How To Make : Explosions

Hello Everyone,

Dan here with a quick tutorial on how to make explosions.

Video Killed the Radio Star!

Well, hopefully not!

So, we've been a little quiet on the blog front. With the run-in to the holidays, things are pretty busy IRL.

We have, however, managed to get some more action going on our YouTube channel! Yes, we have a YouTube channel! You can check it out here and maybe you wanna subscribe?

Behind Enemy Lines - YouTube

The latest vids show Dan and I unboxing my Dungeon Saga Kickstarter in ALL ITS GLORY!

Take a look and let us know what you think!

- Greg

Tutorial Tuesday - STREAKER!!!!

Hey team, Greg here. It's been a while and even though (technically) it's Wednesday here, I thought I'd get a wee TT out for you guys to read and maybe draw some inspiration from.

STREAKING

I've recently painted a 28mm Panther for a painting competition (why the hell not) and wanted to try a few new things to give it a little bit of "pop". Something I've had in my painting arsenal for a while but haven't used is a couple the AK Interactive streaking grime products. I've seen these used to pretty amazing effect and decided I'd give them a go.

Having no experience in using this kind of product, I did what any self-deprecating wargamer does... I went to the internet for guidance. There is a mass of information and instruction out there on how to use these products and a couple that I found really useful are below for you.







AK Interactive

Of course, the good folk over at AK have a great range of videos showing just how easy it is to use their products...actually! I really like the choice of model on this one and it really show up the effects you can achieve in a very short time.

Miniature Wargamer Jay

Despite his choice of model in this video (joking...relax!), Jay uses some great, easy instruction on how to get both easy effects and also take them a little further. If you're interested, he also has a number of other videos on mini painting which would be really helpful for newer painters or even experienced ones who want a new technique.

While my efforts aren't quite up the the standards shown here, I'm still happy with my work.

There you go guys, happy streaking!

I got my eye on you...

Check out this cool tutorial on painting glowing eyes!

I briefly considered doing this to all of my Warhammer skeletons.

Briefly....



Bell of Lost Souls
TUTORIAL: Glowing Eyes

Glowing Eyes Tutorial...

Mad Modelling to the Max

We at Behind Enemy Lines love our post apocalyptic wargaming, so when this was brought to our attention, we just had to share!

Full Spectrum Dominance
The Future Belongs To The Mad
http://fullsd.blogspot.se/2015/09/the-future-belongs-to-mad.html

Some Face Time!

Painting faces are always tricky, but painting them at 15mm can be a real pain. Have a look at this cool tutorial on how to paint those tiny faces and hopefully you'll be armed with a few new tactics when it comes to putting faces on that faceless Soviet horde of troops!

Blog Spotlight!

Hey all,

Came across this site today and I gotta say it's pretty great! I like finding communities from around the world and this one is from Romania. They've got a lot of great articles covering several systems. They also offer some great tutorials as well, so head over and check out:

Wargames Romania
http://www.wargames-romania.ro/

Mighty Tutorials

Hey all!

Just a quick one today as time has not been kind to my schedule! Our good friend David over at Mighty Ape is a fantastic hobbyist. He loves to get into his games on all levels, from the workbench to the tabletop.

Dave runs the excellent hobby blog over on the Mighty Ape website and he's got some great tutorials, so go have a look and be sure to add it to your blog roll to keep up with his articles!

Mighty Ape
Hobbies Tutorials & Guides
https://www.mightyape.co.nz/Hobbies/Tutorials

Wash, Inc.

So, this week I decided to work on my Flames of War Vietcong figures, and there's a lot of them to do! With about 100 figures basecoated all of the various colors, I applied a wash. Now, I've been on a bit of a painting hiatus for a while, which didn't help. I forgot probably everything I've ever learned about washes and just globbed the stuff on. I am now the proud owner of some terribly dark and essentially messed up Vietcong figures... Not all hope is lost as its really not that bad, but there is now a lot more work ahead of me!

