This weekend, 7/31

Hello,

Well this weekend I plan to run a trial run game of "Force on Force" rules at a local gaming shop on Sat. The scenario will be based loosely on 'The Troubles' in N. Ireland. I had plans to get everything painted and done before than, but alas...that was not to be. Due to work and several bad things happening there, I have not had much free time in the evenings or in any kind of mood to paint. But the game will still happen (minus any disasters). It is going to be a small game in size with less than three dozen figures total. I plan to take my camera, but I have been known to forget it and take pictures of unpainted (sigh...) figures in action (Yeah!)

The scenario, I hope, will be an interesting one. There will be some interesting scenario "rules" for the lack of better terms. I will post up an AAR or two, as I am hoping that it will go fast enough to get in two or maybe even three games in with switching up the players. The main goal is for me to get use to running these rules and try a couple of scenario "rules". If all goes well, I will out line some of my ideas for various scenarios in the future.

As I have been reading the two of the other blogs on the alternate UK 2nd Civil War (England Prevails..., and Winter of '79) has been fueling some ideas.

I have recently sent money to became a Platinum Member (sounds exciting, yes?) to the Oxford Diecast Collectors Club to get some more 1/76 scale UK vehicles a bit cheaper (doesn't sound as exciting as before, does it?) I figure that it will be cheaper to go ahead and do that...plus I get a special limited edition car for Christmas! Cool Beans!

Anyway, I know that I should be painting tonight, but I have to go to bed earlier and it is already about 90 minutes to bed time...so no painting tonight. But keep an eye out for some time Sunday or next week for an AAR of Saturday's game(s).

Be seeing you...

I get by with a little help from my friends...

First off, I want to apologize to Mr. Ringo Starr for stealing his work for the title to this blog entry...but I could not resist it!

OK, why the interesting title for this blog entry...well, I need some help from my friends on the other side of the pond to explain to me the various road markings on the English road systems for my up coming Great Britain games. I might have future mundane questions like road signs and parking as well. Also, do all of this road markings work for the 1940's and the 1970's - '80's?

But before I go into that, just some quick notes about the pictures below. The roads are from a download PDF file from Scalecenes.com (http://www.scalescenes.com/). They have some really nice PDF buildings and accessories, like this British road set. They even have a couple of free PDFs!

The next thing is I want to apologize for the really bad photos. I had to take them inside since there is a thunderstorm outside. When I tried to use the flash, the details were whited out. So I had to use no flash, which caused most of the pictures to be blurry. Sorry...

Now, on to the questions...

1. What is that marking for on the left? I am thinking it is to yield, but it is not in the right side of the same lane, so I am not sure.

2. What does the ZZ mean? Also, does the double white line mean no passing zone?

3. What does the yellow checkerboard mean? I know the other marking is for a cross walk.

4. What does the red strips mean and what does the yellow strips on both sides of the lane mean?

Just a quick lay out of the road with a couple of OO scale (1/76) vehicles on it to give it a size comparison.

Thanks in advance for anyone's help!

Metcalfe buildings and OO scale vehicles

As promised, some pictures of Metcalfe Model's OO scale cardboard buildings compared to 20mm Hotspurs miniatures and some 1/76 scale UK model diecast cars and trucks. I really like the Metcalfe Models and find them to be a complete treat to work with. They are mostly complete, but I need to add a few minor details, like chimney pots.

Above is bottom and top shot of the Manor Farm's barn. It is the only model that has a removable roof to my knowledge. But what it does show is all of the additional support & bracing that these models have to maintain their structure unlike most paper models.

Below are pictures of the two structures that come in the Manor Farm Barn set, a barn & tractor shed. Also in the picture are a BW Model Hummer Pig, some 20mm Hotspur / Stonewall miniatures, and 1/76 scale diecast vehicles from the UK. As you can see, everything fits to scale. Also a nice touch to the Manor Farm sets is that all of them are based off real buildings that the owner of Metcalfe Models, Nick Metcalfe, grew up around as a child.

Below to the left is the Manor Farm House set, which has the Manor house and a worker's cottage. To the right is the Manor Farm Buildings set, which has a silo pit, a modern barn, a small hen house, and a large hen house.

Next is a front and side view of the Coaching Inn kit.

Finally is the Village School set, which includes the school and outbuilding for toilets and storage. This kit is also based on Nick Metcalfe's childhood school.

Finally, a picture that has some foreshadowing meaning...hmmm....(side note, after taking this picture, I accidentally broke the front landing gear and lost the wheels...sigh...I am going to have to make some crappy replacements now.)

Until later...

I have been very bad

I just realized that I have not posted anything in two months! Sorry!

I really have not been working on anything, but last night I assembled two Metcalfe OO scale (1/76 or close to 20mm) cardboard buildings. Both are from the Manor Farm House set. They are a real treat to assemble! Tonight, I will be working on the farm building and maybe the tractor shed from the other Metcalfe's set, Manor Farm Barn. I am hoping to get these done before the weekend. As soon as I complete them, and have time, I will work on the third Metcalfe's Manor Farm's sets, Manor Farms Buildings. Hopefully, I will take some pictures over the weekend to show what the completed kits look like. They are very nice and I honestly can't say enough good things about them.

I also got the first of my OO scale British civilian cars and trucks. I want proper English cars for my game. I got about a dozen now, so I get some pictures of them, the buildings, the BW Models, and the Hotspur's miniatures in the pictures for size comparisons. I think that they all go very nicely together.

Maybe, I might actually pull out a paint brush this weekend too! It only has been four months!

Finally, I am hoping to run a very small Force on Force game in the next few weeks. The main problem is I can't find out if I have to work on a Sat. yet or not. They keep changing their minds...grr...Be on the look out for the AAR on that, hopefully soon.

Oh, one last thing...I added the device to show who is following my blog (Thank you!) and I added some more links to various other blogs (keep up the good work!) and gaming forums. If you have not looked at them earlier, give them a look over.

Ta!