Late December 2017 book review...

Here's what I've been reading this week:

1)  The Coldest Winter:  America and the Korean War.  More about Kim Jon Sung, the supreme leader of North Korea and puppet of Stalin....

2)  Stranger One.  Manuscript about a female assassin and a male serial killer who tangle with the local St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department...

3) Swords of Good Men.  Vikings stuck in a town of pig-farmers in western Norway during the beginning of the 11th century try and make the most of their stay...

4)  Finland at War:  The Winter War 1939-40.  See review on previous blog post.

5)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  Drizzt and his deep gnome buddy fight an evil human wizard...

6)  Vicky Peterwald:  Survivor by Mike Shepherd.  Second book in a military sci-fi series modeled along the Kris Longknife universe....

Review of Finland at War: The Winter War 1939-40 by Vesa Nenye

Author:  Vesa Nenye.
Title:  Finland at War:  The Winter War 1939-40.
Publisher:  Osprey.
Copyright:  2015.
Pages:  304.
Price:  $34.95 (US).

Overview and Impressions:

Finland at War: The Winter War 1939-40 by Vesa Nenye was interesting. I didn't know much of the conflict between the Finns and Soviets. The Finns did a heroic job defending their homeland from the Soviet invaders. Ski troops and arctic weather conditions made the difference. The Finns held out until March 15, 1940 when a truce went into effect. The Finns lost about 10% of their country in order to remain free of Soviet interference.

Though they tried remaining neutral. The Finns sided with Germany and helped with the Axis invasion of Russia in the summer of 1941. Interesting fact, the United States of America didn't declare war on the Finns....

Blake

25mm Chainmail Game, 20DEC17: AAR

Here are photos from a 25mm Chainmail Game, 20DEC17, that Glenn Wilson ran.  It featured 25mm Dwarves vs. 25mm Orcs and Goblins in a magical Elven forest.  The Dwarfs had to defend the ford crossing at the river.  Numbers overwhelmed my heroic Dwarves.  The Orcs/Goblins etched out a victory in the end.  But at a bloody cost...

                                          Initial deployment of evil forces.

                                          My dwarven army makes its stand at the river.

                                          "If there's a whip, there's a way!"
                                                 

                                          At the end, paying the butcher's bill...

Mid-December 2017 reading: Part II

Here's what I've read this week:

1)  The Coldest Winter.  More about the opening of the Korean war and the conflict on the penisula.

2)  Swords of Good Men.  Started reading a novel about Vikings in 11th century Norway.  Starts out in a town of pig farmers.  Different beginning for a novel...

3)  Finland at War:  The Winter War 1939-1940.  I'm now up to the part where both sides have agreed to an armistice....

4)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  Drizzt is forced to flee the Deep Gnome town of Blingstone with a new friend and adventurer....

5)  Old Man's War by John Scalzi.  See previous blog posting.

Review of Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Author:  John Scalzi.
Title:  Old Man's War
Publisher:  TOR.
Copyright:  2005.
Pages:  362.
Price:  $7.99 (US).

Overview and Impressions:
The premise of recruiting the elderly and giving them new, genetically enhanced bodies to fight aliens off-world seems rather exotic.  This is what Old Man's War proves to be.  Earth is a backwater recruiting ground for the Colonial Defense Force, who protects human colonies in interstellar space. 

John Perry is a 75 year old recruit who undergoes a strange experience being a professional soldier...

The idea of aliens who love human beings a dinner is a little cliche.  The varying amounts of aliens are too much to keep track.  It gives life to the idea that humanity is on the outskirts of interstellar civilizations.  The surprise use of the multiverse plays out in bringing Perry's dead wife back to life.  I've give too much away if I said anything else about that plot-line. 

Very Heileineque book...

Completed 6mm 1980s Angolan Micro-Armor, 14DECC17

Here's a photo of my completed 6mm 1980s Angolan Micro-Armor:

                                           6mm 1980s Angolan Micro-Armor, 14DEC17.

WIP, 18mm Dark Elves, 10DEC17....

Here's photos of a completed commission of 18mm Dark Elves I painted for Glenn Wilson.  I think the figures are Splintered Light Miniatures, but I'm not sure...

