Things that make you go "Huh?"

To start off, my latest painted unit - Austrian cuirassier - waiting for basing to be finished!

I enjoy painting cavalry, but I find that I always have to work up the enthusiasm to clean up the next unit to paint.  Right now, I have the next unit (Austrian dragoons) sitting on the workbench.   For some reason, I just dread cleaning up and preparing cavalry for paint.  I don't like messing with the seams on horses, I don't like attaching arms...maybe I'm just lazy.

Which brings me to the title of this post:  Things that make you go "Huh?"

No doubt, I'll probably tick somebody off with things that make me go "Huh?", so I apologize in advance.  If you recognize yourself as any of these people - good for you, enjoy your hobby!

1.  Plastic, multi-part 28mm figures.   Huh?   I just don't get it.  Why on earth would I want to put that many pieces together.  "Build a man" Frankenstein soldiers.  Ick.  I'd rather prepare lead cavalry.

2.  The penchant for 1:1 WW2 games and rules.  Huh?  I have to believe this is tied to comic books, video games, and cheesy WW2 movies.   The common reason given for 1:1 preference is that any higher scale of representation is too abstract.   Huh?  Really?   So....you play that 1:1 squad with correct tactics?  The LMG is almost all the firepower?  Your rules reflect that at this scale, if you're seen you're dead?  It doesn't bother you to control each individual on the battlefield?  Zowie, bang, boom (insert explosion sound here).  

3.  ImagiNations.  Huh?  I really don't get this.  Our hobby is all historical fiction anyway...but I'd much rather that my fiction be "historical fiction".  I rather enjoy playing ACW with Confederates and Federals, rather than the "American Social War" with Corndoggians and Finials.   No purple tunics for me, thank you very much.

4.  VBCW.  Huh?   What's up with that?  Is the allure using goofy armor?  Maybe 'cause I'm not British....

5.  Steam Punk.   Huh?   I don't even know what that is.  

6.  Buckets 'o Dice.   Huh?   Is that faster than a chart or a CRT?  I don't like mangling my terrain and figures with dimples from the buckets o fun.  If I want more noise in the game I'll just turn the stereo up.

7.  2mm figures.  Huh?  HUH?   Why not paint rice grains?  I can cut a square of 60 grit sandpaper, paint it black and drybrush on some color, add a flag, and it looks just about the same..I once glued sand to a stand and did this...didn't look half bad....

8.  Zombies.  Huh?  Now, I like a zombie movie as much as the next guy....but zombie games?   Does everything have to be a game?

9.  Weird WW2.   Huh?   Isn't the real thing interesting enough?  Aren't there enough fascinating technology developments in 6 years from '39 to '45 that you don't have to create an SS Tiger-Walker with a Confederate flag flying from it?

10.   Opinionated wargamers that post stuff on their blog that most people don't care about reading.  Huh?  Sure glad I'm not one of those guys.....

Rivers

I finally decided on the look and design for my rivers.   Here are some example photos of the first sections:

After many trials of design and finish, I ultimately decided on glossy, "blue-ish" water.  I'm really happy with the pieces - more to finish!

I'll detail the materials and steps to make them in the next update.

Denver Debacle Fire Head Coach

At last!  The Broncos fired head coach Josh McDaniels late this afternoon after posting 11 wins vs. 17 losses, botching countless player personnel decisions, dragging the organization down into an ethical issue with taping a small portion of the 49ers practice....it was well overdue.

I look forward to the Broncos coming back...this is the first small step of many in transforming from the Denver Debacle back to the Denver Broncos.

Austrian Generals and Artillery

Thought I'd take a few minutes to post some shots of my Austrian Napoleonic army's officer corps and artillery park.  I still want to add another battery or two of artillery, but I'm now working on cavalry (cuirassier).

That's all for now...lots of other projects underway as well...rules writing, terrain building, rebasing WW2 being completed.  More posts to follow.

Bunker/Dug In Markers

I've been dissatisfied with the version 1 markers I made to show "bunker" units in FoBWW2.  The version 1 marker was 3" wide to match the unit frontage, but beyond that it didn't do much visually for me.  Its the small piece in the photo below.

Version 2 is made to just drop the infantry unit into the marker...and bingo!  Instant dug in/bunker status.  The entrenchment is made of 3/4" wide quarter round epoxied to a plastic base.  I think they're a big step up in appearance.   AT guns will use the same thing, but adjusted to fit their stand.

I've sketched out a similar construction method for things like ACW entrenchments, horse and musket redoubts, and WW1 trenches.   I'll be making some up to see how they look and work.

Field of Battle WW2

I'm taking the first three days this week off as vacation - I had some extra days to get in this year and thought it would be good to make some progress on some hobby stuff.

So far, I've completed Austrian Napoleonic artillery, Austrian command, created dug in/bunker "markers" for FoBW2, and rebased my entire WW2 collection, as well as created numerous terrain pieces.  Unfortunately, that has been sandwiched around yet another pathetic Denver Bronco effort, but enough of that!

I decided to rebase my WW2 stuff because the previous 3" wide by 1.5" deep stands just felt to linear to me.  I wanted more of the depth illusion of a company deployed 2 platoons up/1 back, etc, so I rebased all my infantry to 3x3 inch stands. 

The top photo shows a US infantry battalion of 3 companies.  I just love the "chunky" feeling of the bigger stand, and I think the look is what I was going for.

The markers on the stands are some experimentation on marking losses/status.  The 2nd photo shows the "fired" marker, which is a round terrained piece with shell casings on it.   I'm still torn between which way to go for loss (UI and Pinned) markers.   I could use round markers with no stones (Pinned), 1 stone (1 UI loss), 2 stones (2 UI loss), or be more direct and use round markers with S, 1, and 2, on them.  Unfortunately, the "2" example marker doesn't have terrain on it yet for the photo.

Any preferences?  I think the stones would be less visually obvious, but given the fact that players need to see loss/status, maybe the numbered/alpha markers are a better method. 

Table Mess!

I doubt that I'm much different than most gamers...my game table becomes a catch all in between games.  Here's a couple of photos of what it looks like now.

 As you can see, a bit of everything.  The terrain is generally set up for the next game, but not quite...need to finish some river sections.  WW2 armor being rebased shares the table with some ancients (PoB) and an Austrian Napoleonic battalion crossing a "river" (or where the river will be).

I'm currently working on new tree pieces, painting Austrian Napoleonic artillery batteries, and rebasing WW2 stuff.  Lots of fun, a variety of projects, and not a ton of progress on any of them!