4 August 2024: More Writing than Wargaming

4 August 2024

World of Warships

Finally quit the clan today. Trigger was a very poor performance in clan battles. Spent the rest of the day session feeling miserable with myself and ended up playing the Venezia in Randoms. Suffered way more defeats than wins, but I didn't care. At least, I wasn't always dying within the first two minutes. Logged out but returned later in the evening to run the French token event - Personal Challenges. Bar reached earns 10 tokens which go towards obtaining the next reward in the Early Access French destroyers (second line). Got the Tier VI DUCHAFFAULT as a result. Thought about spending real cash to buy the bundles but then thought "Nah! Spent enough". So I logged back out and will wait for the new line to be released for free grind. Relieved I am no longer in the clan; aside from being useless and a liability in Clan Battles, I felt pressured to participate when I really didn't feel like it or wanted to. Now that pressure is off and I can relax and enjoy the remaining Premium days left to me (over 70 days). Cheers.

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5 August 2024

Writings

This blogsite is devoted to both hobby (wargaming) and writings (prose/poetry/paintings). This is the writing part which from time to time resurfaces for air then returns to the depth of my mind. 

Found an old story that has its origins back in March '90. Found it sitting on my printer but didn't recognise it under a pile of awful poetry during the Night Owl session. It is MSS size. Reread parts of the "newer" version (opening chapters) and immediately got back into the story flow. Lots of revising but the essence remained as engaging as when I first conceived the notion of writing this fantasy opera-style melodrama. Lol. The characters I well recall now with fondness. Dare I return to it and complete it as part of my unfinished business bucket list? Have to wait and see.

World of Warships

Logged into WOWS today and played out the Personal Challenges for CVs to obtain more French DD tokens (event ends in two days). Proved a frustrating (but in a pleasant way) time as I failed to reach the first bar - earn 300 Base XP. Up-tiered to Tier VI. Still no success. Finally quit the session and logged out. Not really pushing it as the event ends soon anyway. Learning how to play CV and realising that commander skill is essential to even having a chance. Hosho (T4) has only one torp attack while Ryujo (T6) has two. Bombing was fun and managed to knock out a couple of ships with well-placed bombs. 

Scourge of War: Remastered (the Waterloo edition)

Checked out Scourge of War Remastered after viewing the latest YT video from the dude that inspired me to buy the game. His game tag is DarkRob. He is a veteran of the game, well known for his intelligent play (will to win) and insights. Loads of tutorial play-throughs which he's updated recently. The mod is an improvement on the stock standard toolbar. Had to smile when he went through the attack column (by divisions) process using the Grog mod toolbar. Noticed that the stock standard version showed a brigade in mixed order, the standard attack formation. But the tutor showed his version that leaves smaller footprint and enables a concentrated attack. He then mentioned and showcased "the fortress" considered (within the game) the most impregnable defence. How much deviating from the real-life case arises from this confession? How much more is this a game therefore and not some milsim? Cheers.

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6 August 2024

PC Gaming - Scourge of War: Remastered

Spent a session learning how to use the Toolbar. Having already downloaded and installed the Grog mod toolbar I figured it would make using it easier. But it wasn't to be. I was too busy figuring out how to move the units around in the tutorial; I would follow the tutorial but it wouldn't work out as intended. In the end, I just ignored the tutorial instructions and played after it ended and kept at it until I'd had enough and logged out. Gradually became accustomed but still having problems selecting commanders and entire brigades. Not sure if I'm using the stock standard Toolbar or the Grog one. Will have to check out DarkRob's tutorial videos for clarification. Enjoyed it nonetheless because I felt I had progressed a little more than previously. 

Map Making tools

Today I went searching for map making tool. This came about because in trying to locate the earlier sketches I did for my MSS characters, I located copies of several drafts (the original but out of sequence and several redrafts - earliest 1992, latest 2015). Among them were several sketches of geography and locales which got me interested in locating suitable map makers. 

In the end, I found a listing of the top ten. And chose a couple of likely looking fantasy map makers and installed them. First one is free - Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator. Reminded me of Minecraft map seeding. Each map seed comes with fully labelled states and so on; it all depends on how full you want your map (check boxes everywhere). Type in your requirements and voila, a full map is created just for you. You can also start with a blank canvas and take it from there. 

