[Rules Junkie Jim]

One thing lead to another.

Building 1/600th Airfix kits and reading the spiels about the ships with the instructions started me renting library books about WW2 naval actions, and whilst in the library I noticed Donald Featherstone’s Naval War Games. The book gave suggestions for naval miniatures, and as I’d really fallen for ironclads, I (or my mum on my behalf IIRC) ordered a few 1/1200th ACW ships from Skytrex, and I played my first game on my bedroom floor using “The Devil at the Helm” rules. I also made a few ships out of balsa that I based on pics of an Ironclad game in Naval War Games. Being a young weirdo, it was several years before I got into land-based wargames, but naval gaming is still “home”.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Mike wrote:

I used to fit flashing, the lead around rooftops on tower blocks, perched on scaffolding in Dudley and West Brom.

So Google “Dudley and West Brom flashing” and we get your picture?

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Never been hospitalised with wargames-related injuries, but I got glue in my eye once, and that was painful.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

I’d forgotten about that film – it’s bloody good, even with Ryan O’Neal in, be great to see it on the big screen. And what a fantastic line up of films that cinema has… I recommend A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. Not everyone’s cuppa, but it has one scene of Charles 12th heading for Poltava and another of him heading back, so a big hit with the horse n musket crowd, no doubt.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Ages since I’ve been to the local club, but it’s a middle-aged, middle-class, male bunch. I get the impression the average age of wargamers has increased in the last few decades, with video games (and to a lesser extent RPGs) seeing a much younger crowd, with – shock – a few women present. When I started going to a wargames club in the early 90s I was in my mid-teens and I wasn’t the youngest there, and the average age was probably 30. Now I think it’s closer to 50, with quite a few people in their 40s who haven’t gamed for years returning to play with their childhood toys (I never really stopped). Even the local GW seems to draw an older clientele.

I’m starting to feel a bit sad. Like this:  Bald, round, and sallow; your typical wargamer.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Ah well! I think H&R have quite an extensive list of things they plan to release, and I’ve noticed they also release items that they haven’t previously mentioned. Not that I’m complaining… my fingers are crossed for this fella…

http://www.massimotessitori.altervista.org/armoursite/nkindigenoustanks/chonma-songun/songun-ho.html

 

 

 

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Grizzly’s probably your best bet with the Pandur. If you weren’t fussy a WZ551 might do – H&R and Scotia do variants of this, GHQ probably does as well.

I’m not familiar with the Condor, but the 4×4 VABs I have from Scotia look reasonably like the picture on Wikipedia.

You might drop a line to H&R or GHQ to see if they’re planning on releasing actual models of these in the near future – both companies have a pretty active release schedule, so fingers crossed!

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Those MM Goths definitely have a Gondorian look about them (or vv?). And I think the mounted Parthian archers would make perfect Easterlings, though the heavy cavalry are more western – knights of Dol Amroth perhaps?

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Sounds fine…. actually I was mainly thinking how long before yet another parcel is put through the door and I get the “what-yet-another-parcel” conversation 

The cavalry look great BTW!

[Rules Junkie Jim]

I’ve never pre-ordered anything in my long and well-lived life, but might make an exception here – how long between pre-order and delivery?

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Vandering’s website seems kaput, but they sell via eBay and seem to send international orders:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHIPWRECK-modern-naval-wargame-rules-/321714646288?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4ae7afed10#shpCntId

 

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Picked these up last week and I’ve already played two quick games games using them  (incredibly fast for me!), one an attack on a mooring point guarded by troops, the other a (failed) spar torpedo attack on a large gunboat.  The land rules are particularly welcome, and I can’t wait to see the RCW supplement.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Never used it for what might be called a “fleet” action, but Shipwreck by Vandering Publishing is a very simple ruleset that has a decent go at putting modern naval warfare on the tabletop.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Rhoderic wrote:

If that’s in reference to the Golems/APEs, bear in mind that they’re in 1/144 scale and stand roughly twice as tall as a man. 

Nah, it wasn’t; more of a general observation

[Rules Junkie Jim]

I always find myself speculating as to how the hell a human being would fit inside power armour outfits as depicted in miniature. The arms frequently seem to begin too far from the body, and as for the crotch region… yikes.

I love the Microworld Games PA: they look like an armoured alien species, very cool.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

John D Salt wrote:

Also, a set of modern civilians — “modern” meaning that they are all either talking on their mobile phone, staring down at the phone in their hand, holding their phone up to take a photo of something interesting, or holding it out to take a selfie. 

Paint them with YOLO tattoos and the enemy can do whatever they like – my heavy artillery knows its duty 

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Oh, nearly forgot – I’d like Microworld Games fantasy and sci fi figures available in the UK.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Oh, you’ve done it now…. *cracks knuckles* Dear Santa…

In 3mm, I’d like to see modern scenery – blocks of flats, government buildings, factories, oil refineries, houses.

In 6mm, I guess I’d like to see the modern stuff that GHQ release also released by Heroics & Ros or Scotia . GHQ vehicles are excellent, but they’re just too big to fit with the rest of my minis. I love H&R’s new range of T54/T55 versions and I’d like to see that expanded, and maybe see the same done for the T72.  In terms of 6mm figures, I’d like to see a generic range of modern figs similar to that produced by Peter Pig in 15mm for the AK47 range. Armoured trucks would be nice, from Vietnam types to modern US and insurgent gear, I can find home for them all.

