Second and Third of Fifteen: Easy Does It

A couple of slow days, hobby related at least... Summer came early this year, coinciding with my time off work so that means time gets spent on the garden, both working and just enjoying the fine weather. Some of that enjoying did include the Armageddon rulebook I picked up two days ago and brushing up on the Dark Eldar fluff...

One of my many DBx forces: a later Carthaginian force

On day two I did catch the start of Beasts of War's Hobby Night Live and while the guys were discussing how to build their Kattegat table, I was busy painting the bases of my Carthaginian DBx force. I guess it's been a year or two ago that I organized my massive 1/72 plastic collection and glued them onto beer mats to at least have playable forces, even if they were unpainted. But that was about it. Plans were formulated to do some solo games, but so far that hasn't come to pass. I did pick up one of those "grass mats" that pop up every year in Aldi and Lidl and cut one to a 3 by 3 foot playing field and have stocked up on other items to make the needed scenery items.

It looks just that little bit better on the tabletop.

But now things are about to happen. One of my fellow club members said he wants to give DBA a try after my vacation. So I will be painting the bases of a couple of armies, it does make a huge visual difference, even if the figures haven't any paint on them. In the coming weeks I'll have to check the rules again to prepare the scenery pieces we'll need.

But that will have to wait just a bit longer as right now I'm getting ready for Fourth of Fifteen (and beyond). Stay tuned to find out more...

As always, happy painting and gaming!

First of Fifteen. Some Light Reading

Thanks to some rare celestial conjunction my regular workschedule and a pair of national holidays leading to three and four day weekends, I was able to take just five days off and be away from work for a whopping fifteen... woohoo!!!
I have a cunning plan for a big part of this vacation, wargames related at that, but you'll have to stay tuned for that.

So to start off these two weeks I headed into town to pick up this month's copy of Miniature Wargames and to drop by in the FLGS to get the latest White Dwarf... Yes, White Dwarf... I picked up a copy last month to see what had become of this venerable publication since its latest editorial change and was pleasantly surprised. OK, it's still the Evil Empire's version of Signal, but hey, I paid for it and didn't feel ripped off afterwards.
And with EE's shifting attitudes and more open communication on the interwebs I find myself getting interested in their games again. So I was kinda planning to get a copy of Necromunda, I mean Shadow War: Armageddon. Other than the book I wouldn't need to buy anything else, plenty of figures in my collection to make warbands for about half the lists in the book.

But then there is 8th edition 40K on the horizon, a good three weeks away now. Meaning that the store owner seems hell bent on getting rid of his remaining 7th edition books. And even though I never played 7th I somehow still managed to leave with a good selection of books.
At 70% off... I just can't resist discounts like that. And over half of them actually cover forces I have in my collection, so I stayed pretty focused.

Did I mention that 7th edition 40K will be gone soon? And that people seem to dump their books at crazy prices? And that I can't pass on a bargain?
So later today I picked up a parcel with some more 40K codex books, bought through a for sale group on facebook (why oh why did I ever join it?)



I sure am not going to run out of things to read during this vacation... But light reading it ain't... Turns out that whole stack weighs a whopping 7,8 kilos...

Happy Reading (not going to get around to painting or gaming now)!!!

Till next time

It Never Ends: Tank Madness Continues

Last time I was kinda happy that my "not going to Salute sale" order from QRF Miniatures hadn't arrived yet to add even more vehicles to the build pile... Well, they have now arrived. Not that those six are a major addition: three early British Cruiser version and two Russian light tanks to give me more options for early war Chain of Command or Bolt Action armies and a single post war Unimog (that AK47 itch needs some more scratching).

Unpainted Lead! Bring out your Unpainted Lead!

However (there always is an however, isn't there?) this month they join my wargamer's version of the Easter egg hunt as I was looking for the rest of my unbuilt tank collection. I dug up 39!!!! more tanks and other vehicles, a mixture of mainly Zvezda, the early war Germans from a previous QRF sale and a few Battlefronts, Plastic Soldier Company and some Peter Pig.
There is no way in Hell I will come close to finishing all these by the end of the month... the first nice days of the year means time lost to the garden and my trip to Normandy in a good week will cut into construction too.

Does not include my DAK vehicles and some more Soviet armour.

And that is before I even mention this months purchases. You weren't seriously thinking that was going to be it for May? Living on older orders and the backlog? Silly, silly people :-)
No, I found out that the guy who sold me a bunch of Zvezda on Ebay a few weeks ago, offered the exact same ones... So what else is there to do in that case? You write him, asking for a list of what more he has stored and then buy the whole bunch... Luckily I was able to pass on the overdose of early StuGs and a KV2 to some fellow club members, leaving me with just 24 of the 29 vehicles I bought...
And as a slight distraction from all those 15mm tanks? 28mm tanks, what else? Yes, I went for the Warlord Games Heels of Steel deal, 3 tanks for £40... you gotta spend money to save money, right?

What was I thinking?

Getting ready for 1 to 1 scale Blitzkrieg?

Anyway, happy painting, gaming (and building model kits)!

See you soon! *

* Does in no way, shape or form guarantee that you will actually get to see another blog post soon(ish)... two in two weeks is just a fluke, not a well thought out plan :-)

 

Midweekender 4: Proof of Life and April Tank Madness

Ah, right on time to set a once every 7 months schedule... Man, I suck at this blogging thing...

Buying new stuff, that's where you'll see me shine. And last month was no different.
The release of 4th edition Flames of War saw me order a copy of the El Alamein starter set from The Boardgame General, mainly for the rulebook, but I could always use those tanks for some Bolt Action/Chain of Command forces and at those prices, right? That's 5 tanks...

Along came Impact 2017, a small con just across the border in Eindhoven (Netherlands) so over Joe's Bridge and along Hell's Highway I went. With my El Alamein starter still in transit I broke down and bought a second one along with the new Afrika Corps book (now at 10 tanks). Then my friend bought a few Tanks blister... turns out Henri had that game without ever telling at the club. No prizes for guessing what happened a few minutes later (now at 13 tanks)

With Salute looming QRF miniatures were giving a "not going to Salute" discount and I still had some missing army list options for my early war Chain of Command forces but as I was busy with that order I thought "doesn't Zvezda make a Matilda I too? Let's check."
So, as the saying goes, no wallet survives contact with ebay... I ended up with buying up some guy's collection of Zvezda vehicles (yes, including a Matilda I) at less than 3€ each after shipping. At those prices, right? (now at 24 tanks)

While that order was processing, the FLGS decided to run a 50% off clearance sale on Tanks blisters, just the week I planned going into town to pick up my copy of Miniature Wargames at the new's agent... For the love of Khorne...

I guess the good news is I at least got them all built... 

Yep, 32! I bought AND built 32 vehicles over the last month... Good thing that QRF still have to ship my order or it would have ended up at 38.

So, that means it's time to dig up all the other 15mm vehicles that I still have stashed throughout several geological layers of my unpainted pile, get them built as well and learn how to work with my airbrush...

As always, happy gaming and painting...
See you in 7 months?