Northern Front Gameday

Just got back from a small game day gathering up in Shoreline - about 30 minutes or so (without traffic) above Seattle. It was great to see old friends and make new ones - although there wasn't a big turn out possibly due to this being scheduled on the same day as the annual Christmas Rampant gathering at Bruce Meyer's place in Gig Harbor. In fact, this was first time I didn't attend the game day at Bruce's. I made the conscious choice to show support for our northern brethren who usually have to make the hour or more drive down to our area in Tacoma. Having so few players, GM's decided to play in each other's games. An unplanned benefit was being able to play in more games than usual. I not only hosted my own Lion Gate game, but also played in an L’Arte De La Guerre and What A Tanker game. It was first time playing ADLG, but the GM was very experienced and made the game quite enjoyable. Well, enough with the long intro, here are pics from the event.

My Lion Gate One Hour Ancient & Medieval Skirmish game set up for the first period. After playing in the ADLG game, the GM for that game and another player and I played in this game.

I ran an attacking/invading warband against to defending warbands. The HTH rules worked out really well - if the defender beats the attacker's initial "to hit" score, the defender makes a counter attack. I survived a lot of attacks this way, and inflicted hits on the attacker.

The Grave Circle worked out great for putting dead inside - to keep track when doing the end of turn unit morale tests.

The ADLG game was based upon a Punic War battle (forgot the name of the battle). I command a Roman force, and along with another Roman player, we ended up defeating the Carthaginians. According the GM and my co-Roman player, a lot of the rules, particularly movement, are similar to DBA. The GM also said it has elements similar to Armati. I am unfamiliar with both rulesets, and played maybe a game each many years ago.

I ran a Hetzer in the What A Tanker game in the afternoon period. I had very good saving rolls, but terrible hit rolls. Ended up having my Hetzer destroyed at close range by a Sherman.

The GM provided some really good gaming aids.

Here are some of the other games from the morning and afternoon periods. The Ravens Feast game set up was quite impressive.

Ancients, To the Strongest below.

WWII Air Combat using Wings of Glory below. It was based upon a Japanese resupply mission.

Flames of War North Africa game below.

All in all a great time, but it'll be interesting to hear how the NHMGS BOD will determine if this is something we'll want to do in the future. Mainly due to the cost of using the space, and the turn out. This was set up by Kevin Smyth (A Gamer's Tale) as he's our go-to events coordinator, and it was supposed to be a sort of replacement for our Museum of Flight game day - which was cancelled (indefinitely) by the museum. Thanks for stopping in, and wishing you all the best.

Wargames Atlantic AWI British Grenadiers

Finished painting and based them on 25mm GW-style bases for skirmish gaming. I didn't spend too much time on details like the plates on the fur caps. Although there is some detail on the plates, they were hard to make out when painting. The shoulder wings were easier to make out and take to painting well.

As noted in the earlier post, they're painted in groups of 10 with different colored facings - green, yellow, and blue - all common colors for various units in the AWI. If they're used with Rebels and Patriots, a couple more figures per unit would be added - probably an officer or NCO and musician. However, that might be down the road a bit, as this was mainly a project to try out the figures.

They are a little bulkier than Perry plastics from their AWI range, but would match up well enough. The main difference is the Perry British plastics are in more of a campaign uniform without backpacks.

I went with a reddish brown color for the backpacks - I saw an old thread on TMP discussing this. Supposedly the canvas packs were painted for weather proofing, and this color may have been used. Incidentally, I just read somewhere that straps weren't used on the rear of the packs during this period. Oh well. 

Just a quick project as I wanted to see these figures first hand. Have a game day in a few days where I'll be hosting the Lion Gate assault game. Will update with a post game review when done. Until then, wishing you all the best.

Wargames Atlantic AWI British Grenadiers - WIP

 Finished block painting and Minwax staining the figures.

As you can see, I painted them in three different colored facings, green, yellow, and blue. They'll be used for small skirmish games; possibly Rebels and Patriots - with the addition of command figures.

Also got a 1/48th scale resin Saint Chamond tank today from ebay.

I like to get my Christmas presents early - lol!

Aurora Silver Knight of Augsburg

Repainted the kit after repositioning the arms and some other parts. Not bad for a kit originally made in 1958. Plus I only paid $5, plus $6 shipping for it. Wanted to add it to the other knight kits I already have. Just need to get the "Blue Knight of Milan" figures someday.

The armor is based upon several different suits from the mid-to-late 16th C.

Below, left to right: "Gold Knight of Nice", 28mm Perry WotR figure; "Black Knight of Nurnburg", "Silver Knight of Augsburg", and the "Red Knight of Vienna".

Also picked up a 1/15th AWI cannon kit from ebay. Hope to use it with a Verlinden 120mm figure that has a pose with an arm leaning on something - maybe a cannon barrel. We'll see, if not, it's another cheap kit to work on for it's own sake. It's partially built, but all the parts appear to be present.

Still scheduled to host a Mycenae Lion Gate skirmish game next Saturday using One-Hour Ancient & Medieval Skirmish Wargames. Until next time, thanks for checking out the blog, and wishing you all the best.

Holiday Projects

Wishing you all a Happy Turkey Day! (Thanksgiving here in the US). Starting on a few projects during the holidays. Picked up an old Aurora Silver Knight from ebay, and also a box of Wargames Atlantic AWI Grenadiers. I soaked the knight figure overnight in brake fluid to loosen the parts, but looks like the original owner used something like epoxy to glue the parts together. Managed to get most of the stuff apart. I mainly wanted to repostion the arms a bit to hold the sword better.

As for the Wargames Atlantic figures - they are very nice. They come on 6 identical sprues, each with 5 individual figures with separate arms and heads. The sculpting is excellent with good details throughout.

Comparison with Perry AWI British Infantry figures - left to right: WA, Perry, WA, Perry (with a WA head).

On the gaming front, I've committed to host my Lion Gate of Mycenae game using One-Hour Ancient & Medieval Skirmish rules next Saturday. Until next time, wishing you all the best!

120mm Verlinden Napoleonic British & Hungarian Grenadier Officers

Finished these guys - the were a fairly simple to paint up, the main humbug (as always with these) was positioning and gluing the scabbard straps onto the Hungarian figures. Thankfully, the British attached their swords/scabbards in an easier way (for the modeller).

Comparison with 28mm figures.

Awaiting the arrival of a 3D print French Saint-Chamond tank in 1/48th scale for the next painting project. Not that I plan to game WW1 anytime soon, but wanted the tank to add several others from the period. Thanks again for checking out the blog, and wishing you all the best.

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.