                                          18mm Dark Elf spearmen, swordsmen, and command.

Ending of an era in St. Louis gaming....

Ken Lambing, former owner of the Hobby Shop, died due to complications from liver disease Wednesday morning, December 6, 2017 at a local hospital.  He had been in failing health for sometime.  He will be missed...

I first discovered miniature gaming in 1990 when I went to the Hobby Shop for the first time.  I got into WH40K by buying space marines and eldar squads.  That's when 10 figures were $13.50 for a squad of ten.  Now it's $35.00 (US) for ten plastic space marines.  And the figures were metal then. 

Soon after discovering WH40K, I started collecting SPACE: 1889 British and Martian infantry.  I still play WH40K.  And I'm blossomed into a huge 28mm late Victorian era wargamer.  Most of my armies are designed for The Sword and The Flame or Chassepot and Needlegun.

Ken Lambing and I loved WWI.  I wrote (more like bastardized) a 20mm house-rules called "No-Man's-Land" because there wasn't any commercially decent rule systems available at the time.  I still have the rules.  They'll never get published, however.  And will forever remain "house rules."  But my 20mm WWI armies have long been sold off...

Et lux perpetua....
Blake

WIP, 6mm 1980s Angolan Micro-Armor, 06DEC17.

                                         
                                          WIP, 1:1 6mm 1980s Angolan micro-armor battalion.

Early December 2017 reading....

Here's what I've been reading this past week:

1)  The Coldest Winter:  America and Korean War.  Introduction to the Korean conflict.  The book starts with the American drive to the Yalu River and the impending sense of doom some of the combat-wise field commanders had in late October 1950...

2)  The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodden.  See previous book review.

3)  Finland at War:  The Winter War 1939-1940.  I stopped reading at December 1939/January 1940 fighting between the Finns and Soviets for control of the frontiers....

That's all the reading I got done this week.  Real life interfered with the rest.

Completed 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor, 01DEC17

Here are photos of completed 6mm 1980s South African Micro-Armor, 01DEC17:

                                          6mm 1980s South African infantry.

                                          6mm 1980s South African AFVs

                                          6mm 1980s South African artillery and trucks

                                          6mm 1980s South African Mortars, Self-Propelled Guns

                                          6mm 1980s South African armored trucks

Review of The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodden

Author:  Mark Hodden.
Title:  The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack.
Publisher:  Prometheus Books.
Copyright:  2010.
Pages:  400.

Observations and Impressions:
This is a steam-punk book set in an alternate Victorian England with a time traveler nick-named Spring-Heeled Jack.  Oxford, his real name, change the course of history by having Queen Victoria assassinated.  History diverged from there...

James Burton and his companion, Charles Swinburne, set out to thwart Oxford's changes to their world.  More divergence happens along the way until it's no longer the universe of the Victorian era.  It's a new world of steam-punk and weird science.  Spring-Heeled Jack is eventually dealt with permanently.  But neither Burton's Victorian England nor the British Empire will ever be the same again...

Recommended.

Latest wargaming projects...

I'll be damned if I can't get my photos to upload on my laptop computer.  This will be a boring text only entry of what I've been doing recently....

1)  I put together a WH40K Dark Angels Deathwing Army List, 1996 points. 

It's for 8th edition WH40K.  I'm now working on a WH40K Blood Angel Army List.  That will be followed by a WH40K Death Guard Chaos Space Marines Army List, WH40K World Eaters Chaos Space Marine Army List, and a WH40K Adeptus Mechanicus Army List, too.  That should take the rest of the year....

2)  Flocking and basing 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor.  I'm in the midst of finishing my last batch of 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor.  Now, I need to organize it for 1:1 FFoT, III rules organization.  And label said 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor....

3)  Played an eighth edition WH40K game with my brother this weekend.  We got 2.5 hours into it.  I called it because my feet were hurting on the bare concrete floor.  The game could have gone either way.  He had 2000 points of WH40K Genestealer Cult.  I had 2000 points of WH40K Dark Angel Deathwing Terminators...

Blake

Review of The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Author:  Simon Sebag Montefiore.
Title:  The Romanovs 1613-1918.
Publisher:  Knoff.
Copyright:  2016.
Pages:  744.
Price:  $35.00 (US).

