20 Questions - everyone else is doing it!

I see on several blogs that folks are posting answers to 20 Questions.  So, having the need to be a "cool kid", I thought I would do the same.  Here they are:

Favorite Wargaming period?

WW2.  It is really the only period that I wargame with miniatures.

Next period, money no object?

I would license the FoW rules and create books and models for Cold War “What If” series.

 

Favorite 5 films?

My favorites are:

The Godfather
Raiders of the Lost Arc
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Caddyshack
Austin Powers

 

Favorite 5 TV series?

The Sopranos
The Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show (really)
The Big Bang Theory
Star Trek (original – duh!)
Band of Brothers

 

Favorite book and author?

Book: Dune, Frank Herbert
Author: W.E.B. Griffin

 

Greatest General? (Can’t count yourself)

Omar Bradley, US Army

 

Favorite Wargaming rules?

Flames of War, Battlefront Studios

 

Favorite sport and team?

Sport: Golf
Team: Michigan State University Spartans!
Single Team: US Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Team, 1980

 

If you had an “only use once” time machine, when and where would you go?

Romantic: Go back to the day I met my wife and relive it.
Historical: Go back to Philadelphia, 1776 and ask “can you clarify this part and this part…”
Religious: Go back to the Middle East and watch…

My real answer: Go back and play the stock market, already knowing what will happen.  I will make billions…  mua mua mua…

Last meal on Death Row?

One that has a key in it that will let me get the heck out of Dodge before the morning…
 

Fantasy relationship and why?

Darth Vader.  I want him to tell me he is my father and he wants to rule the galaxy together.  That way I can say “Sounds good Dad, let’s go!!”

 

If your life were a movie, who would play you?

Brad Pitt.  Duh.

 

Favorite comic superhero?

Superman.  Too easy and vanilla, but come on!  He’s Superman!!

 

Favorite military quote?

“I want to kill some naaaahtzies” – Inglorious Basterds

“What’s this ‘we s%@t’ White Man…” – Tonto, upon being surrounded by 10,000 native Americans with The Lone Ranger

“Always look on the bright side of life!” – Crucifixion, somewhere around 30 AD.

 

Historical destination to visit?

Omaha Beach.  Been twice.

 

Biggest Wargaming regret?

Saying yes to a demo game of Flames of War…

 

Favorite fantasy job?

I am weird – I like the one I have pretty well!

 

Favorite band?

Have to answer by eras / genres:

Simple Minds, The Who, U2, Johnny Cash, Nirvana, Green Day

 

Favorite wargaming moment?

Any moment that I have played with my son!

 

What upsets you?

Idiots.

Trying to get back in the blogging groove

So last week, I went back into my business calendar (diary for you Commonwealth types) and realized the following:

I have been on the road each week since July 8th.  Seriously?!?!?!  Between work and play, it has been a rough stretch.  I don't travel as a part of regular business, other than attending various meetings and conferences.  I am not in sales, so this was a stretch "for the records."

And I wondered why I had not posted in a while...

I will be adjusting my painting queue to reflect some changes shortly.  But here is what is on the table right now:

I have 8 Hellcats, 2 M10s, 4 Jacksons, 5 Jumbos, 5 Easy Eights, 5 M4A3 (lates), 6 M8 Armored Cars, 4 M20 Utility vehicles, 2 Oddball Objectives all primed and waiting painting.  Funny thing is that the crews for all of these are basically finished.

4 Towed TD Guns based and awaiting finishing touches.

22 T-34s that need decals.

12 Stewarts that need decals.

A starter box of Bolt Action Brit Paras primed.

Bolt Action (28mm) Cromwell and Sherman primed (except issue with turret on the Sherman).

Patton Warrior and Abrams (two tanks) primed.

And boxes / blisters waiting to be painted including Early War stuff, 8 Brit 25 pdrs, etc.


And with that, I have started to unload some of my stuff...

Yes, I sold one of my Oddball objectives - this one was from Historicon.  I saw that David Vigor sold one of his on eBay for $255!!  Whhhoooaaaatttt??  So with a lot of encouragement from my wife, I posted the only Oddball that was still in the blister and it sold for $128.  Wow.

I then decided to unload some other items in the consignment area of my FLGS.  So I unloaded 12 Halftracks that were primed, basecoated and had the panels shaded.  They were from Command Decision and didn't look right on the table.  I also unloaded my Adepticon bag from Battlefoam - the one you got for being the first 500 to register.  I also unloaded my BF plastic Shermans and a box of Brits Paras.  Yes, I decided that there was no way I would ever paint another Para Company, so off they went.  Hey, I only held on to the box for 18 months!!

