A Long Pause......

I believe this might of been the longest period I have gone without posting to my blog. My last post was in late August, just before I left to go to Montreal to bring my son Simon to University. I was there for 9 days and actually tripled my experience of gaming with an opponent who was not myself. It was a great visit, but alas my abilities as a General still appear to be lacking. It has been flat out since I got back to Massachusetts, and this has been the first I really have had a chance to sit down, upload some photos and write a post. 

Four Months of Work!

I thought I would reflect back on the last 4 months. I decided sometime in May to start a new era, I also was curious about trying to paint a smaller size figure. As you know, I decided to go with WWII in 15 mm. My goal was to be able to host a WWII game at the end of the summer. I had settled on the North African theatre; so I had to do some rudimentary research, come up with an OB and a scenario as well as doing up a terrain and paint the figures and vehicles on both sides. I started painting around mid May.

Tunisian Terrain

For my upcoming WWII game, I had to build some terrain that would simulate the Tunisian landscape. The terrain had to be portable, I am driving to Montreal and we are planning to play the game in a hotel room. I quickly got fixated on something in the mountains in the south western part of the country. I wanted a fairly simple but varied terrain that would not stress our first go at the Rapid Fire rules. I suspect that the North African dessert is pretty featureless and there would not be too many places to hide. The whole process was also a discovery for me in how to model a dessert terrain with some hills. I usually model hills into the terrain tiles, but this was not really going to be an option as the pieces had to be portable.

Evolving WWII Tunisian Scenario

I have been industriously painting and terraining for my upcoming Rapid Fire WWII game in Montreal at the end of the month. Only 10 little figures left to paint, and the terrain is pretty well done. The scenario itself has evolved, so I thought I would update you on my progress.

Long Range Dessert Group

It has been quite some time since I have posted. Was on vacation (hooked my first salmon!) and have been working everyday (the American people's appetite for medical care knows no bounds). At the same time, I have been working diligently on my upcoming WWII game in Montreal. Pretty well have the terrain and most of the figures done. Still playing around with the OB for the scenario, but more on that later. I have got quite a bit of British and Commonwealth painted and hope to update my OB to the left soon, but I thought I should make one more post before the end of the month.

Somewhere in les Monts des Ksours (Tunisia Early 1943)

This will be my initial stab at a North African scenario, which involves advance elements of the 8th Army and the LRDG searching for an oasis just south of Matmâta Hills. This is a small fictional action that takes place within the larger action of the Allied attempts to flank the Mareth Line.

Some Necessary Corrections

After the Panzerschreck debacle, I thought I would show that I can learn so I am posting some photos of the "schreck" posed correctly as a stereoscopic range finder with the FlaK 36 crew.

A Nice Gift

Imagine my surprise when I got up this morning and found a nicely wrapped box on my painting table. What was inside was also very nice.

DAK: Elements of the 15. Panzerdivision

Finally I have had a chance to take some photographs to show what I have been working on over the last 6 weeks. I have been using Battlefront and Forged in Battle miniatures and vehicles. Generally both are quite acceptable, but Battlefront (FoW) certainly has some minor problems with quality control.

WWII: Further thoughts on a ruleset

This is a thinking out loud post. I have now received 2 other rulesets and have had a chance to look through them. I have some pressure to go with a set in the short term as myself and Iannick at Clash of Empires are planning to have our first WWII game at the end of August. WWII gaming is completely unknown to both of us and I have tasked myself with the scenario, rules and figures.