Back from my trip and slowly cranking up the Spring/Summer planning, although the weather here is anything but Spring-like.  Lots to do and wargaming time will be at a premium.

Interesting Winter for gaming.  Emphasis on Tanks and Advanced Squad Leader.  Tanks filled the bill for a new game with fun rules, along with terrain and model building/painting projects.  ASL provided a means of playing with accumulated game inventory and expending any Christmas gift money.

D-Day at Omaha Beach and Patton’s Best were lost in the shuffle.   Stared at D-Day all the time.  Patton’s Best was sequestered in the trailer, and out of sight out of mind.

My DBA game gathered dust.  Just couldn’t get enthused about the campaign.

Write off D-Day and Patton’s Best.  Pack-em up for another day.

Intrigued by area movement games  Storm Over Arnhem and Thunder At Cassino.  Played Storm Over Stalingrad last summer and enjoyed it (but didn’t report it).  Fun, challenging and not over-complex.  So why not try these.

I’ll get that Early Renaissance DBA campaign going.  I will, I will, I will.

Just returned from four days of fishing and cycling in SE Oregon.  Nights were windy and rainy, so I spent a lot of time buttoned up reading back issues of Miniature Wargames on my IPad.  Unfortunately all those great photos and articles didn’t get me all fired up to dive back into things when I returned.

I’m messing around with Thunderbolt/Apache Leader, pushing some DBR lead, painting a few 15mm Arab houses and a mosque, even reading the flight rules for Enemy Coast Ahead, and poking my nose into Carrier.  Still, it’s just messing around.

Got to get to work…………ahhhhh, maybe that’s the trouble…..it seems like work.  Need to think about that for awhile.

Not a great time for wargaming.  Temperature in the 70’s, Baseball starting, yard work (with chainsaw) the order of the day.  Plus, a new Surly ECR to ride.  Just too many other things to do.

Still, have been hacking away at Thunderbolt/Apache Leader.  Granted, I’m beating up on the hapless Iraqis, but it is fun zipping around in an A-10 using just cannon and rockeyes.  Ground game mechanics are limited, but with a purpose.  No sense getting bogged down in that, when the simple mechanics do put pressure on you to attrit as many enemy battalions as possible, stretching your assets to the maximum, or have your airbase overrun.

Received a book on the Dambusters today.  Looking forward to getting into that and start building up knowledge for the preparation and flight phases of Enemy Coast Ahead.

Fishing and riding for the rest of the week.

Been TAD the last week.  Deployment was scheduled, but moved up 48 hours with only 45 minutes to get packed and moved.  Lots and lots of backstory.  Planned to use some of the lost time to post up here about GBACW and RedActions.  Didn’t get the chance.

Also had plans for gaming, but didn’t have the time or presence of mind to grab the right stuff.  Stuck with Ram Speed (don’t ask), and my trusty IPad with 4 years of Miniature Wargames back issues.   Also had some GoodReader PDF DTP game files.

Played two games of Ram Speed.  This is an old micro game.  The review is a little harsh, but you can get the picture.

Also played Eindekker from Minden Games.  This is a solo game of early WW1 aerial combat.  Lots of wristage, but not a bad way to pass the time.  Maybe it was the low grade virus I contracted, but it was difficult to get into the narrative.

And, despite the eye-candy in Miniature Wargames, was not seduced into buying lead to start something crazy like 6mm Napoleonics or 54 mm Wild West Skirmish.

Will be catching up on old/delayed blog business over the next few days.

Random thoughts the past few days about my wargaming being stuck in a rut. The past few months have been focused on GBACW, Red Actions!, Glory (War of Resistance) and Irregular Wars. I guess it’s time to move on to something different.

On the other hand, the consistent focus on these game systems allows me to enjoy them in some depth. There’s a tendency in our hobby to be a gadfly, moving from one period to another, accumulating lead or games that sit on the shelf or closet. I’m as guilty as anyone about that. I have cleaned up “Lead Mountain” to just a handful of figures, but the game shelf and closet is still full of unplayed games.

The temptation is to read the rules, give it a setup, play part way through and if the game doesn’t work, pack it up and put it back on the shelf. I’m trying to resist that.  Also, this repetition is a motive to get more in-depth about a period, battle, or war.  That’s why I bought Paddy Griffith’s  books.

I do own a number of games that are part of a series. That’s by design, even though I accumulated many of these games without having played one of them. Just went with recommendations I found on-line. Hopefully, I will find these games and gaming systems as enjoyable as others.

For now, I’ll stick with repetition, only with a new series of games. That’s appropriate for the New Year.

Winterizing the Airstream is one of the Rites of Fall here at The Pine Cone Lodge. While filling the water lines with anti-freeze and cleaning the interior it dawned on me that this might be a great place to set up a game. Why not? It’s heated, hooked up to electrical, has plenty of lighting, a radio with Bluetooth, and even a fridge.

The banquette table is adequate for your standard 22×34 inch map, although room for rules, charts and other game aides is modest at best. One way around that is to put copies of what you need in a binder.

This is where I’ll be playing GBACW over the next few months while listening to music and football and, perhaps, having a beverage. Plus, it frees up the 5×5 table for Red Actions! or other mischief.  Not bad at all!