However it wasn't quite what I was hoping for so I ended up obtaining the second, Wonderdraft. It cost around USD30. A one-off payment but you could download three files (the original old file plus the latest version as well as extras in a zip file). This app is more map-looking than the other. When installing the icon to open the program will be in the Program folder. Why? I don't know. Tried moving it to the Desktop but it wouldn't open. Anyway, it allows you to create the map the way you want it. Which suits me as I already have much of my DR fantasy series mapped out (sketch maps mainly). But having proper-looking fantasy maps seems more appropriate. And it certainly helps with the storyline. 

However the map maker will also prove useful drafting up batreps (presentation counts it seems these days) and proposed scenarios, not just fantasy but also historical. Below is a sketch of one of the locations within my story - a hidden city. Shades of The Silmarillion and the First Age? For sure. 

The second app has several options depending on the scale being used. And it shouldn't be too hard to replicate the geography once the program has been mastered. Certainly an improvement on MS Paint.

But the map maker also comes with the option to generate overviews or close ups of habitable areas (villages, towns and cities), a very handy tool to have as a map maker. Above is a pencil and pen sketch plan view of the Hidden City sitting atop a mountain top.

And here is another graphical representation of the Hidden City and surrounding defensive walls (or Gates as I called them) done all those years ago. 

Steam has a couple of map making programs available. Both are more geared towards D&D style gaming. I did download a demo of Fantasy Map Simulator. Full release in September of this year. Haven't really studied it properly but for now I will stay focus using Wonderdraft.

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7 August 2024

World of Warships

Noticing something odd regarding this game. Whenever you get a free premium day as a reward, it does not boost your total; in other words, it does not count because it's separate from your daily diminishing tally. Whatever you're existing total is (through purchasing), any bonus days earned does not improve your overall tally even though it may look so at a glance. So, the other day I got a free premium day that I thought would boost my current total from 74 to 75 days. But today when I logged in, my total days was 73!! And this has happened multiple times whenever this bonus is earned. Please explain WG!

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Wonderdraft

What's possible in Wonderdraft. Just started playing with the program. There are tutorials but nothing like simply jumping in and having a go, so to speak. I had already designed my landscape and needed a program able to replicate that original vision, which Wonderdraft is doing perfectly...for now. 

Five Free Cities is reminiscent of the Hanseatic League and those independent cities in northern Germany historically. And such independent states existed throughout history; statehood was a concept that occurred after the existence of city-states. 

Anyway, their example worked perfectly for my original story back in the early nineties. This example map is from my DR story and is replicated perfectly by this program . Bay of Winds from the story as are three of the Five Cities - Prodogg, Yrta, Urit. 

I fluffed it when I saved this over the first maps of the Penelanor state (should have simply worked on it and then saved with new name upon exiting instead of during the process. The different coloured ground represent those states as originally conceived: FFC are puce while Lammoria, the central state in my story, is green. The yellow region is a state whose name I can't recall but it features in the second book of the series because of the ruler who is able to stand up to her foes instead of folding and fleeing into exile like many did in the story. 

Next example is not quite there by any stretch. But it suffices as a memory jogger if I need to revisit the place. It is Calmar, capital of Lammoria and opening scene for my story. Cheers.

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A Possible New Campaign Based on my writings??

Thoughts of revisiting my story stirred the creative juices. Enough to contemplate doing something I have always wanted to do wargaming-wise. In the late Donald Featherstone's Wargames he devoted a chapter to a fantasy game based on Robert E. Howard's Conan. A fellow English wargamer (name escapes me now) was inspired to create a Hyperborean wargame campaign using 30mm(?) flats. You can see where this is going, right? Why not create a fantasy list of the armies and play the story? I already know the combatants and the landscape (well, mostly). 

Lots and lots of room for being creative and painting minis according to your choices. 

Sort of reminds me a great deal of Phil Olley and Wars of Vaubarian Succession games, set in an alternative 18th century European style landscape. Only this will be Dark Age era or thereabouts. Without too much sorcery and fantastic beasts. There are no historical accounts of anything other than humans killing one another so why deviate now? But mysticism or profound spiritual belief is not absent. There are those with deeper spiritual connections to their environment within the story; it's just not the most dominating feature of it.

