The Pen is Mightier than the Dice........Part 2

The course has commenced and so I am staring down the barrel of 14 assignments in the next 10 weeks with a half hour tutorial session I have to run for 6 people at the end in a subject of my choice.......sweeeet!!!

Very interesting and informative thus far and I was struck by the elements of the course that could easily be applied to pretty much anything in everyday life. The Teaching Cycle for example - the stages of running a successful session - is a great example of how to structure, for instance, the design and testing of a new set of wargames rules. The stages are as follows:

1. Identify Needs
2. Plan and Design
3. Deliver
4. Assess
5. Evaluate

Not a bad plan in any walk of life really. Much to ponder with this methinks.

On a different subject entirely, club night saw another Space Hulk game - we played Mission 6: Defend - which saw the Genestealers snatch a narrow victory in turn 15 of 16. The marines were slaughtered to a man............

Next week will see Mr Fox and myself taking to the high seas with his WW1 Austrians versus the Black Sea Fleet Russians. I will try to run this with the newest version of the rules I have been working on (admittedly not for a couple of weeks now).

The Pen is Mightier than the Dice........

........Well it will be for a while now as tonight sees my first session at college where I am studying my 'Preparing to Teach in the Life Long Learning Sector (City and Guilds 7303)' course. As already mentioned, I am also studying a History A Level and will hopefully be taking my Certificate in Teaching next year. All this means busy times ahead with the ultimate prize being a new career in Adult Education. I am itching to get started and will welcome the intellectual challenge this will bring. I will not be abandoning my gaming and modelling activities - far from it - but it will mean that I will need to focus on self contained 'pick-up-and-go' games and rules etc. This means that I will be using that which I have in the collection that is ready to use at the drop of a hat. The immediate list of such things is:

1. Axis and Allies: war at Sea
2. Space Hulk and Space Hive - the rules set I have mentioned previously
3. The Balkan and Black Sea WW1 fleets
4. Ludus Gladiatorious - I have both sets of this
5. A number of boardgames I have - Napoleon, Russian Campaign and Jutland are a few that would be eligible.

Painting wise I have a great excuse to concentrate on low intensity projects - I think that my Ottoman Dirigible Fleet will need to be included in this; as will the refurbishment of the Terminator marines. I cannot see any armies being started as such; perhaps some 2mm bits if the mood takes me and the time is available. I also have a couple of writing projects on the go which I will also need to find time for.

I will making sure that the blog gets a regular entry of some description or another - as Bob Cordery, Tas and others have pointed out - a blog is a great self motivational tool as the encouragement and inspiration received from others provides a welcome spur to the completion of a project.

All in all then, and for the immediate future, the pen (or more accurately the keyboard!) will of necessity be mightier than than the dice and probably the paintbrush!

Axis and Allies: War at Sea Campaign Ideas

My earlier post concerning Axis and Allies: War at Sea had the effect of getting me reaching for my folder of ideas for this game from a mini campaign perspective. The tactical rules are simple enough for a good game that can be fought to a conclusion on a usual club night - hence the attraction for me. Between myself and Mr Fox we can field some very respectable sized fleets with all the trimmings of air power etc. I have run a mini campaign based on the Bismarck affair in the past that was very well received although the campaign map movement needed some clarification. With this in mind I am planning to use a version of the approach used by Frank Chadwick in his Command Decision WW2 rules. In this, the area of operations was reduced in scale to cover a couple of tabletops. This may sound extreme but he very successfully adapted Operation Barbarossa using this method. I have a number of WW2 naval mini campaigns in mind using this method (it certainly eases the pressure on the umpire and cuts down on a lot of paperwork) as follows:

1. Arctic Convoys
2. Malta Convoys
3. Japan in the Indian Ocean
4. Guadalcanal
5. The RN in the Far East East 1944/45
6. North Atlantic Breakout revisited.

Plenty of scope for actions with that little lot and the beauty of it is that the only work needed is sitting down and designing the set up - everything else is ready so no late nights painting kit for a game the next day!

Terminator Marines - dont you just love em!! Part 3

As these are currently under the brush (at least the blue marines are - the red versions will follow once these are finished) I thought it would be a good idea to describe my painting process. After the customary wash with detergent I gave the models a spray white undercoat using Halfords White Primer. Once dry I painted the model overall in Humbrol Matt 109 WW1 Air Force Blue. After this I gave the figures an overall wash with GW Blue Ink. I then dry brushed the models with the Humbrol Blue for the highlights. I have just finished painting the weapons and the breastplate eagle in Humbrol Matt 33 Black. I will dry brush the metallics over this - the gold and gunmetal from the GW acrylics range (not sure of the names of these without checking in the paint box). I have not made the transition to acrylics and most of my painting is still firmly rooted in enamels although I always use acrylic metals - simply because varnish does not seem to 'lift' the colour. I am still sorting out transfers for the models and I will of course remember to put some gloss varnish on the location of the transfer so that when applied and varnished over the 'surround' disappears. Bases will be PVA-ed and then dipped in two coats of fine sand (I still have the pot of sand that the original red marines were based with - now some 20 years old!) which will be dry brushed in a lighter shade and varnished again for protection.

