Hello and greeting from sunny Arizona. The place that seems to be the desert of wargaming. Despite efforts to promote an interest in Historical Miniatures gaming in my area of the state, I am still a solo gamer. Most reactions from folks that show any interest are of the "Oh, isn't that cute" type. But I refuse to quit the fight, I know that somewhere out there are a few folks that would like gaming as much as I do. So, if you live in the Prescott, Prescott Valley area, I would like to hear from you. Write me at widrick@earthlink.net I game for fun, and am not going to argue over rules, plus I don't mind losing, gaming solo I always lose! (Of course I always win too!)
Great job on MWAN 105! My thanks to all the contributors, regulars or not, for the wealth of information. Orv, very nice peninsular buildings! I would add one more step to the scenery process. I learned this trick making model railroad scenery. After you paint a piece of terrain and apply the ground texture (foam), allow to dry thoroughly. Then take a spray bottle of water with a couple drops of dish soap and spray the terrain item, not too heavily or it will take a week to dry. I immediately after the water spray, apply a 50/50 white glue/water slurry. The water/soap mix will help the water/glue mix to disperse evenly over the terrain. The apply another coating of ground foam, stones, logs, etc...
Then allow this to dry. You will get a much more random look and a sturdier terrain item. I used the GHQ "Terrain Maker" system for years, and finished all my pieces this way and never had to touch up a piece due to heavy use. This system also works well for applying tallus rock at the bottom of a cliff, and you can apply the earthtone ground foam, wet and glue, then apply grass on top in a random fashion and end up with a nice grass/bare earth combo. I have sold my GHQ terrain, used that money to purchase two sets of "GEO-HEX", and am in the middle of treating these in the manner described above. Plus cutting gullies/waddies. trenches, and depressions in to the foam and re-terraining.
The bottom line is don't be afraid to experiment. Like Orv said in his very well done article, get out and observe. Most people would consider the area I live in flat. In fact, it has been commonly referred to as "Kansas". But, on closer inspection, there are gullies big enough to move tanks through, rises, and wide depressions that could hide a Nepolionic Brigade, or afford a tank company a nice hull down position.
And now for something completely different. For the past two months I have been playing an on-line WWII skirmish type of game called Chain of Command (www.2am.com). This is a "free" game in which you earn game playing time by visiting 2am sponsor/advertisers. After a down load of approx. 15-20 minutes, you can join a game in any number of "rooms". Some rooms are for regiment members only, but for most regiments there are no requirements other than applying. Other rooms are for anyone. You play the squad commander of 47 figures, one of them randomly picked to represent you. You can have up to 7 players per side (German and American only). There are terrain objectives that you can take to earn points for your side, plus kills earn points for your team. Missions range in length from 10 to 20 minutes and at the end the mission co (highest ranking team member) can distribute the point to the members of the team. The more points you accumulate, the higher your rank. But if the figure randomly chosen as you is killed you cannot get points. Plus, if you or any of the 4 men in your squad dies you can lose points. All in all the games is quite fun and gives me the opportunity to game with an opponent other than myself.
Keeping on the topic of computer games, I recently found a copy of "Sid Meier's Gettysburg" for the bargain price of $9.99. Although I have little interest in ACW I picked up this wonderful gem of a game. The graphics are very nice, and detailed, though the city areas are repetitive, very little action takes place in them. Areas such as woods, crop fields, streams, hills, and rock outcroppings are modeled very nicely. The troops are well detailed, along with brigade, division and corps commanders. The interface for commanding your units is simple and intuitive. A smoking bargain, if you can lay your hands on this game at the price I got it, DO IT! Highly recommended, even if you are not a Civil War enthusiast.
On the Napoleonic front, my AIM 10mm Armies are coming along quite nicely. I have been using the French infantry figures to build units of French allies (i.e. Swiss, Italian ... ). Some of the differences in the uniforms were so minute that at this scale they are imperceptible. I have 4 regiments of Italian Line and just completed a regiment of Light. I am now working on 3 regiments of Westphalian Line to go with the 2 regiments of Light that were done a few months back. I also plan to use British figures to model post 1808 Spanish and Portuguese when I get back to work on the peninsula armies. But for now I am concentrating my work on the 1809 campaigns.
Well, thus far in my years of wargaming, I have not fallen prey to the affliction that most wargamers find themselves servant. I am speaking of the curse of collecting unpainted lead. Of course I understand that most of these unfortunates don't recognize this as a curse, but rather a blessing. (Please take this in the joking, lighthearted manner in which it was written.) Over my 20 years in wargaming, interests have been devoted to 2 periods, WWII and Napoleonics, with a small excursion into 15mm medieval skirmish a few years ago. I have built units, sold them, built more, sold and traded them, and built more. Having been fairly stable (can such a word be used in addressing a wargamer?) for the last 6 or so years, the time may be at hand for a change. No, not a new era, but a new scale. I have been noticing the ads by Wargames South for their line of 10mm WWII. Now this really appeals to me, as all the buildings I have for the 10mm-Napoleonics could be used for this era also. But, it would be hard to get rid of my large collection of micro armor, infantry and accessories, then start over again. But I DO love the 10mm scale. Oh what to do, my brain hurts to think about it. Just way too tempting.
Well that is going to do it for me. Hope you have gotten something from my babble, other than a headache. Until next time, take care, God bless, and keep your dice on the table.
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© Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum
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