Overview & Impressions:
The Romanov dynasty had a bloody beginning and a bloody ending.  They defined Russian history as ruling autocrats.  I lost track in the number of murders, plots, and assassinations involving this dynasty.  They left their imprint on Russian history and nation in general.  There were high points like Alexander's march into Paris in 1814 and Golden Age of Catherine the Great. 

However, I felt sorry for Nicholas II, who was out of his league ruling the Russian empire.  World War I put an end to the Romanovs.  Though their successors sought their imperial mantle in order to justify ruling the Motherland.  Even today...

Recommend reading.

Late November 2017 reading...

Here's what I've read this week:

1)  The Romanovs.  Read Nicholas II's reign during the 1905 Revolution and years leading up to 1914...

2)  The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodden.  Burton and Swineford learn about the time-traveling Spring-Heeled Jack by eavesdropping on a gathering of the Technologists led by Sir Charles Darwin...

3)  Old Man's War by John Scalzi.  John Perry becomes the platoon leader of the Old Farts.  Get introduced to weapons' training during their basic training on an alien planet...

4)  Finland at War:  The Winter War 1939-1940 by Vaya Nese.  Learning about Finish history from 1900 onward to the 1930s....

5)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  Drizzt's exile and capture by gray gnomes...

The Promise: Mid-November 2017.....

I look at the backlog of painting projects overrunning in my office/painting room.  I want to cry. 

Where the hell has this year gone? 

I tried keeping up with my ambition.  Reality got in the way.  I've scaled back my painting schedule to manageable levels.  It's Mid-November 2017. 

Where am I at?  What did I accomplish this year?  What's left? 

I couldn't paint at this time last year.  I only got back to painting full time in December 2016.  Here are my completed projects:

Completed Projects:

1)  85 28mm Masai Warriors.

2)  42 28mm Colonial German regular infantry.

3)  32 28mm ARVN Ranger infantry & 4 28mm M113s.

4)  36 28mm Vietnam War US Marine infantry.

5)  90 28mm Viet Cong fighters.

6)  5 28mm Vietnamese villagers.

Current Projects:

1)  120 stands of 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor and infantry.

2)  130 stands of 6mm 1980s Angolan micro-armor.

Future Projects for 2018:

1)  30mm GW High Elf army.

2)  30mm GW WH40K Adeptus Mechanicus detachment.

3)  30mm GW WH40K Nurgle Death Guard detachment.

4)  30mm Warmachine Rhulic Dwarf Army.

5)  28mm Amazon fantasy army.

6)  30mm WH40K Khorne Lord of Skulls titan.

Mid-November 2017 reading...

Here is what I've read this week:

1)  The Romanovs.  Courtship and marriage of Nicholas and Alix in the late 19th century.

2)  Old Man's War by John Scalzi.  Got to the part where the Old Farts get new, green bodies and are shipped off to the Colonial Defense Force basic training.  Perry becomes the recruits' platoon leader.

3)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  Drizzt escapes from his demented family, who are seeking to kill him for betraying Lolth, the spider-goddess.

Early November 2017 reading: Part II....

Here's what I've read the past week:

1)  The Romanovs.  I've worked up to the 1860s and absolution of serfdom....

2)  The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodden.  More steam-punk adventures in Victorian London involving a cyborged time-traveling historian...

3)  Old Man's War by John Scalzi.  A 75 year old man is recruited to join the Colonial Defense Force.  Just got to the part where they give him and other recruits new bodies...

4)  Street Without Joy:  The French Debacle in Indochina by Bernard Fall.  See previous review.

5)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  Got to read about Drizzt's exile from the Drow city...

Review of Street Without Joy by Bernard B. Fall

Author:  Bernard B. Fall.
Title:  Street Without Joy:  The French Debacle in Indochina.
Publisher:  Stackpole Books.
Copyright:  1961, 1964, 2005.
Pages:  408.
Price:  $19.95.

