Ironclad Play by Blog Game - any interest?

I've been participating in a "play by blog" Napoleonic Naval game being run by Clint over at his "Anything but a One" blog.  The game is about to hit it's 11th turn and has been both very extremely fun and fascinating to see the social dynamics.

Since I'm really not the most creative of people, I've decided to give Clint the highest form of a compliment by copying his idea but changing the venue from Nappy Naval to American Civil War ironclads.

Why ironclads? - a few reasons:
(1) Despite having a large 1/1200 Napoleonic Naval collection, I think Clint has that market covered
(2) I've decided that my next convention game (Historicon'15) will have have an ironclad scenario and I want to test out a rule set and some game management concepts.
(3) Ironclads are cool - 'nuff said

The purpose of this post is to gauge interest in participating.  Given that I'm kind of lazy, I'll limit the number of players to 8 and each will control one large or two small ships.  To be clear, you'll be guinea pigs, but guinea pigs involved in a grand experiment that pushes the boundaries of gaming, social networking and technology.  I'm highly confident that the Nobel committees may be watching our little endeavor with some level of interest.

The game will start sometime in December.

Oh there will be prizes for participating - yes, I'm not above bribery to goose participation....

Please let me know what you think.

FOW "Throcktober" Tournament Update and New Project Musings

I had a great time yesterday at Sean's FOW tournament.  The German team ended up winning as the Allies drive to Berlin was less than effective.  Sadly it looks like the war in Europe would have gone on a few extra months given the allied teams performance.

That said, my personal performance was better than expected - I went 2-1 and was the second highest scoring US/Brit commander.  My games went 5-2, 1-6 and 6-1.  US 155's are very effective and accounted for the 2 Jagd Tigers and 4 King Tigers killed by my plucky paratroopers.  I'm also figuring out how to use TD's better.  Many thanks to all three of my opponents who were more than gracious with my newbie mistakes and offering advice.

With the mad dash for the tournament over, I now find myself without a major miniatures project and need to think about what the next big project is.  The decision will need to come soon as It's been very motivating to combine a big game for historicon along with the Analogue Hobbies Painting challenge which (hopefully) starts in December.

One can't have an empty workspace, so there's a new ship in the yard a 1/600 scale US civil war ship from Thouroghbred Miniatures - the USS Hartford.  The again this might be for the "big" Historicon 2015 game(s).

One never knows!

Sail Boat Show Prep II

 Last Saturday some friends helped me sail the Bucentaure across the bay to Annapolis to get ready for the Sail Boat Show.  The weather was beautiful - 70's, sunny but there was one hitch - zero wind.  So when I use the term "sail", I really mean we motored across and occasionally caught a brief gust of wind.  It makes for a less than exciting passage as the boat's "massive" 14 hp diesel engine can get up to 5 knots.  At least its fuel efficient - we only used 2 gallons of fuel.  But it was a lonnnnggggg 5 and a half hour passage.

 Coming up on the Thomas Point lighthouse - it's one of the last screw-pile light houses still on the water.  This light house marks an approach into Annapolis harbor.

Tied up at a temporary spot.  With the sailboat show coming, dockage is at a premium and you tie up where you can find a spot. In return for letting the guys at North Point use my boat, I'll get a compete  cleaning and they'll help me pick out a good electronics package.  At 28', she'll not be the largest boat at the show but I think she'll do OK.

If you're at all interested in sailing, the Annapolis Sail Boat Show is a must do.

Tournament Prep Done

 Whew - the painting's done for this saturdays "Throcktober" tournament.  It a nice little haul for my glacial painting rate.

 First up is a four gun battery of US 155's, which are just the ticket to pry open the tops of those nasty late war big german cats.

 A little AT support in the form of a M-18 tank destroyer platoon.  These guys are a bit of a glass cannon as they have no real armor (except against small arms) but are very fast.  Never fielded them before so lets see how they work out.

