My 1/64 Scale Cars for Car Wars and Gaslands

 Here are some of my favorite toy cars for use with Car Wars or Gaslands. Many of these vehicles come battle ready right out of the package while others I tacked on a weapon using the Museum Gel technique discussed in a previous post. I have more toys like this in my collection and hope to show case them in future postings. All photos include a figure that is roughly 28mm tall (about 1 1/2") for reference. Where possible I will list the toy manufacture.

GI Joe Toys?

I believe the toy on the left is a GI Joe toy from Hasbro though I can't find any info on it. The toy on the right is a cheap knock off of another GI Joe toy (I have the nicer version in my collection somewhere). These vehicles have too many weapons and the weapons are way too large for my taste, but I am including them here for completeness.

Technical Truck

Next up is a Majorette brand technical truck. This truck can also be used for modern skirmish wargames.

Dual Guns on the Top

On the left is a Maisto brand Leadslinger and on the right is the Green Hornets car, possibly from a Happy Meal? The Leadslinger has obvious armor and while the guns are a little over the top it's still an awesome vehicle. I wish more toy companies would turn out this sort of thing. (I painted the guns as they were the same chrome as the engine.)

Invader

Here's a Hot Wheels car with an oversized gun. I cut the back of the gun off on the toy on the right.

Two More Hot Wheels

The Hot Wheels on the right is a Fast Attack Vehicle that has several different variants (I will post some others when I dig them out). The  El Camino on the left doesn't have any guns on it (yet) but I've seen some pretty good conversions on the web and feel it fits the theme.

That's all for now. Watch for my next post on this, coming soon!

The Wood Chuck

 Occasionally I find a toy car that inspires me to try my hand at painting and customizing. Below is one such car.

Here it is in it's original packaging. It is called Erikenstien Rod.

Here it is in its current state. Called the "Wood Chuck Truck" because it's Chuck's truck protected with old barn wood. I still want to do more to protect the wheels on the back, but haven't figured out what to do yet.

One Page Spaceship Wargame Rules

I created a one page set of spaceship rules and posted them on Pz8's forum. You can find them in PDF form here.

One Page Spaceship Rules

100 "Halo" miniatures

Just received an order I had placed for 100 miniature figures for $14.21 from AliExpress. The description did not say "Halo" but the likeness to many of the units in those games is strong. (Mega Bloks is written on the bottom but I don't know what set they might be from)

The figures vary in height from 15mm to 21mm.

Here they are beside a Hot Wheels Warthog.

Here is a comparison to a 1/72 scale HMVEE which I also got from AliExpress. (Yes, the TOW launcher looks wrong and appears to be pointed backwards. I am going to use it as an experimental heavy laser in any games I run with it.

Finally, here are the driver and gunner held in place with a little Museum Gel.

Museum Gel and miniature gaming

A few years back I was looking for a way to modify my toy cars for miniature gaming without permanently altering or destroying them.  I came across a product called Museum Gel and it meets my needs.

Museum Gel is a clear semi-sticky substance that is used by museums to hold fragile items to shelves so that they cannot easily be knocked off. I figured if it was good enough to work on antiques it was good enough for my toys.

Here is a Hot Wheels car. Beside it is a plastic turret from an Axis and Allies miniature. The turret is upside down and the bottom is coated with a small piece of Museum Gel.  

Here is what the car looks like with the turret in place.

After the Gel has set for about an hour you can pick up the vehicle by the turret and it will remain stuck to the vehicle.

Should you wish to remove the turret and place it on a different vehicle simply slip a fingernail between the two and pry up. Any excess Gel can be rubbed off with a finger and reused.

Here’s the same turret on another vehicle.

I have left Museum Gel on several different toys for years at a time and removed the Gel with no damage to the body or paint.  I recommend it to anyone who wants to kit bash their toys without destroying them in the process.   

Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Score!

I've been collecting Hot Wheels since I was three and this is the first Super Treasure Hunt I have come across. It made my day.

More Fixes for the Monster Island Game

Prior to the expansion, Invasion of Monster Island, the flight rules as listed were adequate. Helicopters, Flying Tanks, Jetpack Troopers, and Flying Monsters flew as much or as little as they wished and turned on a dime every time they moved.

With the arrival of Fighter Jets and Saucers the flight rules need to be fleshed out more to keep some units relevant. Saucers are cheaper and better than most Human ground units and can currently fly in any direction they wished. Why buy an Attack Helicopter for 7 points when you can buy a Fighter Jet for 4 points that is just as maneuverable and has a better Evade and Flying Speed but is 3pts cheaper?

To remedy this I recommend the following.

The cost for Flight power stays the same, but all Units and Monsters (hereafter both will be referred to as Entities) now have the following changes.

All Entities using Flight power must move at least ⅓ of their total Flight movement score each turn. If for some reason they cannot do this they are assumed to have rammed into whatever impeded them or have fallen out of the sky at their current altitude.

All Flying Entities now have a Maneuver Value (MV) of 1. An MV of 1 means while using the Flying Power the Entity may make only 1 turn of up to 90 degrees each game Turn. The Entity must move at least 2” forward in a straight line before executing this turn. All other forms of movement are not affected and do not use this Maneuver Value.

Flying Entities without the Hover ability must limit their attacks to targets within 180 degree of their front facing as per the diagram below.

New Powers for Flying Entities

Highly Maneuverable: (Cost 1 point) The Entities Flying Maneuver Value is raised to 2; This power allows a Flying Entity to make 1 additional turn up to 90 degrees each game Turn. The Entity must still move forward at least 2” in a straight line before executing this additional turn.

Hover: (Cost 2 points) This power allows an Entity to fly at any speed up to their maximum and turn in any direction as many times as they choose. The following units are considered to already have the Hover power and do not have to pay extra for it. Attack Helicopters, Transport Helicopters, Jetpack Troopers, Flying Tanks, and Mother Ships.

Some Examples

A Fighter that takes the power Highly Maneuverable would now cost 5pts and would be able to execute 2 90 degree turns each turn.

A Scout Saucer that adds Hover to its powers would now cost 6pts and can zip around in any and all directions each turn at any speed up to its maximum (just like the classic UFO saucers do).