Overview & Impressions:
Street Without Joy is a defining book on the French debacle to recolonize Vietnam in the 1950s.  The author was there during the conflict.  After the war, he interviewed North Vietnamese leaders who were confident in winning the second Indochina war with the Americans.  Fall wrote pessimistically about the West ability to learn from Revolutionary War.  Especially, when the political will wasn't there to face a prolonged conflict.  Neither the French nor the Americans learned this lesson  Military might is a poor substitute for political acumen when fighting a counter-insurgency. 

American won two counter-insurgencies in her young history.  One of the Philipines' insurrection and the second was the Pony Wars against the Native Americans of the late 19th century.  Both were bloody, unpopular, and high-handed engagements.  That kind of will-power was needed in Indochina.  The French had the firepower, but lacked the will to fight.  The Vietnamese were spurred on by nationalism and a sense of mission to get rid of the hated Europeans.  America made the mistake in continuing the French fight in South Vietnam without learning from their defeat.  Fall made that clear in this book....

Depressing reading.  On the plus side, it goes quick for military history.  Too bad American policy makers didn't read it before committing lives and treasure to a losing cause. 

Recommended.

WIP, 6mm 1980s South African Micro-Armor, 10NOV17

Here are photos of a WIP, 6mm 1980s South African Micro-Armor, 10NOV17.  I'm done with the base coats:

                                          WIP, 6mm 1980s South African AFVs and trucks.

                                          WIP, 6mm 1980s South African MBTs and APCs

                                          WIP, 6mm 1980s South African AFVs and artillery.

                                          WIP, 6mm 1980s South African trucks and motorized vehicles.

Early November 2017 reading....

Here's what I've been reading this past week:

1)  The Romanovs.  I'm in the Crimean War.  No fan of the French or the Turks.  Poor Russians got outfought and out generaled in this conflict.  Now, I'm halfway through the book.  Should have it done by X-mas....

2)  Starting Old Man's War by John Scalzi.  Thought I'd never get around to reading it.  Sort of juvenile.  Supposed to be a good read.  I haven't read any other works by the author.  He's supposed to be a big time military sci-fi writer....

3)  Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall.  More French stupidity leading up their debacle in 1954.  Rather depressing read....

4)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  Only read about a dozen pages.  Drizzt's father gets sacrificed to Lolth.  What a downer.  However, it was to be expected with evil Dark elves...

New month, new project...

For the record, I hate painting 6mm micro-armor scale. 

It's a pain in the butt.  I did two different WWI navies for 1/2400 scale.  That was no fun.  Micro-armor is worse.  It's the sheer scale of the project that is daunting.  Once you get in a groove, it's easy.  However, I have boxes and boxes of micro-armor to paint.

You wonder how I came about this project?  It fell to me from the sky.  One day, a friend named Sapper Joe put out a list of different stuff for sale.  Two complete 6mm micro-armor armies for $125.00. 

Looked like a good deal, I thought at the time.  Problem is Sapper Joe is annul retentive about his armies.  He collected everything complete a 6mm brigade. 

Did I tell you the project was 1980s 6mm Angolan and 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor?  What had I got myself into?  Everyone else is doing 15mm FoW Team Yankee Cold War.  Problem with that it was any East-West conflict would have gone NBC.  Bye-bye western Europe and a good part of eastern Europe.  Thank God there was no WWIII in the 1980s.  No matter what tread-heads might think....

So, I'm stuck with African Cold War micro-armor.  It needed to be based, painted, flocked, labeled, and sealed.  I'm almost done with the base coating of the 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor.  The system I'm going to be using is Fist Full of Tows, III.  I've still got to figure out how to create the unit labels with GIF flags.   This whole thing should take about 3-4 months once everything is based and flocked.  Though the figure Apocalypse is staring me in the face.  There's several hundred stands of micro-armor to paint!

Late October 2017 reading...

I've read the following books this week:

1)  The Romanovs.  More about Napoleon and Alexander and the invasion of 1812...

2)  The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodden.  More adventures concerning Francis Burton in search of the elusive Spring-Heeled Jack....

3)  Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall.  More of the debacle of French Indochina in 1954...

4)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  Drizzt defiles Lolth the Spider Goddess of the Drow.  Thus becoming an exile from the underground city of the Dark Elves...

Mid-October 2017 reading....

