[Thorsten Frank]

Next the abandonded village of Galmbach. The place is today called Eduardsthal and is actually settled again a few metres  from the original village as some kind of hamlet (three houses and no agriculture again). Same reason as above but 50 years earlier.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galmbach_(Kailbach)#/media/Datei:Mauerreste_Galmbach.jpg

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galmbach_(Kailbach)#/media/Datei:Forsthaus_Eduardsthal_2017.jpg

Following is an interesting picture from an artificial lake from the middle ages – the village is gone but the lake is still there.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galmbach_(Kailbach)#/media/Datei:Stauweiher_Galmbach.jpg

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galmbach_(Kailbach)#/media/Datei:Stauweiher_Galmbach.jpg

https://iiif.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/image/2/b694a5f7-e0b4-448f-bef0-b4eded2c4e1e/full/!800,600/0/default.jpg

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

The following is from the abandonded village Ferdinandsdorf.
This is an interesting case. It was abandonded in the time around the late 18th and the early 19th century and not because of war or something like that but because of environmental issues – soil erosion. And the people back then managed to destroy the soil so complete that it´s still very infertile for agriculture as we tested 15 years ago (I´m not only into wargaming and trolling the net…). This site is 25km north-east of the place where I live.

(
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EnxDlQlWWM/Sh6s7BGzUQI/AAAAAAAAAQI/F7hJBxqSe_Y/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/Unterferdinandsdorf+Ruine_Bildrechte+HAHL0108komp.JPG

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Ok, another one. This time Castle Freienstein (approx 15km south from where I live. Rodenstein is 20km to the north.)

https://www.tourismus-odenwald.de/de/poi/detail/589d7508975aca0dd3a95657/
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Freienstein#/media/Datei:Burg_Freienstein06.jpg

https://www.alleburgen.de/bd.php?id=13798

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Don´t miss the english language blog in my post above.
There´s also a nice video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucTbWFPCDg

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

I don´t know if that helps but there are several castles that are in ruins and villages which were left in various centuries in my region. I start with Castle  Rodenstein. This has it´s own haunting ghost story which is closely related to The Wild Hunt. I post some pictures and links:

http://englishspeakingodenwald.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-ruins-of-rodenstein-and.html

http://www.geschichte-zu-fuss.de/rodenstein/

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Ok, sorry, for bringing this topic up again but I want to give a public opinion on this topic after reading the current issue. I thought for four days now writing this, repined with me and finally decided to do it

