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.
Administrative, General

When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.

Leave a comment

IMG_1711
This morning I drove by Winn-Dixie and wished that I was living somewhere I could not drive past Winn-Dixie. I miss snow. I suspect that snow is one of those things I will never see again. For some reason, the more I try to repair my life, the less time I have. I finished painting a lone regiment of figures and felt I had accomplished some major feat when it used to be a regular occurrence.

I do not think I ever stopped to catalog my life the way I am now cataloging the miniatures and rule books that overflow boxes and spill out everywhere. Cataloging it I would say that I do not accomplish as much as I did in the past. Even little accomplishments seem out of reach. One wishes for the stray day at home knowing they are becoming less and less likely. Today, I hopefully carried in a drawing pad and a box of pastels and now I wonder if I will even touch them.

I suppose the beauty of leading an isolated childhood is that one always has inner places to go to where there is some satisfaction to be had no matter what the world becomes. Still, I wish I had more time and more snow.

Administrative, General

Wishful Thinking

Leave a comment

IMG_1803

The weather is nice outside.   There are large and small angry dogs barking.  But no one is berating me for my stupidity or anything else at the moment so the day is a passable one.

I have returned from a lengthy ocean voyage to find little changed.  There is sadly a bottle of milk in the refrigerator.  The tiny band of Muscovy ducks has been whittled down to two.  The neighboring housing complex has put up traffic signs where they do not belong.  But overall, things are where I left them.

So now it is time to return to the modifications I have been hoping to make.  About time, too.  With all the visitors to the house gone, there may perhaps be just a little bit of time to do some work like pull out all the 1/32 plastic figures and set up a game with them or photograph some of the old figures that cross the line between toys and wargaming miniatures.

The red cat suggests my hope for the future.  I am not sure whether he will have an impact or not.  We will see.

Past, Vehicles

Thoroughbred Figures 1/600 ACW Vessels

1 Comment
The USS Roanoke triple turret monitor alongside a Union tin clad gunboat. The models dwell in that limbo between the more common 1/1200 scale for naval models and 1/300 as a lower limit on ground forces.
The USS Roanoke triple turret monitor alongside a Union tin clad gunboat. The models dwell in that limbo between the more common 1/1200 scale for naval models and 1/300 as a lower limit on ground forces.
Two Confederate ironclads. Top is the CSS Charleston. The lower ship is listed as CSS Columbia/Texas.

Thoroughbred miniatures ACW vessels are just a bit on the large size for gaming but I doubt that will stop anyone from using these, especially if they have enough space.  The range is extensive and the models well-detailed with many small pieces for some ships like the Hartford making these more of a project than most.

I first encountered these when with nothing to do on a weekend in Columbia, SC, I wandered into a toy soldier convention.  It was a small but interesting gathering.  The Thoroughbred display drew my attention more than any other.  I have been slowly gathering them since then.  ‘Then’ was likely about 12 years ago.

There are a reasonable number of rule sets available for ACW ironclads.  One likely candidate is the Ironclads games originally offered by Yaquinto.   The size of the larger ships, though, make these unlikely candidates for hexagons on all but the largest game mats.

Of course, the charm of these miniatures is the careful attention to detail.  These miniatures straddle the line between display and gaming.  Since the reality of gaming is that most gamers select a scale based on space available and cost of the miniatures, that most of these battles involved small numbers of ships and occurred in a limited area, the large size will not seem out of place.

 

Maker

Baccus 6mm

Leave a comment

Baccus 6mm

Baccus specializes in 6mm figures.  They offer an extensive range that covers some periods that are under represented while some ranges offer limited forces.  The man running the show at Baccus appears to be Peter Berry, an outspoken proponent of the smaller scale.  He has written rules sets to match.  The charming website offers a wealth of photos, how-to instruction, and painting guides in addition to the usual catalog.

Like so many miniatures companies, this one is based in England and seldom seems to travel beyond its borders.  However, Scale Creep does carry their figures in the US though it appears they may be discontinuing sales of Baccus as they have few in stock all at sale prices.

