Whimsical Wednesday 5

Dashiell Hammett...
H. P. Lovecraft...

Two of my most favorite fiction writers...

If only they had teamed up for one story...

Cthulhu Noir!

Ground Scale / Time Scale for various Vietnam games

A while back, I was discussing that I was looking for rules to do battalion size actions (each stand is a platoon) for the Falklands and was toying with the idea for Vietnam as well.  So, I started looking at various modern rules sets to do battalion actions.  I think that I will finally settle for either Cold War Commander or Tank Wreck for battalion actions.  The deciding factors is that I want something that is not complex for rules and fast moving.  I just do have the time or will be able to play the rules enough to keep the rules well remembered and not have to refer back to the rules regularly during a game.

But while looking at the different rules, I started to look at ground & time scale for figuring out when I start laying out maps and noticed some interesting things that might be of interest to others.  So below is a break down of various modern or Vietnam rules for general information about scales.  I know that there more out there (like Force on Force) but these are the only ones that I really looked into or own.

I laid out the following information, if known, in this order for each rule set: Name of system and company / ideal level of command for a player / ground scale by ratio / time scale per turn / movement speed for infantry in perfect conditions / range for small arms fire / other notes

Buckle For Your Dust, Wargaming.co / Squad - Platoon / 1:300 / 1 minute / 3.7 km/h (2.3 mph) / 229m / There are two other rules sets that are included in this book, there information follows: One Brain Cell Vietnam / Platoon - Company / 1:500 / 2 minutes / 3 km/h (1.9 mph) / 300m / Mouth of the Dragon / Company - Battalion / 1:1000 / 2 minutes / 3 km/h (1.9 mph) / 300m

Chain of Command, Too Fat Lardies / Squad - Platoon / 1:120 / I have no additional information as it has not yet been released.  It is a new set of WWII rules, but should be adaptable to Cold War period and I plan to buy it when it is released

Charlie Company, RAFM / Squad-Platoon / 1:72 / I have since misplaced this rules set when I started boxing up my bedroom to be painted, but will update this when I find it back

Charlie Don't Surf, Too Fat Lardies / Platoon - Company / 1:300 / Variable time scale / max of 450' per turn / 300m+

Cold War Commander, Specialist Military Publishing (Squad level) / Company / 1:1000 / 30 minutes / 0.2 km/h+ (0.1 mph+) / 300m / (Platoon level) / Battalion / 1:2000 / 30 minutes / 0.4 km/h+ (0.2 mph+) / 600m / The movement rates is given for each successful order given to the infantry stand, so if a stand successful gets four command orders on one turn and they moved for four orders, then times their movement rate by four for figuring out their speed.  Personally, I think that there is a mistake on the time scale.  Two scales are given in the game system

Combined Arms, GDW (Regular scale) / Battalion / 1:1800 / 15 minutes / 2.9 km/h (1.8 mph) / 457m / (Alternative scale) / Battalion / 1:4500 / 15 minutes / 2.9 km/h (1.8 mph) / 450m / Out of print.  Two scales are given in the game system

Fist Full of TOWs 3, Ty Beard / 1:3936 / 12 minutes / 2 km/h (1.2 mph) / 400m / I don't have these rules, but I have the free introductory rules. 

From the Delta to the DMZ, Gomi Designs / No real scales given

Mekong...Vietnam: Riverine Warfare in Vietnam, GHQ / Platoon - Company / 1:984 / 1 minute / 3 km/h (1.9 mph) / 300m

Men of Company B, Peter Pig / Company / No  scales are really given, built into a square grid system. 

Micro Armour (R) The Game - Modern, GHQ / Battalion / 1:3600 / 3 minutes / 7.3 km/h (4.5 mph) / 457m / They have a Vietnam supplement which also provides an alternative scale for some scenarios.  There is also a free introductory version available that is suppose to rules lite

Tacspiel, Wargaming.co / Company - Brigade / 1:50,000 / 15 minutes or less / 4 km/h (2.5 mph) / 500m / Official US Army rules for Low Intensity Warfare from the Vietnam era using grid maps for analyzing tactics. Republished by Wargaming.co with additional notes

Tank Wreck, Vandering Publications (Regular scale) / Battalion - Brigade / 1:1968 / 5 minutes / 1.8 km/h (1.1 mph) / 500m / (Alternative scale) / Battalion - Brigade / 1:5000 / 5 minutes / 3 km/h (1.9 mph) / 500m / Manufacturer sells only through eBay. Two scales are given in the game system

Tour of Duty, Battlefront / Company / Logarithmic - no real scales to go by / Requires the Flames of War WWII main rules to play

Cheers, 

Sapper

'Cause I... wanna be... anarchy

I thought I should post these today because for the rest of today and the next five or six days, I will be traveling and be pretty busy.  After that, it will take me probably another week to get settled down to post anything new.

