Battle of Almanza 1707-2007 reenactment video

 I just wish I knew enough Spanish to understand what they are shouting for orders

      I found this interesting, particularly for the example of firing by rank and how very open the formation was when executing it.  Almanza was the battle in eastern Spain that pretty much doomed the cause of the Hapsburg pretender to the throne. The uniforms are interesting, I wish I had seen this earlier on; I would certainly have wanted that purple and red unit (seen in the background of the above picture) in my collection!

Airfix HS 123 in 1/72 scale

     I have added a second game at Spartacon this year, I will be running a big 1/72 scale armor game set in southern Russia in the summer of 1942. In reviewing my stock of German ground support aircraft I found that I was rather short-handed. To remedy this I dug deep into the "this was once an important project" pile and recovered an MPC copy of the redoubtable 1970 vintage Airfix Henschel HS 123. I had three of these kits but had never opened the box (confession time, they have been in that project pile since 1984, yes, upwards of thirty years) so could only guess what the model looked like or how well it had been molded. Having built a few of MPC's other products in the past I was prepared to be disappointed.....

     To my surprise and delight it was perfectly molded and cleanly cast, with excellent surface detail and superb fit. It took less than twenty minutes to build the model and just over an hour to paint it. The only unimpressive feature was the decals which were rather thick. If I had a bottle of Solvaset around this would have been less of a problem. Anyway, I now have a nice little addition to my German airforce and have added an airplane to yearly out put.

 

the model was dream to put together, only small seams at the wing-root

Now I'm in Trouble

The main thing stopping me from building the new Cruel Seas models was the fact that the models are big enough for the crew to be visible but they don't come with them, that and I would have to paint them........

     Then I saw this:

     And they come pre-painted........

Year In Review, late Addition Update

 

I got roped into running another game at Spartacon and needed to add some air support

      No, I'm not trying to bring you the highlights of a year in the hobby in one simple post. I am just looking back at what I have managed to get completed over the course of the last year. I promised myself that I wouldn't buy more figures than I managed to paint, in this I have been largely successful as my purchases have been minimal.

      Unfortunately so has my figure output.

      One of the advantages of blogging is that it forms a record of painted figures and purchased figures. In looking back over the years worth of posts I see that I have managed to complete 84 mounted figures, 82 foot figures, two tanks and seven large terrain pieces or models. Not a particularly stunning output. I added a 1/72 Henschel HS 123 just today (20DEC18)

 

of all the things I made this year this is the one I like the best

it worked out as planned and got me motivated to build the rest of my Dark Ages stuff

 

these are the ones I am least pleased with; I look at them and wonder what I was thinking?

wrong period, wrong scale......as gaming toys they are OK but I don't game ACW!

Of Course I Fell For It!

 

free stuff that isn't really free, OK, I'm a sucker

      You have to hand it to Warlord, they are pretty good at marketing. They bring out Cruel Seas, a new rule-set and the attached models and then they give away just enough of the models to get your attention. I mean, I was going to buy the magazine anyways but then I noticed that you get a choice of the British MTBs OR the German E-boats. Obvious answer; buy both copies! So I did, Warlord wins big time but from my point of view I got $36.00US worth of product for $18.00US of cost and I can give the spare magazine to one of my wargaming buddies. The real question now is; Was it worth it?

Just a little post for Stew

Stew, you have been a constant source of encouragement regarding my Lace Wars Project so I thought I would throw out a visual treat. I had a test-game planned for Thursday evening but a personal emergency led to a last-minute cancellation. The table was all set up and I plan on running the game with the latest edition of my Nine Years War rules this Saturday, but in the mean time take a look at the pretty toys! I have to get one of those backdrops with the idyllic hills and drifting clouds.

 

I was trying for a Spanish look but now it seems more Italian countryside 

Scratchbuilt Ironclad Cruiser 28mm (return to Rivet City)

yeah, that's what I was talking about!

     Having decided what I am going to present at Spartacon2019 I realized that I needed to add to my Predreadnought Fleets. The French have been on the losing end of more games than the Prussians so I decided that they would get the first of the reinforcements. There was a spare model from my most recent boat giveaway so I figured I would start with that one.

