November/DecemberWhen we were worrying about the attendance in the summer, one member told me, "Just wait until the weather turns bad, then people will start showing up." Darned if he wasn't right. All four of our November morning games were at maximum capacity, and there were players for the two evening games as well. Whither Scenario Hobbies? The Fremont City Council voted to pick one of four plans from four developers for the site that Scenario sits on. Chuck wanted the plan where he would get a separate building that he could own. That plan lost. Another plan was chosen based on its mix of housing and commercial space, and senior low cost housing. One council member introduced a motion that would have allowed Chuck to have a "condonimium" arrangement where he owned a piece of the strip mall, but that was voted down. However, every one of the four developers pledged that they would do right by Scenario. (Yeah, right.) An idealistic store clerk may tell you that the developer could clear and build half of the block, put up the buildings, and then the store would just move over to the new building right away. It ain't gonna happen. That is not the way developers will work. The entire block (except for Carl's Junior) will be leveled and cleared down to the bare ground. Then the utilities go in. So Scenario may be gone for a while. The key for us will be getting the schedule from Chuck. The foundation for the Cupertino Library has been poured, and the structural support steel girders have been going up. They were doing the second floor three weeks ago. Hal Needs Help A continuing topic of conversation among many wargamers since before ConQuest at the beginning of September has been: "Have you gotten your MWAN yet?" The deliveries of the latest issue (125, I think, with the red stripe), have been smeared over several months. I still have not received mine. This is a call to action for all of you. Hal Thinglum has been assembling, publishing, and mailing the wargaming magazine MWAN completely by himself every two months for many years. While The Courier has declined in content and become unpredictable as to when it will arrive, MWAN (Midwestern Wargamer's Assocation Newsletter) has increased its content substantially and improved its production quality. It has become the de facto wargaming magazine in the United States. Unfortunately, Hal is getting burned out and is talking of dropping the work altogether. I am asking all of you who know anything at all about MWAN, to write to Hal immediately and tell him what a great job he is doing and how he can take it easy and get some help and keep MWAN going. halmwan@hotmail.com Here are some suggestions:
Television and Movies I won't say a peep about Master and Commander, except to point out that many critics who have never shown a particular interest in historical movies or sailing ship movies have been giving this movie their highest rating. A few months ago Military History Magazine published an article by erstwhile club member Jon Rickman about the demise of the Samurai in Japan. A federal government and a federal army were formed and the Samurai were told to disband and go home and get regular jobs. A significant number refused and started the Samurai Rebellion. Now this episode in Japanese history is being brought to the big screen on December 5 as the movie The Last Samurai. Looks like some interesting battle scenes. But to get most Americans, particularly women, to watch it, the movie centers around an American loping around Japan at that time, played by Tom Cruise! Oh well. Keep an eye out for the movie Timeline from Michael Crichton. The book sucked, because it was basically a screen play already, lacking the detail and flow that you expect in a novel. However, the ads show what looks like an excellent medieval siege. It lasts for a while and should be interesting. And there are some Sci-Fi elements too. It is an embarassment of riches for sailing ship combat fans. The A&E Channel is broadcasting two new Horatio Hornblower movies in December. The first movie is "Loyalty", airing December 2. Supposedly there are two sequels planned to Pirates of the Carribean. AND, I cannot leave this subject area without mentioning that FARSCAPE IS COMING BACK!! There will be a four hour mini-series next year. Filming starts next month. At what point in time they will position this story, I do not know. Bitchin! U.S. Distributors - Denouement I am still vacillating about SEWS, whom I discussed in earlier newsletters. One member told me he had to wait 14 months for a shipment from them. But I just got my order, in about 4 weeks, and complete. But I placed a similar order for Irregulars directly with the manufacturer, and they arrived in less than 2. The cost difference? A 20mm cavalry figure from the UK was 90p ($1.35), plus 45% for overseas postage, or $1.96. Through SEWS is would be $1.35 + a little postage spread over the whole order. I will definitely go for cheaper over faster, but SEWS doesn't stock/list many of the WWI figures I am interested in. My order with Eureka Miniatures came screaming back to me in less than a week. Another member had a similar experience, but he was also shocked at the postage across the Pacific. Fortunately for him, he was the first person to use their new web site to place an order, so he got his order with free shipping! I ordered something from Tin Dictator, using his web site ordering system, and it came *the same week!* His main emphasis right now is on WWI, and some fantasy. But check him out. He has been clever and placed his ads in the British mags, which we all read. Other Hobby News A minute of silence, please. Geo-Hex has gone out of business. Stores will still sell what they have in stock, but it will not be replaced. Drop those car keys. I have already checked D&J Hobbies. It's all gone. Hasbro has introduced a new Special Edition of RISK. It comes in a circular metal can and features plastic casting of the 50th anniversary metal figures, including the standing infantry man, and the cannon with the dual trail and more detail. This is a special report for those people working on LPA armies and training young relatives in the hobby. The set is 50% more than the standard version in the cardboard box. The BIG appeal to me is that the figures are already off the sprue and all the flash has been trimmed off! Most of you have probably already been spammed by someone about the upcoming Ancient and Medieval Convention at the end of January 2004. While it appears to mainly be an outlet for the tournament-mad folks who play DB* and WRG rules, there will be a few participatory historical games for sane people. I will be running the battle of Zama in 15mm and Jon Baldwin and Ix have committed themselves to some sort of mayhem (probably also involving Carthaginians).
Jan 30th-Feb 1st, 2004 Periods covered 3000 B.C. to 1492 A.D. Tournaments: Warrior, DBM, DBA, WAB Events and scenarios on Friday, Sat and Sun. Flea Market on Sun 1-2 Dealers Room featuring Immortal Miniatures, RM Miniatures Seminars: WARRIOR Seminar, Norman Warfare, Roman Warfare Open Gaming: All periods and games allowed Guests: Jon Cleaves (WARRIOR), Scott Holder (NASAMW) Room rate: $69 per night if Ancients Conference is mentioned. Website: www.geocities.com/ancientconference2004.com/ Admission: $10 for all 3 days. $10 to enter a tournament (First one is free) Hotel: Marriott San Ramon . Fixing Figures Recently a member had some figures smashed up during shipping. This is an all too common tragedy. If it every happens to you, ask me for my article on how to pack figures for shipping so that you can send it to the culprit. In the meantime, you have to figure out how to straighten out your figures. In the Good Old Days, figures had a high lead content, which made them softer and easier to bend. You just needed to heat them a little, even just by holding them between your fingers for a few moments, before you bent them back into position. Now, with the widespread use of pewter, the metal crystals do not slide past each other so easily, and you can hear quite a bit of cracking when you bend a pewter figure. Still, heat will work, but you have to get the figure warmer. Put the figures (standing up, if possible) on top of an insulating material on a pan into an oven. It can be a small toaster oven if necessary. Experimentation will be required to determine how long to leave the figures in. Make sure the oven is on Low. Take a figure of identical composition that you do not care about and put it in the oven and leave it in until there is noticeable melting. Note the time taken and put your batches of figures in for half of that time. If your test figure still has not melted after 10 minutes, take it out and just put in your lot of damaged figures for 10 minutes. When you pull the figures out, you should be able to correct even dramatic bends while the figure is warm. Don't wait until the figure is cool enough to touch. Wear gloves and use pieces of dowel to hold the figure down and bend the parts into the right positions. Do not use knives or pliers, even if they are needle-nosed. You will end up with nasty serrations on the figures. Bits chopped off. Tweezers are OK. But work that dowel and those finger tips. If you make a bunch of puddles in the oven, don't blame me. You can't go off and watch a football game. You have to watch the clock. If the figures are painted, the paint should be OK if it is of good quality, or enamel. Dave Partak In spite of all of the base closings in our area, we still have one member who is an actual soldier. He has been called up and here is his first bulletin. He is destined for Iraq.
