The Blog of Michael T. Murphy and his lifelong obsession with "little army men" and their imaginary glory, miniature wargaming, and other things...

Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Christmas Stash!

Well, Santa was really good to us this year....in gaming terms...

Here's the gaming breakdown (note: I got some of this "right before" Christmas, but since it was so close to the day, I went ahead and included it)...




1: "Apples to Apples" The wooden "Party Crate" set...

2: Twilight Creations "ZOMBIES!"

3: "Are You A Werewolf?" Card game.

4: "Drunken Hookup": "The Drinking Game That Leads To Sex!"

5: A foam cutter knife.

6: A Paintier 80 Paint Carousel.

7: A bag of Plastic Army Men. Now I just need to dl the "Combat Storm" rules and I am ready to go!

8: An Aircraft Carrier. (The USS Richard M. Nixon CNV-87)

9: Matchbox "Sahara Survivor" series vehicles for Bongoleisa...

10: And Figures!!!! Figs! Figs! Figs!

*Some Reaper Pirate Figs

*Three Packs of Foundry Pirates

* A pack of assorted 28 mm Pirates

* Over 100 Dixon 28mm Pirates and Cowboy Figs....

Yeah...I added to my little pile o' lead....

All in all, a great Christmas!!!!

Comments are appreciated.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas at Murph-Haus...

This Christmas has come upon us, and the house has taken on "the season"...
With the outside of the house being slowly blanketed in white...(approx 7" inches so far and more to come)...


Crisp and cold, the winter snows give everything a magical look from far away and up close...


Inside the house, the tree is up...
It's an 8ft Scotch Pine and while we are decorating it, I am making my old German Favorite...


Mmmmm....add a cup of cold water, some nutmeg, apple and orange slices...a little cinnamon, and stir...drink and stay warm....mmmmmm....Frohes Weinachten!



The tree is up and even "The Velvet Christmas Elvis" seems to approve.....
So we light it up....


And like the previous tree in our "strangely haunted house", it takes on a "glow" of it's own. I think our occupants like the tree....



The Tree and Elvis....

The Ornaments are all on the tree....


Including The "Elvis" Ornament...(I gotta get more of these)....



Then it's time to eat! Melodies delicious homemade tacos.....


Mmmmmmmm......tasty!
And washed down with....


mmmmm.....GOOD BEER!!!!

The stockings are hung...Melodies:



And mine...


WHAT THE ?!?!?!?.....


How did THIS get here?!?!?...Oh dear....

And a MYSTERIOUS PACKAGE ARRIVES!!!!....hmmmmm.....


No I didn't order an inflatable Salma Hayek...wait...did I say that out loud???...
Upon closer examination....
Oh dear...with cryptic words like this...what ever could it be????
And it's times like this that I know that I am truly blessed.
Yes, I've got bills to pay, and a job that doesn't pay enough, and as I get older my health gets worse, and I find myself burying friends...But in the long run, it's friends here on the net, (on TMP, and other sites), and in "The Real World", that remind me that I am truly blessed.
And I thank everyone that subscribes and reads this blog (and my others), for it means a lot to me...Thank you...
I didn't post as much this year as I wanted to, with work, and school getting in the way. Next year I am hoping for some more gaming and some new stuff, (including some forays into my new genres....mmmmm...), and to be able to share it with you.
But even with all the toys and fun, and merriment....let us not forget, the REAL "Reason For The Season"...
"For with Christ, all things are possible...."


And here is hoping that you and yours, have a very Merry Christmas....and thank you for blessing me by coming here...
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"Somewhere off the coast of Bongolesia"....

Merry Christmas to everyone....

Michael T. Murphy

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Gee, THANKS USPS!!!! (*Not!)

One of the things that I truly truly enjoy about living where I do is that our postman is a very nice guy. Here in "flyover America", he comes to the door, knocks, and hands you your package with a smile...very nice...
Meanwhile, other post offices work hard to maintain the image of "civil service goober", and "government inefficiency"...
Case in point:
In October (the 25th to be exact), I ordered "Zombie-A-G0-G0" from Monomer Games.
Monomer did a great job and got the order processed and sent out ASAP.
And there, things went wrong...
So I waited and waited...Finally around a month later, I contacted them, and asked "Where's my order?"...They checked and the USPS showed on it's system "delivered".