Oops! I did it again....Ship Happens Part VII (Updated)

    

 

when will I ever learn....

     In a move that was sure to set back my already tardy painting schedule I decided to make another ironclad; a monitor this time, to oppose the Confederate casement ironclad. Having not yet shipped out the promised models (apologies to all who asked for one) I copied the monitor model and set to work. This has proved to be another deceptively simple design that requires a stunning number of rivets.

Sometimes Things Just Happen Part VI, Accidental Ironclad

it was almost inevitable, wasn't it?

     A little while back I was playing around with my Proxxon Hot Wire cutter (how many of these stories start that way?)   and knocked up some ACW style ironclads. Knowing the danger such things presented to my painting schedule I offered them up to anyone who would like one. Most went to good homes. Sadly this orphan was left alone. 

     Having an afternoon free I considered just chucking it in the bin and getting back to my Lace Wars cavalry schedule, but, once I had picked it up I got to thinking how simple a job it would be. The next thing I knew I was gluing things into place and cutting index card to represent the railroad irons that the Confederates used for armor. Of course after a few hours I was in too deep to quit so I plunged on and finished the job. This is where we stand now; just waiting fore the rivets to dry so I can start painting. Another pointless project, I don't even game ACW in 28mm!

     This is how things played out.....

ACW Ironclads perhaps?

   

     As only one person took me up on my offer of a D.I.Y. Predreadnought (you can see his model in the back there) and the fact that I had a stressful week and needed to blow off some steam (yes, I know, more bad puns) I decided to try my hand at some ACW style craft. I got out my trusty Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter  and started cutting blueboard. After just about an hour I found myself with these six models. One is spoken for (the torpedo cruiser in the left rear) the rest are up for grabs as I don't game ACW in 28mm. I tried to make them big enough that 28mm figures won't look hugely oversize when on or near them but small enough to be manageable on a game table. All the models are just rough-cut blue board shapes in need of assembly, sanding and details (as is covered under the tab above "Adventures in Blueboard amd Foamcore") If you like I will provide thinly sliced strips of blue board to represent timber or ironcladding.

Pro or Con 2018

     Another Pro or Con has come and gone. This year was again notable for several  spectacular games: from Hastings presented by Rodney Cain (of Flintcon fame) using the soon-to-be-published rules "Triumph"which was instantly recognizable from across the room with serried ranks of 28mm Saxons facing off with the ever-formidable Norman knights, to  "Charlie Don't Surf" using the TFL rules of the same name and featuring the claustrophobic Mekong Delta also in 28mm, and joined by "Mad Dogs With Guns" and "Gangs of Rome", two games with wonderful terrain that looked at the actions of criminal organizations twenty centuries apart. That is not to slight the other beautiful and well-organized games that filled the hall.  Below you will find a brief review of the games that I saw, my apologies to anybody that I missed, but I was running a game in the first session.

 

Senlac Hill: can William earn his sobriquet "The Conqueror"

Strange things on the telly, is that a pink T-72?

 

photo from  By Vitaly V. Kuzmin - http://vitalykuzmin.net/?q=node/510, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27840320

 
     With an hour to kill and feeling to lazy to descend into the workshop or get a book to read I found myself channel-surfing. Flicking listlessly through the channels I suddenly found a title that tickled my fancy "Tank Biathlon". I figured I would watch it just to pass the time. As I watched it I was stunned by wide difference of results from over a dozen different teams all driving the same tank, a Russian T-72B3 (except that China drove their own  Type 96A). Skills included driving, main gun, coaxial MG and pintle mounted AAMG.

     These were the very best tank crews all from countries that operated the T-72 as part of their arsenal so the difference wasn't from lack of familiarity. I spent some time thinking about the huge gap between the performance of the "very best" crews from these different countries (the Kuwaiti team apparently managed to forget to downshift when climbing the hill and stalled their tank) and then considered just how wide a gap would exist between these elite crews and the average soldiers. You can find the video on Youtube

     Intrigued by such goings-on I dug around and found that NATO has been doing pretty much the same thing with the Strong Europe Tank Challenge (major fail in the marketable program title department!) which you can see here.   
   
     Now I think that my rules should include such "ace" crews in some way. I begin to understand such skilled warriors as Wittman and Carius.