Friday 30 April 2021
Mini Vortex Mixer - Economical or a Waste of Money?
Wednesday 28 April 2021
Recycled Terrain and a Bigger Table
It has been another busy week in the Operations Room, with more terrain work and the long-awaited table expansion (more on that later). I have put in a couple of orders for new miniatures but expect to be waiting for them for a few weeks. This is a combination of delayed (and more costly) shipping from the continent and the inevitable covid related delays for manufacturers still trying to get back up to full production. I'm happy to wait for their arrival but in the meantime, I have been scrabbling around looking for some new terrain projects to work on. This week I have managed to recycle or repurpose several bits of terrain for use in my 15mm Normandy games and in the process, I have realised I have an untapped resource that can keep me busy for some time to come.
Tuesday 27 April 2021
Unboxing Ruined Buildings
Sunday 25 April 2021
Getting out of the Bunker
Friday 23 April 2021
Battle Report - Assault on Morris Battery
The game used a lot of scenery that I haven't had on the table before, including these trenches and barbed wire fences. |
I also had some of my farm building on the table although they ended up playing no part in the game. |
The British have been tasked with assaulting and knocking out a fortified german gun battery overlooking the D-Day Beaches. They have a lot of open ground and barbed wire to cover. |
The British are Elite troops so get six command dice which is a huge advantage giving lots of flexibility in the game. |
British Para's get stuck in and earn their nickname The Red Devils. |
Wednesday 21 April 2021
Fields full of Hedgehogs
No, I haven't started painting cute garden animals for a fantasy game (relax Ray!). I'm talking about the Czech Hedgehog variety that often littered the beaches and fields of Normandy. I'm always on the lookout for small battlefield items that can 'decorate' my games tables and this was a case of desire meeting serendipity in a most satisfying way.
Sunday 18 April 2021
Encouraging the Next Generation of Wargamers
Friday 16 April 2021
Battle Report - Battle of Aquilla
The newly arranged Quincunx formation for my Polybian Romans looks really nice. |
As in previous games I use 10 sided dice rather than cards for my unit activations because it takes up less space on my tiny table. |
The Romans are taking a lot of damage and struggled to make the most of their line exchange and special rally activations. |
The end of the game was hard-fought and both sides were very close to breaking. The battle could have gone either way. |
Wednesday 14 April 2021
The Busy Wargamer
Wehrmacht Checkpoint
Polybian Romans
Solo Wargaming
The Fictional Punic War game The Battle of Aquilla will be available to view on Friday.
..and the equally fictional Assault on Morris Battery (a Chain of Comand game) will be available to view next week.
And there's more!
The Battle of Stoliboz has been as much about fighting the fog of war as it has the enemy but everyone taking part is enjoying the game immensely. Check out the game updates on the Don't Throw a One blog if you want to know more.
This is the grainy B&W Aerial Recon picture of the battlefield we all started the game with. It's littered with the wrecks of vehicles from earlier games and has been largely blanketed in early morning mist up till now. I'm one of the two Allied players and somewhere on this map the enemy is lurking.
Sunday 11 April 2021
The Quarantined Wargamer - Unquarantined!!
Wednesday 7 April 2021
The Hills are Alive
I'm off work this week but haven't achieved much. The family and I were supposed to be in Cornwall but the 'current' batch of Covid restrictions put paid to that, just like all our plans in 2020. I decided to have the time off anyway, as I'm still trying to get through my last years holiday allocation and figured I needed a rest. So I went into the week with big ideas, loads of games to play and figures to paint. Such are the plan of mice, men and wargamers! The wife and I have been getting out for walks and doing a bit of spring cleaning and generally taking it easy. I have however managed to finish one project.
Last week I shared an unboxing video of my newly bought hot wire foam cutter (here). Over the weekend I used it properly for the first time and made myself a set of edge hills for use on my small games table.
I have ordered some more foam and I'll be making more hills in a similar style, both grass-covered and some sandy hills for use with my North African desert games. I am working on some other models and if I can wriggle out of household chores I'll try to get them finished for next week.