This blog will will contain my rather pedantic ramblings on my experiences within the miniature war gaming hobby. There will be informative how-to’s, thrilling battle reports and thought provoking editorials. I fully expect that history will one day view the contents of this blog on par with Homer’s Illiad or Newton’s Principalia. Or it's a complete waste of time.
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Russo-Japanese War Fleets: Done! - No Wait, I am a Channeling Clark Griswold.....
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Stalingrad Project: Supplies Running Low
Like any military campaign, terrain projects are won and lost over logistics. If one does not have the raw materials, one does not make a lot of progress. While the core tabletop has been built there are some extra details I want to add and my supplies are running very thin. My gallon bucket of pre-mixed flexible tile grout is just about empty. I started the project with this bucket 3/4 full so it has served me very well over the past few months. I'll need to run out and grab another bucket in a day or two.
Please excuse the disheveled work room between the messiness of a giant terrain project and the basement flood it's a shambles. In all honesty, it was a shambles before the flood but now there's an excuse!
What are the blank hexes for - I'm doing some testing on making generic "countryside" terrain in 15mm scale and so have 2 road, 2 clear and 2 to be forested hexes to see how it looks. I'm kind of all in on hex terrain.
Monday, February 15, 2021
Stalingrad Project: The Third and Final Section is Done!
A shot from the front. Some battle damage has been added but I found it strangely hard to put holes into "my precious" model.
A street level view. The park did have small trees through out but really didn't have a row of tree along the street next to the department store. I tossed them in on a whim and kind of like them
Just west of the Department Store is the "L" shaped Nail Factory which saw very heavy fighting in later part of September. Next to it is a generic apartment block. To be honest, the apartment block is on first on the list to be replaced as I tweak the board. There are two reasons - it's a bit to flat and clean looking (hard edges) and its too tall to be on the edge of the table - player will get caught on it as the lean over it to reach units in the middle of the board. There is a 99.9% chance it gets "belly squished" during game play.
A last picture looking at the other side of the House of Specialists.
Sunday, February 7, 2021
Unexpected Flooding on the Volga, Stalingrad Progress Delayed
It seems our water heater decided that Friday afternoon was quitting time and when I say quit I mean flood. The tank ruptured and proceeded to flood our basement. Actually we were very lucky as I think we caught it maybe a few minutes after the leak started and were able to minimize the water flow. Well limit the flow water flow after a three stooges like episode of trying to remember were all the water cut-off valves were.
I was wander down to the basement to do a little more work on the Stalingrad table so, in a way, miniature gaming "saved-the-day".
I removed all the soaked carpet and padding (to be honest any type of demo work is kinda of fun) and then rented some fans and dehumidifiers to try and dry up the space. I'm told these need to run for 3 days - at least that's what the rental place tells me.
You can see that true disaster was narrowly averted as the water came within 8 inches of my troop cabinet. Some minis and terrain were damaged in the flood but nothing of any importance and stuff that I should have gotten rid of years ago.
In all honesty, this is my fault as the water heater was from 2003 and should have been replaced years ago. I just forgot about it and have now paid the price for my negligence!
The REAL issue is can I find creative ways to delay the wife's selection of a new carpet so that installation occurs AFTER the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is finished (March 20)? My current plan is to throw money at the problem and wrap the new carpet installation with some other renovation projects she wants to do. That way, maybe, I can delay the project until the late Spring / early Summer under the guise of moving out to our place on the Eastern Shore while the renovations are completed.
I will need to check the whereabouts of a certain Martin C or Noel W who are chasing me on the leader board of the challenge - maybe there is more afoot here than mere happenstance.......
Friday, February 5, 2021
Stalingrad Project: No Paint Rubble Base Scenicing
A comparison of the urban rubble bases to my "standard" basing. For Stalingrad, I'm thinking of using different basing types to denote troop experience. Those that have the traditional green foliage bases will be inexperienced / conscript troops, while those with rubble bases are Veteran / Guards.
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Stalingrad Project: Final Road Sections are Laid Down
The next step will be to scratch build a few more ruins )most are single hext structures and then figure our how to do the parl section (red square) in the center.
Getting close to done!
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Stalingrad Project: Preparing for the Last Terrain Push
The last batch of hexes needed for the Stalingrad project have been cut out.
This section of the table will be a lot of fun to build as it has iconic buildings like the Univermag Department store and the Nail Factory plus some actual green space in Red Square. Red Square still would have some green in it as of Sept'42 but it will need to be muted or it will appear to jarring with the rest of the purposely drab table.
There is one iconic building left to scratch build - the "House of Specialists" which is located in the lower right corner of the map image. The research for this building is ongoing as I'd like ot to be as realistic as I can make it.
It's exciting to get the terrain portion of this project almost over the finish line. There is still a lot of work to do on detailing and scatter terrain plus the rules need to be tested. Stalingrad is the most ambitious gaming project I've undertaken and I suspect I'll be running it at multiple conventions - well assuming the game isn't a disaster!
Monday, February 1, 2021
Something A little Different for the AHPC XI: 15mm Vietnam US Infantry
A bit of a welcome break from grinding on my Stalingrad project - 15mm US Infantry from Vietnam. I don't know the provenance of these figures as they were given to me by Ed from the club but these 14 chaps were fun to paint up and scenic the bases.
This game is at the top of my list when I can get back to in person gaming. Hopefully I can coax Ed into running a few more games.
I've also done a lot of work for the Stalingrad project which will get posted in due coarse. I'm building up my strength for the last terrain push of a 100 or so hexes!