 Lastly, some odds and ends - 4 jeeps 'cause you can't have too many, and air observer, a staff and command team for another artillery unit and a Jumbo Sherman.  I have been dithering about on my exact list and have received some input for a certain Mr Rhia that I need a tank platoon with a jumbo.  Since Mr Rhia will forget more about FOW than I'll ever know, his advice is well worth taking.

All that's left to do with these guys is hit them with some matte varnish and they're good-to-go.

The tournament is an interesting event - It's a 24 person late war themed team-based event "Race to Berlin" where 12 allied players (6 US/Brit, 6 Soviets) fight against 12 germans in a
historically based scenario event.  Since it's really late war, I suspect there will be lots of big cats fielded by the germans, which can be tough nuts to crack.  The event is being held at Huzzah Hobbies in VA and will be my fourth FOW tournament.  It sounds like a lot of fun.  The tournament is being organized by Sean Sarah who has put a great deal of effort and enthusiasm into it - I'm grateful for his efforts.

As with all curmudgeons, I rarely change my way of doing things hobby style, so when I do, it's a big deal (to me).  I had bought the pictured surface primer at least a year ago and never used it.  I gave it a go for the everything pictured above except the 155 unit and was extremely please with the results.  The brush on primer allowed me to compress two steps (priming then main color painting into one) and provided an excellent shade of olive green.  I highly recommend the product.  Sometimes labels can be hard to read so the product is:
Vallejo Surface Primer
US Olive Drab
#73.608

15mm Flames of War Tournament Prep

In a bit of a switch from Napoleonic naval mini's, there are a good number of 15mm WW2 figures on the workbench now.  These mini's are needed to flesh out the list I'm planning to run at an upcoming FOW tournament.  When is the tournament you ask?  Oh it's this Saturday so I'm under a bit of a time crunch!

The units that need to be painted include a M-18 tank destroyer platoon (4 M-18's, 2  M-20's and a jeep), an air observer and some misc command/staff teams.  In terms of painting "crunches" it's not the worst and I should have the details painted out tonight.

I do find that these self-inflicted painting crises really do increase my productivity and can re-engerize my approach to the hobby.  It's also good to have a break from 1/1200 sailing ships which are very rewarding to build but very taxing at the same time.

The Essex is Done!

 Another frigate has been added to my 1/1200 scale US Fleet - the USS Essex a 38gun ship.  As previously posted, this was yet another Langton model with the brass sails.

 All of the additions to the US fleet, from left to right, the USS Essex (38 guns), the USS Ohio (74 guns) and the USS Congress (44 guns).  All-in-all a nice little addition to my collection.

Another shot of the new additions.  I suspect these ships will see some action very soon.

Sail Boat Show Prep

The US Sail Boat Show in Annapolis is now just two weeks away!  It's scheduled to be held on 10/9 - 10/13.  The show is for sailors what a combination of Salute and Historicon would be for gamers.  It's a grand event and I recommend it highly for anyone with even a passing interest in sailing or gin.  Gin?  Well, Hendrick's Gin is a big sponsor and will have their floating bar set up.  I'm sure it is just pure coincidence that packs of hungry sail boat salesman prowl the outskirts of the bar trying to secure potential clients as they leave the "free-gin" area.

My boat, the Bucentuare, will be on display at the show at the Alerion booth (not sure where on the floating docks that will be).  I need to sail across the Bay to Annapolis this weekend and start prepping the boat (i.e cleaning it up, removing personal stuff that might go on walkabout).  After the show, I'll keep her in Annapolis for a few more weeks before dry-docking for the winter.

The sailboat show is really one of my favorite events of the year and I think it will be even more fun as I'm not in the market for a boat.  Unfortunately, there are acres and acres of tents/booths of people who sell stuff to boat owners from fancy navigation electronics to marine head cleaning solutions.  The guys at Alerion have agreed to help me select / install an electronics suite for the Bucentaure in return for me letting them borrow her for the show.

