Category Archives: General

Kvetching

Boardgames, General

Starting to bog down (pun semi-intended) with Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit (ASLSK) armor rules.

Twenty-five or so modifiers for fire combat?  Ugh.

I don’t like House Rules.  If you have to change the game there is something wrong – “Sandbox Games” excepted.

The Designer spent a lot of time figuring things out.  The Playtesters spent a lot of time figuring things out.  The Developer spent a lot of time figuring things out.

Play the game once, then start changing things?  Now you are playing a different game.

Sometimes I think one should just sell it and move on to another game, same period/situation.

Kvetch!

Talked myself into staying with it.

Vassal and Kindle and Apple Music

General

I’m beginning to enjoy Vassal.  It took awhile.

This acceptance process mirrors my experiences with Kindle and Apple Music.

I gravitated towards Kindle because many books are very cheap, it’s portable,  and I am out of shelf space.  I love paper books, but compromises had to be made.

I’m using Apple Music because I enjoy listening to a variety of music, but buying music is expensive, especially when auditioning a band by purchasing a disc (only buy used) or mp3 file that may or may not satisfy.  Now I can audition/enjoy a band by listening to its catalog.

I love paper/counter wargames.  But, I can play multiple games with Vassal, without taking up the table space used for paper games.  In many cases, the games are already set-up. Taking the game down is just a couple of keystrokes.  This saves a lot of time and effort.  I can also audition a game by dialing up a module, seeing if there are rules on-line and start pushing (virtual) counters.  Not as satisfying as paper, but still fun.

One thing I really like about Vassal is the ability to capture clear images of what’s going on.  You’ve seen my photos.   I really, really like it now because I finally “broke the code” for good images…..Screenshots.

The picture function in Vassal takes a shot of the entire game area, and will not take shots of specific areas or expanded counter displays.  But, screenshots will.

Now if I can just get proficient with using captions, icons and my cheap digital pen……

No!  No resolutions for 2025.  There are enough learning curves involved with a new game.  But, it might just happen.

Boardgame Geek Breakthrough

General

The Geek is wonderful.  Such a great resource.  But…..a real rabbit hole.

Followed a thread the other day and discovered how to modify your homepage when   logged in.

Can’t find the thread, but here’s a quick and dirty summary of what to do.

Go to the site, log-in and then hit “Dashboard” (upper left).  Then hit “Subdomain” (same area).  Scroll down list and hit “Wargames”.  Then “Edit Dashboard”.  Make your changes (use the red x’s to delete).  Then hit “Save” tab.

Easy.  You lose clutter and gain wargame-centric information.

 

Plans

General

Back from SW Wyoming.  Green River Valley in full Fall colors.  Beautiful.

Time to start digging in for Winter.  Should be a busy one wargaming-wise.  My prime projects include many of the usual suspects and are:

Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit (ASLSK) – Start grinding through #3 – Vehicles.

Great Battles Of The American Civil War (GBACW) – The Pre-GMT games, starting with a few smaller ones and work my up to Terrible Swift Sword (TSS) scenarios.  But first, Genius Boy needs to figure out where he stashed the maps.  Found the counters, but all the usual hiding places are bare.  Time to pull the shed apart.

Der Weltkrieg – Will finish up my seemingly endless Serbia-Galacia Game to refresh my rules memory and then get to the Ottomans.

VASSAL – Use this as a platform to keep muscle-memory with Empire Of The Sun.  Will play the SOPAC scenario for starters.

JET – Operation Groza with Tim.

Miniatures – This is where things get scary.  I’m thinking about painting up some 15mm Blue Moon Mexican Revolution figures for Fistful of Lead.  Add some US Cavalry, and there are some interesting scenario options.  Maybe 48 figures total.  Then….and then…more Back Of Beyond/Red Actions figures.  Again, not many…..ten (10) Partisans (can never have enough rabble), and a modest six (6) cavalry in greatcoats.  All of these figures should be relatively easy (yeah…sure) to paint up.  Block and Wash.

Finally….maybe some paper 1680’s Caribbean figures.  And, at some point I need to start playing something new.  Maybe Malta Besieged.

Finally Did It

Boardgames, General

One recurring topic over at Boardgamegeek is “Grail Game”.  This seems to be a game someone must have, but cannot either find, or cannot find at an affordable price.

I really don’t have any, but I do (did) have one game I would use the acronym “GOYAABI” for.  That is “Get Of Your Ass And Buy It.

The game is/was “Terrible Swift Sword” (TSS).  Yes, the original Great Battles Of The American Civil War (GBACW) monster designed by Richard Berg.  It was superseded by “Three Days At Gettysburg”, which has gone through several permutations as the playing system has evolved – read become more complicated – over the last thirty or so years.

I sold off my copies of the later editions of the system, and concentrated on learning/playing the original games.  Why?  Simpler and cheaper, and just as challenging/fun.

The last game I needed to complete my collection (not counting the incredibly expensive “Corinth” S&T game) was TSS.  I purchased a copy of the Second Edition – upgraded counters and maps along with updated rules,  a couple of years ago.  The copy I received lacked the Confederate counters!  Fortunately, the seller was extremely reasonable and refunded almost all of what I paid.

In the interim, I became enamored with the first edition – I like the  classic SPI Redmond Simonsen maps – and frequently checked EBay and Boardgamegeek for copies and a reasonable ($50 or less) price.  Found one last week.  Bought it, and it arrived yesterday in very good shape.  Yes!

And now, the usual refrain:  I need to get it on the table.

