sizes or whatever size that comes up to to your mind then glue them together. Once their were glued together already base coat the straws with acrylic black paint. Next, paint on blood red, ad then dry brush it with graveyard earth, and lightly dry brush with bolt metal gun.

Barricade 3 Corrugated Metal bunker

When creating a corrugated sidings using a cardboard, simply tear the cardboard apart so that you can see its corrugated part inside.
This process is simply constructed using a cardboard and popsicles sticks.
Simply glue together a rectangular shaped bunker with the Popsicle sticks as framing and the cardboard as the exterior simply because of its corrugated part. Base coat it with acrylic black, for rust effects paint it with blood red, then dry brush with graveyard earth, and then finally apply a dry brush coat of bolt metal gun.
You should make the windows fit the height of the guns or weapons that fit your army. To achieve an advantage during gameplay you should not glue the roof, it should be detachable, this is very helpful during gametime.
And that's it, you have now your metal bunker with a barricade.

Hope you have enjoyed some basic barricades and ideas for cover terrain.

Tags: chunks, finished product, life situations, polystyrene, straws, black paint, barricade, utility knife, slim chance
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Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Quickly Add Detail to Your Warhammer 40K Tyranid Army

2009-07-31T02:47:00.000-07:00

Pictured: GW`s Tau

by Matthew Glanfield

Now you've got a large Warhammer 40k Tyranid army but you are not yet satisfied with its full details so you want to add quick details. But your dilemma is you have got to sacrifice a good paint job in order to save time. In this article you will learn tips and tricks on how to quickly add detail on your army without spending a ridiculous amount of time on painting. And the best part on this is that it would not look like a quick paint job. Just be sure to let it dry first before proceeding to another paint color.

For this article we’ve chosen to paint a termagaunt.

PAINTS
-bubonic brown
-bleached bone (optional)
-brown ink
-yellow ink
-red gore
-scab red (optional)
-blood red

Step 1 Paint bubonic brown
From its original color simply begin by painting a layer of bubonic brown on the skin of your termagaunt. Just paint it smoothly and equal on both sides.
Step 2 Dry brushing the termagaunt (optional, you could skip this step to save time)
Next, dry brush equal amounts of bubonic brown and bleached bone to your termaguant but this step can be skipped if you want to save precious time if you want to. This is just optional if you want to add more detail to your termagaunt.
Step 3 Light dry brush (optional, you could skip this step to save time)
After dry brushing with bubonic brown its time to dry brush again it with bleached bone. Just like the second step this third step too is optional you can skipped this if you want to save time just be sure that you paint the termagaunt perfectly.

Step 4 Washing the termagaunt
(NOTE: Make sure your termaguant are completely dry before ink washing them or you’ll smear the paint. Trust us, you’re better off to wait a few minutes first.)
Here’s the fast detail part. Wash your termaguant with 2 parts brown ink, 1 part yellow ink and 2 parts water.
Step 5 Paint armor
To be able to recognize the armor of the termagaunt from its body you should paint a solid layer of red gore onto your guants’ armor. Make sure that you only paint the armor and not including is body, that is why you need to have fine smooth brush for this.
Step 6 Highlight armor (optional, you could skip this step to save time)
After painting the armor with red gore paint, its time to add some highlights into it. Now add some highlights of scab red into your termagaunt armor. But if you are in a hurry you can easily skipped this step to proceed to the next step to save some time.
Step 7 Highlight some more
Finally, add some last highlights of blood red to your termagaunt to add more details on your termagaunt and do it again on another termagaunt.
There you have it! Quick details in half the time, looking twice as good. Enjoy!

Tags: amount of time, dilemma, step 1, step 2, armor, few minutes, precious time, army, step 3, tips and tricks, painting, paint job, paint color, scab
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Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Warhammer 40k Barbed Wire

2009-07-31T02:45:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

When you have to protect your bunker or your house from burglar, terrorist and wild animals or enemies you gotta have a barbed wire attach to your fence. This will get those people who have bad intentions on you to think twice how to get into your house if you have a barbed wire into your fence.
Plus wild animals will not easily get into your place if you have it because it will get their skin wounded or scratched.
In wargaming adding barbed wire to your warhammer 40k terrain is always good to have some extra protection. It’s a relatively simple and easy process and looks great. Now for this Article we are going to show you step by step how to make barbed wire for Warhammer.

Materials List
-ornaments hangers (or paper clips)
-a reel of garden wire
-scissors
-wire cutters
-pliers
-utility knife

Step 1 cut garden wires

The first step we gonna do is to make three equal sized lengths of garden wire. It is a wire used in gardening can be bought in any hardware store. We' re not just focusing on just garden wires, you can actually use electrical wires as well, or multi-strand wires. But for this project we'll be using garden wires.

Step 2 Strip wires
After cutting the garden wires into three equal sizes its time to get them strip. Strip the wires using a wire stripper or a utility knife.

Step 3 Twist wires
Its time to make it a real barbed wire by twisting the three wires together. Using a thick pair of pliers hold the three wires together on both ends and begin twisting.

Step 4 Add ornamental hangers
After you have twisted the wires its time to put some ornamental hangers to the twisted wires. Paper clips also work well in this step. To put the ornamental hangers simply wrap them around on the twisted wires.
After you place all the ornamental hangers its finish already and you can place it in base.

Tags: step 1, step 2, hardware store, step 3, fence, pliers, enemies, scissors, hangers, wild animals, strand, electrical wires, burglar, ornaments, utility knife, wire cutters
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_482856_27.html Republish How to Make Warhammer 40k Barbed Wire Bookmark and Share
Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make a Warhammer 40K Space Marine Bunker

2009-07-31T02:43:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

An essential of most common terrain pieces. Anybody who has a Space Marine army must have a bunker of some kind. It would be ridiculous not to have one. Besides, Its not difficult to create one.

Materials List

-22?x28? foam board
-utility knife
-fine grit sandpaper
-PVA glue (white glue)
-thin polystyrene (styrofoam)
PAINTS
-codex gray
-skull white
-chaos black
-textured paint (gray)

Step 1 Outlining and cutting

There’s a plenty of sizes that could be used when making a space marine bunker. For this reason I won’t give exact dimensions. It will be adequate to say that sides and roof top will be used. So start by outlining and cutting down 4 sides. Be sure to make the windows the same height as their bolt guns. The height of the walls should be close to double the height of a space marine. Assemble 2 walls longer than the others walls so it will look like a rectangular shape. Repeat this process again and pair the walls.

Step 2 Create wall with door

When creating a wall with a door, set up only one of the walls with a door. The inner wall will then become a good background for the door designs.

Step 3 Glue sides together

Attach all 8 sides together. Remember each wall is actually paired with 2 parts combined. This gives the bunker more permanence and the windows are deep set into the building.

Step 4 make roof
Create a roof out of thin polystyrene (styrofoam). Arch the edges with fine grit sandpaper. Try also to chip out some chunks to be like a beaten and battered bunker. It gives more interesting look. Keep the roof unfastened so you can put space marines inside. You may have thought this was an obvious suggestion, but you’d be surprised at the things that disregarded.

Step 5 Prime then paint
Paint the bunker in chaos black or acrylic black paint mixed with fine sand to produce a textured look. This appear like concrete and gives more design when dry brushing. Later, paint the bunker with codex gray. Once dry, dry brush with skull white and wait till it will dry.
A simple space marine bunker designed, cut, glued, and painted.

Tags: step 2, chunks, step 3, exact dimensions, skull, styrofoam, permanence, polystyrene, black paint, utility knife, rectangular shape, grit sandpaper
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Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

Kevin`s Nightmare

2009-07-31T02:41:00.000-07:00

I had a nightmare last night....

It was terrible!

In it, there was an earthquake and I was buried under my
game collection. Axis and Allies was on my head, and it`s
a big game!

I dug myself out.

Then I still lost at Roborally!

I even lose in my dreams!

No respect!

Chaos Khorne Berserker Assembly

2009-07-31T02:32:00.001-07:00

by Matthew Glanfield

The Chaos Possessed Model is already been assembled. Its time to assemble another type of model, the Warhammer 40k Chaos Khorne Berserkers. The model may be different from the chaos possessed model including the parts but the assembly maybe the same. So its not confusing anymore if you have already assembled a Chaos Possessed Model. There might be some difference but will not affect on the assembling of the model.
Time to put together some Warhammer 40k Khorne Berserkers. Let’s get started

Materials list
clippers
plastic glue
file

Step 1 Read through instructions/codex

Just like in everything we are going to do, we should always start by reading and understanding the whole idea of what we are doing. For in reading, we easily know what we are the materials we are going to use and the most efficient and easy we are going to finished the job.
So in assembling your Khorne Berserker's you must read the whole context, instructions, and the codex to make sure that you are only going to use the right weapons for your Khorne Berserkers. That is the best you must do before assembling the parts so that you will taking them apart later if you do not like or you have mistaken attach a single part on the other parts.

Step 2 Glue legs

After you have read and understand the instructions or codex. Its time to gather all the parts and materials we are going to use. So that we can now start the assembling of the Chaos Khorne Berserkers
the first thing to do is glue the legs together. Once you have glued the legs, you will find out that some parts will come fully intact while others will not. So there is nothing to worry about that.

Step 3 glue torso

When you are finished with the legs, prepare the torso and then glue the torso together.

Step 4 Glue torso to legs

When you have your torso and legs already glued together. The next step is glue the torso to the legs. It is a good idea to slightly turn the torso to give variety to your figures.

Step 5 glue head

Now that the torso and the legs are already glued together. You are almost half way in finishing the figure we now completed the body the only part left is the head. So to completed the job, we have to glue the head to the body. On the first step, you have already pick your choice for the head. So simply glue the head.

Step 6 glue arms

As soon as the head is attached to the body, you have already to prepare the important part of them all the arms. This is also the the most important step. You must glue the correct arms to the figure. Make sure that you know what arms to attach because if you attach an arm that is not perfectly fit to the figure it will look awkward and ugly. You did not want your figure to look funny just because you did not put the right arms. So be sure on what you are doing.

Step 7 Glue shoulder pads

When you have already finished attaching all the body parts of your Chaos Khorne Berserker its time to attach the shoulder pads. Just simply glue the shoulder pads.
And there you have it.... You have now your Chaos Khorne Berserker.

Tags: step 1, step 2, job, chaos, legs, step 3, weapons, torso
This article is free for republishing
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Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
http://www.miniwargaming.com

WarHammer 40k Factory Project:WIP Part 1

2009-07-31T02:20:00.000-07:00

by Michael Glanfield

Vehicles, tanks and weapons in the world of warhammer don't just appear in the battlefield as magic they were built in a certain place called the war factory. Not just in the world of warhammer but also in the real world. Vehicles and tanks are made in a war factory. If you have a war factory in your base or in your terrain it is easily for you to create or to have a vehicle that will coincide with the terrain. You can create tanks and weaponry that would best fit in a battlefield that will give you an advantage in the battle. Today, we are going to build one of those factories. Only this one's that we will be creating seen it's fair share of battle.

Materials List

foam board

Popsicle sticks

PVA glue (white glue)

utility knife

fine sand

PAINTS

acrylic black

codex gray

bestial brown

graveyard earth

skull white

Step 1 Outline entrances and windows

The first step we have to do is simply outline or draw in the foam board the doors and the windows. Where you want you doors and windows to be placed at. To give more variety and uniqueness to your project, try to vary the sizes of your windows. Try to add one or two doors on your factory a large door or a garage door.

Step 2 Cut entrances and windows out

After outlining the whole picture of your factory of what is going to look like. Its time to cut the doors and windows that you have drawn. Carefully cut out the windows and doors. By taking care and doing this slowly you allow for better and smoother cutting. By doing this kind of cutting you will ultimately end up with crisper edges which will give you a look ten times better that it should be.

Step 3 Adding extra detail

When you have already cut all the windows and doors that you have drawn. It is time to add some more detail for the exterior part of the factory building. You are going to place another strip of foam board along the second story roof level and along each side of the front entrance. In this way, you are giving the factory building more added variety on it's exterior part. You already know that giving more variety to your projects is very good.

Step 4 Adding floors

After you have added some extra details to the exterior part of your factory building and all your windows and doors are already been cut off. Its time to add the floors. In creating the floor, begin by slicing out channels for the Popsicle sticks where you want your floors to go. Then simply glue in the Popsicle sticks. The next step is glue on your floors. This also braces the walls together.

You can also stick temporary pins through the outside walls into the floors to hold them in place while the glue dries. This also works well when gluing two walls together.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

Chaos Possessed Assembly

2009-07-31T02:19:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

Now that you have already purchased a chaos possessed but it is not already been assembled to what its should be look like. All the parts are not yet attached to each other. The only way to have a chaos possessed perfectly look like in the pictures is to assemble it. After opening the box, make sure that all the parts are there and complete. So here are some guides and tips on how to assemble a chaos possessed.

Tools List

clippers

plastic glue

file

Step 1 Read instruction booklet

When you have purchased a chaos possessed kit. It is already included in the box the user manual, a guide on how to assemble your purchased chaos possessed. So before you proceed to assembling, make sure you go through the assembly booklet to see the parts you will be using so that you will not wasting some parts that are not needed. Also, go through the codex and make sure that you know beforehand the weapons that you will be needing and you will attach to your own chaos possessed models.

Step 2 Glue Legs

Now that you have already know what are the parts you needed and the weapons you are going to attach. Its time to start assembling the parts of your chaos possessed model, start by gluing the legs of your model together. The legs may be confusing at first because of the way they fit together, just make it sure that the legs are on the right place before you glue it together. One way to know if the legs are fit together is by close examination you will notice that only certain legs fit together. That is the time you glue them accordingly.

Step 3 Glue torso

When you have already find the perfect fit of the legs and already glued them accordingly, the next step is to glue the torso together. This will give you some confusions for it is easy to stick the torso together.

Step 4 Glue torso to legs

Prepare to attach the torso to the legs after you have glued the torso. Here's a simple tip; It is a very good idea to randomize the position of the torso on the legs. Turning it from left to right as desired.

Step 5 Glue head

When you have your desired model of chaos possessed half done. Its time to pick a head for your model. And then glue the selected head to your figure.

Step 6 Glue arms

Now that the legs and the torso are already attached as well as the head, this next step is to add the arms. To begin with, select arms as desired and glue them to your figure. In the case of possessed chaos space marines, the weaponry for their war gear consists of only a single close combat. That is why the arms that you will be choosing won't matter.

Step 7 Glue shoulder pads

You are almost done with the figure when you have already glued together the main parts of the chaos possessed. This time it is time to add accessories to it, the shoulder pads. This are paddings that will be attached to the shoulders of your chaos possessed. You may need to trim and clip off some of the spikes in the shoulders in order to make them fit on your model.

Step 8 Attach Power supply pack

You are one step closer in finishing your model. This will be the last piece of the puzzle that will give accomplishment to all, the Power supply pack. Glue the power supply pack on the back of your model. Due to the powers of chaos and random mutations, you'll see that some of these have wings growing from them.

Thats it!!! you have already finished you chaos possessed model.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Warhammer Columns

2009-07-31T02:17:00.000-07:00

Columns can bring to your warhammer terrain added beauty or sort of. In real life, columns can be found anywhere on your surrounding. In wargaming world columns can be very helpful at times or just a mere structure that is standing anywhere on your terrain board. In warhammer fantasy or Lord of the rings you will most likely run into these columns or various structures. Now for this article we will show you how to make simple columns that can add more structures to your terrain.

Materials List

-Polystyrene (styrofoam)

-utility knife

-fine sand paper

-soldering gun

Step 1 Cut a strip of styrofoam

Prepare the styrofoam that you will be needing in creating a column. Use a utility knife in cutting a strip of styrofoam. After cutting a strip of styrofoam, shape it into a cylinder.

Step 2 Sanding

When you have your strip of styrofoam ready, this time you have to sand away all the rough edges of your cylinder so that it will be smooth on both edges.

Step 3 Solder on grooves

When all the edges of your cylinder is already fine, its time to get your soldering gun, solder on grooves into the cylinder.

(Caution: The soldering gun gets extremely hot so take precaution while using it. It also creates fumes that will be dangerous to your health so its better to wear a mask or its best to do it near an open window or even outside.)

It is better to use a wooden stick to help keep your grooves strait. If you want to add more variety to your column you may choose to weather it by breaking off chunks around the column.

