MINI WARGAMING: "Barbary Pirates Are Back!" (23 June 2008)

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TOP: The workbench is cluttered as usual!

Hi All,

Well, any weekend I get to work on the hobby is a good one and I was able to spend a good amount of this past weekend working on miniatures projects.

The above photo is of a 1'x1' project board loaded up with models. On the far right is a Flagship Games resin ship loaded up with some of my 28mm undead pirate crew. To the upper left of the photo are some armored orcs that I picked up cheaply awhile back. And most of the rest of that project board is covered with orcs that I am converting to become a 28mm fantasy pirate crew.

As a side note, I picked up the "project board" practice from an old gamer buddy of mine named Kris. He would buy a cheap sheet of chipboard and have it cut up into rough 1'x1' sheets. The typical 2' x4' sheet yields eight "project boards" They're sort of like building puzzles on a flat piece of card board. By working on the "project boards" I save my tabletops and they make it easy to move projects around. At any rate, I found it a good idea years ago and am still using them to the present day. Thanks, Kris!

I've also been saving spare plastic 20mmx20mm mini bases for my fellow blogger and gamer, Drunken Samurai. If you've never checked out his blog, I highly recommend you do so. He does some pretty neat work.

Drunken Samurai URL located here:

http://dspaintingblog.blogspot.com/

Please excuse the low quality of the photos. I was having some difficulty with my digital camera and decided to go with low-quality shots rather than have none to share.

TOP: 25mm Barbary Pirate crew - mostly RAFM Ottomans and pirates.

Well, I'm up to almost 30 Barbary pirate figures at this point divided into two crews of fifteen men each. The above unit is mostly equipped with firearms. I got a deal on some old RAFM Turk and Ottoman figures so the latest acquisition really plumped out my tiraleurs (riflemen). The last batch proved difficult to work with, but this batch was a breeze. I'll update this post later with product numbers.

I haven't found a good ship for these fellows yet, but I have an extra galley or two that might do the trick.

TOP: 28mm Barbary pirate crew: mostly old RAFM.

The above lot is mostly a close-combat crew armed with cutlasses and various small arms. The two gorilla-like corsairs had their weapon swaps repositioned to stick straight up so that they'll rank better. The RAFM figures are definitely older 25mm ones and they are puny compared to "heroic sculpts" of 28mmm or larger scale.

TOP: 28mm armored orcs ... in need of headgear!

And the last batch if figures that I worked on have been orcs for my nephew Vincent's upcoming 28mm fantasy orc army. I picked up this batch of armored orcs used somewhere... I think that they are Harlequin / Black Tree although they might also be RAFM. I have a bunch of GW Bretonnian heads with nice medieval helms in my bitz box so I'm planning to add headgear to these fellows in the near future.

Have a great Monday!

And good gaming to you!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

HUMOUR: "Pilots & Mechanics: A Love Affair" (19 June 2008)

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TOP: UPS delivers anywhere, anyhow!

Hi All,

My good friend Stephane Aramande sent me this one:

Just in case you need a laugh: Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one; let that be a relief to those of us who fly routinely in our jobs. After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a 'gripe sheet,' which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.

TOP: Those wacky men and their flying machines.

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

*P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

*P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

*P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

*P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

*P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

*P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

*P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

*P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

*P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

*P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

*P: Aircraft handles funny. ...
(I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.

*P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

*P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.*

And the best one for last:

*P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

I always enjoy a good laugh... LOL

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (...if it is indeed an infringement).

FUN VIDEOS: "Dance Off With the Star Wars Stars 2008" (18 June 2008)

Hi All,

First of all, I'm sharing the above video, which I thought was really amusing. If the first two dance numbers are a tad annoying, please hold out for the third, Lord Vader comes out to do one of my all-time favorite Michael Jackson numbers (Forward to about the 3:00 minute mark if you want to skip the first two dance numbers). It worth it for no other reason than to see Lord Vader's head bobble in that characteristic Michael Jackson way...

I've also been keeping busy lately... but haven't forgotten gaming. The June MWS meet went really well with almost twenty attendees AGAIN!

We had three games:

1. Starmada
   (...in "starship scale" or some ridiculously puny number such as 1/3,000)
   [Vince had set up a scenario between Chinese and German future fleets.]
2. Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) for Miniatures
   (...in 6mm or 1/285 scale)
   [Eric set up a WWII Western Front scenario with Americans confronting dug-in Germans.]
3. Hordes of The Things (HOTT)
   (...in 15mm scale)
   [Joe set up a cool little series of games with Orcs battling Dwarf Kings laden with treasure.]

And despite not playing in any of the games, I had a great time. Gaming, for me, has always really been about friends, camaraderie, and having a good time. And the MWSS (Miniatures Wargaming Society of Sacramento) has really been delivering lately.