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1 August 2024: New Month, new opportunities. Same old, same old...

1 August 2024

Interesting Thursday. Played WOWS for a few hours. Focus was on completing the single Common Mission on offer - a dedicated throwback to the Transformers series they ran several months ago. Gave me a chance to run a few battleships I've not touched in a long while - Georgia, St. Vincent, Pommern, Yamato. Also ran Groningen on one mission task which required scoring 300 main battery hits. Achieved it in the one run. The rewards would be meaningful if I hadn't already completed the Transformers collection long ago. And for playing the mission, you get a Transformer flag. Really? Still, the credit recompense for getting the duplicate tokens allowed me to finally reach one hundred million credits. Just gathering resources for Christmas nowadays whenever I do log in and actually choose to play. Next update (in a couple of weeks) will feature a new Dockyard event of some paper ship. Not sure if I'm going to try for this one as it's another fantasy paper ship probably OP and/or with some gimmick feature. CV rework is considered convoluted and over-complicated; the request by the community to nerf the CVs is not being directly addressed so it is felt by the majority. One of the top comp players (from a EU clan that are in the top five globally) announced he was quitting doing YT streams on the game (and War Thunder). Expressed what many have already pointed out - the game is shite nowadays and WG is determined to run it into the ground with this incessant monetizing and paper fantasy OP vessels. But he did say he will still play competitive but no longer stream WOWS replays as, at least in comp play, they're good players and actually have a clue. I enjoy his observations: says it like it really is. Calls a spade a spade too. I like that forthrightness. Even in Co-Op where I loiter, there are some brain-dead amoeba passing themselves off as live players. No team play whatsoever. No support. Sail around without contributing to the match. Needlessly die within the first few minute. Ecetera, ecetera. Play Naval Battles (Clan thing only) and try to contribute where I can. In the last one I made the mistake of taking the Zara when I should have up-tiered to the Michelangelo. Kept missing out on making required target of 1400 Base XP on the remaining attempts. Might have had better chance with the uptier cruiser but forgot I had it. D'Oh!

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2 August 2024

Friday. Which means another round of Naval Battles (Clans) started today and will be running the entire weekend ending Monday arvo. Jumped into it this time in order to help out but also to collect my fifth year anniversary gifts as well as get in early while the bars are set low. Played Le Hardi but failed to get the required 800 Base XP mark (either Ranked or Random or Clan battle modes will work better than Co-Op). So switched to the Edinburgh and Atlanta for the cruiser benchmarks (300 Base XP each). Achieved that after a few attempts in Co-Op mode. Noticed that Base XP in Co-Op mode is not high so was surprised to find I was able to score at least 600 Base XP in a couple of games. Figured it had something to do with the kills: because I'm in a cruiser, killing a battleship or carrier helps. Engaging and sinking more ships, especially higher-tiered and higher-class ships is the goal therefore; in other words, play aggressively - difficult in Randoms but easier in Co-Op. Anyway, kept that little fact tucked away for future reference. 

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3 August 2024

Checking out Wargames Vault, the US-based online store for all things wargaming and hobby-related at a reasonable price during the midnight hour/night owl session. Checked out some of the alternate ECW rulesets available alongside a few other things that also caught my eye.

Liking the paper structures models - medieval period gate structures and the like. Immense potential for assembly. Certainly would enhance any tabletop gaming experience. My previous efforts haven't been quite as successful but I haven't really applied myself so may still have another crack at it, especially as I need some medieval style gate structures for planned sieges and the like. 

Seen an interesting county-based campaign system for the period that I may purchase to glean some ideas on conducting smaller-scale engagements in the ECW period. However, there is something already available through the TtS: For King and Parliament series. It's called the Siege of Norchester, a series of encounters set at a fictional Royalist-held town. I realise the core rules themselves have been around for a while (early 2010s) and the system is grid-based, which should prove interesting as well as helpful as I keep misplacing my measuring stick/tape measure! Anyway, I bought it as an option to Victory Without Quarter. 

