Year in Review

With New Year's approaching I've decided to reminisce on what I've done for the past 12 months. So lets take a look back.



In January I played my first Shipwreck game with Christian. The Greeks verses the Turks.

In February we played a Shipwreck game with larger forces and more players. This time it was China verses Vietnam and India. That was a good game. We played another game sometime after that at Christian's house. That game was NATO verses Soviets and Libyans. Unfortunately I can't find any of the photos I took of that game.

In March we played yet another Shipwreck game. This game took place in 1963 during the early Cold War period, with the Soviets fighting the Dutch. I hope to do more early period scenarios next year.

April was Gnome Con in which we played Shipwreck again this time using Christian's toys and his awesome new table mat. I played in the first game with the Soviets verses the US off the coast of Syria.  

In June I finally manage to branch out a bit with a game of Victory at Sea. The scenario was the Battle of the River Plate. The game was a little too short so we ended up playing several games of Munchkin later.

In July I tried out Christians Stompers game which had the troops of a small African nation fighting hordes of bugs.

In August we played our longest Shipwreck Game yet with the Soviets invading Norway.

If the Shipwreck game in August was the longest then the one we played November was the bloodiest. Of the eleven ships that started the game only two survived.

So that's what I've done in gaming in the past year. For next year I hope to do more. I have several Shipwreck ideas in the works including Russia vs. Japan, Indonesia vs. England, and another carrier scenario. I also what to try and do a Megablitz game and some more Victory at Sea.

Cruiser Tama Part1

For the rest of the year I've decided to continue working on my model collection. This time I'm doing the Japanese light cruiser Tama. I've just started this project as well as a new job, so this may take a while.

A picture of the kit itself. What attracted me to this particular kit was the fact that the ship was camouflaged during the invasion of Kiska in the Aleutians. Most Japanese capital ships were just plain gray.

A look at the parts.

The first step is building the various sub structures and fittings. Here is the beginning work on the gun turrets. I decided to keep them on the sprue as I added the guns.

Hopefully I'll be able to get more of it done this week.

More Megablitz units

Last week I was able to sit down and get some painting done. I finished the two my two latest units for Megablitz. Now I just need to work on some terrain and markers and I'll be ready for a game. I also came upon some photograph boxes that will be good for storing my ever growing Megablitz army. They come in two sizes (4"x6" and 5"x7") and can hold about 1 division each. Here are some photos of the new units. Note the glue on some stands is still fresh.

First up we have the Belgium 2nd Infantry Division.

Here we have the infantry battalions for the 5th, 6th, and 28th infantry regiments. I used H&R's WWI french figures for the Belgians.

Now we have the various support units including the 2nd supply battalion, 2nd artillery regiment, division HQ, 12th engineer battalion, recon company, and the AT companies. The AT companies are represented by a T-13 SP gun. Most of the equipment is Scotta, except the gun and limber which is H&R.

Next we have the whole unit together in it's new box. I'm pretty sure if I was to cram them in I could get a second infantry division in there.

 The other unit I finished is the Corps troops for the French Corps de Cavalry.

Here we have the Corps command and combat support elements. This includes the commander (probably ordering someone to wash his car), the 129th Signal battalion, the 329th RAT, and the 129th Genie (engineer) Battalion.

Next we have the combat service support elements. These include the 338 and 339 motorized transport companies, 129th maintenance battalion (with Souma ARV halftrack), and the 29th medical battalion.

Several other units were attached to the Corps de Cavalry from 1st army and V Corps. These are the 54th and 56th BMM (machinegun battalions), and the 3rd GRCA (recon battalion).

Finally we have all the units together in there new box.

As I stated above I now only need to make some terrain features and markers to ready for a game or two. although I'll probably have it all done by the next week; I don't know if I'll be able to play a game before the end of the year. It'll definitely be the first thing I play next year though.