First, something about me: I´m a subscriber and living in Gemany. It arrived two days earlier than usual. Thursday, July 11th which was quite good.
The current issue starts with the foreword (Ahm, Mr. Treadway, what are you wearing on this picture?) anc continues with the new historical minis. The Galloglas from Antediluvian and the Walker Bulldog tank from FMM immediately caught my attention btw. Next comes a cooperative D-Day scenario which was the surprise article in the current issue. That was very inspiring in many ways.
The following article is the one on the First Age mentioned above. I´ve not read it yet but it´s definetely on the reading list. Next comes a review of the new Men in Bronze rules by Osprey which was quite interesting. I´m not really into Ancients currently but I´m not reverse aging too and what isn´t now can be in the future.
And I´m even less into shot and musket, which comes next, a scenario of the invasion of the Island of Rügen during the Great Northern War. But, for me, it´s interesting to read about that (and be very jealous of Jon Sutherland´s miniatures on the pictures).
Next, we´ve got a show report about the Broadside show. Well, as I mentioned in another post I´m not very into shows at all (there are just to few, sadly. and the hobby as a whole in Germany) and reports on them is just secondary. The pictures are nice and I discovered and recognized that SW Rebel glider that was posted a few days ago here again. As above, I´m absolutely jealous about the skills that went into the pictured minis. Respect.
(John, btw, noticed a small error in the numbers of the pics on page 33)
Following is a section about Fantasy and Sci-Fi news called Darker Horizons. That´s new (or at least I didn´t notice it in the previous issue) and that´s a good one in my opinion because that makes it much easier to look for certain things. The greatest surprise here was the short review on Reality´s Edge, a bool that´s on my shopping list (despite it´s high price).
After that comes my personal highlight from this and the previous issue, the second part of The Great Epedition, a set of rules for Francis Drake´s raiding in the New World. This is my style. And one of the projects I will get into hopefully this year. At least in some way.
One of the things that are very important for me is the Recce book review section. That´s maybe a personal problem again – but that´s one of the few places were I get some notice on interesting books. Many of the books, especially on miltary themes, published in the UK (or the USA) aren´t, sadly, in my view. And this is one of the few places I can get at least a glimpse.
Next is a review on “Panzer Putty” a masking for fast painting vehicles. Cool product. I know what followed next is hated by most people  but, again, personally I found the review on the paints rather interesting because I´m currently in the process of buying new stuff for my 28mm sci fi project.
Next is painting guide White Dwarf style. Normally I´ve got a mild dislike for such things but the theme was handy currently too.
Off-topic: I find that those minis are not named good. With the word “Raumjäger” I associate a space fighter craft and not a space-borne solider.
Ok, back to the mag. Next is an article which I think is rather ineptly named. One could use this as a fantasy house. But it´s rather a Tudor-style one – the title alone may history affine people turn this page over which would be rather sad. You can find this style of housing in many old town quarters.
Next comes the scratch build Star Trek shuttle. I haven´t read this article yet but the pictures look promising.
The issue concludes with Diane Sutherland´s wargaming widow column (ok, columns are even a topic this time) which always impresses me with it´s
creativity and skill.

All in all, was very interesting again and I wasn´t dissapointed by a single issue since subscribing. As always, that´s my personal opinion but I think it´s always nice to get some feedback.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

I really like that. All of it. Despite my personal dislike towards GW.  I´m surprised you aren´t using one of the modern RT like rules like Renegade Scout or Rogue Stars which would be maybe more playable than OSR.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Thank you, Mike.

Now I´ve got a new problem. Which one…. :-O

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

You are welcome!

But one question remains: Mr. Stockin, WHERE COULD ONE BUY THIS GIGANTIC BARBARIAN CUP????

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Ahm, something like this?

https://www.iliadagamestudio.com/product-page/xps-bricks-1500-pieces?fbclid=IwAR1F0jcyy1_q-9BVTgG3BPdfD_ZoX3-ynGfBY5ZOjlp1z_5-Zo2q32dEmSc

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Attack of the killer champigons, beware of the assault shiitake.

I like that!

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Deleted User wrote:

I found historical articals interesting and lead me to read more about the particular war/battle. Scifi/fantasy on the other hand are fictional there’s no facts there to learn or study.

While I fully second and support your first statement I disagree with the second. Being a sci-fi fan for forty years now and a player for over thirty I´ve got to say that I learned more about history and the world through this as if I´ve concentrated on “real” history. And it´s sometimes surprising how much real life history (and work!) goes into sci fi games/scenarios.
As I stated elsewhere, I came into the hobby through converting a WWII scenario for Battletech.
Still, real history often goes beyond what authors in the fantastic branch could think off.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

John Treadaway wrote:

Well that’s a dozen and a half responses with five dozen opinions! It’s a tough gig…

Thought the same reading them. That´s really a tough one.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Ok, I´ll add my 5cent/pence to this too.
A short background: living in Germany –  that´s important because here it´s a very small scene if you aren´t into GW and worse if you aren´t lucky and have a RPG shop with a small wargame section you won´t even know this hobby would exist. And it´s getting complicated through the WWII topic which could easily bring you to be viewed as Nazi. Playing mostly sci-fi, 6mm (and starting 28mm currently) and increasingly solo.

