All posts by Dana

I was born in East Orange, raised in Bloomfield, and went to school somewhere around Newark until my parents launched an exodus across NJ. I have been lucky enough to travel abroad. I read, play a couple of musical instruments, like movies, and do what I can to improve a rapidly aging body and mind. I currently work in Texas and live in Florida. I have moved over two dozen times in my life. My tiny armies and navies have followed me on my march across the US. Eventually we hope to end our nomadic existence and settle in one place.
General

Shadows of December

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An overworked paper palette for mixing paints.
An overworked paper palette for mixing paints.

I think we all grow up realizing we are only temporary residents here. Reaching the late 50s, I have begun to see more clearly the possibility of an end of lease. At a younger age, I would have thought a commitment to something great would have been the best possible thing. Now, seeing how every good intention gets twisted into something awful, I wonder if playing with toy soldiers is such a bad thing. It does not cost much money, I do not get opportunities to involve myself that frequently, and no one is physically threatened by the enormous plastic and metal weapons.

On the other hand, I do not earn much in the process nor have I heard of many people having successful careers in he field. It is not something that will relegate one to some special remembrance or change the world for the better. Still, it seems that even without some material purpose it has purpose unto itself, a magical little world populated by millions all intertwined in ludicrous conflict.

December usually comes and goes quickly. I have had little enough time to even snap any of my poor quality photos of the thousands of miniatures drifting about. The Imex/Accurate figures have reemerged upstairs and are placed in serried ranks of varying colors. WarWeb shut down after failing to deliver on some 10mm Saxons. It has been an up and down time.

I found the baby strolling through the family room with my driver’s license. I suspect that she is a baby who will be into things in a big way. Right now, she has three goals: chew, bang, and hide. Life will be much more complicated when she learns to climb stairs.

Needless to say, changes continue and hopefully I will get some chance to document them in the coming quickly passing weeks.

General

I Have Plenty to Be Thankful for.

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October passed without a whimper. Tonight, I get to drive 250 miles and then get some sleep. There remains a lot to do and ever decreasing amounts of time available to do anything other than drive and sleep.

The goal this weekend is to move the scenery from Gainesville to Tampa and establish the upstairs area for some attempts at playing through the various rules sets likely starting with Joseph Morschauser’s book. It is surprising to look back on older rules and see what they got right and what they missed. I am sorting through an old Charles Grant book and surprised to find no rules summary anywhere. No wonder the old books are so worn.

I also dug out an old copy of Swords and Spells by Gary Gygax. D&D has been in its early days linked with the Chainmail rules but here Gygax tries to break free. Some of the idiosyncrasies of Chainmail remain while Gygax introduces a diceless system for combat. It is all pretty confusing and will be interesting to see in action.

But of course first I have to have the time.

General

Record Keeping

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According to the statistics compiled, there have been 1,892 malicious login attempts on this site, 588 spam comments, and only one legitimate comment. Good to sit back and keep score.

PS. Just a few hours later and we are up to 2012 malicious login attempts and 591 spam comments. Anyone want a Michael Kors handbag?

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General

Though we seemed dead, we did but sleep

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Games Workshop has tended to approach gaming in an all inclusive way, unsurprising since they sell both rules and miniatures. So there has always been a strong emphasis on painting. This book is organized in alphabetized sections which may seem odd but still works. It provides a handy short reference on painting.
The local cable company seems incapable of providing an Internet connection here so things are off to a rocky start in my new home. All I have to show for 2 weeks of ‘service’ is a bill for $80. All the paints seem hidden away and I have taken the radical step of ordering new ones. Space is very limited. The apartment is dominated by boxes. I see that I have to rid myself of some books and debris to make the next move easier. I have no illusions that it will be my last move.

I have plenty to present once things get on track including some attractive 1/1200 Renaissance ships from Valiant and Langton. I have found some interesting rules sets and am hoping to do some simple play-throughs. I will also likely expand the painting section (though as far as I can tell no one has read it) and photograph the Ral Partha Renaissance figures and the Archive fantasy figures. In other words, a lot is coming as soon as time presents itself.

General

I’m walking on sunshine

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Made the drive from Texas to Florida in time to rescue the baby from a daycare center that promises to teach her Spanish and basic math skills but apparently offers no guarantee that she will come home in one piece. In just 2 weeks, she received a large scratch breaking the skin along her ankle, bloody scrapes on both big toes, a scraped knee, a scratch on her thigh, and a bruise mark on her arm where it looks like someone grabbed her hard. The baby is just 6 months old and cannot yet crawl. The daycare workers blame the injuries on her rapid movements.