If you finish already weathering your column, you can also paint the column to add more beauty to it. It is better to base it with acrylic black, then a heavy dry brush with codex gray, and for the finale a light dry brush with skull white.

Avast!!! And there you have it your column that can be place anywhere on your terrain.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Warhammer Textured Paint for Terrain

2009-07-31T02:15:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

Painting your warhammer buildings and bunkers will give your terrain more different looks. It will give the beauty it deserves and just by the looks of it you can tell it and can compare your warhammer buildings to a real one. But if you still want to add more variety and uniqueness to your buildings adding textured paint can gives more realism in that it looks lifelike and made of concrete. You will not need to put concrete to your buildings to have it look like just by adding textured paint will do it. So its time to know how to produce a textured paint. For in this article you will learn hot to simply make textured paint.

Materials list

-container or small bucket

-stir stick

-sand

-styrofoam

-paint of any color

Step 1 select paint

The first thing we will do is picking or selecting the paint that you will be using, when you have the paint you going to get textured put in a pale. When you select the paint you must keep in mind the paints you are always using, now for that reason we usually use acrylic black paints. Because it is usually use a base coat using chaos black.

Step 2 Different types of texture

When you have already your selected paint its time to add texture. This can be done in so many ways. One way and the most common way of adding texture to your paint is to add fine sand to the paint. This can add varying amounts depending on how textured you want it. You will get a feel for it yourself if its time to stop the adding of sand to the paint.

The other way to add texture to your paint is by adding styrofoam bits. In doing this simply grind a piece of styrofoam into your paint.

Next gather your debris and bits. And pour it in the bucket with paint.

And there you have it. You have now your textured paint ready to use.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

How-to-make-Warhammer-Crystals

2009-07-31T02:10:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

When you have a cool termagaunt miniature or a beautiful base and you want to add more details on it. How do you wish to add more details to improve its look. Well I've got the you a reason to smile now for the Crystals is the best answer for it. Imagine your base that was being added by a crystal on sides, how cool can that be. This time adding not just the crystals on your warhammer bases but also putting on sand as well as painting it to add more variety. In this article you will learn how to make Warhammer crystals that you can add to your base or on any terrain.

Materials List

-sprues

-paint brush

-sanding paper

-PVA glue (white glue)

-assorted paints

Step 1 cutting your sprues

There is no need to buy sprues on the store just extra sprues that you can see in your working area. Cut off a few small pieces from them, just be sure that its pretty clean from its markings or numbers that was place on your sprues. Because sprues usually comes up with on it. Crystals with any markings on it specially numbers will look quite off. So just double check the sprues that you will use for your crystals.

Step 2 Sand and Shape

After you have your sprues already, begin sanding your sprues into crystal shaped pieces. Imagine that you will put your sprues on the bases of your warhammer miniature so the size will be quite small.

Step 3 Glue crystals to base

When you have your sprues sanded and shaped like crystals, glue a couple crystals to random areas of your base or anywhere you like. Crystals that are glued on an angle give your warhammer base an added touch that looks great.

Step 4 Glue sand

Next, brush on PVA glue (whit glue) onto the rest of your warhammer base and sprinkle on fine sand, and then after sprinkling shake off excess sand that did not stick onto the glue. Then leave it to dry for few minutes

Step 5 Painting crystals

When it is already dry, its time to paint your crystals. Begin by applying your first base coat of color to your crystals. Lets just use a liche purple color paint so that it will be easily recognized. Next, dry brush warlock purple, and then tentacle pink. After dry brushing, give it few more minutes to dry, after that add a wash blue ink. Make sure to water down the blue ink, otherwise it�ll saturate the crystal leaving you with no visible undercoats.

Step 6 Paint the sand (optional)

I f you have some time left and still want to add more beauty to your warhammer, this suggestion can be done. You can paint the sand aside from the crystals, to give good contrast dry brush your sand by codex gray paint. Make sure to leave some of the natural color showing through. And finish it off by lightly dry brushing some skull white.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

A MiniWarGaming Guide to Good Warhammer Photos

2009-07-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

We all love photos, right? As soon as we see beautiful things, capture those memorable moments and having remembrance to the places that we've visited we cannot forget to take pictures. Pictures reminds us of those certain times that we are happy. Even in wargaming, you would like to take pictures of your recent finished project, that is why everyone enjoys taking photos of their cool terrain or freshly painted armies for remembrance. Whatever camera you are using , maybe a Polaroid camera, or a digital cam, or setting up a nice shot with a demolisher or zooming in to a battle between Aragorn and the wraiths on Weathertop, you want it to be perfect and look good.

In photo you can change the whole thing, you can edit the photo before developing it so that it will look good or you just want it to be normal. In wargaming, the terrain may look great and perfect in real life but a poor photo will diminish any cool factor and dissolve the desire to take to take any more shots.

Whether your a professional photographer or just taking pictures for remembrance you can clearly see the difference between a good photo from a ordinary one.

Background

This will play a very important role in your photos it can be very crucial for this will give the story or plot of the whole picture. When you have a good background for your photos it is easy to say that you can have a pretty picture. When you have your subject placed in a place where there's a lot of trash, can you have a good background? That's not make sense at all, that is what we call poor background.

Well to understand more on getting the best background for your photos, we can take a crater as our object and be as our sample. We put a green ooze on the crater, then just place it in a plain white background, there is no uniqueness on it or there is no story that you can relate with. But you can clearly see the whole object which is the crater. Then put it again on a plain black background, you cannot clearly see the whole object because the background is dark. Which is more prefer to have a good background.

Lighting

When you have the perfect background, then the second important part of having a good quality photo is to have a good lighting. For this will enhance the beauty of your object. Just be sure and always look for a better place where you did not need the flash of your camera. When you are taking photo on a place with strong lights it is not necessary to use the flash of your camera. For this will result a shiny effects on your objects. Just select the places where you can use the flash of your camera for effects.

There are always options

"If there's a will there's a way" that is what the saying goes. Sometimes we thought of having a more beautiful photo but we do not have enough resources, there isn't enough lights for the lighting, there's too much clutter, or everything doesn't fit in the picture. We can use anything that we can see to be use in the picture so that we can have a quality photo.

Basic Warhammer Terrain Materials List

2009-07-31T02:04:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

We almost did anything about warhammer, but since everytime we do a project we find something missing from our materials. You have bought, assembled and painted your first ever warhammer army. You are now ready to play, but wait...You want some cool warhammer terrain to go with your newly acquired army. Now for this article it shows you the basic materials that we always use and workspace you will use to make some awesome warhammer terrain. You better have this one on your toolbox so that you will finish your project without the hassle of lack of materials.

Basic Materials

1.paint brushes

2.utility knife

3.hammer

4.pliers

5.sandpaper (or sanding block)

6.pen or pencil

7.wire (electrical or all purpose)

8.fine sand

9.modeling flock

10.PVA glue (white glue)

11.painting pallet

12.scissors

13.plastic straws

14.Popsicle sticks

15.polystyrene (insulation foam)

16.Styrofoam

17.metal bucket

18.hacksaw

19.Chaos black spray paint

20.hot wire cutter

21.can

22.tissues

23.newspaper

There are twenty three basic warhammer making materials that we always use in every project though we do not always all of them its better to have them for emergency purposes. Try to keep all this materials in one safe and large container so that it will be easy for you to access if you have something needed. Its better to have a table or a desk dedicated to painting/terrain so that you will have your own workplace. But if you do not have one there is still no problem to it as long as there is table.

For better understanding of the materials to be use we gonna simply list it again but this time with description.

1. Paint Brushes

Paint brushes and raw materials are important in terrain making or miniature painting. It is better to have a set of fine detail brushes with another set of medium sized brushes for terrain. There are so many techniques that you can learn with brushes which we'll go over in upcoming article.

2. Utility Knife

Another very important item for terrain making and you must have it in your box for terrain making. This little thing will become a huge thing and be your bestfriend as you'll most likely use it the most. Be sure to use it with extra careful for its blade can be quite sharp. Always cut away from your body to avoid wounds. And remember to cut things on top of a board or piece of wood so as to not damage the table underneath.

3. Hammer

A hammer is useful if you want to add weathered rock effects to polystyrene (insulation foam). This can also be useful when doing some construction around the base or table.

4. Pliers

These little tools are essential for cleaning up the edges of your miniatures. Those extra fragments around your miniatures can be cleaned up by using this. They�re also useful for holding small items that are drying.

5. Sandpaper/ Sanding Block

This next material is used to smooth the edges around your miniatures. Using sandpaper to smoothen out rocks and ridges is a good technique. I prefer using the sanding blocks as opposed to sandpaper. You have more control over what you�re doing. Sanding terrain pieces also ages them.

6. Pen or Pencil

Naturally a pen or pencil is useful for marking out things such as windows or doors in a building.

7.Wire (electrical or all purpose)

Wire can be used as rebar or barbed wire. As for the electrical purpose, wire will be use to have light on bunkers, buildings, and towers.

8. Fine sand

Fine sand is useful in so many ways. Adding sand to to the bases of your miniatures or as a gaming board surface are just a couple of things you can do.

9. Modeling flock

Adding flock to rocks, trees, hills and miniatures adds to the realism of your game.

10. PVA glue (white glue)

Another raw material when it comes to terrain building. This can be bought cheaply at a convenience store.

11. Painting pallet

These are important if you plan on painting a lot. We can use here a ceramic tile. These are good because the cleanup is easy. They�re also strong and durable. Other options for painting pallets are a Styrofoam plate or a piece of wood.

12. Scissors

Make sure to pick up a pair of good quality scissors. Believe me, you�re going to beat them up pretty good.

13. Plastic straws

Good for making pipes, railings or even barricades.

14. Popsicle sticks

These are extremely useful for making all sorts of things. Wood floors, barricades and stairs just to name a few.

15. Polystyrene (insulation foam)

You can make rocks and hills out of these. Tyranid spires are also a good project made from these.

16. Styrofoam

Similar to insulation foam, styrofoam is also good for making rocks and hills. Regular styrofoam is easier to come by however.

17. Metal bucket

One of these is good to have and is handy for many projects. Mixing paint and keeping sand are good uses for these. A water bucket is also a good idea.

18. Hacksaw

A must if you plan on having wood or masonite bases for your terrain. (Careful not to nick yourself)

19. Chaos black spray paint

These are a wonder if you have a large army to base coat. You get into hard to reach places a lot easier with spray paint.

20. Hot wire cutter

These are used for shaping styrofoam. They run on batteries and are a Godsend for hobbyists. Make sure to be in a well ventilated area while cutting. The fumes may give you a headache.

(WARNING: The hot wire cutter gets very hot and can burn you. Be careful not to touch the wire with your bare skin.)

21. Can

Useful for keeping small things in and for mixing paints. Also useful for cleaning brushes. If you�re adventurous you might even build a fuel tank with it.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Windows for Warhammer Buildings

2009-07-31T02:01:00.000-07:00

Pictured: Warlord

by Mathew Glanfield

After making buildings, adding a balcony and fire escapes to the buildings to add new variety. Its time to add more variety on your building by adding a window. Whether a plain window or a broken window it adds beauty to your warhammer terrain. Not just in buildings but with all your warhammer terrain, nothing is as realistic as broken windows on your buildings so that it will not look like an empty building. A shards of glass to slick up your not so special building. Just kidding, we know for sure that everything we make or create is special. Now for our article for today we gonna make broken windows for your warhammer building. We gonna tackle and learn tips and tricks on how to install broken windows to the buildings. Its pretty sure that we gonna finish this project in less than an hour. So get ready to add new twist on your warhammer terrain.

Materials List

utility knife

plastic packaging (the hard thin plastic from various products)

PVA glue (white glue)

foam board

Step 1 Cut Plastic

Instead of using a real glass for our windows, its better to use a hard thin plastic that come from various products to prevent us form getting wounded by the glass fragments. By using also plastic materials we can easily cut it according on what we wanted to. The best place to cut your hard thin plastic is on something that is hard such a piece of board or wood. That way you won't destroy the table the you' re working on. It just a matter of cutting and fitting pieces of plastic.

Step 2 Prepare walls

When you are using a foam board as your walls, you will need to prepare the wall for your windows. You will do this by slicing in behind the surface of your external wall. So that you will only insert the plastic you've just cut later. This will save you some precious time in doing this project. This method does not apply for foam board only but it also applies to any other material you use to be your wall.

Step 3 Insert windows

After you prepared the walls, its time to attach the windows. Simply place the windows inside the walls. There is a best way where in windows can use the walls as a support by making the windows a little bigger than the walls.

After you attach the windows you can glue the edges of the windows on the walls. But you may choose also not to glue them. For this project only we prefer not to glue because it allows for flexible changes in the future.

Now that your windows are already attached on the walls. Its time to add some variety into it, you can add bullet holes in your windows, do this by cutting out a small hole then slicing away from the hole. Actually you can add anything you want to add more spice on your terrain.

There you have it a better new look on windows on your warhammer building. Enjoy!!!

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Warhammer 40k Tank Traps

2009-07-31T02:00:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

Tanks! Tanks! Tanks! A pure steel metal that has great advantage during battles for its durability and the damage it can brought to you or to your enemy. When you attack by a tank during battles it is always been a problem. You gotta have an answer or remedy on how to stop he tank from attacking before it destroy everything.

Have you ever needed added protection against tanks? Perhaps it�s been a problem for most of us. The simple way to prevent or to stop the tank from attacking is to have a few tank traps that surrounds your base. For this reason enemies will have to think twice if they will deploy tanks again to attack you if they see one or more of their tanks fell into your tank traps.

This is a simple project that should take no longer than an hour, depending on how many traps you want to make.

Materials:

polystyrene (styrofoam)

Popsicle sticks

snot green or camo green paints

skull white

Step 1 Cut out triangle from polystyrene (styrofoam).

In cutting out the triangle from polystyrene, the size of every piece of triangle will be determine just by looking on your thumb. Every piece of triangle must be double the size of your thumb.

Step 2 cut off tip

After you cut triangle pieces in as many as you can, the next step is to cut off the tip of every piece of the triangle and then sand the sides and the top of it with a fine grit sandpaper.

Step 3 Scuff up the tank trap

In making a good Warhammer 40k tank traps means making them look battered and war torn. In order for the traps to look like a battered one, you should create small dents and scuffs to resemble bullet holes and explosion shrapnel. You can also add rebar or reo that was made from metal wire to the tank traps. It is better to have your traps to often have to add some variety to the terrain. As we all know that variety is good.

Step 4 Glue tank traps to popsicle sticks

"Two heads are better than one" this saying should fit your tank traps to gain more effectivity and durability during battle. Every single tank trap should be stick to at least two or three tank trap.

Step 5 Painting your tank traps

After you glue them by three its time to put highlight on every tank trap. This will be the final step for this project, the painting of the traps. Apply very light dry brush with skull white or rotting flesh. If you want, you may also add accents such as snot green or camo green for mold. Maybe a red gore or blood red if you want some bloody tank traps.

But whatever color you want to put on them as long as the traps will not be automatically recognized by the enemies.

There you have it a tank trap to prevent enemy tanks to attack.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

Warhammer 40k Advanced Projects: How to Add a Fire Escape/Balcony & Stairs

2009-07-31T01:58:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

Every multilevel buildings must have a fire escape, so that it can save life in case of emergency. Not just saving lives but also adding some beauty into the building. Not just in real life buildings that we have to place a fire escape but also in Wargaming. Every Warhammer 40k multilevel buildings must have a fire escape attach into it so that it will look more realistic.

By creating a fire escape or balcony and stairs and attaching it into a building that would perfectly fit the fire escape

Nothing makes your Warhammer 40k multilevel buildings more realistic looking than a fire escape. You can pretty much add it to any building you make and just think of how cool it would look. This is an article for more advanced Warhammer terrain builders. So�if you�re up to the challenge, let�s get to it shall we.

Materials list

-Popsicle sticks

-scissors

-utility knife

-metal mesh (refer to the step 2 for more details)

-PVA glue (white glue)

PAINTS

-blood red

-graveyard earth

-bolt gun metal

Step 1 Prepare the steel frames

Okay, to build a house or any structure it is already understood that you must have a frame or a steel frame. So regarding this matter we have to gather all the Popsicle stick that will be needed in creating the steel frame. This will all be used for creating the frames of the platforms, balconies , wall support and stairs. After gathering the needed Popsicle stick cut off all the ends.

