First off, apologies to everyone whose blogs I normally comment on. Although you have kept me greatly entertained of late, I’ve been temporarily reduced to accessing the internet through the hotspot of a single 2007 iPhone. Let’s just say that the waving of the local trees has made access difficult and leaving comments virtually impossible. The current Mrs Broom assures me this is a temporary issue that will be remedied very shortly. Mmm. We’ll see. Hopefully I won’t have to resort to fashioning a tin foil helmet and sitting on the roof again.
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| Honestly, the things I have to do these days for 4G coverage |
Unable to do much of anything until the sale of this property is complete I’ve been faced with a sudden surfeit of time…thinking time…
I was musing on kitting out the new gaming table the other night, revisiting the perennial problem I have in deciding if boards or cloths are best…when I had a brain wave.
How about this stuff…?
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| Green sand! Possibly not the future of gaming terrain, but hey it’s cheap. |
A 6x4 walled trough, for want of a better description, filled with say a three inch layer of green sand. Hills, rivers etc would be easy to sculpt and the topography could be changed from game to game - as required.
Now obviously it’s not a great idea because if it was it would be in regular use by others, but if anyone has come upon this concept before or have used something similar I’d be pleased to hear more about how it turned out.
Thinking time has also allowed me to address the issue of monotony that I often experience when focussed purely on one project. To address this I shall hopefully be flitting back and forth, painting wise, between my current Elizabethan Pike and Shot lads and something entirely new (to me) like the American War Of Independence.
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| Rules by Littlewars TV - Norm sent me. Cheers Norm. |
Having just purchased these rules (which really tickle my fancy) I will be sticking to my now favoured 10/12mm and looking forward, as much as anything, to reading up on an entirely new subject.
Anywhoo I’d better ditch this post now cos the winds getting up again and it’s not comfortable sitting up there on those ruddy ridge tiles.
Toodlooh for now mes amis.
I sympathise on the internet problem. In the move to the current house, we expected to be online within 3 days ........ it took 7 months, with complaints escalated to CEO level at both TalkTalk and Open Reach, a ridiculous situation, which say us pop out each day to a cafe with internet, just to get the normal things in life done! Fast broadband is now something I never take for granted! ho[e you get sorted soon.
ReplyDeleteGood decision on the Live Free or Die rules. As for a sand table, I remember it being mentioned in Featherstone books of old, but I have spent a lifetime thinking that such a thing would be too heavy for the floor to cope with, but now on reflection, that seems an unlikely problem, though three inches does sound a bit excessive weight wise .... what do I know :-)
Two blokes coming to put in the interweb on the 10th apparently. The word is that fibre is getting close to the village…but then they always say that kind of thing out here. I can’t believe there’d be any demand for it amongst my three elderly neighbours. Hey ho. ADSL will have to do. Thanks for the pointer on the rules front, I really like the look of this set. I remember reading about them on your blog but later on I couldn’t for the life of me recall where I’d seen the article. Sand tables / Featherstone…mmm… I might be going a bit too old school there then!
DeleteAWI in 10mm is where all the cool kids are. So they say. I’m still waiting for them to turn up.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, there’s a lot going for it.
Chris/Nundanket
I’d better be careful if the cool kids are there. They might give me a Chinese burn and take my tuck money. Again. Lol. I’d better get an order into Pendraken quick sharp - before you snaffle all their stock. Any rule set in mind?
DeleteI use Loose Files & American Scramble. For small scale actions (brigade or two a side). I think I read that Live Free or Fie are inspired by Loose Files.
DeleteChris
Hello JBM. Back in Spain we had a small dish installed on the roof of the house which pointed at a distant mast and for 30 Euros a month the speed and reliability was top notch, but then we were half way up a mountain!
ReplyDeleteIf you want any inspiration re 10mm Pendraken AWI's there are lost of photos on my blog, must be a good 9 years ago when I painted loads on commission and they are really very nice little figures.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YF4XlDHEShI/Up8_uLqs7sI/AAAAAAAAEJ4/2F-j4bnmTCs/s1600/016.JPG
All the best.
Lee.
