Some Luftwaffe Lunacy from Lindberg, three 1/72 scale models

 

        One can almost feel the hand of Divine Guidance when one contemplates pattern of the decisions of the Nazi High Command during World War Two. The aircraft development process comes to mind, a few different decisions could have changed the course of the war. Most folks are familiar with the mania for dive bombing that lead to the regrettable HE-177 (a four engine heavy DIVE bomber) or the conversion of the ME-262 from a fighter into a fast bomber (never mind the Arado 234 fast bomber already in development at the same time). These decisions deprived the Luftwaffe of crucial, potentially war-winning, aircraft at critical junctures during the war.

That Warlord ACW Boxed Set, Come play This Saturday using Blackpowder

       Seen on display in the Showcase Table at Bastion Gaming Center the entire Warlords Epic Scale ACW boxed set, painted and ready to game. I will be running a game using these minis this Saturday 31JUL21 at 1pm. Plenty of troops to accommodate up to eight interested players and rules that are fast and easy to understand. Bring your lucky dice (d6s).

this reminds me of the illustrations old Time-Life series on the ACW 

everything in this picture comes from the box-set (except the hills and trees)

the table is 5' x 8'

 

the tiny miniatures really give you a feel for masses of men on a battlefield

 

 

 

The Battle of Nicaea in 28mm using Triumph! rules

 

         I have been running into Rod Cain for probably the last ten or fifteen years at various wargaming conventions. At almost every one of them he has been hosting a visually stunning game that featured the TRIUMPH! rules system. It also happened that I was also running a game at the same time as Rod's  and thus have never had the opportunity to actually play in his game or closely observe the game mechanics. His games were always packed and (from the sound of the player-participants) jolly good fun so I have to say I was rather excited when he offered to bring a demo game to Bastion.

 

 

large colorful armies are one of Rod's trademarks

 

  

excellent terrain always accompanies these armies

(his Battle of Hastings Senlac Hill is stunning)
 

Gaming Update! Rod Cain brings his Triumph! game to Bastion Gaming 24JUL21 1pm

      The talented and erudite Rod Cain has agreed to bring one of his demo games of the Triumph rules set to Bastion Gaming Center this Saturday, 24JUL21 at 1pm. He will be hosting six players in a recreation of the Battle of Nicaea, if circumstances permit he will also be providing a demo of the Battle of Hydaspes. Furthermore he is going to have copies of the rules with him for purchase as well as a sneak-peak at the  upcoming Fantasy Battle version of Triumph. 

 This is an opportunity not to be missed, Rod's games are always a feast for the yes and a blast to play!

Blood Bowl, anyone?

 

 

OK, so I wimped-out and had them professionally painted,

Rich at Bastion Games took time out of his busy schedule to paint these for me,

Bastion has many ready-painted teams for sale so people like me can just get to playing

 

       The guys have been talking about running a Blood Bowl League for some time now. Well, here is my entry: the Crud Creek Nosepickers, they have a bevy of "cheats" to offset the fact that they are simply pathetic. Like my Napoleonic Spanish I can use them as an excuse for my failures and the odd (i.e. rare) win will be due exclusively to my genius! Like all the Blood Bowl teams this came from the boxed set and is ready to play right out of the box (aside from assembly and painting). I might just break down and get a troll to buff them a little bit.

UPDATE! UPDATE! NOTE: Gaming Update 17JUL21 6pm at R.U.P's place

 Like the header says, gaming at R.U.P's place at 6pm this Saturday the 17th of July, Year of our Lord 2021AD.

Doubtless another of his lushly presented games 😀

"Fill yer hand, you son of a B&%#$" Wild West Shootout this Tuesday at Bastion Gaming

 

 

only the Duke could look that B.A. in a pink shirt

 

 Rich has his Wild West Town and minis at Bastion Gaming Center. 

I will be running a games this Tuesday, 13JUL21,  2pm through close, so drop on by and give it a go!

 You can find the rules in the previous post.

A Blast From The Past; Really Simple Wild West Shootout Rules

       I went to print these out a moment ago and realized what a pain it is to use Scribd. To fix this I am republishing them right here on the blog. Sorry about republishing old content but this is from 2011 so most of you haven't likely seen it before.  Feel free to made any changes you like. If you come up with something cool please post a link in the comments so we can all enjoy.

1/72 scale Airfix Fairey Battle

 

         Another addition to the "What Were They Thinking" collection and a moving target for German fighters when we play Check Your Six this very old model of a truly regrettable aircraft shows its age. Giant rivets, poor fit, foggy clear parts, and moving ailerons all scream "1968". But when you are looking for a model of a Fairey Battle your choices are sharply curtailed, it is either this old war-horse or hunt up a copy of the MPM/Special Hobby kit and be prepared to shell out some serious cash. I guess it is "good news" that Airfix has re-released this kit.

       The actual bomber was an unmitigated disaster. Slow, underpowered, under-gunned and capable only of horizontal bombing this flying deathtrap for three brave aviators often encountered 50% casualties per mission (only the Kamikazes had a worse return rate). There is a very interesting Wiki available here.

Gaming Update 10JUL21

 There will be a game at my place 10JUL21 at 7pm

Probably Pike & Shot but maybe airplanes.......

Returning to Normal, Convention Update

         I just found out that the folks at Pro or Con have made the decision to return to the convention circuit on 2OCT21. A jolly good time was had at the last one I attended so I'm looking forward to seeing old friends in person once more!

The sign-up is being handled through Table Top Games which will have a full list of games and times.

Perceptions VS Reality

        One of the big hurdles that wargamers face is the difference between the scale of the figure and the reality of the military formation that it is being used to represent. We happily use a dozen or so figures on a rectangular base to represent up to a thousand men in a long, very thin, line. Recently I had the opportunity to  visit Bastion Gaming Center just as Rich, the Resident Painting Wizard, was putting the final touches on a Warlord Civil War gaming set. Looking at the simply huge number of figures he had painted it occurred to me that there were enough soldiers on his workbench to represent a Union infantry regiment of 600 men at 1:1 scale. We gathered up the minis and a few minutes later had them laid out in a two-deep line on a three-hundred figure frontage. The results were edifying, see below.

 

the regiment drawn up into one two-rank line;

 six hundred men and one colonel out front on his horse 

note how thin the line is in relation to its length

 

the ten sixty-man companies as separate entities

 

an "assault column" mostly used to maneuver, 

notice how much closer the individual companies are to their colonel

 and how much more compact a formation it is to move about a battlefield

          I confess a very limited knowledge of Union battle formations and will look into it further so I might bring the gentle reader more photos of accurate formations while I have access to this interesting resource. I would welcome suggestions from readers with a more profound knowledge than I possess.