So for this week, I'm sharing a few videos on using washes. These are great, especially Dr Faust's one below. I certainly (re)learned a thing or two about how washes work and what they do (and more importantly what they don't do!)

BlackKnightGames
Paint Basics: How to Wash


Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic
The Basics: Inks & Washes

Wargames Terrain on Social Media

Drop pod.... brilliant!

Hey all! Welcome back for another Awesome Sauce Thursday!

I'm really into building terrain. My only hobby regret is not having a workshop to build large projects.... one day.... For now I've got a quick post about terrain groups in social media. We touched on this briefly  in Episode 13 of the Behind Enemy Lies Podcast, but its something that I wanted to highlight here.

I want to put the spotlight on three groups, but there are so many more. These three are great sources of information, tutorials, and general inspiration, and what's more, they are community driven. This means that there are a lot of different things for a lot of different skill levels. I highly recommend joining them!

Also, our friends over at Garage Gamers have some excellent tutorials relating to last week's Tutorial Tuesday, so go have a look!

Facebook
Flames Of War Terrain (but useful for all modern-ish 15mm scales)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/647777272025098/

Reddit
Terrain Building
https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrainBuilding

Pinterest
+Wargame +Terrain
https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=Wargame%20Terrain

Burnout :(

We've all been there (or if not, will be there). It's a natural state for gamers to get so much of a good thing so as to eventually burn out. Call it over-indulgence, a bad encounter, or just straight-up boredom, lets have a look at Gamer Burn Out and how to deal with it!

Tangibleday
Burn Out: Perspective from a Wargamer
http://tangibleday.com/2013/09/18/burn-out-a-perspective-from-a-wargamer/

Wargaming Tradecraft
Avoiding Burn Out and Hobbying Again
http://www.wargamingtradecraft.com/2013/11/avoiding-burn-out-and-hobbying-again.html

Breakthrough Assault
Burnout!
http://www.breakthroughassault.co.uk/2013/10/burnout.html


and a great article on burnout in real life:

Jeremy Hutchings
Burnout and How to Deal With It
http://lifehacker.com/5674007/burnout-and-how-to-deal-with-it

GENCON 2015

Arguably THE biggest weekend on the gaming calendar, with possibly Essen matching it, happens around the beginning of August in Indianapolis. It's GENCON and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger! We didn't manage to make it this year but plots are afoot to make 2016 a reality, so we've hunted down some wrap-ups and sneak peeks for you.

From what I've read online and seen on Twitter etc, gaming has a future and the future is MASSIVE!

The dudes over at BoLS plug the 6 biggest trends they see in gaming coming our of GenCon:

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/08/gencon-whats-happening-in-gaming.html


Board games are still huge and the demand for them is growing and growing. The guys at Polygon show their top 5 new picks from what they saw:

http://www.polygon.com/2015/8/3/9089959/gencon-best-new-board-games-2015


FFG keep going from strength to strength as well, even after 20 years!

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/08/gencon-2015-fantasy-flight-games-rundown.html


In other GenCon news, apparently the guys that GW sent over to work their booth didn't have the right visas to get in and work....so were subsequently not granted entry to the USA....awkward much?

So....would you like to help us get to GenCon 2016? Watch this space!!


UPDATED!

A run down of Able Kompanie's Flames of War events can be found here:

http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=4850

Down to the Wire

This week we've got a quick post about making fences and barbed wire. Fences and wire make for some interesting additions to battlefields that will alter the dynamic of the game, especially if you're fighting on foot. So here's some ideas on how to make some fences to keep the riff-raff out!