Here's what I'm reading:

1)  The Romanovs.  More about the late days of Catherine the Great and her death.

2)  Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall.  More about the fall of French Indochina.  Depressing reading.

3)  The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodden.  More Victorian steampunk adventures involving werewolves and time travel.

4)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  More reading about Drizzt's training as a warrior of Loth.

28mm 1882 Egyptian Game, 14OCT17: AAR

Here are photos from a 28mm 1882 Egyptian Game using The Sword and The Flame:

                                          28mm 1882 Egyptian infantry

                                                    28mm 1882 British Infantry

                                          Egyptian redeploying.

                                          The aftermath of battle.

Early October 2017 reading...

I'm currently reading the following:

1)  The Romanovs.  Now reading about the beginning of Catherine the Great's reign.

2)  The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodden.  More steampunk adventures by Burton and Swindford chasing a time-traveling historian from the future in mid-19th century London.

3)  Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall.  More about the French debacle in Indochina/Vietnam.  Read the first set-piece battles in 1950-1952.

4)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  Not much reading on the good-hearted Drow elf....

WIP, 6mm 1980s South African Micro-armor, 05OCT17

Here are photos of WIP, 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor, 05OCT17:

                                          WIP, 6mm 1980s South African micro-armor, Photo 1.

                                          WIP, 6mm 1980s South African artillery, Photo 2.

                                          WIP, 6mm 1980s South African infantry, Photo 3.

Completed 28mm Viet Cong infantry company, 28SEP17

Here are photos of a completed 28mm Viet Cong infantry company, 28SEP17:

                                          Completed 28mm Viet Cong infantry company.

                                          Completed 28mm Viet Cong infantry platoon #1.

                                          Completed 28mm Viet Cong infantry platoon #2.
                                         

                                          Completed 28mm Viet Cong infantry platoon #3.

                                          Completed 28mm Viet Cong infantry NCO.

Late September 2017 reading....

Here is what I've read so far this week:

1)  The Romanovs:  1613-1918.  Reading more about Peter the Great and his campaigns in Sweden.  Interesting tyrant.  Brought Russia into the modern era screaming and kicking.  Loved his wife, boozes, and mistresses...

2)  The Strange Affair of Steel Spring Jack by Mark Hodden.  More steampunk London involving a screw-up time traveling historian from the future.  LOL....

3)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume One by R.A. Salvatore.  More reading about Drizzt's origins and what life was like for a non-evil Drow elf....
 

Completed 28mm Vietnamese Villagers and 28mm VIet Cong Infantry platoon number, 25SEP17

                                           28mm Vietnamese Villagers with ox cart.

                                          First 28mm Viet Cong infantry platoon.

Mid-September 2017 reading: part II

Here's what I've barely been able to read this week:

1)  The Romanovs.  More about the doings of Peter the Great.

That's it.  I haven't managed my reading time at all this week.  Too much sports, ugh.
Blake

Mid September 2017 reading....

Here's what I've been reading this week:

1)  The Romanovs.  Started 800 page biography on the dynasty.  Looks like a long book.

2)  Finished Queen Victoria's Bomb.  Pre-steampunk novel about the development of an atomic bomb for Queen Victoria during the 19th century.  They tested the thing in India....

3)  Started The Strange Affair of Steel Heeled Jack by Holden.  Another steampunk alternative history novel.

4)  Started Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall.  It's about the French debacle in Indochina.

5)  Continued reading The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume 1 by R.A. Salvatore....

WIP, 30mm GW Khorne Lord of Skulls, 15SEP17

Here're some photos of a 30mm GW Khorne of Skulls titan.  It's a WIP.

                                          Front view of a 30mm GW Khorne Lord of Skulls

                                          Side view of a 30mm GW Khorne Lord of Skulls

Review of The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes

Author:  Raoul McLaughlin.
Title:  The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes:  The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia, and Han China.
Publisher:  Pen & Sword.
Copyright:  2016.
Pages:  262.

Overview and Impressions:
Academic book on the ancient world economy and the Silk routes that connected the Roman empire with the Han Chinese empire. It also covered the empires of central Asia and the Parthians. Interesting read for those versed in economics. Recommended.

