I made a promise to myself last year to do something about the amount of figures I had in the basement. I have lots of 28mm historical wargaming projects. I also have WH40K and WHFB. I want to keep my my 28mm historicals. When I posted my open letter to GW, I had 2 WHFB armies and 4 WH40K armies. I traded away my Warriors of Chaos for a Warmachine Protectorate of Menoth army. I finished up painting my GW High Elves for use as a large 25mm Warlord army. I also bought fantasy vikings to fill out my other fantasy race.
I looked at my WH40K stuff. I own Dark Angels Ravenwing, Dark Angels Deathwing, Blood Angels, Khorne World Eaters Chaos Space Marines and Khorne demons, and traitor guard. I'm about done with my Blood Angels. I'm also done with my Chaos Space Marines and demons. I'd like to add on another Baneblade and Land Raider to my DA Deathwing terminators (along with a command squad of terminators).
The Traitor Guard I hardly play. It's all infantry with a few vehicles. I also have all the Ravenwing bikes I need to finish up. The only army in Battlefoam is the Blood Angels. I could spend another $800.00 just in foam and cases on my Chaos and DA Deathwing terminators. That isn't including any new models...
So I made the decision to liquidate the Traitor Guard and Ravenwing bike army. I'll still have three armies. All three of them I could use an apocalypse game. It's just the Traitor Guard and the Ravenwing are going into a local comic book auction at the end of March. Whatever I get for the figures will go to buy a Baneblade, Land Raider, and whatever Privateer Press Mercenaries stuff I can afford to buy.
That doesn't even put a dent in the $800.00 I'll need to buy in Battlefoam to complete my WH40K forces. Or the Battlefoam I'll eventually need for my Warhmachine Menoth/Mercs armies, either...
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Review of Osprey MAA No. 481: The Spanish Tercios 1536-1704 (ebook)
Author: Ignacio Lopez.
Title: Osprey MAA No. 481: The Spanich Tercios 1536-1704 (ebook).
Publisher: Osprey Publishing.
Copyright: 2012.
Price: $11.49.
Overview:
This Men-at-Arms Osprey covers the Spanish Tercios 1536-1704. These 3000 man units were made of pike, sword and bucklermen, and arquebusiers. The Spanish used these infantry units to fight off heavy cavalry and defend themselves from other enemy infantry units. The tercios were the forerunners to the infantry battalion/regiment other nations would soon adapt.
The tercios came into their own during the third Italian Wars between Spain and France. They continued through the rest of the 16th century into the Thirty Years War. The Bourbon monarch finally disbanded the old tercios in favor of the French infantry regiment during the War of Spanish Succession.
The beginning tercios wore civilian clothing. They eventually evolved into military uniforms during the 17th century. A tercio was normally divided between 1/3 pike, 1/3 swordsmen, and 1/3 arquebusiers/musketeers. There are color plates in this newer ebook format.
Given the ease of electronic download, I still prefer having a hard copy of my Ospreys. Call me old fashioned, but I like being able to go back to the hard copy and seeing what I'm doing when I'm painting. I can't quite do that with an e-reader like a Nook. But that's my only complaint. Given the fact I'm running out of room for books (like Sapper Joe). The more newer books I can read electronically, the better off I'll be in the long run.
Recommended for fans of the Renaissance.
Title: Osprey MAA No. 481: The Spanich Tercios 1536-1704 (ebook).
Publisher: Osprey Publishing.
Copyright: 2012.
Price: $11.49.
Overview:
This Men-at-Arms Osprey covers the Spanish Tercios 1536-1704. These 3000 man units were made of pike, sword and bucklermen, and arquebusiers. The Spanish used these infantry units to fight off heavy cavalry and defend themselves from other enemy infantry units. The tercios were the forerunners to the infantry battalion/regiment other nations would soon adapt.
The tercios came into their own during the third Italian Wars between Spain and France. They continued through the rest of the 16th century into the Thirty Years War. The Bourbon monarch finally disbanded the old tercios in favor of the French infantry regiment during the War of Spanish Succession.
The beginning tercios wore civilian clothing. They eventually evolved into military uniforms during the 17th century. A tercio was normally divided between 1/3 pike, 1/3 swordsmen, and 1/3 arquebusiers/musketeers. There are color plates in this newer ebook format.
Given the ease of electronic download, I still prefer having a hard copy of my Ospreys. Call me old fashioned, but I like being able to go back to the hard copy and seeing what I'm doing when I'm painting. I can't quite do that with an e-reader like a Nook. But that's my only complaint. Given the fact I'm running out of room for books (like Sapper Joe). The more newer books I can read electronically, the better off I'll be in the long run.
