It has been a busy and eventful week and so the number of posts has been minimal. It is surprising though how having a few days away from the rigours of our hobby can serve to reset one’s focus. As mentioned previously, I am committed to offloading various parts of the collection with the stated intention of concentrating on the Mediterranean and so the funds raised will be suitably reinvested. Initially (and assuming it is released on time) I will look to finance the Axis and Allies: War at Sea fleets via the forthcoming expansion: Condition Zebra. In terms of actual models required the list is fairly modest but I will need them in multiples. This is not too bad when dealing with common types (e.g. destroyers) but can be expensive with the rare models. The five battle ships I need (3 x RN and 2 x Italian) will probably set me back around the £30 to £40 if purchased singly so I am hoping that the booster packs will be kind. Surplus models are then either sold off at the club or listed on ebay which serves to defray the cost a little. When a new release for this game arrives I tend to buy a number of booster packs first off and then pursue the required singles route via ebay.
One of the long dormant ideas that I have resurrected as a result of this ‘Mediterraneanisation’ of the collection is gaming in 2mm using Tim Gow’s outstanding Megablitz rules for operational level WW2 battles. I have always enjoyed WW2 in the desert and using this small scale means the full sweep of armoured actions can be portrayed relatively easily. Irregular Miniatures have a pretty good range of kit for this scale and also cover the modern era so the Six Day War and Yom Kippur; even the Gulf War(s) can be gamed. I have a number of freebie rule sets for this scale of game and am planning to also acquire both the Blitzkrieg and Cold War Commander rules by Pete Jones. These rules use a system loosely based on that used in Warmaster by Games Workshop and is very popular.
In the meantime though work continues on the Balkan Wars figures and I was delighted to see that Irregular Miniatures have now added Montenegrins to their 15mm range. It is my intention to produce representative forces for each of the major combatants – Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian and Montenegrin – at what I would describe as an inflated DBA sized army i.e. around 50 or so foot, a dozen or so mounted and guns and MGs to taste. With this latest release of figures I now have even less excuse for not completing the project!
Glad to hear things are drawing together for you there, Ogre, the only fly I'll drop in your ointment is perhaps an odd one from a 2mm afficionado such as myself, but for the desert AFVs, have you considered the 3mm efforts from Oddzial Osmy/Picoarmour? Heresy I know, but some beautiful looking stuff....
ReplyDeleteI've been tempted by the work done by Thadd over at http://leadnobleed.blogspot.com/, his Desert battlegroups in 1/6ooth are really good....
Hi SoS, Very nice but down that road lies financial ruin! I will stick with Irregular as they suit my painting technique rather better. The range of models though from Oddzial etc are really nice though!
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
Ogre
I'm uncertain where to go with my Balkan War set up. At this point I have only Bulgarians and Turks, mostly because I like their uniforms more. I've thought about adding Greeks, Serbs, etc.--fortunately Irregular covers them makes all in 42mm--but were there any battles in which forces from more than one of the Balkan League nations fought the Turks in the same battle? I guess it's not exactly a do-or-die kind of question, but knowing how every nationality in that area seems to have hated every other (and has gone to war with them at some point or other in the past 150 years), it just seems jarring to me to have, say, Greeks fighting alongside Bulgarians. I know I could have those two contestants fight each other during the 2nd War, but in that case did any of the Allied forces take the field alongside their erstwhile enemies the Turks?
ReplyDeleteI know, I know--only a real wargaming geek would even ask such a question!
Geekily yours,
Chris
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteThis is an area I am unclear on in respect of allied forces fighting together versus a common enemy. Certainly from my own perspective I am going to keep them well segregated as the historic and national enmity was legendary! Ironically the Balkans were more settled and peaceful when the Ottomans were in charge than after which is still not saying a lot! I need to revisit my sources to see if much was undertaken in respect of allied efforts at a tactical level.
All the best,
Ogre