WIP, 1:1 28mm Viet Cong Infantry Company, 03SEP17

Here are photos of a WIP, 1:1 28mm Viet Cong infantry company I've been painting.  I now need to flock and seal the figures...

                                          WIP, 28mm Viet Cong infantry company, photo 1.

                                          WIP, 28mm Viet Cong infantry company, photo 2

The Viet Cong are Local Force variety for my future 28mm Tet Offensive game.

Labor Day 2017 reading...

Here has what I've been reading this Labor Day 2017 weekend:

1)  Private Yankee Doodle by J.P. Martin.  See previous blog review.

2)  The Legend of Drizzt:  Volume 1 by R.A. Salvatore.  Started reading about a D&D hero who's a Drow elf.  I have about 4,000 pages to read in four different novels.  I'm only on page 77....

3)  The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes.  Academic history of the Roman empire's ancient economy and its dependence on the silk trade of the Far East.  Interesting, so  far.....

4)  Started Queen Victoria's Bomb, a pre-steampunk novel written in 1967....

Review of Private Yankee Doodle by J.P. Martin

Author:  J.P. Martin.
Title:  Private Yankee Doodle.
Publisher:  Eastern National.
Copyright:  1962, 2002.
Pages:  305.

Overview and Impressions:
This is an excellent overview of what it was like to serve in General Washington's Army during the American Revolution by an educated NCO who published his own memoirs in 1832.  It gives like to the dangers and travails facing the average soldier during the Revolution.  Recommended.

Pulled my back...

Pulled my back this weekend.  I'm recovering now.  I haven't got any painting done.  Just watch some preseason NFL football and UEFA Championship soccer.

I did finish reading Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  I wasn't too impressed by it.  Still, a good read.  But not as epic as the other two novels.  I also started a novel on the Roman Empire and the Silk Road.  More an economics than history book.  Still interesting though...

Early August 2017 reading: part II....

Here's a list of things I've been reading this week:

1)  Private Yankee Doodle by P.L. Martin.  More drama in Washington's Continental Army at Valley Forge...

2)  The Long Way Home by Sabina Chase.  More background on the main character and her days in NASA.  She's now a mother to he newly created "son."

3)  The Roman Empire and The Silk Routes.  Economy history of the Roman Empire and its trade with Han China, Parthia, and Central Asia....

4)  Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  Martians on a flooded Earth after the Antarctic ice shelves melted in the 22nd century...

WIP, 28mm Viet Cong Infantry Company, 07AUG17

Here are photos of a 1:1 28mm Viet Cong Infantry Company, 07AUG17:

                                          1:1 28mm Viet Cong infantry platoon and Company HQ.

                                          1:1 28mm Viet Cong infantry platoons.

I have more VC than I'll ever need for a 28mm game on the table space I have available at home using Ambush Valley.  Ugh...

The Viet Cong need to be detailed, flocked, and sealed before they're finished.  I'm hoping to have them done by mid September 2017.  Notice, I did all local force VC.

Photo of 28mm In Her Majesty's Name Game, 05AUG17

Here's a photo from a 28mm In Her Majesty's Name game, 05AUG17:

                                          Big Game Hunter's party gets to the Catholic Mission, 1885.

Early August 2017 reading...

Here's what I've read this week:

1)  We Should Have Been Zombies.  Memoir by local DJs and garage band members.  Interesting stuff.

2)  The Long Way Home by Sabina Chase.  More military sci-fi about an ex-NASA astronaut trapped in the 22nd century...

3)  The Rhodesian War:  A Military History by Moorecroft.  More about the bush war that tore apart Zimbabwe after independence from Britain in the 1960s...

4)  Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  Unique take on drafting a planetary government from scratch in Blue Mars...

5)  Private Yankee Doodle by P. L. Martin.  More on life in the American army during the Revolutionary War...

Late-July 2017 reading....

Here's what I've read this week:

1)  Private Yankee Doodle by Lee Plumb Marin.  More about being a soldier in Washington's Revolutionary army.....

2)  The Long Way Home by Sabina Chase.  More military sci-fi about a NASA astronaut stranded in the 22nd century....