From there it's to Fresno airport on Saturday morning and off to Washington. We have a few months of intensive training and inprocessing to the regular Army. We have a very good group of soldiers and I am very proud of serving with them. - Dave |
OctoberRight after ConQuest ended, I received word that ConQuest had been sold. I am not sure how you sell a convention. The key item is the mailing list, I guess. The group of buyers include Gabriel Vega and Kevin O'Hare. Gabriel was the "bozo" in the Kubla Khan outfit at KublaCon. He owns a store down in southern California. Some of you may remember him from Pacificon. The convention will take place at the same time and location next year, but it will be called Avalon. Games on Saturday Some of us have playtest copies of the new Tactica II ancient and medieval rules. Doug Lange and I will be testing them in the morning at the club meeting on the 9th using two Macedonian Successor armies. If all goes well and we have more time, we may even do Alexander versus the Persians. The new rules feature variable, point-based army lists, graduated (not fatal) flank attacks, and impetus. On a personal note, if you need to get ahold of me, please use the "batnet" address, not my company's address. My job is being outsourced to India. I am busy training my replacements right now. Just in Time for Christmas - Jon Rickman
We finally have our very own Toy Soldier Store! It's called Sierra
Toy Soldier Company and it is located in Los Gatos. I dropped in there
the other day and its shelves are teeming with beautifully painted
figures from a wide assortment of armies and eras ranging from Ancient
Egypt to modern times with a very nice selection of Napoleonics and
British Empire figures. Mainly in the one "true" scale (54mm or 1/32),
there are a few other items in different scales, including an
absolutely stunning model of a Tiger tank.
Anyone who has had a bad experience trying to lay their hands on the
Uniformology CDs will be pleased to know that they have a large stock
on hand. Although they do not carry wargame figures--YET--they are
open to suggestions, so the time to lobby for your favorite brands is
now. Even if you don't collect 54mm figures, the shop is well worth
the trip just for the beauty of the spectacle. You can get the
address, as well as see some of their stock, by going to their web
site:
http://www.sierratoysoldier.com/
Preserving ACW Battlefields It seems that my wife "cleaned" around our computer, and the magazine I was basing this article on is nowhere to be found. So much for the core of this month's newsletter. I want to get this newsletter out now, rather than wait until I find the magazine. A New Tool Litko Aerosystems has done it again. For all of you who play DBM, DBA, or DBR in 15mm, L.A. has come out with rulers scored in increments of 40mm (small Barkers). There is some additional information on the rulers, but it is hard to tell from the web site photo. By the way, there is a group that still plays DBM once a month at the Scenario Shoppe in Fremont. I believe it is the first Tuesday evening of every month, starting at something like 6:30 pm. Check the display case outside of the game room to make sure or call the store. Television and Movies The latest rendition of "The Alamo" is now out on video. The Alexander movie with Chris Farrell is due out next month. What to Do in Washington There are actually several things of interest to wargamers in and around the Seattle area. First, there is a ship tour at Bremerton Washington. The brochure says Warship Tours (plural), but there is just one ship, a 1960s era destroyer, the Turner Joy. It was one of the two ships involved in the Tonkin Gulf incident. At the base of the Space Needle in Seattle, Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen has opened the Science Fiction Museum. Its main feature is props and costumes from various television shows and movies. It traces the history of SciFi over the last century, and honors the most famous authors. You can see the original costumes from Babylon 5, the captain's chair from the original Star Trek, and interactive displays about spaceships. The ultimate place to visit, particularly if you like airplanes, is the Museum of Flight. It is at the south end of the Boeing airport, exit 158 off of Highway 5. This is not just an enclosed building, but hangars full of real, complete airplanes. There is just about every airplane Boeing built. There is an SR-71. There are jet fighters. The fighters from WWII are a mix of reproductions and restorations. But the thing that really got to me were 12 (TWELVE), complete, painted, working, different WWI airplanes. [Sir! Take your hands off of the airplane and step back behind the rope!] Awesome. Dave's Diary
Hello everyone.
Thank you all for supporting me and Kathy during this
time. It has made it much easier.
- Chris
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August 2004Board Games Go Electronic
Computer version of Down in Flames:
Computer version of GMT's 30YW:
Cyberboard gamebox for AH's Gladiator:
Buy Your Own WWII Jet Fighter According to a story on the Discovery channel, a private firm has begun production of the WWII German jet fighter, the ME-262. The first production run is of 5 aircraft, with three already spoken for. Cost is one million dollars each. The first prototype has already flown, with the only problem being a blown tire on landing. Realmwerks Realmwerks, part of True North Productions has gone out of business. They make metal 1/144 scale models of WWII fighter aircraft, which you might have seen in an Aerodrome II game. The owner has sold the business to Tom Dye, who runs Legio X, the new owner of MWAN. I have tried to contact them about the future of these models, but have received no reply. If anyone has a telephone number for Tom, please let me know. Gettysburg Again A new video about Gettysburg is in the video store now. It is called Three Days of Destiny, and it is based entirely on the annual re-enactment that occurs at the battlefield every year. Obnoxious Game Opponents Those of you who subscribe to the Bay Area Wargamer's on-line discussion group will have already seen this, but I thought everyone in the club should. It is one of the very few things Mike O'Brien has posted to that group that was appropriate and not inflammatory. I have edited it to correct the spelling and to make it apply to all games, not just the one Sci Fi game that the author plays. How to Annoy a Wargamer -- courtesy of Ed Walden
A cry for help Here is someone who could use our help, if anyone is interested:
Hi,
My name is Adam Casbarian and I'm a teacher at Lincoln High School in
San Jose, California. To raise money for technology at our school, I've
taken it upon myself to try and run a game convention in June 2005.
Since it is a non-profit event, I hope to draw groups, vendors,
companies, colleges, and advertisers. If only Lincoln students come to
the event, we will draw at least 500 people. If we have parents and other
students from the rest of the school district, we can draw many more!
It all depends on whether the event has something worth coming to see.
My email to you is a plea for help. Either through sponsorship of events,
a table, advertising of a club, or help in organizing the convention itself,
I could use help.
If this is something you can do, I'd love to hear from you.
Thanks,
More Official WAB Errata http://www.warhammer-historical.com/rulesanderrata.htm Dave's Diary The big news is that Dave just found out that he will get leave in August, two months sooner than he expected. He expects visitors, but not right away. See Kathy's note below. Ix Nichols and Pete Michels have arranged to put a selection of Dave's photos from Iraq on the club web site. At the home page, click on the link at the very bottom of the list of links on the left side of the page. No more coloring books. Dave has 12 boxes worth already. He has turned them over to the Civil Affairs unit. They go to various villages around the area, setting up projects and passing out supplies.
Before I get to far along I want to thank some folks
for care packages. I would like to be more personal
with the thanks but the truth is I tend to get
overwhelmed with dealing with all I have and it slips
by me. Thanks to Kathy's family for the care package.
Thank you all the guys in the South Bay Gaming Club,
especially Gary P, Dave L, Pete M, Stan K, Rudy K,
Chris and Jeanie S, the snacks, sundries and games
were very appreciated. One note though... we are
soldiers over here and not gamers, I could not find
one guy to give the size 42 underwear to. If I missed
anyone I apologize.
We are now monitoring and controlling all traffic coming into
and out of the base. Well yesterday morning we were
just hanging around and BS'ing at our checkpoint.
A burst of automatic fire rings out
right in front of our position. We all immediately hit
the deck. We then cover all directions and I try and
determine the direction and what was firing. We had
just had a few trucks move out and one of them was 100
meters in front of us. I scanned the area and saw no
movement. The gunner that was in the roof of the
vehicle was now gone and the driver was not getting
out and the vehicle was stopped. Another HUMVEE approached
and I told the crew to drive out and check if the other truck
was okay and
to see if they had accidentally discharged their
weapon. The second vehicle radioed back that it was
indeed an accidental discharge. We all breathed a sigh
of relief and got up form our positions. I chewed out
the guys involved for not informing us. We easily
could have opened up on nearby locals.
Fortunately my guys are well disciplined and we held
fire until we knew what we were to shoot at.
Well today, after 40 days at this position and nothing
exciting happening until yesterday, we hear gunfire
again. Once again we drop to the ground, radio up
"shots fired" and assess the situation. It turns out it
was another accidental discharge. This time the fire
came from behind us but it was hard to tell at the
time since it sounded like it was in front of us.
I walk up to the Hummer and see that it is the same
unit patch as the day before. The first
guy had charged his M60 machine-gun to load it with his
finger pulling the trigger! The second guy had his weapon loaded before
he got out the gate and then had his finger on the
trigger when the vehicle hit a bump.
