Progress On A Front

The wild west being one of the most popular tabs here, you might want to check out what I am about to post there.  Finally solved a long simmering problem that will help in the mega-game edition.  I'm off to sort it out for all to read.

And below is an overhead shot of the buffalo herd for my wild west games where you can see just how many beasts I've painted up for it.  Obviously the bases weren't done when this photo was taken.

Followers Blocked

Okay, so I've stumbled on how to block unwanted followers but now I find when I try to renew the gadget that allows - and shows - followers that I have to join up with Google+.  Will have to explore that a bit more before deciding on whether to do so or not.

Otherwise, life is busy away from gaming this summer.  But, man oh man, is Blue Moon Manufacturing coming out with some super cool releases!  And if you decide to dive into their gangsters, don't forget that both rebel minis (http://www.rebelminis.com/15mm-gunmen-hostages-punks-e.htm) and Khurasan both have some figures that can add in.  Unfortunately, the Khurasan site is down while the proprietor is away but he has both a nice set of cops and another of gangsters.  Just adds some more variety to the mix.  But that Blue Moon offering with its buildings is astonishing.  Now they must add in some vehicles to make the range truly viable.  HO cars are TOO big!  Here's the Blue Moon link for the range: http://www.bluemoonmanufacturing.com/index.php?cat_id=134

And if that period doesn't work for you, then check out their new and growing range of colonials.  The NWF fortress is spectacular! http://www.bluemoonmanufacturing.com/index.php?cat_id=133
I keep having to wipe drool pools off my computer when I look at that tasty bit.

Note to followers

My apologies for deleting the follower gadget but it was being used by porn sites and I don't care to forward their efforts.  While I tried to find out how to delete just those followers, I was unable to determine how to do so.  Perhaps in the future I will figure it out and restore that feature but for now it will not be a part of this blog.  I'm not a prude about it but I just don't think it appropriate for this blog.  Thanks for your understanding.

Do you really have to be in Pamplona to run with the bull?

I suppose to run with the bulls you do.  But this is about Bull Run, the battlefield and Celebrating History.  The photos below are of three 4' x 5' pieces of terrain, subsequently slightly modified to tone down many of the roads and paths a bit, I custom built to recreate the first edition of that doubled up American Civil War battle.  So what you see is a 5' x 12' total set up.  

These pieces were created for the original Celebrate History convention which occurred way back in February of 1998 -- and were transported from the Sacramento area to the site in the back of an open pickup truck under tarps in pouring rain all the way.  But hey, John Hill himself thanked me for putting on this game with his Johnny Reb 2nd edition rules.  Well, me and Jerry who provided the bulk of the figures.

And it was a game to be remembered even though there were only four players in it including Jerry and myself.  But all four of us knew the rules so well we played along at a famous clip.  Right until I caved in and let two others join in that sort of spoiled the pace.  But hopefully we made a couple of gamers day by letting them participate.  And that is what a convention is about, or should be.  Often think it would have been great to play through with just the four of us, if I recall right Dave P. was one of the others and I don't recall the fourth person this evening as I type.

So what is with the photos at this far removed date?  Time for them to seek a new home.  I have a possible buyer and need the storage space for other purposes.  That and I've developed a completely different terrain philosophy that works better for me.  Still working on the rivers and roads part of that new stuff, though.

One pleasant element of this set is that it really yields six possible game tables: each piece by itself, the two possible sets of two, or all three together.  But it is not modular, they only match up as a set or the two subsets - no turning around to make other sets.  But it was meant for a particular battle.  And certainly the most gratifying comment of the day was the onlooker who stopped and asked if this was the Bull Run battlefield.  Though that might have stemmed from having the right buildings in the right places, at least certain signature ones.  Oh, it was all in 15 mm, of course.

The photos were taken on the lanai in late afternoon with the pieces standing on edge.  There are a few minor dings that could use some repair but they are still quite serviceable pieces.  I believe the third from the last -- the last two are detail close-ups -- gives the best overall sense of how the table setup works.  The stream in the first photo is Bull Run.  Afraid I'd have to get out the atlas to identify the other one just now.

Well, that's it for the moment.  Maybe I should have put this under the terrain tab but I have a reason for putting it here.