Star Fleet Battles Campaign - Strategic Turn 8

A couple of weeks ago, we got together and finally completed strategic turn 8 in our Star Fleet Battles campaign.  Despite the passing of many months, relatively little happened during this turn.

There was a lot of Klingon and Lyran movement, though only a single battle at the Kzinti battle station in hex 0701, which yielded little surprise.  A 14 ship Lyran task force featuring  a battle tug, battlecruiser,  four heavy cruisers and their escorts managed to destroy an undefended Kzinti station without any losses.

Lyran space is to the left, Klingon to the south.  Kzinti fleets 

are represented by the white markers, Lyran by yellow, and Klingon 

by black.  The Kzinti have lost two planets and two battle stations 

to the Klingons thus far.

The battle on the tactical map, with markers, rather than miniatures, unfortunately.

The Kzinti battle-station is represented by the large marker, surrounded 

by a minefield.  The attacking Lyrans are in the foreground.  

The Lyrans took three turns to destroy the bae's fighters and 

pound it to death with disruptors and phasers.

Otherwise, the Klingons advanced further into Kzinti space, and moved into Hydran space.  The Hydrans and Kzintis in Lyran space continued to move toward a rendezvous, and Lyran forces continue to consolidate for a big event in hex 0710.

Hydran space is the blue toward the bottom, Lyran to the left, 

Klingon to the right.  the green markers are the Hydrans, 

which actually out-number and out-gun the Lyrans. 

The Kzinti are clearly in trouble as all of Kzinti space is probably defended by fewer than a dozen ships at this point.

Similarly, the Lyrans look to have a problem in the southern portion of their territory, and they can almost match numbers, but not nearly the size of the Hydran ships.  Some very curious situations could develop between the Lyrans and Klingons, depending on how the battle at Hex 0710 turn out.

6mm Cold War Models from Heroics & Ros (7-15-19)

My latest batch of Cold War era 6mm models from H&R include the following:

This is actually from their WWII US line, but was used well into the Cold War by a number of nations, the US-29 M1A2 155mm towed Howitzer.  This is a nice little two piece casting.

Another WWII leftover is the US 50 GMC 2.5 ton Truck, Soft Cab.  Again, this truck in one form or another served a number of nations into the early portion of the Cold War.  Mine will serve the US, and stand in for the hard cab version used by the French.  

US-150 is the Honest John artillery rocket.  The model is distinctive enough, but has the truck has a particularly "flattened' appearance.  The casting looks rougher in the photo than in person, as the flash picked up the "grain" which is not actually as obvious seen in person.

SM 107 BTS-M Heavy Amphibian, a nicely detailed model of this huge vehicle.

SM 36 FROG 7 rocket, another nice model.

SM 83  The T55 IMR engineering vehicle.  I was a little underwhelmed by this model as the miniature seems much less busy and cluttered than the actual vehicle.

I got a little ahead of myself and had started priming them, when I realized that I hadn't taken photos yet.  So some of the castings have the start of the coat of grey primer on them.

I should have a Shapeways order in  later this week, and am waiting on one from Scotia as well,so hope to share some more pics soon.

Updated My Book Sale Page

I've updated my "books for sale " page, removing a couple,  dropping some prices,  and adding a bunch of titles.  The list currently includes mostly historical with a few sci-fi and fantasy titles.  Please take a look if you like old school print on paper books, click on:

BOOK SALE

Where Have All the Conventions Gone?

So, things are changing a little in my life, and I might start having more opportunity to go to gaming conventions on weekends.  Earlier today, I decided to do a little snooping around on the net, chasing down various convention calendars and whatnot, and was surprised to find how much things have changed.

Years ago, I went to as many as 20 conventions per year, 12 per year was average for a few years.  Most of these were in Ohio, but a few were out of state.  Currently, I'm more interested in the in state conventions.

Of the old conventions,  a few used to be held at large universities, a couple more at high schools, a couple more at National Guard armories.  Others were in various halls usually run by small gaming clubs.  I was quite surprised to find that, sadly, none of these exist anymore. Nor was there much in the way of newer, similar type conventions within a couple of hours of driving distance.

I was also surprised to find a number of conventions identifying themselves as games conventions, but not welcoming miniatures games, or simply not featuring any.  In one case, I found a con that used to welcome miniatures, that now pointedly does not.

I also found a number of one day events sponsored by clubs or groups, sort of mini-conventions or game-days, but mostly they seem to be intended for members only from what I can tell. 

