Saturday 30 April 2011

Napoleonic Quiz


Talking to one my club mates this morning , I have learned that at least one of the battles engraved in this very famous Parisian monument was actually a defeat (or at least not a victory stricitu sensu). Now, do you know which one?


Touring Paris and Le Musée de l'Armée


As my children were on their spring holidays, my wife and I decided that it was time to return to Paris and spend a few days touring the city, this time with the kids. Our last visit (I remember very well) was at the time of the invansion of Kuwait (we arrived the day before) in August 1990. That was even before we got married, so it was time!.

In addition to the typical touristical sightseen routes (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Versailles...) I had the opportunity also to visit one of those places that a wargamer (specially if Napoleonic aficionado) can't really miss in Paris: Les Invalides, with Napoleon's Tomb and the Military Museum. True, it was a kind of a "fast-track visit" (around a couple of hours) but I had the opportunity to pass by the WWI,  WWII  and the Napoleonic wings of the museum.

I'm posting here the photos. Unfortunately, the museum display was not very good to take pictures: the low light levels used to protect the museum pieces implied that any light source around reflected on the glass cases like in a mirror, and some pictures are not very high quality. In addition flash was not allowed and I had to use the night-mode feature of my camera, that usually works well with a tripod (that I did not carry with me), and that's the reason why some of the pics may look slightly blurred.

Monday 18 April 2011

On to Stalingrad - or help me, please, with street fighting



The winter (and Salute for the British) are over, and now we need to plan the summer gaming season. The "Lard" section of our club is looking to organise a major Stalingrad game, extending over several afternoons in July, to be played with Troops, Weapons and Tactics.

OOBs and maps are a work in progress right now, but we have never played before a street-fighting game. And, well guys,  here is where we will need your support: can you share with us ideas, special rules or experiences you may have had with similar games in the past?  Not need to be with TWT, but with any other favourite skirmish rules set. All contributions to make this project a success will be highly appreciated.

Saturday 9 April 2011

Playing Napoleonics


Another digression from the main theme of this blog (games with TFL rules) but I hope you will like it. A small "detachment" of fellow Lardie players have initiated a quest to find a suitable Napoleonic rules set. We have tested and discarded so far Le Feu Sacree and Volley & Bayonet, and currently we're playing Lasalle (next in the queue is General de Brigade).

Friday 8 April 2011

WW I Russian vs Turks




Last weekend some of my pals played a WWI game featuring Turks vs Russians using Mud & Blood. I'm sorry I have no details about the scenario  or special rules used (I did not play myself) but I have received a pack of photos for you to enjoy.

Sunday 3 April 2011

What does your bookshelf tell about you?

This is a disgression from the main theme of my blog (my wargame life). I was comfortably sitting in my room, listening some nice R&B music and reading a very amusing book about the experience of a Spanish dancers couple in the Russian Revolution, when my eyes suddenly stopped in the book-shelf across the room.



What does your book-shelf tell about you? In Spain we have an expression: "an image is worth more than a thousand words" and these two shelves tells a lot about me, my work and my hobbies.

And if I add now the third row below, the picture is almost complete.


  

VC reinforcements


Recently I have received three packs of Vietcong figures from a not-well known company called Force of Arms. It was a risky move, as the website is still under construction, you have to order directly through an email (although they have a Paypal service) and there were no photos (just a pdf catalogue). But I liked the quality of the tanks and armoured vehicles in the home page of their web, and finally decided to make a small "test" order.