Something Different...

A year and a half ago I visited a North American Indian religious site. I took a bunch of pictures, and I thought that some wargamers might be interested in this sort of thing to model on a DBA camp or diorama.

 The area is a wide expanse of bare granite rocks in the Whiteshell area of eastern Manitoba. A series of designs were created by Indians long ago (First Nations peoples) and spiritual ceremonies were carried out there. Today it is seen as a religious site for these people, and visitors are asked to look but not touch as people today still visit and hold ceremonies.

Some of the rock forms are easily recognizable while others are not. There are also some overgrown with grass on the edges of the site.

Today First Nations people often leave offerings to spirits and past relatives. Tobacco, prayers, artwork, trinkets, coins are often left as offerings in prayer. Sometimes they leave colourful material tied to a tree.

Unusual for me, I happened upon a plastic WW2 German soldier toy and some dice. Wargaming follows me everywhere.
The area of the petroforms is wild. It's along a lake and the bush around it is typical for the whiteshell, not the easiest bush to walk through.

I saw some wildlife in the form of an eagle and some deer.

An Interesting Garage Sale Find

I found these card soldiers at a Saturday garage sale long ago. A friend was coming over to look at some of my old 54mm western toys with an eye to buying some, and I found these in a bag between a couple of containers.

These are printed on hard cardstock and quite large. I put a Garrison 25mm Cavalryman next to the last picture. Targeteer? That's one we don't often see on ECW wargame tables, unless it's Scottish or Irish?
Unusual paper soldiers with snippets of information. I wonder if any wargamers were introduced to the hobby with these paper dolls?

Axanar Miniatures

There's a fantastic 20 minute proof of concept Star Trek film.
Not just a run of the mill fan film, it set a really high bar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W1_8IV8uhA
They raised $21,000 on kickstarter to do this. Then they tried Kickstarter and indiegogo. Near a million dollars was collected and they began making a feature movie or a couple of hour long episodes.
Then CBS/Paramount sent the lawyers after them.
It's tied up in court right now.
Anyway, before the lawyers ruined everything, I picked up some items from the fundraising:

These are fictional arm patches for uniforms, the top a Starfleet one, a Vulcan one at left, and Andorian at right.
I mounted them on a felt sheet inside a simple picture frame. Kinda neat, I like it.
I also managed to get a couple of movie minis, these had been made by Andrew Bergstrom of Studio Bergstrom:
http://studiobergstrom.com/

I placed a Micro Machine Excelsior next to the two "Marklin" Class ships.
Andrew Bergstrom did these as for the Axanar people, they aren't available on his website.
You might be able to get them, or what is left at:
http://www.axanarproductions.com/
I hope cooler heads prevail and CBS/Paramount hire these Axanar people and fire JJ Abrahms, he's an empty tank of gas.
As an aside to the lawsuit, the silly lawyers have declared that any Trek talk is now a violation of copyright.
Yep, NO St*r Fleet, Mr. Sp*ck, Captain K*rk, Kl*ngons, R*mulans, etc.
Now I can't tell you my joke about the St*rship Ent*rprise circling Uranis in search of Kl*ngons.
Sh*t.....

*****Update*****
Well it seems we've been had, or at least I was, as were a lot of people.
Turns out the director of the first 20 minute film, Christian Gossett, and his crew were basically run off by the guy in charge, who collected money from crowdfunding donations to serve as his personal resume to get hired by Paramount.
(sigh)
So the great fan film was made by pros who soon left when they figured out the scam.
Even Tony Todd (Candyman, Star Trek TNG and DS9) walked.
so those litt'e spaceships I bought and the patches are momentos of a confidence game played by a huckster in California.
If you're interested, here's a link to a June 23, 2016 interview with Prelude to Axanar director Christian Gossett:

http://wrathofdhanprops.blogspot.ca/2016/06/at-last-axanar-insider-tells-all-alec.html

****Follow Up December 2/2016****

Peters' Personal Spending Spurs Axanar Accounting

http://axamonitor.com/doku.php?id=summary_fact_check

"Inappropriate spending alleged by plaintiffs CBS and Paramount Pictures in their copyright lawsuit against Alec Peters led the producer to issue a statement November 18, 2016, denying he misspent money donated by Star Trek fans to produce his feature film, Axanar.

In a motion for partial summary judgment, the plaintiffs asserted that defendants Peters and his company, Axanar Productions Inc., raised, and spent, well over a million dollars, paying themselves, actors, and crew members, while renting out a studio (which Peters intended to lease out for other productions), to pay “tens of thousands of dollars of restaurant bills, to pay their phone bills, gas, insurance, and to travel around the country as the ‘producers’ of Star Trek: Axanar.”1)"

http://axamonitor.com/lib/exe/detail.php?id=summary_fact_check&media=warhammer.jpg

"WARHAMMER A December 2015 trip to London for a Warhammer 40K convention was one instance of international travel Alec Peters insisted was not paid for by Axanar donations. Photo/Axanar Productions"

Shame when a wargamer goes bad.......

****Update Dec. 13, 2016****

http://axamonitor.com/doku.php?id=summary_replies

"

Axanar's Money is Gone

In a report prepared by its expert financial witness, certified public accountant Christian Tregellis, the defense disclosed Axanar had earned $1,428,902.43 from January 2014-October 2016. The same document showed Peters had spent $1,433,003.67 in that same period, incurring a $4,131.24 deficit23) — consistent with overspending previously documented by AxaMonitor’s analysis of Axanar’s 2015 financial report."

