Back in NZ

I am now back in sunny Christchurch after spending January in Pennsylvania. Despite the best attempts of winter to stop my sight seeing, I was lucky enough to see a few places of historic and gaming interest in between my shopping trips.

 So I am placing a few snaps here as they may be of interest to others. Some of these sites are best viewed in seasons other than Winter....

First up, Fort Necessity, a bad day for Washington.

Ft Necessity: A hasty fortification build by Washington to hold off French colonial forces.

A swivel gun, as part of the reconstructed fort.

Glove for scale.

 Next up, and just now the road is the site of General Braddock's grave. The Braddock campaign was another ill fated move against the French.

The story of Braddock's burial.

A section of Braddock's road - a pathway on the original lay of the road.

The marker at the original grave site.

The present monument.

The Braddock campaign is one that has fascinated me for a number of years, so I was very pleased to be able to visit his grave.

I also managed a trip to Valley Forge - winter being a suitable time to visit, but unfortunately not the right time of year to visit the Brandywine battlefield museum.

 And of course, another site with a link to George Washington!

I can relate to this - I am currently making an AWI force.

Bayonets - a useful weapon in the AWI. Not having one was a major disadvantage.

A reconstruction of one of the Valley Forge cabins.

And of course, I went to Gettysburg again, and took lots of photos, and bought lots of plastic soldiers .....

How could this plan possibly fail?

So I had fun, and will have to visit again during warmer weather. Next post I have some AARs and some WIPs of things actually being made!

Maps and Stuff

A nine piece foam tile set bought by Kat for me!

As Archduke Piccolo noted in his comment on my last post, the photos were indeed taken on a map of Gettysburg.

It works out at being around a metre square.

I have regretted not getting one since seeing it the Gettysburg visitors center in 2008.  I was worried that it would be too bulky to take back home, given the other stuff I was carrying back.

No scale is given however.

 I plan to run a very simple game of the Battle of Gettysburg on it, using a simplified version of Volley and Bayonet.

The township itself. Unfortunately the location of the best toy soldier shops are not marked.

To continue the theme from my last post of items I purchased and had waiting for me in PA, I purchased some more Star Wars Micro Machines figures, and two Forces of Valor German trucks.

In and out of the packaging.

 The trucks are very sturdy diecast models of German Bussing-Nag 4500As, and make a nice change for my German transport park that consists of a collection of Esci and Airfix Opel Blitzs. From memory these two trucks are rated as being medium trucks under CD.

Side by side. Each truck comes with a canvas tilt and two passengers.

 I also decided to grab some cheap Imperial Naval Troopers to bulk up my Galactic Navy forces.

Imperial Naval Troopers.

More recruits for the Galactic Navy.

The final picture shows some toy soldiers my Mother in law found for me. The big grey cowboy is around 80mm high, and is a hollow cast metal figure. Some time spent researching on the internet revealed that he is a Barclay cowboy - No: 752 Cowboy with Lasso.(This link gives more information, scroll halfway down the page for a picture, and return to the main page for detailed information)

New additions to my figure collection - a Barclay Cowboy and two Bonnie Bilt GIs.

The two semi round GIs appear to be figures from a US company called Bonnie Bilt. I managed to find a blog with some information on them, but apart from that I wasn't able to find much about them. The figures are hard plastic, and are quite visually pleasing. I am sure that they will look good on one of my bookshelves.

More Twilight 2000 figures.

Soon to to opened after far too long a wait!

Before I left NZ I purchased a number of items online and had them delivered to my inlaws. Amongst the items purchased were some packets of Twilight 2000 figures - some of which were still in the original packaging. (I was also generously given a couple of Twilight 2000 US figures by Modernkiwi at "The Kiwi's figures and stuff" that I am going to paint up and post when I get back home. ModernKiwi's blog has a nice mix of GW fantasy figures and 20mm figures that is well worth checking out)

Polish Paratroopers. These were purchased loose.

Noble Knight games had a few packets in stock - both loose and in the original blister packs - at some extremely reasonable prices, so I purchased their entire stock of them. I suspect the only reason they still had them is that they had listed them as being 15mm figures rather than as 20mm. This confusion probably resulted due to the fact this range of figures was designed to be used with Roco Minitanks range of modern vehicles, as well as with plastic figure ranges. So they were listed on the packaging as being HO scale, they are actually closer to 1/76 scale.

Polish Paratroopers, or Khandist scum?

 The Polish Paratroopers will probably end up being used with Khandist forces.

Soviet Support Weapons. Straight out of the packaging.

The support weapons provided appear to be an AGS-17, and a NSV HMG. A very nice combination of weapons. These will provide a HMG stand, an AGL stand. Plus I have gained an extra tripod mount.