Uhhh...no...It wasn't...

So they went back and double checked...sure enough...USPS says "It's been delivered..."

I let them know "Nope".

So they went to check the Main Post Office.
After about half an hour of their clerks searching...Lo and behold...my package is sitting on a shelf in the backroom, (where it's been for the last month). I guess "Delivered" means "Getting to the main post office, and NOT to where it's going..."
So they finally send it out...

And it gets here...

Looking like this:





Wow...Seems like someone was either curious as to what I was ordering, or was just having a bad day...Maybe they were told that they actually had to do their job?...



Ummm....what part of "DO NOT BEND!" don't you seem to understand???


Yes...here's the back with the mailing label, showing that it wasn't just an envelope that I picked up and did this to, to rag on USPS.

To tell you the truth, I've always had problems with the Las Vegas Post Offices. They "lose" letters, don't deliver packages and then mark "no one at home, etc.." So in a way, this is nothing new for me, but it also reminds me of the better quality I have in postal people here.
Like I said, I have NOTHING to say wrong about Monomer Games...They did a GREAT job getting it out, and I am very pleased at the product. I'll be writing up a review of "Zombie-A-G0-G0" in a bit and playing a few games of it to see how it goes. I'm looking forward to it, and more of their products...
But not looking forward to the Las Vegas USPS system...

Comments are appreciated...

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Help name the boat....

Sooooooo....
In my last update, I showed off pics of the Bongolesian Coastal Trawler that is going to be plying the waterways of that fair nation...
But she needs a name....
So in all fairness I went ahead and went to TMP and asked the dear members for ideas....
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=214555

They're a pretty amazing and creative bunch of folks...

I settled for two...(after re-re-re-reading all of the names)...

The first was from Phil Hendry: "La Petite Marie"...
The second was from John the OFM: "The Marie Celeste"...

Both are good names, and so now I am asking for everyone to vote...
Voting will be done until Midnight on Dec 23rd.
She will be "officially christened" on Dec. 24th...

And unlike Chicago, (vote early, vote often), people are only allowed ONE vote...



So get your votes in and NAME MY SHIP!!!
BTW; the peron with the winning name submission will receive a prize....so help a fellow gamer out...

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Projects on the table (and under construction)...

So I've spent this weekend, dear reader, catching up on long dormant projects. Since most of these involved Bongolesia, and that I am doing a large game at Origins, I feel that this is the priority, but, as with all wargamers and mini-gamers in general, "other things" slowly start to creep in and demand attention as well...

One of my ongoing projects is the building of a coastal tramp trawler...a "boat of all trades"...I had a problem with doing the hull, until a foray into Hobby Lobby showed these little babies up for sale...


They're anywhere between $ 4.50 -7.95 each (if you catch them on sale), and are actually quite nice little pieces. with a little work, (removing some of the little items), they could actually be used stock the way they are for 28mm figs....Hmmm...Maybe my pulp figs need a little sailboat to take them out to the mysterious fog shrouded island???...hmmmm...

Anyhow, with my trusty Dremel (and a lot of patience), some balsa wood, basswood, and Plastistruct stuff, it was changed into this:

Not a bad little effort if I do say so myself...Now it's not completely finished, but you can see the changes and effort, and it's going to be the "perfect" little coastal trawler boat...Just the thing for when when you are making a fishing run, a scientific expedition, or taking folks out for "a three hooooooooo-ur tourrrrrrr...." along the coastline of Bongolesia...
A side by side comparison...


A word of warning though...If you do get these boats and start working on them with a Dremel or saw...wear eye protection...and be patient. The wood is extremely hard and when it cuts it shatters.
Next up...what construction project would be complete without a report on the progress of the Bongolesian Presidential Palace?


Here you can see the ground floor, the balcony, the columns, and for good measure; a member of the Presidential Guard standing near the entrance to give you an idea of the size of this structure...Just the thing a President-For-Life needs... (and always a good objective for the next coup that is sure to come along)....