Having said that, I didn´t knew that the MiniWargames did still exist if there wasn´t a small mentioning in the Hammer´s Slammers group last year. I immediately subscribed after learning the mag does still exist because said RPG shop selling it doesn´t exist anymore for more than a decade now.
Fetching the first new issue out of the mailbox last year was like a home coming.
I still own a collection of old issues (with numbers in the 100s and 200s). I completely missed the Henry Hide era and can´t say anything about this time.
If I compare the themes of the old and the new issues I can´t find a real difference. The mixture is relatively similar (with a small leaning towards fantasy and sci fi today – but that´s not a real surprise) but those themes were in the mag back then too (and I vividly remember the Hammer´s Slammers/Silent Death rules mashup!).
One thing I notice is that the amount of “unconventional” scenarios is much smaller. I remember a scenario based on the book and movie A Midnight Clear which was for me the first foray into solo playing for example. Or scenarios based on 20th century wars in Africa to give another.

I very much like the current mag. The news and (book) reviews bring my attention to things I´ve not seen and (again) the market for historical military books is very small here – so if I want to read something I´ve got to go for English language books, websites and mags.
In contrary to Norm S I like historical articles. Especially on rather exotic topics because I like to get new influences and viewpoints. One of those articles, as an example, was on Dark Age/Age of Arthur in a Wargames Illustrated issue decades(?) back which gave me much to research afterwards.
Also, I´m personally very flexible when it comes to scenarios. I came into this hobby (and reading mags) by rewriting a WWII scenario for Battletech.
So I very much liked the siege train double, John.

Building and painting are also important points (yeah, I know, unpopular opinion).
One of the point´s Norm S raises is the “they ignore the market of those gamers who mainly or solely game at home alone and are limited to dining or kitchen table gamers” (and following sentences) and I very much fit into this frame. I would like to see more articles aimed in that direction but, as stated, I can live with the current topics.
One of the topics I don´t like to such an extent are the reports on shows. The last show I was in person was a heavy disappointment for me out of various reasons – but I can understand that they are a thing in the UK and that people are interested in reports on them.
(AND I´ve got a strong dislike for GW topics(again, various reasons) – if I want to read something about that there´s a mag dedicated to their stuff out there).

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Following interested ( as always!)

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Interested following!

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Jason Smith wrote:

Cool. Just making sure.

Even better – you just managed to kill two birds with one stone for me. I searched for the Marine Tactical Units for ages now. I remember seeing the Kickstarter back then. But I never found it again because I couldn´t remember the name of the company. Ok, White Dragon Miniatures – NOW I´ve got ´em bookmarked!

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Jason Smith wrote:

Oh, it’s not a problem. It just means that I have to go find them again. Also, just making sure, did you see that I already posted the minis answers, above?

Huh? Still or again awake (ok, depending where you live) – Yep, noticed that – I just wanted to express that it would´t had to be neccessary to answer it in a hurry. It would have been ok to answer when YOU´ve got the time.

Edit: Ok, still awake (just checked your blog profile).

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

@Jason Smith: Thanks for the answers!!! I know the minis question is annoying but I (we) can´t know every manufacturer or identify them immediately.
And I´m not impatient,  I don´t need answers immediately (contrary to the current culture) – I´ve got time and I can wait.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

“I see worm signs!”

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Ok. That one really got me. That´s the way I want to go too. And I´m completely impressed by the scenery. Very nice!

I´ve got LOT´s of questions right now. But I try to sort them and ask the most important now.
1. How does Hardwired handle the hacking part?
2. Do I get that right that the rules endlessly spawns opponents?
3. Was this one of the scenarios coming with the rules?
And, as alway the obvious ones….
4. From which companies are the minis?
5. Where can one buy those neat casuality markers?

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Are these Rohirim???  *duckandcover*

Nicely done, I like that.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Ok, you´ve found Grav Armor yourself in the meantime.
I also like the white and tan paint – it´s exactly that making them looking sci fi. Has some Chris Foss touch.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Amazing account. Thank you!