Soviet Support Weapons. Three crew to serve weapons, and a female soldier carrying a crate.

Next up are the two packets of Soviet Heavy weapons. In each set is meant to be three crew figures, a mortar, and an AT missile.

Soviet Heavy Weapons. purchased loose in the bag.

The first pack contains everything it should, however the unopened packet proves to be missing a key part - the AT missile launcher. The Missile launcher is probably meant to be an AT-4 Spigot, while the mortar is probably a 82-PM-41, or another Soviet 82mm mortar.

Soviet Heavy Weapons - Still in the original box, and missing the AT launcher.

Unpackaged Soviet Weapons - at least I have the tripod mount!

I plan to use the spare mount from the Soviet Support weapons set, and the tripod missing the launcher, as the basis of scratch building up two AT Missile stands, so all is not lost!

Soviet Infantry - still in the blister pack!

The officer figure is destined to be used as a high level command stand in a Soviet, or Soviet equipped force.  The other figures will probably end up being used in my Balkan hordes.

Unpackaged Soviet Infantry.

The blurb from the back of the packet.

1985? That dates these a bit! Sadly neither GDW or Grenadier are still in business.

 All in all, quite a useful bunch of figures that I am looking forward to painting up!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone reading this has a very happy 2013! Currently I am at my parents in law's house in Spring Run, PA and will be there for the next month, before returning to New Zealand in February. I should be able to make a few modeling related posts from here over the next couple of weeks.

Eagle Games: Napoleon in Europe

Last Monday night I went around to play a very relaxed social game with an old friend. We normally play various games in the Axis and Allies series, but the last couple of times we have played games from the Eagle Games 'big box of stuff' series. It's a fairly relaxed affair that follows the same general format - The game gets brought out and set on the lounge floor, while the first movie is watched, and the pressing issues of the day are discussed. Then once the second movie is started, the box is opened, and the game is set up. Once the second movie is over, the game is started. While this may seem to take a fair amount of time, it is nothing compared to the time once spent on playing Axis and Allies 2nd edition through to the bitter end.

It's a very big board - All figures are 1/72 scale.

 As there was only the two of us playing we took turns in choosing nations out of the seven powers - I was the Russo-Franco-Ottoman Alliance, while my friend was the Anglo-Austrian Spanish Alliance. Prussia was neutral in this contest of titans. We played the basic game which plays quickly. The game has three versions (and for more info click here)

France loses territory to  Anglo-Spanish Forces!

 While the evening was fun - the dice were not in favour of the Russo-Franco-Ottoman Alliance. Indeed, after losing Paris and Moscow, I conceded the game. I am currently planning to run another game with more players using the more advanced rules.

Double sixes abounded - but only when rolled by the Anglo Austrian Spanish  Alliance!

 I will also add in some more dice to the game as it only has four in the box - nowhere near enough for the masses of dice that are required for a battle in this game!

The battle board - France's last stand!

I have more stuff to post after Christmas, but it can wait! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Haradi Agitprop

"From the late 1950s, right through to the last days of the empire, the Imperial Ministry of Information produced material, such as short films, designed to portray the Imperial government in the best light to both foreign and domestic audiences. Not all of this material was subtle, and indeed some of it belonged firmly in the realms of fiction." - P.K. Brewer, A Short History of Harad, London, 2007.

I have been playing around with making movies again. This time I used pictures taken during a game with Frank to create a nice piece of propaganda. Friday is my last day of work for 2012, the next week will be taken up with frantically completing job applications, but after that I should have a few days before Christmas to spend on gaming projects! After all, it's that, or deal to the jungle that is the lawn!

Twilight 2000 Figures

I've been meaning to post these for a couple of weeks now - recently Steve gave me some Twilight 2000 figures, so I thought I would post a couple of pictures of them before they hit the Simple Green vats outside!

In the eighties it was mandatory to have the pig gunner bare chested.

 These figures are all on the small side of the 20mm range making them closer to 1/76 scale rather than 1/72 scale. The Twilight 2000 range of figures were made by Grenadier, and I can remember seeing some for sale in Christchurch in the early 1990s. I kick myself for not getting them at the time.

Multipart 20mm metal figures - clever but fiddly- note that for five  figures I have only four weapons. Something will have to be produced from the depths of my bits box.......

The Twilight 2000 range featured neat figures like Polish AK-47 armed cavalry, and cool stuff like US and Soviet support weapons. I believe these figures to be a mix of the US Infantry pack and the US Assault pack (click here for more info on the range)

Close up on the weapons - a broader mix than you would expect from 1980s US Troops.

I am quite looking forward to painting these figures up and putting them on a table sometime in the near future!