MINI WARGAMING: "Car Wars Correspondence: Part-1" (20 December 2007)

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TOP: Maksim's (mine) 6mm Car Wars collection is quite diverse:
Irregular, Reviresco, Khalsa Brain Games, Grenadier, Dark Horse and MORE!

Hi Everyone,

The best part about having a blog is when other folks E-mail you to correspond, share tips, give advice, and just gab...

Hi Greg,

Thanks for writing.

I always appreciate a tip, advice, or to just hear from another gamer and miniatures hobby enthusiast.

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[[[Greg: Hello Sir, I've been enjoying your blog and Yahoo sites - especially recently as I've also been on the hunt for 1/285 modern civilian vehicles. ]]]

Thank you very much. A positive word or constructive criticism is always welcome.

Ever since I posted my 6mm Car Wars AKA Autoduel posts, I’ve received a lot of letters about them and seen interest rise in playing x1 scale or 6mm Car Wars. Being the original scale, one can use all of the original maps, templates and counters with no modification.

And one can get a used copy of the Car Wars pocket game very reasonably these days. I often see them go on E-bay for $5.00 USD or less.

[[[Greg: I also appreciate the links and information you've provided - a great help when I did the Golan Heights last summer. ]]]

You’re very welcome!

I’d love to hear more about your Golan Heights game. The Arab-Israeli Wars (AIW) are my favorite period for microarmour and have long been a gaming focus of mine. Please write me more about this if you have the time.

TOP: L-4's collection is mostly Grenadier...
...and the larger (8mm to 10mm) Citadel Battle Cars.
Don't yuh love the sexy stripes?

[[[Greg: A little bit ago I found this seller on E-bay:
Everydaygoodz ]]]

I had heard of this seller before, but I haven’t purchased from him yet… so your feedback is particularly valuable. Thanks!

Not only have I seen people purchase Z-scale cars from him for microarmour or x1 scale Car Wars, but I’ve also seen people buy 28mm scale civilians for use in zombie or superhero games.

[[[Greg: …and thought you might be interested. They seem to have an E-bay store dealing in z-scale (1/220) train stuff, including great bunches of plastic civilian vehicles, for pretty reasonable rates. ]]]

They also sell textured plasticard, plastic fencing, lamp posts, and a variety of other railroading hobby products at a price much less than I’ve seen elsewhere… even when you factor in the shipping.

[[[Greg: No big rigs or delivery, but lots of sedans, minivans, and such in a variety of makes and colors. ]]]

For big rigs and/or freight trucks, you have a few choices:

- GHQ (convert military trucks to civilian ones)
- Irregular…
- Evergreen or Plastruct…
- Other RR makers including Kibri…

There were other 1/285 manufacturers, but I think that all of the other makers are now out of business or have discontinued their 6mm freight trucks.

TOP: "Matilda" has been hauling Vegamite across Oz for years!
Ask my good friend, Tas! He'll tell yuh!

[[[Greg: They stand up pretty well, size-wise, with my GHQ/C-in-C stuff - perhaps similar or slightly smaller than the Irregular civvies. ]]]

Good to hear.

[[[Greg: The only slight detractors are that they come from Hong Kong, so there's a bit of a wait and… ]]]

I always worry about ordering outside of mainstream Europe, the UK & Commonwealth nations, and the continental United States.

Thanks for the info that this seller is legitimate.

[[[Greg: …they smell a bit odd. Hopefully airing them out will deal with it. A good find for me – ]]]

Hmmm…I hope the airing out works.

[[[Greg: I'm looking to do a full-on Fulda Gap this coming summer - and thought I'd pass it along. ]]]

Awesome. I miss the great Warsaw Pact / NATO games of the 1980s. They were a lot of fun. It’s sort of odd to think now that there have been abundance of signs that NATO forces might have been even more substantially superior to Warsaw Pact ones than previously imagined.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about the Soviet experience in Afghanistan.

[[[Greg: Thanks again and I hope the interview went well, Greg. ]]]

You’re very welcome!