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Oh my… mark this – maybe this is the only time you experience something like “patriotism” from me. I love this storywise despite all the shortcomings and cheap sets.* And I´m still surprised that this came from German television.
It had all the “true” sci-fi things I miss often today: truly “alien” aliens, insubordinate heroes, gender equality, system criticism, a sense of wonder, rebellious AI, bored crews, getting many things right in space combat and and and.
BTW, if you want to understand the German mindset watch this closely (even for WWII scenarios).

* Did anybody notice the iron around 1:35???? 😀

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Mike wrote:

Funcom who did this and did Conan Exiles seem for my money, not to ‘get’ Conan.

True for sure – even the first movie didn´t get it right (but much better than everything after it). Howard had some key points in his stories like the pov´s of his characters, the sparingly use of fantastic, loveraftian, elements or even the hint of politics in the various realms.
That´s one of the reasons I have sometimes my problems with the Conan comics.
The thing I wonder about: is it even neccessary to get it right – or wouldn´t it be better to follow a more generic sword and sorcery path which get´s the feel right?
I already mentioned KEW´s Kane stories (which Wagner himself called Gothic fantasy). Another example (and in some of it´s worldbuilding much better than Howard) are Fritz Leiber´s Lankhmar (FFard and the Grey Mouser) stories. Or the Kothar novels from Gardner Fox (in which you often just have to change the names…)

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Rhoderic wrote:

Also, is anyone else getting tired of hearing that “civilisation has made you weak”?

Oh yes, me for sure. It fit´s for REH´s Conan – but I´m tired of it in any other sense. And it´s complete nonsense in RL.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Rhoderic wrote:

Angel Barracks wrote:

PRAISE BE TO APIS!

This is starting to border on fanaticism…

Even worse. Currently it´s a secret cult! 😉

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

For sure! I´m currently pouring over Borderlands 1 and 2 for terrain that I want to include in my planned 5Parsecs/5150/Outlands mashup. Yes, not new but still good. Also I want to include influences from the Elite games. Maybe I will do include something from the old Hard Nova CRPG. No Man´s Sky is maybe THE terrain generator currently available but the game is sometimes a bit “weird”. But the procedural generated flora and fauna is pure fun. Ever imagined a world where every living being is a bouncing ball? It´s even weirder than the ball alien from the Dark Star movie.

Darkest Star Games mentioned Satellite Reign which I also closely follow. The Deus Ex games are next in line for this theme.

A project that lies dormant for a few years now is a Carrier Command/Hostile Waters:Anteus Rising like game using the Horizon Wars rules (Robey Jenkins, I hope you´ve includes some naval rules into the expansion).

I have used M&B Calradia for a campaign a 7 or 8 ago and plan to come back to it sometimes in the future.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Huh, Subotai coming?

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Sadly, the cats like to play with the dices too – it´s alway interesting where I find them later (under the tv, under my bed, in the flower bed or vegetable bed). Even my big new D20 disapeared without a trace before I could use it.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

I remember  a similar case of vandalism here in Germany a couple of years back. Two of the guys lost a complete set of scenarios 8 days before an larger exhibition.
But than something interesting occured. I worked back then as a postman/mail carrier (in fact I did this nonsense for over thirty years but that´s another story) and got past their workshop of the two and stopped by.
Something amazing happened there. Instead of hate speech and depression I found the two working on a new set. As I asked them about their feelings they made an astonishing remark: Complete destruction of anything is always possible. We could have an car accident while transporting the whole things there, a fire could have destroyed everything and many other things. That wasn´t the first time and HOPEFULLY not the last as the other one remarked. They were already retired at this point and had a lot of time. They viewed it as a force of nature. Something that can´t be prevented.
In fact they managed to get their shit together so good they made second place at this event. Against all odds. Later they told me it was maybe even better losing the originals. They had the opportunity to make it better than before despite the whole work they´ve got to put into it.