With the heat heating up we are finding new ways to
cool down. Since we can't go swimming in the Euphrates
River we let the river come to us. We have a water
truck that wets down the dirt road to keep the dust
down. We decided that the little kids
in New York had something going when they turned on
those fire hydrants.
I want to say thank you (before I forget) to Chuck
and Lorraine Wullenjohn, Richard Reiner, Gary Price,
Darryl Empey, Steve and Roberta, Pete Michels and all
the guys from the SBGC that helped. I hope I didn't
miss anyone but I have been getting tons of care
packages. Thank you all so much!
As well as checking
vehicles that come into the base we act as armed
receptionists. Many local officials, farmers, sheikhs
and contractors come knocking at our front door and we
are the first people they meet. We have interpreters
at our disposal to help translate. The latest joke is
that the local sheikhs are coming here to order a
"happy meal" special, that consists of roads, school
and water. We call the appropriate folks back on base
and they come out and meet them in our reception area.
I have come to know a number of the local sheikhs and
such. They seem to like me because they see that I am
picking up on their language and traditions. We have
recently had a number of children coming to our
checkpoint right around lunch time. They are from a
bedouin camp a kilometer away and are the children of
Mousa. Mousa is an affable fellow so I gave the
children some of our leftover food which we have quite
a bit of since they bring eighteen or so meals for
five of us. Well that opened the floodgates and they
are coming every day and more and more are coming. I
had to put an end to it today. It's unfortunate since
we tend to throw the food away but I can't have fifty
kids begging at our gate.
We also see a number of
allied forces here at Camp Cedar. One of the things I
like doing is greeting the Poles and ask them how they
are doing in their native tongue. They all are shocked
and yelling back at me as they drive by not believing
that an American can speak Polish. We also had a
contingent of Mongolians of all people to show up.
Ghengis Khan has returned!
We also have a dog that has
adopted us. We feed it and is friendly towards us but
is very protective and barks at all the Iraqi's. I am
afraid that one day she may bite the wrong person.
Take care,
|
July
Hobby World
D&J
Now the good news -- all Old Glory packs of figures in boxes on the floor are on sale for 30% off. All the Warmaster packs thrown into a bigger box are 20% off. There are also Foundry blisters in a big box on the floor, but they are not discounted, unless you buy lots and lots of them, and then they will think about it. The aisle that included the Playmobil products on one side and the board wargames on the other side is being taken down to make room for a row of tables for in-store play! Amazing. Couples - Synchronizing Purchases Some of you who are married may recognize this situation: You can only spend as much money on your hobby as your wife spends on her interests. If she is sitting tight and not spending anything, you have to watch your step. Even a $30 purchase of glues and bases and paint may arouse questions. But, if she goes out and spends a few hundred dollars on knick-nacks or clothes, or something, well, then you are free to do the same, and it balances out and everything is OK. Right? So, things have been tight lately, in terms of maintaining that synchornization, so I am just getting odds and ends here and there, and recycling the money from hobby sales. Then one day while I am painting, she comes into the room and says that she needs to replace her broken sewing machine with a new one. Fine, I say. I want a Bernina, she says. OK, I say, without a clue. She senses my ignorance and tries to clue me in: "It could cost up to $5000." OH, I said. [$5K for a sewing machine??] I was in shock for a while; but then I started to come out of it, and the thought struck me, how many years' worth of figure purchases will $5K cover? The Silent Crisis If you haven't read the editorial in the latest MWAN, you may not know that there is a silent crisis sweeping our hobby. Thanks to a certain state legislator in New York, a major campaign against lead products caused almost all figures made in this country to be converted from a lead-tin mix (solder) to pewter (mostly tin). In the last year the price of tin has tripled, from about $2 a pound to about $6. Toby Barrett, who makes the 1/600 scale ACW Thoroughbred ironclads, says that his metal costs have gone up more than 1/3 just in the past few months. He has to raise his prices. The cause is supposedly China. They were providing the single greatest source of tin in recent years and now they are taking most of it in for internal use, drying up the international market. There are other sources, but they will take a while to come on line. Combine this with the fact that the dollar is trading for 53 pence (or a pound is worth $1.89), and metal figures, particularly from Britain, are going to get very expensive very soon. What's New? Hans Johannsen has released a new supplement for the WWII platoon-level rules Spearhead. It is called "Forgotten Battles" and includes 21 scenarios from all fronts and all years in the European Theater. $30 The battles look interesting, and should be adaptable to other platoon-level systems (Command Decision, Kampfgruppe Commander), but Quantum has suddenly decided that the rules should be issued "binder ready". This means as loose pages with holes punched in them. Since none of the several other Spearhead supplements or the rules themselves were published this way, I think it is very unfortunate. This one supplement will require you to go down to an office supply store and handle it differently. Dave's Diary Two club members have taken on the task of putting Dave's pictures on the club web site. Stay tuned. Dave Partak's unit has moved to a new location that is much quieter and much duller. So Dave does not have much to write about, so I just appended his messages to the end of this newsletter. The biggest enemy seems to be the heat, which reaches 125 degrees Farenheit during the day. (And it is only June!) "Iraq's climatic variations are more dramatic than most places in the world."
Hello everyone, Life is getting boring now. We have moved off the ROM and now are stationed at our southern entry control point (ECP) or "Rockpoint" as it is called. We control all the traffic into and out of Camp Cedar. It's stationary, dusty, boring and hot. We hit 114 degrees on the dry bulb today at 10:00am. I imagine my journal entries will be pretty dull until we go on a roving mission in July. We went out to the firing range the other day to fire the Mark 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher. It will lob a 40mm grenade over 2200 meters at a rate of 300+ per minute. The grenade arms itself when it reaches 18 to 30 meters out of the tube. The grenades bursting radius is 5 meters for killing and 15 meters for wounding. The reason I tell you all this is because the math doesn't add up. We were standing around the Mk 19 as we were taking turns firing at a target 375 meters away. You have to kind of lob the grenade and when you are sitting on the ground and firing it, it is difficult to get the exact elevation through the sights. Well someone didn't. The grenade landed damn close in front of us, was armed and exploded. I even did the little "oh shit" dance. One of my team leaders, SGT Wells, did the dance for real. He caught a piece of shrapnel in the calf. He had a day off and was back to work today. I'm looking at getting home in October now. Things have been quiet around here despite what you hear in the news. Most of that is taking place up north. We just had a contingent of Bulgarians come through yesterday. We have almost every NATO country represented with the exceptions of those French and Germans. Well, I made it through my first Father's Day without my kid and through my 42nd Birthday. Actually, I received some packages on my birthday, so it was like opening presents. - Dave"
