Hobby Update

Well it's been some 5 weeks since my last post, so high time for a bit of an update on what has, or more accurately hasn't, happened on the wargaming front. In short real life has completely taken over things with any painting confined to the 1:1 level of redecorating which, whilst I enjoy it, does take a long time to do, certainly when you have dodgy knees and a shaky hand.

So even though there hasn't been any actual gaming or miniatures painting, my little grey cells have been working overtime as I've been painting walls etc. This has led to plenty of book purchases as well as ideas for future projects or campaigns. So without further ado and in no particular order, read on:

a real life stuff and 1:1 painting

WWII Eastern Front

For more years than I care to remember, I've been a dyed-in-the-wool NWE wargamers when it comes to WWII, with the odd foray into Italy and the Western Desert. Of late however I'be wanted to explore the Eastern Front more, certainly the period post Operation Barbarossa and pre-Operation Bagration. 

This author has had plenty of good reviews, so I thought I'd take a stab at this book and the period covered. To be honest I'm struggling to get into his writing style, so it's a bit of a hard slog, but there is plenty of info in there that is sueful for the wargamer. You just have to persevere!

An author whose books I've enjoyed, so aside from a brief flick through of this, I'm looking forward to have a proper read through and to see what grabs me from a wargames perspective.

One of the reasons I've wanted to explore this period, aside from the variety of arms and armour on offer, is to do some fighting in larger BUA's than I normally do. This will hopefully give me some new gaming challenges using BKCII and well as the excuse to buy some new toys for my games, alongside making some new terrain, for which I've already started collecting suitable items for scratchbuilding.

19thC Europe

The period of 1848-1870 has really grabbed my attention these past few years, so I thought it worth buying these titles to add to my knowledge and to give me ideas for my Imagi-Nations armies.

His book on the Wars of Italian Unification was excellent, but this one I found to be a really dull and dry read. However it does have plenty of useful snippets of info that I will use going forward. Is it worth getting? Yes but only if you see it one discount IMHO.

Outside of my normal period as it's set around 1890, this is a lovely book with superb illustrations as you can see from the front cover. Perfect for some possible Space 1899 or Invasion type wargames, both of which are on my radar. For some reason this was at a real knockdown price just because it had a slight crease on the top right hand corner. Well worth getting if this period interests you.

D-Day

Well I have plenty of books covering the landings but simply decided to treat myself to this to round out my collection and very happy that I did. It has some good info I've not found in other books covering these landings and is of course relevant for my planned 'what if?' mini-campaign.

France 1940

Rather like the above, I have plenty of books covering this period, but I've enjoyed the author's other books so am looking forward to seeing what new light, if any, this sheds on the campaign.

The Glorious Revolution

Whilst I know a good deal about the military side of this period of British history, the political side I know very little about. A quick read of a few pages suggests that I will really enjoy this and get plenty of ideas for mini-campaigns.

ACW 

The Shenandoah Campaign has always piqued my interest so when searching for books on the campaign, this one jumped out as looking to be perfect for what I want. I haven't even had chance to flick through it yet but I have high hopes.

War of 1812

I saw this mentioned on another Blog and although I have two books on the War by Stuart Asquith, this seemed a good buy given that it has 59 scenarios in it, ranging from very small raids and skirmishes, right through to the major battles. It also features some naval actions and has plenty of photos of miniatures too to help get you into the period. Currently extremely good value on Amazon.

Campaigns

I've pondered buying this book for some time as my regular followers know I like a good narrative driven campaign. A surprise voucher last week from the CiC I volunteer for to say 'thankyou' led me to finally get round to buying this. It really is a mammoth tome and beautifully presented, so I shall enjoy seeing what new ideas might grab me or inspire me for future campaigns.

Games

Now that I have some free time ahead of me given the hectic past few weeks, I hope to finally be able to christen my games room. I think a few small games to get me back into the swing of things will be the way to go and then build up from there. With my wife now on holiday until early September, I don't envisage having time for any large games, but you never know.

plans going forward, ie small games to get back into swing of things

Cotswold Wargames Day

I have been pencilling down some ideas for the scenario to play on the day, but have yet to finalise anything. Luckily I don't need to paint many units to finish enough for a decent sized force, but I want to add a few decorative vignettes that will also feature in the game. Updates to follow in due course.

Painting

This will mainly be confined to finishing everything I need for the CWD, then we will see what grabs my attention. I have pencilled in items that need painting and more figures to buy but, in an outbreak of common sense, I have postponed this until the CWD stuff is finished!

TTFN.