Memorial Day

Here in the States, today is Memorial day.  For most people it is a Monday off work.  There will be lots of grilling, parties with families and friends and the opening of swimming pools across the country.

Captain John W. Maloney

The real purpose of the day is to remember the sacrifices of our service men and women in all of our wars.  As I do every Memorial day, I'm going to put up information about my good friend John Maloney.  We were Sgt's together, almost twenty years ago now.  He was a great man, and the best of us.  John is what we, in the Marine Corps, call a Mustang.  That means he was enlisted before he got commissioned as an officer.  He was a mortar man in the 5th Marines, arguably the Marine regiment with the finest fighting record, which is saying something.  When he got his commission he went back to the grunts (infantry), rising to command of his own rifle company, perhaps the most coveted position in the Marine Corps.

John left behind his wife, Michelle, and his two small children, a son and a daughter.  Please take the time to read the articles and learn more about what this day is about for those of us who have served.

http://www.militarytimes.com/valor/soldier/926995/

The Constitution, Cassin Young and Breed's Hill

We visited Boston on our way to Ireland and spent the morning at the Charleston Navy Yard.  This is the home of the U.S.S. Constitution and the U.S.S. Cason Young.

The Constitution is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat anywhere in the world.  As such it has an active duty naval crew.  One of their duties is to serve as tour guides aboard ship.  We got to see the main deck, gun deck and berthing deck.  You can peer through locked doors at officer country.  The galley is forward of a “do not cross” line (rope) so you can look at it from a distance. 

The Constitution from the rear.  She has her name painted on her and everything.

Rebel Vipers - Product Review

Product Description:  Rebel Minis recently released their small class of Mech in resin.  The VIPER comes in three different variants with two versions of each, one standing still and one advancing.  Each kit comes with the legs, the body and a sprue of the appropriate weapons options.  They stand approximately twice the height of a 15mm figure.  These are definitely light mechs.

Vipers, ready for action.

15mm Sahadeen

The Sahadeen have arrived.  They will form part of the second faction for my 15mm sci/fi universe, which is slowly taking form.

"Don't go anywhere".

A brief Adieu

No, I'm not shutting down the blog.  I'm going on vacation.  The family and I are going to Ireland for two weeks.  It should be quite the change from sunny Colorado (300 days of sun a year).  I have a couple posts queued up, if I find internet access.  I may also have some time to tap out some of my ravings musings while I'm gone.  I'm certainly planning on taking lots of pictures for terrain inspiration.

 I may even take some of the family.

Again, pending internet access I'll be viewing all of your brilliant blogs while I'm gone.

Have a great two weeks.  I will.

Year of Rules - Gruntz 15mm Sci/Fi

This is the Year of Rules, one new set checked out every month.  The Rules set for May is... Duh!  Duh!  Duh!  Gruntz!

The cover of the PDF rules v1.0.

One read through and a couple of solo practice games down and this is what I think...

Defiance Games UAMC

Look what came in the mail.  I've been waiting for this package since February.  Defiance Games has finally sorted out their production issues and gotten their production line in order.  My order of USMC, now re-named UAMC due to copyright issues, is finally here.  (Yes, you read that correctly, the United States Marine Corps has copyrighted USMC).

Look what just came in the mail.

The box, looking remarkably like what it looked like on the Defiance web site. 

This box holds twelve sprues.

Romans Completed

I have finally completed my Romans.  The last bit to be done was the shields.  The transfers gave me fits, but are worth it, in the end I think.  I also added some flowers, while I was avoiding dealing with the shields.

Command.  Additional, flowery, tufts for added awesomeness.

Battle Report - Harad vs Corsairs of Umbar

Nuradan knew something was wrong when he saw the Corsair ships approaching.  The Haradrim had fled south, crossing the river above the falls and force marching through Ithilien.  He was planning his return to Kharna when the two ships were spotted tacking up river.  The feeling of foreboding became a certainty of battle when a bolt, fired from one of the ships, killed his messenger.

As Nuradan arrayed his forces for battle, the Wraith was focused on the ships.  Nuradan would have said apprehensively, only Wraiths didn't get apprehensive.  Two boat loads of Reavers and Corsairs left the two ships.  He also saw the black hearted Numenorians of Umbar, and even horses, being ferried ashore.  Then he saw what had held the attention of the Wraith.  The Corsairs had brought another one of the Nine with them.  This day was looking darker and darker.

