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Year of the Forts!
Another year has passed in the blink of an eye! It was another busy one for Dawn of Iron. Forts and fortifications seem to be the one...
Mike at SBS
Dec 26, 20233 min read
331 views
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Dawn of Iron Cards!
After a long journey, I'm pleased to announce that the Print-on-Demand card packs are ready and now purchasable! I've broken these down...
Mike at SBS
Jan 6, 20231 min read
634 views
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Dawn of Iron - Capture the Flag Battlereport
Over the weekend I ran a demo game for Dawn of Iron to test things out ahead of sending the book to the publishers next week. I threw...
Mike at SBS
Jun 2, 20225 min read
362 views
1 comment


Making Civil War Pilings for Naval Wargames
In this video, I walk through how I made some piling fortifications for my American Civil War naval wargame battlefields using resin...
Mike at SBS
May 19, 20221 min read
220 views
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Sneak Peek: Dawn of Iron - First Anthology
The wait is nearly over! I'm finally in the last stages in preparing Dawn of War for Print on Demand. The road has been littered with...
Mike at SBS
May 12, 20224 min read
791 views
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Making & Painting Flags for Miniature Models
In this video, I walk through my method for making miniature flags from scratch for my 1/600 American Civil War ships and boats. I've...
Mike at SBS
May 1, 20221 min read
217 views
1 comment


Making Small-Scale (3-6mm) Water Hazards
Last month I talked about making small-scale trees for my riverine battlefield table. This month, I've added some hazards that I can add...
Mike at SBS
Mar 17, 20227 min read
451 views
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On to Richmond!
Today, 160 years ago, the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor clashed in the first battle between ironclads. The amazing people at Little Wars...
Mike at SBS
Mar 10, 20221 min read
113 views
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Dawn of Iron Overview
Jon at All Miniatures Great and Small gives Dawn of Iron a review and takes us through a rules overview.
Mike at SBS
Feb 12, 20221 min read
166 views
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Making Small-Scale (3-6mm) Woods
When I set about to create some battle reports for Dawn of Iron, I realized quickly that I don't have a lot of terrain to use with 3-6mm...
Mike at SBS
Feb 6, 20223 min read
1,085 views
1 comment


How to Paint Model Ship Decks
I've had a few requests for a quick tutorial on how I paint the wooden decks of my ships. I should note that, as usual, this is my method...
Mike at SBS
Jan 6, 20223 min read
1,958 views
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Dawn of Iron in 2022
Hello, and a very happy upcoming New Years to you all! I've been thinking a lot about 2022 and what its got in store for Dawn of Iron....
Mike at SBS
Dec 28, 20215 min read
760 views
1 comment


Pook's Turtles
The American Civil War produced some of the strangest ship designs I've ever seen. Among the most odd were the river gunboats known...
Mike at SBS
Dec 22, 20218 min read
680 views
2 comments


The Timberclads
When the American Civil War began in 1861, the US Navy was charged with executing the famous Anaconda Plan, which aimed to strangle the...
Mike at SBS
Dec 19, 20215 min read
410 views
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No Dice, No Glory Dawn of Iron Interview
I sat down with Mitch from No Die, No Glory to talk about the Dawn of Iron release. You can listen on Spotify or YouTube below:
Mike at SBS
Oct 26, 20211 min read
30 views
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Juneteenth 2021
This 19 June 2021 marks the long overdue first officially recognized Juneteenth. This holiday marks the end of slavery in the United...
Mike at SBS
Jun 20, 20211 min read
102 views
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Building Mortar Boats
One of the interesting little innovations of the US Navy during the Civil War was the mortar boats (sometimes called rafts). These were...
Mike at SBS
Jun 12, 20212 min read
471 views
2 comments


Tiny Flags
Adding flags and banners is a big part of making ships or rank-and-file troops look the part on the battlefield. Not only do these add...
Mike at SBS
Nov 26, 20204 min read
301 views
0 comments


Ironclads: On the Table
I ran through a couple of playtests of Ironclads a few weeks ago to test out a few game features...
Mike at SBS
Oct 27, 20203 min read
528 views
0 comments


Building Ellet Rams
After the City-class ironclads, I moved on to the Ellet rams. These were a bit tricky to build. Owing to the civilian origins of Ellet's...
Mike at SBS
Aug 2, 20204 min read
643 views
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