Also checked out some medieval naval warfare which, unsurprisingly, is fascinating and a magnet of attraction to me for some reason. Would love to buy more Langton minis from the Dutch wars period but unable to as I'm already financially committed elsewhere. Plus, I don't possess the necessary skills to assemble those exquisite models anyway so will have to look elsewhere. 

A cheaper alternative would be paper models like my dreadnought WW1 sets for the Battle of Jutland that I purchased a few years back but not taken out to sea yet for my Admiral of the Fleet rules. Looking at the great medieval and early renaissance naval battles like Lepanto. Still have good memories of the Salamis solo refight with David Manley's Ancient naval ruleset.

Looking for an alternative to Lion Rampant but in 20mm scale. Think I may have found it with Chevauchee, Rules for battles with Medieval miniatures, a skirmish ruleset which I've just purchased. 

Know absolutely nothing about this system except that it's skirmishing in 20mm. Should be an interesting read over the weekend. May even drag out some medievals and playtest a couple of skirmishes. Or raids as the title suggests. I might even run out my B&B figures using these rules. Should provide an interesting experimentation.

Okay, so I went a bit overboard and purchased another two ECW titles and a wargaming annual: This War Without an Enemy, a county-based campaign system, 6mm rules for gaming The Battle of Cropedy Bridge by Peter Riley, and The Wargamers Annual Vol 1 by Partizan Press and features such well-known luminaries from the UK wargaming scene. And includes articles from the late Stuart Asquith, one of my wargaming heroes.

I've always enjoyed and loved Annuals. Whether it was hobby or comics, they provided a wealth of information and entertainment lapped up and eagerly absorbed. Wealth and variety is what you got - value for money. Looking forward to reading the blocking LOS article and what it has to add to the ongoing debate about its value in wargaming and interpreting it as a functional value in rulesets. Or not. 

There is even a battlefield visit to the site of the 1644 Battle of Tippermuir, part of the Montrose Rebellion of 1644-45. Nice! But of especial interest is Stuart Asquith's article on solo wargaming. Looking forward to reading that one.

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30 July 2024: Old memories

While searching for that Gallipoli beach shot I came across some old photos from long ago. 

The Brits, at the time, ran a Jungle Warfare Instructors course held in Brunei. Lol. Anyway, met an Irish Guardsman, a Lance-Sergeant, from Liverpool. He and I became friends and he invited me over to visit him at London. One day, while there he asked if I wanted to watch him rehearse changing of the guard which they would be doing for real at Windsor Castle in a few days. During a lull in their rehearsals, I snapped shots of these vehicles. The first photo above is a Ferret scout car. Says so on the placard. 

This next one I can't remember, and seriously do not know its identity. Looked cool in its colourful camo though and is pointing something more substantial than a pissy-ant machine-gun. Anyone know this I would appreciate it. 

Prominent feature of the Gallipoli landscape. Took a series of sweeping view when I got there of which this is a part of. That feature sticks up like a sore thumb alright. Terrain also looks very steep and rugged. 

I still have the negatives and while it will requires some detective work piecing together, I reckon I can compile a collage that will suitably show the scale and magnitude of the landscape that the ANZACs fought and died over. And make an ideal landscape painting.

This last photo is from Crete. View from the Maleme German war cemetery looking east along the northern coastline. Airfield is below and directly to the left. Cemetery is behind me. Painted this as a small canvas but wanting to enlarge it into a series of sweeping views. Cheers.

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A couple more...

Bad photo. Guy on the left was moving when I snapped the photo. Dude on the right spotted me taking the photo so naturally paused out of curiosity and surprise. This is what I based my foil painting on. By the way, this was our normal day wear in camp when not on formal duties. Sometimes you wore a shirt when it was cooler. But in Singapore, cold is a relative word for any weather condition that's not hot and steamy. 

Definitely doing this as a painting. For one thing, we were celebrating finishing the course. Two, we were drinking beer in a strictly Muslim country (Bandar Sari Bagawan, Brunei). Three, the beer came in tea pots. Certainly looked like frothy tea. Finally, it features my good Irish-English friend, Jim, whom I would later visit twice in London and his home town of Tottington. Cheers.