To save some time try to cut the Popsicle stick by group or bundle so that they will be equally cut. After cutting the ends paint all the Popsicle stick with blood red paint.

And then dry brush with graveyard earth color. But do not over paint the blood red paint, just let a portion of the blood red bleed be seen through after doing all this to all the stick its time to dry brush some bolt metal gun for the finishing color on the Popsicle sticks. This is where you will be at your free will for how much or how heavy or light metal/rust you what showing. It is better to have a 50/50 blend.

Step 2 Prepare metal mesh

There are many materials which can actually be used as a steel metal platform but since a screener which is more cheaper and can be brought in any store. This will be our item to be used for this step simply remove the screen from its handle. After detaching the screen try to flat the screen for this will work later.

Then cut off some of the strips of your mesh. Just use scissors for this cutting. For the measurement of the mesh, for the width just measure a space marine and a half

Step 3 Glue mesh to framing

After cutting off some strips, glue down the Popsicle sticks framing to the strips of mesh. Better sure that the mesh is completely flat if you did well in flattening it in second step and not bent or curled. I like to use gravity while waiting for the glue to dry. To bring order just simply place the Popsicle sticks in between to paint tubes on top of the mesh. For one good reason, it is much simpler this way. It is a very nice idea to outline your platform onto a piece of cardboard or anything that is hard but light to handle that is why we choose the cardboard. Then use the cardboard as a template. Simply put the cardboard on top of your mesh and cut out your platform.

Step 4 Glue platforms to building

Glue all the cut out platforms to the already finished buildings using PVA glue (white glue). Just turn the building horizontal for this project, then place again 2 tubes of paints on either side of the platform to hold it in place while drying.

Step 5 Make your steps

In creating the steps or the stairs, start by cutting strips of mesh the width you want your stairs to be. Same as the platforms, we used a space marine as a reference to know how wide we wanted our stair be.

After determining the width of the steps, cut the strips into step sized pieces. And then cut up some Popsicle sticks for the framing. Finally glue the pieces to your mesh like so.

Step 6 Make your Railings

Get some straws and then paint the straws the same rust color as the steel frames so that it will co inside with the color of the frames.

Next, cut and glue them to the platform. Just like what we did in the early part in measuring, use a Space Marine in determining how high or low you want your railing.

Step 7 Glue staircase to platform

After all the procedures it comes down to the final step, glue the staircase to the platform and wait till it dries up.

And there you have it!

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Warhammer 40k Craters

2009-07-31T01:55:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

Craters usually comes as a result of huge explosion brought by bombs, meteors, or volcanic eruptions. In our modern world we can see craters when a bomb explode. We seldom see a crater created by a falling debris coming from the sky because this will leave a very big crater.

But in the Warhammer 40K universe they are an everyday thing so it is unusual if you cannot see a crater. It is therefor a common occurrence to see craters made by things landing from the sky. Lets put as example a dent a lascannon would leave if it hit the ground.

Materials List

-polystyrene (styrofoam)

-utility knife

-PVA glue (white glue)

-Plaster

-toilet paper

-paint brush

PAINTS

-acrylic black

-tin bitz (dark gray/brown)

-graveyard earth (dark brown)

-bestial brown

-snakebite leather (light brown)

-camo green

Step 1 Prepare base

As the saying goes "there are many ways to kill the cat", we can say also that there are many things that we can actually use for creating the base. It is up to you what would be the best material to be use. A piece of thin wood or thin styrofoam will best fit the work. But for this project we use thin wood.

Step 2 Cut out crater bits

Creating a crater bits will be easy as taking the candy from a baby, simply grab the styrofoam and cut out small triangular wedges.

Step 3 Glue wedges

By using a PVA glue (white glue) stick all the wedges you cut out and stick all together to the thin wood that we created for the base. In gluing the wedges, to create a unique look into the crater try to alternate the wedges or leave a space between each wedge.

Step 4 Fill in gaps

After you glue the wedges, you can see that in every wedge there is a gap, fill the gaps between the wedge using a plaster. But if you have a putty you can use it in filling the gaps.

Step 5 paper mache you crater

If you know how to paper mache then this will not cause you any trouble or delay.

Using strips of toilet paper and watered down glue you can now begin to paper mache your crater.

The purpose of the paper mache is you will keep the plaster protected so that it won't chip off easily. The paper mache also gives for a more earthly look on the crater.

Step 6 Base coat

For the base coating just prime the crater with acrylic black paint.

Step 7 painting layers

After the base coating dries up its time to paint and finish the job. Actually there a lot of combination or painting layers to be use. These are our suggested layers to use. Begin with tin bitz (dark gray/brown), and then dry brush with graveyard earth (dark brown). Next dry brush bestial brown and then snakebite leather. Lastly, dry brush a final layer of camo green to give a mossy effect.

And there you have it! Nice, realistic looking craters made easy.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make a WarHammer 40k Rusted Steel Shed

2009-07-31T01:44:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

Hello, This past week I decided to groom my terrain collection with an authentic rusted corrugated steel shed. As you all know I love making warhammer terrain. Especially warhammer 40k terrain. I can make one in less than 90 minutes so let`s get to it.

Here`s a list of the materials we`ll be using:

� A block of polystyrene (insulation foam) or regular Styrofoam
� 18 popsicle sticks
� 2 strips of cardboard 3 inches high and 12 inches long
(the amount of cardboard given to you in a pizza box would be more than plenty)
� Utility knife and scissors
� Paint brush
� Black paint
� Grey paint
� Brown paint
� Rust colored paint (or just a red and brown mixed could work too)
� Silver paint
� Green paint (something that resembles moss color)

I'd loved to see things look blown up and partially wrecked and destroyed, so if you`ve looked at the shed and said "man this looks really beat up," you`ll know it was made by Miniwargamer Dave. Kay, `nuff talk and more building then wrecking I say. Let`s get to it.

Step 1 Prepare and cut the cardboard.

Cardboards are usually flat so you`ll have to peel one layer of the flat sides off in order to expose the corrugated look of the inside. You`ll see the corrugated part once you start peeling. Use a sanding block or sandpaper to sand off any excess bits in the grooves. You can size the cardboards strips however you choose.

Step 2 Glue Styrofoam to cardboard

Cut 4 blocks of Styrofoam equal to the height of your cardboard strips and glue them together.

Step 3 Attach wooden rafters
What you are going to do is to glue down the popsicle sticks to the Styrofoam.

You`ll have to glue 4 sticks underneath the 5 horizontal ones. Those I had to break at both ends then glue together and onto the Styrofoam blocks. Next is glue 10 sticks horizontally-5 on each side.

Step 4 prime the walls/roof with black

Next step is you`ll have to prime your walls black. Cut and shape roof parts as beside the shed. Depending on the glue you`ve used the popsicle stick roof will be sturdy enough to drybrush a few accent colors. Use 2 shades of brown and a lighter green to resemble moss. Next paint the Styrofoam grey to resemble concrete.

Step 5 Paint on the rust ( the best part by the way)

Paint the walls a dark red for the first layer of painting. Don`t worry about making it perfect because you`ll be adding many layers. Next drybrush a dark brown. Finally drybrush a silver grey to certain parts only saving a lot of the rust exposed. In the end you should end up with 2/3 rust 1/3 metallic color showing through.

Repeat the same for the roof . Then glue on the roof pieces. Let it sit to dry for a good 20-30 minutes.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

Warhammer 40k Bell Tower Project:WIP Part 2

2009-07-31T01:41:00.000-07:00

by Mathew Glanfield

In the first part of this project we discuss on how to get started in making a bell tower from marking the windows up to gluing the structure together. The steps we tackle in the first part is only the basic in preparation for the second part which is more of painting and beautifying the bell tower. With out further do, this is the continuation of bell tower project. So don't worry if in the last article your project was not finish. Lets start the work going by

Step 1 Cut out base

After cutting out the windows you're going to cut a base out so that the walls have something to stick in to. You can made it just large enough to fit two space marines along the outside of the building once in place.

Step 2 Glue popsicle sticks

Start this by slicing popsicle sticks width channels in each level. Next glue popsicles sticks according to its place. These will give enough support to the structure when everything is glued together and in order. Once finished gluing all the popsicle sticks let it sit to dry for 5-10 minutes.

Step 3 Glue structure together

This is where we make busted up flooring. Make it so it

�s able to rest on both walls for stronger support. Hold the walls up perpendicular to each other and glue down the floors until it dries up. This will enable the building to stand by itself. Be sure that the wall can stand up all by itself. Next glue supports to the base. Use the windows that were cut from the walls.

Step 4 Prime the structure

Use acrylic black paint in building when going to base the building. Its better to include when painting the beneath the floors so that if you want to take a picture of it there is an art.

Step 5 Create Rooftop base

Cut a base that would fit the rooftop with appropriate side walls. After you finished cutting the rooftop base glue the walls to the base.

Step 6 Glue decorative pieces to base

This step gives beauty and characteristic to the base. You can use the windows from the walls you cut out in the first part of the project. Glue them appropriately to the base in any fashion you desire. Then let it sit to dry.

Step 7 Paint rooftop base

Acrylic black paint is also what to use in painting the base. Make sure that it is strong and can stand on its on foundation before you begin painting.

Step 8 Create upper tower walls

These walls will be used for the bell area. Be sure to make the windows large in ratio against the walls so that you ca clearly see the bell outside. You can damage them a little too if you want a wrecked outlook. As for me i like doing it for new look on the structure nothing is as boring as perfectly in tact buildings.

This will encouraged you to do more terrains when looking your wrecked and slightly damaged bell tower cause it there will never be a dull moment when you are playing with it.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

WarHammer 40k Factory Project:WIP Part 1

2009-07-31T01:36:00.000-07:00

Kids get into the model making at Kevin`s English Schools.

Vehicles, tanks and weapons in the world of warhammer don't just appear in the battlefield as magic they were built in a certain place called the war factory. Not just in the world of warhammer but also in the real world. Vehicles and tanks are made in a war factory. If you have a war factory in your base or in your terrain it is easily for you to create or to have a vehicle that will coincide with the terrain. You can create tanks and weaponry that would best fit in a battlefield that will give you an advantage in the battle. Today, we are going to build one of those factories. Only this one's that we will be creating seen it's fair share of battle.

Materials List

foam board

Popsicle sticks

PVA glue (white glue)

utility knife

fine sand

PAINTS

acrylic black

codex gray

bestial brown

graveyard earth

skull white

Step 1 Outline entrances and windows

The first step we have to do is simply outline or draw in the foam board the doors and the windows. Where you want you doors and windows to be placed at. To give more variety and uniqueness to your project, try to vary the sizes of your windows. Try to add one or two doors on your factory a large door or a garage door.

Step 2 Cut entrances and windows out

After outlining the whole picture of your factory of what is going to look like. Its time to cut the doors and windows that you have drawn. Carefully cut out the windows and doors. By taking care and doing this slowly you allow for better and smoother cutting. By doing this kind of cutting you will ultimately end up with crisper edges which will give you a look ten times better that it should be.

Step 3 Adding extra detail

When you have already cut all the windows and doors that you have drawn. It is time to add some more detail for the exterior part of the factory building. You are going to place another strip of foam board along the second story roof level and along each side of the front entrance. In this way, you are giving the factory building more added variety on it's exterior part. You already know that giving more variety to your projects is very good.

Step 4 Adding floors

After you have added some extra details to the exterior part of your factory building and all your windows and doors are already been cut off. Its time to add the floors. In creating the floor, begin by slicing out channels for the Popsicle sticks where you want your floors to go. Then simply glue in the Popsicle sticks. The next step is glue on your floors. This also braces the walls together.

You can also stick temporary pins through the outside walls into the floors to hold them in place while the glue dries. This also works well when gluing two walls together

How to Make a Warhammer 40k Fuel Tank

2009-07-31T01:33:00.000-07:00

Fuel is very important for it is one thing that gave energy on our equipments and in every engines that uses fuel to run. Everybody needs fuel in flamethrowers used by the Space Marine squads or by a Land Raider that's just about empty. Or a Dreadnought who's thirsty or a Leman Russ who's all passed out. No matter who you are or what you are, if you've got fuel guzzling heavy support and equipments that need to be refueled, you're gonna need to have a fuel tank. Preferably a fuel tank that just near and close at hand. Just make sure its not too close or it may be a threat of attack and nobody wants to have a fuel tank shrapnels embedded in their jet packs. So after some introductions lets get down on our main agenda.

Materials:

Thin wood

Polystyrene (styrofoam)

Empty can of beans

Acrylic Black paint

Red gore or red paint

Terracotta (brownish red)

silver gray paint

Step 1 Creating the base

There are so many different ways and materials that can be use in for the creation of the base. Thin wood, Masonite, Polystyrene (Styrofoam) is the most popular of all because it so easy to cut and it is handy. Foam board is also one materials that can be use however due to its substances it has a tendency to curl once primed and painted. But for this project its better to use the thin wood as our base because of its lightness and durability.

We used polystyrene (styrofoam) and cut out cinder blocks from it then stick them together on the base. Then base coating all the cinder blocks in acrylic black, heavily dry brushing all of them in codex gray, and light dry brushing them in skull white we stuck in some rebar (also known as metal wire cut and stuck into the cinder blocks). Once everything is in place and already prepared its time to add the fuel tank.

Step 2 Adding the fuel tank (can of beans)

For an amazing and beautiful Warhammer 40k fuel tank (I have to differentiate this from a regular fuel tank) Lets use for our fuel tank an empty can of beans. Since the can is already opened, the other end is gone, we can traced the can into a piece of foam board for the replacement of the other end that was gone. Cut out the traced circled then stuck it into the other end of the can. Once all the end of the can is closed, perforate the can a little in your desired position in few different places. This will brought a beaten and battered look in the can.

Step 3 Base coat the fuel tank

After putting some designs onto the can its time to put color to it. Simply base coat the fuel tank with acrylic black paint. Be sure to base it a thin layer only for a couple of times. Putting a thick layer of paint in the fuel tank will result in major peeling of the paint.

Step 4 Painting the fuel tank

When the base coat is already dry its time to paint the fuel tank with red gore or simply red paint. Once again the painting should be lightly because more colors will be added later. I

�ve chosen to paint streaks in certain sections only. Next add some terracotta (brownish red). Lastly add bolt gun metal (silver gray) or mithril silver to give the steel look. To emphasize the fuel tank and have a better place for it add a steel frame and base for the fuel tank. It can be made with some Popsicle sticks and Styrofoam. The Popsicle stick will be the steel frame and the Styrofoam will act as the cement base for the fuel tank. Simply base coat them with acrylic black. Paint the cement base codex gray and the steel frame with the same paints used for the rust effects on the fuel tank.

Step 5 Add some pipes

Get some straws that can be bend on the other end and glue them together. Cut them to equal sizes then glue them to one of the ends of the tank. On the foam board we used to replace the missing end of the can. For the paint use the rust effects on the pipes too.

Step 6 Flock it!

This step completely finishes it off. I used a mixture of home made modeling flock, static grass, sand, and some weeds I pulled from a nearby trench. Simply brush PVA glue (white glue) onto the parts of the base you want flocked. I also added flock to the cinder blocks and a little on top of the fuel tank.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

A Gaming Star

2009-07-31T01:31:00.000-07:00

There are people who contribute a lot to our hobby with their free articles and advice.
The list goes on and on. But Mathew Glanfield makes my list.

Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

Old Soldiers Magazine is now Free!

2009-05-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Pictured, one of the cards from Axis and Allies

Howdy Gents,

Thought I'd extend an invitation to subscribe to Old Soldiers Magazine, its FREE now. In the last year we've published articles on games such as Arab-Israeli Wars, Maiwand, Gunslinger, Wooden Ships and Iron Men, Jassin, Jewish War, Airforce, B-29 Superfortress, Kolin, Gladiator, Napoleonic Wars 2nd Edition, and Prairie Aflame, as well as history articles on topics such as the War at Sea off India 1778-1783, Marshals St. Cyr and Davout .
I've been a fan of miniatures, though I cannot afford them myself, for many many years. A local gentleman used to take his collection every year to the local art gallery who displayed case upon case of them, and I admired his skill … his art. They were beautiful. So, I'm hoping that the miniaturists will take the opportunity and write articles for the magazine on their favorite rules systems, or upon uniformology, or unit histories, the standard thing I know miniaturists are fascinated by. I do wish to reach out to you and provide a place for your pens to take flight.
Old Soldiers Magazine has been in existence for 5 years now, and we have 850 subscribers, which may well exceed that of Line of Departure and Panzerschreck. The magazine will be moving to contain a greater amount of history articles, I've always tried to include at least one per issue, but there will be more of that now, it's been so popular. So, I thought maybe you'd all at least appreciate an invitation to subscribe. As I said, it's free.
If you're interested, just reply ( tdcgunslinger@worldnet.att.net ) and I'll add you to the subscriber's list. The latest issue was released 6 weeks ago, and the next issue will be due 1 July. When you reply, I'll forward the latest issue of the magazine (Apr. '09) as well as a copy of my catalog of mounted counter sets, maps, and cards covering a multitude of games (it's a 34 page illustrated catalog).
I figure most of you had no idea of the magazine's existence, and since we cover wargames from extinct companies, and out of print games, as well as games from the smaller companies within its pages, well, maybe you might find it useful, and maybe even you'd find a place for that article you always intended to write and publish. I'm always willing to help with editing and graphics, just drop me a note and I'll see what I can do for you.

