Blog Update - Returned From Hawaii Trip

Got back from my family visit to Hawaii a few days ago without mishap. Easing back into the hobby, I started on a couple of 120mm resin figures - one each Verlinden Hungarian Grenadier officer and British Grenadier officer. The latter kindly gifted to me from Kevin Smyth (A Gamer's Tale blog). He said he'd had it for years, and likely would collect dust for a few more years. Although he never expected anything in return, I plan to give him some Black Tree 28mm HYW figures. I like the detail and sculpting of these figures, so I hope he does too.

Speaking of the return trip from Hawaii, I was pleased to see a nice display at the Honolulu Airport of the Hawaii Nisei Veterans.

Included in the display are some very detailed 1/6th figures.

I had uncles on my mother's side who grew up in the Seattle area, were put in an internment camp in Idaho, and then volunteered for the 442nd and fought in Italy, France, and Germany. They participated in the rescue of the "Lost Battalion" from Texas with whom they would have reunions with.

Anyway, nice as Hawaii is, I'm glad to be back home here in rainy Washington State.

Battery Randolph - Army Museum Hawaii

The title may be a bit misleading, as the museum itself is closed due to the current government shutdown. However, the outside displays are still accessible. Here are a pictures of those displays.

The museum is located within the actual battery, and from what I recall visiting it in the past, remnants of gun emplacement are on the roof area, along with a Cobra gunship.

Anyway, just another quick update from Hawaii. Until next time, thanks for checking out the blog, and wishing you all the best. 

Update From Hawaii

Just a short update while still in Hawaii visiting family. Had a small birthday celebration for my mom's 94th birthday yesterday. She's doing well for her age, and her mind is still sharp. Visited Punchbowl National Memorial  Cemetery of the Pacific today. My dad is buried there since he was in the Army during WW2, but was still in basic training at Fort Dix when the war ended so never deployed overseas. 

The original Hawaii Five O TV series included a zoomed in shot of this during the opening credits. 

My wife and I go up to leave flowers on his grave whenever we're in town. My mom used to visit him every week until she got too old to do so.

This is one of mosaics up at the top of the cemetery where the small chapel is located. This one is of the Battle of Iwo Jima. In the center is the Motoyama Plateau - no relation to my family as far as I know.  Actually, Moto means base, and Yama means mountain in Japanese, so likely just a generic name. 

My wife,  who's Korean, in front of the Korean War map.

I may visit the Fort DeRussey Atmy Museum in Waikiki too. It's only a few away from my mom's house. Until next time, wishing you all the best. 

Lion Gate Assault - Mycenae Attacked!

Test set up for a game at a game day in December. Will be using One-Hour Ancient & Medieval Skirmish Wargames rules. I just finished the Acheson Creations building to complete the terrain. Most of the figures are from David Sullivan's (I Live With Cats) collection. Scenario will be the guards at the gate have been overpowered/killed, and the invader/attackers will be able to bring on their units at the entrace. Defenders will start out from the building on the left, inside of the gate. One defending unit will be staged at the megaron on the highground - defending the king and his queen and priestess. As mentioned in the earlier post, the grave circle will be a minor victory if descecrated by the invaders.

Wanted to see how the table would look like before departing to visit my mom in Hawaii this weekend. Next week is her 94th birtday.  I'll only have a week or so for the game day when I get back - so, happy that everything is ready. I even printed out the QRS's for the players. Hope to post something while I'm in Hawaii, and until then, thanks again for checking out the blog, and wishing you all the best.

Grave Circle A, Mycenae

Finished another scratch-build terrain piece for the Mycenae game. This is supposed to be Grave Circle A, which is located within the walls on the right as one would enter through the Lion Gate. It contained the graves of high-ranking persons from around 1500 BC. One of the graves contained the so-called "Mask of Agamemnon" discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876.

The citadel walls were built around the graves around 1300-1250 BC, and likely was a sacred place. For the game scenario, it'll be a minor victory for attackers to enter and desecrate it - for spiritual reasons, if anything.

The grave markers are plasticard - with the edges roughed up a bit with a hobby knife.

Artists reconstructions.

The grave circle to the right, inside of the Lion Gate entrance.

I used a plastic food tray from the local Dollar Tree for the basis of the circle. 

I added spackling to the outside to similate the stone work. The entrance walls are styrofoam bits - also covered with spackling.

Also working on doors for the Lion Gate itself. Plasticard with woodgrain carved onto it, and drops of superglue for bolts on the reinforcement.

I'm waiting on an Acheson Creations Minoan/Mycenaen building which I picked up off of Etsy. I'm leaving to see my mom in Hawaii this weekend for her 94th birthday - I may post some pics if I find anything of interest there - hobby related, of course. Thanks again for visiting, and wishing you all the best.

Mycenaean Lion Gate & Wall Sections

Finished the additional wall section, and also drybrushed the stone work with lighter colors to better replicate limestone. EDIT: I'm still not satisfied with the color - I want it to have a warmer (golden-ish?) hue, like most of the photos and illustrations I've seen. 

I could add a corner piece to the wall section on the left as in the reconstructed image below. 

However, I plan on using the terrain on a smaller playing area - maybe even only 3x3', so don't want the walls to extend too far.

I ended up using some scrap white styrofoam for the additional wall section - it worked out even better than the adhoc pieces of the earlier sections. It was easier to cut out the stones, and the porous areas gave them a weathered look.

Decided to add stone work to the interior of the walls since the scenario will have some attackers already inside the citadel. Plan on using One-Hour Ancient & Medieval Skirmish Wargames rules which focuses on hand-to-hand combat, and movement to objectives will be limited. One objective will be the megaron located within the walls - to possibly either capture or kill the king inside.

Thanks for stopping by, and wishing you all the best.

Chain of Command 2 & Lion Gate Addition

Just got back from a nice game at my buddy's down the road using the second edition of Chain of Command. As mentioned before, although I don't plan on ever getting into the rules too much, I always enjoy the game when run by someone (as well as other players) who know the rules well. Today's game was a generic scenario with Late-War German and US infantry, mainly to flesh out the changes to the rules. Since I only play the rules a few times a year, I didn't really know which rules were changed or not, anyway.

I ran several squads of US infantry, each with a BAR team, on our left flank. I also had a mortar and bazooka team, but only managed to bring on the mortar team. 

I was faced by several units of German infantry in hard and soft cover. We traded a lot of shots, but mainly inflicted Shock more than actual casualties. For my limited experience with the rules, it's kind of hard to get many kills - at least from the few games I've played.

A mortar team run by my fellow US player - they didn't do too much damage to the enemy, but did survive practically intact.

Germans advancing early in the game. They had a lot of good Jumping Off Points during the Patrol phase.

This was during the Patrol phase and determining Jumping Off Points. Besides the use of yardsticks, pairs of laser pointers are also used sometimes.

I find this part of the game interesting, but somewhat awkward. Anyway, it was a fun game and good to see my buddies again.

Before heading out to the game, I started working on an additonal wall section for the Lion Gate terrain. Thanks again for stopping by, and wishing you all the best.