Footnote: Our flight back to Singapore was delayed half an hour because we had to wait (already boarded and sitting on the runway ready to take off) for someone important who finally turned up in an orange stretch limo. I chuckled to myself as that important personage got out and boarded our flight. No idea who that VIP was but they were certainly important enough to actually drive up to the waiting aircraft. Like in the movies. Lol.  

27 July 2024: New painting project - long-term

Been ruminating over this for several weeks now. Ever since my return from NZ, I've wanted to get back into painting. But not models. Reviving a fad that I want to explore further and produce something more substantial and enduring this time round.

My bird card paintings was a thing a few years back. But now I want something a bit more "substantial" in both size and magnitude. And what better way to express that by doing some portraitures and landscapes using my dwindling collection of old photos. So, I am going to start painting suitable subjects large-scale to adorn the walls of my studio. 

By large-scale, I mean the first painting will be almost mural length in size. The second will be a full portrait size painting. The two subject matters I've considering first in this massive undertaking are (1) the cemetery at ANZAC Cove (I have made a photo collage taken from Tour party visit of Gallipoli and Crete in 1988) while (2) will feature two 'Incorrigibles' - NCOs who were my peers that I served with in Singapore (from a photo circa 1987 - see below). The latter I did as a foil painting nearly a decade ago during my art frenzy phase.

I figure to post the obejctives of this project here and now in order to get me both started and motivated. Difficulty will be painting of course. Haven't done anything on this scale consistently at all so it will all be new to me. And I will impeded by two obstacles (a) painting large-scale (noob), and (b) returning to real-life painting when I am rusty as heck. I will need a lot more than determination and revived skills to be fair. 

Of course, there will be other paintings - some part finished and abandoned commissions - that will be included in this project. 

This long-term side project that will take me as long as it takes. Will post progress reports periodically to keep me on track by presenting the finished paintings added to my wall gallery. Cheers.

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Postscript: I should add that I have no formal training in painting or art whatsoever. Too lazy and too easily distracted. Then. But I have loads of determination when the right challenge comes along. And this will be a huge one personally. Going from tiny miniature painting to large canvasses is the right kind of perverse challenge I like. And happily embrace. Question is however, will I see it to the end this time round?

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31 July 2024

Decided to frame some of the more interesting foil paintings. 

Cut thick card for backing. Use cut out card stock (heavy type) for front piece. Will glue the foils then cover with clear acrylic to protect before attaching front piece. Make-do frames on the cheap and fly.

For the remainder, I will frame many as I can into one large collage. Cheers.

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Started sketching in pencil the rough shapes for the canvasses the other night.  

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3 August 2024

Framed (sorta) and ready to either hang on the wall or place on a shelf.

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24 July 2024: If Only...

Just seen a YT wargaming streamer mentioning Warlord's Epic series. If only I had seen this months back. Impressive looking and would have been ideal for my now-cancelled ACW Red River campaign. 

15mm in strips of 10 figures with command elements is a big appeal. That, and the sizes of the formations obtainable; after all, it's all about the epic battles. And you can go from brigade size to division size without too much hassle. Intriguing. This lot will be my next year's project. Epic indeed.

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19 July 2024: ECW Royalist list circa 1645

Bit the bullet and sent through my order this morning. My Royalist list, mostly derived from Battle of Naseby (1645) with alterations, is as follows:

Prince Rupert - commanding general (1 figure)
    Prince Rupert's Lifeguards - 2 stands (6 figures)
    Couriers (x3) (3 figures)

Left Wing - Sir Marmaduke Langdale (1 figure)
    "Northern" Horse - 4 stands (8 figures)
    Cary's Horse - 4 stands (8 figures)

Centre - Lord Astley (1 figure)
Note: Going with units that have a history as far as colours (standards) go. Uniforms are similarly treated although sources are a lot more sketchy but it provides for some "creative" manipulation. Lol.
    Sir George Lucas tertio (or brigade) (1 figure)
        Lisle's Foot or Hopton's Foot (to be finalised) - 7 stands (24 figures)
        "Shrewsbury" Foot (units returned from Ireland and amalgamated) - 7 stands (24 figures)
    Sir Bernard Astley or Sir Henry Bard's tertio (1 figure)
        Duke of York's Foot - 7 stands (24 figures)
        either Page's Foot or Bard's Foot (to be finalised) - 7 stands (24 figures)

