Monday 5 March 2012

Dinosaur Paddock


It will not have escaped the attention of those who pass by these inane ramblings, masquerading as a wargaming blog, that there has been somewhat of a major twist in direction!  The year had started well with both the Crimea and Anglo-Zulu Wars revisited with some success, but an apparent fixation with 'Pulp' style adventures and prehistoric beasties has seen the author go beyond the pale!  Well this post is devised with the sole purpose of putting these concerns into perspective.  One of my targets for the year was to actually 'play a game' and to that end various rule sets have been purchased including the sumptuous 'Black Powder' and the skirmish driven, 'Triumph & Tragedy'.  The problem is that been such a novice, even these most playable of rule sets sees me scratching my head and wondering, 'what on earth is going on?'  I am not a member of a club and so the initial 'jumpmg off' point needs to be some form of solo or role playing game.  Scrabbling around for an idea I chanced upon 'Tooth and Claw',  but again found that I needed something even simpler and as luck would have it came across '2HourWARGAMES'; this has my name written all over it; simple, quick and very light hearted. 

'Schleich' Saichania
'CollectA' Styracosaurus

With the distraction that has become known as '28mm Tales of Adventure'    (it even got its own 'ident' link on the sidebar!  The image gleaned from the wonderfully 'pulp' artwork of the 'Spicy-Advnture Stories from the 1930s.) the idea of playing a game entitled 'Adventures in the Lost Lands' seemed like too good an opportunity to miss!  The discovery of 'Copplestone Castings' has been a Godsend with regards to miniatures that I would need, but I was somewhat apprehensive about the dinosaurs.  This is really only meant to be the briefest of distractions, to build self confidence and gain a basic understanding of gaming dynamics.  Investing huge amounts of time and money into prehistoric beastliness is not part of the master plan - yes there is a plan... somewhere!  A couple of well spent hours trawling around the infoweb brought the answer; and it was plastic!   




'Oh my Goodness!' Things have certainly moved on in the toy dinosaur market from when I was a lad, just look at what you can now get with your pocket money!  There is no end of well sculpted, often well painted plastic 'Dino fun' to be had and I've taken this opportunity to share a few with you here.  Perhaps a little out of scale, but given that this is only meant to be a minor distraction and all about having fun, who cares?  (With regards to scale, some of the 'Schleich' models have a plastic figure around their neck to indicate the scale between humans and dinosaur; not too far away from a 28mm miniature!)


‘Safari Toys’ Iguanodon 

I'm afraid that this most recent of distractions is presenting itself as an itch that needs to be scratched!  Nonetheless it should allow me to return to my beloved Victorian era with the confidence required to move all my projects forward with a clearer understanding of what is required.  Well that is the plan anyway!

'Schleich' & 'CollectA' Allosaurus
The same, but now rebased
Just as a very brief aside, the 'Provost Marshal' on a recent inspection of the troops here at 'Awdry Towers' , dropped into the conversation, "and you know what the spikes at the end of a Stegosaurus' tail are called don't you?"  He said it in such a way that I was instantly convinced that I should know the answer to this, after all the loft space of my parents' house still groans under the weight of long forgotten tomes on dinosaur lore!  For the life of me I couldn't recall the name... "Thagomizer".  Yes 'Thagomizer', a great name and if you believe the story it was coined by the great Gary Larson in a 'Far Side' comic from 1982.  The name was appropriated by the scientific community and is now a recognised 'informal' anatomical term!  You just can't make this stuff up!


'Schleich' Stegosaurus

26 comments:

  1. Great stuff! Looking forward to seeing where you take all of this & hearing about the rules you picked up (I haven't tried those). I have the same Schleich Allosaurus and my Schleich T-rex I got for my big game hunt on Venus gamenight sits beside the computer monitor awaiting the next time he gets to stalk the jungle looking for a human meal.