And what did I do in return??

Bought more crap.

I decided to buy the US Rifle Company (Winter) and do winter bases.  That meant I purchased the Woodland Scenics snow and paste stuff.  BTW - if you want a really good tutorial on winter basing, check out YouTube and watch the Woodland Scenics Snow 10 minute video.  It is geared towards model railroading, but it will work on bases.  I am going to try it first on my Towed TD platoon to see how they look.

So this weekend I was able to get some priming in and assembled the Bolt Action tanks.  It will be a few more weeks before I get another chance to paint.  That is too bad because I do enjoy just sitting, painting and letting all the pressure of work just melt away.

Ahhhh....

I hope others are not as crazy as I am with respect to selling crap, then buying more crap.  But I doubt it!!

Massive update and a little boring... (nice title!)

Here we are in August and I am very far behind on my updates...

Historicon -

What can I say?  It was a blast.  Those of you who read the WWPD forum know of my "less than stellar" time with Delta Airlines and my luggage.  So I was the "best dressed" for the I-95 Tournament!!

I-95 Warmup:

I was "lucky" and drew Jon Cleaves as my first opponent.  6-1 Jon.  I then went against John Baber / Dirty John from WWPD and took him 5-2.  My last game saw me win 6-1, which put me in the bottom third for the tournament.  Ah yes, if I only had not faced Cleaves...

MW Nats:

By the time the tournament started on Friday, I had my luggage and was ready to go.  Too bad my gaming was not with me.

Game 1:
First round I drew David Vigor.  He brought Strelk horde and the mission was Encounter.  We had a bloody fight that saw me almost run his KV-1s, but the Kommisar stepped in and "motivated" the last tank to hang around.  I shot up his Strelk pretty well, but I learned about the MW Bi-Plane from Hell that the Soviets get.  Rockets on a Bi-Plane?!?!?!  Well, those tore up my Shermans and M10s pretty good.  Although time was called, David was going to get the win the next turn.  So I gave him the 6-1 win.

Total VPs so far: 1

Game 2:
I drew a great newer player in Greg from NY / NJ.  He is studying to be a dentist, after becoming a sceintist and realizing that wasn't his calling.  I asked if he watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to many times as a kid...  Anyway, he brought Staghound horde.  I totaly udnerestimated the list.  We rolled Cauldron and I defended.  I was soooooooo sure I would get this game.  Bad tactics on my part saw my M10 ambush whiff, my Shermans get destroyed by 25pdrs and 6pdrs and my M10s not survive the return fire.  Company Morale check already???  Without Reserves on the board, the answer was yes and I failed.  6-1 to Greg!

Total VPs so far: 2

Game 3:
Played Shawn Morris (The Terrain Guy) in No Retreat.  He was infantry, so we rolled to see who would win the game.  He got to defend, so he won the roll.  This turned out to be closer than I ever imagined it could be, but in the end he got me 5-2.  If I defend, I get him 6-1 ro 5-2.  Oh well.

Total VPs so far: 4

After Day 1, I am literally tied for last!  The only way I can go is up!!

Day 2:

Game 4:
Played Chris in Hasty Assault.  I defended and took him 6-1.  The game was closer and planes again were my nemesis...  He brought StugS, Marders and Grens (I won the roll to defend).

Total VPs so far: 10 (will get a +1 later for each win)

Game 5:
Greg Part 2!  Yes, we played again.  This time it was Surrounded.  It was fun, bloody and brutal.  In the end, I pulled out the 4-3 win...

Total VPs so far: 14 (will get +2 for 2 wins...)

Game 6:
Free-For-All vs. Joe Metz's Grens.  Tigers and Marders.  I got aggressive, lost the Shermans and M10s, then we prepared for a slugfest.  Realizing that this would be bloody and long, we shook on a 4-3 to him and got a beer.

Total VPs: 17 +2 for 19 total.  And after my start, I was happy to get that!  In the end, I placed near the top of the lower third or top of the lower quarter.  But going from tied for last did make me feel better.


What's new:

I did pick up some Bolt Action 28mm WW2 guys.  Played a demo game and had a blast.  So Brit Paras, Cromwell, US Infantry and a Sherman are on the table!

Very happy to get Devil's Charge.  Lists are very strong!

That's about it for now.  Lots of travel for business recently and it will slow down in the next week or so...