We have a new schedule too:

The new schedule for the Miniature Wargaming Society of Sacramento is:

Day / Date /Time:
Sunday = 7/13/8 = 10am-6pm
Sunday = 8/10/8 = 11am-7pm
Saturday = 9/27/8 = 11am-7pm
Saturday = 10/18/8 = 12am-8pm
Sunday = 11/16/8 = 11am-7pm
Saturday = 12-20-8 = 12am-7pm

All meetings at the Carmichael Library located at 5605 Marconi Ave in Sacramento

I'm looking forward to gaming much more this year with MWS AKA MWSS. I hope to host a few more 28mm pirate games, maybe a few 28mm WAB games, and possibly a 6mm Kaiju / Godzilla game soon among my other wishes and long shots!

I'm also excited to be going on a vacation trip to New York in the first week of July. I'll be visiting my uncle, some old friends, and even, perhaps, getting a choice game or two in. Here's hoping...

And one other quick news tidbit:

My buddy Tas in the land of Oz has re-started his old OGRE web site as a blog... find it here:
http://ogrerecognitionmanual.blogspot.com/

So, good gaming to you!
And have a great Wednesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (...if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: "May MWS Meeting & Life" (4 June 2008)

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TOP: A Babylon-5 Centauri starship, the Primus battlecruiser.

Hi All,

It's been a busy past few weeks... I have so much on my plate and gaming has been lower priority for the most part... NOT that I haven't been getting some in! I still have some priorities! May was a good month. The MWS meeting was pleasant and we had about sixteen attendees. Two games were run.

TOP: An ASL game... Without miniatures.

The first game was a 6mm ASL (Advanced Squad Leader) miniatures adaptation game run by Eric, our local microamror houd (...other than myself, of course). He had an interesting WWII Eastern Front battle with Russians advancing across a river bridge against determined German defenders. The game went well and I was sorry I missed it. I did, however, get to help set up the board... nothing like placing some six-odd zillion littles trees down... LOL ;o) Thanks, Eric!

TOP: A Babylon-5 starship, a White Star destroyer.

The second big game was run by Russel, a local Babylon-5 Starship Maniac, and was alot of fun. Russel is well-known by my friend Chern ,who recently had a birthday (Happy Belated Birthday, Chern!), and they often see each other at local gamign conventions playing B-5. I haven't played B-5 in ages (...probably at least two to three years ago with Chern) so it was alot of fun. Russel set up two sides, an Earth Federation side with lots of fancy hardware and a League of Unaligned Planets with Brakiri and Vree ships. I, of course, took a Vree battlewagon or two nd my side was... of course, slaughtered. The Earth ships have a great mix of defensive systems (interceptors) and offensive sytems (long-range missiles and powerful beams). Of course, it didn't help that my side lost nearly every initiative round. It was a great game and I really enjoyed seeing my friends and rolling the old "knucklebones" (dice).

On the miniatures front, I've been slowly and steadly pumping out 28mm orcs & pirates. This past weekend, I built some RAFM 28mm armored orcs as well as the beginnings of a 28mm orc & gobbo pirate crew. I will hopefully have some time to put out some photos soon...

In other news, Israel Independence Day or Yom Ha-Atzma'ut just passed and I enjoyed celebrating that.

To learn more about the holiday, please check out this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Ha-Atzmaut

And to keep this post from becoming just a boring news spread, I'm sharing an amusing article I read on the Modern Crossfire Yahoo Discussion group:

TOP: The venerable Moisin Nagant rifle.

AK-47: It works though you have never cleaned it. Ever.
AR-15: You have $9 per ounce special non-detergent synthetic Teflon infused oil for cleaning.
Mosin-Nagant: It was last cleaned in Berlin in 1945.

AK-47: You are able to hit the broad side of a barn from inside.
AR-15: You are able to hit the broad side of a barn from 600 meters.
Mosin-Nagant: You can hit the barn from two miles away.

AK-47: Cheap mags are fun to buy.
AR-15: Cheap mags melt.
Mosin-Nagant: What's a mag?

AK-47: Your safety can be heard from 300 meters away.
AR-15 You can silently flip off the safety with your finger on the trigger.
Mosin-Nagant: What's a safety?

AK-47: Your rifle comes with a cheap nylon sling.
AR-15: Your rifle has a 9-point stealth tactical suspension system.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle has a dog collar.

AK: Your bayonet makes a good wire cutter.
AR-15: Your bayonet is actually a pretty good steak knife.
Mosin-Nagant: Your bayonet is longer than your leg.

AK-47: You can put a .30" hole through 12" of oak.
AR-15: You can put one hole in a paper target at 100 meters with 10 rounds.
Mosin-Nagant: You knock down everyone else's target with the shockwave of your bullet going downrange.