18 Charlie
Concertina Wire and Fences Tutorials
http://18charlie.com/tag/concertina-wire/

Colgar6 and the Infinite Legion of Toy Soldiers
Security Fencing in 28mm
http://colgar6.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/security-fencing-in-28mm.html

Head Spigot
Chain link fences tutorial
http://headspigot.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/chain-link-fences-tutorial.html

Shifting Lands
Barbed Wire
http://www.shiftinglands.com/other-stuff/barbed-wire/#!prettyPhoto[tut-barbed-wire-3]/0/

UPDATED!

Garage Gamers

DIY Fortifications: Research!
http://thegaragegamers.blogspot.co.nz/2013/12/diy-fortifications-research.html

15mm Barbed Wire and Minefields
http://thegaragegamers.blogspot.co.nz/2013/12/15mm-barbed-wire-and-minefields.html

Terrain for Dummies: Fences and Low Hedges
http://thegaragegamers.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/terrain-for-dummies-fences-and-low.html

DIY Fortifications: The Buildening
http://thegaragegamers.blogspot.co.nz/2013/12/diy-fortifications-buildening.html

Recording an Episode

All sorts of shenanigans go on behind the scenes when we're recording an episode of Behind Enemy Lines. Not everything that we talk about makes it on to the episode and we also take a few photos along the way. Something we'll be doing more of is showing you inside the inner workings of what we do.

Here's a bit of a photo dump from the recording of episode 13.....and as you can see, we don't take ourselves too seriously at all!

I tweeted this photo to Subway and they actually replied! Maybe we'll get a sponsorship deal!

Damo stands disgusted in the corner.

Terrain can take many forms....

And sometimes.....we re-enact scenes from movies!

So there you have it...a glimpse behind the curtains at Behind Enemy Lines!

Some Awesome for Your Thursday

Welcome back for another Awesome Sauce Thursday! For those interested in historical games and located within travel distance, Historicon is probably on your calendar. It would be for me if I lived close enough! But alas, I live vicariously through the blog reports and AARs I can find online.

There is always one blog I always start with to read about this year's Historicon. Miles' Lair of the Uber Geek is loaded with articles about some of Historicon's most interesting events, scenarios, and meet ups, many of which he's actually helped bring into existence. It's something I look forward to every year, reading what Miles is cooking up (sometimes literally!), checking out his WIP updates, and all culminating in the event AAR itself. It's people like him and his comrades in arms that makes this hobby great. They go out of their way and humbly dedicate time, creativity, passion and resources to make fantastic events for players to enjoy. I firmly believe our hobby needs more people like that!

So here's his blog. Please take some time and read a his excellent articles, but don't blame me if afterward you go out and buy 100s of dollars on ACW troops and ironclads. I've got my own guilty stash to deal with!

Lair of the Uber Geek
http://lairoftheubergeek.blogspot.com/

Historicon 2015 - (What-if) British Intervention in the American Civil War scenario
http://lairoftheubergeek.blogspot.co.nz/2015/07/histporicon-2015-my-acw-battle-game-in.html

Historicon 2015 - Ironclad game
http://lairoftheubergeek.blogspot.co.nz/2015/07/historicon-2015-my-ironclad-game-more.html

Historicon 2015 - Closing Thoughts and Other Games
http://lairoftheubergeek.blogspot.co.nz/2015/07/historicon-2015-closing-thoughts-other.html

Historicon Day 2
http://lairoftheubergeek.blogspot.co.nz/2015/07/historicon-2015-day-2.html

Historicon Day 1
http://lairoftheubergeek.blogspot.co.nz/2015/07/historicon-2015-day1.html

Leaf it to the Pros

Autumn is one of those seasons that is sometimes forgotten by wargamers. Like with winter, it's a bit of a commitment in terms of having to go all in when chosen as a basing scheme for an army. But when done, it looks well and is distinct. Similarly, you don't see autumn tables much either. I find that surprising as it's such a stunning color contrast to winter and summer and would make for a brilliant contrast at a wargames event. Hopefully, we'll see some more tables come out of the wood work, as there are some good tutorials out there to help get you started!