I never thought I'd quote Johnny Rotten of the band "Sex Pisols", but, "Have you ever felt that you've been cheated?"

Works In Progress

A return to my own figures.
I'm painting some of those 204 Revolutionary War soldiers as British. I went for the white powdered wigs and didn't fuss about the non existant turnbacks on those short coats. A couple of hat swaps, as well as some plasticine bearskins for some drummers.

Some white belts to be added, a heavy gloss coat and then some base scatter and paint. The single flag bearer per unit limits me to making either the Union Jack or the regimental colour. I'll have to sit down and draw them out and paint them.
Up next is a project I started in the 1990's. I had purchased a bag of Waterloo Airfix British on ebay, and they were the picked over remains from another gamer. I had a hundred or so of the loading figure. I ended up making a "sort of" Dutch Waterloo militia. The hat's are wrong, but generally they'll do the job, maybe even stand in for some Americans if I do an 1812 game. These guys are from two 48 man regiments, so after rebasing and reorganization I'll need 8 command bases. The flags are nice and colourful anyway.

These guys took some damage over the years. Giant cowboys made into Austrian Napoleonic Chevaux Legers. Two lost their helms, but otherwise they're not so bad. Just some sand on the base and a couple touch ups needed.

Finally some Portuguese based in the old way, on cardboard and 6 to a base. It might be a job to pop these guys free. I might have to leave them as is. I like the general figure. Too bad I left some fluff on his horse's tail! I better make sure I get to it before I gloss them.

I found a couple of photos from my old wargame set up years ago. I did the 2 foot square insulation tiles and they looked pretty good. But moves and time meant they went the way of the buffalo. I ought to do it again. I'll fish out those pix and do a post with them later.

Asquithian Maida - Well, Sort Of...

I fought a wee battle with these fine figures now that I took the time to set them out. I started adding in mounted Hinchliffe officers and artillery etc., and I thought, "Nooo, just use the figures to hand".
So what follows is a simple fight using the rules in Stuart Asquith's book "Military Modelling Guide To Wargaming". Due to the number involved, I did away with volley fire and instead let each figure fire. Range was 12", with 6 " close with a 5 or 6 a hit. Over 6" a 6 is a hit. I also did away with morale and changed the melee. I let the points stand (1 per foot, 2 per light horse) and counted them as dice to roll, a 6 is a hit. Here's the basic table, with converged battalions of 20 on the French side, and four battalions of 10 on the British side.

Sorry for the blurry photos. I count on the sun to add to the light when I photograph, and today was the gloomiest snowy day in a while. I had to get an extra lamp from upstairs. This is the basic layout for the fight. French columns advancing on British line. Two ranks can fire, so the French are at a disadvantage. "They're coming on in the same old way..."

A view from behind the 92nd.

The advance continues as the "Pas de Charge" beats. Those hussars look menacing on the flank....

The French columns are within musket range. The tension is about to break...

A handful of casualties. The columns halt and prepare to form line, if they can...

The French deploy to engage in a musket battle, but the tight confines of the field mean that many soldiers are stuck in column. Those Hussars are doing some fast movement in the center.

The hussars charge the 92nd Highlanders. Echoing future glories, they shatter the front rank with precise close fire, the hussars are just short of contact. On the right, the desultory musket battle is interrupted by an amazing volley by the 4th Foot, who shred the first two and a half ranks of the column!
Surely morale and good sense would see these men off, but they are made of sterner stuff, and they close ranks in grim continental determination...

The 92nd takes some stick. Better musketry from the French reduce the left flank, as the right flank Highlanders engage in hand to hand combat with the looming hussars.

Bad dice throws! The 92nd Highlanders begin to dissolve as the French add a column attack to the swirling melee. On the right, half the 4th Foot are laid low by a devastating volley from the converged Bavarian/Confederation battalion. There will be steins hoisted in victory tonight as the British line collapses and begins to withdraw.


A fun little game.
(*edit* I have no idea how I ended up with giant photos on my blog.
Seriously, no idea.
At any rate, I'm leaving it as is, and I apologize to one and all for the odd sized photos and strange arrangement.
And I stand by the judgement that it was a fun game)

Something Special

After shamelessly using my little blog to whine and whinge about a laughable transaction, I thought I'd better do something toy soldier related.
I see that I'm approaching 30,000 visits, so I thought a post about some special figures would be in order.
Several years ago I was able to purchase some Napoleonic figures from wargames legend Stuart Asquith.
Mr. Asquith didn't do Paypal, so I sent an International Postal Money Order.
And his bank didn't recognize it.
By now I was pretty embarrased, so I went to a local exchange and sent Mr. Asquith some British cash.
He was really nice about my mix ups, and sent me the following figures.

I blurred his address out of respect. And yes, all his prior correspondence was written with a caligraphy pen, pretty classy!

Here are the soldiers, some of which, I believe, were featured in "Practical Wargamer" magazine.

Most of the figures are Spencer Smith Miniatures, with other lead figures for officers and specials. The men on foot are mounted on coins, the horses on card.
Excellently presented, with an unfashionably shiny finish.
Just a short post this time 'round.
I'll play a scenario with these guys today and post tomorrow!