Are Brick and Mortar Stores Obsolete for Historical Gamers?

For the historical miniature wargaming hobby, do we need brick and mortar stores?  No.  Do I wish we all had local stores that have all sorts of stock with lots of available game tables.  Yes.

We have seen countless stores close over the years with no replacements springing up.  But I have seen lots of new boardgame/card stores open.  They seem to be doing well.  I think this is because the boardgaming hobby is growing.  General hobby stores have virtually no historical miniature related stock apart from Warlord Games (Bolt Action) or Battlefront (Flames of War).  The Sentry Box (photo below) store in Calgary is a bad example.  They have lots of historical stock.

I am told constantly to support your local brick and mortar store, but I drive to these rare stores and find nothing to buy.  At this point, it is a complete waste of time.  These days I find myself buying most of my needed miniatures and buildings from across the ocean (UK or Europe).  I don't mind.  The exchange rate is not too bad at the moment and for most of what I need I don't have an option.

The only reason I can think of the purpose of a brick and mortar store for historical gamers is a place to game.  This of course does not help the owner, because there is nothing to buy.

Maybe things will change in the future and there will be a resurgence of brick and mortar stores with lots of great historical hobby stuff to buy.  Though, I think that is a just a dream.

Operation Pedestal Game

I put together a video showing my Operation Pedestal game using the Bomb Alley ruleset with miniatures.  I wanted to use a ruleset that would move the convoy along and finish in four hours with up to four players.  I think the rules worked out very well and now I want to try/test out Midway (also by Avalanche Press).  A Midway campaign may be too predicable, but could still be interesting.  If it turns out to be a good one like Operation Pedestal, then I can see myself buying the needed miniatures (probably just the Carrier task forces).

I enjoyed painting up the ships (1:3000) for the scenario.  The ships are from NAVWAR, Davco, Mick Yarrow Miniatures and North Head Miniatures.  Most are from NAVWAR.  The planes are 1:600 from Tumbling Dice and PicoArmor.  A notable difference between these two manufacturers is the Tumbling Dice miniatures are made from a softer pewter than PicoArmor.  Both are recommended.

I want to thank Malcolm Wright again for his series of camouflage books.  They were exactly what I needed for painting up the ships.  I enjoyed painting up both the ships and planes, but the planes took a lot longer than I thought it would.  Also, the decals were insane (putting decals on 1:600 planes).  The Ju 88s for example have eight decals each.  For decals, I recommend Flight Deck Decals .com.  This company has also has carrier deck decals, but I chose to paint my decks.  I'm sure the deck decals work fine.

Link to Operation Pedestal game video:

The game was an adventure to research, paint, layout, test, and run.  I do think it was a bit too large (ships/planes) but it proved you can do a large convoy campaign.

Gateway Games for Historical Miniature Gaming

Do we have good "Gateway Games" for the Historical Miniature Wargaming hobby? We do. A gateway game is a game with simple rules that is easy to teach to a non-gamer in order to attract new players into the hobby.

Back in the day the gateway game that got me into the hobby was playing two The Sword and the Flame rules games in a single sitting.  I was hooked.

Do we have a single gateway game that we can agree on? No.  I think there are some good gateway games for certain periods.  I wish I could say I've played all these games, but based on what I know about these rules, I think they fit as current gateway games.

WWII

• Bolt Action
• Cruel Seas
• What a Tanker!

Ancients

• DBA

Colonial

• The Sword and The Flame

Napoleonic

• Black Seas

This is a small list, but all you need is any good gateway historical miniature game to get you hooked.

I think certain publishers are focused on gateway games such as Warlord Games and Osprey, which is good.  They makes for good rules to use at conventions.  Also,  skirmish games make for the best type of gateway games and shows that you don't have paint up hundreds of figures to get into the hobby.  Save the big games for later.

I'm sure you have ideas for gateway games as well.  I'd like to read your ideas in the comments below.

15mm Canadian Armoured Autocars

I have finished up two 15mm Canadian Armoured Autocar.  Not sure if I'll paint any markings on it, but I think they turned out pretty well.  These models from Battlefront Miniatures are excellent.  I do think the machine gunners are sitting a bit high based on photos I've seen.  These will make their appearance in a future Square Bashing rules 1918 scenario.

My full blog post on the Canadian Autocar: link

CMH August Club Video

In my attempt to do more photography and videos at the Colorado Military Historians (CMH) club, I had the opportunity to spend some time taking a video and do some editing afterwards (using YouTube editing).  The video should give you a sense on what a typical CMH club meeting looks like.  No shortage of action.

More Working WWII Soviet Vehicle Videos

I recently discovered some more videos showing running Soviet WWII vehicles (mainly tanks) on Facebook.  I belong to a bunch of different groups on Facebook and some videos from a Russian site (a Military History Museum close to Moscow) were shared.  I hope you have access to view them via the links below.  It appears the vehicles are in excellent condition, but maybe that is just the fresh paint jobs.  I think they look cool.