Here are three photos I staged over the weekend for a little inspiration of my 'Anarchy' project.  I so need to get my boards done so I can retake these pictures in a more suitable surrounding.  I also have a lead on where I can buy OO scale loose bricks to litter my streets!

Power to the People!

Sapper

Preparing to enforce the Riot Act

Hold the Line!

The Thin Red Line meets the Power of the People

 Finally, a sneak peek at next year's project...
 "I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior."

Progress towards Anarchy!

Well, good news finally!  My latest batch of miniatures arrived from Northumbrian Painting Services (NPS) before the weekend, so I got to check them out Sunday after I got back from Recruits.  I am pleased with them again!  Most of figures are geared towards my 'Anarchy in the UK', but also many can double duty for the Falklands. 

First group of pictures are some more Argentine soldiers for the Falklands.  The .50 caliber HMG team is from Liberation.  The gunner and loader are actually from their Israeli line where I sand down the helmets.  The third figure, the rifleman, is from the African government troops with helmets because at that time I sent these off, I had not bought the figures from the Liberation's Argentine line, which I believe is still missing the HMG team.  The photo is more infantrymen from the old Hotspur line.  The reason that they were not with the last batch of Argentine figures is the the arm with the rifle is cast separately and I misplaced them.  Since then, I found them and got them in this batch.  The one figure in camouflage is for Army Commando group.

Argentine HMG team

Argentine infantry

The next several photos are for the British army.  Most are Liberation, but there are some Hotspurs, Britannia, and Elhiem figures which I am going label under the photo if they are not Liberation's.  You maybe wondering why so many British army figures?  There are several reasons, 1) I decided to up my total force to a full company for good size Falklands games and Anarchy games; 2) some of them are wearing Para helmets and others are wearing the type '44 helmet which can be seen in the first picture below, and finally; 3) as part of the 'Anarchy' games, there will be a civil war with British soldiers on both sides, so I need a little more than a company size.  Plus, eventually, some figures will get arm bands painted on to represent different factions for the 'Anarchy' games.  I am only going to this to some leaders and support teams so the infantry can be used for both sides and reducing the number of figures needed.

Para helmet on the left, '44 helmet on the right

Carl Gustav teams

Carl Gustav teams - the one team on the far left are from Britannia

Sustained Fire GPMG teams

GPMG's for the sections

One of three Milan teams

Platoon 20's Wombat Recoilless Rifle team

British Command

Radio operators in '44 helmets

Various prone Liberation figures - L to R: GPMG with '44 helmet, sniper, SAS GPMG

Elhiem's infantry

Britannia's infantry

Hotspur's SAS

Liberation's SAS support pack

To help protect the crown from evil doers are two agents  from CI5, Brodie and Doyle.  Both figures are from Elhiem.  Also, not shown in the picture, are both of their cars that I have got from Oxford Diecast.  Now I just need a bunch of empty cardboard boxes to scatter on the board.

The Professionals: Doyle and Brodie

Next is the first of a few batches of civilians, gangsters, and rioters.  Most are old Hotspurs, but three of them are from the Elhiem's zombie line's survivors. I forgot to get a picture of the Elhiem's survivors for this blog entry.

Civilians

Hotspur's Rioters and thugs

Finally, the last photo is British soldiers in riot formation from Eureka.  NPS was kind enough to make the shields for as well.

Eureka's British army in riot gear

I got my next batch just about ready to put in the mail after a quick write up for the painting details and make sure that I have enough pennies for basing.  The main group for this next batch will be Elhiem's zombies.  I am going to get all of them done at the same time and be done with them.  The others will include more civilians and rioters from Hotspur; armed civilians from Liberation, Platoon 20, and Elhiem; another group of riot troops in DPM; more British army troops; a squad of US troops from Liberation's Vietnam line with M14's / M60 & flak vest to be used as either USMC riflemen for the US Embassy for 'Anarchy' or National Guardsmen for 'Dark Days in America'; and finally, a four person news team from Liberation.  While the news team is modern, they look relatively retro that will not stick out too bad.

