Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Quick Reference Sheets

Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday and if you did not celebrate Thanksgiving......wellllllllll......you should. :)

Here are scanned images of the quick reference sheets. I couldn't figure out a way to post the PDF's without joining other websites to host the PDF's but I did post the PDF's on the Land of the Free Facebook Group Page. You can easily download these pictures by right clicking on the image and saving to your computer. When it prints it should be a full page.

I hope you have enjoyed the rules and game so far and more hobby content and information to follow after the holidays.  For now I hope you find these sheets useful.  Thanks

--Joe













Saturday, October 18, 2014

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Hello everyone. As people begin to read the rules and have some questions regarding the implementation of various aspects I would like to have a central point we could post the FAQ. You have two options that are available to you to make this happen.

1. Post a comment below asking your question and I will answer in the comments.
2. You can send me an email and I will address the question and post the question and answer at a later date.

Eventually I will collect the FAQ and put into a nice PDF that people can download and refer to during game play. 

Thanks and enjoy.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Land of the Free reviews


Hello everyone. The internet is huge and if you spend enough time surfing you can pretty much find anything you are looking for. When it comes to Land of the Free I would rather see my fellow hobbyists spend their time painting, playing, and reading those websites that are placed at their fingertips.

With that being said I would like to present to you the first review by a gentleman who has read through the rules and it working on scheduling his first game.

A Wargaming Gallimaufry

The Miniatures Page also has a few subjects that are following the reviews and comments on Land of the Free. Here is the link for them:

TMP American Revolution Boards

Wargames Illustrated also wrote an article covering the new rules in the October 2014 issue of the magazine and has additional photographs of the game here:

Wargames Illustrated Website

I have been in contact with other reviewers and more information will be pouring in over the next few months. I will continue to post the links as I receive them so stay tuned.

I will also post the links on the Land of the Free Facebook Group so if you are looking for more instant gratification then sign up.


Monday, October 6, 2014

Author's Copy Arrives Today

Hello everyone. When I pulled up to my mailbox after work today I was surprised to see an envelope from Osprey Publishing. The plain white padded envelope had the same size and shape that all the other Osprey rulebooks have so I was excited to rip the seal open and peer inside. A warm smile ran across my face and for the first time I gazed upon the physical copy of the rulebook. I have always thought about converting to digital copies of rulebooks but I will be honest it feels a lot different when you can hold it and flip through the pages. I thought I would take a few pictures of some of the pages over the next month or so to give everyone a feel of what the book looks like. Please enjoy and the arrival of the book definitely brightened my Monday and I hope it does the same for you.

Most all of you by now have seen the front cover but it doesn't to show it again. The artwork is cool. :)

 A few pages showing some of the photographs of miniatures that were graciously donated by personal collections and miniature companies.

Throughout the book Osprey has utilized their vast collection of artwork to populate its pages. The book contains 8 'generic' scenarios that players can use for friendly or competitive games. Each scenario allows players to decide if they want to fight along the length or width of the table. A unique scenario design giving the players something else to consider before deploying for battle.

More to come......

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Ironheart Artisans token sets available for purchase

Having worked for two gaming companies that offered a full range of products from miniatures, books, tokens, and paints I wanted to try and emulate that business model without the finances or backing of a company. I reached out to several manufacturers in the gaming industry with the hopes of bringing together their knowledge and resources to offer a full range of products. Ironheart Artisans as previously discussed in an earlier article has produced and released a range of markers to compliment the Land of the Free rules system. Check them out by clicking on the links for each item below. The links will take you right to the webstore.





Acrylic Wound Markers
















Land of the Free Game Complete Token Set
















Land of the Free Game Token Set

















Facebook Group created and book is coming soon!!!!

Hello everyone. It has been some time since my last post and I have been ramping up my miniature painting in preparation for the release of Land of the Free. Initially the book was going to hit the shelves in the latter half of October but it has been pushed back to early November. Not a huge delay but still in time for the holidays and hopefully those fall gaming conventions around the globe.