Right Wing - Prince Maurice (1 figure)
    Prince Maurice Lifeguards - 2 stands (6 figures)
    Queen's Horse - 4 stands (8 figures)
    Prince Rupert's Horse - 4 stands (8 figures)
    Earl of Northampton's Horse - 4 stands (8 figures)

Reserve - King Charles I
    King's Foot - 7 stands (24 figures)
    King's Lifeguards - 4 stands (12 figures)
    Prince Rupert's Foot - 7 stands (24 figures)

Artillery & Baggage
Note: Bought more artillery to balance out both sides so that each will have two Sakers and two Falcons apiece. Also paid for one heavy mortar and transport for use by either side in Siege situations.
    1 x Grillage and gabion stand (stand plus shot barrow)
    1 x Heavy mortar transport (4-team, limber, drover)
    1 x Heavy mortar (nicknamed "Black Betty")
    4 Falcons (4 guns)
    1 Saker (already have 3)
    5 artillery crews (20 figures)
    2 x 3-donkey baggage trains (6 donkeys with assorted baggage)
    1 x Wine/Water cart (single horse cart)
    1 x Powder cart (single horse cart)
    Firelocks - 4 stands (12 figures)

Figures are 25 mm Hincliffe metal figurines. You know, the old style from the 70s. 

Once this lot arrives and is eventually painted up, I can begin solo gaming the period using the ruleset Victory without Quarter and entertain suitable small-scale scenarios. Looking forward to seeing this project to fruition. Cheers.

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27 July 2024: ECW Research updates

Learning that this Royalist list is largely comprised of veterans according to the VWQ ruleset classification. So their historical defeat at Naseby is pretty significant. 

Discovered another interesting ruleset: For King and Parliament, the ECW part of the To The Strongest series (Simon Miller, UK). I think I heard the garage gaming group mention it in passing but can't confirm. Looks interesting and may purchase a PDF copy through Wargames Vault for my own collection and perusal at my leisure.

Going to add another unit - Prince Maurice's Dragoons. Or Washington's Dragoons. May tweak whatever's left over from my small but growing bitz pile. Failing that, I can simply purchase more figures from Lancashire Games. 

Scots and Irish. Planned as a future expansion (2026?). Going with another manufacturer however. Should be interesting...

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16 July 2024: News Update

Slowly recovering from being ill. Add in other major health issues and thus much of this month so far has seen little to no activity apart from the usual PC gaming forays. 

Acquired several new PC games while recuperating. Some have been purely for fun games like Little Kitty, Big City, Plant Therapy and Cloud Climber, to name just three. And then there are those that pique my other interests such as the linguistic puzzler Chants of Sennaar or the rail network builder Open TTD. Two of note that relate militarily recently purchased include Star Trek Resurgence which I am liking because it's Star Trek, and also because I like how they've gone with dual main characters - the XO who is the primary lead and the enlisted engineering PO (Petty Officer) who is the secondary protagonist. Just started the early chapters. The other which I purchased tonight is the just-released Scourge of War: Remastered. This release is the Waterloo upgrade of the base core game. Bought it because it was going cheap on Steam and because I'm keen to acquire the ACW games when they are eventually released. Looking cool so far (playing the tutorials). 

Tabletop gaming-wise, the focus has been soley, when not confined to bed, on assembling a suitable purchase order for my circa 1645 Royalist army list. Trying to keep it under a thousand dollars in total. Hoping to sort out a suitable order before the discount ends early August. 

Speaking of ECW, I forgot to mention that the card sets for the VWQ game include not just the New Model but also the other main factions - Covenanters, Parliament, Montrose, and Royalist. 16 card per set if I remember rightly. Or eighty in total. 

When I have improved enough to be more consistently active, I will resume work on the B & B spell cards as well. Hopefully I should have two warbands ready to face off against Brett's five! And Simon's single warband of dastardly mice!!

Painting. I am heading in a completely different direction for the time being. The original painting plan has been shelved while I muster strength and focus (as well as materials) for this new venture. More on that adventure in due course.

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