3)  The Rhodesian War:  A Military History by Moorecock.  More about the guerrilla insurgency that toppled Smith's white government in 1980...

4)  Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  Getting into the second Martian revolution that overthrew the Terran colonial government on the terra-formed planet...

WIP, Nurgle Death Guard from the Dark Imperium box set, 17JUL17

Here are photos of WIP, 30mm WH40K Death Guard Plague Marines and Pox Walkers from the Dark Imperium box set:

                                          WIP, 30mm Nurgle Plague Marines.

                                          WIP, 30mm Pox Walkers and Blight Drone.

Mid-July 2017 reading...

Here's what I've been reading this week:

1)  The Rhodesian War:  A Military History.  More on the guerrilla insurgency in Rhodesia/what became Zimbabwe.  Interesting interplay between the then Apartheid  South African government and Smith all white Rhodesia.

2)  Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  Started third book in the Mars Trilogy.  Begins with a successful second revolution against the Terran authority on Mars while Earth falls into chaos because of the flooding from the melting Antarctic ice shelf. 

3)  Private Yankee Doodle by P.L. Martin.  More about a private in General Washington's American army during the Revolutionary War.

WIP, 6mm 1980s Angolan Support Vehicles, 13JUL17

Here's a photo of a WIP, 6mm 1980s Angolan Support Vehicles, 13JUL17:

WIP, 6mm Angolan Armor and 30mm WH40K Skitarri Rangers

Photos of some WIP, 6mm Angolan Armor and 30mm WH40K Skitarri Rangers:

                                          6mm 1980s Angolan Armor for FFoT, III.

                                          Last of my 30mm Adeptus Mechanicus, Skitarri Rangers.

New WH40K 8th Edition Playtesting, 03JUL17

I play-tested the new WH40K 8th edition rules with my friend Curtis Turner (Hostile Contact) this afternoon at my house.  We got a 1500 point game done in 1.5 hours.

Here are my impressions:

1)  Vehicles are harder to kill in the new edition.  Vehicles have Strength, Toughness, and Wounds stats.  It simplifies the game instead of dealing with armor values.  However, land raiders are tougher to kill outright.  I crippled a Chaos Predator with a couple turns of turns of las-cannon fire from a Deathwing Land Raider.  Both my Land Raiders were standing at the end of the game.

2)  Close combat and power weapons maul Space Marines in regular power armor.  Terminators will last longer in close combat for a couple of turns.  However, regular marines (both Chaos and Imperial) are more fragile to outright effects of power weapons.

3)  Psychic powers can be effective if your opponent doesn't has a psycher.  They can't counter your psychic power plays without a Deny the Witch roll. 

4)  Storm Bolter rapid fire can be effective in removing regular Space Marines.  Assault Cannons are also effective in clearing out troop formations, too.

5)  Deathwing Terminator armies are more effective in this new edition of WH40K.  My termis had more staying power with two wounds than previous games.

6)  Curtis had horrible dice rolls.  Mine were good (for a change).  I didn't know what happened to my usual luck.  I'm not complaining.  I won this game we played.  I was destined to lose when Brian Bigford blew up one of my land raiders on Turn 2 the other weekend we gamed...

Overall, recommend edition.  Plays faster, bloodier, more tactically forgiving.  

Early July 2017 reading....

Here's what I've read this week:

1)  The Long Way Home by Sabrina Chase.  Hard military sci-fi novel about a NASA astronaut trapped in the 22nd century rim.  She holds a huge secret; the location of a virgin planet.  And is being hunted down for it....

2)  Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  Another hard sci-fi novel about the colonization and terra-forming of Mars into a livable world...

3)  The Rhodesian War:  A Military History.  Nonfiction on the conflict that paved the way for Zimbabwe's independence.  I've just started it.  Mainly colonial history of Rhodesia...

4)  Private Yankee Doodle by P.L. Martin.  Nonfiction autobiography of an American Revolutionary NCO who fought in Washington's Army during the conflict...

WIP, 30mm WH40K Martian Dunecrawler, 30JUN17

Here is a photo of two assembled WIP, 30mm WH40K Martian Dunecrawlers, 30JUN17:

                                          WIP, 30mm WH40K Martian Dunecrawlers, 30JUN17.