Recommended for fans of the Renaissance.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
"Can you roll 7 '1's' on 10D6?" - A WH40K AAR
I'm done with WH40K for a while. I played a 1500 point game with my friend, Brian Bigford, last night. He had Ultra-Marines. I had Dark Angels Deathwing. Brian brought out the the new $80.00 space marine versions of CSM obliterators. They obliterated a squad of Deathwing terminators. Brian needed 2 or better to wound. He caused 10 AP 2 wounds. I needed 10 saves of 5-6 on 10D6 for my invul saves. I rolled 7 "1's".
Can anyone else on the planet do that on a consistent basis? I challenge anyone. Sapper Joe, Hostile Contact, and Combat Colours have seen my dice rolling in person. It's not pretty. I've managed to roll 5 ones on 7D6 before. But this is a new record in infamy. Needless to say, I lost. I'd taken pictures of the game up to that point. Afterwards, I gave up....
What's the point me playing WH40K if I'm going to roll consistently awful?
Good question. Why do I keep putting myself through such misery?
I'm at a loss...
The End. For now....
Can anyone else on the planet do that on a consistent basis? I challenge anyone. Sapper Joe, Hostile Contact, and Combat Colours have seen my dice rolling in person. It's not pretty. I've managed to roll 5 ones on 7D6 before. But this is a new record in infamy. Needless to say, I lost. I'd taken pictures of the game up to that point. Afterwards, I gave up....
What's the point me playing WH40K if I'm going to roll consistently awful?
Good question. Why do I keep putting myself through such misery?
I'm at a loss...
The End. For now....
Review of Osprey MAA: Fredrick the Great's Army Vol. 1-3 ebooks
Author: Philip Haythornwaite.
Titles: Osprey MAA No. 236, 240, & 248: Fredrick the Great's Army (Vol. 1-3).
Publisher: Osprey Publishing.
Copyrights: 1991, digital on demand 2011.
Price: $11.49 each.
Overview:
These are three ebooks I bought for my Nook this year. I plan to use them for uniform guides to a 18mm SYW Prussian army. I wanted to purchase hard copies. These are now out of print. So I went with the next best thing. Ebooks. But I still have online resources for future 15m m SYW armies I'll use, too.
Recommended for uniform plates.
Titles: Osprey MAA No. 236, 240, & 248: Fredrick the Great's Army (Vol. 1-3).
Publisher: Osprey Publishing.
Copyrights: 1991, digital on demand 2011.
Price: $11.49 each.
Overview:
These are three ebooks I bought for my Nook this year. I plan to use them for uniform guides to a 18mm SYW Prussian army. I wanted to purchase hard copies. These are now out of print. So I went with the next best thing. Ebooks. But I still have online resources for future 15m m SYW armies I'll use, too.
Recommended for uniform plates.
Review of Knives and Swords: A Visual History by Chris McNab
Author: Chris McNab.
Title: Knives and Swords: A Visual History.
Publisher: Sterling Publishing.
Copyright: 2012.
Pages: 360.
Price: $12.98
Overview:
This books is a pictorial history of knives and swords starting the Stone Age to the modern era. The weapons range from knives, swords, maces, axes, and pole-arms. All the weapons are photographed in their present conditions. Some of the swords and knives are corroded because of time. Some of the weapons are in remarkable shape for their age. Weapons from the entire world are sampled. There small sections dedicated to particular weapons and their usage.
Recommended alone for the photographs.
Title: Knives and Swords: A Visual History.
Publisher: Sterling Publishing.
Copyright: 2012.
Pages: 360.
Price: $12.98
Overview:
This books is a pictorial history of knives and swords starting the Stone Age to the modern era. The weapons range from knives, swords, maces, axes, and pole-arms. All the weapons are photographed in their present conditions. Some of the swords and knives are corroded because of time. Some of the weapons are in remarkable shape for their age. Weapons from the entire world are sampled. There small sections dedicated to particular weapons and their usage.
Recommended alone for the photographs.
Review of Osprey Men-at-Arms No. 491: Armies of the Volga Bulgars and Khanate of Kazan
Authors: Viacheslav Shpakovsky & David Nicolle.
Title: Men-at-Arms No. 491 - Armies of the Volga Bulgars and Khanate of Kazan, 9th-16th Centuries.
Publisher: Osprey Publishing.
Copyright: 2013.
Price: $17.95.