Rust in the City
Autumn Deciduous Trees
http://rustandthecity.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/autumn-deciduous-trees.html

Dagger and Brush
Making Trees (three excellent articles)
https://daggerandbrush.wordpress.com/category/terrain/trees/

FC ModelTips
Autumn Leaves
http://www.fcmodeltips.com/2012/10/hojas-otonales-autumn-leaves.html

Chest of Colors
How to make Autumn bases
http://chestofcolors.com/how-to-make-autumn-bases/

Scary Biscuits Studios

Mike's Romanian 75mm Resita guns

Leave It!
http://www.scarybiscuitsstudios.com/2010/12/leave-it.html

Leafy Resita
http://www.scarybiscuitsstudios.com/2011/01/leafy-resita.html


EonsOfBattle
How to Create an Autumn Base

Guerrilla Miniature Games Video AARs

This was meant to up up yesterday, but I may have forgotten to set the schedule timer! Sorry about that.

This week for Awesome Sauce Thursday, I'd like to feature Guerrilla Miniature Games. They came to my attention a few weeks ago with their This Is Not A Test battlereport. These guys love their games and I look forward to diving into their back catalog of videos! I love how they've woven their local area in the narrative of their TNT games. They also have an Age of Sigmar report as well, which I've found very useful for learning the basics of the game.

Enjoy!

Guerrilla Miniature Games

This Is Not A Test - Indie Game Battle Report - Ep 01


This Is Not A Test - Indie Game Battle Report - Ep 02



Realms of Conflict - Age of Sigmar Battle Report - Ep 01


Find out more about This is Not a Test here: 
http://worldsendpublishing.com/

Find out more about the Age of Sigmar here:
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Warhammer

Frozen Planet

This week, for Tutorial Tuesday, thing are going to get frosty! It's winter here in NZ, so we feel that where ever you are in the world, you should be cold as well. So here's some ice, snow, and slush for your wargames tables and miniature bases!


GUSLADO'S GAMES
Ice Basing Tutorial
http://gusladogames.com/2014/05/04/ice-basing-tutorial/

Wargaming Tradecraft
Creating Snow and Ice
http://www.wargamingtradecraft.com/2015/01/creating-snow-and-ice.html


TheTerrainTutor
Adding Frozen Snow, Ice & Sludge to your Wargaming Terrain



TrojanArtPainting
Winter Battlefield Bases for Wargaming Miniatures

Panzerschreck 2015!

Well, the dust has finally settled after an amazing weekend of wargaming fun and adventures! This week for Awesome Sauce Thursday, we'd like to highlight all of the New Zealander blogs that have featured this great event, with AARs, photo dumps and more!

Just a quick bit of background, Panzerschreck is the world's longest running Flames Of War tournament event, dating back to even before there was a printed rulebook. The format over the years has evolved and these days it's a doubles event, two companies per team sharing 2000 points between them, played on 8x4 tables. It certainly adds an interesting layer to the standard tournament format!

So without further ado, here's what those who went for the Flames Of War event had to say!

(If you or someone you know has been left off the list, drop us a link in the comments and we'll add them here!)

Dog of War
Panzerschreck AAR
Day One ...
Day Two ...

Scott's Wargaming
Getting back to enjoying a weekend of hobby fun.

John's Wargaming Stuff
Panzerschreck 2015 Report
Day One ...
Day Two ...

The Regiment
Its not the winning that matters...

Wargamer on Tour
On the Road to Panzerschreck 2015

TCOW
Panzerschreck XIV - Fury Road

The Tao of Magnus

We're less than 24hrs away from our big trek down south for Panzerschreck this year. We're all busily painting and putting the last touches on our armies and getting our support gear together, like bags of cheetos, since all three of us (four if you include Damian) are the qualified "cheeto-eater" in each of our respective doubles teams. Anyway, while we get cracking on that, here's a quick Awesome Sauce Thursday update!

