Another loss to the Old Crew

     As if we wanted more bad news. We have suffered another loss, the ebullient Mrs P., mother of the redoubtable wargaming twins Mike and Steve has passed. While not a wargamer herself Mrs P. was always a smiling happy presence, willing to cook and clean as well as provide space for monster games in her massive basement.

     Services will be held at St Vincent Ferrer in Madison Hts, MI located at 1087 Gardenia. Gardenia runs east off of John R between Eleven and Twelve Mile roads, it curves a bit but stay on Gardenia and you will find it. Visitation begins at 10:30hrs with mass at 11:00hrs, lunch to follow.

     We will all miss you Mrs P.  

Tom in town

     Tom from Texas will in town on the 14th and 15th of September so this looks like a perfect time to have the Steve B. Memorial get together. I will have some Mead and Port (Steve's favorites) as well as some beer and hard cider on hand to enliven the proceedings.

      We will probably be starting at around 10:00hrs on Saturday with a break near dinner time and then a return to the game room for an Ancients game (also Steve's favorite) sometime between 1800 and 1900hrs. I hope that everybody from the Old Crew will be able to make it so that we can say Good Bye to Steve in proper style.

Sad News and a Great Loss to his Friends UPDATE!!! 2nd UPDATE!!!!

UPDATE   UPDATE    UPDATE    UPDATE   UPDATE

I have just been informed that the service for Steve has been scheduled for 1SEP13 at 1600 hrs at the  American Legion Hall (there is a tank out front) 5551 Boardman Road Southwest, South Boardman MI 49680, near Kalkaska off Hwy 131 south of Kalkaska. 

Thus the meeting at my place is cancelled and you are all directed to that location, sorry for the short notice but this info came to me at 21:55hrs 28AUG13

My grand daughter was playing with my phone and it goes straight to voicemail, she also erased all of the phone numbers in it, anybody that knows Garrie H's number please advise him of the sad news. Also check over the other names in the email addresses and try to contact anybody that I have left out.

Thanks All

This is how I will always remember him; 

The Philosopher-King of Anastasia Beach

     It is with a heavy heart that I break my Summer silence to report the loss of my dear and great friend; Steve B. has died. Steve hasn't been a regular feature of our games for a few years now (the commute from Jacksonville was a bit taxing) but he is one of the founding members of our gaming group. His ready wit and humor made gaming with him a real joy. He was always ready to try new periods or rules and could reason his way through even the most convoluted Barkeresque rulespeak.

     Away from the games table Steve was the guy who could make a friend even before the first handshake. He was one of those Great Souls that seemed to fit perfectly into every group or place that he encountered. A man possessed of a brilliant mind and active body Steve had Degrees in History and Philosophy, he spoke Latin and Greek, he also was a formidable competitor in many forms of mixed martial arts and a fencing instructor and competitor, as well as a crew leader for Habitat for Humanity.

      He certainly was a welcome sight every time he crossed my threshold.

                   It pains me beyond words to think that he will never do so again.

                   The world seems smaller and darker now that he is gone.

      On Sunday, 1SEP13 at 1600hrs I will be hosting a small gathering of Steve's friends at my place, I will provide a bottle or two of mead, all you need bring is your fondest memories of our great friend Steve.

     The circle grows smaller, please remember our friends Steve P. and Little John that have preceded Steve into the Wargamer's Valhalla.

     Mark your friends well, and mind their keeping.

Two Beauties from Zvezda 1/100 scale KV-II and Infantry Tank Matilda MK I photo reviews of kits

     These have been sitting around the workshop for a bit so I apologize for this "late breaking" news. Zvezda has once again produced a pair of excellent models, both have the fine detail that has come to be the standard associated with this company. Both models capture the look of the originals very well, one massive the other tiny.

A Look at R.U.P.'s Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Britannia minis

   These appeared briefly in an earlier post and I promised to get a better look at them so here we go; Rich Uncle Pat tends to go "all-in" on anything that catches his fancy so when he decided to get into the Dystopian Wars game from Spartan Games he picked up a very large collection of minis and had them professionally painted by Cornish Mikey's Painting Service. He also purchased the specially made case for the minis to put them in. All in all a very well put together arrangement. The painting work is excellent (see the photos) and R.U.P. reports that the turnaround time was very good (particularly as it was going from Cornwall to Michigan). Enough of all that, on to the eye-candy!

the Avenger class fleet carrier, a vast and powerful ship

Star Wars X-Wing minis game

    

  Justice&Rule came by a while back with a ton of these beautifully painted models of the Classic Star Wars ships (not those horrid things associated with the Part I/II/III tragedy, the REAL Star Wars stuff) and a set of rules. I have always had mixed feeling about playing 3D games on a flat table but have been able to work past it if the rules were fast and fun (Wings of War/Wings of Glory, Battlefleet Gothic and the Check Your 6 series). The tiny size of the rulebook meant that the rules would likely be easy enough to understand, even for a wargaming dinosaur like me.

