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jeffersParticipantI learned fluent Japanese by reading Commando books.
“Banzai!”, “By Shinto!” and “Aiiieeeeeeee!” will cover any situation you find yourself in.
And with that, I depart from this forum. Live happy, one and all!
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jeffersParticipantNo, but my lips move.
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20/04/2022 at 21:39 in reply to: What’s the best way to prime baked Sculpey/Fimo polymer clays? #171740jeffersParticipantYep. Whatever you use on plastic will work on Fimo.
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jeffersParticipantI can’t see anything silly here at all… 😁
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20/04/2022 at 19:29 in reply to: What’s the best way to prime baked Sculpey/Fimo polymer clays? #171730jeffersParticipantTreat it like plastic: prime & paint as usual.
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jeffersParticipantJim +1.
I would be happy to attend a trader only show, but I think a wargaming show without a wargame would lack a certain something.
By the way, I’ve attended shows with participation games, demo games and as a trader so I appreciate the work that goes in to all three.
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jeffersParticipantOf course the beams are going to be seen. Every game somebody will take the roof off and say “look – it’s got beams!”.
Superb. 👍
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jeffersParticipantExcellent set of rules.
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jeffersParticipantFor metal, it’s best to start with a ‘special metals’ primer; I use Baufix, which I get from Lidl. Then use any standard primer in the colour of your choice as a base colour. I used to use Army Painter but have recently switched to TT Combat Sprays. I’ve also happily used primer from car shops, like Halfords. But the key is the special metals primer first.
Might be worth getting on eBay and buying some cheap vehicles to experiment on. Save the GHQ stuff for best!
Hope this helps.
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jeffersParticipantI base on what I think looks good and make rules fit to my system. I stopped bothering with figure removal rules years ago.
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jeffersParticipantI can scan or photo it for you. It’s only half a page.
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jeffersParticipantSome coincidence…
I picked up a Miniature Wargames last night (Number 5 for an article on Leipzig) and at the back there is a British army list for 1958 by Bruce Rea-Taylor!
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jeffersParticipantI was going to joke “whatever was in the 1969 Dinky catalogue”. Then I found it online and realised it’s not far from the truth…
Yes, Centurions, Conquerors, Saracens, Saladins (just) and you might sneak in some Comets (they were still hanging about in the mid 60s as my father in law did his apprenticeship on them). Hawker Hunters! 🤩
Great time to do Cold War – beats the usual 80s thing.
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jeffersParticipantI remember the Steenkirke article well – it was at the back of my mind when I started my League of Augsburg collection. Great writing.
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jeffersParticipantI had the Seelowe game back in the day. I went through a board game phase in my teens starting off with AH’s France 1940 (which was ‘borrowed’ by a bloke called Graham and never returned…) which obviously led to Seelowe being a must have. After a game or two it bored me and I tried to turn it into a figure game. I produced a fabulously detailed map of the south east and that was as far as I got!
I was in a mixed RN/RAF department when Derek Robinson’s Invasion 1940 came out, so engaged in some ‘interesting in-depth discussions’ about Sealion, especially as Robinson had already supposedly trashed the RAF in Piece of Cake. 😆. Bottom line is, any invasion game needs to remove the RN in some way, else it’s one big swimming lesson for Jerry.
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jeffersParticipantI just shove ‘em in boxes in the loft.
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jeffersParticipantI thought Star Wars was ‘A Long Time Ago…’?
I think I read that somewhere.
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13/10/2021 at 14:04 in reply to: Fantasy harder than History? (alt title: “Fantasy harder than you think?”) #163140jeffersParticipant🤣
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jeffersParticipantSo if the French don’t surrender the initiative to the Prussians at Mars La Tour its the same as Wizards v Space Dragons? Hmmmm…🤔.
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jeffersParticipantMike H – Totally agree with you, although I disagree with you! 😉
Guy & Deephorse – Totally agree with you!
Andrew – Almost agree with you! I think the claim ‘realistic rules’ is in that category. Recreating a real battle on the tabletop should involve researching the real thing, which itself should bring you to respect the participants (to some degree – the SS can do one).
A-O-S – Totally agree!
There: all friendly!
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jeffersParticipantAll my early toy soldiers games were based on whatever film or Commando book was at the forefront of my mind at the time. I was also happy to use proxies, mainly because I didn’t have the right figures or they weren’t available anyway! As time went on, and I started wargaming proper, my historical knowledge grew and I began to try and make my toys look and behave more like their historical counterparts. And what I didn’t know I researched. Like most wargamers, I’ve been through the simple – complex – super complex – wife & kids – simple rules journey, but throughout my aim was to make my little metal and plastic toys do something akin to what I have read they did in real life. I have always appreciated that this is only an approximation because of the limitations mentioned above, so if it looks about right, without using the f-word (flavour 😁), then that is enough for me.
Scifant is ‘rules say green space marines get +2 against red space marines’ and that’s it. No research required. So I don’t consider historical wargames fantasy if you don’t refight an actual battle, nor would I mix periods and give Blucher a panzer division at Waterloo (like Michael Bentine did).
Quite happy to mix battles with periods as scenarios, though. I’ve done Waterloo with ACW and Isandlwana with Romans and Dacians! Let’s face it, Waterloo is just one side defending a ridge with a few farms dotted about. If you know your history you can throw a scenario together in an hour. I threw an Aspern-Essling for British v French together at club night many years ago because the chap organising the Peninsular game was ill. I knew more about 1809…
No idea where I’m going with this because I’m tired and getting old. So I’ll just stop here. All this were fields when I were a lad.