Take Care,
Tom Cundiff
Old Soldiers Magazine
www.oldsoldiersmagazine.com
tdcgunslinger @ worldnet.att.net
(remove the space before and after the @ sign – done to confound spam bots)

(Some of you may already be subscribers, and if you already are, sorry about that. From this e-mail list, and there are so many wargame forums on the web, I can't tell who has already subscribed and who hasn't. I have no way to index this list against my own subscriber lists. So, please forgive me.)

How to Make a Warhammer Gaming Terrain Board

2009-01-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

Pictured: The Necrons Codex for GW`s Warhammer 40K.

by: Matthew Glanfield

The first thing to consider in continuing a Warhammer gaming hobby is to construct a terrain board that will fit all your models. This will give you a fun and exciting place to put all you Warhammer games on which is much better place to play on rather than on the kitchen table or on the floor.

It will also provide you more options on your terrain pieces and create more terrain pieces that will fit on the your table, creating a gaming environment that appears and feels impressive and realistic. It will also enhance your gaming experience and allows you to play more with its wide space area depending on the size you will be doing.

This article is a step-by-step guide on how to make your own gaming boards. There are many options in creating your own gaming boards, it includes the materials to be use, but this is the one which is the easiest and the cheapest as i have found out so far.

What size board should you create?

There are a few options to choose from. They include:

-2' x 2'

-4' x 4'

-4' x 6'

-4' x 8'

(’ denotes feet - one foot = 30 cm)

The 2' x 2' boards are very flexible and allow you to create terrain that you can move around and form into various pieces, especially if you build in hills or rivers.

However, our favorite size to choose is 4' x 4' boards, as it is a very good standard board size and it is very good for battles as high as a few thousands points on each side. It is also easy to add two of these boards together to form a 4' x 8' playing area for especially large battles, whereas with the 2' x 2' boards this is a little more clumsy and creates a playing area with a lot of gaps and unsightly lines.

But in the end it is always you that will choose on what board that will best fit your gaming mood.

Materials and Tools Needed

Here is a list of materials that you will need:

-1/2 sheet of plywood (4' x 4')

-16' of 2?x1? (pine is what we use, but it doesn’t matter)

-16 x 1 1/4? screws

-power drill

-small drill bit (3/16? should work)

-measuring tape

-pencil

-saw

-sandpaper

(WARNING: You should ALWAYS have adult supervision when using any tools or power tools.)

Step 1 - Cut 2?x1? to size

Our first step that will be doing is to divide the 2?x1? into four pieces, two 4 feet long and the other two is 46 inches long.

Step 2 - Create foundation

Drill holes first on the wood before putting in any screws. This will prevent the wood from splitting. After you have drilled holes on the wood you can then screw in the screws using either your power drill if you have or simply by hand. Be sure to screw it tightly to gain enough strength on your foundation.

Step 3 - Attach Top

Attach the plywood on the top of your frame. Once again drill holes wherever you will be putting in screws to prevent splitting. Three to four screws on each sides should be fairly enough. Once you are finish in screwing down the plywood on your frame, use the sandpaper to polish all corners to get rid of any silvered wood. This will give you a smooth edge on your table for better look.

That's it after polishing all the edges and the sides be sure to check all the screws if it screwed tightly you have now your gaming board with a strong foundation. The next step is to finish the top but will be discuss in another article.

About The Author
Matthew Glanfield is the webmaster for MiniWarGaming.com, a site that strives to provide useful resources to players of the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40K, and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.

You can visit his website at http://www.miniwargaming.com

How to Make Warhammer Modeling Flock

2009-01-11T22:14:00.000-08:00

by: Matthew Glanfield

Spending almost $200 of your budget for a modeling flock is too big just to produce a 4' x 4' grassland gaming board. Is always be a problem you will face in making a gaming terrain but this will not be a hindrance for you to experiment on what decision to undertake. Because you want to work on a small budget this is something you had get over.

Doing research on Yahoo or Google on how to create a modeling flock or by just simply asking a friend who knows how to create one. That can lower the $200 to a $10 or less. But be sure to watch and read on the instructions for they will cause you problems in the results of your modeling flock. You should admit that making your first modeling flock will not be that easy for it will not produce similar to the modeling flock that cost $200. You should not be afraid to try every thing every possible way to have your modeling flock be the flock you want.

Without further delay the content of this article is the detailed instruction on how to make a modeling flock.

Step 1 - Get Your Materials Ready

Here is what you’ll be needing:

-a container to mix it in (we use a gallon sized ice cream container)

-a cookie sheet to dry the modeling flock on (don’t use new ones, your mother / wife won’t be happy)

-a tube of green paint (in the picture it shows a tube of blue paint and a tube of yellow paint, but we found it easier to just get a tube of green paint)

-water

-a stirring stick

-sawdust (that’s right, modeling flock is just dyed sawdust!)

-a fine strainer

The tubes of paint that we use are 4 U.S. fl oz, or 118 mL. We buy them at the dollar store for $1.

You can get the sawdust from any lumber mill that near your place. They should be more than happy to hand over a garbage bag full free of charge. If not, then just find someone you know who is a carpenter.

Take note that the sawdust should have been made from sanding, not from cutting wood.

Step 2 - Dilute The Paint

First you will need to dilute the paint that you are going to use to dye the saw dust. The amount of paint that you water down will determine how much flock you will make.

You will discharge the entire 118 mL tube of green paint into the container and then fill the container 3cm (about 1 1/4 inches) full of water.

WARNING: If you water down the paint too much your flock will be brown.

This is the common mistake which will end up with ugly stuff and waste. Even though it started out a nice green it will end up an ugly brown, which was useful only to be used as dirt and not grass. But we are going to create a grassland so better careful.

Mix the water and paint with a stirring stick. You can use any typical stirring sticks that you get from the paint stores, but you can really use anything that you don’t care getting stained with green paint.

(Important Note: The colour of your flock will be slightly browner than the green paint that you mix, so choose a colour paint that is slightly brighter than your desired modeling flock colour.)

Step 3 - Add the Sawdust

The next procedure is to add the sawdust on the paint. First add a small amount just to turn the watered down paint mixture into a compact sludge. Then continue adding more and more sawdust until it is mixed in well with the paint.

The easiest way to tell when to stop adding sawdust is when you add a bit more and it is very hard to mix in (i.e. it is hard to get rid of the brown sawdust). This is the point where you should stop.

Warning: If you stop sooner your flock will not be fine enough.

However, don’t expect your flock to be as fine as the Games Workshop version at this point for they already perfected the mixing of the paint and the sawdust. That will come sooner or later.

Once you have finished mixing the flock you are ready to move to next step.

Step 4 - Spread Out Your Modeling Flock to Dry

You will now need to spread out the modeling flock to dry. You can use two cookie sheets to dry out the amount of flock made with your desired proportions.

In spreading out the damp modeling flock it should be evenly as possible, then put it in a cool dry place and not be hit by strong winds for 24-48 hours. Make sure it is completely dry before proceeding to the next step, or else you will not get the same quality results as what Games Workshop produces.

Step 5 - Screen the Modeling Flock To Make It Finer

A fine strainer with a small openings you will have in doing the last step and that is to screen the modeling flock through it. There may be bunches that are just too hard deal with. You should really work if this happen until you cannot screen a dust from it. This will not be garbage cause it can be use as a mossy rock on another models.

About The Author
Matthew Glanfield

MiniWarGaming.com provides useful tips and tricks on creating Warhammer terrain, Warhammer 40K terrain, and more. Read more of these tips and tricks in our fully illustrated MiniWarGaming site by visiting http://www.miniwargaming.com

Board Games – Bringing Families Together

2009-01-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

Pictured: The boardgame Niagara, a great game for the whole family

by: John Gibb

Board games have entertained children and adults for many years. Many board games have now been made available to play online over the Internet. Some of the most famous board games, such as battleships, monopoly and checkers can now be played online. You can even play against your friends over the computer. Personally I used to prefer the old fashioned way.

Board games can bring families together, a cosy night in huddled next to the fire logs playing a good old game of monopoly with the family. Not only is monopoly fun, but it also stimulates the mind and can help with a Childs education. next to the fire logs playing a good old game of monopoly with the family. Not only is monopoly fun, but it also stimulates the mind and can help with a Childs education. You could set a night each week where you play monopoly with your family. Each member can take turns to be the banker.

Monopoly is a fun way to improve number skills for all members of the family and can be a good way to learning about investing and other useful skills that can come in handy later on in life.

Checkers is an ancient game that can now be played online. Many messenger services have the game built in now, such as the famous msn messenger. You can play against your online contacts free of charge. This is an old but famous game what can have you hooked in no time. Hours of our time were spent playing checkers as a family when we were all young.

Another famous game which has now been available for online play is battleships. Battleships can be very addicting trying to locate the others ships so you can destroy them. Co – ordinates are used. This game can be fun to play against a family member or friend.

Board games may be old and may sit on people’s shelves gathering dust in today’s world. With all the computer games around now, board games have become less popular amongst many families. However, for mind and even exercise stimulation, old fashioned board games will bring your family together and are much more constructive than sitting playing computer games all day. How about a good game of twister or a game of guess who? That’s more constructive for the family than sitting on a computer getting eye strain and head aches.

If you want to have enjoyable evenings with your family, board games are definitely the way to go.

About The Author
John Gibb is the owner of http://www.Boardgames-sources.info

For more information on board games please check out http://Boardgames-sources.info

Chess Clubs in Japan

2008-12-11T23:12:00.000-08:00

From chessclub.com

Club: OSAKA En passant chess club

City, Country: OSAKA, Japan

Address: En passant 4-4-10, Nippombashi, Naniwa-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka

Contact: JAPAN phone 06-6632-4109 Tujimoto

Meeting Times: AM11:00- every Sunday

Comments: Sunday every week. It is an active large club. teahouse En passant

Club: Sapporo chess club

City, Country: Hokkaido Sapporo, Japan

Address: kaderu27. 7-chome, Kita 2jo-nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo-shi

Contact: JAPAN phone 011-865-0277 Sugimoto

Meeting Times: AM9:00- sunday

Comments: twice held per month.

Club: Nagoya Chess Club

City, Country: Aichi Nagoya, Japan

Address: Addr.3-27,1-chome,Aoi,Higashi-ku,Nagoya,Aichi,Japan

Contact: http://homepage.mac.com/nagoyachessclub/eng.html

Meeting Times: 13:00-- Sunday 3 times per month.

Comments: It is an active large club.

Club: Yokkaichi chess circle

City, Country: MIE Yokkaichi, Japan

Address: Kubota, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie-ken

Contact: yokomizo-ncc@h4.dion.ne.jp

Meeting Times: Every month fist Sunday morning 10:00--

Comments: one meeting per month

Club: Chiba Passed Pawn Chess Circle

City, Country: Chiba, Japan

Address: Midori-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba-ken

Contact: aaj89780@pop01.odn.ne.jp

Meeting Times: 13:00--17:00 Sunday

Comments: one meeting per month

Club: Asaka Chess Club

City, Country: Asaka, Saitama, Japan

Address: Asaka Chuo Kominkan (It takes about 1 hour from Tokyo)

Contact: asakachessclub@yahoo.co.jp

Meeting Times: Friday nights from 6:00pm to 9:30pm

Comments: One of the most active chess clubs in Japan

Club: Kashiwa Sunking chess club

City, Country: kasiwa city ,Chiba Prefecture Japan, Japan

Address: Chiba Kashiwa, Japan

Contact: http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/hpmtmd/

Meeting Times: AM9:00- sunday

Comments: twice held per month,It is an active club.

Club: codfish chess club

City, Country: Osaka, Japan

Address: Abeno Kumin Center or Fukoshima Kumin Center in Osaka

Contact: tarano@freedom.ne.jp

Meeting Times: sunday

Comments: USCF regular chess club in Japan

Club: Nokia Club

City, Country: Tokyo, Japan

Address: 27th Street, 123, Sai Apts.

Contact: 00 96753098

Meeting Times: 6pm to 10pm

Comments: beginners

Simply the Best

2008-09-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

I always wondered if Bobby Fisher wasn`t a
secret member of our previous club Chess Japan.
There were rumours from people I played
with of this guy who was a little eccentric but
nice, and a phenomenal chess player--a grand master.
He went by a nickname and all the Japanese
chess players seemed to want to protect him
and his identity. I guess we will never know...
--Editor of the Guild Notes

Simply the Best

by James Donaldson Collins

Bobby Fischer died in January of this year in Reykjavik, still tilting at windmills, with the bats of paranoia still fluttering around his head and with his prejudices firmly in place. He had come back in a thirty-six year loop to the scene of his greatest triumph and, although nobody realized at the time, to the place where his career virtually ended.

Fischer became World Chess Champion in 1972 by defeating the holder of the title, Boris Spassky, in the unlikely setting of Reykjavik, Iceland. It was the first championship match held outside Moscow since 1946 and it was the first time in decades that ‘the Russians’, as Fischer always called them, had been beaten by anyone from outside the Soviet bloc, let alone by an American.
Robert J. Fischer was born in Chicago in 1943. He moved, with his mother and sister, to Brooklyn and at the age of six he learned the basic moves of chess, becoming so absorbed in the game that when he was seven his mother, Regina, placed an ad in the Brooklyn Eagle, enquiring whether there might be other children of Bobby’s age willing to play chess with him. At eight years old he joined the Brooklyn Chess Club.

It was obvious that Bobby was talented, but he was not a prodigy in the sense that, say, Raul Capablanca had been. The Cuban Capablanca had been known for the elegant simplicity of his style. At the age of four, so the story goes, Capablanca had watched his father playing chess with a friend. After the game, which his father lost, young Raul told him he had made an illegal move with the knight and demonstrated the correct move. His father set up the pieces again and Raul won the game… In due course Capablanca became World Champion and held the title for most of the ‘twenties. He never seems to have studied the game much and had a reputation for being rather lazy! He claimed never to have owned a chess book.

Bobby Fischer wasn’t like that although experts noticed the similarity between the Cuban’s style and Fischer’s as he matured. . He had an incredibly retentive memory, studying and committing to memory the games of all the important players, past and present. He also resurrected some long-forgotten games from the nineteenth century. Up until he was twelve years old he improved steadily, but at about thirteen, and quite suddenly, he moved into a class of his own. He became the youngest player to win the U.S. Junior championship and started to win tournaments all over the U.S. circuit. From the age of fourteen he won every single chess tournament he competed in for the rest of his career, with two exceptions. Over the next few years he became quite simply the best. Many people, and here I hold my hand up, think he was the greatest player in the long history of chess.

But he also had major psychological flaws that, as we can see now, ultimately destroyed his career and his life. Early on it was noticed he didn’t just want to win; he liked to make his opponents squirm. “I like the moment when I break a man’s ego”, he said in an interview. He hated everything to do with the Soviet Union and came to see it as his mission to crush the Russian hegemony. He also began to mutter about the ‘International Jewish conspiracy’ and its lackeys, who seemed to be in charge of just about everything. This was very strange because his mother was Jewish and probably his father, a physicist, was too, and he was brought up in a Jewish area of Brooklyn.

As he became more successful Fischer started to get a name for being difficult to work with. He put everybody‘s back up; tournament officials, sponsors, journalists and interviewers. He pulled out of tournaments, complained about conditions, lighting, photographers, the amount of money on offer and anything else he could think of. In 1971 he took on the three other contenders for the right to challenge the World Champion. He beat the first two, Taimanov and Larsen 6 - 0 each, a score line never achieved before or since. The last of the three was Tigran Petrosian, a Russian of the old school with a reputation for being extremely hard to beat. Fischer won with a score of 5 - 1 and three draws. It was said afterwards, although not by Fischer, that he had a bad cold at the time!