A Fight in Lebanon, Part III the Denouement; Killdozer Rules All!

WARNING, THERE ARE OVER FORTY PHOTOS IN THIS SECTION, 

IT MAY TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD

     You will remember the situation thus far; The IDF is making a major road-clearing incursion into a PLO held area, the PLO has been tasked with delaying the intruders long enough for reinforcements to arrive and counterattack. Both sides are sure that they don't have enough combat capability for the job, this means the GM had designed a near-perfect scenario.

from the PLO end of the street the damaged Merkava was a heart-warming sight

A Fight in Lebanon, Part II Opening Moves

     We re-join the game as the IDF blinds come onto the table (for those not familiar with Two Fat Lardies rules; units are represented on the game table by "blinds" -a sort of generic marker- until an enemy unit identifies them by use of the spotting rules, this helps avoid the "thousand-meter tall general " situation that plagues many rules). For the PLO players this is often the worst part, not knowing if it is a Jeep or a Merkava until you force the blind to reveal, often with disastrous results for the unit forcing the reveal . For the IDF it is worse, you know you are a sitting duck but can doing nothing about it but move forward, scanning every window, hoping to spot enemy activity.........

IDF and PLO blinds play hide-and-seek around the Hospital complex

A Fight in Lebanon The Scenario 15mm Rock the Casbah by Two Fat Lardies

      A couple of weeks ago, to mark Dan A's return from the Army, Rich Uncle Pat ran a Rock the Casbah game at his place. The scenario was an Israeli penetration into a PLO controlled area in Lebanon. Each side had specific, and potentially asymmetric, objectives as well as very different forces and capabilities. This promised to be an interesting game.

the table, 

Rich Uncle Pat (R.U.P. henceforth) does a lavishly impressive spread!

I particularly liked the the national flags at either end, 

it reminded me of those old movies that featured a map-board to show the viewer the situation 

Fireforge Deus Vult 28mm Foot Sergeants

      Following on the heels of the dismounted Knights sets come the Foot Sergeants box from Fireforge. Providing 48 figures at under a dollar (US) each is an achievement in itself but the fact that they are multi-pose and beautifully sculpted as well makes this an eve better deal. The figures are cast in a  dark gray plastic and the detailing is quite crisp. Figures are cast with the torso and legs as one unit allowing a variety of arms/heads/weapons to be used on each model. The box is the same sort of thin card that other European companies use (apparently they trust the shippers far more than Wargames Factory-whose box art is horrid, but the boxes are quite sturdy). Of course these are not just usable as Crusader figures they will work handsomely for any European foot troops of the period, a feature emphasized by the multi-part/multi-pose options this kit provides.

box art is evocative and atmospheric 

Evidence of wasting more time on the Interwebs; VSF powerplants LINK FIXED

I forgot my workout stuff today so I spent the lunch break web-surfing. While wandering the hallways of whim and fancy I sumbled across this website  "The Museum of RetroTechnology". Obviously an effort of love and dedication this provides tons of really cool ideas for VSF style engines and power sources thay have a basis in real physics rather than some nonsense like "unobtainium" or "sturginium". So, if you like your Victorian Science Fiction to be more Science and less Fiction, take a look. I think you will find it rewarding.

I think that I have found a new project

   At first I was just fooling around with my photos from vacations to get an idea what the Fort at Matanzas looked like in its glory days. The Spanish covered the Fort (and the Castillo) with a white stucco and then painted the trim in bright red. The building must have been striking against the green Florida coastline. Well, a couple of hours using Paint (yes, I know, an inadequate program for editing pictures) produced this;

    Now I find myself eyeing a pile of blueboard and trying to work out the dimensions for 1/60 scale model. I have contacted the good people at the National Park Service who have informed me that they are currently digitizing the plans and maps of the Fort and the Castillo.

       The question is whether I can wait for that to happen or do I just start cutting foam now?