I had hoped to get a little more painting done before the end of the year but kids have been ill and shopping for Christmas has taken more time (and money!) than planned. So in lieu of a painting update here is a reading update…
Current reading matter is Chieftains by Bob Forrest-Webb. This seems rather hard to get hold of and the cheapest copy via Amazon is £69.99! There was a copy at £30 but that went and I suspect has been re-listed at a higher price. Anyway, having bemoaned the fact and expressed a desire to obtain a copy, the Fates eventually conspired in my favour and Andy1909, who has commented here and on TMP and lives local to me (although we’ve never met), contacted me and offered me his copy. This was a very generous gesture and one for which I shall be buying him some beers when we finally do meet up!
The book covers a hypothetical WarPac attack and is mainly told from the viewpoint of the crews of a Chieftain tank and, surprisingly for what I thought was a British based book, an M1 Abrams. I’m about half way through and rather enjoying it. It has that peculiarly British feel to it in tone and characterisation and even the depiction of the US crew seems fair and not stereotypical. I’ll post a little more when I’m done. But once again, thanks to Andy for giving me the chance to finally read it.
Magazines…well, I’ve still not renewed my Wargames Illustrated subscription but I will be getting a copy of Issue 278 as the Ancient Naval rules are apparently good and there is an article on building a Carthaginian army. I’ve also taken delivery of the latest Miniature Wargames. I still like this mag.
The two columns (Steve Erdley’s High Ground and Gary Mitchell’s Dark Horizons Sci-Fi/Fantasy column) are proving a good and often entertaining read. The article on DBMM may yet get me to dig out the copy of the 2nd Edition rules I bought months ago. The WW2 article is of less interest as is the Rick Priestley interview. The article on drybrushing may come in handy as I am soon to dabble in 28mm again! The photography still leaves a little to be desired on occasion but overall I think I’ll be sticking with this.
Also landing last week was the latest Battlegames which for me is still by far the best mag around at the moment. Diane Sutherland’s articles continue to provide good ideas and with the background of their Cretan Wargames adventure has planted the seed for a trip there – wife and kids permitting. The Terry Wise ‘thoughts’ highlight what a loss the hobby has suffered and on top of the other losses over the last year the hobby has taken a real hit. I still have and read my copy of Terry’s Battle Gaming book. I don’t think I would ever play the rules now but the fun and enthusiasm that comes across is still great.
Keith Flint’s ‘New Wargaming’ article provides some food for thought on current trends in wargaming. Is the commercialisation of the hobby a good thing? I don’t think we can really complain about the opportunities now open with the figure ranges, rules, terrain etc. all easily available (at a cost!). Yes, if you run a business you are going to want to push your products and tie in customers. But it’s still a free world. We don’t HAVE to buy the stuff. So maybe some new gamers have it easy and are spoon fed their history, but I think there is a trend for some gamers to be in it for the game only and the collection of figures is just a tool to that end. When they change period, rules then the figures get sold. They are not the treasured product of years of research and painting/modelling. They are a ‘tool’. It’s not everyones viewpoint and not mine but if it’s a choice between having an opponent or not then I don’t really mind.
The mag goes from strength to strength and although this issue marked the end of the current round of Teasers I look forward to more input from Mr Grant and also to see other scenarios by other authors.
And finally, Another Slight Diversion! There is a large Imagi-Nation game planned for next April by chaps at the WD3 Forums and having secured permission to attend I am now faced with the need to paint up some 28mm Horse and Musket chappies. Now I haven’t painted 28mm for a while and as the game is likely to be more ‘Old School’ in character I wasn’t sure what to paint up for this. Whether to go for a ‘real’ Seven Year War unit or just paint up something Imagi-Nation-ary? I’ve always like the look of the Minden range of figures and this was a temptation, especially the new AWI range due in the New Year. However, as they are quite hard to get hold of at the moment, and after bouncing a few messages with Der Alte Fritz, (Jim Purkey) he very generously sent me some RSM95 Austrian figures. So I now have 36 musketeer, 6 mounted dragoons with 6 dismounted, and a mounted officer. Given my current painting rate I SHOULD be able to get these done by the end of April! They are nice figures and I’m looking forward to painting them and hope I can do them justice.
So soon you should see the progress of ‘Donovan’s Legion’, the famous ‘Savage Swans’ under the command of their fiery leader, Oberstleutnant Seamus Gunter von Donovan!
BLOG: was pleased to see the site visits pass 30000 and the Followers now at 98. If I don’t get chance to post again before the big day, Merry Christmas and thanks for viewing/commenting. Hope you all have a productive wargaming 2011!
Andy
PS. The last paragraph seemed to not appear in the first posting!
Andy
Good post.
Always a pleasure to see you have written something new. Have a god Christmas.
Ian