Hi Bucko,

Just to show we are all sad sacks I have attached my movie collection of cringe, however I  just want to go on record that I think your Catwoman clowder (guys its almost larger than the rest of his entire Batman collection) is very, very, very, very, very sad.

Just to prove it:

I think I counted about 14!!!!!

In the cringe worthy movie collection I have not included my large collection of Warlords Dr Who game as I do not believe that cringe worthy, just cool.

The others that make you cringe but do not rate a mention are the board games Nuke war which is about destroying the population of others before they destroy you and the Endangered Orphans of Condule Cove where you endeavour to have the boogey man eat your opponents orphan before they have him eat yours. These are not included because they are not movies. By the way they are both great fun games but only to be played with like-minded crazy gamers.

AND NOW THE  MOVIE COLLECTION OF CRINGE

First there’s Charlie as the “great Dictator”.

And Jeanie  – hit me with that bat ….. please. Grrrrrr.

Then there’s “Here’s looking at you kid” with Rains, Bogart and Greenstreet.

That scene from “Seven Year Itch” – Yowza.

“No negative waves Moriarty” – Donald Sutherland in Kelly’s Heroes – my all time favourite war movie. Probably the most life-like of any sculpture I’ve seen.

“Follow the Yellow Brick Road”, although I don’t remember Dorothy with an axe, and I thought Toto was a little smaller.

“There just gotta be BA and  THE team”.

The “King” in “Viva Las Vegas” – with an AK47.

And  whilst not a movie I thought this was cringe worthy enough to be included – yes my insurgent army does have one of him!

And the Grand Finale just has to be this……………………………..

Eat your heart out Bucko. Move over Batman. Move over marvel. Because DC Comics and the “Ghost Who Walks” and his pygmy minions are after you.

A decendant from Chrisotpher Standish, Columbus’ cabin boy the Phantom was the first fictional hero (note Bucko THE FIRST) to wear the skintight costume which has become a hallmark of comic-book superheroes, and was the first shown in a mask with no visible pupils (another superhero standard).

And you can forget that puny bat cave:

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/g/ghwhowlk.htm

The “Ghost Who Walks” was discovered washed up on a beach by the Bangallan pygmies who nursed him back to health. All successive 21 phantoms and the pigmy tribe were friends for life

“The Chief, his wife, two sons and three daughters”.

“The Witch Doctor and his apprentice”.

“They don’t inhale missile troops”

“Three units of assorted warriors”.

And of course the “Ghost” up front.

So that’s my “collection of movie cringe”, and the worst part about it is that besides an undercoat and a few splatches of colour here and there THEY ARE ALL UNPAINTED!!! Possibly a reason for that.

Maybe, just maybe, one day I will get around to them. Won’t make them less cringe worthy, just prettier

Forward Operating Base INDEEPDOODOO had been warned that the normally friendly village of HEREBEDADOODOO was once again becoming a hot bed of insurgents. With their cleric strangely disappearing, insurgents have moved in with the new Cleric “Bucko Al Huq”  (sounds like) overtly encouraging them. The village elders have called for support from the British and ANA forces at FOB, INDEEPDOODOO, with a mission planned for early next morning.

FUBAR Afghanistan with modified morale rules were being used. Dave K and Bucko played the insurgents and David S the British and ANA.

The insurgent sniper and  four insurgent units could be place on the table. The units were disguised as civilians and had to be PID or open fire to be discovered. The ANA were at the checkpoint and in the block house.

Sun rising over the village of “HEREBEDADOODOO”

“Off to market”

“Children playing while others go about thier business”

“The sleepy village”

“The ANA check-point at the village entrance”

“The ANA blockhouse can be seen in the centre of the picture”

The ANA did not have to follow the ROE’s and so did not have to PID before shooting.

The observation drone trying to Positively Identify (P.I.D.) any insurgents.

“ANA forces surround some suspicious characters that turn out to be friendly. A potential IED can be seen in the top right”

The ANA moved forward to try and identify some insurgents and to get their sniper into the watch tower. Before they could achieve this Bucko’s sniper took out the ANA sniper with comparisons with “Enemy at the Gates” being made. In the meantime Dave decided to fire with two of his on table units at the ANA basically wiping them out.

A British 50 cal machine gun stationed on the hills outside the village opened fire which together with a javelin missile achieved instant revenge.

A squad of David’s civilians revealed themselves as insurgents to their detriment as a British squad arrived and opened fire. (Editors note: This action highlighted the need to change the rules to shoot and then move as the British squad could deploy and then shoot the enemy. This will be changed for all future games).