The run-up to what was being billed as the most important match of the century was fraught with the usual dramas, accusations and postponements which had come to be associated with Bobby Fischer. He even threatened to boycott the event completely if his conditions were not met. Everybody knew he was quite capable of doing just that. He had done it before - several times. In 1962 and again in 1968 he stopped playing tournament chess for eighteen months each time. The press billed the coming World Championship match as a classic confrontation between East and West. And in 1972, as the world hunkered down further into the Cold War, it was easy to see it as the Russians versus the Americans, the totalitarian state against the free world, the bad guys against the good. That’s how Bobby Fischer saw it. “Someone has to stop them. I’ve been chosen. I intend to teach them a little humility”, he said. This was Clint Eastwood facing up to the crooked sheriff and his deputies.
Fischer was the last person to teach anybody humility, but that didn’t matter. The public loved it. For the first time ever, chess was sexy. Bobby was young, tall and good-looking, charismatic and immensely talented, and he was not about to be over-awed by the historical or political significance of the event. No sir.

And there was something else. Fischer was a loner. Most Grandmasters had a whole team behind them. This particularly applied to the Soviets. The point was that if, after a days play the position was adjourned, the Grandmaster could fall into bed for a well-earned sleep, while his team, consisting of other Grandmasters and analysis experts could worry over the position and find the best continuation for the next day. The Soviet Union was fielding a very strong team of Grandmasters to help Spassky, plus the resources of about thirty-five Grandmasters back home. Bobby Fischer didn’t have any of that. He had one Grandmaster and two administrative helpers, but in fact he did his own analysing. He once said, “If I win a tournament I win it all by myself.
I do the playing. Nobody helps me”. Nobody knew if Fischer would be there for the first game on July 12. He dithered and dallied and seemed uncharacteristically nervous. He was still in New York when Spassky’s team were settling in to their hotel in Reykjavik, but finally an English businessman topped up the prize money to $250 000. This was an unheard of prize for a chess match, and it finally persuaded Fischer to turn up.

Fischer was unsettled in the first game and lost fairly easily. He refused to play the second game until all the cameras were removed from the hall. He probably figured the officials would agree to his demands but they didn’t and he forfeited the game. Fischer was now two games down. A lead of two games is normally enough to secure a match. Protect your lead, play defensively i.e. play for draws, and you should win. But not against Fischer. He arrived late for the third game, as he did for nearly all the games and won convincingly. He won the next game to level the score and two games later he took the lead. By game ten he was leading 5 - 2. After that there was never any real doubt as to the outcome. Fischer became the new World Champion on September 1 with the final score at 7 - 3, not counting draws.
Fischer received a heroes welcome on returning to New York. Offers and sponsorship deals flooded in but, although nobody realised it yet, Bobby’s glory days were all but over. It would be tempting to end the story at this point; a high school drop-out from Brooklyn with no knowledge of art, culture or politics - in spite of an I.Q. of 181 - had taken on the mightiest chess-playing nation in the world and single-handedly beaten it out of sight.

After the match Fischer gave more than $60 000 of his prize money to The World Wide Church of God, an evangelical sect that he had been connected to since the mid ‘sixties, but shortly after he won the title the church hit a rocky patch when the apocalypse it had predicted failed to materialise and one of its founders, a well-known radio preacher with the resounding name of Garner Ted Armstrong, was involved in a sex scandal. Fischer felt betrayed and sued the Church, saying it took its orders from “a satanical secret world government”.

Before the World Championship Fischer had promised not to sit on his title. He said he would play a lot of competitive chess. In fact he played very little. He was due to defend his title in 1975 against Anatol Karpov but he bickered with officials up to and beyond the date of the match, about prize money and conditions, and so lost his title by default.

Fischer now began his long trek into a nightmare of his own making. He started to dress like a hobo and grew his hair and beard long. His paranoia deepened as he ranted about the Jews, the ‘Commies’ and the FBI. The Russians were cheats and were involved in a conspiracy to ‘fix’ international chess, and he lived in fear of being poisoned. He told someone at this time, “If the commies come to poison me, I don’t want to make it easy for them”. He also had all his fillings removed in case someone managed to put an electrical bug in one of his teeth to influence his thoughts.

Fischer did not stop playing altogether and those who played him reported that he was playing as well as ever. In 1992 he came out of his self-imposed exile to play Boris Spassky in a rematch. The winners share was to be $3.65 million. By this time he definitely needed the money; after all, he had turned down millions of dollars over the past two decades in sponsorship deals and million dollar match fees. But the real reason he took on the challenge seems to have been the love of an eighteen-year-old chess prodigy from Budapest called Zita Rajcsanyi.
She it was who finally persuaded the reclusive Fischer to leave the sanctuary of his flat in California and travel to Yugoslavia.

Government officials advised him not to play the match in Yugoslavia because strict UN sanctions were in place but when asked on TV if he would heed US Government warnings he held up the Treasury department letter and said; “Here is my reply to their order not to defend my title here”, and spat on it. Fischer went on to win the match 10 - 5 and his passport was immediately revoked and an order for his arrest issued by the Bush administration, making it impossible for him to return to the US.
Again he disappeared, and with good reason. This time they really were after him. There were reports of him being seen in Poland, Germany and the Philippines. And it was in the Philippines that Fischer hit rock bottom. In a local radio broadcast on September 11 2001, just after the Twin Towers had been destroyed he said; “This is all wonderful news. I applaud the act. The US and Israel have been slaughtering the Palestinians…for years. I want to see the US wiped out”.

For a while now, he lived in Tokyo, with his de facto wife Miyoko Watai, the Japanese women’s chess champion, before being arrested by the Japanese authorities for using a revoked passport. He was held for nine months and threatened with deportation to the US. Finally in 2005 a grateful Iceland offered him citizenship. He died of liver failure in January 2008 with Miyoko at his side, still tilting at windmills as the light faded.

The charitable view is that he was insane. Grandmaster Lev Alburt, a close friend of Fischer at one time put it like this; ’Chess is a game that forces you to be objective and to take into account an opponent’s views. It forces you to make reasonable judgements and to be sane. When Bobby quit playing, it was really the end of his rational existence. And he began filling that void with crazy ideas’. Bobby Fischer leaves us with a puzzle. How do you evaluate a man who was a colossus in chess and a failure in everything else? He left us with a multitude of recorded games, available to anyone with a chess set and the ability to read chess notation. It is no exaggeration to say his games are amongst the great intellectual landmarks of our age, maybe any age. Robert J Fischer died alone and far from home, with only his loyal wife Miyoko by his side. In the end, should we not pity a man who wasted thirty of his best years on hate and small-minded bigotry?

James Donaldson Collins

www.scottish-essays.com

Warhammer 40K/Dark Heresy Online Roleplaying Community

2008-06-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Warhammer 40K/Dark Heresy Online Roleplaying Community

Hollow World is an online roleplaying game based in the universe of
Warhammer 40k and Dark Heresy. We do not strictly use a rules system,
but instead our Game Masters and Players employ free form
storytelling to move along their adventures.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorld40K/

We are currently seeking new Game Masters to run additional
plotlines, as well as new players to help create these new plots or
to join existing ones.

During the summer, I plan to start up a new plot which will very much
be along the lines of a Dark Heresy game, and will feature a group of
Inquisitorial Agents searching out the things that go bump in the
night. It will be oriented towards elements of mystery and horror,
with a focus on roleplaying, investigation and problem solving.
Appropriate characters would include Dark Heresy Characters, Hired
Guns from Necromunda, Inquisitorial Agents from Inquisitor, or
Inquisitorial Retinue from the Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter Codexes.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldDH/

We also currently have several ongoing games, plus additional
roleplaying opportunities.

The first is based on the Space Wolves Chapter of Space Marines, and
features a number of characters from the Ragnar novels. They are
currently launching an assault into a Necron Stronghold.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldSW/

The second is based on an Adeptus Mechanicus Expedition to the
blasted Rad World of Beryl to investigate the possible location of an
STC device.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldAM/

The third is a loose-knit group of various Imperial Guardsmen and
other Imperial Servants (sort of a catch-all) who are currently
fighting Tyranids on Hollow World itself. The IGs are currently part
of a crossover adventure with the Space Marines, Inquisition and Tau.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldIG/

The fourth is a group from the Tau Empire, made up of Tau, Kroot,
Vespid and other races, who are part of a diplomatic and trade fleet
visiting Hollow World, but also enacting their own plans for the
Greater Good. The Tau are also part of the crossover event.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldTE/

The newest plot, just starting up, features members of the Grey
Knights.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldGK/

In addition, we have Morg's Pit, which is a tavern area and general
purpose welcome area for new characters, run by me, with a rogues
gallery of NPCs.

We also will be starting up games for Deathwatch Space Marines,
Sisters of Battle, and Eldar in the near future.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldDW/
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldSB/
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HollowWorldEL/

If you have any interest in running a plotline as a Game Master, or a
new idea for a game group in which you would want to participate,
please let me know and I will do my best to make this happen, as far
as finding a GM and/or players for that plot.

If you have any questions, please contact BlkSabbath74@yahoo.com

Axis & Allies vs. Memoir 44: How do they stack up?

2008-05-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

Original box of the original MB Axis and Allies. Of course they
have come out with many versions of this great game since then.

by Mike Montesa

Well, in terms of scale, the vanilla A&A game is a strategic game, the
theater focused A&A games are operational, and M44 is tactical (all in
a "kinda-sorta" way) So it really depends on what you want. If you
always wanted to play out the assault on Pegasus Bridge on D-Day at
the platoon/squad level but didn't want to play Advanced Squad Leader,
M44 is your game. if you've always wanted to game the Battle for
Guadalcanal in its entirety, but didn't want to play SPI's old Pacific
War, A&A:Guadalcanal is your game. If you've always wanted to play out
the whole war, but couldn't get in to Third Reich, A&A is your game.

Personally, I enjoy them all but I really like the simplicity and
modularity of M44. With the terrain and expansion sets, you can make
scenarios for any theater (and there are many. many fan-made scenarios
online). I don't have the aircraft expansion yet but it looks really
cool. And the ability to put the boards together and play a super
large battle with multiple players is really fun! I played a big
3-board D-Day game at Gen Con SoCal a couple years back and had a
blast!

M44 plays fast too, and you can finish even big scenarios in an hour
or less. Some people despise the random aspect of the card but I like
it. I wouldn't call it the most accurate depiction of WW2 combat (it
necessarily abstracts a lot of things, but that's all right) but it
sure is fun, and has plenty of color.

Information about Playing Games & Japan Based Game Playing Groups

2008-02-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

Pictured: The boardgame Settlers of Canaan

by Chris Zanella

To all interested,

Please check out the JIGG group. We as a whole meet once a month to
play all games from mini's to board to card games, but members also
host smaller sessions on different weekends. We rent a 2 story
building to play the games in, which is located along the Odakyu line
in Tokyo. The day starts at 9 AM and goes until 9 PM. With games
starting and ending at anytime, so you will always get a chance to
play. We have been averaging over 30 people everytime.

The next event is March 1st.

SUMMARY: (because its a long email, going to different Japan gaming
groups)

1. Links
2. Fees, no not a 4 letter word
3. Games
4. Games Workshop and the Miniature gaming
5. Players
6. Location

1. Links:

JIGG site - http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/JIGG/

pictures of past game days - http://models.goblog.us/gamesdaydec07
http://models.goblog.us/gdjan08
http://models.goblog.us/jigg/

JIGG Wiki - http://www.wiki.jigg.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

JIGG Magic Players - http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/jiggmagic/

2. Fees:

Such an ugly word but the building is not free. We all currently chip
in 500 Yen. The extra Yen has been used to buy games for a monthly
drawing for who shows and to pay for some food (breakfast and some
drinks). This is the current plan and may change (not a price
increase either)....stay tuned. We recently all discussed different
options from lowering the fee to using the money for other uses of
which ALL benefit the group as a whole and not just one persons
pocket. Or we would pummel them to death with our dice.

3. Games:

Like I said above we have a large group of players with different
tastes, ranging from card games (including Magic), to a lot of
different board games to an ever increasing amount of different mini
gaming including Games Workshop games, Battletech, Banana Republic,
DBA, car wars, and the list grows bigger every month. Including soon
Flames of War, if I get my a#s in gear.

Pictured: Roborally

Magic Players have been showing up to play also.

Within the group there are just a ton of board games to be had of
every type. Times can run from a quick 30 minute game to 6 hours per
game. But with so many players new games start up at anytime.

Also players have been talking about starting role playing campaigns.

4. Games Workshop and the Miniature gaming:

Matt has been organizing with some other players to have different
types of miniature gaming taking place every games day as the list
mentioned above.

I have been showing up with one of my 7 armies for 40K but so far the
one time more players showed to play they learned the hard way that
Talisman is not a quick game so we didnt get a chance to play. I have
made and been bringing terrain and pretty much all the books you
would need, except the codexes. I only have the ones for my armies.
We have gaming boards made, which Im making more of, and I have just
plain felt.

Currently for fantasy I only have the Battle for Skull Pass. I do
have Blood Bowl (5 teams plus many many extra characters), Dungeon
Bowl, Dead Zone, all the Star Player books, and Space Hulk. These
games I will only bring if asked a head of time because I travel
about 2 hours one way and this stuff gets heavy. But like I said
there are now other players coming with even more GW items to play
with so the list gets bigger and bigger.

Hopefully we can travel up to Nagoya or vice versa for a big GW
gaming event.

5. People:

We have a large range of characters, I mean players, who show up
every month. From all age groups and even married couples, moms and
dads, kids, you name it. But the best part is we do not have a bad
person in the whole group. Everyone seems to be just having fun no
matter what.

6. LOCATION:

Here's directions to the Oyama-cho Kaikan where we'll be having the
game day next Sunday on the 30th. Seems like we got about a dozen
people who are planning to come. Everyone is welcome, and you don't
need to let me know beforehand. Just show up if you want.

We'll be there from 9 am until 10 pm so come whenever you like, and
bring anything you want to play. Surely there will be someone who
will take you up on it.

A link to a map is here if you like that sort of thing:
http://www.mapion.co.jp/c/f?
uc=1&grp=all&nl=35/39/58.968&el=139/40/34.212&scl=25000&bid=Mlink

If you are coming by train, you'll want to go to Yoyogi Uehara station
on the Chiyoda/Odakyu lines or Higashi Kitazawa station on the Odakyu
line. The two stations are adjacent, so get off at whichever one
comes first depending on the direction from which you are coming.

Then follow the map, or these directions...whichever is easier (call
my cell phone if you get lost (090-2316-0491):

---Directions from Yoyogi-Uehara station (this is about a 10 minute
walk)

Exit the ticket gate and go straight down a short flight of steps.
You will see McDonald's on your left as you get to the bottom of the
steps. Turn right and go up few steps to the road. Turn right again
and follow the wall on your right. The tracks are above you.

About 50 meters down, the road ends in a T intersection. Turn left
and go to the 4-way intersection with a traffic light. You'll be on
the corner with Origin Bento. Turn right and cross the street. You'll
be heading toward the tracks and will go under them.

Proceed straight up this road about 200 meters (after going under the
tracks you will see a mosque on your left) until you come to an
intersection at the third traffic light. You will see the Daily
Yamazaki convenience store across the way. Turn to the right and walk
about 50 meters. You will see a Shell gas station on your right.
Right across the road from the station is a cement two-story building,
the Oyama-cho Kaikan.

---Directions from Higashi-Kitazawa station (about a 6 minute walk)

Exit the station on the side where the ticket office is (same side as
the train if you are coming from Shimo Kitazawa; opposite if from
Yoyogi-Uehara). Turn to the right and follow the tracks on your
right. When you get to the road where the cars cross the tracks turn
left. Walk straight down this road until you see the Shell gas
station on your left (you'll pass the intersection with the Daily
Yamazaki on your left). Right across the road from the station is a
cement two-story building, the Oyama-cho Kaikan.