This week I want to introduce you to Magnus. I first met Magnus during my university days through our local wargames club, Da Momma's Boyz. I honestly thought his name was a piss-take because at the time he was playing Magnus the Traitor from Warmachine. I just thought no one was really named that in the Pacific Northwest, and perhaps he just really, really liked that warcaster. It's university and stranger things happen with names and personal reinvention. But no, I failed to consider the much more likely explanation that his name was actually Magnus, and he chose the warcaster accordingly!

Anyway, we were both highly motivated gamers and we got on famously, working up some huge club projects, like all five Normandy beaches, Pointe-du-hoc and three airborne tables for a huge Flames Of War mega battle. Magnus has always been one of those guys that's essential to a group due to his undying enthusiasm for wargaming. He's good people doing good stuff for the community.

When This is Not A Test was launched, I immediately thought of Magnus, because several years ago he was working up a Fallout-themed army using GW figures. If you follow the This Is Not A Test facebook page, you've probably seen some of his more recent work with his Dead Snakes gang.  So today, I'm going to showcase his blog, and I highly encourage you to follow him. He's a gamer of all sorts of systems, and he is probably one of the most creative people I know. Please check it out!

Magnus' Project Log

http://www.twistedironindustries.com/

Broken Earth - Tutorial Tuesday

Just a quick post this week as we're getting ready for our annual pilgrimage to Palmerston North to play at the Panzerschreck event this weekend. So, for this week, let's have a quick look at earth-breaking terrain: craters, explosions, and more.

3T-Studios
DIY: Making Wargaming Craters That Don’t Suck
http://www.3t-studios.com/archives/2805


Jay's Wargaming Madness
Explosion Markers and Craters
http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.co.nz/2013/03/explosions-and-craters.html


Dr. Faust
Cracked Earth Bases

Motivation!

I've said it before, both here and on the podcast, that I'm not the greatest painter and nor will I ever be. But I'm trying to get better and I'd like to think that I've come quite a ways in the last couple of years.

One of the things that really makes me want to get better is looking at the amazing painting that other people do, whether that's in the flesh or through pictures online. The Internet is an inexhaustible source of motivation regardless of what your particular wargaming poison is.



So, here are a couple that I keep my eye on and when I need a little inspiration, just taking a look at some of the amazing paintjobs usually does the trick! I've broken this down into a couple of different areas but as I'm predominantly a WWII gamer, it has a little more attention....

Achtung Panzer on Twitter: This place has some of the most amazing paint jobs and dioramas of WWII AFV's I have ever seen! Some of the painting here is so realistic, you think you're looking at a photo.

While a lot of it is larger scale stuff, the inspiration you can draw from here is outstanding!

Twitter is great way to get inspiration on the go and also keep abreast of news and goings on in the gaming world. If you're not already on Twitter, I suggest giving it a go. You can even follow us there!

The Gallery on the Flames of War forum has player posted pics of works and discussions around them. I've found this to be an awesome place to learn a few new tricks. 

And of course, for all your other mini painting needs, where better to go but Reddit! They have their own subreddit, r/minipainting, which has an ongoing and ever growing list of great (and not so great) works for you to draw inspiration from.

Now, in providing all these wonderful means of drawing muse from, I invite you to take a look and just go.....WOW...at some of the efforts but remember that ultimately you're painting your toys. If you're happy with them, really that's all that matters!

And dont paint all your toys....

- Greg

Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

It's Tuesday, and that can only mean more tutorials! It was raining on the way into work today and I got to thinking about whether or not it was possible to capture that moment on my miniatures when it first starts to rain. I then started thinking about water effects in general and thought perhaps that should be the theme for this week's article. So let's have a look at how to use water effects!