A “technical” with DSHK heavy machine gun wiped out the remaining ANA and headed for the check point. On the British left flank Bucko realized he had placed an IED right in the gateway where he needed to move through thus making him retire and go around the long way. It was later revealed that he had out foxed himself as the IED marker proved to be a “blank” and he could have walked straight over it.!!!

The British squad advance on the “technical”

In order to protect the “technical, “Cleric Bucko Al Huq”, ordered his troops to fire on the ISAF squad  threatening it. The insurgents were indignant and refused as civilian women and children were in the way. The comments about the worth of these unfortunates  by “Cleric “Bucko Al Huq” only truly came to light later in the battle when things more precious to him became casualties. Such was the depths of his depravity that with a pistol to the head of the squads leader he again ordered them to fire. The catastrophic result was a mother and child were left as casualities and the British Squad remaining unscathed. Fortunately ISAF forces were able to administer a quick triage saving their lives, and only then did they promptly deal with the “technical”.

“The civilian casualties with the ANA casualties in the top of the picture”

The British moved forward and placed themselves on over watch waiting for any insurgents to appear.

Although the drone was only over the village for a few turns it was proving invaluable in PIDing the insurgents when it did arrive. At the moment the British had lost 2 morale dice for their ANA losses and the insurgents had lost six, mainly to the 50cal off board.

Finally the insurgents started using the cover of the walls so that they could not be trageted by the off-board British heavy weapons. However this caused them to group their units close together.

Cleric “Bucko Al Huq” concentrated his forces after already being fore-warned about the devastation that an X-47B attack drone could cause. Yep you guessed it – the British commander successfully called in the drone strike and the rest as they say in the classics, was GAME OVER BUCKO BABY.

“The beginning of the end as an attack drone circles it’s target”

A target rich environment including a civilian with “Cleric Bucko al Huq’s” “prized” nanny goats”

The attack cost the British eight morale dice leaving the village to go about their peaceful exploits once more.

The sad thing was that Cleric “Bucko Al Huq” was not bemoaning the loss of his followers but the fact that three of his prized nanny goats were killed in the strike. He was later heard sobbing that the harsh winter nights would now be less “cozy” and a lot colder.

I have been warned not to say anything about the Clerics Catwoman fetish so I won’t. Well……… he does have just about every 28mm model of her that exists, and wait until those  Dark Fable “bunny girls “grace” the table in her “support” – I didn’t think she needed any (wink wink).

https://www.darkfableminiatures.com/store/c3/Bunny_Girl_Adventurers.html

The British commander later produced this observation drone photo that clearly justified the loss of the goats on the grounds that they had been PID as weapon carrying insurgents.

And for the finale the only cleric/goat joke I know:

“A young couple invited their elderly cleric for dinner. While they were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the cleric asked their son what they were having.
“Goat,” the little boy replied.
“Goat?” replied the startled cleric, “Are you sure about that?”
“Yep,” said the youngster. “I heard Dad say to Mom, ‘Today is just as good as any to have the old goat for dinner”.

Fun aside we had a great game, but will change our playing of FUBAR to a shoot and move one. Bucko is a great guy and fun to wipe the table with but don’t let that mild ambo bedside manner fool you, as the far from politically correct Cleric “Bucko Al Huq”  can be as sad and as political incorrect as the rest of us.

See you next week – same time – same Catwoman channel.

You may recall that Dave Smith last Christmas proposed we dig out some underused items and gift them to other members of our group. Well Dastardly Dave dug out for me 10 or soflimsy, warped and battered old card buildings, the sight of which Maree greeted with the disgusted comment “You can’t give those to someone!”

First cut of the best pieces being culled from Dave’s battered collection

Dave however knew his mark and that if any of us would do something with them it would be me.

First step was to cull out the too damaged wreckage and decide which survivors would be based as single models and which as groups.

Next step was to add plastic rooves to improve both the look of the buildings and the strength of the models. Some of these were later painted as wooden shingles. The higher end buildings got terracotta tiles. These rooves came from leftover packets of various tile types from earlier projects. For the terracotta tiled rooves I added a strip of thin metal across the top to represent lead sealing.

Wills roof tile packs

Here is a sample of one card house awaiting assembly. It includes a panel to go on the house’s end, cut off another discarded building and mounted on thicker cardboard to smooth out its creases.