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  2. Brilliant! Love THW and have some of their stuff too:) I've been looking at Dino games for a while, but probably following the 2000 AD 'Flesh' route ;)
    Regards
    Monty

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  3. Are you going to get a giant gorilla to fight the dinos too?

    Lots of fun. Very H. Rider Haggard of you, old chap.

    Just don't forget your historical stuff, though!

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    1. What a genius idea; a Kong! When will it every stop? Not to worry plenty more 'historical' to come particularly AZW and the Indian Mutiny.

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    2. Don´t stop!!! Those beasts have really come to life with the basing.
      The bit with the Thagomizer..For over 30 years I thought this was a scottish term for a club with a couple of nails hammered into it, due to one of the chaps (mixed counties regiment) making one for "just in case" and naming it his "thagomiser". Seeing as the time scale fits perfectly, 1982, he must have been a Gary larson fan.
      Cheers
      paul

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    3. What an amazing coincidence; isn't language great? Either way I'm fairly sure I wouldn't want to be battered by a Thagomizer!

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  4. How do you game Dinosaurs? Do you catch them alive or take trophies?

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    1. Survive! Although there seems to be a scenario for the Victorian big game hunter. I'm still working my way through the rules, but one interesting twist is to be the dinosaur itself!

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  5. Ray would call this fantasy but I call it beautiful....

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  6. "One of my targets for the year was to actually 'play a game'": , I have yet to reach this target for the majority of games I collect figures for!

    I love the Scheich dinos but am holding off until I have painted the figures to 'hunt' them with, otherwise I'll just be a 32 year old man with a box of expensive dinosaurs. As it stands at the moment, I am a 32 year old man with a box of cheap plastic dinosaurs. Ho hum...

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    1. [Sorry, typo "Schleich"]

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    2. Could be worse, you could be a forty-something year old man with a box of plastic dinosaurs! :)

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    3. Hopefully by that age I'll also have painted my steam tank, British soldiers, Mina Harker and Allan Quartermain figures. But I'm worried 8 years is too optimistic! ;)

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    4. You're absolutely right, no point rushing into these things, especially given all the wonderfully diversity of lead out there. ;)

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  7. 60 year old LOOKING for a good dino to chase 54mm figures.
    I'll try the Schleich. I have used a large Quohog shell for "Attack of the Clam!"

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    1. I've just a quick measure of the little chap that hangs around the neck of some of the Schleich models - just shy of 50mm! Should be perfect for 54mm :)

      Now 'Attack of the Clam' you say... mmm, now if I just had some nice 28mm deep sea divers! ;)

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  8. Wow Michael they are great and it shows what is available if you look hard enough. I thought that you had gone all Jurassic Park but no its so the Lost World. Looks Great

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  9. He He after your last post. I was looking at amongst or the Schleich stuff in Early Learning Centre on Saturday. Resisted though! Top stuff Looking forward to seeing your first game report with these rules Michael

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  10. Some great looking figures, but they might need a bigger gun?

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  11. Looks a lot fun, and I have a feeling dinosaurs are going to be featuring in our own VSF campaign, once it gets off the ground, with Colonel O'truths latest creation...

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    1. I've just been and had a look; an outstanding piece of work. That Colonel is a very talented chap.

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  12. Excellent.

    Put's my plastic menagerie to shame!

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  13. Very nice change of direction! Have fun!

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  14. I too have a big box of plastic dinosaurs! Another great source of dinosaurs is the British Museum collection where the models are pretty much exactly the right scale for 1/56th figures. I've had a Stegosaurus on my desk since I picked it up in the Isle of Wight (another good source for plastic dinosaurs and, indeed, real ones)last summer. Maybe I should paint it You have inspired me!

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  15. I have a mix of white metal and plastic dinosaurs (I think I got the latter from the Natural History Museum). I have used them for a Pulp game (pics in the Pulp album of Picasa)

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    1. Just been for a look, brilliant! Love the ruined temple, might have to think about getting one of those.

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