I am hoping to have the blue marines ready by next weekend with the makeover on the red versions taking place after that. They will not take as long (which is just as well with college starting next week!) so I should have both forces ready within the next couple of weeks all being well.

Axis and Allies: War at Sea Flank Speed

The next release in the Axis and Allies: War at Sea collectible miniatures game is now available and has already got me reaching for the fleet lists to see what is on offer. For the RN we at last see HMS Repulse (gonna need a pair of them!) and HMS Belfast (gonna need a pair of them as well!) as well as an S class destroyer and, best of all, a Flower class corvette. There is also a Martlet for the Fleet Air Arm. I have not mentioned the KGV as we already have one as do we the Leander class cruiser. The KM get the Schleswig Holstein (a really lovely model), an Elbing class TBD, U47 and best of all, a JU 88. This will give the RN something to think about! The Pacific stuff also gets some reinforcements - the Japanese especially do quite well - Nagato, Soryu and an Oi class cruiser is not to be sniffed at! The USN get an Intrepid class carrier and sundry other items including the Arizona - I can't quite figure the rationale behind that one though. The set also sees the first of the Russians and some extra bits for the Italians and the French. A full list is available through the forum on the WOTC site (although it may have changed slightly).

I am pleased as it means that the Bismarck North Atlantic Breakout will at last have some meaningful opposition. It also means that the German plan to send out Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (Gulp!!) may also see the light of day..........................;-)

Terminator Marines - dont you just love em!! Part 2

You mat recall that I mentioned I would be giving the Terminator marines something of a makeover in order to freshen them up, as well as painting up another force of a similar size in a different colour scheme. I have now decided on the approach I shall be taking with this. The red marines will have the chest eagle changed to gold and the command figures (sergeants, captain and librarian) will have some gold trim to the shoulder pads in order to make them stand out. The weapons will also have a spruce up and will gain some transfers for effect - I have some US air force ordinance decals that will look good - warning triangles and such like.

The second force have blue as their main colour and gold for the eagle and command trim. The two forces are not designed as chapter specific although the red marines are closest to the Blood Angels. i did not bother to strip the paint from the two assault cannon and single flamer marine I needed for the blue force - sadly it has covered the detail somewhat - as I could not remember what I painted them with originally - was it enamel or acrylic? They also had a generous coat of gloss and matt varnish so I doubt if I could have shifted it with anything in any event. The assault cannon marines are not too bad but the flamer is the worst affected. He is OK at table ranges but not so great when viewed in close up. Still, I suppose being a plastic figure next to a flamer is bound to have some detrimental effect.....;-)

The final part of this revamp will be the construction of a pair of remote sentry guns (as seen in Aliens - the special edition) as I think they are a really good idea and add a little extra to the marines armoury as well as another tactical option. I have some ideas about the rules for using these weapons but I really want to add a little uncertainty as to ammunition used; thereby giving the alien player something to think about. I have raided the spares box for some suitable bits for the models and am pretty much at the construction phase for these.

All in all then, it has thus far been a pleasant diversion and just the thing I needed before the serious business of college and studying intervenes.

Defeat in Detail - The Ottoman Army in the Balkan Wars 1912 - 1913

I am a very happy gamer at the moment. The picture above is of my copy of this wonderful title now residing safely in the Rayleigh Factorium Library. For anybody interested in this period this is an absolute gem and in fact, even if the period does nothing for you then you would surely fully appreciate the level of detail, scale, scope and quantity of information contained therein. At the risk of sounding cliched - this book is one of my wargaming defining moments!

Seriously though, and whilst trying to control my breathing and to still my thunderously beating heart (sorry, I must rein this in a little...) I have to say this book is an absolute goldmine of information. To give an idea of the content take a look at the chapter headings:

1. Defeat and Military Reform 1877 - 1910

2. Revolutions and the Eastern Question 1877 - 1912

3. Nexus of Disaster 1911 - 1912

4. The Thracian Campaigns 1912

5. The Macedonian Campaigns 1912

6. The Greek and Montenegrin Campaigns 1912

7. The Armistice and Military Politics

8. The Thracian Campaigns 1913

9. The Western Theater: Greece and Albania

10. Final Operations

11. Defeat in Detail: Conclusion

The book also contains an overview of Turkish aviation and even one of the amphibious operations the Turks attempted is described. There is an extensive bibliography and some 60 odd maps - both tactical and strategic in nature as well as orders of battle and whom was where and when. I am going to savour this one in no uncertain terms and the Balkan Wars project may see the light of day sooner rather than later as a result.