Overview:
This is a good summary of the armies of the Volga Bulgars and the Khanate of Kazan from the 9th to 16th centuries. It was interesting to learn about the Islamic states that existed in Russia during the middle ages.
There's are whole new figure range possibilities a company could come up with if people got interested in wargaming medieval Russia and central Asia. The problem is where would the interest come from. I didn't even know about the different Khanates and principalities existing in medieval Russia along the Volga river. Or the different Finnish tribes that inhabited the forests of Siberia. All of this is new to me. The section on Ivan the Terrible's siege and the fall of Kazan was also interesting.
I do have a Mongol army that that's only been used twice. I wondered what I could do with it if I have a Muslim opponent from central Asia like the Volga Bulgars. They put up a fight with the Mongols, but 80% of the population was wiped out in retaliation. The successor state became the Khanate of Kazan.
Like I said earlier, I'm fascinated by the different states and tribes that existed along the Volga River and its tributaries. But trying to find 28mm metal figure ranges to compliment by 28mm Mongols will be hard it in deed.
Never the less, recommended.
Title: Men-at-Arms No. 491 - Armies of the Volga Bulgars and Khanate of Kazan, 9th-16th Centuries.
Publisher: Osprey Publishing.
Copyright: 2013.
Price: $17.95.
Overview:
This is a good summary of the armies of the Volga Bulgars and the Khanate of Kazan from the 9th to 16th centuries. It was interesting to learn about the Islamic states that existed in Russia during the middle ages.
There's are whole new figure range possibilities a company could come up with if people got interested in wargaming medieval Russia and central Asia. The problem is where would the interest come from. I didn't even know about the different Khanates and principalities existing in medieval Russia along the Volga river. Or the different Finnish tribes that inhabited the forests of Siberia. All of this is new to me. The section on Ivan the Terrible's siege and the fall of Kazan was also interesting.
I do have a Mongol army that that's only been used twice. I wondered what I could do with it if I have a Muslim opponent from central Asia like the Volga Bulgars. They put up a fight with the Mongols, but 80% of the population was wiped out in retaliation. The successor state became the Khanate of Kazan.
Like I said earlier, I'm fascinated by the different states and tribes that existed along the Volga River and its tributaries. But trying to find 28mm metal figure ranges to compliment by 28mm Mongols will be hard it in deed.
Never the less, recommended.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Partial Review of Slant by Greg Bear
Author: Greg Bear.
Title: Slant.
Publisher: TOR.
Copyright: 1997.
Price: $6.99
Overview:
Greg Bear is an excellent writer. I enjoyed his stories about Mars. I picked up Slant from my younger sibling's collection to read when I waited in a local ER this week.
This is a partial review of Slant. I read the beginning and the end of the novel. It's awful. There's no way to hide it. Bear must have written it for the money. Basically, its a story about nano-technology, Michigan militia types in Idaho and an evil cryro-genetics institute. Basically, cyberpunk meets Heaven's Gate in the land of radioactive potatoes.
Much of the book's premise is dated in a post-9/11 world. It's very 1990s. Unlike a bad movie, I can only stomach so much of a bad novel. It's like moldy potato salad. It'll only make you sick. There're no redeeming qualities like comic badness or over the type acting like Sharknado.
I threw it down and watch Sponge-Bob Square Pants for a hour while my father slept. I cursed myself for not taking the current book by C.J. Cherryh I'm reading with me. I want to get several hours of my life back.
Slant is definitely not recommended.
Title: Slant.
Publisher: TOR.
Copyright: 1997.
Price: $6.99
Overview:
Greg Bear is an excellent writer. I enjoyed his stories about Mars. I picked up Slant from my younger sibling's collection to read when I waited in a local ER this week.
This is a partial review of Slant. I read the beginning and the end of the novel. It's awful. There's no way to hide it. Bear must have written it for the money. Basically, its a story about nano-technology, Michigan militia types in Idaho and an evil cryro-genetics institute. Basically, cyberpunk meets Heaven's Gate in the land of radioactive potatoes.
Much of the book's premise is dated in a post-9/11 world. It's very 1990s. Unlike a bad movie, I can only stomach so much of a bad novel. It's like moldy potato salad. It'll only make you sick. There're no redeeming qualities like comic badness or over the type acting like Sharknado.
I threw it down and watch Sponge-Bob Square Pants for a hour while my father slept. I cursed myself for not taking the current book by C.J. Cherryh I'm reading with me. I want to get several hours of my life back.
Slant is definitely not recommended.
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