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JuneThere were noticeably more people at the Con this year, evidenced by the fact that the parking garage was closed when at the same time last year I was able get in. Registration numbers were over 7500 by 8:45 am on Saturday, and someone at the Reg. desk told me they were sequential, but probably included everyone working the Con too. Someone else told me that attendance was double what it was two years ago. The miniatures room had a good supply of good games as before. There were two phenomenon I noticed, however. One was several games in each time slot that would set up and would never attract a gamer. Just the GM and maybe an assistant or family member. This was particularly true of Sat. morning, which Jon C. tells me was overbooked. But the right game could get all the people it wanted. The Boxer Rebellion game had 11 people; siege of a British colonial fort, 13 people, Warhammer Fantasy Battle 14 people. DBM tournament - 8, 25mm "green book" Renaissance tournament - 8. The dealers' room was bigger and better, with more space for the dealers, including new game demo space. There were fewer board game dealers, but one more historical dealer (a store owner from San Diego). Some shops such as Scenario gave people a discount on purchases made at the Con. Even those without a table helped out -- the prize I won on Saturday for being the best player in my game was donated by Gator Games of San Mateo. One annoying feature of the game schedule was the "disappearing game." Now I can understand it if Brian Bradford could not make it up from SoCal and his two intriguing South American battles were cancelled, and that was in the changes notice; but other games just never showed up at a table, for no apparent reason. I was looking forward to the Grand Armee game at 1 pm, and others were too, and it never materialized. Other games disappeared that way too. GMs should think twice about the time they pick next year. Many of the empty games were ones scheduled an hour or so after the start time of most other games. So games that started at 10 am or 8 pm might be empty because everyone jumped into a game starting at 9 am or 7 pm. The Flea Market was very, very nice. Sellers got to sit in chairs, at tables, indoors. The tables were arranged so that the buyers could not get around or behind you, and access to the tent was controlled to prevent stampedes. Probably the best flea market I have ever seen. $15 for a table. Games for Kids (and others) Please consider hosting some simple games for kids and putting out notices of such games. Do it at home, at the club, or at a Con, but do it. We need to recruit. Brian DeWitt held two excellent kid's games: the future US army versus huge alien bugs, and an excellent 25mm castle siege, with all the right equipment, and some adult players. The original inspiration for this section was the discovery that Eagle Games' Attack! board game, with a multitude of plastic miniatures, is now available at Toys 'R Us for $20. Older gamers may remember that it was admission to and expulsion from Toys 'R Us that made and broke Avalon Hill. Attack! is good for moving kids up from Risk and Stratego to some tactical and political concepts. The geography of the game is like Risk, but the combat is like Battle Cry and the production is like Axis & Allies. But fundamentally it is a kid's game. Even with the expansion set with naval pieces and political rules, the generic quality of the game will soon bore adult gamers. But there are two similar but much more sophisticated games just out that are tying themselves to the 60th anniversary of D-Day. One is the WWII version of Battle Cry from Richard Borg, called Memoir '44. (Weird name for a war game.) Extra large demo games were being held all weekend at Kublacon, as well as an actual size demo game at a dealer table. You get the little men and tanks, hexes and terrain, and command cards. Beach hexes, and specific scenarios. Check it out. And then, without as much fanfare, there is the D-Day version of Axis & Allies. I got bored with the original A&A because everyone made the optimum moves for each country and games usually went the same way every time. Even though A&A D-Day locks you into Normandy and area movement, its much more tactical system seems to have more potential for variation and the game was being played intensely in the hallway. Sure, both games allow for paratroopers and naval gunfire, but A&A D-Day has a more mature flavor to it, more thinking required. If you like Blood Bowl, but your potential new players are too young to understand the rules, or the game is too bloody or demonic to be approved, Milton Bradley has created a cheap and simple knock-off of BB called Battle Ball. You can get it at Toys 'R Us for $20. For that you get 22 painted hard rubber miniatures, plus rules, a field board, and lots of dice. All of the players are human, but some are more robotic than others. Mutants have been replaced by men with bionic implants, and star players have been replaced by Mechwarrior-style super person robots. In the basic game a player's ability is dictated by what position he or she plays, and therefore which die is rolled. High numbers are good for movement, but bad for tackling. Players can be eliminated for the half, or for the game. Games are usually decided by the third touchdown. Passing and handoffs are possible. I will try and remember to bring the game (and Attack!) to the next club meeting. Eastern European Plastic Again, in line with GETTING KIDS INVOLVED IN THIS HOBBY, some notes on the new plastic figures coming out of Eastern Europe. There are some figures that simply have never been available before in 1/72 scale (20mm) plastic. From EVO in Russia there are Chinese Boxers and Russian Red cavalry from the civil war. From Orion there are WWI German cavalry. From Strelets, Great Northern War figures and Nap. Russian Uhlans. From Warriors, soldiers riding on tanks. From Zvezda, Samurai figures, and a 20mm Roman trireme! From Preiser (Germany) modern US soldiers. Who knew that bringing down the Iron Curtain might expand our hobby? From Emhar (Britain), there are a WWI Whippet tank and Vikings. From HaT (Germany), there are British Napoleonic Marines. Expect HaT WWI artillery and MGs soon, as well as Napoleonic Swedes. Michigan Toy and Soldier Company Cupertino The last time I saw the new library, its walls were up and the roof was on. (It will be three stories.) But the walls were empty (no electrical) and unfinished, with no windows. The floors were just girders with a basic covering. It will be a while before it is done. Trivia Italy and Germany were also surprised by the Pearl Harbor attack. The Japanese had not warned them. The Brits Get Their Blood Up Finally, a very interesting story from Iraq:
WITH BAYONETS ATTACHED, THEY FINISHED OFF THE ENEMY WHO HAD NOT RUN AWAY
Daily Record...May 21 2004
SCOTS TELL OF CHARGE
By Keith Mcleod And Michael Christie
SCOTS soldiers last night told how they launched a
bayonet charge on Iraqi militiamen after hours of battle.
An Army insider last night gave the Record an insight
into the bravery of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
They were forced to use 'cold steel' as supplies of
ammunition ran low.
Many of the militiamen turned and fled but the
close-quarters fighting left around 20 rebels dead.
Thirty-five of Shia Moslem cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's
followers died and two British troops were injured
during the three-hour battle.
A senior Argylls officer said last night: 'After a
fierce fight and with small amounts of ammo left, they
put in a conventional left-flanking attack.
'With bayonets attached, they finished off the enemy
who had not run off.' It was the first time in 22 years the Army
had used bayonets in action.
The last came when the Scots Guards stormed
Argentinian positions during the Falklands War.
The battle developed following a distress call from a
group of eight British soldiers last Friday.
The troops under the command of Major Adam Griffiths
were surrounded on the notorious Route Six highway
while en route to Camp Abu Naji in southern Iraq.
Their LandRovers were riddled with bullets and they
came under attack from rocket launchers and grenades.
But as a 30-strong platoon of Argylls responded to the
SOS, the militia were getting reinforcements.
The men from the Stirlingshire-based regiment were
forced to dig in and shoot back.
The Argylls were aided by a detachment of the Princess
of Wales' Royal Regiment, who arrived at the scene in
armoured Warrior vehicles.
More than 150 Iraqis were said to be involved in last
week's battle. Military sources say the militiamen
miscalculated the response from the original group of soldiers.
Last night, a source said: 'Morale is very good
following this serious incident.
'The insurgents have been laying ambushes on Route Six
one of the main roads between Basra and Baghdad for
some time. Previously, the response from small British groups
has been drive on. These militiamen were obviously
expecting this to happen again. The enemy have been picking
their targets, mainly two
LandRovers with six to eight soldiers on board. With
those odds, it is sometimes best to keep on going, but
the attack was so sustained, the LandRovers stopped
and returned fire. We now hope that these attacks on Route Six
will stop, but we are taking nothing for granted.'
Intelligence gathered since the bayonet charge
suggests it shocked the militia fighters, who expected
the outnumbered Scots to flee.
The source added: 'The injuries received by our troops
were shrapnel to the hand and shrapnel to the groin.
Both of these casualties were as a result of
rocket-propelled grenades fired at them. Both the injured guys
are back with their units and doing fine.'
The Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment arrived on the
scene in 37ton Warriors just as the Scots' ammo was getting low.
They found many Iraqi militia fleeing the bayonet charge.
Around 20 Iraqis who chose to stand and fight were
killed by the troops of both regiments.
The Argylls' forebears formed The Thin Red Line which
kept 25,000 Russians at bay at Balaclava during the
Crimean War of the 1850s.
In 1967, Argylls commander Lieutenant-Colonel Colin
Mitchell known as Mad Mitch stormed a rebel stronghold in Yemen.
Accompanied only by 15 pipers playing Scotland The
Brave, he recaptured Crater Town, the commercial heart
of Aden, which had been in enemy hands for two weeks.
The regiment has won 16 Victoria Crosses.
