Random Bits of News and Commentary

Hey all,
 I wanted to check in and let everyone know this blog is far from dead, heck, it's just not as updated as "500 Miles..". That said, there is some news I'd like to relate:

 First off, a friend of mine has begun a blog, it's early, and I want to give him a good start, as he is a fellow wargamer, and Battlegroup player, so pay a visit to Panzer Mike's Miniature Gaming Place and let him know you'd love to see more from him. I will also be putting it up on "500 Miles..." as a way of letting folks know about him as he does Force on Force.

 Next, I went to Barrage in Havre De Grace, MD two weeks ago, and I got into two Force on Force games, and one Combat Patrol game. As always, I enjoyed FoF. The mechanics are solid, they make sense and while the action-reaction chain can get a bit wonky, it's not as bad as some might claim.

 As for Combat Patrol. Well, it wasn't for me. The game was far more card driven then I expected, and I spent a lot of time doing nothing, or having my plans frustrated by the cards. I get what Buck was doing, but as much as that is the friction of war...nobody wants to be the guy playing the guy who basically does nothing. The only bright spot in that game was my machine gun managed to pin down the Germans in the tower...so that was something I suppose. Lesson to myself in game design: Never design a game where a player will wind up doing nothing but twiddling his thumbs because his cards simply refuse to come up.

 I saw quite a few other games come up, and I was impressed, as Barrage seems to be becoming a nice, regional con that may give Williamsburg Muster a run for it's money. But, it's a hike from Fairfax. Next year? I am getting a hotel room with the guys.

 Here are some pics from the con so you can see what you may have missed:

 Also, I wanted to talk Dispatches. Right now, we have a theme, which is "Patton in Lorraine". We're going to do that period between September and December of 1944. While a lot of attention was to the north with the drama of Arnhem and Oosterbek, there was quite a bit of nasty fighting around Lorraine, with the encirclement of Nancy, the siege of Metz, and the ferocious battles of Arracourt, and Luneville. And..my grandfather had a ringside seat. So, I have an army list for the German Panzer Brigades of the period, and I have a scenario, but I'd love more contributions, so, if you've got something that fits the theme? Please send it along to: dispatchesbg@gmail.com

 I also attended recently the Americans in Wartime Open House which was absolutely packed this past year..and also had levels of mud that would have made Zhukov blanch. Cars were getting stuck all over and they had a duce and a half wrecker going around pulling cars out. It was...atmospheric.

 But the show was nice, plenty of reenactors, plenty of things to see and people to talk to..including the WWII Soviet folks, who put on a great show as always, including demonstrating the Red Army's "bayonet fencing" drill. I didn't do it myself, but it was neat to watch, and gives one an insight in how important the Soviets thought the bayonet was in the early part of the war.

So, it has been a very busy month for me hobbywise, thus far, and it does not appear to be slowing down, even with all the weddings and my anniversary coming up. I look forward to all of it with a big smile, and a bigger sense of joy. So, let's see where the future will take us, shall we?

Hat Anti-Tank Guns...a review....and a Photo Essay from Nokesville's Armor Show

So, as some of you know from my Battletech blog, I was recently at the National Capitol Model Soldier Society show. I will spare you the tale of how I did in competition as I have already discussed it on the Battletech blog. But, I did pick up some needed AT guns for my 20mm WWII Germans, namely some Hat Pak 36 37mm Guns (4 guns and crews for $9) and Pak 36 (r) 76.2mm (4 guns and crews for $9). They'd been well reviewed on Plastic Soldier Review, (hereafter referred to as PSR)  and the images from PSR suggested hard plastic guns...right? Wrong. I should have read the print at the bottom of the page: Plastic (Fairly Soft)

Well, I put them together during a modeling weekend at a friend's house. I was seeking to get some stuff off of my shelves and assembled before I take a bit of nuptial related hiatus. So, I managed to assemble all of the guns, a pair of early model Mk-IIIs from First to Fight (which were really, really easy to assemble, thank you Piers Brand for turning me onto them) and a pair of Armourfast M4A3 with 76mm I intend to pair with another pair of assembled M4A3 and turn into Lend-Lease Soviet "Emchas" (Yes, I know there's a difference between the A2 and the A3, but I think in this case, the three foot rule applies.), I also put together a Pak 97/38 Gun from the 50mm PSC ATG Kit.

Most of the kits went together quite efficiently, and gave me little, if any fuss. This was especially true for the First to Fight Mark IIIs. The Armourfast stuff? I needed to superglue the tracks to the hull...the model glue wasn't cutting it for some strange reason.

But the Hat guns? There was a special place in hell for those devilish things....

First, I had to superglue the guns to the carriage. Nothing else needed it..but the guns would not secure themselves. This was after I shaved the plugs and bored out the hole to make the guns fit in the first place! And this was for all the guns...the 37s and the 76s.

I won't lie..this led to a lot of frustration, and some "Let me come back to this before I toss it across the damn room" moments. But, some patience, and some english, and I got this result below:

Here is everything I put together that weekend, the M4s from Armourfast on the far left, with the First to Fight Mark IIIs right next to them, the Pak 36s in the center, and the Pak 36(r)s all around, and the PSC PaK 97/38 in the upper right.

Here is a closeup on the Pak 36(r), I had no idea really how big these guns were. they dwarf everything I have built. Perhaps my RAFM PaK 43 might be bigger when I assemble that?

So, I got the guns together. Now eventually, to paint them...that is if the paint holds...I have some ideas on that, and I think I can get it done, but I had to mount the guns before anything else...the damn things would not have held up otherwise. Honestly, I do not think I will be buying any more guns from Hat anytime soon, I still have to figure out how best to straighten the barrels.

In other news, I also attended the Americans in Wartime Museum's Open House last weekend...and I was happy to see a lot of the usual mix of ironmongery and reenactors out there. Just one problem..I think reenactor attendance was down this year. It certainly seemed that way. But, there was enough eye candy to be seen, and some new eye candy no less!


Enjoy folks, and be inspired...plenty of painting fodder to be had here!