Brain Training and Mind Games: Interview with Japanese Expert Go Hirano

2008-02-03T02:38:00.000-08:00

Pictured: A Japanese Sumo Match

Brain Training and Mind Games: Interview with Japanese Expert Go Hirano

by: Alvaro Fernandez

Today we are traveling to Japan to learn about latest gaming trends there. Go Hirano is a Japanese executive with experience in neuroscience and gaming.

Alvaro Fernandez (AF): Hirano-san, what is the state of Brain Fitness and Brain Training in Japan? what are the most popular programs so far?

Go Hirano (GH): So far, the most popular application is anti-aging, and most popular product is Dr. Kawashima's book of calculations and oral reading for adults.

TV variety shows regularly come up with Brain specials. It is hardly deniable that brains enchant Japanese people. We love brain training.

There were two times of "brain boom" in the past and Brain Imaging created a third one most recently. Dr. Kawashima claimed calculations and oral reading are good to develop kids' brains in the book for children "Jibun no Nou wo Jibun de Sodateru (Develop your own brain)" in 2001. In the book, gaming was said to reduce prefrontal activation and have bad or no benefit for kid's brain. He compared the fMRI image of someone doing simple calculations and playing games, and apparently the image of the former showed more activities. To see the activities inside the brain was fresh for people, but the methodology and logic was not reviewed by any scientific publication. It was published by a company that provides a franchised chain of learning classes. The company maintained books at bookstores to create a boom and was very successful. Then they came up with adult version of training book, and sold more than 2 million.

Adults and senior people were seriously did addition and subtraction of 1 digit numbers for countless times believing it will maintain and even enhance their brainpower.

This then became the basis for the Nintendo Brain Age video game. More recently from him, cooking became good for brain since cooking demands planning and multiple tasks. They demand prefrontal cortex activation, and he showed image of a brain when cooking. A gas company that wants to sell more gas ranges and ovens helped sponsor the research.

AF: we have heard there has been a backlash recently. Is it more of a scientific, or consumer one?

GH: Scientific for adults' games, consumer for kids' ones. In 2001, another researcher, Dr. Akio Mori wrote an article called "Gemu(=Game) Nou(=Brain) no Kyofu (The Fear of Game Brain)". He created his own EEG machine and gathered the data of people who frequently play games and people who do not. He found the "beta-wave" from frequent game players that are "same as senior people with dementia". That, he said, is because of lack of activities in their prefrontal cortex, and that means more probabilities for lower academic performance and crime. Though his equipment was not verified, and he was said to get confused about alpha and beta wave of EEG, parents and education authorities like municipal education committees loved his book and invited him for lectures and conferences. His new book in 2006 became the recommended book of the year from the National PTA Committee.

The sales of software on home game machines have declined from its peak of 533 billion yen in 1997 to its 53%, 315 billion yen in 2005. Dr. Mori's book and phenomena was the finishing blow to the industry, especially for kids' games. Therefore game companies had to find new targets who had never played game machines, like middle-aged group and women. Brain Age was preceded by a Sega's game box that was the natural next step after the book from Dr. Kawashima I mentioned.

For women, games on English training, language support for traveling, cooking, common sense and etiquette are provided. These new sort of serious games not only helped the handheld game machine stay always out of stock and reach multi-million sales, but also successfully gave the image that games are, depending on the software, good for the brain and education. Funny it is that the authority backing the campaign is the same Dr. Kawashima who originally recommended kids to calculate rather than to play games for the benefit for brains.

No wonder, authorities from the academic and medical societies of the neuroscience field started criticizing scientifically unproven or no evidence-based products, books and opinion makers. This year, neuroscience researchers started a group called "Nou wo Ikasu (Make the best out of Neuroscience)" and have frequent meetings of researchers where people can join.

However, adult consumers keep devouring such games. Dentsu, the biggest advertising agency announced the No.1 Consumer-chosen Choice of the Product 2006 was game software and books for brain training. So far, apparently the demands went far out before the real neuroscience comes to fill. Between the balance of body and brain, Japanese people are one of the extreme that is most brain-ism oriented, to the brain side, says Dr. Yoro.

AF: Hirano-san, many thanks for your insights.

GH: you are welcome.

Copyright (c) 2007 SharpBrains

About The Author
Alvaro Fernandez is the CEO and Co-Founder of SharpBrains.com, which combines the latest science-based information for Brain Training with fun Brain Teasers, and has been recognized by Scientific American Mind, MarketWatch, Forbes, and more. Alvaro holds MA in Education and MBA from Stanford University, and teaches The Science of Brain Health at UC-Berkeley Lifelong Learning Institute. You can learn more at http://www.sharpbrains.com/

Comment

2008-01-30T01:42:00.000-08:00

Pictured: The Shogun Wargame by Milton Bradley (Hasbro). The newer version is
known as Samurai Blades.

Toward a History Based
Doctrine for Wargaming

Matthew Caffrey

Sadly both the medical and military professions get to bury their mistakes. Because the cost of errors can be so high student doctors are now using simulated patients to learn from their mistakes before treating real patients. For the same reason the military have used wargames for centuries. Ever more powerful computers appear to promise ever better wargames. Yet is the Emperor wearing clothes? Or to use a more contemporary expression, is the validity of "garbage in garbage out" independent of computing power? Will future wargames enlighten or mislead us?

Read More: http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/caffrey.html

Risk: Lord of the Rings Re-Visited

2008-01-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

Pictured: Shaun of the Dead Cards

by Sean Minch

I like Risk LOTR a lot more now that I've played three player.
I stomped pretty well in the end but only because
another guy had more a vendetta vs the other
guy at first leaving me okay to solid up my secondary
"gnarly" front before committing to too much expansion.

I think the game is a very good one for breaking
the cycle between heavy and long long term games
like Pax Britannica or A and A and the
lighter games like Settlers or the like.

Like Risk, Risk LOTR has the dice and the
territory cards which make up various sets
of reinforcements both of which are only arbitrary.
Still, Risk LOTR has a very good power card device
which can be used to stylize your own game play or
to just pound crap out of someone once in a while... also
event cards rarely but punishingly happen... ouch!

The power cards can only be got by taking certain
territories with forces accompanied
by a leader of which there can only
be two max and which can be
lost. These ideas are enough to make it
a meaty-sh game but don't
forget that, unlike Risk games that
I have played where you can take
your army and roll like the Mongols,
in this one, you can only take a
maximum of three units with you when
you win the first territory and
the next territory from there can only
be attacked by two units and
if you win you can only move in with one unit.

This seriously changes the way Risk heads have to think and really
makes things interesting, even on such a relatively small playing
area. Also, the sea routes combined with serious choke points and
fortifications add a lot to this LOTR game. I like it.

Risk: Lord of the Rings

2008-01-19T22:39:00.000-08:00

Pictured Top: Risk LOTR, Pictured bottom: The very popular boardgame Risk

by Sean Minch

I'm especially glad to report that I have finally found a gamer here
in Memphis, Tennessee, USA with whom I can get some gaming done.
Yess!! And, boy, does he have some neat games, too.

Last night we
played Risk's Lord of the Rings. Oh, man.

This is a very very good
game for two to four players. The map is simple enough to understand
after a bit of time but complex enough to keep even clever people on
their toes. Also there are cards that can and sometimes must be
played that can really affect battles or create random events to
modify everything, if briefly. Yes, Guillaume, there is certainly a
randomness factor in the dice but, like most in most things, you make
your own luck (read: even though I had some awesome lucky streaks, I
still lost!). Good game. Took us about 6 hours. Oh, there is one
other component besides the regular features of winning a territory
card for taking territory on your turn which can be mixed/matched for
units later. There is a ring. It must travel across the map along a
plotted course and reach Mt. Doom in order for the game to end and
points be counted up. There are various little things that can
affect this movement... in case you are winning and want to hurry it
up or the opposite. Just a little neat touch. Also prevents
looooooong games from hell where nobody seems to be able to 'win the
game' by 'risking out' the other guys. Good game. Check it out!

Origins of Popular Puzzle Games

2008-01-14T01:08:00.001-08:00

Origins of Popular Puzzle Games by Riz Davis

Pictured: Games Workshop, Warhammer 40K Game

Puzzle games are widely enjoyed by many for two main reasons. They are engaging, making for ideal pastimes. At the same time, they call for logical thinking and stimulate the mind. Kids and adults alike can appreciate puzzle games - it's no wonder that several have become classics throughout the years. The following is a look at these popular puzzle games and where they came from.

Jigsaw puzzles. The inventor of the jigsaw puzzle was Englishman John Spilsbury, an engraver and mapmaker. He created the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767, when he attached a map of the world to a piece of wood and cut out each country. Teachers used Spilsbury's puzzles to teach geography - students would learn by putting the world maps back together. The name "jigsaw puzzle" was not given until 1880, although puzzles were cut by a fretsaw and not a jigsaw.

Rubik's Cube. This mechanical puzzle was invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the first test batches of the product were produced in late 1977 and released to Budapest toy shops. In early 1980, the puzzle made its international debut at toy fairs. The Ideal Toy Company renamed it "Rubik's Cube" in 1980. The Rubik's Cube is said to be the world's best-selling toy.

Crossword puzzles. The first crossword puzzle was a "word-cross" puzzle published in the New York World on December 21, 1913, by Liverpool journalist Arthur Wynne. The name of the puzzle was later changed to "crossword", and it became a regular weekly feature in the New York World. The first book of crossword puzzles appeared in 1924, which became an instant hit. Crossword puzzles were the craze of 1924.

Sudoku. In the 18th century, Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler developed the concept of Latin squares, where numbers in a grid appear exactly once in each row and exactly once in each column. In the late 1970s, Dell Magazines in the US began publishing Sudoku puzzles using Euler's concept with a 9 by 9 square grid. The puzzle was called Number Place then, and it was developed by Howard Garnes. In the mid-1980s, Japanese puzzle company Nikoli, Inc. published a version of the puzzle, which became very popular in Japan. It was also Nikoli that gave Sudoku its current name. British and US newspapers began publishing their own Sudoku puzzles in 2005.

About the Author

Riz Davis, 26, is the Internet Marketing Associate of Gadget Epoint LTD. An internet savvy and geek by heart, she enjoys browsing the net for unusual gadgets and novelty items.

Set and Drift: Doctrine Matters why the Japanese Lost at Midway

2007-12-31T19:29:00.001-08:00

Pictured: Axis and Allies Naval Miniatures game, "Atlanta" card

Pictured: The Book Requiem for Battleship Yamato

Naval War College Review, Summer, 2001 by Jonathan B. Parshall, David D. Dickson, Anthony P. Tully

Dallas Isom's article "The Battle of Midway: Why the Japanese Lost" [Naval War College Review, Summer 2000, PP. 60-100] is laudable for its use of Japanese sources and for the interesting points it raises. In particular, we applaud Isom's interviews with Japanese survivors, which contribute new and useful information regarding Japanese aircraft rearmament procedures. This new data is crucial to building an accurate account of the events that transpired aboard the Japanese carriers on the morning of 4 June 1942. However, in our opinion, Professor Isom's arguments appear to rely too much on a rather rigid (and highly debatable) interpretation of Japanese communications: namely, exactly when did Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo received transmissions from scout plane 4, launched by the cruiser Tone. In addition, while Isom's rearmament information (which he puts forward as central to Nagumo's inability to launch his anticarrier strike before being fatally attacked) is clearly important to understanding the Japanese s ide of the battle, we feel that he did not carry his operational analysis far enough. As a result, we cannot accept his conclusions.

At the time of Isom's writing, we were engaged in a reappraisal and rewriting of the Japanese account of Midway as a result of our own work in identifying wreckage from the carrier Kaga. (1) A key part of our approach was to build an accurate model of the operations of the Japanese carrier striking force. As we will show, the disaster that befell the Japanese carrier force hinged neither on whether Nagumo received Tone 4's message at 0740 or at 0800, nor on how quickly the armorers in the Japanese hangars could do their work. Rather, the fate of the Japanese Mobile Striking Force (Kido Butai) revolved around what was happening on its flight decks. Armed with a knowledge of Japanese carrier doctrine, as well as the operational information from the battle, one can reach an accurate assessment of the state of readiness of Nagumo's force at the time of the climactic American attack without resorting to Isom's indirect method.

A major error in the Isom article is that it repeatedly misstates what aircraft actually were on the Japanese flight decks. In several places, Isom presumes that the Japanese antiship strike force was on the flight decks when it is demonstrable that those aircraft were still in their hangars. This presumption carries forward the (mistaken) conventional view that the Japanese had spotted their antiship strike force on the flight decks shortly after the initial Midway attack force had taken off and had only briefly moved these antiship strike aircraft below for the purposes of rearming them or recovering the first-strike wave. As will be shown, this is the root of the fundamental misunderstanding of circumstances at the time the carriers were struck.

In fact, both Japanese doctrine and the operations of the Japanese combat air patrol (CAP) fighters would have kept the reserve strike planes securely below in their hangars until they were definitely needed. Not only that, but because of Japanese hangar design, the window of time necessary to lift, spot, and launch the aircraft was substantially longer than has been previously understood. As a result, given the frenetic nature of Japanese CAP operations after about 0800 (particularly aboard Akagi and Kaga), it is unlikely that many of these second-wave aircraft were ever spotted on the flight decks before the fatal American dive-bomber attack commenced at 1020.

This point cannot be overemphasized, because from the conventional belief of what was on the flight decks flow nearly all Western interpretations of the battle. To put the matter succinctly, at the time Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu were struck, their flight decks were more empty than occupied. This is almost the reverse of the standard view, which has the Japanese flight decks packed with strike aircraft awaiting takeoff. There were aircraft on deck, but most were CAP fighters, not attack aircraft. There were also fewer aircraft on deck than is generally supposed. Though potentially startling, this is less a "revision" than a correction and careful restating of the existing historical record. We will show that official Japanese sources on the battle have been aware of this for some thirty years.

These errors in both the conventional Western interpretation and Isom's article cannot be addressed without first developing a sense of how the Japanese conducted carrier operations. Unfortunately, standard English-language histories of the battle of Midway have not well understood Japanese carrier operations. From the common misperception that Japanese naval aviation was derivative of Western (primarily British) practice, Western writers typically believe that the Japanese carriers of World War II behaved much like their Western counterparts. In fact, they did not. Japanese carrier operations contained elements of both U.S. Navy and Royal Navy practices. However, as a result of differences in physical design and operational doctrine, by the late 1930s Japanese carriers fought in a fashion all their own. Without understanding these points of divergence, understanding Nagumo's actions is likewise impossible.

Board Games – Bringing Families Together

2007-12-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

Pictured: The board game Modern Art

by John GIbb

Board games have entertained children and adults for many years. Many board games have now been made available to play online over the Internet. Some of the most famous board games, such as battleships, monopoly and checkers can now be played online. You can even play against your friends over the computer. Personally I used to prefer the old fashioned way.

Board games can bring families together, a cosy night in huddled next to the fire logs playing a good old game of monopoly with the family. Not only is monopoly fun, but it also stimulates the mind and can help with a Childs education. next to the fire logs playing a good old game of monopoly with the family. Not only is monopoly fun, but it also stimulates the mind and can help with a Childs education. You could set a night each week where you play monopoly with your family. Each member can take turns to be the banker.

Monopoly is a fun way to improve number skills for all members of the family and can be a good way to learning about investing and other useful skills that can come in handy later on in life.

Checkers is an ancient game that can now be played online. Many messenger services have the game built in now, such as the famous msn messenger. You can play against your online contacts free of charge. This is an old but famous game what can have you hooked in no time. Hours of our time were spent playing checkers as a family when we were all young.

Another famous game which has now been available for online play is battleships. Battleships can be very addicting trying to locate the others ships so you can destroy them. Co – ordinates are used. This game can be fun to play against a family member or friend.

Board games may be old and may sit on people’s shelves gathering dust in today’s world. With all the computer games around now, board games have become less popular amongst many families. However, for mind and even exercise stimulation, old fashioned board games will bring your family together and are much more constructive than sitting playing computer games all day. How about a good game of twister or a game of guess who? That’s more constructive for the family than sitting on a computer getting eye strain and head aches.

If you want to have enjoyable evenings with your family, board games are definitely the way to go.

About The Author

John Gibb is the owner of http://www.Boardgames-sources.info

For more information on board games please check out http://Boardgames-sources.info

Tips to Transform your Scrabble Game

2007-12-30T21:04:00.001-08:00

by: Emma Snow

Alright, so your mother-in-law, a PhD in English Literature, has challenged you, a lowly salesclerk at the local bookstore, to a “friendly” game of Scrabble. Sound like a hopeless case? Certainly not! More than just a rivalry of vocabularies, Scrabble is a game of strategy. Equipped with the right tricks, even a child could give your mother-in-law a run for her money!