Wargaming Tradecraft
Water Effects: Bottomless and Animated
http://www.wargamingtradecraft.com/2013/06/water-effects-bottomless-and-animated.html

Tiny Worlds
Swamp Scenery & Basing
http://www.tinyworlds.co.uk/blog/swamp-scenery-basing/

Call to Arms
Modelling water on Ship Bases
http://calltoarmsmwg.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/modelling-water-on-ship-bases.html

Terrain Wench
Miniature Terrain: Water & Waves


Awaken Relms
How to make a Swamp Base


thebige61
Building the River Scene

I'm sure there are more excellent tutorials out there, so if you find one, let us know and I'll add them to this page!

Thanks for stopping by and happy modelling!

About Us Gamers

One of the most important things to me is narrative gaming. The term narrative is a loaded word and often people think it means very different things. Some people place narrative games in direct opposition to tournament games (an unfair assessment in my opinion). Generally it's accepted that the game being played has a story attached to it, but from there is diverges into several ways of going about it. Here's some interesting articles from around the internets that focus on the types out there.

What's awesome about this hobby (gaming in general) is the fact that we've reached a point where we can have an interesting introspective of ourselves as gamers. If we can be true to ourselves and know who we are and what we expect from games, we can head into this hobby seeking and achieving truly rewarding experiences.

So, here's a pair of articles on the subject, followed by a spot article on Narrative gaming, my personal favorite choice of gaming. Have a read and sound off below with your thoughts. Stay classy and enjoy!


Whose Turn Is It Anyways?
Player Psychographic Profiles
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Bell of Lost Souls
Safe, Sane and Consensual, or The Arrogance of Unacknowledged Playstyles
Link...

I'd like to close with a gamer doing awesome things. Here's Martin Bond's blog about using narrative gameplay to connect with his daughter.

The Garage Gamers
Narrative Gaming with Family
Link...

All Roads Lead to Tutorial Tuesday

This week we're gonna have a look at roads in all their various forms. They are common on our wargames tables, offering useful strategic movement to our troops. There's several places to purchase wargames roads, but we don't need a tutorial on how to get your dredit card out and buy them. So, let's have a look at how we make them in Tutorial Tuesday, Part IV!

As always, we're keen to have your feedback, links and more, so drop them in the comments below and we'll keep this article updated!

Roads as Terrain Pieces:

Craig Baxter's Homemade Paved Roads
Link...

SBS's Highway to the Imminent Peril Zone
Link...

Brian Burger's Caulk Roads 
Link...

Phil Broeders' Flexible Road Tutorial
Link...

Architects of War's Roads
Link...


Roads as Basing:

Xaul's Asphalt Base Tutorial

Link...

Signage:
Also dont forget that all roads need some road signs!
Link...

Or perhaps some vintage European signs:

Episode 10 - Sandboxes

We have done it! We made it to a decade of episodes and we couldn't be prouder! Thanks to all our listeners along the way and if you like our little show, the best thing you can do is share it with your gaming friends or your club.

So, what are we getting up to in episode 10?

Part 1 has our usual n00b news section with a a run-down of what we've seen coming out of the gaming world over the past couple of weeks. We have a look at a few Kickstarters that have piqued our interest too. We managed to get an advanced copy of Berlin from our good mates at Battlefront so give you our thoughts there.
There's something about some computer game in there as well I think?

In Part 2 we answer our listener questions on all the important issues and a few that aren't so important. There's also a quick talk about what happened at TCOW with a special guest appearance from one of the Elder Gods.

And Part 3 looks at how we prep for tournaments, specifically looking at what we're doing for the upcoming WolfCry and Panzerschreck tournaments here in NZ.

What are you waiting for?! Plug in and listen!

EPISODE 10

Waterloo 200

Today for Awesome Sauce Thursday we celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815). To mark this historic passing, here's some pretty cool Napoleonic games and events  to have a look at!