The figures come based several per block and can be purchased in bags devoted to a troop type or in army sets containing multiple bags.  The figures offer reasonable detail for such a small scale and will likely bring out the painter in anyone whose eyesight is still reasonably good.  As is the case all 6mm, the figures do best in large masses, something difficult to near impossible to achieve with larger scales.

Figures

War of the Spanish Succession French army

Leave a comment

IMG_1681

IMG_1688

IMG_1687

A small but charming group of French soldiers from the War of the Spanish Succession.  The figures are a recent acquisition and painting is progressing slowly.  The ensign in the middle as yet has no flag but the flag pole is at the ready.  The figures are mounted on small plastic bases provided in the Warlord Games ECW figures.  Each group is mounted on a stand that in 28mm would hold a single figure.

 

The figures are by Baccus, a firm specializing in 6mm.  They have more detail than other 6mm figures I own and so tend to be a bit more difficult to paint.  At this scale, any uniform detail is appreciated.  There is enough here to easily distinguish different figure types.

The War of the Spanish Succession is not as well known as later musket era conflicts.  France attempted to place a king aligned with France on the throne of Spain and England, the Holy Roman Empire, and their allies fought to stop them.  The war is best remembered for the battle of Blenheim and two allied commanders, the Duke of Marlborough and Prinz Eugene of Savoy.

A larger version including some Bavarians.
Administrative, General

Year of the Monkey

Leave a comment

Monty Monkey Cadbury Cococub
Monty Monkey, one of the Cadbury Cococubs produced by Britains as part of a free advertising giveaway for Cadbury Bournville Cocoa. The figures were designed by Ernest Aris who had illustrated the Beatrix Potter books.

 

Time for reassessment again.   Another new year in just over a month and this one involves monkeys.  I am not terribly superstitious but always check the horoscope for horses.  It is generally bad.  I have yet to encounter anything especially cheerful and assume that the cheerful news is for snakes or rats or some other annoying animal.

It is also Super Bowl Sunday and this will make yet another of a long line of Super Bowls I have not watched trailing back to the first.  It is not that I dislike football.  I just never saw the point.  I do like junk food and beer.  And sandwiches.  But the fascination of football eludes me.

Next week starts a major revision of the site.  All ten people who have visited this past year may not notice the change but it is coming.  Promise.

 

Administrative, General

This Is for All You New People

Leave a comment

IMG_3253

I thought I might write something relevant for a change. Bad form to be sure but here goes. What to do if you stumble on this page and find any interest in the subject at hand? Heed the advice offered under Figures and consider using some base counters sans troops to start with. The Junior General site offers some printable figures that can readily be used. Some are specifically created for use with the rules set De Bellis Antiquitatis which is available as a PDF at the link under the Ground Rules.

If you want more rules, consider browsing the Wargame Vault site listed on the front menu which offers many sets of free rules or consider browsing E-bay for an old set making sure you do not spend too much as sellers often believe that a set of rules is far more valuable than it is.

For figures, take a look at the Plastic Soldier Review site and consider using some unpainted plastic figures in the area you are interested in. Plastic Soldier Review also offers some interesting observations on the figures, shows what the figures look like, rates them and shows how many of each pose is provided in the box. A good starting choice might be the HAT Industrie sets 8095 French line infantry and 8186 Peninsular War British. But let your own enthusiasm be your guide.

If you are interested in getting some metal miniatures, again consider something like DBA since it requires relatively few figures for a game or try out some skirmish level game or consider some naval and science fiction games where there are relatively few pieces needed in play.

All these are suggestions. Another is simply to find a board game from one of the many companies around and try it out. A boxed board game contains everything needed for play.

One warning: some miniatures are expensive and starting an army that is going to require an outlay of several hundred dollars is a big leap especially if you plan on painting the figures yourself. A decent set of paints and brushes is costly as are figures so starting something where a single vehicle or figure could cost $50 should give you pause. Keep in mind that any set of rules can be played with nothing more than some homemade cardboard counters so try it out before the whole thing becomes a major investment.

And that is enough preachiness to start off the New Year. The baby is doing well and anything that is not fine now will soon be better.

General

Shadows of December

Leave a comment

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.

Leave a comment

IMG_2797
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

Leave a comment

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?

IMG_2685 - Copy - Copy