The battlefield.

Battlefield Academy

I have been a video gamer since the first computers appeared in homes.  I started with pong, attached to our 13" black and white TV.  Oddly, I'm playing almost nothing right now.  There is one exception to this, Battlefield Academy on the iPad.

Screen shot from the game.

Transfers

Shield Transfers.  They are a must for Romans, unless your freehand skills are much better than mine.  The Warlord Legionaries come with a sheet, and very nice looking they are too.  All you need is the decals, some water and your normal hobby tools.  What could be simpler?

 I hate them with a passion I normally reserve for living things.

Collecting to an Order of Battle

When I am thinking about collecting historical miniatures I like to pick a battle, research the order of battle present, then collect towards that.  It gives me structure and form.  Of course I'm willing to deviate from that when a unit is just too cool to leave out.

Monthly Retrospective 3

Month four of 2012 is over.  This year is going blindingly fast, to me at least.  This was a productive month in some respects and not so much in others.

I started 15mm for Sci/Fi this month.  That's a big step.  I prefer 28mm models, and I'll still game in that scale.  The reasons I finally succumbed to the dark side of gaming are probably pretty familiar to all those that have already made the leap.  There is a huge, and ever expanding range of models.  They are dirt cheap.  They paint up quickly.  The terrain is much cheaper than 28mm.  There is freedom to build whatever force you want. (Technically this exists with 40k as well, but GW would have you believe that is not the case).  There are a ton of different rule sets out there.  I bought some test models, ARC fleet from CMG.  I liked them, even the infantry.  So I ordered a bunch of Sahadeen and two Vipers from Rebel Minis.  Those arrived yesterday and look very nice as well.  I'll be doing a review on them as I assemble them.  I'll need to put in another order to CMG to flesh out the first order, but that will give me two armies to game with.

Painted CMG ARC Fleet

Painted Romans

I have painted my first box of Romans.  I still need to put the decals on the shields and attach them, but I'm counting these as painted for April.

Command

Completed 15mm Sci/Fi

I have completed my first batch of 15mm figures.  These were a nice change of pace from 28mm.  Much faster to get done but still with nice detail.

Bike, Grav Scout and two of the infantry.

I have, deliberately, gone with a darker color scheme on these models.  We'll see how it looks on the table, but most of my armies are pretty light.  This is a departure for me.

15mm Terrain

Hobby Lobby carries a line of scenic pieces for kid's school projects.  They are small kits to dress up a diorama.  I was in picking up some Liquitex, for 15mm basing, and saw a set on clearance for $3.00.

The first 15mm terrain, with CMG Recon Trooper for scale.

The set came with two wind turbines and two solar panels.  The stands for the solar panels were broken, which is probably why it was on clearance.  That's ok because I don't plan on having them as stand alone pieces anyway.  The two wind turbines will go on some big round bases.  The two solar panels will go on the roofs of two different foam core buildings, to "sci/fi" them up.  The rear panels for the solar panels will go on the walls to the same effect.

Romans!

I have assembled the first box of Warlord Romans.  I have two of the boxes of twenty Legionaries with a scorpion.  This is one, out of the way.

Box art from Warlord Games.

15mm Sci/Fi III

I was so taken with the CMG models that I just had to get some paint on them and see how they looked.  I am going to be basing the infantry on washers.  That will allow me to transport them with magnets.  I don't have any washers of the appropriate size so I was not able to get them based and, therefore, basecoated.  The grav scout and the bike, on the other hand, were ready to go.

The CMG Grav Scout.

I'm very pleased with how this came out.

Celts!

As you may remember, fascinated as you all are by all of my doings, I bought a box of Warlord Celts in February.  Rather, SWMBO bought them for me as a Valentine's day present.  They arrived in March and sat for a couple of weeks.  I have finally gotten them assembled. 

A Celtic Warband, marauding across my desk.

15mm Sci/Fi II

My order from Critical Mass Games arrived yesterday.  Only ten days from shipping in the UK to arriving here.  Not bad.  This was a trial balloon to see how I feel about 15mm.  I've been staring at my FoW US Army models and trying to project from there, but I wanted to see these in the flesh.

So... how do I feel about them?  I'm happy.  There's good detail on these.  The vehicles are very nice.  The troops are small but look great.  The price is definitely a sweet spot, and it makes SWMBO happy.

 A little blurry but it does the job.  This is the first order I placed.