The job interview went great. I’m hoping that they’ll make an offer to me before the end of the week. They were definitely interested. My job interview went almost an hour and a half… much longer than one usually expects, which is usually a good sign of keen interest.

Thanks again for writing, Greg C., and giving me permission to re-post some of this E-mail!

Have a great Thursday!
And happy holidays!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: Gunbird's Excellent 6mm Irregular Autos!

.TOP: Some of Gunbird's excellent 6mm Irregular autos!

Hi All,

I posted a few photos awhile back with some 6mm automobiles from my collection and that of my friend, L-4, which stirred up quite a bit of interest. A short while later, my friend, Robin AKA In Repose, posted some photos of his 6mm autos on his blog (link on right sidebar) and eventually several other folks have as well. One of the latest folks to have posted photos of his 6mm autos is Johan AKA "Gunbird," who has graciously allowed me to re-post his photos here.

However, before I share the rest of his photos, I thought I'd type out a few quick lines about scale and 6mm miniatures.

First of all, there is no real standard among miniature manufacturers. The 6mm designation, which means that an average man is roughly 6mm in height... tends to be more of a "convention" or "suggestion" than an actual standard. So, some manufacturers tend to make "6mm" figures that actually measure around 5mm, while others make giant fellows that measure closer to 8mm! And then there's body girth, some H&R / Navwar figs look positively child-like and waif'ish, while some larger Scotia figures look like they might have packed in a few extra meals to get their portly girth. And in the end, whether a miniatures gamer likes the figures is primarily a matter of taste.

Personally, I like them all! And I never let a little scale difference bother me.

Too see a graphic example of the differences in scale with 6mm miniatures, please check out this photo by my friend Bob Mackenzie from his excellent gaming site:

From left to right: New H&R (far left), Old H&R, GHQ, CinC, Small Scotia,

...Adler, Large Scotia, Irregular and Main Force (far right).

It's not hard to see the gambit of differences from the smallest 5mm (1/300) figures (the old UK microarmor standard) from H&R / Navwar to the largest 6mm (1/285) (the new US microarmor standard) from GHQ and Mainforce, which are, in reality, much closer to 8mm or about 1/250 to 1/220 (Z-scale RR-size) in size.

To see my friend Bob Mackenzie's great site, please follow this link:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bob_mackenzie/index.html

Having said that, the Irregular 6mm automobiles packs are very large for 6mm minis, and I'd call them a better fit for 8mm or about (1/220) or ("Z" RR scale).

TOP: An Irregular "6mm" car next to a smaller 5mm H&R T-34 WWII Soviet tank.

Here's what Gunbird has to say about the 6mm automobiles that Irregular puts out:

I've taken the liberty to finally (had 'em for two years now) paint up a few and do a short comparison. My end conclusion is, which is probably shared by most of the folks who have also purchased the 6mm Irregular automobiles, is that they are almost useless for 6mm.

They do fit in neatly with Battletech though, or in a 1/200 scale miniatures game. And I really wish one of the big producers of 6mm would get their heads out of their proverbial black holes and produce some properly scaled 6mm cars. I'm aware of the GHQ Technical and the H&R Landrovers, etc., but I want civilian cars. Blast it to oblivion!

Though I know from a purist wargamer's standpoint, cars are just fluff, I want to make my battlefield look a like more real, not a sterilized grass mat environment that looks as if some giant took a big broom and swept off all traces of civilian life bar the houses…

Here's a description of the pack:
For four Pounds Sterling you get a pack of modern 6mm vehicles. Not a shabby deal, if I say so myself, as it has a motorcycle with sidecar, several cars, a van and a truck, and they paint up **nicely**. Anyway, as I'm doing loads of 6mm at the moment, I thought, why not, so painted up a few. None too shabby if I do say/paint them myself, but... are these really 6mm?

It was a bit of a bummer though, to see that they are very big minis for 6mm. And unfortunately, this confirms that there are no useful civilian vehicles on the market (...discounting stuff like Battlecars for which E-bay seems to be the only option) and you would think, that by now, at least one of the 6mm manufacturers would have stepped in to do at least a few generic civilian vehicles? I guess they deem the market for them to be too small.

