Monday, June 18, 2012

Summer 2012 "Progress" Report

If you're a regular here at Sound Officer's Call you've noticed a distinct DROP-OFF in activity.  Instead of boring you with the nuances of my incredibly busy and hectic life as of late, please allow me to fall back, regroup, and offer a small preview of what's to come!

Currently I have a number of projects that I would consider to be "open."

WWII German DAK Infantry Battalion - I have 4 completed stands out of 12 for my DAK Infantry Battalion (or Crossfire Company, depending on how you look at it).  Currently there are 4 stands that just need flocked that will bring me to 8/12.  The rest of the unit is on popsicle sticks with a drop or 2 of paint on them.  The sooner I get them done, the sooner I can start my 8th Army Brits.  Doesn't look like there will be any North Africa battles anytime soon.

Snappy Nappies Project - I have 1 single 18-figure French Battalion painted and based on 3 stands.  I would like to paint up at least 10 Battalions, an Artillery Battery, as well as a Cavalry Squadron and some command stands for a proper game of Shako or a very large Volley and Bayonet game.  This project is definitely underway as I have 1 more French Battalion and a British Battalion in the works waiting for their paint.

Disposable Heroes / Modern Warfare 2 Invasion USA Project - This project just kind of stopped which is unfortunate because I've got the BTR, the Hind, and the rest of the infantry platoon basecoated.  I still need to flock my current Russian squad!

Disposable Heroes Modern (SOCWAD) Iraq Project - all done!  Just need to actually play some rounds to try it out.  I just find that after not playing for a number of months, I tend to start forgetting rules.  I'm currently re-reading the DH rule book and the SOCWAD rules to get the hang of it again.

15mm ACW Project - Still have Cutler's Brigade (with 14th Brooklynn Zuoaves) to complete.  They are base-coated but are begging me for uniforms...Yikes - how the heck can I complete French Napoleonics AND ACW Zuoaves?!?!?  Not going to happen this summer.  More than likely but you never know.

So there you have it - my current painting projects that have fallen miserably behind with work and family commitments, not to mention a little bit of laziness in there as well.

Remember - "a crappy painted miniature NOW is better than an awesome painted miniature 10 months from now!"  Thank you George Patton.

WHAT I WANT TO GAME:

15mm WWII Ostfront Campaign - so far playing my favorite MicroArmour Rules in 15mm turned out to be an overwhelming success.  For some reason it fulfills that "playing with toy soldier" itch as well as the microarmour itch.  Right now I'm supposed to play game #2 of my Kharkov Campaign game.  This will be a massive Soviet counter-attack against teh German bridgehead from last game.  Should be a nail-biter.

DH Moderns - Iraq.  I have all of these nicely painted US troops and a nice collection of vehicles to boot.  I am really looking forward to trying out the DH system with a true moderns game, complete with Strykers, IEDs, helos and wily insurgents.

Guns of Liberty - Seven Years War - I have a ton of SYW painted up in 6mm that I am very proud of.  I recently found a Seven Years War variant for Guns of Liberty and I'm going to play it with them.  Should be an exciting spectacle!!!

DH Moderns - Hue City during the Tet Offensive, ca 1968 - I have the Revell M48 tank to build - then it's off to Hue for some rumbles in the rubble!

So that's it.  Besides terrain and some buildings I'd like to build (mosque, jersey barriers, trash and debris stands, IED stands, etc), I'm pretty quiet on the procurement front.  There is a plan in the works to start purchasing N Scale Moderns but that's definitely on the backburner after last month's awesome vacation and our imminent house purchase coming soon to an undisclosed neighborhood in Pennsylvania.  That and some other things on the way.

Here are my future plans:

Warmaster 20mm Project
Battle of Princeton AWI Project
Seven Years War 15mm Regiments
Austrian Army Nappies Project Started
Purchase "This Very Ground" and paint up some 20mm Woodland Indians to go with all of those AWI 20mm  guys I painted up last summer for some awesome 18th Century North American skirmish action.

7 comments:

  1. I'm sure you know what ones I'm rooting for! Sounds like some great stuff to look forward to. Congrats on the new house, I hope it has lots of room for firefights

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  2. I know, Ben! Thanks for commenting - I will make sure and give you a "shout out" when the Moderns hit the LZ. Just wait until you see what I've got up my sleeve for this project. It's going to be alot of fun to play, take pics of, and blog about.

    That being said, believe it or not, one of the biggest criterion for house hunting was "does it have room for my mini's, a game table, and a small workshop?" lol. Pictures to follow.

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  3. The Morale rules and Command and Control rules realy change the game dynamic from regular Disposeable Heroes games. I enjoyed the added complexity of having a limited number of activations and having to make the call on which units are active and which ones have to wait. The Helo rules are also interesting but an AA missle will ruin just about any choppers day.

    I have posted up several battle reports on my blog from games we played using SOCWAD under the Disposeable Heroes tag. With a friend of mine we designed a Operation Barras game playtested it a couple times and then ran it for our local gaming club.

    http://mlwodementia.blogspot.com/search/label/Disposeable%20Heros


    ColKG

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  4. ColKillgore,
    I have been really jones-ing to play some SOCWAD - only problem is I don't feel like I have enough units for the activation system to work properly - it seems to me that I would need about 10 fireteams to make everything work the way it's supposed to? What are your thoughts?

    Steve

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  5. Hey Steven

    We usually play SOCWAD with more than ten squads, but it all depends on what you want from the game. It also depends on which army lists you are planning to use. If you use the Delta list, it will cut down on the fire team totals. A delta command team, two or three delta squads and a couple delta snipers can make a challenging game, but you will need to play a scenario to stop the Delta from bunkering up and just gunning down anything that breaks from cover. Another thing that can really change the game dynamic is adding in a vehicle or two. The vehicles only take one command chip to activate so can give you more options if your troops get away from their commander. I like playing with Helos but we have only played with one side having them.

    Which army lists are you planning to use and what kind of terrain are you planning to play across?

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  6. Kilgore,
    I plan on playing a few "Invasion USA" Scenarios from the game "Modern Warfare 2" in US residential neighborhoods as well as strip malls as well - scenarios will pit US Fireteams from the "modern" lists on the yahoo group against Russian VDV Airborne teams (By the Knife lists from the group as well) with some light armor in support (BTR-80s, Hind gunships in support). I'll have a defend scenario like in the video game as well as a meeting engagement of sorts all in a US residential neighborhood.

    Ideally I'll have 1 US platoon fighting 1 Russian platoon. THat's about 6 to 8 fireteams on a side, not counting command and support teams. Should be a good time.

    I would love to use a Delta squad and hold off mountains of Russians as well.

    Oh and I will be playing some Fallujah scenarios as well with US armor and mech against hardened insurgents. Sound like fun?

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  7. It sounds like you have a plan in place and I think they willbe some fun games. Make sure when you play the games post up some battle reports for everyone to enjoy.

    ColKG

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