Now, after my big move this weekend from GA to SC, I need to get back to making terrain for 'Anarchy'.

Be seeing you

Sapper

Whimsical Wednesdays 4

This Whimsical Wednesday is not any funny pictures, videos, or stories.  Since whimsical can mean, "acting or behaving in a capricious manner", it does not necessary need to be funny.  So I am giving you a video of Pink Floyd's "Echoes" synchronized with the ending of one of my all time favorite movies, '2001: A Space Odyssey.'  A fair warning, the video is just under 25 minutes long.  It is well worth it if you are Pink Floyd fan or a 2001 fan.  So sit back, open it up in YouTube, maximize the screen, and crank up the volume...then take a trip through space and the mind.

Open the pod bay doors, HAL

Sapper

The 2013's Spring Recruits Convention and Other News

Well, I am back from the spring Recruits convention in Lee Summit, MO, and sad to say that this might be the last one.  Dwayne who was the driving force behind the scenes has decided to retire after doing an excellent job of putting on two Recruits conventions a year for all of the 12 years.  There was a meeting held in the late afternoon about the future of Recruits, but I was not able to attended to say if there was any takers for the job.  Even if some did step up and said that they will run the conventions, we will have to wait and see if they really do follow through.  I hope they do as it is a nice little convention.

One thing that you will notice is the small number of pictures taken of the convention by me (actually below is ALL of the pictures.)  Long story as short as I can get it, I forgot my camera and left it in Georgia.  Plus, half of the pictures I took with my cell phone where so blurry that I deleted them.  Also somehow, I took a 30 minute video of the inside of my pocket which killed the battery.  Luckily, I had my cords to recharge the phone, but I was without it for almost most of the day.

Anyway, Steve H., Dave S., and I rode up Saturday really early in the morning from St Louis and arrived to sign in before the first gaming secession.  Curtis T. and Alan rode up the night before and played in a game Friday night and met us for breakfast.  We stayed for the first & second secessions, but Curtis and Allen stayed for the third.  I did not get in a game for the first secession, but got in a couple of pick-up games of ‘Love Letters’ card game with the AEG’s rep, whom I have personally known for over 20 years.  While the subject matter is different for my usual gaming taste, it is a very smooth and well thought out game and quite enjoyable.  It is part of a trilogy of games put out by AEG that revolves around a Renaissance court using the same city, characters, and story arc.

The afternoon secession, the five of us played in a WWII East Front game using 15mm figures, called The “First Tank Battle: Olita!”  It was an interesting game; however there were too many gamers in it.  So the game sort of dragged on with too much idle time, but that cannot be blamed on the GM.  He even stated that he was not expecting that many players, but didn’t want to seem rude by turning some away.

The one game that really got my attention was "Blunder at Turtle Creek", a French & Indian War game.  It is the second picture down.  The  reason that it really got my attention is that the figures that the game master is using are limited edition collector's pieces from John Jenkins Designs.  The figures normally go for $20-$30 each when they are first release and only go up in value as they go out of print!  You are looking at about $1200+ in figures just in that picture alone and that is not counting the ones outside of the picture!  He is a braver man than I am.

Before showing the pictures, on Sunday, I was able to inventory another book case and a half, move several items around so next weekend when I am back at home; I can paint another large section on my bedroom.  I am getting closer and closer to being finished, yea!

Sapper

A generic photo of the con

Blunder at Turtle Creek

Down on the Farm - 1970's Rhodesia

Battle of the Bugle

Battle of the Bugle

Assault on Station Zwei - Dust Warfare Demo

War of the Roses - Battle of Bosworth

The Thin Line in the Fulda Gap

 

 

 

A game that I didn't get the name of, but that I really like the board

Another game that I did not get the name for but I also like the board

Yep, one more game that I liked the board, but didn't get the name

Two amazing ladies are gone

I am sure most of you have already heard by now, two amazing ladies have past away today, Margaret Thatcher and Annette Funicello.  

The Last Fort to Fall - Fort Tyler, West Point, GA

As promised, I am posting some pictures up from my Easter weekend tour of the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, GA, and Fort Tyler, West Point, GA.  I was not able to get to