So, are they bad? Not really, yes, they look a bit shoddy, have big mold lines and flash to get rid of, and the wheels look wonky, but I'm used to that from Irregular. After all, what's in a name? I'll be buying some more of the packs, but to make wrecks (you could have seen that coming a mile away ) to scatter on my Battletech board for after my mechs play soccer with a few cars.

Hope at least one person found this useful, and do take note, all of this is my opinion, that of Johan!

My 2 cents,
Johan AKA "Gunbird,"
Netherlands, Noord-Brabant.

TOP: The "6mm" Irregular auto looks fine next to larger "6mm" Battletech minis!

To see the rest of my 6mm auto collection and that of my friend L-4, please follow this link:
http://6mm-minis.blogspot.com/2007/06/mini-wargaming-mad-maks-6mm-auto.html

You can find Robin AKA In Repose's photos here at his blog:
http://www.rottenlead.com/wordpress/2007/05/15/battlecars-by-gamesworkshop/#comments

To see some other great ideas for 6mm autos, please follow this link to Simon's site, Fort Wargame:
http://warweb.homelinux.net/Models/civvehicles.html

To see a photo of Barry from Timecast's excellent 6mm Irregular autos, please follow this link:
http://www.timecastmodels.co.uk/rail_timecast/6mm_5.jpg

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: Mad Maks 6mm Auto Emporium!

.Some of L-4's amazing 6mm Car Wars collection...

...all guaranteed to run for at least TEN towed miles or more!

Great deals, my friend!

Howdy howdy, Y'all,

Welcome down to Mad Maks Auto Emporium, home of Smelchak Motors and L-4 Automotive Enterprises!

Maksim's 6mm Car Wars collection is a bit more diverse:

Irregular, Reviresco, Khalsa Brain Games, Grenadier, Dark Horse and MORE!

We got lots of fine cars for the discerning autodueler today. Come on down and take a gander!

Now we got all types of cars from the original x1 scale made by Steve Jackson Games to x3 Hot Wheelz scale made by Matchbox, but today we'll be mostly showing Maksim's favorites, the x1 scale 6mm beauties! Enjoy, y'all!

L-4's collection is mostly Grenadier and the larger (8mm to 10mm) Citadel Battle Cars.

Don't yuh love the sexy stripes?

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You can learn more about Autoduel AKA Car Wars here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/2795

And here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Wars

Rumour had it that once a miniature Adam West made good in that car...

C'mon, you know which one I mean!

Here's a very comprehensive and cool listing of Car Wars products:
http://homepage.mac.com/guyf/CarWars/products.html

And SWAT HQ is the best for Car Wars links:
http://www.serv.net/~owenmp/swathome.html

And a fantastic miniatures index:
http://www.serv.net/~owenmp/metal/index.html

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I highly recommend interested gamers take a look at Formula De Mini when you get a chance, great racing game and adaptations for Car Wars exist. A BGG link to Formula De Mini here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/6539

A link to a Car Wars adaptation for Formula De Mini here:
http://www.fluency.paintedtarget.org/fd/index.html

"Matilda" has been hauling Vegamite across Oz for years!

Ask my good friend, Tas! He'll tell yuh!

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A link to L-4's Car Wars album here:
http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/Legion4/Car%20Wars%20_%20Asian%20Boats_%20Nec%20Tomb/

Maksim's collection has Formula De racers, city buses, & ugly compacts that...

...are well known to be stomped by the occasional Battlemech or Epic Warlord Titan!

A link to my Car Wars album here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/6mm%20Autoduel%20Minis/

A link to Thomas Pope's amazing site "The Stuff of Legends" here:
(He has a great Car Wars collections page!)
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tpope/sol/carwars.html

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Y'all have a great Thursday!

And I couldn't let you go without referring you to that "Mother of All Gaming Companies," Steve Jackson Games, here:
http://www.sjgames.com/car-wars/

And don't forget The Alamo!

See y'all at The Thunderdome!