This article will give you five proven tips guaranteed to transform your Scrabble game. Whether you are a novice to the game, or looking to increase your skill in order to compete in clubs or tournaments, a little practice with these techniques will bring instant results!

Tip #1: Two-by-Twos

Experienced Scrabble players agree that the first key to success is memorizing the list of acceptable two-letter word combinations. This sounds harder than it really is. There are only 96 two letter words, and you undoubtedly know 23 of them. (Some lists include 120 two-letter words, depending on which dictionary you refer to. The 1998 Chambers Dictionary, as well as the Chambers Official Scrabble Words qualifies 120 words, while the Merriam Webster Official Scrabble Players Dictionary includes only 96. A good word of thumb would be to decide at the outset of a game which dictionary you will be using. I’d focus on the list of 96 words, as they are universally accepted in almost all dictionaries.)

Why is this word list so valuable, considering you only use two tiles? Knowing the two letter words helps you to build parallel words, enabling you to count your letters twice for each word you form. This dramatically increases your score! This skill is absolutely essential when the board is “closed,” (meaning that there are no wide open spaces to build new words in), as well as at the end of the game, when you must empty out your rack.

Memorizing this list only takes minutes if you associate each letter with the number of words it forms, (for example, there are 16 “A” words, 5 “B” words, etc.). Going through the lists and becoming familiar with the lesser known words is usually all it takes to commit the list to memory. It’s nice to know there are a few words that don’t require vowels!

The 96 words are: aa, ab, ad, ae, ag, ah, ai, al, am, an, ar, as, at, aw, ax, ay, ba, be, bi, bo, by, de, do, ed, ef, eh, el, em, en, er, es, et, ex, fa, go, ha, he hi, ho, id, if, in, is, it, jo, ka, la, li, lo, ma, me, mi, mm, mo, mu, my, na, ne, no, nu, od, oe, of, oh, om, on, op, or, os, ow, ox, oy, pa, pe, pi, re, sh, si, so, ta, ti, to, uh, um, un, up, us, ut, we, wo, xi, xu, ya, ye, yo.

Tip #2: “Racking” up Points by Anagramming

The difference between an average and an advanced Scrabble player has to do with the number of options a player can find in a given rack. Don’t just find one word and give up—keep moving those tiles around. There may very well be a better option than the one you find initially. Even if you end up using the same tiles, one word may score a higher value than another based on the location of the bonus squares. In addition, you may opt for one word over another because it is harder for your opponent to build on. For instance, if you have a hunch that your opponent has an S you should avoid laying down a noun, as this would allow him/her to “hook” on, scoring points for both words!

Tip #3: Keep it Hot

This hint may seem obvious at first, although there’s a bit more to it than first meets the eye. As you formulate your options on the board, focus on the “hot spots,” or the squares which award you double and triple the value of your tile and/or word. Use these squares to even better advantage by building parallel words, allowing you to use the bonus square two times (once for the horizontal word, and again for the vertical.) This is where that list of two-letter words comes in handy, particularly the words that contain high-scoring letters like J, Q, X, and Z. For example, the word “ex” used in a parallel position where the X lands on a triple would score at least 26 points.

The other side of this equation is that you must be careful not to make these hot spots available for your opponent! However, if you have a great word that opens up a triple, don’t throw it out the window. Weigh up your score against what your opponent may likely get. You may still come out ahead. Who knows? Your opponent may even pass up the triple, giving you a shot!

Tip #4: The Q—boon or bane?

No doubt about it, the Q is one of the most difficult tiles to play; therefore, it demands attention. There are a few tricks that can help you turn the Q to your advantage.

First of all, it’s advisable to commit to memory a few Q words that don’t require a U. Yes, they exist, and they are worth a lot of points, besides! So, here is your second (and final, for now) list of words to memorize: qaid, qanat, qat, qindar, qintar, sheqel, tranq, qoph, qwerty, faqir.

The words “aid” and “at” are particularly helpful for those looking to dump a Q, and this goes for your opponent too! Take care not to lay down either word if you suspect your opponent of having the Q on his/her rack, particularly at the end of the game! (I know this from sad experience; this oversight cost me an important match!)

Whatever you do, don’t hold on to Qs for more than a turn or two, hoping to draw a U. (This also goes for holding onto Us in case of drawing a Q.) Try to get it off your rack as soon as possible, as you lessen your chance of playing a good move when you’re only using six of your tiles. And if the game is close to the end you may want to consider trading it if there aren’t any options on the board. You certainly DO NOT want to get stuck with an unplayed Q at the end of the game, as it automatically adds 20 points to your opponent’s score.

Tip #5: Plan for BINGOs

Our last tip can be quite satisfying once it is mastered. It has to do with creating BINGO words (words which use all seven tiles) and is remarkably easy, once you know how to do it. Start by sorting your rack according to common word endings and save these letter combinations. One of the most valuable sets is “ING.” This takes care of three of your letters, and it’s much easier to form a four or five letter verb that works with “ING.” Voila! You have a BINGO! Some other common endings you want to watch for are -ed, -er, -ier, -iest, and -ies. I’ve even used -ation to good advantage. Un- and re- are good letters to set aside for word beginnings. Laying down your first BINGO is almost a rite of passage in the Scrabble world.

Now you are prepared to take on that grandiloquent mother-in-law; put that palaverous brother in his place. With practice, you may soon be able to join the ranks of the real Scrabble champions.

About The Author
Emma Snow works a pragmatic puzzler at the Puzzle Place http://www.puzzle-place.net and Chess Strategies http://www.chess-strategies.net leading puzzle portals.
Puzzle Place

Chess Strategies

Online Games – The Evolution

2007-12-30T20:42:00.000-08:00

Pictured: The Redemption card game

Online games have become extremely popular in recent years.
Games like Halo, Warcraft and others come to mind.
Susie Symonds examines this phenomenon in the following article.

by Susie Symonds

Now we see thousands of people playing online games such as tetris, ping pong, mario bros, super mario etc for free but despite its history dating back to 1970s, for most people online gaming began with the explosion of Internet in 1993 and with the advent of Doom and Warcraft sometime in 1994 or 1995. This got further boost with publishers starting to add Internet connectivity to computer games in 1994-95.

The media, in fact, have themselves been ignorant about online games history. As far as they are concerned, online gaming just coincidentally happened when their advertisers started producing Internet-capable games. But it isn’t so…

Early Years of development

In early 1950’s a college student created a game much like Tic-Tac-Toe for a class project to be played on dinosaur computers of those days complete with cathode ray tubes for the screen display. The 1960’s had MIT students programming a game called “Space war” that could be played with two people over a primitive network. The late 1960’s brought the first “real” video games like table tennis and shooter games.

The 70s – the game begins

Serious online gaming began with the first interactive online game called ADVENT. In fact networked gaming got conceptualized with ADVENT. Networked gaming had users playing against each other within an online fantasy world. The first networked game was called Mazewar, a game which involved networked players traveling through a maze and attempting to kill one another.

Next came the interpersonal interaction in a multi-player environment. The first such game was called DUNGEN. DUNGEN had players competing against one another to complete a series of quests. DUNGEN provided with new settings and players each time the user logged on.

The late 1970’s saw the start of video game craze with more and more households getting computer savvy. As a natural corollary, people started writing their own games for the home computers. These programming hobbyists traded and sold these home-grown games in local markets.

Other changes in the 1970’s were home gaming consoles which used game cartridges. That meant the people could collect games cartridges for one base unit instead of having bulky game console systems.

The 80s – some pause before the storm

1980’s saw growing craze for the video and computer game craze, but online gaming wasn’t on the horizon yet. New games with better sound and graphics were introduced and gained popularity. Pole Position and Pac-man were two that achieved big popularity. It was during 1980’s when Nintendo introduced its first gaming system.

The 90s – revolution begins

The 1990’s saw the phenomenal growth in both popularity and technology mostly because of the rise of 3-D and multimedia.

Myst, the intellectual adventure game introduced gaming on the CD-ROM format. Fancier 3-D graphics hardware made FPS (first person shooter) games such as Quake possible.

The late 1990’s saw the exponential growth of the Internet, MUDs (multi-user dungeons) which made online games wildly popular. New and improved graphical interfaces had people all over the world playing against each other not only in FPS games but also in real time strategy games (RTS games) as well as third person games like Grand Theft Auto.

This was also the period when websites started offering online games such as tetris, ping pong, mario bros, super Mario, and other free online flash games and non-flash based games free for playing after registering with them. This really pushed online gaming into the popular psyche.

The 21st Century – world is just a playground

Early years of the 21st century were dominated by the DVD-CD-ROM. It has changed the way online games are played. The latest gaming systems such as Sony’s play station and Microsoft’s X-box have networking capabilities to enable people play with each other in real time from all over the world. Exponentially growing broadband internet services have made playing these online games possible in true sense of the word.

The only drawback to the constantly evolving technology for online games is that what you buy today might become obsolete by the next year. Luckily, for the serious gamers, the resale industry for these online games is huge. This resale industry is just another element to the ever-changing history of online game.

About The Author
Susie is a game developer advocating to play online games free.

Visit www.Play-Online-Games-Free.com to play tetris online for free.

About JIGG: Japan`s International Gamers Guild

Join us if you want to play games while living in Japan at JIGG: Japan`s International
Gamers Guild

Wargaming: a philosophic and resource guide

2007-07-26T03:37:00.000-07:00

A cover shot of a popular boardgame, Runebound

Whole Earth Review, Summer, 1990 by Ty Bomba

The Roman poet Lucretius wrote that in the first century B.C., but it aptly describes the fascination we in the hobby of wargaming have for military history today. Wargaming, in fact, allows you to do far more than just "witness great battleplans of war"; it provides a handy and bloodless way to explore the might-have-beens of the past and the what-ifs of the future. If you've seen chess, you've already seen a wargame. That game has antecedents going back to at least 2000 B.C., when it served to teach battle tactics to the males of the royal houses of the Middle East. (And it's actually not a bad simulation of the clumsy and lock-step kind of warfare prevalent in those times.)

Much later, Napoleon brought modem war onto the tabletop when he began the practice of map-gaming all his campaigns, to test possibilities before actually launching them. Later in the nineteenth century, the Prussian General Staff introduced its own officer-training Khegspiel, and from there the idea spread. By 1900, wargames had pretty much become a standard part of all western military establishments.

Civilian-oriented, commercially sold wargames had their direct beginning in the late 1950s, when a man named Charles Roberts founded The Avalon Hill Game Company. Today there are one or two handfuls of wargame companies, most privately held and all tiny by Wall Street standards. They service somewhere around 250,000 gamers in America, and perhaps up to another million scattered elsewhere around the world. Going by the survey data I've read and collected, today's typical wargamer is a thirty-something married male (less than 2 percent are female), with a bachelor's degree and some graduate schooling, and an income of $30,000 or more a year. About 30 percent describe themselves as political conservatives, another chunk that size call themselves liberals, and the rest break down fairly evenly into all the other categories between and beyond those two poles. Less than 10 percent are currently serving in the military.

Today's typical wargame has three main components - there's the map, the counters, and the rules. The map, usually printed in color on thick paper, is generally no bigger than 34" x 22" inches. When the two (or more) players unfold it and set the map between them on a table, what they've got is a representation of the terrain that actually covered the area over which the historic battle or campaign they're about to game-out was fought. That is, the hills, rivers, deserts, cities, swamps, etc., that shaped the history are on the game map. And beyond that, there's usually also a hexagonal grid printed over the whole thing. This serves to regulate the movement of the game pieces the same way the squares do on a chess board. (Hexagons, or hexes," are much preferred over squares in wargaming because they allow for equidistant movement in all directions.)

The counters, also usually in color and printed on stiff cardboard about a sixteenth of an inch thick, must be punched out of their die-cut holder sheet when you play for the first time. Separated, each represents one unit - which can range in size from individual soldiers on up to whole armies or army groups, depending on the scale and scope of the game you've chosen - and will serve as your chess pieces during play. The rules are always the most imposing element of the games, at least to hobby newcomers. The simplest wargames have at least four to six pages of them; "intermediate level" games average eight to twenty-four, and the complex "monster games" can range up to 64 or more. And, certainly, having to read between 6,000 and 60,000 words before you can start to play a game is a daunting prospect for most people. But there are several mollifying factors that can help with those long rules. First off, you need to understand that the lengthy rules result from the fact that, aside from being "games," these things are also "simulations." (And just where game" ends and "simulation" begins is a debate that's been argued in the hobby since the beginning.) That is, they're supposed to model a reality - and war is a very complex reality - as well as to provide tabletop competition and fun. So, for example, if you're gaming a campaign wherein supply, air power, ships, severe weather, political considerations, etc., etc., all played significant parts, you've got to have rules to adequately explain and integrate those things into your play.

Sometimes events that were whole chapters in the real participants' lives can be condensed into a couple of rules paragraphs. For instance, in my latest published design, Sunrise of Victory, which covers the middle period of the Russo-German War of World War U, I was able to boil down the entire behind-the-lines partisan battles that raged in Russia to just two paragraphs.

Links to Terrain Making Advice Courtesy of GW

2007-07-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

http://us.games-workshop.com/games/lotr/terrain/tt_table/main.htm

http://us.games-workshop.com/games/warhammer/terrain/terrain.htm

http://us.games-workshop.com/games/lotr/terrain/terrain.htm

http://us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/terrain/terrain.htm

New Chiba Games Club Starts

2007-07-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

Pictured: The Orcs from Warhammer, a Games Workshop Game

Message from Chiba TPRG, the new Games Club in Japan:

Hi everyone,

I have been looking for roleplayers and board gamers in the Chiba-ken
/ Tokyo area, and have been drawing blanks on the net (I only just
found this group through word of mouth).

There is a now a new Yahoo Group for people in this area.
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChibaTRPG.

You do not need to be a member to come and post on this group. As
JIGG and ChibaTRPG are trying to accomplish the same thing (get gamers
and roleplayers together), I am assuming you don't mind me posting
this here (and feel free to come and post similar on Chiba Roleplay).

We currently have players in Yokohama, Funabashi, Kawazaki, and Inage
looking for roleplaying games.

Thanks.

Ultra Cheap Miniatures

2007-06-30T00:51:00.000-07:00

Kevin`s English School in Minami Ashigara City, Kanagawa, the site of KevCon

Description
This group is for links to ultra cheap wargaming.

How do you know if you are an ultra-cheap wargamer? Well, if you ever bought a Risk(c) game just to cannibalize the pieces and paint them as Napoleonics, or if you have a space fleet made of nuts, bolts, and bits from Michael's Craft Shop, or if you cast your own figures, or if you have one or more armies of paper flats, or if you have painted up green army men to serve as Modern warfare miniatures, you probably qualify.--from their Yahoo Group Ultra Cheap Miniatures

If you have a link to a source of cheap miniatures, or free gaming rules, or anything similar, post it at their group, and check out the many links they have to great minis at affordable prices.

Link:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ultracheapminis/

Prisoner of War Game

2007-06-21T03:27:00.000-07:00

Check this free game out at Nobel Peace Prize.org

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/peace/redcross/game.html

The Allure of Airsoft

2007-06-18T16:14:00.001-07:00

Pictured a Hen Long BB shooting tank

by Don J

Most of us, the male of the species anyway, at some point develop a fascination with firearms. For some of us, this interest starts when we are toddlers and continues through adulthood. I cannot count the number of bank robbers that have met their end in my parent's backyard or the number of times I have saved the world from the Nazis. Boys will be boys and boys do love their toys.

As father time advances the clock, our backyard begins to get smaller, bang-bang loses it's power and so does our imagination. At this point in our lives we may bounce around playing organized sports, video games, or action pursuit sports. For a fortunate few, they will discovery an obscure but growing activity known as airsoft.

Airsoft will transport you to a time when your backyard was an adventure and it was acceptable to pretend. The look, feel, and performance of airsoft guns will make anyone interested in firearms or the military stop and take notice. Some of the airsoft guns are externally identical to their real steel counterpart, down to their weights and markings, and their resemblance is not by accident. Airsoft was created to fulfill the needs of a gun enthusiast population in a country where real firearms are not permitted, namely Japan.