- Chris
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MayDave Partak has written so much that I am sending it out as a separate, second e-mail. We are also looking into posting some of his photos somewhere that all members can see them. Our web site agreement did not originally include such storage space, and adding the pictures to the newsletter would dramatically increase its transmission time to a lot of people. I will let you know ASAP what we work out. Dave's wife Kathy has embarked on a special project and is getting some attention for it. Here is a report from our Sacramento correspondent, Terry Matheny:
Several times they have shown her holding the baby...thank God the baby doesn't look too much like Dave! Any one who wants to help Kathy can contribute money to a Wells Fargo account in the name of Kathleen Partak, #3903445330. Selling I have been reminded to remind you that if you sell anything at a meeting, there are a couple of rules. First, do not sell anything that the hobby shop is selling. Second, any exchange of money must take place outside. Movies and TV Spartacus - Well guys, I muffed it in the last newsletter. I forgot to warn all of you in advance about the TV movie Spartacus on the USA network on April 18 and 19. It was quite good actually. Goran Vijnic, who plays the Eastern European doctor on ER was Spartacus. The rest of the actors were unknown to me. But then, compared to the epic 1960s Spartacus, this meant that the story and the character were more important than the actor. Keep checking USA's listings. They are bound to run it again. And then it will come out on video. Wargamers will like this movie. Compared to the Kirk Douglas movie, it has more battle scenes, the love scenes are shorter and more serious, and there are more references to actual historical events, such as: the use of vine ropes to descend from Mount Vesuvius; the dissatisfaction and departure of the Gauls (though they blame it on ego, and not the desire to go home); the fact that Spartacus dies in the final battle. (But his body was hidden by his followers, and that is not addressed.) Sparty's gang has a much more multi-ethnic and named group of followers. The only portrayal I did not like was that of Marcus Crassius, who is rather too bug-eyed and weak. I much prefer Lawrence Oliver's grim and snake-like rendition. History buffs will notice one episode that is actually stolen from the adventures of Hannibal, not Spartacus. Otherwise, both movies rely on the same novel, so the plots are very similar. Troy - This movie is due in theaters May 14. The bad news is that the TV ads seem to suggest that the limited actor Brad Pitt will be the central character as Achilles. The good news is that the look of the movie is great, with lots of extras in the right armor, and lots of war galleries generated by CGI. We're all gonna go see it. We're just going to boo certain scenes. King Arthur - Due out July 7. The good news is that this is a British production (characters and story over stars) and that they will make it clear that the time is about 500 A.D. Alexander - This movie is not due out until November 5, but the studio has already put up still shots, and there are plenty of squealers on the web ready to report on things they have seen so far. Stay tuned. Videos - Fans of anything about the American Civil War may be interested in this little movie. It made the rounds of a few film festivals and is now out on video. It is about 6 soldiers who take shelter together during the night after the first day of the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. There are two small battle scenes at each end of the movie. Otherwise, the movie is about the soldier's backgrounds and personalities. The catch is that due to the shedding of clothes and the use of blankets, the soldiers do not know that they are from different sides. The actors are unknowns, and I was impressed with how the actors, stunt men, and re-enactors all blended together so that you could not quite spot who was who. An Italian movie making the film festival rounds right now is Line of Fire: Alamein. It is that famous battle from the Italian point of view. That is all I know about it. It could be interesting or it could be a bunch of infantry sitting around complaining. We shall see when it comes out on video. Board Games A new version of Axis & Allies is out. This may not seem significant to our many mature miniature gamers, but that game has been critical in bringing large numbers of kids into historical wargaming, even if just board games. (You see lots of them at the conventions.) This is the whole world version that went out of print some time between the Europe-only and Pacific-only additions. All the miniatures now use equipment that match each country. There are now destroyer and artillery pieces. The costs and effectiveness of several pieces, including tanks, subs, and airplanes, have been changed. Research can now be directed at a specific development. There are a lot of complaints from people who have learned to play the current game well, but if you have gripes about the original Axis & Allies, and maybe stopped playing it because of those issues, take a look at the new version! Technique This month we have a nice long contribution from Doug Ferrell for this section.
I'm no master painter, but here are some things I've found that have
improved the appearance of my figures, buildings, and terrain. First I'd
like to chime in on the "to prime or not to prime" question. I think
priming metal miniatures is essential. Primers for metal (like auto-body
primers and miniature-specific primers) adhere well to metal and also
provide a surface with enough "tooth" for the subsequent coats of color
we'll be applying to our toys. Without primer, acrylics will easily peel
from the metal surface. I don't use enamels, so I'm not sure how well or
not they adhere to bare metal. If you're going to spend a lot of time
painting a figure, primer is cheap insurance against later problems.
Resin can also be smooth and shiny which prevents paint from
adhering to it. I also have some dental plaster buildings from JR
miniatures which you might think don't need to be primed, but they do.
They are so porous that they just drink paint. I had to use two or three
coats of primer just to seal this porous material to get any semblance of
color on it.
As you stated in the last newsletter, primers can also serve a
second purpose which is to affect the appearance of the colors applied
over them or even to simplify subsequent painting.
Black primer
Gray primer
White primer
Brown primer
This is the classic "rust brown" auto primer from the hardware
store. I found this to be really useful when I painted some ancient
Khmer 15mm figures, most of which were bare-skinned. All I had to do was
prime, apply a dark brown wash, and then a lighter red/brown drybrushed color
to achieve a really nicely shaded dark tanned flesh tone. So if you're
painting a bunch of not-too-pale bare skinned figures, this is a great
shortcut. It might also be useful on some terrain and buildings as it
provides a nice dirty/earthy base color. To darken, add a big sloppy
dark brown or black wash.
Hybrid
Once that dries I apply a thin black wash to the casting making sure
that all the crevices get the wash all the way in them. After the wash
is completely dry I drybrush white (use brush-on primer if possible) using
a relatively large brush. I use a 5-10mm wide flat brush on 15mm figures
and an even bigger flat brush on buildings.
It sounds like a lot of work, but is really easy since there is not
a lot of thinking involved and no color selections to make. The result
is a pre-shaded base coat which will cause the colors applied over it to have
more variation in depth of shading without having to mix custom color
washes or lighter shades for drybrushing. As a bonus, the technique works
really well with the cheaper craft paint brands since they are often slightly
transparent (I use a lot of CeramCoat from Michael's--$1 for 2 oz. on
sale). It also works well with inks, though you may want to go a little
lighter on the black wash if you intend to use light final colors.
Another variation is to drybrush the white first and then wash
with the black. This will result in a darker overall tone, but still
provide the highlights and variations in shading. On larger items (buildings and such) I sometimes use different techniques on different parts of the object.
For instance, on a log cabin I might use the drybrush first on the walls and
drybrush last on the roof to make the walls have a darker tone while
providing a brighter looking shake roof.
- Chris (and Doug and Terry)
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AprilDave is shipping out to Iraq now. Below is the military address in the US that you can send things to if you want Dave to receive them. He mentions some of the things that he would like to receive.
It's tough saying good-bye. I had a fabulous three day pass. The toughest part was saying goodbye to my wife Kathy and my son Mason. Our time was too short and harried and I can't wait to get back to them. Kathy gave me a wonderful surprise of a new hot tub and had it installed and ready for me to jump into. I spent every night in it. Having a pass to look forward to made life a little easier, but the next rainbow is a long way off. Hopefully I will have good e-mail access to keep sending updates. If you are thinking of sending anything my way, powdered Gatorade, Power Bars and candy that doesn't melt are good things. I actually lost 25 pounds in the last four months and will probably lose another 25 by time I return.