Recently I notice that Oddzial Osmy have started producing vehicles that haven’t actually gone into production yet in the real world (and might never do so!), and I’d like to see that in 6mm. For use in imagi-nation scenarios they’re ideal.

For 1/2400, I would like Russian and Turkish ironclad era ships.

Thank you, for now…

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Now THAT is an AAR!!

Does CY6 use a hex grid, or do you just need hex bases?

 

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Ha! The teacher’s away… someone really ought to put a whoopee cushion on his seat.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

I’d definitely be interested, and so would my printer.

I’d completely forgotten about Cheapass Games – Kill Doctor Lucky was fantastic fun!

[Rules Junkie Jim]

I liked Victory at Sea: Age of Dreadnoughts. It’s a (fairly) simple, fun, “buckets of dice” game – IMO opinion much better than the WW2 original.

There’s a synopsis here:

http://www.deepfriedhappymice.com/html/rd_age_of_dreadnoughts.html

The typos mentioned by the reviewer here seem to have been fixed by the time my copy was printed, and it’s also available here:

http://www.wargamevault.com/product/60727/Victory-at-Sea-Age-of-Dreadnoughts

I think A&A Games “Jutland” rules are simple, though I haven’t seen them let alone played:

http://www.aandagames.co.uk/jut.htm

There’s also a HOTT version of WW1 naval lurking on the internet…

[Rules Junkie Jim]

I’ve done all those except use an obvious stand-in model – that’s like dragging nails down a blackboard for me – yuck!

[Rules Junkie Jim]

They’re now a free download on the WRG website. There were later versions, but (IIRC) this version was considered the best.

http://www.wrg.me.uk/WRG.net/History/OLDWRG/Modern.pdf

 

[Rules Junkie Jim]

That’s the Sixfold Path to Emptyness…

[Rules Junkie Jim]

It seems to be working a treat…

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Ah balls…. there are just too many intriguing rulesets being published at the minute!

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Any:

Robots?

Power Armour?

Mini-mechs like VOTOMs??

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Wetlands are interesting to me also, not so much from a modelling perspective, but in the problems and opportunities they create for gaming. They can allow some interesting interactions between land forces and water craft, and I’ve always been drawn to that.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Not Connard Sage wrote:

man the Magister Militum site is shite isn’t it?

Yes. At the risk of sounding like I’m saying “What was wrong with Windows 95?”, what was wrong with their old site??

Their venture into 17th/18th century 3mm is very welcome though. Throw in a few Cossacks, and I’m theirs.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Post apoc rules?!?! Oh God, I may as well cave in and add Wargames Vault to my favourites bar…

It all sounds great…. and now for a confession: I know this sounds pathetic, even from a man who plays with toy soldiers, but I sometimes roll for outcomes on the tables in Five Parsecs and Every Star an Opportunity just for the fun of it.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

What’s this ” Brushfire campaign supplement” of which you speak?

This level of warfare in a modern imagi-nation setting appeals to me, it lends itself to mini-campaigns that don’t involve a lot of mental stress, time and stacks of miniatures!

 

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Those galleys look good enough to eat.

Thanks for the link to the rules, they look like something I might have a go with in a fantasy mini-campaign I’ve been ruminating on lately.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Oh, just noticed the Chinese had HEAT and HESH(!) rounds for their Type 56 85mm gun, which I think is near as dammit the same as the one in the T34.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Well, Frank Chadwick’s Combined Arms has a HEAT data row for the 85mm gun, so it must have! In those rules it’s rated as good as the 100mm HEAT round. I’d be surprised if it didn’t have a HEAT round developed for it. Jane’s Armoured Fighting Vehicles from 1979 lists only HE, HVAP and APHE (whatever that is) available.

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Nah, nothing too exciting – I was reading about the Chinese Type 58 copy of the T-34/85. It seems they added IR lights and a modified cupola with AA HMG. A bit more here:

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/China/Type-58.php

According to my Janes Armour and Artillery 1991-92 the previous edition (90-91) had a few pages about the t-34/85. Whatever I’m looking for, it’s always in the edition I don’t have!

And I just realised the T-34/100 photo didn’t stick, and it seems to have gone from the  net, so…

http://www.davidpride.com/Israeli_Armor/images/IL_Armor038.jpg

 

 

[Rules Junkie Jim]

I could swear I read something recently about upgraded t-34s… in a real book rather than the internet, too. I’ve checked a couple of likely sources, but nothing so far. I’ll keep looking!

[Rules Junkie Jim]

I know the Egyptians made a couple of horrendous-looking turret/gun “upgrades” like this one with a 100mm gun:

but I didn’t know about the laser rangefinder upgrade – who did that?

[Rules Junkie Jim]

Have a look at the old Tabletop Miniatures orcs sold by Viking Forge:

http://www.thevikingforge.net/25mm-fantasy-orcs.html

I’ve a few of these back from TTM/TTG days. They are old sculpts, but for me they’re the best 25mm orcs I’ve seen. If they were available again in the UK I might get back into 25mm gaming. They’re that good

But then everyone has their own idea of what Tolkien was describing – it’s great fun working the imagination.

Another favourite line is the old Black Tree LOTR range, now being released by Scotia Grendel:

http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Products/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=221_222_46_203

 

 

[Rules Junkie Jim]

That’s a really useful bit of battleground scenery…  that’ll force me to pick up some Pathfinders!

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