There were a few that I did find: 

CincyCon (not one of my "old conventions") looks to be a pretty good convention, but comes at a terrible time of year for me.  Still, it looks to be my only shot at a "weekend of gaming".

Origins, is in my back yard, but to be honest, during my last couple of visits, the time invested to park and get into the con (even when I was pre-registered) was greater than what I spent at the con.  The miniatures gaming was a bit of a letdown for such a huge event.  It was the first convention that I had been to, where players in a tournament had figures that hadn't been assembled, involved in the game.  Unpainted torsos glued to a stand, with little piles of arms and weapons setting next to them.  Anyway, it just cost too much in time and money for the return.

HMGS- Great Lakes has a couple of good cons, Advance the Colors and Drums Along the Rapids, but I noticed that they are Friday/Saturdays cons now, having dropped Sundays from the schedule.  A little of a letdown, but still consideration for day trips on a Saturday. They also are affiliated with two other one days events, which also will be consideration for days trips.

I don't doubt that I've missed some, but all things considered, I'm a little let down that the gaming scene has changed so much over the years.  I guess it is probably due to people like me, who for various reasons stopped supporting the little cons for so long. 

I'm familiar with a number of HMGS conventions out of state, as well as a few other big or long running events, but all involve 8 hour drives or more, each way, so don't fit into a two day weekend real well.

I'll have to continue my search, but I'm not holding out much hope for a couple of summer weekends immersed in miniatures games at this point.

Thoughts, Considerations, and a Rant About Figure Painting in the Digital Age

A couple nights ago, I finally sat down to paint some 6mm T64s and hopefully make a little progress on those African buildings that I've been working on forever.

As I smeared the third coat of Vallejo on one of the buildings, and realized that once again, it was going to take four coats again to get relatively solid coverage, I began reflecting on the changes in hobby paints over the years.

For me these 6mm African buildings have become work.  I am really hating painting them.  Done right, each building requires several colors, often bright or light, and should frequently involve relatively complex patterns for 6mm work.  I've dumbed them down quite a bit, as the painting process has been burdensome, sometimes making me want to stab myself in the eyes with a brick.

They are disproportionately time consuming to paint, as each requires 8-12 colors, and the low opacity of many of the modern paints results in 3-4 applications of each color to get the coverage that I want. I have to take far greater care in handling with the acrylics, than my old enamels, and might get 2 single coat colors applied to a building during a session, thus it takes 20-30 sessions to paint one of these little guys.  In a busy month, I might get 15-17 sessions, in a lean month maybe 3.  

Part of the problem is the texture of most of the walls of the buildings, which is pretty smooth.  The surface doesn't take the paint as well.  Another issue, is that the primer that I had been using for quite some time was changed, new and improved supposedly.  The new version almost seems to repel the paint.  As a result, during the painting of these, I've experimented with four new primers (white, light grey, and dark grey), none of which seem to take the paint as well as my old, discontinued primer.

I experimented with spraying clear-coat over the primer, to see if that produced a better (maybe more coarse) surface for the paint.  That didn't seem to matter much, either.   Also, I've experimented with different brushes and whatnot.  None of it mattered much.

Anyway, while thinking about this, it occurred to me that thirty years ago, I didn't have this problem.  My old 1/72 scale M&M airplanes; one coat coverage.  Two at the most.  My 6mm buildings in Bristolboard or styrene; mostly one coat coverage.  And I didn't have to be so careful in handling the old ModelMatser, Pactra, and Polly-S paints (despite it being acrylic).  

So I conducted an experiment.  I have some old bottles of Polly-S, and I happen to have several old unopened bottles of ModelMaster.  I used to stock up on colors that I used, particularly when I worked at the hobby shop.  Some years back, I boxed up a bunch of these extras, and fortunately, rediscovered them recently, after finding that Rustoleum had discontinued much of the Testor's ModelMaster line.

So over the last few days, I took my old bottle of Polly-S Light Yellow, and a previously unopened bottle of ModelMaster Medium Green (dating to probably 1985-87 judging  from the labeling) and compared them to a similar Vallejo light yellow, and a relatively recent bottle of ModelMaster Medium Green.  Guess what.  One coat coverage with the old paint.  Two coat coverage with the new ModelMaster, and four coats of Vallejo did not yield as solid a coverage as one coat of Polly-S.

My sampling is small, but never the less, I draw my conclussion:  New hobby paints suck when compared to the old ones. 

I want my old ModelMaster, from before the time, when they thinned them to make them more airbrush friendly.  I want my old Pactra Military colors, they had some excellent colors that I have not found a good match for in the newer lines.  And most of all, I want my old Polly-S acrylics, they were the best.