Here is a link with several lists of things to send to Dave or any military person overseas. New Figure Releases The following is a list of new ranges of figures, the companies that have released them, and where you can find more information about them:
Armorcast 28mm stone walls, gates, roads, M-113 APC Artizan 28mm Vikings Bay Area Yards 1/600th ACW ironclads resin hulls Brigade Games 28mm WWI Belgian Askari, Australians Copperfield Miniatures Ancient Koreans, Thais. 18th C Prussians and Poles. Corvus Belli 15mm Carthaginians, Numidians, Phoenicians, Libyans Essex 15mm Western European Dark Ages cavalry Eureka Miniatures 15mm Samurai Foundry 28mm Legionaries, Emperors Front Rank 25mm Napoleonic Poles and French Legions East 15mm WWII Finns and Russians Magnificent Little Soldier Company 10mm Napoleonics (all nations) [Note: This could really blow open interest in 10mm Nappies. Up until now many troops types and nationalities have been missing. Prices are $15 for 100 foot or 30 cavalry.] MiniFigs 15mm WWI - all nations, including Arabs and tanks. 12mm Modern - US and Soviet. 15mm Burgundians Perry Miniatures 40mm Penisular War British and French; 28mm AWI British; 28mm Saljuk Heavy Cavalry Parkfield Miniatures 25mm Anthony Wayne's Legion, American Indians Quality Castings 15mm WWII British & Soviet infantry, German SP gun [Webmaster's note: If you want to see photos of Old Glory 15's, try this link instead.] Quick Reaction Force 15mm Spanish Civil War & WWI infantry & vehicles Redoubt 25mm Early Romans, Samnites Scotia micro scale recent modern vehicles The Assualt Group 28mm modern US Marines, Taliban, Afghans, Somalis Victory Force Miniatures 28mm WWII German paratroopers and terrain It is amazing how many small miniature companies have sprung up in the last two years. Techniques Most of the people reading this section probably already know the suggestions given, but this is for the few who don't. I still have yet to hear from anyone about whether or not we need to prime metal figures. Primer colors. Usually you can get primer spray in one of three colors, grey, white, or black. Don't choose arbitrarily; the shade you pick can influence how the colors look, even though the primer is covered over. Black primer will make the colors look darker, dirtier, and is prefered by people who like really ugly soldiers and monsters or who like to do shading by not painting down into the crevices and just leaving them black. White makes your colors look brighter and is usually recommended for 18th and 19th century uniforms. Not just white uniforms, but any color. Gray is a compromise, when you don't want your figures to be bright or dark or significantly influenced by your choice of primer. Do you have problems with the smell of epoxy stinking up your house? If you are using the two part epoxy and have some left over after you have glued all of your figures, mix together any remaining parts of the two parts so that it too will harden. Then it will stop smelling. Trivia The word "maverick" comes from 19th century plains rancher Samuel Maverick, who would not brand his cattle. Meetings Think about selling your hobby items at a club meeting before you put them on Bartertown or eBay. Sure, you might get more money for them on-line, but at the meeting you don't have to worry about shipping, or being cheated, and maybe next time you can find something you want at a good price. And you can buy it for a good price, after examining everything in detail and consulting with other members to see if they would actually play a game of 13mm squids, or whatever. There is a group of members, up to 1/3 of all of the people who come to a meeting, who just stop in for an hour or two to meet and greet and see if anyone has anything for sale. If I could just get my act together I would put out a 25mm Byzantine army, 1/1000 19th C. ironclads, 25mm Renaissance Spanish, and the usual books, videos, magazines and board games. News The Armies of Chivalry supplement for Warhammer Ancient Battles should be in the stores by the time you read this. It will cover the late Middle Ages. Check different figure companies for special figure offers like the ones that occurred when the El Cid supplement came out. The movie The Alamo comes out this weekend. It looks as though its production values (look) are the best yet, and that they do not lack for extras, but apparently the history and details are shaky and the actors are somewhat indifferent about their roles. But for fans of the period there are never enough movies of that battle. - Chris
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MarchIt has been a rough month for me, so this newsletter will be short this time. Dave Partak has gone to Fort Irwin for desert training, so his access to computers is infrequent, so his part of the newsletter is short also. There may have been a bit of confusion over what game I was going to run at the last meeting. In the newsletter, when I mentioned that I would not be running my WWI game, I did not make clear that I was referring to the battle of Mons, the BEF's first encounter with the German Army. (A big project that is still in progress.) Instead I ran a much smaller game based on the French offensive in Lorraine. Aztecs As you might guess from the list of scheduled games, I have been spending a lot of time recently with 25mm Aztecs and the Spanish allies, the Tlaxcallans. I have a fairly large army, but it is deficient in several ways, so I set out to find some more figures. Ral Partha made some extremely accurate and excellent Aztec figures, but they are gone. Iron Wind Productions owns the Ral Partha molds now, but they are only interested in casting and selling the fantasy figures. You have to contact them personally and negotiate for any historical re-castings. Grenadier and MiniFigs figures are gone. Frontier (crude) and Foundry make Conquistadors only. (You can get Foundry at D&J. Apparently they are expected to fight English pirates.) That leaves Tin Soldier and Naismith. TS is represented by Silver Eagle Wargame Supplies in the US, and Naismith by Regimental Colours (Rhett Scott). You can also get Naismith Aztecs from Navwar in the UK, and the War Times Journal, which has prices in dollars, but ships from England. Then there is Eureka Miniatures, which makes a highly detailed line of 28mm Aztecs, but they are $2.25 per figure! And that is before shipping from Australia. Naismiths are pretty pricey at 3 for $5, and Tin Soldier are the cheapest at 4 for $5. Naismith also makes Mayans and Incas. But until someone like Games Workshop decides to print a book/system/rules set about the New World fighting the Old World in the 1500s, there won't be more figures or cheaper figures. But what I really needed was Tlaxcallans. I just assumed that no one made them and that I would have to just use some Aztec figures with a different paint scheme. Wrong! I stumbled onto a little outfit called http://www.mondayknight.com/mkpindex.htm>Monday Knight Productions. They make and sell 25mm Tlaxcallans! They also sell Aztecs and Conquistadors. Excellent figures, almost Ral Partha quality. However, they got the figures from someone else and are not clear on what they have. So I am working with them to correctly organize and label the figures they have. (For instance, they can cast a Quachic warrior head on a novice or levy body, and half of the "Allied Natives" that they may sell you in a set may actually be Aztecs.) They also sell Wild West figures and figures for the French Foreign Legion in Mexico, the Mexican revolution, US Cavalry in the Plains, and US troops in the Philipines and Haiti and their indigenous opponents. Basically colonial warfare in the Americas. They also sell playing mats, with and without hex grids, for space, sky, sea, desert, and what I call "lawn". Check them out! Technique While most people know that "dry-brushing" requires you to remove most of the moisture and paint from your brush, there are other subtle techniques you may want to employ. Usually you are putting a lighter color on more pronounced features above a darker color which you want to leave in the lower areas. Pick a brush that is longer that most or all of the dips or variations in the feature you are painting. Then hold the brush flat (parallel to the surface of the figure) and move it sideways. It the undulations in the surface are linear, such as hair all going in the same direction, hold the length of the brush perpendicular to the lines. All of these steps taken together will cause the brush to "bridge" across any openings, painting only the high spots, and not dropping down into the lower areas that you want to remain dark. Provocative Question of the Month: Do metal figures need to be primed, or can you just start putting a layer of paint on the bare metal? Getting Your Wife to Play I just read a remarkable description of how one wargamer gets his wife to participate in his WWII battles, and I just had to pass it along, so that some of you can try it. He plays on the same side as his wife, not against her, even if there are no other players. He uses historical scenarios that are set up with rules to govern the behavior of the opposing forces. He helps her with her moves rather than competing with her or worrying about winning the game. He tries to give the games a role-playing flavor, with unexpected ambushes and decisions to be made. So she ventures into the woods as the commander of a battalion of Sherman tanks, instead of as an Elf.
Dave's Diary
(Armored Infantry Reservist, training for deployment to Iraq)
Well here I am in the desert of Ft. Irwin. It's quite the change from
wet,
forested Washington to dry, barren Southern California
desert. It actually hasn't been to dry, though. We have
had our share of rain, but as a whole the weather is
better than Ft Lewis. The living conditions on the
other hand are vastly worse. We are living literally
in circus tents. Ours has over 700 guys crammed into
it and you have maybe 18" around your cot you share
with the other nine cots surrounding you. The lights
stay on in the tent all night long and you go to sleep
to the noise of all those soldiers taking, snoring
watching DVDs or listening to music. The hours have
been long as well. 0500 wake-ups are the norm and I am
getting to bed between 9-10pm. My life has become a
neverending looped recording of training and sleep,
day after day after day... The food here is catered
and they have quite the set up to feed 3000 soldiers
in the field, and it is pretty tasty also.
We are putting what we learned in Ft Lewis to use. They have built up
numerous towns
in the training area where we conduct Cordon and
Search, Raids, Convoy Operations and Urban Patrols.
We are doing a convoy live fire exercises tomorrow and
will be conducting a Brigade exercise soon.
We flew out of McChord AFB to Victorville. The flight
was charted with Southwest Airline. When I boarded I
pulled out my Rapid Rewards card to see if I could get
flight credits, to no avail. But here are a hundred
guys all with semi-automatic pistols and machingeguns
on a plane! Of course we were the only ones on board,
but is was still humorous. "Please stow all firearms
in the overhead compartments". I have ten more days
here in Ft. Irwin and then I get to come home for three days.
I did make the Sacramento news on channel 10 a month ago. Kathy has a
copy of the tape, but I have yet to see it. As I said I
will be leaving for home on the 8th and fly off to
Kuwait on the 14th. We will spend a couple of weeks
there acclimating and organizing. Hope you all are well and I
look forward to hearing from you and more importantly seeing you in 400
days!
