Having virtually finished my latest big DSII force (all grav, painted in
Urban Cammo--destined to be the Illuminati pro-tem force), I have
decided that it is time for a change of pace. I'm going to stick to painting
small
(10 to 20 vehicles/stands) forces, in a variety of styles and colors,
and calling them mercenary units. I could use the variety, would get some
nicely diverse units, and can try out some of the more bizarre and
intricate cammo schemes that I've been seeing--without going mad
painting an entire army. *
To this end, I am going to be creating yet another force for the Tuffleyverse:
Asgard Incorporated (at least until I can come up with a
better name....). Asgard is a clearinghouse for Merc units--in return
for a percentage of their profits, AI will put them in touch with potential
clients, provide legal experts to look over (and guarantee) their contract,
and give them transport to and from their destination. Clients are reassured
that they will be hiring a respectable force, one which will fulfill its
contract, not commit any atrocities, and not turn on them as soon as they are
offered a better deal.
Asgard will, of course, have an agenda all their own (seeing as how they are a
wholly owned subsidiary of Illumination Unlimited), but for the most part they
will function as a thin pretense upon which to hang my new painting habits.
They will provide an excuse for mercenaries to follow the rules of civilized
combat (oxymoron though that may be), and will give some structure to a
campaign that I am going to be running one of these years. **
If anyone has ideas for merc units, or has some local troops for hire, send me
the details. I want names, colors, numbers, and vehicles, experience level,
and history (if any). The units' price will be determined by their point
value, modified by their experience level (elites, obviously, cost more than
regulars). Assuming that I can get organized enough, this information will
then be added to my webpage.
*Including one really neat WWII scheme--dirty white base, with dark
green silhouettes of winter trees along the sides of the tank.
**A balkanized planet, with two or more countries fighting it out. Each
side is receiving support from off-planet, largely in the form of cash,
and they can spend it by bidding for the services of various merc units.
> In a message dated 2/3/99 4:49:22 AM, you wrote:
<<I could use the variety, would get some nicely diverse units, and can try
out some of the more bizarre and intricate cammo schemes that I've been
seeing>>
What are some of those bizarre and intricate cammo schemes you've been seeing?
I'm looking for some myself! Jed Docherty
> On Wed, 3 Feb 1999 JDoch226@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 2/3/99 4:49:22 AM, you wrote:
Try and find books on the late-WW2 German army, especially the SS units.
They used some very interesting camo schemes - lots of splinter camo,
ambush schemes, etc. A lot of my miniatures have camo schemes based on these
ones, just because they're very cool. Crappy politics & ethics (to say the
least) but some interesting camo schemes.
The Osprey books are very good; I also saw a big coffee-table sized book
on camoflauge once - didn't pick it up, and I've never seen it again.
Big
full-color plates of all sorts of camo, past & present.
Somewhere on the DreamPod9 site, there's a list & clips of all sorts of camo
jobs used on their gaming universe. GW (loath as I am to mention
them) also have some decent camo ideas in various books - I think the
Imperial Guard Codex...
> Brian Burger wrote:
Big
> full-color plates of all sorts of camo, past & present.
The coffee table book is (and it's now in paperback):
Newark, Tim; Newark, Quentin; Borsarello, JF. Brassey's Book of camouflage: a
history of camouflage uniforms. London: Brasseys, 1998. ISBN: 1857532732
(paperback) 1857531647 (hardcover, 1996)
It's available in Canada through Chapter's books (www.chaptersglobe.com). I
would imagine it's available through Amazon books, too.
There are also a lot of libraries that carry this book. Get it through
interlibrary loans...
> In a message dated 2/3/99 4:49:22 AM, you wrote:
Well, I mentioned the dirty white with tree silhouettes--WWII Russian, I
think. I can't do this on my CMD modelt, though; I have to find some
relatively...tall tanks in order to get the right effect.
Other ideas, in no particular order, include:
REAL Urban Cammo--dirty Grey, white, and brick red...covered with
graffiti.
Black basecoat, metallic drybrushing, with regular white, gray, and black
shapes angling across it.
Mech Cammo--forest pattern to waist height, sky blue and white pattern
from waist up.
I have some Grav (from Adler) tanks that I have always pictured in an orange
and black tiger stripe pattern.
Gray basecoat, white geometric shapes (triangles, squares, circles), with
"shadows" beneath them.
A red and gray pattern used in the Ogre Miniatures book.
Standard cammo patterns in weird, "alien" colors (I have the old, "three
Rhinos for $12" box from GW, and it has some nice ideas).
Circuitry pattern--green with gold lines and boxes.
Arctic Cammo--white base, with dark blue tiger strips that have been
filled with blue-gray.
I have some other, more vague, ideas, but these are the ones that I want
to play with first. The only one that I have tried so far is the Arctic
one--and it looks darn good. We'll see how the others turn out.
> On Thu, 4 Feb 1999, Paul Lesack wrote:
> Brian Burger wrote:
Thanks!
(Minor book gloating: I just got a new copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War (the new
Sawyer translation) for $13Cdn. I love remainder tables...)
Next book question: Is there an in-print translation of Vestegius? (sp?)
The ancient Roman answer to Sun Tzu.
> On Fri, 5 Feb 1999, Brian Burger wrote:
> (Minor book gloating: I just got a new copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War
about a week ago i bought a new copy, with the Book of Lord Shang tacked on
the back, from The Works for 99p. it's only a paperback, but it's the text
that matters. there's a commentary by a maoist general, too, which is
interesting. i think it's a fairly old translation. ya gotta love sun tzu.
Tom
> Tom wrote:
Yes. I've got several translations of Sun Tzu. The R.L. Wing translation seems
the easiest to understand.