Unfortunately, I don't have old bottles of the paints that I need for the African buildings, so I will go on dreading painting for as long as it takes to paint them.  My Imagi-nation campaign has been stalled for about 10 months already, another 10 months won't matter, I guess.

And despite the range of colors available from Vallejo, and GW, I cannot find a replacement for my Polly-S Mud, nor the Polly-Scale Dirt that I ran out of two nights ago.  I want my 10 new T64s to be shaded and weathered in the same way as the 21 old models that I painted years ago. Why is that asking for too much? 

Yes I can mix paints to match, but there will be variation, and it takes extra time.  I'm not painting one new figure, nor 5, nor 10, I'm painting thousands.  And I'm old!  Time matters.

And how come in this age of digital wizardry, the paint manufacturers can't match their own paint from one batch to another.  I have Vallejo where the new bottle simply isn't the same color as the old bottle (besides the Russian Green), and this has always been an issue with ModelMaster.  

I don't know if GW has this problem, since I don't buy enough paint from them, as their paint usually seems to dry up in the bottle between the first and second use.

And another thing, I hate dropper bottles.  When you have 300 of them on your table, and you are rummaging for that closest, but not-quite-a-color-match-for-the-old-color-that-you-ran-out-of-and can't-replace, they fall over.  Like Dominos!  They are too tall and light weight, they clog too easily, and they cause me to waste paint, paticularly when they clog momentarily, and then then half of the bottle goes bllaaahhhhttttt on the pallet. Baahhhh!

Deep Breath! 

(The little voice in my head was starting to sound like Wilem Defoe doing the Green Goblin)

Okay, so there you have it.  I liked the old paints.  I liked screw-cap glass bottles, even the plastic ones that Pactra used worked fine.  I liked one-coat coverage.  I used to like painting miniatures.

Time To Quit Whining About the USPS

SO, after going on about the USPS and their routing methods for delivery of my book, The Armies of the Warsaw Pact Nations, by Friedrich Wiener, 1976, arrived 5 days early.  My apologies to USPS for any inappropriate whining I might be guilty of.

Anyway, the book is a just a little thing, measuring just slightly larger than 4"x 6" (though with 384 pages), but is the most complete, informational volume on the Warsaw Pact forces that I've ever seen.  It starts with the organization of the entire Warsaw Pact, then goes country by country, then through the doctrine, and finally, the equipment, including apparently every truck, gun, engineering vehicle, all of the better known armored vehicles, aircraft, and ships serving in the Warsaw Pact during the mid 1970s, loaded with B&W illustrations and photos.  It is just old enough, that it does not address the T64 in the armor section. 

While not going into the depth of Isby's Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army about the primary fighting vehicles, it's scope is broader, and it better addresses many things that Isby's book barely touches on or leaves out completely, such as many support and engineering vehicles.  This book doesn't replace Isby's book, but certainly deserves to be on the shelf next to it.

It is a fantastic source answering some of my questions about Soviet forces  in Europe, adding in TO&E info dating to the early 1970s, and late 1960s that I didn't know I was missing, and touching on a bunch of soft-skins and particularly bridging equipment that I was either missing details on, or didn't even know about.

I'm amazed that after 44 years of fascination with Cold War and CW games, and with literally 200 volumes about it on the shelf, I never heard of this amazing source before this week.

Anyway, for $6.00 it was an absolute bargain, and thanks to USPS for getting it here in Priority shipping time.

So I Bought This Book...

...on Amazon a few days back, from a seller in Cincinnati, Ohio  It's a used Cold War book about the Warsaw Pact forces in the 1970s that will hopefully fill in a few gaps for my upcoming games.  The book is supposed to be delivered  between July 2nd and 5th, (somehow, I feel like saying that, was a mistake).

Anyway, it is 109 miles from Cincinnati, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio, and I live just north of Columbus.  I checked the tracking information, and the US Postal System shipped it from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh, PA, 290 miles; then to Buffalo, New York, another 215 miles; and it has to come back to Columbus, another 327 miles (to our local sort facility) before arriving here.  So it will travel at least 832 miles via USPS to make a 109 mile journey.

Somehow, that just seems a little bit not right.  I'll be interested to see tomorrow, if it maybe makes a stop in Toadsuck, Arkansas, or maybe Chugwater, Wyoming, before coming back to Ohio.

Well, that's all I've got.  A mild whine, while waiting for the book, so that I can move on to the next step in my Cold War adventure.