No Presidential Palace would be of any real "umph", if it didn't have it's own grounds....Soooooo...Here is the layout of the Presidential Estate. Naturally there will be walls surrounding it, and of course...guards with machine guns and itchy trigger fingers...

Moving on in our little worktable tour....
The capital city needs an airport...you know, a place where tourists with full wallets can come, and tourists with empty wallets can leave...where air cargo can be offloaded and onloaded and where hijacked planes can land and await to see if the hijackers demands are going to be met or not...
Soooo...I've started work on the initiat buildings of "Sudekia International" also known by it's formal name as "Bomba' De Plane Airport"...(It's French you know...)

Here we can see the terminal building along with the flight control tower, (most of it), and a section of chain link fencing. A BRDM1 Scout Car and the Presidential Guard stand alongside to give a sense of scale...


Now what self-serving dictator wouldn't have signs telling people "how cool and great he is?"...B'wonah has it!
And of course as I leave the work table and turn around and look at the "project table"...THIS is what I see...patiently awaiting me....



AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!



And who are these "mysterious" characters on the table, overseeing all that is done?...Why it's none other than (From R to L), "Herr Doktorr Von Glockenspiel, "Uncle Albert", and that mysterious mummy bandaged criminal mastermind simply known as "The Tool"...What COULD they be up to???
Tune in next week for another exciting episode!!!
Comments are appreciated...

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Origins and the Bongolesia Blog...

So I'm registering for Origins next June, and setting myself up to run a late night large scale AK47 Rep. game in Bongolesia, (with prizes for the winner!), and for those of you that would like a waaaay early sneak peak, (and if you don't visit the bongolesia blog), well....here it is:

http://bongolesia.blogspot.com/2010/11/barf-rebel-scum-for-origins.html

http://bongolesia.blogspot.com/2010/11/national-defense-forcefor-origins.html

This will give you dear reader a quick "down n' dirty" of some of what is going to be on the field...

Enjoy and I hope to see YOU at Origins....look for the guy in the dictators uniform...

Saturday, November 6, 2010

OH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

This is a story about my game room....

And how it got turned into a "guest room"....

To be fair and honest it was only a guest room for a small bit...as my lady's father came down for two weeks.

But still....

So let's see what it looked like!




"Hmmmmm.....here's the door to the game room....I wonder why it's closed???"









Well the sign proclaiming what it is is still there...in it's rightful spot...Lets open the door and have a look and see, shall we?









Who knows what secrets lie beyond this closed door? Welllll....there's only one way to find out!!!







Hmmm...pretty dark in here...Let's turn on the lights...


CLICK!




AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! WHAT IN THE @#**????!!!


The rooms been "cleaned and rearranged " by a female creature of the household!!!!






Pleasant dreams....while sleeping under the Bongolesian Flag...




Hmmm...seems pretty well organized and tidied...and I can see where everything is....mostly...




The painting table/desk is clean and tidy....hmmmmm....

All the brushes and stuff in their place...

And my shelf o' minis and stuff seems to be A-OK....that's a good sign....

And above it all, my Victorian Alter-Ego, Col. Horatio Hieronymous Mustard (Sandhurst Class of '53...harumph!) stands and observes with keen interest...while his servant keeps the port handy, and the Voodoo Master works his mojo...all the while the Bongolesian Flag snaps crisply in the breeze...

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Gaming this weekend!


Howdy all!

Sorry for the delay in putting anything up, and boy does the time fly eh?

I'm facing up against my yankee nemesis Bill Rosser this weekend for another ACW battle. This time it's a Confederate Attack, so here is hoping that our great general Belvedere B. Belvedere will be victorious for the Southern cause once again!!!!

This weekends game will be at G2D4 here in Indy and starts on Saturday at 13:00...

The troops of Gen'l Belvedere B. Belvedere wait to move out towards the enemy...

Friday, August 6, 2010

August and GENCON!!!!

Wow, so it's August already?!?!...
So you know what that means....
GENCON!

