Visit to the US Army Ordinance Museum Part I

One of the side-trips my son and I took while in Lancaster for Historicon was the US Army Ordinance Museum at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. Now what I failed to take was a panaoramic view of the field that is home to acres and acres of WWII, WWI and Cold War era armor and artillery. I think from the pics that I do have here you'll get an appreciation of just how much is there(although for every tank I'll show in my two blog entries, there are ten more!).

I was really excited to see the museum because for all my WWII wargaming, I had never had the pleasure of seeing tanks up close and personal. When you are face-to-face with these monsters you gain an immediate appreciation for (a)how much an infantryman would not like to face these giants in the field and (b) how tight it must have been for the crew in these things. It was like candy for a Military History enthusiast! My son had to run to keep up with me as I exclaimed "Wow, a Panther", "Wow, a T-34", and "No Way, an M-10!". The models were instantly recognizable, and there was so much to see.

Today I'll post some pics of German and Soviet ordinance(sorry I am in so many pics- obviously I was excited).

A Panzer III(Germany)

A Panzer IVH(Germany)-MY FAVORITE TANK!

A Panzer V(Panther)- two, actually(Germany)

A Jagdpanther(Hunting Panther)(Germany)

An Elefant(tank destroyer on a Tiger chassis)(Germany)

Jagdtiger(Hunting (king) Tiger)(Germany)

A T-34 with 85mm gun(Soviet)

A T-34 with a 76mm gun(Soviet)

Soviet Su-85 Tank Destroyer...

A 152mm Soviet Artillery piece-phew!

Gareth and a Pak 36/37mm anti-tank gun(Germany)

My favorite artillery piece, the PAK 40(75mm) anti-tank gun(Germany)

(and, yes, they had a towed '88 too!)

Historicon 2009 Part 5- Miniatures

A big part of the fun of attending Historicon are seeing all of the beautifully painted miniatures. Keep in mind that most of these minis below are about the size of a quarter- so I've zoomed in to reveal the artistry. I'll let the miniatures speak for themselves...

Historicon 2009 Part 4- The Weird and the Wild!

Not every game at Historicon is traditional. Some folks start up some science fiction or pulp fiction games and others create alternate history scenarios. Some play purely historical games but with non-traditional miniatures. A major disclaimer with this post, don't think for one second that "Weird and Wild" diminishes these games in any way(in fact, they were some of the most interesting games and miniatures that I saw at Historicon).

This leads me to my favorite find of Historicon '09. On the first day of the convention my son and I came across a Battle of Platea simulation that was very unique- it made use of the creator-dubbed "Craftees" miniatures. These are wooden miniatures made from craft store bits(and in my opinion they were show-stealers!)...

These figures were pioneered and displayed by their creator, Matt Kirkhart, who, as you can see, is one creative guy. His Greek Hoplites are displayed above and below...

Here are some Greek skirmishers, including some Thracians with their famous crescent-shaped shields...

And some Persians deploying for battle...

And the entire Persian invasion army ready to engage the foe...

I am already delving into making Craftees myself and I believe they will be popular with our Military History Club. In the meantime, be sure to check out the Yahoo Newsgroup for more information about making and playing games with Craftees here.

Here is a "Monster Island" scenario using oversized Godzilla-series figurines for some daikaiju(giant monster) battling action...

And I couldn't resist posting pics of these unique figures from Eureka Miniatures. What's that you say? You don't recognize this battle? Well its the famous Battle of Pharsalus of course between Caesar and Pompey(you probably just never saw it depicted with Teddy Bear legionaries!)...very creative...

Then there was this "Wild West Shootout" game with the obligatory stagecoach and wooden barrels...

When I decided to attend my first Historicon I decided it would really be just as a spectator- as I didn't know much about signing up for games and such protocols. That being said, on the first day, my son and I were watching a gamemaster(a nice guy named Grant) set up a Pulp Fiction game called "Dr.O. Lightning Ball", which, for lack of a better analogy, was a James Bond type spy game. It was a neat, three sided scenario with evil agents(Dr.O and company) vs. secret agents(Agent Steele and company) and the police(Bauhaus militia). Well, Grant said he had an opening and let my son and I join in the fun(Agent Steele faction). We played for four hours and had a blast. If you go to Historicon you have three ways to get into games: 1)pre-register via mail or email, (2) register for games on site, (3) scout around and people might let you play on the spot. Now that I know how it works, I'll be sure to pre-regist er for games next time. Here's some pics of the game that Gareth and I played in...

The guy standing next to the yellow car is one of my undercover agents that I can activate at any time(the gamemaster worked in a lot of tricks and twists like this into the scenario)...

Historicon 2009 Part 3-Historical Wargaming

The bread and butter of Historicon is historical wargaming. I want to highlight a few of the types of such games that I saw while in Lancaster. Here is a Field of Glory ruleset ancients game...

A large scale medieval miniatures game...

A medieval siege scenario...

American War of Independence(or as wargamers like to say "AWI") scenarios...

Napoleonic battles starting with a naval engagement...

And, of course, ACW(American Civil War) gaming...

World War I aerial combat...

...and World War II air warfare...

Some more World War II scenarios...

Next time I'll detail the "weird and wild" wargaming scenarios- games that were !non-historical or historical with a twist!