At Last

General, Miniatures

After finishing up the Italian Wars and Husaria figures in early January, I decided to get on with it and take care of the last of my  15mm Ottomans.  I was on a painting roll, and they were the last of my projects.

Yes, the last.  I may augment what I have, but that’s it for any large scale endeavours.  I know;  Never Say Never….

Here they are.  Now, they won’t stay in a cardboard flat.  Gave that up some years ago.  Hundreds of dollars in figures and countless hours of work left in flimsy cardboard.  No, they’ll go into a tool box.  A nice home….They’ll make excellent opponents for my late Medieval/Early Renaissance (@1450 CE) Europeans.

Going to give painting/constructing  a rest for awhile.  Work on my East Africa Renaissance Campaign, as well as get out some skirmish figures and terrain that need to see the light of day.

Quitter?

General

Came to a startling conclusion yesterday…..

Checked out the Multiman site on general principles.  Discovered a couple of new ASL/ASLSK titles were available.  Couldn’t reconcile pulling the trigger, even at pre-order discounts.

To paraphrase, “It’s a fine line between collecting and obsessing.”  I was getting obsessive about picking up ASL/ASLSK titles.  So many interesting scenarios and troop types.

I doubt that a quarter of them will get played.  The main reason is my avoidance of scenarios with vehicles.  Just another layer of too much granular complexity.

Another is that there are just so many other games to play.

Same thing happened a couple of weeks ago over at Strategy & Tactics Magazine.  Two intriguing magazine games on Russian expansion in Central Asia and the Russo-Turkish wars of the late 17th century.

Would love to have them.  But after paying well over $100, they’d just be browsed and then consigned to a box.  I already have the Red Sash games for the latter, as well as  a “Ready Box” of magazine games that have been waiting to be played for years.

I guess every gamer gets to this point.  I’m never going to say “never”, but it will be awhile before I pay for a new game.

OK, OK…..I did ask for, and received, “Malta Besieged” for Christmas.  I can rationalize that.

Missed It…..By That Much

General, Miniatures

The timing was just right.  Finish up over a year’s worth of planning and work on New Year’s Day.

I was close……but didn’t quite make it.

The genesis of all this was my decision to focus on  specific figure brands for  each period.  The next steps were to inventory all my painted lead and decide what rule sets to use.  This all occurred way back in October 2022.  The rule sets were…..

Pre-Renaissance:  WRG 6th Edition;  Italian Wars:  DBR;  Eastern European Renaissance:  Husaria.

Purchases were made, grotesque shipping charges paid,  and the painting began.

I added an even dozen Hinchliffe Sipahis, along with random German Knights, to the to-paint list.  These stalwarts had been occupying a paper sack since about 1991, but lacked mounts.

Progress was in fits and starts until mid-October, when things got serious.  To keep things moving at speed, I relied on cheat sheets like this:

The bulk of the effort  involved the Old Glory Italian Wars figures.  Painting was the least of my worries.  Figure prep involved a power drill auguring out hands for pikes, spears and halberds.  This was accomplished with White Knuckles and Cold Sweat.

The Hinchcliffe figures came with plenty of flash, requiring way too much X-Acto knife work (with accompanying loss of flesh).

To complicate things, I was running low on metal bases.  Fortunately, after several calculations I determined the quantities on hand were (just) adequate.

The culminating events would be a final base flocking and spraying the figures with gloss coat on New Year’s Eve, with all of my storage boxes (metal hand and shop tool boxes) cleaned and re-organized on New Year’s Day.

It all happened……but late on 12/31 I discovered  two lonely Sipahis and eight Arab Archers  had been missed.  OK, not that big a deal……but still.

These figures will be finished this week.  But, as they say, “Now Is When The Work Begins.”

I have to start playing with the damn things.

Expansion

General

I now have one of the most expensive wargame areas in Central Oregon, if not the state, region, nation or world.  We decided to devote one bay of the garage to our hobbies.  This involved upgrading the lighting (sorely needed regardless) renting storage some 30 minutes away, and building a storage shed (target completion date (10/21) for those chattels, as well as Coach (our Airstream RV), The Baby (2004 Audi TT Roadster), and our other  First World seldom-used-but-can’t-part-with chattels.

I now have a 4×8 surface for board games, enough for two standard size maps, with room underneath to store my various miniatures storage boxes.  I also purchased a heavy-duty metal bookcase for game storage/display.  Not even thinking about the cost per square foot.  Why ruin the fun?

Here it is…..all brand new and ready to go.

And, an In Action shot, with Kernstown on the left and Serbia/Romania on the right.,

Don’t Want To Look

Boardgames, General

Playing Fall of France (it’s that time of year) with Tim using Jet (JET?) software.  He finally talked me into it after years of cajoling.

Jet is quite an accomplishment.  While the graphics are rudimentary, and the program has its quirks, in the final analysis it is quite an accomplishment.  I marvel at how it eliminates much of the cardboard and paper drudgery.

I have the results of his German May II combats downloaded to the computer, but I can’t open it.  I’m playing the French side.  I have gained new insights as to how General Gamelin must have felt.  Nothing but bad news.  Wake up in the morning, look at the situation map and go right back to bed.  I almost did that last week after I received his May I turn combats.

I feel the same way about opening this file as I do when I hear a loud 3 AM Thump downstairs.  I would prefer not to investigate and am loathe to get the shotgun.

What makes it worse is that his well intended informational snippets contained in the body of the email are, to me, not informational but loaded with ill portent.

This apprehension  is so acute that I promised to watch a movie with my Wife this evening………