I spent the summer sailing without any electronics to get a feel for the boat and to make sure I can handle her if the electronics ever go out (marine electronics have a tendency to do that).  A lot of times people focus just on the electronics (sailing by wire) and not the boat which can have some bad results if they electronics fail or the boat gets caught in sever weather.

There's also a power boat show the following weekend (10/16-19), if you're one of "those" people.  Being a gentlemen, I really wouldn't know anything about that event but have heard that if one speaks with a New Jersey accent and/or dons a leisure suit with at least 3 linear feet of gold chain there is a discount on the admission.

I still need to find sometime to finish up a few units for the Throcktober event at Huzzah Hobbies next week.

15mm 155mm Guns Just about done

 On Sunday, I managed to finish up most of the painting for a 155mm US artillery battery for Flames of War.  I'm rushing to get a US force pulled together for a tournament in a few weeks and this unit should be it.  All that's left is a little shading, some ground scenicing and I've got some big guns ready to take out some big German cats!

On Monday and Tuesday I was in Pittsburgh for a Board meeting at Carnegie Mellon and encountered "Black and Gold" pierogies for sale at one of the campus dining facilities.  Only in Steeler-Crazy Pittsburgh could one come across such a culinary "delight".

Neoprene Naval Gaming Mat

 My old naval gaming mats were felt and just never did all that great.  Ships would snap when moving across and sometimes it just wouldn't lay right.  I've seen a kickstarter for a pre-printed land gaming mat made from Neoprene (the stuff used to make mouse pads and diving suits) and thought it might be a good option.  A bit of google-fu and I found an online seller, Foamorder.com, and ordered some 3mm think neoprene.  It comes in large rolls - mine was 51 inches wide and rover 12 feet long for a very reasonable price (approx. $60.00).  Foamorder's service was very fast and I recommend them

 One side covered in royal blue and the other in a black fabric.  The Neoprene is 3mm thick so it's nice and heavy when laying out on the table.

 Citting to fit my 8 foot by 4 foot gaming table was very easy.  I do recommend using a good pair of scissors to cut the neoprene.  A standard box cutter just doesn't work that well.  The material is easy to work with if you cut slowly.

 As indicated earlier, one side of the neoprene is blue for naval gaming and the other is black for space gaming - X-Wing anyone?

 I'm hoping to host a game in the next few months so after getting the mat ready a set up a test game.  The first picture shows a combine French and Spanish fleet sailing past a British port to intercept a convoy.  The French fleet consists of 1 second rate, 3 third rates and 2 frigates.  Their Spanish allies have 1 first rate and 2 third rates.

Here's the British fleet, which is escorting two merchant ships (at the tail of each ship line).  The goal for the Brits will be to get those merchants to the port.   The British fleet consists of 1 first rate, 4 third rates, 1 small third rate, 2 frigates and the two merchants.

 Seems like the port is far away!  There will be some experimenting with the initial ship placement and starting wind direction.

A close up of the port - it was a fun little terrain project.  I'm not sure how powerful to make the batteries in the fort that guards the entrance to the harbor - hence the play testing!

I really like the neoprene matt - it lays very flat, is easy to move ships across and deadens dice rolling (less dice going going off the table).

A Little Progress on the Essex and LOTR Card Game

 Not a lot has been accomplished on the modeling workbench other than some work on the brass sails for the USS Essex - a 32 gun frigate in 1/1200 scale.  After I took this picture a  bit more progress was made as the hull and deck got their initial painting applied.  I should finish the Essex next weekend and then may take a break from the 1/1200 Langtons for a bit.  Next up will be some 15mm Flames of War units for an upcoming tournament.

Last weekend I did get a chance to play the Lord of the Rings card game from Fantasy Flight Games.  To be honest, I was very dubious about the game and most card games in general.  My concerns were misplaced, the LOTR card game is a lot of fun to play and does a surprisingly good job of conveying the feel for Middle Earth to the point I was recalling how much I enjoyed the books when I first read them in High School (yes the printing presses existed back then).  Thanks to Steve MacLauchlan for taking the time to teach a gaming luddite such as myself the  key points of the game.