Fortified Places, Fort Caroline, Jacksonville Florida

 

 

the fort, as seen by Google Earth

       I have long been fascinated with the first tenuous toeholds of the Europeans landing in the New World. Much like the early explorers of space the risks were enormous, they were launching themselves into the unknown with much hope and little knowledge. Most were seeking either wealth or freedom (a few sought both), a great many paid with their lives. One example of those that sought freedom and wealth and also paid for that daring with their lives was the French Huguenot colony that founded Fort Caroline. 

        The Huguenots were a Protestant sect that was much prosecuted in France, they (well, some of them at least) offered to establish a colony in North America on behalf of France in an effort to be able to practice their religion in peace. They also went seeking to enrich themselves (the Spanish pillaging of the Aztecs had convinced a good many Europeans that gold was as common as sand in the Americas). the French king was desirous of tweaking the Spanish king's beard and of ridding himself of the heretics in his lands agreed. The Wikipedia  article tells the whole sad tale. Needless to say they didn't find freedom or wealth.

       The fort I toured is a reconstruction (the original was mostly earth and log and would not have lasted even if the site hadn't been washed away when the river changed course) built to a smaller scale, and to my mind a rather odd design. The NPS website  tells the story of the park.  

 

Gaming Update This weekend, my place

 We will be gaming this weekend at my place at 7p.m.

Currently open to suggestions, bad ideas or allegations

Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated! Gaming Update my place 29OCT2022, 7pm

 Pretty much what the title says.

Game at my place 7pm this Saturday

Send me your ideas or get stuck with the odd things that amuse me!

GAMING UPDATE; GAME AT MY PLACE 24SEP22 7PM

        Like the title says, game at my house, 7pm.

                                 Be there

The Return of the Space Squats, now with full photo survey of sprues!

 

Bastion Gaming Center has them in stock now $180US

        Games Workshop has finally brought back the dwarves for 40K. They have gained the much more dramatic title of "Leagues of Votann" (as opposed to the classic title "Squats") but they are the same short angry guys. My understanding is that their rules are so slanted that they are already being banned from competition play but my interest lies in the minis, not tournament nonsense. And some fine-looking minis they are! My only complaint is that they are probably a bit too much like tiny Space marines. The models are very well cast in the standard GW gray plastic with no flash and nearly no mold-lines. They are broken down into loads of tiny components which will ease posing and building different weapons load-outs, but may require very steady hands and might result in eye-strain looking at the tiny bits. But no more ado, lets take a close look at this boxed set.

Wargames Atlantic Goths; dressed to kill

        Well it certainly took long enough, but in my defense the weather has finally been nice in these parts and there was little motivation to spend time painting. These minis were painted in a mixture of Americana acrylics, Games Workshop contrast and shades with a touch of Vallejo here and there. I don't keep notes so I won't go into a play-by-play (and I'm sure you all have your own style and paint assortment). The figures were simple to paint, the detail is bold and crisp making them take paint well. My only quibble (and this is with almost every miniature manufacturer, either plastic or metal) shield rims should be distinct and probably overemphasized a bit. Painting circles is nigh unto impossible, painting a 1mm wide rim on a curved shield that is only 3/4" across is asking a LOT. Give us something to work with folks!

 

ready for the trip outside for a coat of matte finish

Never Forget

 

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.......What to present at Pro or Con on October 15th???

 

action from Pro or Con 2021

        I put myself through this every convention season. I usually have a dozen or so irons in the fire at any given time, is various states of incompletion. Then the cold hard truth of the calendar comes along and upsets my apple-cart of indecision. Much chin-rubbing and head-scratching ensues wherein I try to make up my mind. I cast my eye into The Vault and contemplate the tens of thousands of painted minis and models and desperately try to decide which will accompany me to the convention. 

 

action from Flintcon 2022

         After much consideration I have narrowed it down to two games; either a naval action using my 1/350th 1600's fleets or an air-combat using my recently completed 1930's aircraft. Both have proven popular in the past and have the added advantage of requiring very little by way of terrain 

         On the other hand I could dust off the Castillo and run another game with that......

Peering into the future....Armored Apocalypse A Bolt Action Tank War Event 12NOV22

        Bastion Gaming Center will be hosting a Bolt Action tournament on November 12th. Chicago Dice will be running the tournament  and you can find all the relevant information on their website. The action starts at 9am and will run until 6pm. This is a great chance to test your favorite platoon against other players or to just stop by and check out the action.

Data Book for the Kawasaki KI-10 "Perry" for use with Red Stars and Rising Suns

       

       Looking for all the world like a badly drawn Curtiss P-6 Hawk the Kawasaki KI-10 was a robust and agile fighter. It was chosen over monoplane aircraft because at that time the Japanese valued maneuverability over speed. Despite many modern innovations it would not have surprised an aviator from the Great War. It was used in the Second Sino-Japanese War and during the Nomonhan Incident. As the was progressed it was soon relegated to second-line duties and training.

       This data book is intended for use with my air-combat rules Red Stars and Rising Suns

Out of the blue clear sky..... MPC 1/72 Brewster Buffalo

        Having grown weary of the monochrome tones of Chinese aircraft I needed something to brighten my day. And what could be better than an aircraft from the "Yellow Wings" era of the U.S. military? I went looking and found an old MPC kit of a Brewster Buffalo, it had the right decals for the period and looked like a straightforward build so off I went. The kit was a simple build and the parts fit was exemplary, Vallejo sprays provided the silver and insignia yellow. 

       The only downside to the entire project were the horrible decals. I had high hopes going in as they weren't curled or yellowed but they were the old MPC single-sheet decals and terribly thick as well. Careful cutting and flood of MicroScale MircoSol managed to get them in a presentable condition but future models might just end up in Finnish colors (I have spare decals for Finland that are of good quality).

         It joins the P-35 in the pre-war "dogs of flight" section of my collection. I will have to work out a data book for my rules sometime soon, it's too pretty to leave as a display item.

Going Goth, building the Wargames Atlantic Gothic Foot Warriors

 

 

the whole gang

 

        Having a little time on my hands while waiting for decals to set I decided to try my hand at assembling some Gothic warriors. A quick bit of snipping gave me a pile of parts to try fitting together. With five basic body poses and a huge choice of arms, weapons and heads it was easy to assemble ten completely distinct figures. As I was trying out poses it was quickly apparent that most of the arms would fit most of the bodies. It was a simple task to produce active and believable poses. One feature I particularly liked was the provision of an arm holding an arrow and a bent bow in the other so that I could build a figure with a drawn bow ready to launch an arrow.