I´d better had learned something at this point too. That would´ve make me a lot fewer errors in the coming years. Now, after losing many loved things over and over again, paying (mentally) the price for it, I know what they meant.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Now, it get´s interesting. The Docrafts ones you´ve linked are exactly the ones I´ve seen (and bought back then). Will give them a try. Thank you.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

I´ll have a look for the Army Painter washes. Didn´t know yet they have them in their catalog too.  Problem with the military colours is that I want to have lots of civilian figures out there. It´s rather a small problem for many of my figures (my military playing pieces will definetely go in camo anyway out of the reasons you stated) but I want to try something different with the civvies.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Have you already taken a look at EM4/Moonraker?

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Deleted User wrote:

Thorsten Frank wrote:

Ochoin wrote:

. But I wonder who the Weshesh were….

Originally from Warwickshire but their spokesman had an awful speech impediment. donald

Hm, Whitnash sounds similar. And considering the people coming from this region like Shakespeare or … Crowley.

“I did some reading on System Collapse.”

The books from Jared Diamond were real eye openers for me. Ever tried Spengler´s “Decline of the West”?

“Interestingly, Egypt, which survives whatever the catastrophe(s) were is drastically weakened and arguably never really recovers her pre-eminent position in world affairs.”

This is the true question of the whole topic. I´m astonished that Egypt did survive that at all considering all facts known to date. That points to a remarkably stable and flexible type of organisation and buerocracy which couldn´t be explained simply by stratification.

“I still like the idea of plague being one of the Bronze Age Horseman of the Apocalypse. I hope other historians pick it up & lok for evidence.”

I´m pretty sure that this was, at least, one point that led to the fall. I will definetly give the book Geof Downton linked here a try.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Deleted User wrote:

Sane Max wrote:

Maybe they fled in terror when they realised that the Sea People were in fact zombies?

Incredibly, the Zombie interpretation of history is often ignored by serious historians. donald[/q[quote quote=114530]I agree with Thorsten. Dark ages are caused by many events, leading to systemic collapse. The events feed off one another until the social structure can no longer adjust to them. It’s why Marx quipped “socialism or barbary”.

Apllied systems theory.

But I like the zombie hypothesis. Or reading another book: the Pelesets were actually giants. And maybe the Tjeker were the zombies. But I wonder who the Weshesh were…. 😀 😉

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

That´s a fun topic to speculate over and that´s something I love to speculate. I too think we´ll never no for sure  what really happened.

For me it seems like a combination of many small events that culminated in a total collapse. Maybe it started with a few bad harvests and/or crop failures leading to a questioning of the local religions and leadership. Combine that with a change of technology (iron) and craftman/artisan not being able to convert to the new technology fast enough. Add to that civil unrest and a loss of infrastructure and you´ve got an explosive mix.
The fuse is set under those circumstances.
The loss of infrastructure leads to a lesser hygiene (even the Sintashta cultural horizion and the Mohenjo Daro/Harappa horizon seemed to have an understanding of sanitation as it seems), this led to diseases and even more unrest. Let then happen some natural disasters like an earthquake and/or an volcanic eruption and it´s over.
And then local warlords see their chance. And people over the sea, peacefully trading for centuries and now with lesser income, turn to piracy….

My 5cent to this topic (and I may be completely wrong).

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

It´s quite a funny situation for me. I wargame now for nearly thirty years but never really got into the larger scales or paid much attention to my own painting. I´ve always admired the works and skills of others.
Anyway, thx for the answer.
I didn´t think about the fact that I could use them on terrain – dumb me.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Thorsten Frank]

Thx for posting this, John. I´ve got to catch the postman beforehand – because it may happen that I will get only pieces of plastic ships if he tries to insert it into the slot. Usually I get the MW on the saturdays after the release.

"In strange grammar this one writes" - Master Yoda

[Author]

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