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FebruaryAncient & Medieval Conference First I want to apologize to any of you who were expecting a Tactica game at this gathering on Saturday. I contacted the events coordinator more than two weeks before last weekend and arranged with him to move my Battle of Zama game to Sunday. Later, when I heard that the web page had been updated, I checked it and found a terrible mess (graphics on top of text, navigation not working) and was unable to confirm my new time. I did not find out that nothing had changed until I walked in to the San Ramon Marriott on Sunday morning. It was a nice, rainy Sunday morning; not so rainy that it was bad to drive to the Con, but rainy enough to make you glad that you were inside playing a game. The event was about the size of one of the HMGS West events, with the last registration report put at 85 people. In the tournaments there were 14 people in 25mm WAB, 10 in 15mm DBM, 6 in 15mm Warrior (more on Saturday), and 4 in 25mm Warrior (more on Saturday). It's funny how some rules become associated with particular scales. There was one walk-up game on Sunday, King Porus of India versus Alexander the Great, in 6mm, by Bill Butler. The rest of us with walk-up games folded them up and played in Bill's game. As KP I showed that little Mac upstart the door, by avoiding his phalanxes, but wiping out every other unit in his army. On Saturday, besides the tournament, there was an ACW naval game, a couple of Armati games hosted by Mike O'Brien, and a new game, "DBAir", where WWII airplanes in micro scale fight square on. That was hosted by Clif Castle. The flea market was a few guys, mostly with 25mm figures for WAB. The dealer's room consisted of Hoplite Research, Immortal Miniatures, and a private sale of some personal wargaming items. Immortal Miniatures is the US representative for Lancashire Games. Unfortunately a postal strike in Britain (have you heard about this?) prevented a stock of figures and painted examples from arriving for display and sale. Who runs Immortal Miniatures? Manny Granillo. Who runs Hoplite Research? Manny Granillo. Whose possessions were for sale on the other tables? Manny's. Who called me or e-mailed me multiple times about promoting the event and running a game? Manny. This wasn't the Ancient and Medieval Conference, this was MANNYCON! This is the first, albeit small, fruition of a dream MG has had for a long time. In its original form it involved an entire Oakland sports arena. The important thing is that everyone who went enjoyed themselves and are ready to do it again next year. Last Meeting As Ix indicated, the last meeting was very well attended in the morning, with four games, three of which were full. We had to turn people away from the Tactica game. At least one game started in the afternoon, and one or two others ran until dinner time. People in the News Tom Foss has moved to Southern California to work at a design company down there. It was pretty short notice, so don't feel bad if you missed saying goodbye. Clif Castle has retired as President of the US Pike & Shot Federation. He made the organization and has held it together for decades. Now that membership has sprouted up around the country, he can pull back. It was tough at times when he also had to be the newsletter editor. The new President is Richard Knapton of Lynwood Washington. He will be helped by Michael Hess. The New WAB Book The loudest buzz in the WAB community is about the new army book that is coming out - The Age of Chivalry. This book will cover the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, including the 100 Years War, the Condotierri, Hungarians, Turks, Hussites, and other armies of the 15th C. The New Thing in the Hobby that is generating more buzz than the WAB book is Flames of War. Scenario Hobbies has stacks of the rules. When I was in D&J they had the case open and were stocking it with piles of Flames of War figures. (15mm WWII) I get the impression that it is a skirmish level system. The turds don't bother to put the scale on the outside of their shrink-wrapped book or on their web site. I have heard several people say "Oh, I think I am going to start playing Flames of War," or "I think I will start getting the figures." Marketing works, I guess. I watched one game of FoW at ConQuest, and I thought it was pretty sad. It took a very long time for the new players to do a very few things with a very few figures, and one or two tanks each. But there are people in the club who know more than me and can comment. Spartacus The USA today network is preparing a 2 hour TV movie about the famous Roman slave and the slave rebellion. The blurb in TV Guide indicates that they will not copy the theatrics of the famous movie, but will instead try to be more historical, with more love story. All in 80 minutes. A Swipe Osprey has decided that the Austro-Hungarian Army of WWI merits TWO books, Volume 1 and Volume 2. I.e., $38 plus tax or shipping. Let me save you $40 - Volume 1: Early War: All of the cavalry except the Uhlans looked just like the French cavalry. Everyone else - light gray, with hats. Volume II Late War. Everyone is dark gray, with helmets. Done. Distributors Brookhurst - strike three or a home run? I needed something and only Brookhurst sold it in the US. Rather than try and contact the small British company that manufactured what I wanted, I decided to give the Boys of Garden Grove one last try. I followed a plan. I sent them my order with every last bit of personal contact information I could think of in it. I asked them to contact me about the status of my order. After a week, I sent them an e-mail, in which I included a copy of the order and asked about it. After another week, I was about to implement phase 3, a telephone call, when I finally got an e-mail back. The guy on the other end indicated that they had never received the order and that I had better cancel the check. Yikes! Is the big B in a bad neighborhood, where people rob from postal vehicles? I cannot remember the last time I lost something in the mail. The USPS is absurdly reliable, at least in California. Maybe once, twice, no more than three times in my whole life has something gone astray. So I was suspicious. But I cancelled the check anyway, for a $20 fee. Ouch! I stalled around and gave Brookhurst another shot, since I could not definitely pin this problem on them. I sent my second order by registered mail, return receipt requested. My order came back before the receipt did! Very, very prompt. And they had 70% of what I asked for. Waiting for the rest now. I guess the real deciding factor is that the Pound is up to $1.85 right now. Makes it expensive to go overseas. I placed another order with Tin Dictator back East. I plugged my order into their web site on Friday. They prepared the order on Saturday and shipped it and I got it on Monday! Wow! Two days. That is a record for me. And it included everything I ordered, except for just one item, which is coming. I guess even Tin Dictator cannot be expected to have 12 MG teams in stock. My experience with Cyber Corporation of France via eBay came to a close. One member told me that when he received stuff by surface mail, it often took four to six months to arrive. So when the three month anniversary of the auction came, I said nothing and let the chance to give a rating expire. A week later the magazine arrived. Unlike another French seller, however, this one did not come with a translation of the game rules. I guess I will just have to wait for someone to post it to Web Grognards. The War has been Postponed I had hoped to run my first WWI game at the Feb. 15 MiniCon, but it is hell at work and I am exhausted and haven't gotten the game ready. Some day soon, though. And Warmaster too. Someone waved a discounted Orc and Goblin army at me and now I am hooked. (One can only take so much Tactica.) - Chris
Dave's Diary Reservist, Armored Infantry, Fort Lewis WA
We have finished module five in our training.
This has been the most grueling training yet. It
consisted of squad and platoon tactics. The module
lasted about twelve days with no breaks. We were up
around 0430 and back around 1800. The first two days
we worked on crossing danger areas and actions on
contact with enemy forces. It involved a lot of
marching and running around and low crawling. All of
this was done in woods and fields covered in 4 to 6
inches of snow. The next eight days or so was MOUT
(military operations in urban terrain). We operated in
a new site the Army built here and were the first ones
to use it. It consisted of multiple buildings some
with multiple levels and all furnished. Here we worked
on clearing rooms and buildings as teams, squads and
platoons. It was a lot of SWAT type of tactics.
Fortunately all of the law enforcement types had
knowledge in this and helped out our platoon
immensely. After a few days of training we went up
against OPFOR (opposition forces) with blanks. The
OPFOR they use here are actually Iraqi's. We
had one day were we had a safety stand down day due to
the fact that one of the rounds the Iraqi's had was a
live one, fortunately it didn't get fired. We also
had one of our troops (in a different company) who did
fire a live round! Fortunately no one was hurt but it
did blow his blank adapter apart.
We completed Module VI the other day. Let me say it
was grueling. We started off with Bunker Busting and
Trench Clearing. Our mission was to attack a trench and
bunker system. This involves moving up to a trench line
under fire and then gaining access to it. We first laid down
suppressive fire with one element of our force as the
other element maneuvered up to the trench by rushes.
Once they got to the trench they would toss in
hand grenades (dummies) and enter the trench. Once a
foothold was established we would then bring up the
support team and start clearing the trench. Now the
trench itself was nine feet deep, not something you
just jump into. Once inside we would advance to a
corner or branch of the trench, toss a dummy grenade
and come around firing (blanks). If we encountered a
door to a bunker we would call up the demolition team.