In other words, I am still on hiatus as life is restored to some sort of order.

General

And then we got more rain…

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No need to ask, I survived. After being marooned in Dallas and driving back after midnight with the storm to the east facing me down, I abandoned my car in Houston and headed the rental back home. Just as well as the photos of Interstate 45 suggested it would have been a rough ride.

I picked up the car yesterday. There were still puddles of water and wrecked cars but I got there and back. Which is all to say that there is not much else going on with me this past week.

Administrative, General

Then We Got Rain…

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It has been raining now for weeks. The ranches in the area now look like lakes with cattle carefully walking on the few dry areas left. This morning it rained. The lightning and thunder started around 6 just in time to get most people out of bed a little too early on a Monday morning.

Rain is good for gaming. There is not much else to do except watch TV, read a book, or eat large quantities of unhealthy food. Sadly, my gaming is confined to a few half hearted attempts. There really is no room to play and time is as usual very limited.

For me, the prospect of moving looms once again. I spent the weekend inspecting boxes, discarding junk, and preparing things for a trip to the Goodwill. Sadly, the rain has prevented me from taking any more photos since I remain dependent on natural light but I hope to get a little more posted in the next week.

The living room has become a sea of small boxes. The miniatures get moved by me and only me so I have stacked them where I can keep an eye on them. I will find out whether I move or not in the next few days. Moves can be exhilarating but I know this one will be a challenge.

To close what may be the last entry from my old home with a positive note, the website has been up for a year, there have been 7 malicious logon attempts and almost 500 spam comments. It has allowed me to write and in doing so focus on exactly why there is this enormous mass of boxes in the living room. No answers yet but I expect to have them eventually.

Rules

Rally Round the Flag

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From the Battleline game company also responsible for Ship o’ the Line, precursor to the popular boardgame Wooden Ships and Iron Men. Battleline rules tended to be slender and easy to follow. S. Craig Taylor who wrote these clearly played them as well so there is reasonable clarity in the presentation.

The rules use a 1 to 20 figure ratio with 4 infantry figures on a base 2″ x 1″ for 25mm figures. A standard infantry regiment is composed of 5 bases. There is provision for a commanding general but none for command at lower levels.

The rules use a standard Move-Fire-Melee sequence with an additional charge sequence at the very beginning of the turn. Everything is assumed to happen simultaneously though with movement, it is a matter of moving figures before a 5 minute timer sounds. Formations are column, road column, open order, skirmish order, and line.

Rules

Command Decision

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GDW created its be all-end all set of rules loosely patterned after a series of articles in Wargamer’s Digest. Each army’s organization is carefully worked out on a reduced scale even down to the musical bands. Scale seems intended for 1/72 figures but would work with 1/300th.

The emphasis on organization.  The first edition could atomize the organizational structure of a division-sized unit in meticulous detail but later editions dialed this back a bit.  Military bands are great but there are really no rules to accommodate them.

The rules are written for 20mm/15mm though can be adapted to smaller scales.  Ground scale is 1” = 50 yards.   Turns represent 15 minutes.  Vehicles and towed weapons represent 4 – 6 of the same.  Standard stands 3/4” x 3/4”  represent 40 – 60 men  represented by 2 figures while half stands represent 10 – 30 men represented by a single figure.

The rules offer a rich variety of terrain,  command and control rules requiring order writing, command and staff stands,  phases are, in order, command, movement, fire, close fire, morale, and close assault.  Fire is simultaneous as is movement.  Movement can be interrupted by opportunity fire.  There are also advanced rules containing such minutia as engineers, weather, and airborne assault.

Appendix I covers painting (like we need more on the subject) while Appendix II covers campaigns including an example complete with a hex map and 6 individual scenarios for those wishing to leap right in.  The action covers American and German forces in the area around Aachen. There are also ever helpful and interesting designer notes and an equally helpful index.

Two scenario books have also been published, Bastogne for western front enthusiasts and Barbarossa for the eastern front.  The game is still played with current editions my own first and second GDW editions. http://testofbattle.com/drupal-4.7.4/

Conventions

EastCon

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EastCon 1983
This EastCon was held in Glassboro College. Even so, the convention was on a small scale. Nevertheless, the people running it kept things going and there was a lot to do. The program expresses some of the simplicity of the convention. There was none of the organization of Origins. It was still fun.

Of particular interest was the Star Blazers room which showed on more or less continuous basis Japanese anime. This provided my introduction to Mobile Suit Gundam, a remarkable cartoon with surprising depth. Certainly a presentation worth seeing.
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