Last year I went for the very first time. This year, Dan and Myself, will meet up with Bill Rosser and we will cruise the floor, gawk at geeks, (which we are part of), check out the chicks, spend money like drunken sailors on lead (and other things), and just be part of the mayhem.
I've got my Iphone with video capability, so I might try some videoing, and who knows? I might try to make my first podcast!
More to come as the weekend goes...

Oh..and I also ordered the FoW Italian Vineyards...and some SOB sniped me on an ebay purchase of Foundry figs...*sigh* Story of my life....

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Battle of Tasselville

The Battle of Tasselville...

On a sunny afternoon, I once again found myself at my good friend (and Yankee nemesis), Bill Rosser’s house to face off with the forces of Old Abe once again.
Using our beloved “Rally Round The Flag” Rules, we were playing a variant of the Owl Creek-Tuckerville scenario that we had played earlier.

So after drinks and the usual pre-game chit-chat, we adjourned ourselves down to the game room table, and we traded the Summer of 2010 for early Fall in the year of our Lord 1862...
Gen’l Rosser, under pressure from Pres. Lincoln, had been ordered to take a division (+) (approx. 22 regiments of Infantry, plus 3 batteries of artillery), against my 9 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 2 batteries of artillery and 1 battery of horse artillery.
I once again, like a true Southerner found myself outnumbered, out manned, and outgunned, but ready to “give ‘em hell” all the way across the field…as I took on the role of Gen’l Belvedere B. Belvedere, Commander of Southern Forces.

Tasselville is a small little hamlet-town in Northeastern Virginia. Originally settled by mostly Dutch and German immigrants, its original name was Van-Tasselville, but after the first 20-30 years and around 1800, the “van” was dropped. It sits on the South side of what is known as Dutchman’s Creek, a shallow but slippery sloped almost waist deep creek; A small bridge, (known appropriately as Dutchman’s Bridge), spans the creek. To the West of Tasselville is Otto Hill, and to the Far East is Rigners Hill.



(The battlefield looking from West to East; Union forces on the left, Confederates on the right. In the foreground is Otto Hill, with Capt. Butlers artillery, and the Texas, and Louisiana Troops in reserve.)

Rosser’s Orders were simple: Cross the creek, take the town, and push me off of the board.
My orders were just as simple: Keep him from taking the town and kill his men where they stand…

Although I was outnumbered, Bill was using a “unit activation” sequence (ala Per Burnside), to activate his units. At the beginning of each turn, he rolled dice for each brigade. When one die rolled a six, he would consult his table and then that brigade would be activated. Units also could cross the creek at ANY location, but had to stop and form column before they could cross.

It was the slowness of activation that would be his first major issue.

My men were dug in behind soft cover of field fortifications. I had Capt. Butler’s artillery on Otto Hill, and Presley’s Tupelo Mississippi Artillery on Rigners Hill. My infantry were stretched across from hill to hill with my left flank two deep in regiments. I once again had my valiant Texans with me, and they were determined to show these Yankees the business end of their pumpkin slingers…



(Confederate defenses along Otto Hill. Butler's Artillery along with Texas and Louisiana Troops in Reserve. Two forward regiments in cover, keep the enemy held up with musketry fire.)

The show started with activation of part of his right flank. Onward came the Zouaves, and his center, as they marched down the road. His artillery went into action, against mine, but a lucky hit from Presley’s 12lb rifled gun detonated a limber, which resulted in havoc within one battery.
To the left the Zouaves boldly moved towards us, rushing towards the creek in column, determined to get across and into our lines before we could react. Determined fire by the two forward regiments plus a good volley from Butler’s artillery, shattered the first wave…this was to be repeated over and over on this flank…quick movement forward only to be halted and then routed. To the right flank, my cavalry began a long slow leisurely ride down through Tasselville, and towards Otto Hill, taking some casualties from a few errant Yankee artillery shells that were fired into the town.



(Union Right Flank, The Zouaves would be the first in, and the first to be shattered. Eventually almost 95% of these units would flee the field due to losses.)



(A close up of Butler's Artillery Battery in action against the Zouaves and right flank. It was this battery that was the key to victory against the enemy right...)