Historicon 2009 Part 2-Scale and Scope

When I arrived at Historicon I wasn't sure exactly what to expect as I'd never attended a wargaming convention before. I pre-registered via mail so a "goodie bag" was awaiting me with the following inside: a 112-page program, a free Armchair General magazine, a guide to next year's Historicon(2010), a tape measure with the Historicon 2009 logo on it, and sample plastic minis from Warlord Games. As far as the program goes, it detailed scheduled games(day and hour), other special events, had a map of the convention and detailed the exhibitors who would be selling their wares. They also had a nametag ready for me and quickly made one for my son who was accompanying me.

The mere scale and scope of the convention was mind-boggling to a newbie like me. There were three large convention halls, and three additional convention rooms, all dedicated to games! One giant hall was dedicated entirely to Ancients gaming...

Another room had naval battles, aerial battles and World War II themed games(such as Flames of War). Pictured below is a multi-table, single naval battle(Trafalgar) of staggering size...

In other rooms there were scores of Civil War Games, Napoleonic Games(the theme of the convention- "Ride to the Sound of the Guns"), flintlock-era games and Medieval battles. Below is a large scale Middle Ages seige scenario with oversized, 4" tall knights...

One really neat event(well not an event, it was going on perpetually during the convention), was the "paint 'n take". Basically you go to the tent, choose a miniature, paint it, and take it. This was also where the painting and modelling classes were held. I was impressed that for the paint 'n take they had Vallejo paints and The Army Painter brushed- top notch stuff! Below is my son painting an Orc for fun...

In future posts I will show more of the actual convention gaming, focusing on miniatures and the "weird and wild" of the convention.

In addition to gaming, there are painting seminars, history lectures from authors and veterans, and war movies shown. For a nominal $35 registration charge for four days, that's an amazing deal in my opinion(and I probably made back the $35 alone on the discounts on the hobby products).

Historicon 2009 Part 1-Loot!

My son and I returned from Historicon on Saturday and what a blast it was! Wow- overwhelmed with wargaming goodness! I will detail the experience in multiple posts but let me start with the "shopping trip" and loot I purchased at the exhibition center(dealer room). As you can see below, for four days, the Lanaster Host(PA) exhibition building is turned into the largest hobby shop in the world! This giant room contained over 83 dealers, not including thewarstore.com(my favorite) and the Hobby Bunker which were in an adjoining annex.

Here is a quick shot of some of my loot from the convention.

And a quick list of some of the things pictured...
-Warhammer 40K Tau Skyray Gunship
-Warhammer 40K Tau Broadside Battlesuit
-Warhammer 40K Necron Heavy Destroyer
-Warhammer 40K Necron Destroyer Lord
-Pegasus Hobbies Gothich Style Ruins(Terrain Kit)
-Sojers 20mm WWII German Snipers
-Sojers 20mm WWII German Officers
-Sojers 20mm WWII US 30cal MG and Crew
-Platoon20 20mm WWII Partisans(very useful!)
-Platoon20 20mm WWII Fallschirmjager HMG's with crews
-Litko Aerosystems MULTIPLE packs of 3-d game counters
-3 sets Chessex Dice
-8 Flexible Tape Measures
-2 "Army Painter" Paint Brushes
-1 Plastic Clipper

The dealers there great- they were more than willing to educate you on their product, demo a new game, and treat you like they really appreciated your business. The guy from Thoroughbred Models(makers of the Sojers minis) told me to choose a third pack for free when I bought two. The people from the Warstore totalled my items at $104, but said "ahh, $100 will be fine"- keep in mind, they already discount Games Workshop stuff 20% off MSRP. Someone from Litko Aerosystems told me if I had any suggestions for useful tokens to please send them in.

My next post I will discuss the convention in general and what you can expect as a visitor.

Nine in the Nick of Time

Well I finally finished painting a few more figures. These G.I.'s complete my 20mm American force for now but I'm sure I'll do more down the line. They are a mixture of Fantassin(War Modelling), Sgt.Majors and Sojers.

The five figures below are the Sojers models. I'd just recently purchased some to see if I liked them and I must say that I do (click on the picture for a larger view). Though the poses are a bit simple, the figures are crisp and detailed- easy to paint! I especially like the prone BAR gunner and the rifle grenade-armed figure.

Well they are done just in time for our Blitzkrieg skirmish game tomorrow. I also recently finished several rural structures that I will show in the blog in the coming days.

With summer break nearly upon me I must plan what I wish to make while on vacation. Here are some things I am considering:
20mm(1/72) Jagdpanthers & M10 Wolverines(ordered and on the way)
15mm Romans-finish DBA Army
15mm Carthaginians-purchase and complete DBA Army
20mm WWII Tommies-purchase and begin
20mm(1/72) WWII British Armor-purchase and complete
and I am considering...British Commandos, US Airborne, British Airborne
We'll see what happens!

Soviet Armor Arrives...

I recently received some Soviet tanks that I built and painted up for 20mm Blitzkrieg games. first up is a SU-152 Assault Gun. This super heavy tank had a 152mm gun- though it had a notoriously slow rate of fire(the charge and shell were loaded seperately); in our game it therefore can fire every other turn. That being said, it is a beast that has thick armor and delivers a punch. Soviet tank crews liked to paint slogans on the sides of their tanks...thanks to my Russian exchange student, Anton, I have accurately depicted the expression "Revenge" on the side of the SU-152.

These SU-85 tank hunters were simple emplacements of the 85mm gun on the T-34 chasis. Before the arrival of the 85mm-housing T-34 turret, the SU-85 beefed up the killing ability of Soviet tank divisions against heavy German armor. The slogans on these two tank hunters read, from left to right, "To Berlin!" and "Tiger Hunter" respectively.