Review of the Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

Author:  S.C. Gwynne.
Title:  Empire of the Summer Moon.
Publisher:  Scriber.
Copyright:  2010.
Pages:  371.

Overview and Impressions:

This book took several months to finish.  It's about Quannah Parker and the Comanche Indian Wars in the American Southwest.  I didn't realize how bloody the history of the area was.  The Texans and their Anglo-settlement on Comanche land was the tip of the iceberg.  The Spanish and Mexicans were just as brutal.  I felt I was reading history written in a sea of blood.  Ugh...

The part of about Quannah Parker and his mother, Rebecca, was interesting.  He was one of the few Indian chiefs to adapt to the world of the whites after the 1870s.  He kept a large household of wives and children, while selling horses and cattle.  Interesting personage.

Recommended.

Review of Such Men as These by David Sears

Author:  David Sears.
Title:  Such Men as These:  The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea.
Publisher:  Da Capo Press.
Copyright:  2010.
Pages:  401.

Overview and Impressions:
This E-book took a while to read.  I should have finished it sooner.  It's about the US Naval aviators who fought during the Korean War from 1950-1953.  Day to day operations, tactics, downed pilot rescues, bombing runs, and POWs in North Korea were covered.

James Mitchener's The Bridges at Toko-Ri were based on his experience as a reporter aboard an US Navy carrier during the conflict.  His novel was an underlying theme in the book.  The use of naval reservists to fill the Navy's aircraft also weighed heavily, too.

Overall, recommended reading.

Photo of completed 28mm Vietnam Era US Marine Platoon

Here's a photo of a completed 28mm Vietnam Era US Marine Platoon:

                                          28mm Vietnam Era US Marine Platoon.

Another 28mm project: 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive

I've completed two different 1:1 28mm Free World infantry platoons.  I finished the 28mm Vietnam era US Marine platoon this morning.  It needs to be sealed at this point.  My 1:1 28mm ARVN Ranger Mechanized Platoon is also done.  The only thing left for the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive is a 1:1 28mm Viet Cong "Local Force" infantry company.

The problem is there are a lot of figures to paint.  90 total.  That doesn't include the 28mm Vietnamese civilians, too.  There are too many figures to fit on my 5' x 6' table.  Ambush Valley handles about three squads per side before breaking down.  I  need to come up with a TS&TF variant to handle larger games...

My main impetus is to get everything finished for the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive.  If I can run a game at Command Con 2017 in November 2017, so much the better.  I also need 28mm Vietnamese buildings or grass huts in addition to painting the figures.  A rice paddy or two would help, too...

Mid-June reading: part II....

Here's a list of what I've read this week:

1)  Empire of the Summer Moon.  Read another 50 pages in the book last Sunday.  I plan to finish tomorrow afternoon.

2)  The Long Way Home by Sabina Chase.  Read another 50 pages in the military sci-fi epic.  It's over 800 pages long...

3)  Men Such as These by Sears.  Read another 70 pages covering the Korean air campaigns of 1952-53.  More on the North Korean treatment of POWs.  It was brutal.

4)  Another 100 pages in Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  More on the native Martians and their campaign to subvert Terran rule..

Mid-June 2017 reading...

I didn't get too much accomplished this week reading-wise:

1)  Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  100 pages read.

2)  Men Such as These by Sears.  Another 25 pages read on the Korean War about US naval aviators captured in North Korea.

3)  Empire of the Summer Moon.  More reading about the Comache.  Another 50 pages read.

Photos of my 28mm games ran at Die Con 17, Collinsville, IL, USA

Here are some photos of 28mm Great War in Africa and 28mm Masai Warriors vs. Colonial Germans in 1885 games I ran at Die Con 17, Collinsville, IL this weekend:

                                          Initial set up for the 28mm Great War in Africa.

                                          Both sides deploying their askaris.

                                          The Germans licked their wounds while the Belgians advanced.

                                          Both sides bloodied another.  Both failed army morale the same turn.

                     Masai were able to advance.  The German play could roll movement to save his life.

                                          More Masai warriors advanced on the Germans.
                                             

                                          At the end of the game, the German play blew army morale big time.