"I am not familiar with wargaming. Is this video games?"

A common question that arises as I have been promoting the club is

I am not familiar with wargaming. Is this video games?

Wargaming is, at its core, people playing with scale model soldiers on a scale model landscape using written rules set within an historical period. It is akin to boardgames with scale modeling. Seeing what it looks like in action is perhaps the best way to grasp what it is. So what does it look like?

This site provides a useful summary of the hobby and the professional variant that is practiced at The Naval War College just down the road in Newport, RI.

Preparing two more tables for May's Great Swamp Wargamers game night

Preparing two more tables tops for May's Great Swamp Wargamers game night. The table tops are 4'×3' hardboard glued and nailed on a framework made from 2"×1" pine boards. The edges are blue-taped to keep them clean until the terraforming is done. The terraforming is a simple process of

1. Glue down any surface features. In this case, I am using "splinters" to give the appearance of deadfall found in a bog or forest floor.
2. Paint the whole surface with an earth brown.
3. Paint the surface features as needed. In this case a "wet" brown.

The remaining surface features are added in reverse order. That is, if you want daisies then put down the yellow flowers first, then add the grass, and finally add the dirt. The goal is that the items added first will absorb most of the glue so that when you get to step 8 what is on top will fall off.

4. Using a spray bottle coat the entire surface with watered-down white glue -- about 1 part glue to 3 parts water. Use a spray bottle rather than a brush as it will apply a more even coating. A brush tends to leave ridges.
5. Using a sieve apply a pattern of grass. When using Woodland Scenics's fine turf add some coarse turf to the sieve to slow the casting of the fine turf. If you don't do this then you tend to get mounds of turf rather than an even application. 
6. Using a sieve apply to the remaining (non-grass) areas dirt. I use dirt from my yard that has been baked for an hour at 400° F to kill off the microbes. 
7. When dry, turn the tabletop upside down and tap to remove excess grass and dirt.
8. Finish with several applications of watered-down white glue or spray clear coat to fix the grass and dirt and make it resilient to playing on. I use a pressurized hand sprayer that is normally used for spraying insecticide. It can apply an even coat of the glue. The tabletop is noticeably wet after each spraying, but I do this outside on a warm day so that the glue drys before penetrating the hardboard.

Game nights Wednesday & Thursday, May 4 & 5 from 6 PM until 9 PM

We are starting a miniatures wargamers club in southern Rhode Island. Join us in early May to play a game and discuss what you would like to have in a wargames club. We are planning on having tables for a dark age skirmish game (Saga rules) and a wild west gun fight game (High Noon rules). If you would like to bring your own game or figures please do so. If you have models you want to showcase then bring them as well. If you are curious about miniature wargaming then join us. We look forward to meeting you all.

Our first meeting will be held over two evenings in the hopes you are free to come one of those nights. We will meet in Potter Hall, the assembly room of the one of the original RI state houses.

Kingston Free Library
2605 Kingstown Rd
South Kingstown, RI 02881

For further information go to greatswamp.info or contact Andrew Gilmartin at andrew@andrewgilmartin.com or 401-441-2062.

If you can promote this event at your workspace or community center then please download and print this flyer.