Sparker's Wargaming Blog
Waterloo 200 Megagame - To the Limits of Glory?
http://sparkerswargames.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/waterloo-200-megagame-to-limits-of-glory.html

GITSUM (Gamers Into Tactical Simulation Using Miniatures) gaming club

Waterloo 200

http://m1tankrider.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/blog-post.html

Wades World of Wargaming

Waterloo 200

http://wadesworldofwargaming.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/waterloo-200-wellesley-club-wellington.html

Also, our local AWC will be running their Waterloo 200 this week (21 June) for those Aucklanders keen to have a look. You can find information here:

Auckland Wargames Club

Waterloo 200

http://awc.wargaming.info/2015/200th-anniversary-of-waterloo-club-project/#.VYIrWfmqqko

That's all for this week! Thanks for stopping by.

Have some nominations for Awesome Sauce Thursday? Post them in the comments below and we'll collect them for next Thursday!

Tutorial Tuesday - Airbrushing Modulation

Hey guys, Greg here with my first run at a Tutorial Tuesday article. I'd be grateful for your feedback on if this was helpful or if I should just leave it to the professionals (i.e. Mike).

So let me start by saying that I have been painting toy soldiers on and off for about 20 years and you'd think that over that time I would have developed some decent skills. Truth be told that because of the on and off nature of my painting and presence in the hobby, I just haven't honed and developed those skills until the last year or so. Now, my painting is at a level where I'm comfortable that it looks good for me. I'll be the first person to admit that I'm not going to be taking on commissions or winning painting awards any time soon and honestly, I don't think I want to.

I have always, always been a brush painter though. I have never once used an airbrush and have, for the most part, considered it cheating on some level. Don't ask me why, I've got no clue. Recently though, I've started seriously considering getting an airbrush and starting to use it, mostly on my Bolt Action tanks and other bits but potentially for my Flames of War stuff as well. 

I really like seeing the results that people get from colour modulation on their tanks, there is just something that really pops about them when they're done right so in that vein, I looked around the YouTubes for some beginners guides to modulation. A couple of really good ones that I have come across (and this is my opinion only) are the following ones:

International Scale Modeller

This one is a noobs guide to German Grey (Dunkelgrau) modulation using the AK Interactive Panzer Grey kit. Its a long and detailed video at 50 mins and has some great tips for airbrush noobs like me. This was his first time doing any kind of airbrushing and I think it looks pretty good.

Carsten the Tightheadprop

Again, this is using Dunkelgrau modulation but this time on a 15mm StuG and shows a bit more of the detail in terms of masking to get the right mix of shine and depth. Another very good video in my opinion.

I'm now seriously investigating my options in terms of buying a decent starter airbrushing set and really getting hands on with the devil! If you have any recommendations, let me know!

Are there any other channels I should be looking at for tips? Let me know in the comments team!

- Greg

Awesome Sauce Thursday II: Hit the Beach!

Part I: Normandy

June 6 marked the anniversary of the greates amphibious invasion ever attempted: Operation Overlord. This week for Awesome Sauce Thursday, I'd like to feature some excellent battles in miniature commemorating the important date and event. I'm a sucker for a good D-Day mega battle, so I was really pleased to see these two!

Miniature War Gaming's D-Day on D-Day

http://www.mantorvilleexpress.com/gaming/2015/06/07/d-day-on-d-day/

House of Hengist's Ambieve AAR

http://houseofhengist.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/ambieve-1944.html

Part II: Novac

Fallout New Vegas is pretty awesome. You end up seetting up camp in a town called Novac (the town's name comes from a "No Vacancy" sign, where the "-ancy" removed). The principal attraction is a huge roadside monument of a T-Rex with a gift shop inside. With This is Not a Test gaining popularity, there is a guy in Australia who is working on a table featuring this small collection of buildings. I'm looking forward to seeing his progress and, with a little luck, going to see it myself at PAX Aus later this year. It's an awesome project! Now, I just need to get cracking on my own table!

Jayden Barr's Building NOVAC

http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=78900.0

That's all for this week! Thanks for stopping by.