I created a Facebook Group in order for anyone interested in having up-to-date, instantaneous conversations for anything related to the book, hobby, history, etc. I will continue to use the blog to post battle reports, painting and hobby articles, scenarios, etc. and draw a link to the articles on the Facebook page. This way the articles will be easier to find rather than scrolling through all the posts in the group.

I am hoping to go to Fall In this November in Lancaster, PA but its a long drive from Atlanta. It will be nice and a lot of fun to run some games at the show so perhaps I will find a way.

Here is a shot of the cover of the book:


Sunday, June 22, 2014

2nd Maryland Regiment command stand painted

Here is my first command stand completed painted for my 2nd Maryland Regiment. The highlights are a lot more drastic than I usually paint but I honestly believe they will look great on the table from the typical 3-4 feet distance that most players will view them from. I am currently considering my options on how I want to do my flags. I usually order my flags from the Flag Dude but I am reluctant to cut away the plastic banner and drill holes for the metal banner pole that comes with the flag. The nice thing about the metal banner pole is I will never have to worry about it breaking so I will continue to mull over the idea. In the meantime, I will continue my progress on the 2nd Maryland as well as some British light infantry, 43rd of Foot, 9th Virginia Regiment, and about 60+ militia. 

I am in the process of looking for a new home so updates and progress may slow down over the next month but I will continue to post when I have something to show. 

I am teaching myself how to make painting tutorial videos as well as rules tutorials which I hope to start posting after my move sometime in August. 

If anyone is interested in knowing what colors I am using I will be happy to share and will probably post some simple painting guides over the next few weeks. They will serve as a guide for any new hobbyists as well as a reminder for me so I don't forget how I painted units. :)


 








Thursday, June 19, 2014

Prototype Continental Infantry and Militia

Progress continues on my starter armies for my American Revolution forces. I have been doing research and trying to find some unusual uniforms for my Continental force. Every force needs a handful of militia so one of the first elements I painted was a 3 stand element of militia.


For games that I plan on running using the Land of the Free rules, a 3-stand element will represent a medium element.
 

Here is the front and back view of my prototype for my 2nd Maryland Regiment. I saw a few drawings of the 2nd MD in brownish colored  'small clothes' so I opted for an ochre color. It may not be 100% accurate but I think it looks good.


 Another test miniature representing the 9th Virginia Regiment. I have always been a fan of Continental Regiments in the brown coats so I wanted at least one element of these.


I am hoping to do some real painting damage this weekend and get a few stands of infantry completed. I plan on gluing 4 miniatures per base hence the reason why the bases on the single miniatures above aren't done.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Progress Report - Test Miniatures

I have been cleaning and assembling a handful of the new Wargames Factory American Revolution plastics over the past few weeks but all of my writing assignments have kept me pretty busy. I finally got around to priming some and this past week I realized how much I enjoy painting. I managed to get about 16 militia fully painted and based and I will cover them in a later article. For now I wanted to show you my progress on some Continentals and British.

This light infantry soldier of the 43rd Foot is completely painted which gives me a nice test model to work off of. There is quite a contrast in each level of highlighting but I think they will look great on the tabletop. I thought I would honor one of the first regiments to experiment with light infantry tactics and they were present at quite a few battles during the war.

The back side of the light infantrymen.

Here is an officer and a drummer from the 43rd Foot. I wanted to show them in their 'raw' state. They are simply base coated and 'dipped' using the Army Painter wash. I hit them with Testor's Dull Coat before starting my highlights. Players wishing to field armies quickly could stop here but I want them to 'pop' on the tabletop so I will add 2-3 highlights for each color.

Here are a few Continental soldiers painted to look like the 9th Virginia Regiment. These have also been 'dipped' and dull coated. 

I wanted to show an example of some infantry after the Army Painter wash but not dull coated. As you can see they are pretty shiny. These soldiers represent the 2nd Maryland Regiment.

