Painting Commission 017

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and this time it's a real change of pace with some present day rioters.

Painting Commission 016

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and this time it's some Dark Age Welsh bow & spear.

Painting Commission 015

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and it's the last for a while as I trying to move house so can't really take on any commissions.

Painting Commission 014

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and it's the fourth of four medieval posts.

Painting Commission 013C

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and it's the third of four medieval posts.

Painting Commission 013B

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and it's the second of four medieval posts.

Painting Commission 013A

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and it's the first of four medieval posts.

Painting Commission 012

Approval photos from my latest commission:

Painting Commission 008

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and it's a spotty theme this time:

AZ005 Jaguar Knight Swordsmen

Painting Commission 007

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and it's a biblical theme this time:

BI012 Libyans various weapons

Painting Commission 006

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s and it's a little different this time:

MED043 & 044 Light bombard & Light wheeled bombard

MED045 & 046 Heavy bombard & Heavy wheeled bombard

Painting Commission 005

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15s:

FE005 Feudal knights c1220

Rebels & Yankees v2.0 Released

I'm pleased to say that version 2.0 of these smashing rules is now available from Wargame Vault as a "pay what you want" download.  Author Nigel Emsen & I have worked hard over the last two weeks to bring the fast play mechanisms in the rules to the fore.  They are well worth reading.

I've written quite a lot about our collaboration recently.  So here I'd like to: muse a little about how I approach editing; show some pages before and after editing; and finish by offering a few tips for would be authors.

Editing Wargame Rules

In the last week I've written four posts illustrating how to improve the presentation of wargames rules with basic table design and formatting. In case you missed them they are:

• Tables & Redundancy in Wargames Rules
• Tables & Grouping in Wargames Rules
• Tables & Colour in Wargaming Rules
• Tables & Text in Wargaming Rules

This might seem a lot of work for a free set of American Civil War rules from the internet.  In some ways it is and in others it isn't.  It's good to keep your hand in but the strong structure underpinning these rules made it both quick and fun.

Tables & Text in Wargaming Rules

In what's turning into a bit of a series, I've looked at how to tweak table design for clarity and speed of use during a game. Now I'd like to look at adding impact to text with tables.

The starting point is this block of text:

Tables & Colour in Wargaming Rules

On Thursday I showed how grouping could improve table design as follows:

The improvement is clear but there was something nagging me.  Mainly it was the Command modifiers. These had to share a merged cell primarily for space reasons but also for extra brevity and clarity.   However there's another issue: these modifers are optional and are part of the advanced rules.  This needs to be made clear in the table somehow.

Tables & Grouping in Wargames Rules

Here's another refurbishment of a table from Nigel Emsen's American Civil War rules "Rebels & Yankees".  This time it shows the the benefit of explicit grouping to improve ease of use in play.

Tables & Redundancy in Wargames Rules

I recently discovered a free series of rules from Nigel Emsen and was particularly taken by the set for the American Civil War: Rebels & Yankees.

At only 29 pages, with a clear well spaced layout, the rules are very easy to read with a good structure and lots of useful tables etc.  If they play as quickly as they read I'll be well pleased.

I did spot a few things that I would class as glitches in table layout and design but that doesn't detract from the rules themselves.  However, I would like to use them to highlight how simple changes can have a large impact of clarity and readability.

Anatomy of a Painting Desk

Photos of hobby desks are quite common.  Some hobby forums run "show your desk" threads and I enjoy them immensely.  I'm always curious to see what people's desks look like be they tidy or chaotic, dirty or clean.

The above is a slight twist on this recurrent theme.  I've numbered the various items so I can add extra detail below and illustrate how I work. 

I didn't want to add a written key to the image: you'll see why when you read the key.  To identify things you'll need to switch back and forth between the larger linked image and the key.

This is easy for me because I use the HoverZoom extension on Firefox and I can pop up the larger linked image just by placing the mouse over the image.    For those without this facility it'll probably be best if you open the large image in separate tab or window and switch between them.  Let me know how get on in the comments.

Painting Commission 004

Here's the latest batch of display samples for Ian at Fighting15:


FE021 13th century armoured spearmen