They would emplace det (detonation cord made up of C-4
explosives) cord on the door, stand back around the
corner and blow it up. Yes, we got to use the real
stuff. It was my first time using explosives of this
sort in the Army. It was quite an experience standing
ten to fifteen feet away around a corner and having
this massive explosion go off with debris, dust the
noise and concussion all around you. As soon as the
blast went off we burst around the corner charging the
blown off door with guns blazing and entering the
bunker. We did the same think at night making use
of our night vision devices.
We should be heading to Yakima, WA
tomorrow for a week for some live fire exercises with
heavy weapons. After that it's back to Ft. Lewis for a
week. On the 7th we have a big Brigade ceremony where
we will officially change into our desert uniforms and
have speeches by politicians and generals and such.
Mid-February we head to Ft. Irwin near Barstow for a
month or so of more field training in a desert
environment and preparation for overseas.
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January 2004MWAN Hal Thinglum has given up producing the Midwestern Wargamer's Newsletter. Fortunately, Don Perrin of Noble Miniatures has agreed to take it over. Hal will still write a column for each issue. The only other news I have right now is that issue #127 has gone into the mail and that Don will take over with issue #128. Personally, I have never seen my copies of #125 or #126. Another eBay Warning There is a company using eBay that you need to watch out for. Their eBay user name is cyber.corporation. They are based in France and they sell wargaming-related items. I used them to purchase a copy of the excellent French wargaming magazine Vae Victis. Unfortunately, they use some outrageously slow and cheap method of mailing their items to overseas buyers. (A donkey with a life preserver?) Their overseas customers have gotten upset after waiting a month or more for their items. There is no indication whatsoever on their auction pages that they will use a very, very slow method of posting packages. So after waiting a long time the overseas (US) buyers become concerned and send e-mail to cyber.corporation and get no reply. Then they begin to think that they have been defrauded and give the seller a negative rating. The sellers, like so many weasel sellers who know that they have been doing wrong, have held off giving the buyer a rating, and they then retaliate by giving the buyer a negative rating, ruining what would otherwise be a perfect record. (Their record, on the other hand, is replete with negative ratings from almost every overseas customer. All their French customers are satisfied.) They claim the package is on the way, but they do not explain their e-mail silence. So I had the same experience and I decided to slam them. But first I paused and decided to check their ratings. Then I checked the ratings of the people who complained about them and saw what I have just described. So, to avoid getting my eBay reputation ruined by a bad seller, I am holding off doing anything for now. But it has been two months. I don't remember the last time anything took that long to get here from Europe. I will give it one more month, after which time the rating window for our transaction will expire. Then I may file fraud charges with eBay, as at least one other cyber.corporation buyer has done. eBay buyers beware!!! A Good Source for Bases I thought I mentioned this before, but I checked the last six or so newsletters, and I could not find anything. If you want very sharply cut wooden, metal, or magnetic bases, I have found a very good source. They are called Litko Aeronautics. Originally they sold specially cut pieces of wood to model airplane builders. Then they discovered the wargamer's market for stands. Now not only do they have an extensive collection of stand sizes, but they even have most of them organized by the rules that use them. And you can order on-line. Litko has four types of stands. 0.8mm thick plywood, 3mm thick plywood (about 1/8"), sheet metal, and magnetic material. The magnetic material is not meant to be used alone, but is backed with adhesive and can be bought in exactly the same size as any of their bases, allowing you to make magnetized bases. If you want something thicker, or want plastic stands, you can still go to Bill's Bases. The last item that really impressed me was Litko's own variation on the famous Games Workshop movement bases, which are all 100mm wide. Suppose you would rather have a unit *six* figures wide? Litko has a 120mm wide movement base, and many other widths and depths, with a lip to hold the stands in. And they always completely fill and ship my orders in a week. English and metric sizes. Other News Leland Erickson has had some health problems recently and although he is getting better he wants people to know that if he is working on a painting job for you it is definitely going to be late, and he is not able to take any new work right now. If you have never met Leland, just think back to the ConQuest convention dealer's room. He was the dealer with painted 20th century figures and vehicles for sale and was wearing a Chinese warlord's silk robe. (His favorite period is the 1930s). More on GeoHex. The company is owned by a couple and they are getting a divorce. The proceedings have paralyzed the company. The guy tried to sell some of the mats on his own, but the gal got a court order to stop it. There is a rumor going around that the GeoHex situation is being repeated with wargame terrain maker Scenic Effects. If someone knows Rick and Wendy, could you please find out what they would like the "buying public" to know, and let me know? Thanks. Many of you have probably already heard: Wizards of the Coast will be dropping their retail outlets to concentrate on game design and production. The biggest impact will be the closing of The Game Keeper line of stores. It is not clear yet if anyone will take them over and keep them running. If you don't remember, WotC is now just another bit of Hasbro. Trivia: By the armistice of November 1918, one third of the troops on the Western Front were American. Trivia: Only 10% of the "Humvees" in Iraq have high density steel armor. Most of them have bodies made of aluminum and fiberglass. Immortal Miniatures -- just who the heck are they? I had a news item about them before, and they are listed as a dealer at the Ancient and Medieval Convention, but I have been unable to find any other references to them. No names, addresses, telephone numbers, advertisements, catalogs; zip. Can anyone tell me more about this outfit? January MiniCon - Even though it is not on the schedule yet, there will be a 15mm Renaissance Tactica game at the MiniCon on Saturday. We are just trying to sort out whether it will be English Civil War or 16th Century Samurai. (If someone shows up with a Tom Cruise figure, it may have a fatal accident!) The first game should be over in time for players to move over to the Kampfgruppe Commander game if they want to. (Does anyone notice that they mix English and German in the title?) Dave's Diary Sgt. Dave Partak is now up at Fort Lewis, Washington, for more training prior to deploying to Iraq. Here is the latest from him:
A week ago Tuesday we went to CIF (Central Issuing Facility) for some of our new gear. There we waited for five hours in line before we got issued our gear. Most of it was new DCU's (Desert Camouflage Uniforms), Chemical suits, desert boots and such. We will be getting more high speed stuff latter. On Wednesday we got our active duty ID cards. On Thursday we had briefings all day on Iraq, including its culture and info on the extremists and terrorists, sanitation and indigenous creatures, clearing minefields, rules of engagement and keeping your marriage together. The indigenous creatures worried me. They have these things called Camel Spiders which get up to six inches long, can move at ten miles per hour and jump! They suck blood out of camels (hence the name) and will do the same to you. If that isn't enough they have two different varieties of poisonous scorpions, Asps, sidewinders, cobras (all venomous snakes), sand fleas, and mosquitoes that carry malaria and other such goodies. Can't wait to get there! This Monday we did land navigation. In that we had a known location on a map where we started from, then we were given four other grid co-ordinates and had to plot them out on a map and go there. Tuesday it was the "gas chamber". Here we learned to trust our protective mask. We donned our masks and walked into a tent that was filled with CS (tear) gas. We would go through some calisthentics and if all was good with our mask it should not leak. Fortunately mine did not. We then had to break the seal on our mask which of course allowed the gas to get inside our mask. We then had to clear it and then the excercise was over and we walked outside. Some guys came out hacking up a lung. I didn't fare too badly. Wednesday we did IED's (improvised explosive devices), UXO's (unexploded ordinance), and minefields. They stressed this pretty hard since most of our casualties are coming from these types of attacks. Thursday was IMT (individual movement techniques) and crowd control. Crowd control consisted in deploying ourselves in formations to clear or control an area from mobs and how to defend ourselves from people attempting to take our weapons from us. Needless to say all this crawling, jumping up and down and running with all our gear about killed me. War is for young guys. I'm too old for this; that's why I joined the tank corps. Today is make up for those who missed or failed courses this past week. I and my crew passed everything the first go around so we have little to nothing to do today but I'm sure that will change. Our company, for that matter almost everyone in the battalion and brigade, is sick. A combination of being in a different climate, in close quarters, and lack of sleep is causing everyone to go down. Saturday we should have off "en Shallah" (if God wills it; we are working on our Arabic). I haven't figured out how to say "if the Army wills it". Sunday we start module III, weapons training. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode. I hear they now have a Burger King, Subway, and Pizza Hut in Baghdad. Oh, if you think that the capture of Saddam will change our mission it won't. The good thing is that it will take a lot of wind out of the sails of his supporters who have been attacking us. He gave up like a coward that he is and he won't become a martyr.
Happy New Year! - Chris
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