I am working on some painting tutorial videos as well as some painting guides to help those of you who don't know which colors to use. I primarily use Vallejo paints and there are equivalent paint colors in other ranges.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Ironheart Artisans teams up to create tokens!!!

We are moving closer to the release of Land of the Free and we have had a lot of exciting activity in the industry over the past few months. Wargames Factory announced their supporting range of 6 plastic box sets consisting of Continental Infantry, Colonial Militia, British Infantry, Native Americans (Indians), and 2 to be named later. I recently ended a Kickstarter, my very first one, which offered up a myriad of customized dice concentrating on the Colonial Period. If you missed your chance to pick up your dice, don't worry, because Wargames Factory will be selling dice sets along with their range of plastic miniatures later this year.

I have been working with Alex, owner of Ironheart Artisans, and we have been collaborating on a set of tokens that will not only work for Land of the Free but many of the tokens could be used for other game systems. The contents of each token set are designed for one player participating in an average sized game. Alex sent me a sample of the finished product and I took some pictures to share with you.

The first pack of tokens are the wound markers or 'hit' markers. Alex even spent time researching the print font that was used in the 1770s to create these wonderful, ingenious markers. They are designed with the 90 degree cut so you can place the marker on the back edge of element unlucky enough to suffer hits. These are great because it avoids confusion during a game trying to figure out which hits belong to which element. The size of the marker works very well for both 25mm and 15mm.
 The Wounded Acrylic Token Set pack comes with the 12 tokens below for the retail price of $12.00 USD

An example of an element of Militia that has the 3 Wound marker applied to it.

 The Morale Token Set has six different tokens for the different discipline affects an element might suffer during a game of Land of the Free. Elements failing an order, being pushed to hard by their commanding officer, or being hit by cannon fire are just a few ways an element will suffer a Disorder Marker. Disorder is cumulative so smart players will make sure to remove any Disorders before attempting the more difficult tasks in the game.

Shaken and Exhausted are Discipline levels that an element will eventually reach as it takes hits in the game. The marker has a reminder on them telling the players what type of actions it loses as its morale is decreased.
 The Morale Token Set comes with 18 tokens and retails for $8

The Game Accessories Marker Set has both setup and in game functionality. The set comes with deployment zone markers as well as a center of the table marker which could also serve as a wind direction marker or general compass.  There are 3 objective markers that are very useful for the Land of Free scenarios and could be used for historical re-fights. The 45 degree template is great because if you lay it against the front corner of your element it will give you a perfect 45 degrees every time. The set comes with the 9 markers seen below and retails for $12.

A Militia element checking its visibility with the 45 degree template 

A closer look at the objective markers

The deployment zone and center marker

The token set that caters to the Land of the Free rules the most is aptly named Land of the Free Token Set. In the pack you will find the markers for your commanders as well as markers for your elements when they perform particular orders such as firing, holding for a snap fire, or preparing for a counter-charge. The oval shaped markers with the Fleur-dy-Lys are command tokens that can be issued to commanders at the beginning of each turn.

There are four different levels of commanders in the game and these could be randomly determined at the start of the game or themed to represent historical leaders more accurately. 

 Elements may elect to use their orders to set themselves in a snap fire or counter charge posture. The markers make it easy to remember which element is doing what. The fire marker is used when an element has shot and is unable or unwilling to reload their weapons.

Below is the Land of the Free Token Set which retails for $20. (Please be aware that the picture shows 10 command markers but the set only comes with 9)

Thursday, May 22, 2014

8 Customized Dice available on Kickstarter (English, French, Scottish, Irish, American, Native American)

We are 8 days into the Kickstarter so why not make 8 different dice available to the public. I recently added 5 more dice to the mix that can be added to existing orders. So to date with have the following dice:

The first three sets are available for purchase and once purchased backers may add-on the other dice.


More to come. If the Kickstarter reaches $3000.00 it will unlock the Hessian Flag die which looks something like this:


Tell your friends and I hope you pledge and enjoy your new dice.