Sunday, December 20, 2020

Dispatches from the front XIV - Christmas Post

Well the escape from lockdown did not last long, as parts of the UK plunges into a new tier, tier four. The latest changes reminds me of the AVBCW campaigns with plans on crossing the Malverns to reach the scared land of Tier One Herefordshire a mere 10 miles away.


With Christmas cancelled, time to re-evaluate festive plans which is a pain but on a positive note creates an opening for some hobby time, which is good as the lead pile has increased somewhat in recent weeks.

Plenty of Wargames firms have been pushing out December discounts and whilst some the delivery times reminds me of the early 80's with packages taking up to 21 days. Some new stuff from Warlord, Warbases lands on the mat and the highlight a couple of nice pieces from Lucid Eye in the shape of a Pharaoh. Perfect to command the New Kingdom forces.


Meanwhile much like waiting for Santa to appear the Baccus order is on it's way perfect for the Pony Wars project in January.

Lacking any face to face gaming of late, I have been working on adapting Sharp Practice with elements from the Infamy rule set for the Zulu wars. We put some house rules together last year but have had a rethink with the release of the Rich Clarke's excellent ancient rules, you can find a copy of the unit stats and house rules here. http://dusttears.blogspot.com/p/sharp-practice-2-zulu-wars-house-rules.html

I have been trying to convince the kids to watch the must watch war films of the last 30 years. They did survive Last of the Mohicans with the iconic battle scene of the massacre of the British leaving Fort Willian Henry. You get a real sense of the pulpable fear in the column. I feel a solo scenario coming on.

Meanwhile one they won't want to watch, more oddities from Netflix.

An Indian Zombie story with British Red Coats circa 1857 (uniforms look more like 1776 to me.) released from a tunnel who set about an Indian special forces team, not a bad evenings entertainment, but how on earth they can fire and load a musket but not open a door is beyond me....

That's all for now... Stay safe all.

11 comments:

  1. Wonderfully eclectic post, Stu! Love the look of that Pharaoh, also will have to check out that Indian Zombie movie.

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    1. Thanks Dean, it is a lovely casting unfortunately it hit the mat after the other officers were under way, it should hit the paint table in early January.
      Cheers
      Stu

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  2. Lots going on Stuart, personally Last of The mohicans is my favourite film of all time fulfilling pretty much everything I want in a film. I have thought several times zombies in the FIW would be quite fun. But I am closer to getting them on the table for Operation Zeelion ๐Ÿ˜€ have a good Christmas I am determined not to let the wider chaos knock my enthusiasm for life and our hobby ๐Ÿ‘

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    1. Operation Zeelion sounds fun Matt, or undead friends can certainly make for a fun game in any theatre or arena. It would bring a whole new problem for the stay behind parties.. :-)
      Enjoy your Christmas looking forward to see what 2021 brings.
      Cheers
      Stu

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  3. I do love Last of the Mohicans - it started me down the FIW gaming path with zeal!

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    1. It certainly ticks an awful lot of boxes Paul.
      Cheers
      Stu

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  4. Fortunately for us Stu, it hasn't affected Xmas as we were only staying in during the festivities, as my family is in East Anglia, so no chance of seeing them, even before the Tier 4 lockdown announced. Glad you are finding stuff to keep you occupied!

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    1. That's good news Steve. Stay safe hopefully we can get back to normal next year.
      Cheers
      Stu

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  5. Nice post Stu - I must admit the most recent Hollywood version of Last of the Mohicans isn't as good as the old B&W version that was on the beeb 45 years ago when I was a prepubescent boy... I particularly doubt the Samurai style fighting of Magua in the film.....nice picture of the Malverns, I think I have mentiond previously my aunt and uncle lived in Gt Malvern and we visited often when I was a teenager, climbed British Camp etc etc,,,beautiful part of the country.

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  6. I will have to seek that out, yes you did mention it, I feel very fortunate although having walked British camp over 20 times this year it is getting a little waring.
    Let's see what next year brings.
    Have a great Christmas.
    Cheers
    Stu

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  7. Service gui hang quoc te safe, convenient and quick time from 3 to 5 days.

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