AK-47: When out of ammo, your rifle will nominally pass as a club.
AR-15: When out of ammo, your rifle makes a great wiffle bat.
Mosin-Nagant: When out of ammo, your rifle makes a supreme war club, pike, boat oar, tent pole, or firewood.

AK-47: Recoil is manageable, even fun.
AR-15: What's a recoil?
Mosin-Nagant: Recoil is often used to fix shoulders dislocated by the previous shot.

AK-47: Your sight adjustment goes to 10, and you've never bothered moving it.
AR-15: Your sight adjustment is incremented in fractions of minute of angle.
Mosin-Nagant: Your sight adjustment goes to 2000 meters, and you've actually tried it.

TOP: The modern AK-47 automatic assault rifle.

AK-47: Your rifle can be used by any two-bit nation's most illiterate conscripts to fight elite forces worldwide.
AR-15: Your rifle is used by elite forces worldwide to fight two-bit nations' most illiterate conscripts.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle has fought against itself - and won everytime.

AK-47: Your rifle won some revolutions.
AR-15: Your rifle drove Saddam out of Kuwait.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle won a pole vault event.

AK-47: You paid $330.
AR-15: You paid $900.
Mosin-Nagant: You paid $59.95.

AK-47: You buy cheap ammo by the case.
AR-15: You lovingly reload precision crafted rounds one by one.
Mosin-Nagant: You dig your ammo out of a farmer's field in Ukraine and it works just fine.

AK-47: You can intimidate your foe with the bayonet mounted.
AR-15: Your foes laugh when you mount your bayonet.
Mosin-Nagant: You can bayonet your foe on the other side of the stream without leaving the comfort of your hole.

AK-47: Any fool can be taught to field strip it.
AR-15: Anyone with an IQ over 160 can be taught to field strip it.
Mosin-Nagant: What's field stripping?

AK-47: Service life, 50 years.
AR-15: Service life, 40 years.
Mosin-Nagant: Service life, 101 years, and counting.

AK-47: It's easier to buy a new rifle when you want to change cartridge sizes.
AR-15: You can change cartridge sizes with the push of a couple of pins and a new upper.
Mosin-Nagant: You believe no real man would dare risk the ridicule ofhis friends by suggesting there is anything but 7.62x54 R.

AK-47: You can repair your rifle with a big hammer and a swift kick.
AR-15: You can repair your rifle by taking it to a certified gunsmith, if it's under
warranty!
Mosin-Nagant: If your rifle breaks, you pick up another one.

AK-47: You consider it a badge of honor when you get your handguards burst into
flames.
AR-15: You consider it a badge of honor when you shoot a sub-MOA 5 shot group.
Mosin-Nagant: You consider it a badge of honor when you cycle 5 rounds without the aid of a 2x4.

AK-47: You can accessorize you rifle with a new muzzle brake or a nice stock set.
AR-15: Your rifle's accessories are eight times more valuable than your rifle.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle's accessory is a small tin can with a funny lid, but it's buried under an apartment building somewhere in Budapest.

AK-47: Your rifle's finish is varnish and paint.
AR-15: Your rifle's finish is Teflon and high-tech polymers.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle's finish is low-grade shellac, cosmoline, and Olga's toe nail polish.

AK-47: After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for a stiff shot of vodka.
AR-15: After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for hot dogs and apple pie.
Mosin-Nagant: After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for shishkabob.

AK-47: After a long day the range, you relax by watching Red Dawn.
AR-15: After a long day at the range, you relax by watching Black Hawk Down.
Mosin-Nagant: After a long day at the range, you relax by visiting the chiropractor.

TOP: The Stoner rifle, which later became the M-16 AKA M-4 series.

AK-47: Late at night you sometimes have to fight the urge to hold yourrifle over your head and shout "Wolverines!"
AR-15: Late at night you sometimes have to fight the urge to clear your house, slicing the pie from room to room.
Mosin-Nagant: Late at night, you sometimes have to fight the urge to dig a fighting trench in the yard to sleep in.

AK-47: Your wife tolerates your autographed framed picture of Mikhail Kalashnikov.
AR-15: Your wife tolerates your autographed framed picture of Eugene Stoner.
Mosin-Nagant: Are there even photographs of Sergi Ivanovich Mosin
and Leon Nagant?

A link to the Modern Crossfire Yahoo Discussion group:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/moderncrossfire/

And one more link to an interesting set of miniatures photos from the recent Enfilade gaming convention:

http://max.velocity.home.comcast.net/~max.velocity/enfilade08/

Have a great Wednesday!

Good gaming to you!

Shalom,

Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (...if it is indeed an infringement).