Books, Bugs & Butterflies

With the weather forecast to take a turn for the worse, I thought I'd do a bit of an update on what's been going on here since my last post. A real mish mash of stuff which I hope might contain something of interest for you.

Books

Two books arrived this weekend just gone and absolute crackers they are too. 

I've really enjoyed all of Dalrymple's books and so far this is an absolute cracker. It was bought for some background info for some form of planned Honourable East India Company based games. Still early days but you realise how little of this period you were taught in school. For example I didn't realise that the 'Boston Tea Party' belonged to the HEIC and that the 'Colonists' were worried that the HEIC might expand there operations to America! Certainly that last part piqued my interest for some 'what if?' games were they did land troops there, but that's for another time...

I've been a big fan of Dan Mersey's rules ever since I helped play test 'Lion Rampant' and some of the other titles too in his catalogue. I pondered about getting these but one evening whilst surfing the 'net, I came across a new copy for a price that was too good to refuse. The production values are superb as you would expect from an Osprey book. I've only skimmed it so far but am very impressed with what I've seen.

Bugs

I've never really been a fan of classic SciFi films and games, but have grown to love the HG Wells and Steam Punk milieu over the years. When 'In Her Majesty's Name' came out I bought the rules, loved the background but frankly the games were a disappointment. Shame as they promised so much. The same happened with another set of rules which for the life of me I cannot remember! But having bought Xenos Rampant I popped into the attic to dig out the figures I still had from those times.

Some 'classic?' GW plastic kits bought for 'IHMN' and never used. A bit on the large side for 10mm but would work even if a bit of a squeeze. I've always loved the 'Dreadnought?' on the left and will definitely used that in some shape or form.

I amassed a load of 6mm figures for skirmish games (mad I know at this 'scale') that did get used, but then like so many projects simply got sidelined. Looking at them now I wonder how the hell did I paint them and add highlights? I sure as hell couldn't do that now?

A good sized 15mm Platoon or Company for the ruleset that I cannot remember the name of. Demo'd at a show and then not used since. I had fun painting them but this futuristic look doesn't float my boat anymore.

I will probably use the 6mm figures to get some trial games in at some point just to get a hang of the rules. Ultimately my aim is some form of Victorian SciFi in the future but I have plenty of other stuff in the queue as it is.

Butterflies & 18thC India

The 'Anarchy' book above has certainly whetted my appetite for some games set in India between the HEIC and one of the many States and their Allies that they fought. I'm in full 'Butterfly' mode at present and I'm certainly having lots of fun thinking of what figures to use etc, but currently am very much in research mode. To this end I dug out the following:

Rescued from my 'to sell' pile as I hadn't remembered that it contains quite a bit of info on India (unsurprisingly) but in the period I'm exploring. I thought it only covered Victorian conflicts!

Not the best Black Powder supplement to be honest, but it does have a very useful basic set of stats for the HEIC and their Opponents.

As with many of my rules, bought somewhat on a whim. Whilst it doesn't cover the 18thC per se, there is some useful info and some good ideas that could fit into a campaign.

France 1940

Unusually for me, despite the above distractions of the 'Wargames Butterlfy', I'm managing to maintain a pretty good focus on getting stuff prepped and painted for the forthcoming campaign. I now have enough for the first scenario, which I hope to play by the weekend.

The M/C & Sidecar form the HQ for the Recce force which will be supported by these Armoured Cars. I must say painting Panzer grey at this scale is tricky to get tight, as you don't want them to be too light. I think I've found a good compromise which works well on the table.

Trucks and Pz 38's awaiting priming, which won't happen for a while as the weather is too cold.

A mix of Artillery, AA, Support Units and Half-Tracks again awaiting priming and grit on some bases. All will be required later on in the campaign.

Terrain 

My focus has been on getting troops etc ready, but I do need to make some barricades and a few decorative items for the table. Given the cold weather we are forecast these should jump to the fore in the next day or two.

You might well wonder why I have put a picture of an ASDA flannel under Terrain? Well it cost me the bargain price of £0.70 and it looks a good colour for some Summer crops in a field. I need to do an experiment to see whether I need to drybrush it to add higlights, leave it as is (once cut to size) or base it as per my other fields. I'm hoping it will look good but if not I've not exactly wasted too much money!

An In Other News

My good friend Keith Flint has recently announced the date for this years Cotswold Wargaming Day . All being well Dave and I will be putting on another game. Currently we are looking at something set in 18thC India which could be fun, hence my current research frenzy. Updates will surely follow and I hope to see some of you there this year?

TTFN.