Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: Monthly Poll #34

« on: May 05, 2019, 09:25:10 am »

I am not that interested in any of the games listed except Polyversal which I am curious about. 40K as has already been said is very well covered. Oddly enough despite not playing their games and not liking the background I have been enjoying their official 40K podcast.

Most of the skirmish games I have are fantasy with a few historical but I would like a good SF one. While I have several none of them feels right to me.
While I think very highly of the Too Fat Lardies rule sets no one else in my gaming group is that interested in WW II, the dark ages or the bits in between though the forthcoming fantasy version of their Dux Britanniarum rules might work for them.

However even if I am not that interested in any particular set of rules I can still listen to a podcast about them quite happily and sometimes I end up buying the rules because of the podcast.

2

General Discussion / Re: MBS Podcast Episode 39

« on: February 22, 2019, 08:44:47 am »

I am a bit late to the party but Mechworld in Germany have a lovely Full Thrust starter set in English or German. Quite possibly the nicest looking starter set i have ever seen, it even comes with a proper tape measure. Back to the Podcast, the new product roundup at the moment.
https://www.mechworld.de

3

News and Rumors / Re: Cruel Seas: 1/300 Naval Combat (Warlord Games)

« on: January 26, 2019, 04:02:46 pm »

What I find bizarre is the attempts many people seem to be making to put larger ships into the game. It just seems silly, if you want to play a game with destroyers and larger ships try a different rule set and scale.
Other than that I am quite excited about this and even my naval wargame hating brother is interested.

4

General Discussion / Re: MBS Monthly Poll #24: To hex or not to hex?

« on: May 17, 2018, 12:39:33 pm »

I have mixed feelings about hexes, they make everything simpler; movement, ranges and firing arcs but they are also limiting and sometimes being able to count the range may be a bad thing. However by controlling movement they mean you can do away with movement gauges albeit at the cost of artificially limiting movement.
Having just typed all that I think I have made up my mind, hexes are great. Not perfect but their advantages far outweigh their disadvantages.
The first hex game I played was probably GDW's Traveller based game Mayday which managed a fair approximation of vector movement as well, I don't think any of their later games matched that simple gem.
Does anyone else remember Star Warriors? I think it was hex based as well, a star fighter combat game that tied in with West End Games Star Wars RPG.

5

General Discussion / Re: MBS Monthly Poll #20

« on: January 18, 2018, 12:35:42 pm »

The imperial guard ships at Scarif were woeful, taking ages to react. Obviously not a first line unit.

Endor still runs it a close second.

6

General Discussion / Re: MBS Podcast Episode 24

« on: December 09, 2017, 12:03:06 pm »

Enjoying it so far!
The Anatomy of the Ship series originated with Conway Maritime Press and the Yamato book is either a reprint or a new edition. It is a great series of books, especially for the modeller, so it is nice to see that Osprey has picked them up as I have a few of them and think very highly of them.

7

Firestorm Armada / Re: FSA Kickstarter

« on: August 21, 2017, 01:45:59 pm »

It has still not made it's target which seems a bit worrying.

8

Firestorm Armada / Re: FSA Kickstarter

« on: August 19, 2017, 02:58:02 pm »

I am backing it for the new rulebook but the new miniatures don't really do much for me but I might go for some more ships.
I am more concerned about things like medical and repair ships which seem to have a useful campaign role but not one on the table top except in scenarios.

9

General Discussion / Re: MBS Monthly Poll #15

« on: August 19, 2017, 02:45:47 pm »

I am not against it but usually the scales and focus are so different that it is like trying to breed a St. Bernard with a Jack Russell.
Even you have a big campaign going the land and sea components might not interact directly even if the sea campaign can have a huge influence on the land one by, for example, interdicting supplies or reinforcements.

In an SF game if your enemy gets to control orbital space then you are in big trouble,  rocks will fall from heaven, unless you have things like deep sested meson guns or shields depending on the setting.

10

Modeling Q&A / Re: Washing and priming Spartan Models

« on: July 10, 2017, 04:53:28 pm »

The manufacturer confirms it is the release agents and made some very good suggestions about using isopropyl alcohol to clean resin models and to use matt varnish to help paint adhere. I bought some engine degreaser as well as a plan B.

11

Modeling Q&A / Re: Model kits

« on: July 10, 2017, 04:49:47 pm »

There used to be a website that had a list of pretty much all ship models and had a brief review of them. Found it, link below. Old now but still useful for older kits.
http://www.modelerjoe.net/shipmodellist.html

The only ship kits I have bought recently have been with wargaming in mind. The Zvezda cog (kogge), also boxed by Italeri, is quite nice but the Heller Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta are not, though adequate for my purposes. The Heller and Smer longships are abominations but the Revell and Emhar ones are good.

12

General Discussion / Re: What are you reading?

« on: June 09, 2017, 06:42:45 am »

I have just finished Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal by James D. Hornfischer. It was an interesting read and he makes plain the human cost but I was not entirely satisfied with it, I think I wanted something a little colder and more analytical whereas this was aimed at a more general audience. With that reservation still worth a read.

For bedtime reading I have Warship 2017, an article or two a night is quite settling. So far interesting enough but nothing earth shattering and dangerously it has book reviews.

13

General Discussion / Re: Missiles vs Torpedoes?

« on: June 09, 2017, 05:58:00 am »

In space they would basically be the same thing. I think of torpedoes as basically just larger, maybe capital ship weapons, but alternatives are:
Missiles for guided and torpedoes for unguided – but why not just call the rockets then? Unguided projectiles seem a bit unlikely as well for anything but stupidly short ranges.
Torpedoes as larger, smarter and survivable with a degree of shielding. I think Drop Fleet veers this way.
Torpedoes for space and missiles for attacking planets.

14

Modeling Q&A / Re: Washing and priming Spartan Models

« on: May 14, 2017, 08:02:44 am »

I quite agree about how nice the Spartan resins are.

I picked up some 28mm 'scale' resin model boats and after a wash, priming and a basecoat, both sprayed on, when I started masking it some of the paint peeled off down to the resin, most alarming especially as I was using the (usually awesome) low tack Tamiya tape. I asked the manufacturer and they recommended using isopropyl alcohol to remove any residue after washing and a spray of matt varnish to seal coats, even primer and spray coats between layers. Their models fresh from the bag do have a 'greasier' feel than most resins so I assume this is the release agent, their models have some extremely fine casting so this makes sense.
I have both IPA (not the drinking sort) and spray matt varnish on hand so we shall see how this goes.

15

Modeling Q&A / Re: Washing and priming Spartan Models

« on: May 04, 2017, 06:58:30 am »

I have never had a problem with primer or colour sprays, only with clear, especially matt, varnishes that was not self-inflated. I have used the spray paints even in an unheated garage in the middle of winter though I do warm the cans first with a bath in warm water and our winters are quite mild if humid.
I di still wash everything before gluing or painting it, especially metal or resin. The idea of not doing so never really crosses my mind.
Porosity would explain why resin has such as affinity with superglue, it would just wick into it.