PS Love the foil hat, most impressive, just don't let your new neighbours see you in it, they might think you're a bit weird or something :)
Hi Lee, I know you were hoping to inspire me with those wonderful figures but you’ve set the bar bloomin’ high there mate. Not worried about the tin foil hat, I can convince people I’m weird just by opening my mouth ;-)
DeleteFingers crossed you get up and running soon on the internet front. Tinned foil pickelhaubes do look good though;)! I must say I'm a fan of mats and still use my GW work that must be around 15 years old now and is still as good as new. Sadly no longer available. The ruleset looks good from my first read through, but simply too many bases for me these days to put on even a small battle. However the scenario info is superb and can easily be tweaked for other rulesets, which is my plan.
ReplyDeleteHey Steve, it does look like a pickelhaube doesn’t it! Hope the neighbours don’t think the Germans are re invading. Lol. I’ve used mats and hexon terrain for some time now, but I keep harking back to the 2ft styrene squares I used to use as well. The jury is still out on this one I think. The number of bases required for LFOD is a bit off putting, but since it’ll be an ongoing project with no immediate need to get it on the table, any perceived lack of progress won’t annoy me too much. I hope. I agree the scenario info is top notch and I have to say the rules themselves could do for similar (ish) periods (maybe Indian mutiny?).
DeleteSand tables - definitely Featherstonian. Type in Service Ration Distribution and you will see a more modern use of them largely with 1/20mm plastics.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip off - and just when I’d convinced myself it was a crap idea… bookmarked the blog for a proper read through later. Cheers again!
DeleteAs your title says, JBM, Devil and idle hands, bad mix, look at the ideas you are coming up with..... AWI is no problem but I don't think the sand table is a goer, to be honest. Like Norm, I have read it somewhere too - maybe they used them at Sandhearst or West Point - but sounds like a good idea that would not be any good at all in reality, to me. Get yourself a standard mdf table and use some of the cool new neoprane pre printed mats - much better idea in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteLike many of my brain waves - it doesn’t stand close scrutiny does it!? Lol. I seem to have fallen foul of that awful wargamers equation - too much spare time + a bit of money in pocket / (internet access + no dissenting voices) = poor decisions and regrettable purchases. Lol.
DeleteSand tables certainly are old school plus…
ReplyDeleteI remember a number of people trying them in the past… and all of them gave up for various reasons… the most popular reasons being the weight of damp sand and the fact that said sand gets everywhere.
Also you have the added fact that you have given the cat a luxury toilet to use… 💩.
All the best. Aly
OMG Aly… that’s put the tin hat on it. I don’t like the idea of my troops dying on the slopes of cat poop hill. Urrghhh.
DeleteWhat’s the phrase…”is that really the hill you want to die on?”
ReplyDeleteLol.
DeleteCloth over books, trays or other with lay on road and such for mine. If you can get some nice soft, felt stuff like I did it is luxurious on hands and wrist while in play too. Oooooh-la-la!
ReplyDeleteCordialement, James
Oooh la la indeed James…I keep forgetting about cloths, that would at least give me the realistic (ish) contours that I’m after, but with minimum fuss and maximum flexibility. That’s a solution well worth exploring, thanks for the suggestion. I discounted cloths years ago when playing with 28mm (chaps kept falling over or sliding down hill sides) but I’m pretty much wedded to 10mm lads based in multiples these days so that wouldn’t present the same problem. Like it. Good idea. Well worth a try.
DeleteOoh sand tables... that's a throwback, possibly even older than Featherstone... good read here ==> https://lookduckandvarnish.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/gaming-the-home-guard-with-sand-tables-1941/
ReplyDeleteOoh cheers for that Steve, that was an interesting read from yesteryear!
DeleteSamdbox? No school like old school! I've just picked up some matts to take to France but if you can find the right fabric that sounds good and you can use a blue tarp for sea!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Sorry for the late reply Iain, I’ve had a few comms problems, now resolved thank goodness. I’ve given up on the sandbox idea after weighing up everyone’s comments. I’m looking at some jolly nice furry mats at the moment instead!
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