Bangalors up.........

Well, the event at the fort was fantastic. We had a great turnout from the unit, and everyone was on their top game with the public. The only downside is it was hot. I mean real hot.... Normally there is a nice breeze off of Lake Ontario, but this weekend there was nothing.

Anyway I broke out a new display piece this weekend. And the crowd was very interested. Alot of what we use we have to make ourselves, so off to Lowes and walla.......

The Bangalore.

Nothing overly special, but they make for interesting talk. They are 1 1/2" PVC with the ends capped. Sanded, primed and sprayed. The original Bangalores are 2" inches in diameter by 5' long. These are only 1 7/8" in diameter so are a little small. It also makes it hard to find connectors between them. I plan on getting 2" exhaust pipe to remake them, as well as get exhaust connectors for them.

I cut quick stencils for the lettering and applied them with yellow spray paint. On the caps I made the hole where the blasting cap would fit. As well as made a blasting fuse.


The blasting fuse and cap was fairly easy to make. The cap itself is just a piece of 1/4" steel rod, and the fuse itself is just paper that I glued in a tube. The fuse itself is just string dyed black.

Overall its a good example of a Bangalore for display.

Now clear the shingles........

Soldiers through the Ages

This past weekend I participated in one of my favorite events. Every Memorial Day there is a Soldiers through the Ages timeline at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown NY. There are reenactors portraying soldiers from the French and Indian war up to and including WW2. There is a representative display for each era of soldier stationed at the fort at one time or another. Throughout the day we have interactive demonstrations as well as question and answer sessions.

For us its a relaxing time, seeing old friends and making new. The downside is I don't get to take any photos, as I am usually talking with the public. I am sure some of the guy in my unit have taken some and as I see them I'll throw them on here.

Apparently the local news was there filming us as well. Though I didn't get to see the report.

Next up is the Buffalo Naval Park.

Shameless plug....

The story.... If you have read my profile you would have seen that I co-wrote a set of rules called Arena Games. Back when the movie gladiator came out my buddies wanted to get into the gladiator craze that was going on.

We played a number of rules sets out there but couldn't find a fun set of rules that gave us what we wanted. There were rules that were very technically challenging, and some that only went so far. Many of the games we play are based on a "feel" of what we are doing. If I'm playing a pirate game, I want it to feel like the old Errol Flynn pirate movie. Swinging from the rigging, etc. Same goes with the gladiators. So one night I show up for a game and my buddies Mike and Jim are banging their head over a set of rules. In the time it took them to play one turn, we hashed out the basics of what we wanted.

Anyway, we wrote the rules for ourselves and moved on. We had played them a number of times with our local group and it became a regular event. One day our friend Walt shows up with a huge box. He opens it and inside was this........

The Colosseum. Over 300 painted figures that have nothing to do with the game. Thank god hes retired..... So we start taking the game to conventions for a pick up game, and to our amazement it becomes a hit. It was awarded "Best New Ancients Game" at Historicon, along with a battle streamer for a "Game for young players". People started asking where they could get the rules. Hence we began publishing them for sale. Here we are presenting the award to Walt for his amazing work.


Now for the plug.......

Recently we updated out website which you can find here. Also recently they have been offered for sale at Wargames Vault. If your looking for a fun, fast game, give it a shot. I think you'll like it.

15mm Quar.

I have to say, ever since the Quar came out I have been itching to paint up some. They remind me of characters from underground comics from the 60's. Primarily those by Vaughn Bode.

However my gaming space has shrunk, so I am forced to look at smaller scales. So when Zombiesmith announced they were releasing the Quar in 15mm, I had to jump on them. I am waiting for the rulebook and some more figures. But, I painted up my first batch. Here are some pics of what I've done.


The first batch I have painted up into 2 different sections. One in a khaki uniform and the other in a feldgrau. I haven't worked on fluff for them yet. But once I read the rulebook I can figure that out.

Here are the rest of the pics....





These have been a blast to paint, and I cant wait for the rest to show.

See ya.

My poor neglected blog.....

Its been a while since I made an update. I have been busy doing things, unfortunately too busy. Much of my doings revolve around the WW2 reenacting end of things, more so than gaming. Though I do find time to work on projects. I will post some pictures of what I have been working on recently over the next few days.

See ya.

My God its June!

How time flies. Back in April my WW2 season began. It started with 2 back to back events. One I was a participant, the other I was a Coordinator/Participant. I came to the realization that I can only do one or the other. The coordinator part takes way to much time and work to actually try and enjoy yourself.

Since then I've had a timeline at Old Fort Niagara. If you've never been it is a definate must see if in the area. You can see their website here. www.oldfortniagara.org

And I'm currently getting ready for an event at the Buffalo Naval Park this month. We plan on staying for the weekend in the USS Little Rock. We plan to have displays in various parts of the ship. Their website is. www.buffalonavalpark.org

I have been busy with some miniatures. I just finished painting some stuff for Flames of War. I have a small group of Stug-G and Marder II's painted to support my Fallshirmjagers. I'll try to get pics up when I can.

Now I have to get back to printing off paperwork for my living history display......

Scott

So little time....

Hi Folks,

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything recently, but I have been going crazy in real time. As far as updates to projects, I have been busy. Hopefully I can post some pictures later. Here is some of whats been going on.

Underworld:

I haven't really done anything with this lately. I did pick up some pink board so I can begin making tunnels. I'm waiting for nicer weather so I can use the basement workshop.

Starship Trooper:

I recently finished painting a Plasma Bug, a Rippler unit and Hopper unit. I've picked up a M8 Ape and another box of CAP Troopers. I plan on painting these in the mars pattern uniform. I am also continuing to write down ideas for the campaign of Helios Epsilon 50. More to come on that....

Other than that, I have been gearing up for the upcoming reenactment season. One of the things I do is I am a coordinator for a big WW2 event that takes place at Odessa NY. in September. Not only am I a coordinator, I have also been put in charge of the event website. No problem, I can muddle through HTML. You can find my muddling at www.odessaevent.com

Also this coming April we are running an Eastern Front event for the first time. So a good portion of my time has been setting up web information for that. And as the CO of my GI unit..... (do you see a trend here) we will be attending the Torrance Pa tactical the weekend before the Ost Front Odessa. So I'm preparing for that. It should be a good season.

With that, I will hopefully get to posting more things as I go. The trick is finding time to just sit..... Anyway, until next time.