Facebook videos:

T-20 Komsomolets prime mover pulling AT gun

BA-6 Armoured Car

T-26 flame-thrower tank

T-38 amphibious tank

M-13 multiple launch rocket system truck

Zulu Wargaming

I recently watched a YouTube video related to the Zulu War and it got me thinking of my Zulu wargaming.

Back in the day, I was introduced to miniature wargaming with a set of rules called "The Sword and The Flame."  In a single session we played two British vs Zulu games.  I was hooked.  I bought the rules and bought all sorts of 1:72 plastic figures.  This was my foray into the hobby.  Looking back...wow...my scenarios on the tables looked horrible and paint flaked off the plastic figures.  I even tried to do a campaign but realized I had to paint too many figures to make it work.  I guess fortunately wargaming the Zulu War with all the issues did not make me leave the hobby.  Maybe WWII North Africa using 1:72/20mm miniatures with Rapid Fire kept me going.

Zulu game in 1997

I have since played other Zulu War games and do have good memories of wargaming the war, but I have no interest in going back to it.  So many other interests to focus on.

Those who want to see reenactors in South Africa commemorating the war, check out the video below.

Named Locations on WWI Middle East Maps

When I first browsed WWI Middle East maps I was a little confused by the locations marked on them.  I thought they were towns, but in reality they were not.  Below is an example of part of a WWI Middle East map.

Here are some examples of location from this map that I thought were towns.

• Bir Abu Rami
• Bir en Nuss
• Hod El Enna
• Tell El Farama
• Hod Marzugiat

It took a little bit, but I figured it out.  Here are what these locations really are:

• Bir: well
• Hod: oasis
• Tel: hill

Some additional features:

• Khirbet (or Kh.): ruin
• Beit: house or small village

Hopefully this is of some help for wargamers trying to figure out what all these named locations found on the maps.  I'm sure there are additional locations I did explore and I welcome if people want to share their English equivalent.

Italian S.M.79 Bombers

Here are a couple photos from my first group of 1:600 planes for my future Operation Pedestal game.  In the photos, the planes further off the ground are S.M.79 bombers and the lower ones are S.M.79 torpedo bombers.  The 1:3000 aircraft carrier is the HMS Furious.

My research on paint schemes on the S.M.79 bombers turned up quite a few variations.  I went with as much variation as I could.

I have tried different basing options for 1:2400 and 1:1250 scale planes in the past and have not been very happy with the outcomes.  I am not going with plastic rods and plastic bases.  The rods are wood on a wood disk which is on a metal 1" washer.  The planes are either glued onto the rod in a groove (torpedo bombers) or via a pin embedded into the rod and then in a drilled hole on the bottom of the plane (bombers).

I thought I could not place decals at this scale, but I surprised myself.

Now I am onto the Ju 88 bombers.

March CMH Club Meeting Photos

Photos from our March monthly club meeting with my new used camera.  Not sure if they look better than my previous camera, but thought I'd give it a try.  I also used software to improve the photos, mainly to brighten them.

 

GenghisCon and lack of Historical Miniature Games

Why the lack of Historical Miniature games at Genghis Con?

I attended Genghis Con in Denver from 2000 to 2016.  I stopped attending after attending the Sister convention to Genghis Con...Tacticon in 2016.  Why did I stop attending these conventions in Colorado?  I was done with paying to only run games at the conventions.  Yes, some years I did pay for a visitor badge ($10) to attend.  I am of the opinion now that if all I want to do at the convention is run a four hour historical miniature game, why should I have to pay?  I guess you could argue that I should pay something for using the facilities.  My counter argument is maybe only the players should pay.  Unlike board gaming, we typically do not join in the game, we run the game and have sunk a lot of money and time into making the scenario/game.

I am not alone in no longer interested in attending Genghis Con or Tacticon.  Our club membership and many Historical Miniature Gamers throughout Colorado have stopped running games at the conventions.

I think there are other conventions which will do a better job than the management of Genghis Con, like Hexacon.  I'm sure there are other game types which are doing great at Genghis Con, but Historical Miniature Gaming is not.  I want to host games at Genghis Con, but under the current pricing scheme, I have no interest.

So about the 2019 Genghis Con pricing, how does the convention compare to the Colorado Military Historians club:

Genghis Con
Single day: $35.00 plus $1 per game
Saturday, 9am-2am
Assume 3 slots, each 4 hrs each (12 hrs)
Cost per hour: $3.17

Colorado Military Historians
1 year membership: $50.00
12 meetings, each 5 hrs each (60 hrs)
Cost per hour: $0.83

Based on this comparison, you are paying about four times as much for one hour of Historical Miniature gaming at Genghis Con compared to CMH.  The game experience is exactly the same. Genghis Con was better back in the day; for example a winner of a game would get actually get a  trophy.