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jeffersParticipantMy hobby space is quite tidy. It’s a wooden tray from Woolworths that sits on a bookcase when not in action.
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jeffersParticipant….tumbleweed…..
Highly unlikely I will again. Can’t be bothered with solo wargaming (even if I had the room) and no club within reasonable distance. Mind you, I reckon I’ve had the best out of the hobby so no real loss.
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jeffersParticipantI think you’d have a better return buying those painted plates advertised in colour supplements.
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jeffersParticipantI introduced OHW to my old group and the gamesmanship completely disappeared. I made a couple of minor tweaks to make it more Napoleonic, but nothing that would run counter to the original purpose.
One rule I nabbed from elsewhere (V&B, I think) was the ‘free pivot’. All units move in a straight line but have one free pivot; a second costs half a move. In other words, you can shift a unit up to half a move from the current position without needing any complex rules to do it. I have two exceptions: charging cavalry can only pivot once at the start of the move and slow units – Austrian, Russian, scruffy militia etc – are denied the free pivot. This means you have to think more about placement for that devastating cavalry charge and historically sluggish armies.
I’m sure I’ve written this before, but I’m getting old.
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jeffersParticipantI still have my original Airfix Guide ACW rules by Terry Wise, although my choice now is a free set from Wargames Illustrated that I’ve tweaked a bit. Other than that it’s Neil Thomas or Rapid Fire all the way. Too busy with real life to do anything complicated.
Mind you, it’s not likely I’ll play again anyway. I could say Cambrai to Sinai and ASL! 🤣
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jeffersParticipantMy local library in Virginia Water had both volumes of Funcken’s ‘Arms and Uniforms’. It covered Ancients to the Present Day (1960s) with a very (at best) patchy accuracy, but I had them out on near permanent loan. What they did was open my mind to periods not covered by Commando books, so for that alone they were worth their weight in gold. I managed to pick up a set at the Chalke Valley History festival a few years ago and I can see why they blew my mind as a seven year old, even if I wouldn’t refer to them today. Although clearly Airfix had a copy of volume 1 to hand when they designed their Romans…
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jeffersParticipantOnly problem I’ve had with Amazon was when I ordered electric toothbrush heads and received a set of magnetic L-plates instead. Called up their service desk and was given a no-quibble refund.
Pays to spend a few minutes researching, though. I went to a seller’s own website and found the item cheaper and with free postage.
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jeffersParticipantI often ask that question but thankfully Matron always tells me.
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jeffersParticipantI used to drive past Roundway every day on my way to and from work. I’ve visited most of the battlefields in my English Heritage guide; that is one of the nearest but I still haven’t been! Familiarity breeds contempt…
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jeffersParticipantDid your dad varnish all the corners, then? My grandad was a painter and decorator. Also did scenery at Shepperton studios. He got work from Charles Laughton and George Arliss off the back of it. But I digress…
I still have Airfix Type 1 8th Army – my first Airfix figures from 1970 – which I painted circa 1977 in Humbrol and Airfix enamels. They are still in pretty good order. Type 1s, you see. Tough as old boots.
The only figures I’ve had where paint rubbed off – virtually on first contact – were undercoated with gesso. My favourite special metal primer is Baufix (I think it’s changed to Parkside now) which I used to get from the middle of Lidl (when they stock it). For hard plastic I’m currently into TT Combat sprays.
’nuff from me now.
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jeffersParticipantI was replying to Guy’s post on Airfix figures. All we had in the 70s was enamel (certainly within reach) which is why there are so many stories (mine included) about cracking, shedding, chipping etc. However, you will find the early Type 1 Airfix tend to keep their paint because they were chunky: later ‘in scale’ figures tended to be spindly so more likely to bend and crack the enamel.
Also, the key to metal figures is not varnish, it’s the use of a proper metal primer. As any good painter and decorator will tell you, it’s all in the preparation.
For hard plastic I will use anything from car primer upwards, it just depends what colour I intend to paint the model.
The only thing I found useless on all figures was Gesso. But I suppose it’s each to his own.
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jeffersParticipantEnamels are the problem with soft plastic. I always wash figures and models – metal and plastic – to get any grease off, but the key with soft plastic is to use acrylics. It covers them in a little flexible gimp suit which won’t flake off.
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jeffersParticipantRedoubts always look better with added Prussians!
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jeffersParticipantMy rules are still up on my old wiki site here: http://jefslittlewinki.pbworks.com/w/page/67177361/Nappy
I tweaked the horse & musket rules a bit to give them more Napoleonic flavour, but the ‘free pivot’ rule may help with the lack of withdrawal rules. It was a simplest way of handling manoeuvre and in keeping with the spirit of the rules.
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jeffersParticipantOne Hour Wargames is an absolute gem and yes, mental health (although from personal experience I disagree with the separation from physical health) should be discussed.
What you are doing is totally in the spirit of the book. Many years ago (1983 to be exact!) I used card strips and terrain to make myself a Pony Wars setup and after a couple of moves it mattered not that I didn’t have figures; the fun of the game took over. I’m sure it will with you too.
And, of course, if you get fed up with red and blue armies you can easily raise yellow, pink, turquoise….😆
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jeffersParticipantIs it just me, or does the Panzerjager 1 look like a prototype Dalek?
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jeffersParticipantHoots, monsieur!
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jeffersParticipantI just use an irregular shape of felt and plonk a decorative tree base in the middle. Vary the shade for density. Or because it looks nice…
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jeffersParticipantLooks great! I use Vallejo Sky Grey for my LofA uniforms in 20mm; “lighten up” is a good rule as you drop down the sizes and it shows off the colourful French facings.
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