Have some nominations for Awesome Sauce Thursday? Post them in the comments below and we'll collect them for next Thursday!

Tutorial Tuesday II: Wasteland

Since we here at BEL are all agog about World's End Publishing's This is Not A Test (TNT), I thought it would be appropriate to have a look at post-apocalyptic terrain.

Bizarrely, this is the first wargame that has me more excited about working on the terrain than on the figures. I suppose this has to do with the fact that its a completely new genre for my collection and whenever that happens, I'm first and foremost drawn to what terrain I can make. As an avid Fallout player, the opportunity (or temptation) to physically recreate some of that virtual world is too much to resist. So for this week, here's some cool tutorials about making semi-modern terrain. Enjoy!

Part 1: Rust in the City
Cameron is an excellent painter, modeler. He runs a great blog over at: http://rustandthecity.blogspot.com. He's got a lot of great tutorials with some pro tips for making terrain for your TNT battlefield.

Building Shipping Containters
http://rustandthecity.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/tutorial-building-shipping-containers.html

Painting Shipping Containers
http://rustandthecity.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/tutorial-painting-shipping-container.html

Airbrushing Graffiti
http://rustandthecity.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/tutorial-airbrushing-graffiti-in-40k.html

Painting Chipped Metal and Rust
http://rustandthecity.blogspot.co.nz/2011/12/tutorial-painting-chipped-metal-and.html

Part 2: Props!
For me a large portion of making a post apocalyptic table is all of the props and ambient pieces, that add to the feel, but are usually ignored by modelers because they don't add anything tactical to the game. These include small rubbish piles, traffic signs, dilapidated picket fences, playgrounds, and things like that. Here's a few good tutorials that will add a new level of detail to your terrain project.

28mm Soda Cans
http://a-painters-thoughts.blogspot.de/2014/02/do-it-yourself-135-coke-cans.html

Making Tiny Trash Bags



Have some nominations for Tutorial Tuesday? Post them in the comments below and we'll collect them for next Tuesday!

Episode 9 - IT'S ALIVE!!!

That's right Jungen und Mädchen...we're back! Episode 9 is live over at wwpd.net right now! 

Or just click here! http://wwpd.libsyn.com/podcast/behind-enemy-lines-episode-9 

Here's what's happening:

An even more milleaneous episode as we cover a lot of interesting topics, mostly inspired by some amazing questions submitted by you, the listeners! Danger: contains discussion about adult onesies.

 

In Act I, n00b news and rumours are gathered and redistributed.

 

In Act II, the cast talk about our gaming goings-ons, discuss our AARs, and answer even more probing, but nevertheless excellent, questions from our listeners. 

In Act III, the guys cover what’s in their painting queues and answer an excellent question about how to infuse a narrative style into your wargames.

- Greg

Awesome Sauce Thursday

Today marks the inaugural Awesome-sauce Thursday, the second half of our weekly regular blog content (for the other half, check out Tutorial Tuesdays here...).  In this article series, we focus on you the gaming hobby; what people are doing to improve our exciting hobby. This is intentionally left wide open, to include anything from showcasing awesome paint jobs, to discussing interesting aspects of the hobby.

The articles will typically be brief with a link for you to follow because we want to help these members of the community receive some well-deserved attention.  So without further ado here's two amazing blogs and projects we'd like you to have a look at:

Shawn Morris's Project ETC
LINK: http://forum.wwpd.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16184

Shawn's making an amazing table for the ETC. His process has all sorts of great tips and tricks for building your own table!

Martin Bond's Mars Attacks Campaign
LINK: http://thegaragegamers.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Mars%20Attacks

Martin Bond plays through some Mars Attacks games with a narrative style. The twist to the story is that his worthy opponent is his daughter! Read on to see how gaming with your kids can enhance your gaming hobby!



Have some nominations for Awesome Sauce Thursday? Post them in the comments below and we'll collect them for next Thursday!