ECW house in progress

This is also a good way to use up old placemats with garish pictures on them. The larger building groups were designed to each hold at least 2 of our 120x60mm ECW regiments to represent garrisons. Small additional touches and figures were added here and there to enhance the models.

Part of ECW village reroofed, boundary walls added& undercoated (No doubt a sea side village – Dave)

Doing this project also inspired me to dig out several of our other old building models sitting rarely used in a box. Also included was a chipped plaster building that Wal Bristow had cleared out in January.

House model from Wal Bristow refurbished

Another was a fortified manor house, from the same series as Dave’s card buildings, I had bought, made and based upover 20 years ago. It was the scene of numerous bloody battles with unpainted Airfix Napoleonics when my son Chris was young and hardly seen since ( Chris or the building – Dave ?).

One of Dave’s buildings was added in a corner of its yard, depicting a complex that had been modified for comfort, not defence, in Tudor times with no inkling of the wars which later came.

ECW fortified manor house, reroofed and reflocked, with Dave’s building at rear

New ECW village, sensationally flocked by Kath, ready to go

So well done to you, Dave. By clearing out a box of discards you inspired an entire themed village for 15mm ECW games! (Are you ready for more boxes of wargaming junk – Dave?)

John Gibson

“Just an update. I had noticed, and my good friend and ACW nutter John G also pointed out that the majority of the figures are not Airfix!!! Unfortunately on close inspection this is correct with most of them being Imex (I think). In a hurry to get them photographed before this little country mouse escaped from the city I just took them out of the “Tailiaferro’s Brigade” box and snapped them quickly without looking closely. They are actually from my Confederate Horse Artillery and were packed away incorrectly last time they were used several years ago.

I will  replace the photographs in a couple of weeks time when I return to the city to watch the Sydney Swans get beaten in the first week of the AFL season.”

I am sorry and apologise for the SNAFU.

I can’t remember exactly when it was but I must have been about eight when I was given 5 boxes of Airfix figures for my birthday. They were WW2 Africa Corps, WW2 Germans ,which I used to fight each other, and Confederate and Union Infantry, and the ACW artillery.

I have been a Stonewall Jackson devotee and a southern sympathiser ever since.

The ACW were the first that I painted because I thought they were the coolest. They were originally painted with Humbrol Gloss enamels and over the years re-based several times and given a black wash and a matt varnish, but other than that only a touch up or two. Overall I think they have stood the time well and now form part of my 20mm Jackson’s Army of the Valley.

The were painted up as the “Four Aposotles”, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (even though I only had two), named by Episcopal rector Col. William Nelson Pendleton and his seminary students “because they spoke a powerful language”. These were chosen because red fires further!!!

At the start of the Civil War the guns were turned over to the 1st Rockbridge Artillery (then under the command of Pendleton). Pendleton loved working with these cannons and felt it was a “good sign from God”.

True to their history, both the originals and my models, still live on despite the originals now having aluminium carriages cast to look like wood. Mine  however are still their original mint red/brown plastic. One or two of the crew did not withstand the test of time and have been alas replaced (of course with Virginian Military College cadets!!).

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John return.

With a couple of regulars dropping out of our normal Wednesday game I decided to save the work that I had done on a Strogsword scenario and opted for a qucik and dirty X-Wing 100pt game. We just used standard ships with no upgrade cards.

The imperial forces consisted of Three Tie Fighters wih Academy pilots (12pts each), a Black Eight Squadron Pilot flying a Punisher (23 pts), and Boba Fett in his Firespray (39pts).

The Rebels X-Wings were piloted by Luke Skywalker(28 pts), Jek Porkins ( 26 pts), Biggs Darklighter (25 pts), and a Rookie pilot (21 pts).

The Rebels were flying in tight formation trying to concentrate on destroying one enemy plane in turn. This quickly paid dividends as a Tie fighter didn’t escape first contact with the enemy lighting space with multiple (3) explosions.

The Tie Bomber comses under  attack as the Force is with Luke.

The X-Wings execute a rights hand sweep to attack the Imperial squadron. On the far left Luke is about to destroy another Academy Tie Fighter.

Which quickly explodes under Luke’s onslaught.

The final Tie Fighter is destroyed after being surrounded by three X-Wing fighters.

The X-wings concentrated for the final attack on Boba Fett.

Even Boba could not survive the fire power of the four rebel ships as is Firespray explodes, but not before an escape pd was seen to be heading tpowards a nearby planet.

Although the result seemed one-sided, all of the X-Wing ships were severely damaged, and  the fight was a lot closer than  a 4 zip score line would suggest.