Perhaps to my irritation, my horse artillery battery, (which had performed so well at Lumpkins Junction), showed no stomach for fighting this day. They broke on the first turn and it was only three turns later that I was barely BARELY able to rally them. One more turn and they were off the board.
The infantry though fought magnificently.
The center stride was being pushed by none other than that Yankee Blowhard, Gen’l Owen Sodbucket, (also known as “Old Seconds For Supper”). This time however, unlike Owl Creek, and Lumpkins Junction, his men actually moved forward to the creek…and then they stopped and dawdled…trading shots with my entrenched riflemen. Even with cover, my regiment of men from South Carolina was taking hits, and would soon break from the losses. They would rally one turn later.



("On to Richmond!" They cry as they march quickly down the road towards the bridge and their objective of Tasselville, unaware of the soon to be hellish fight they shall be in...)



(Moving the Brigade quickly down the road, as Union guns provide cover fire and the Brigade Commander watches their progress...)



Towards the center Ol’ Rosser was able to push men over the bridge and into an almost point blank exchange with another unit of South Carolinians.
While on the right, he pushed a unit of Rhode Islanders across the Creek and into the woods, followed up by a Pennsylvania Regiment.

(A rear view of the Rhode Islanders going across the creek into the woods and the Texans just beyond...)

(The 2nd Union Brigade, Pennsylvanians I believe; cross Dutchman's Creek to support the Rhode Islands just to their right in the woods, confident of victory...)

(...and unaware that hard fighting men from the Lone Star State stand ready with their .69 Caliber M1842 smoothbores, to teach them a deadly lesson...Texas will be heard from this day...)

("Myself" (aka. Gen'l Belvedere B. Belvedere) astride my trusty white steed, "Cornbread", watching the oncoming attack upon the Texans by the Rhode Islanders and Pennsylvanians. My staff officers direct Capt. Butlers 12lb rifled guns towards the enemy...)

(With the breaking of the Rhode Islanders, the Pennsylvanians grit their teeth and push forward to meet the Texans head on...the sound of minie-balls whizz through the air, buzzing like angry bees as men on both sides drop by the score. But with the artillery support from Butler's guns, the boys from the Keystone state cannot take much more and quickly fade back across the creek...With this, the battle is essentially over...)


Earlier on, I had noticed this weak spot in my line and had slowly moved my Texas Regiment to plug the gap. Behind them I had a regiment from Louisiana, just itching to get into it. (This unit never fired a shot or took a hit during the game).
The Rhode Islanders were pushing out of the woods when they exchanged a volley with the Texans, and then were treated to a 12lb shell fired from the rifle guns of Butler’s artillery. This was more than they could stand and they skeedaddled back across the river…
Now it was up to the Pennsylvanians…They pushed forward towards the Texans. Within 2 inches of each other, and exchanged devastating volleys. The Texans returned fire, as did Butler’s artillery once again, and their spirit broke.

The game ran for approximately 11 turns, and with the breaking of the last of his right flank, and the units that had crossed the creek sent splashing back across, Gen’l Rosser had finally realized the futility of this assault, and withdrew his men.

("Sir! The men have done all they can do for today! We've got to get off of this road sir, or you'll be killed!" Cries the aide to Gen'l Rosser as he tried valiantly to rally the last of his right flank, (seen fleeing behind him). The seriousness of the situation is realized when a bullet strikes his canteen...Reluctantly he rides off of the road onto the field and begins the withdrawal of his troops...)


Being a Southerner and a gentlemen I offered a truce to allow his medical orderlies to collect the wounded. It was a fearful bill. Looking at our casualty rates, I had lost approx. 1250 men, while Bill had sent a little over 4000 to their deaths…

Observations: RRTF is a very dated set of rules, but fits rather well in our games. It also, (for it’s age), seems to pretty accurately give the historically correct results for casualties, etc. It’s still perhaps one of my most favored rules-sets.

I have no foolish thought in my head that this will be the last time that I square off against Rosser. His men call him “The Snappin’ Turtle”, while mine call him “The Ol’ Buzzard”…He’s a good opponent and friend…(even if he is a Yankee!)

(All for the Union! One last hard charge as the Union Right Flank goes in three regiments in line to force the objective. A beautiful pic of some fine minis in line...)


Comments are appreciated.