For gamers out there that want to play some awesome Historical Miniature games in Colorado, I recommend visiting CSGA in Colorado Springs or CMH in Denver.  Also Hexacon, West Wars or Veteran's Wars conventions.

Maybe some day I will host a game at Genghis Con again.

Hexacon 2019

I attended my first Hexacon convention in Colorado this year.  It was fun to attend a local gaming convention again and see all the action.  At this convention, I think the largest group of gamers were the boardgamers.  There were also plenty of RPG gamers.  The miniature area was very sparse, which worked for me.  Lots of space and chairs for my 28mm Philippine-American War game on Saturday.

Boardgame room (click picture for 360° view)

Miniature Area (click picture for 360° view)

This is the second year of the convention with a smaller attendance compared to GenghisCon or Tacticon conventions.  This is not a bad thing.  Probably easier to manage all the action.

RPG room

Vendor room

Some positives about this convention:

1. Cheaper.  Weekend badge comparison: Genghis Con 2019, $52.80 and Hexacon 2019, $25.00.
2. I was NOT forced to pay for a weekend badge when I only wanted to attend to run a single game.
3. Boardgaming room was humming with activity and had lots of games to choose from the library.  RPG areas looked very active.
4. Miniature area was in a quiet open area.  Lots of visibility for gamers walking by.  

Roborally

New boardgame

Potential negatives:

1. The RPG rooms appeared to be pretty tight and potentially loud.
2. Almost no vendors with little stock, but maybe that is just me not seeing anything of interest.
3. Attendance on a Saturday afternoon appeared to be light based on the space available.  I had two players for my game that supported four.

Ancients miniature game

Gaming not found at the convention (not necessarily a bad thing):

• Dedicated train game area
• 40k games or tournament
• Video games
• Magic

I think this convention has a lot of potential and I look forward to running games at the convention in the future.

1899 Philippines miniature game

Cruel Seas Discussion

I was able to get in a game of Cruel Seas (new WWII small ship rules) at our club meeting thanks to Bill.  I enjoyed the game.  Even though I had a good time, I don't see myself getting into Cruel Seas.

Recently there has been a very active discussion on Facebook regarding the new Cruel Seas wargame rules and ship models from Warlord Games.  Opinions have run the gamut.  I do not own the rules and do not have any of the models.  Based on knowledgeable Gamers, the rules and models are flawed.  I think this will be fixed in time.  Some Gamers felt that the negative opinions of the rules and company are driving new naval Gamers away from the naval gaming.  I disagree.  Everyone has games or companies they like or dislike and it is okay to express your opinion.

Let's say a Gamer says a ruleset is unplayable and strongly recommends avoiding it.  A new gamer should still give it a try and see what they think.  Hopefully this does not mean the gamer has to shell out a ton of money just to try the rules.  My example of this is when I tried out Blitzkrieg Commander years ago.  I knew that some people did not like it and gave all sorts of reasons what was wrong with it.  Well, for me the rules got me back into WWII land gaming.

How about a naval rules story; Once upon a time I was a naval wargame newbie.  My first miniature naval game I joined in was a Seekrieg IV game.  I had fun and enjoyed the rules.  Later I heard all sorts of complaints about the rules.  Some would say a complex rule system deters new naval Gamers from naval gaming.  No, if the game is fun it does not matter.  Sure, a simpler ruleset is easier to get everyone into naval gaming.  Also, I'm sure if someone did not like Seekrieg, they would give a different ruleset a go.

Another topic that has come up related to Cruel Seas is the historical accuracy of the rules and models.  In this day in age, there is no excuse for this.  Leave the historical inaccuracy to Hollywood.  The excuse that it is okay for a simple naval ruleset (mainly for new naval Gamers) does not fly.  Call it a fantasy naval ruleset.  I'm sure the majority of Cruel Seas is accurate.  The rules can be customized to add accuracy.

Rushing games to market that are not fully vetted is an issue in the video game market.  Not sure this was the case with Cruel Seas, but it does happen.  Blitzkrieg Commander III miniature wargame rules had so many complaints that they switched authors and are publishing a revised edition.

I have not read any books specifically on WWII small ship actions.  I have read about the Italian and German small ships that attacked the Operation Pedestal convoy.  This type of scenario with Cruel Seas ship models would not work based on the size of a typical game table and the size of British escorts and merchants.  I'm sure there are lots of other historic smaller engagements that would work great.  Maybe someday I'll read a great book that describes these engagements.

I recommend trying out these rules.  I think you will have a fun time.

Cruel Seas Ships

My Axis ships for Cruel Seas are ready!!

 Keep scrolling down

Did I fool ya?  They are not for the Cruel Seas rules.  They are 1:3000 German S-Boats and Italian MAS (10 times smaller than the Cruel Seas models).  These miniatures are for my upcoming Operation Pedestal game.

I am working on a Cruel Seas blog post and maybe I'll get to try out the rules before I finish the post.