Shalom,

Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: The Road Warrior in Washington...

. Hi Everyone,

You ever have one of those friends who is simply car-obsessed? Someone who not only enjoyed the "Road Warrior" AKA "Mad Max," but can quote entire lines from it... with even the tone of speech right?

Well, I have such a friend only he's sort of the Christian high Octane version of the Road Warrior. His name is Joel and the poor guy's not been too high on his luck until just recently... He just got a job in Washington and has hit the road again...

Hiya Maks!
Great to hear from you guys. You wouldn't believe how busy I've been. Somebody finally decided to give me a job in Washington last month, so here I am. I'm in a town called Port Ludlow. I've forwarded some E-mails to you that I sent to my mom, "Grizzly Tim" and his squaw. The "Job" was kind of a rush thing. They needed somebody right now like RIGHT NOW so I packed up the Pontiac, added on the Nitrous injectors and hit the road. I'm also sending some photos I took out the window of my battlewagon and will send more whenever the heck I can. I'd love to see some more of the local gaming scene and even ol' Leopold. I've been enjoying the game coverage on your blog. Talk to you soon if the buzzards don't get you. Shalom!

Tiny disclaimer: This E-mail may have been slightly modified by Maks under the cover of bad humour.

Joel is a very talented mechanic and I'm sure that he's already began to acquire grease, oil and other unidentifiable grit under his fingernails while turning wrenches in Port Ludlow, Washington... whereever the heck that is. And I can certainly empathize... you see, I used to be a bit of a mechanic myself... turned wrenches on I don't know how many Volkswagens (The "buggy" types) and even rebuilt an ol' Harley Sportster back in the day...

But back to gaming, Joel was one of the cornerstones of the local gaming community at one time... ran our Necromunda campaign, played the near hopeless Orkz in our Epic-40k campaign, ran one of the best BFG (Battle Fleet Gothic) campaigns I've ever enjoyed, and never gave up on Starfleet Battles even when the rest of us gave up after having found ourselves lost in the umpty-zillion three-ring binders of the old SFB... good guy and great gamer! We'll miss him much.

Well, one of Joel's other great loves were the old big-gunned naval warwagons of W.W.I and W.W.II. There were times it seemed as if Joel knew every nut and bolt of those old warwagons... I know I always looked for battlewagon swag for Joel when I poked my way through used book stores. There was many a time I picked up a W.W.I dreadnought book for him when I had the chance...

Well, luckily for Joel, Mongoose Publishing is getting ready to come out with their WWII naval clash game:

Victory at Sea!

Bill over at TMP was good enough to publish an announcement of the upcoming game over at TMP:

Victory at Sea is the game of naval combat during the Second World War. Throughout 1939-45, the nations of the world duelled across the oceans of the world, only to discover the fundamental nature of naval warfare changing in the face of developing technologies. Now you can play out these confrontations on the tabletop with entire fleets drawn from the Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, Kriegsmarine or any one of the many other nations featured in Victory at Sea.

From skirmishes involving single destroyers hunting down merchantmen to the clashing of allied fleets against implacable enemies, Victory at Sea is your ticket to exciting battles that take place in the oceans of World War II.

Victory at Sea will be available in your local stores from December 11th, but you can grab a short preview from our website!

Many thanks to Bill and his excellent site, TMP, which I have linked here at my blog. I also have some experience with Mongoose Publishing and can highly recommend their fine product.

You can check out Bill's original post here:

http://theminiaturespage.com/news/787737

And who could bring up "Mad Max" in conversation without sharing a few choice links:

These guys are THE source on the muscle machines of the Road Warrior:

http://tinyurl.com/du6yq

This guy built a rock'in model of the Road Warrior Interceptor:

http://tinyurl.com/y3of8d

Check out some fine 28mm Road Warrior vehicles from Second City here:

http://tinyurl.com/v7apn

And who wouldn't want a remote-controlled Interceptor?

http://tinyurl.com/y4p6j9

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Have a great Friday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
Check out this piece of miniatures cheesecake from my friend Marcus at http://www.skankgame.com/:


Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).