The variety of airsoft guns is mind numbing. There is an airsoft gun to fit any enthusiast tastes, from the days of Billy the Kid to the movie Aliens. You may see airsoft guns used as props in the television and film industry, at your favorite convention (Sci-Fi or Comicon), or at costume parties. Airsoft guns are sought after as much for their looks as for their functionality.

Military simulation is what really makes people passionate about airsoft. There are a variety of options in the action pursuit realm, but airsoft offers the best choices in performance and realism. Airsoft allows the simulation of time periods from old west to modern day Afghanistan. Police departments and the military are turning more and more to airsoft as a training option.

Most authentic firearm accessories will attach perfectly to all but the cheapest airsoft guns. In some cases airsoft accessories are used as a low cost alternative to actual firearm rails, lasers, and flashlights. The ability to use the same equipment you may already currently own for your real firearm on your airsoft gun is very appealing to police officers and gun enthusiasts alike, making airsoft a logical recreational choice.

From the magazine they use, to the moving bolt in some guns, the operation of airsoft guns also mimics that of their real world counterparts. Instead of utilizing unrealistic paintball hoppers, air tanks, and gas lines, airsoft guns use a variety of means to conceal the operational mechanism and keep the gun as realistic as possible.
About the Author

For more information on airsoft guns Don recommends Element Airsoft.

How To Purchase Wargame Terrain on eBay

2007-06-18T02:46:00.001-07:00

Pictured: Some wargame trenches

by Crisano John

How To Purchase War Game Terrain On eBay

Greeting and well met!

As you may know, I sell Terrain pieces on eBay. This guide will assist you in purchasing wargame terrain scenery on eBay and the internet from credible sellers.

Many sellers on eBay create awesome terrain pieces. I have seen some pieces that are equal to and exceed museum quality. Here in the USA, the talent is overwhelming. Our friends across the big pond in England and Down under in Australia create some of the best pieces yet.

The main thing to look for when purchasing terrain pieces or even painted figures is good, qualitiy pictures. The more the better. This includes close ups, different angles and top views. Pictures tell you that this seller is proud of his/her creation. It displays for all to see, the detail and time spent on fabricating a quality piece of work.

The feedback score and comments are an obvious indication of a sellers credibility, so I won't touch on that.

If the seller has only one or two blurry or distant pictures, the next step is to ask questions. Email the buyer and ask for more detailed images. In doing so, you will not only answer your quality questions, it may provide some answers such as how responsive is the sellers. Do they return your question in a timely manner (a day or two)? Did they even respond to your question? If not, I would be very weary of this sellers commitment to satisfaction.

Another tip is to read the description. How detailed is it? does it give the size, and idea of the material used to create the piece and or shipping & terms.

As a seller, I go out of my way to answer potential bidders questions with in hours of them asking. I know that if I am upfront with them, honest and provide excellent customer service, they, the customer will respect and appreciate that, so in the future, he/she will remember and maybe purchase another item from my auctions...or better yet, tell a friend. Lesson - If you say what you are going to do - Do what you say you are going to do.

I have recommend other sellers who I have personally purchase from, and who I know can build what the customer wants (If I cannot).

In conclusion - There are many talented wargame terrain builders on eBay. They all bring the best that they can. but, as with anything out there and on eBay. be smart when spending your hard earned money on custom built terrain pieces.

About the Author

John Crisano is the owner of http://www.wargame-terrain.com

KevCon Gold: April 29th & 30th, 2007 in Kanagawa

2007-04-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

Everyone welcome!
Sunday April 29th and Monday,
April 30th--national holiday!
Come whenever you want but if you want to come early...
Meeting time: 11AM-Noonish start on 29th.
Where: Kevin`s House
Address: Iizawa 242-23 Minami Ashigara City, Kanagawa
Email: greatpowers@yahoo.com
http://www.kevins-english-schools.com
What to bring? Your shoes, games, beer to bribe Kevin (optional)
We have the house to ourselves for most of the day so we can
get a lot of game playing in and say four letter words eh! I love
4 letter words like: four.

How to Get There from:
Tokyo, Fujisawa, Atsugi, Machida, Yokohama or Sakhalin:
Take the Odakyu Line to Odawara and be sure to get into one of the
first four train cars as the train splits. Take a Kyuko (express
train) it has red kanji on the side usually next to the door up top.
It takes about
90 minutes.

Get off at Odawara Station and transfer to the Daiyuzan Line. Get off
at Daiyuzan Station, it takes 24 minutes from Odawara. Take the only
exit, walk straight out to the main street out in front and head left
down that street through the traffic lights (under the covered
pedestrian overpass). Over the bridge and you will see our green
roofed house with "Kevin`s English School" signs plastered all over
the place.

How to Get There:
From Shizuoka, Nagoya and other points South: Take the
Tokaido line or the Shinkansen and get off at Odawara. Transfer to
the Daiyuzan line and follow the directions above (for Tokyo).

**The Shinkansen also stops at Odawara. You take a Kodama Super
Express. It takes about 40 minutes from Tokyo. Costs a little over
3,000 Yen one way.

Take a break from the city and see some mountain views and breathe
some fresh air.

Email me if you`d like to come: greatpowers@yahoo.com

Feel free to pass this on to interested people. Games of all kinds
welcome. Bring whatever you would like to play, chances are, others
will want to play it too. We have three guest beds and some futons.
Bring a sleeping bag if you`d like. It is a nice area as well.
A great break from wherever you live with a great bunch of people!

Kevin Burns
http://greatpowers1.googlepages.com/jigg%3Ajapan%60sinternationalgamersguild
http://www.jigg-greatpowers.blogspot.com

How to Make the Gamers` Gatherings Bigger and Better

2007-04-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

Screenshot from one of the computer games we play sometimes.

by Bruce McBain

Editors Note: The Gamers` Gatherings take place at Camp Zama in
Kanagawa Prefecture. They are always
announced at Warhammer 40K Japan. James Keller runs them and donates
his time to make them a fun
experience for all. You can find James teaching newbies how to make
terrain or how to storm a ruin in Mordheim.

Regarding starter games: Trinity, Silent Death, Mordheim, 40K, etc are big
investments and a lot of inertia has to be overcome before someone new
will
get started. Rules to buy (the easy part) and learn (the hard part),
figures to buy (easy) and paint (hard), and finding people to play with,
are some of what it takes to get someone to the table. Set up a few
figures or ships to give people a feel for the system.

James is the man with the training and experience of running ³demo²
games, designed to entice people to spend their hard-earned money and
valuable time on a great hobby.
Here are some tips from a rank amateur like myself:

Invitations:
³You want some of this, big boy?² for example. If you see some people
standing around, grab them and coerce them into a quickie.

Take a dive:
The second rule of demo gaming is ³Let `em win.² What? Yes, let the
13-year old and his mom hand your forces a humiliating defeat. If that
brings him to the next GG armed with a freshly-painted Eldar army- then,
you can kick his little behind around the table. BUT you have to get them
hooked first, and that is to let them win. If you can¹t arrange for them
to win, then play up the parts where they did well and emphasize that you
were lucky this time. Yes, become a game-whore!

Taunting:
Don¹t underestimate the value of scorning someone¹s forces to incite
them
to try to thrash your army/fleet/warband to within an inch of it¹s life.
All in fun, of course, light-hearted mocking can make a game more
interesting and rivalry between established players or groups
heightens the
drama and intensity.

Getting vocal:
We all enjoy it when our bed-partner is shrieking out with pleasure so get
excited and let the room know that you have just destroyed (or have had
destroyed) the big warship/troll/Warwalker.

Terrain:
Making simple hills and structures is a quick way to make your game at
least twice as interesting. Two forces fighting over a blank table is as
exciting as Saturday night bingo. You may have noticed the Mechwarrior
table loaded with industrial buildings, ruins, and foliage and 4 kids and
two adults shouting about blowing things up. Further rant to follow.

Foreplay:
Yeah, baby, yeah! Talk to people about what they plan to do at the
next GG
and warm them up to the idea of playing whatever you are hungering to
play.
Some choice phrases and veiled threats may be just the thing to
instigate a
game.

Reduce `down time¹.
Most games have a turn-based sequence so one player sits on his butt
waiting for the other person to finish their move. By explaining and
commenting on what you are doing in your turn you keep them involved. Ask
them questions about why they think you are moving your rangers into those
woods. Keep their interest up and focused on the game.

Editing:
Some games are too complex to take in at one time so don¹t hesitate to
edit
out some of the more difficult ideas, I left the special abilities out of
the Mechwarrior game until the players had a good handle on the basic
mechanics.

Hog the front table.
Set up your game on a table directly in front of the main entrance so that
is the first thing people see when they come in. Grab the people and
corral them into a quick game by handing them the dice and saying ³Okay,
you need a 3 or better to nail that fool looking out the window.²

What hooks people? Think of what has attracted you to a game.
The miniatures? The rules? The presentation? The art and images? Play up
the features that got you onto a certain game and emphasize them.

Not everyone is a good game presenter or can explain rules in an
understandable way. Everyone has their own strengths and you can
concentrate on those. Maybe you are good at putting prospective players
in the place of the characters of the game, or can give a battlefield
overview that brings the still figures to life. Team up with someone who
can do other things well and you are set.

Ideas for improving the facilities. What else do we Oneed¹? Bulk
discounts
from Burger King? I don¹t use those buy 5 value meals, get one free
certificates so the next time I go, I will ask anyone if they have one.
That way, their certificate gets another meal towards them getting a free
one, and I get a warm feeling inside by helping needy gamers get the food
energy they need to make that last die roll. Deal!

Music requests? Can we bring our own music and punish lesser mortals with
our choice of toe-tapping tunes?

I will get off my soap box for now and let you get back to slaying the
foul
beasts on the 12th level of whatever game you are playing on the PS2.

Bruce McBain is a manager by profession. He and his Japanese wife
have one
great son. He has lived in Japan for manyyears. He originally hails
from perhaps
the coldest city on earth, Winnipeg.

Why Study History? Why Play Historical Simulation Games?

2007-04-10T19:55:00.000-07:00

Pictured: Epic 40K game by Games Workshop, photo courtesy of Bruce McBain and Mike Montesa

by Brad Martin

I have often been asked why I am so interested in military history and wargames, or for that matter, history at all. Many people regard playing
boardgames of any kind as childish, and say that the past is "dead" and of no consequence to them. To the first part I quickly point out the popularity of computer games with all age groups and explain that boardgames came first and share the same principles. I also mention that many people are obsessed with gambling, share-market speculation, horseracing, football, etc., and that these are also games.
On history, I tend to become a bit agitated, for this has been my life-long passion. To me the fashionable focus on the "now," the desire
for personal 'esperience' and the craving for immediate self-gratification, are all manifestations of a greedy, materialistic society.
The deprecation of history merely demonstrates the individual's shallowness and ignorance.
In a recent lecture, British historian David Cannadine described history as a discipline that, "makes plain the complexity and contingency of human affairs,
and the range and variety of human experience, which teaches proportion, perspective, reflectiveness, breath of view, tolerance of differing opinions and thus
greater sense of self knowledge." In this way, "...it provides the best antidote to the temporal parochialism which assumes that the only time is now, and the
geographical parochialism which assumes that the only place is here."
Another very well known British historian Jeremy Black, supplies a further argument against ignorance: "Military history is the most obvious field in which it is
dangerous to adopt the perspective of hindsight. War-gamers devote their time to an entirely reasonable pastime, asking whether battles, campaigns and
conflicts could have had different results. War is not always won by the big battalions and the determinist economic account that would explain success in
international relations in terms of the economic strength of particular states...is open to serious question." He goes on to say: "The past, and therefore the
present, can never be understood if the options facing individuals in the past are ignored. It is wrong to assume not only the path of history is preordained and
obvious, but that the past belongs to the victors and that they should also own the present and the future. This is especially true of military history."
We, our societies, and our states have all been fashioned by history, and for us to ignore this is to aquiesce to the agendas set by the controlling elites and
corporates. By understanding history we can help to shape our own destiny.

Brad Martin

Brad Martin produces the best Play by Mail historical simulation gaming zine you will find. If you are interested his address is:
Western Front, 15 Turo Close, Western Australia, 6155 Australia. Western Front

What Has the Great Battles of History Series Added to the Hobby?

2007-04-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

by Rodger B. MacGowan, Art Director of GMT Games

Alex, [Ashton] you kindly said that my "...six years of work...have produced the most visually beautiful series (you) have come
across in our hobby..." Thank you, for saying that, I deeply appreciate it. As Art Director at GMT Games, I have worked very hard
on the GBoH series. I had a feeling many years ago that this series would prove to be important. Over the years, on this series, I've
read many books, spent many hours in the dusty stacks of the UCLA Research Library, poured through all the visual sources I could
find (there are not many, I might add), and tried to create a look, a style that would be recognizable as the GBoH Series.

It seemed to me that over the roughly 50 years of this hobby, since Avalon Hill created "Tactics" and "Gettysburg" in the 1950's, we have not seen much attention paid to the Classical time period. Ancient Greece and Rome had received very little coverage, and there was almost
nothing on 16th Century Japan or the 30 Years War. As a player in the 1960's and 70's most of us were playing WWII era games
and most of the games produced were on WWII. When I became a "professional" in the hobby in the mid-70's, I founded and
created a professional hobby review magazine Fire and Movement and thus had an opportunity to get an even wider overview of the
hobby and what was being produced. There was no question about it, WWII era games dominated, from Midway to The Russian
Campaign to the Squad Leader Series and on and on. There were so few games on the ancient period, you could count them all on
one hand, and you would still have fingers left over.

I remember hearing often, over the years, when someone was considering designing or producing an ancients game--"No one will
buy it, you'll go bust, and lose your shirt on it..." The risk factor of producing an ancient era game seemed very high. In fact, when
we at GMT Games first considered producing the Great Battles of Alexander in the early 90's we heard the same refrain--"It's a big
mistake, don't do it, now will buy it, you'll go broke producing it..." Well, needless to say, we did it, and the rest is wargame
history.

I think the most important thing our GBoH series of games has done is open the eyes of many gamers to periods of history they
were not aware of before. They have come to appreciate the tactics of the Greek Phalanx and the Roman Legion and so much
more. They have come to know some of the great Captains of history like Alexander, Hannibal, Scipio, Caesar, pyrrhus and Takeda Shingen--leaders they knew very little about or maybe never heard of before. They have come to see details of combat in that period.

I believe that of all the games in our GBoH series, the one that "sold out" the fastest was "Samurai"--that was the most pleasant
surprise.

So, we don't hear anyone telling us today that games on the ancient period won't sell. We have turned that conventional wisdom
upon its ear. They were wrong, we were correct. What we hear, most often now, is when is the next GBoH series game coming
out?

Most of the credit for this belongs to the game designers Mark Herman and Richard Berg, and to GMT President Gene
Billingsley for deciding to design and produce this series even in light of all the critics who said it couldn't be done. As the Art
Director of the GBoH series, what I have tried to do is create the most visually interesting series of games I could. I hope I have
achieved this.

After Inebriation Report: Axis & Allies

2007-04-03T18:34:00.000-07:00

Pictured: Halftrack model, courtesy of Chris Zanella

Jeff I think everyone would agree, was the overall champion. He
performed well with Germany. Russia was rather distracted, as he was
also playing another game on the computer. Not to detract from Jeff`s
performance however. Jonah the Russian leader was heard to complain:
"Well....you guys are always talking."

Japan and America played kind of a cautious stalking game in the the
South Pacific. I think that both the American and British leaders
suffered from too much alcohol and not enough concentration. Some
historians feel that it was a Japanese plot to supply unlimited
amounts of Kirin Lager to the allies. Only the underaged Soviet
leader Joe, the underaged plotter Senahito, and the sober Kaiser, did
not partake of the enemy suds.

It should be noted that Kaiser Jeff survived many gas attacks and was
still able to take over a lot of Soviet and African territory. There
is no excuse for unsportmanlike conduct like that. Gas attacks were
outlawed by the Geneva Convention. Whatever that heck that is?
Is that like a Shriners Convention? I love those funny hats!

Thanks to Chris for teaching us many interesting medical terms, we
would never have had the guts to look up for ourselves. He was even
willing to supply photos on his laptop, but the generals sat behind
their pencil-pushing desks and declined to see.

As British leader I can safely say, "I didn`t know what the hell I was
doing."

I seemed to have forgotten how to play Britain, with her limited
resources and options.

Coming up at the end of April, KevCon! Hope everyone can come!