Today I was dealing with a matter at work when I came across the Indian term of a 'Lakh' or in my case 6 Lakh.
I had no idea which currency Lakh related to or if indeed it was a currency at all. I am reasonably good on these and can normally spot the difference between a Dong and Canadian Tire Currency.
A spot of research on Wikipedia (as always cross checked with other more accurate sources) shows that a Lakh is 'usually' deemed to equate to about 100,000. It seems that in days gone by it represented the rvalue of the maximum number of Indian 100 Rupee notes that you could fit or stuff in, wait for it..... 'a small suitcase' !
That the size of the suitcase is not stated nor why someone thought it necessary to distinguish between a small or medium sized suitcase is now immaterial and I suppose that this is the Indian equivalent of a UK 'wad' of cash.
Thursday 31 March 2016
Tuesday 29 March 2016
Nightmare weekend
I have spent most of this weekend in a car. Or more accurately I have spent most of the weekend driving it.
On Friday morning we drove down to Plymouth to collect Mk1 daughter, then returned on Saturday only to collect Mk2 daughter and Boyfriend Ver2.2 before heading to Cambridge for a 50th Birthday party. This was made all the more entertaining by filling up at a petrol station whilst dressed as Tom Baker in full 1970's Dr Who garb.
My original choice of costume was to go as Frank'n'Furter, Tim Curry's character from the Rocky Horror Show but thus was vetoed not just by the family but also by Boyfriend Ver2.2 The fact that he is named Brad rather disappointed me to be honest.
A good night but we returned home to find we had acquired an additional shower in the kitchen. Cue the turning off of the mains water. Have you seen the cost of plumbers over Bank Holidays? We can wait until tomorrow for Bob the Builder to turn up, I went in early and deloused at work
On Sunday night we were hit by Storm Katie. One of our trees lost a large limb which collapsed on the neighbours fence as well as destroying the washing line and posts. Not impressed.
Today we lost the Internet. The router has 'big problems' according to the nice lady from Bulgaria who handled the call on behalf of Sky. New router on the way, just the small issue of paying for it.
The fact that the weather was nice where she was did nothing to allay the 'Snapchat' withdrawal of my 13 year old.
On the upside I was therefore able to justify some retail therapy and bought some more figures without complaint from the War Dept. Furthermore my Osprey on Russian Crimean Uniforms arrive whilst I was at work.
Back to the paints tomorrow for the last DAK push
My original choice of costume was to go as Frank'n'Furter, Tim Curry's character from the Rocky Horror Show but thus was vetoed not just by the family but also by Boyfriend Ver2.2 The fact that he is named Brad rather disappointed me to be honest.
A good night but we returned home to find we had acquired an additional shower in the kitchen. Cue the turning off of the mains water. Have you seen the cost of plumbers over Bank Holidays? We can wait until tomorrow for Bob the Builder to turn up, I went in early and deloused at work
On Sunday night we were hit by Storm Katie. One of our trees lost a large limb which collapsed on the neighbours fence as well as destroying the washing line and posts. Not impressed.
Today we lost the Internet. The router has 'big problems' according to the nice lady from Bulgaria who handled the call on behalf of Sky. New router on the way, just the small issue of paying for it.
The fact that the weather was nice where she was did nothing to allay the 'Snapchat' withdrawal of my 13 year old.
On the upside I was therefore able to justify some retail therapy and bought some more figures without complaint from the War Dept. Furthermore my Osprey on Russian Crimean Uniforms arrive whilst I was at work.
Back to the paints tomorrow for the last DAK push
Friday 11 March 2016
Khazi Game Photo's
Some close ups of the game in Khazi.
The market in full flow. Thugee's can be seen sizing up potential victims
This is the Post Office with Murkovs Ice Cream Van next to it. Due to an unfortunate typographical error and confusion with the I and the U on the QWERTY typewriter keyboard, the sign placed on the door by the Constabulary following the robbery indicates that ''This Post Office is Shit'
This is the local Police Station. Please note that detainees have ready access to a cell containing complimentary fresh air before they are brought into the station to confess their guilt when questioned.
Rick's Cafe American in close up. The Henri Mankini quartet can be seen pounding out some serious tunes. The sanitary facilities include the only flushing toilet in Khazi.
The death of Roberto Mankini. Hacked down for the sum of 3 Gold Coins
The market in full flow. Thugee's can be seen sizing up potential victims
This is the Post Office with Murkovs Ice Cream Van next to it. Due to an unfortunate typographical error and confusion with the I and the U on the QWERTY typewriter keyboard, the sign placed on the door by the Constabulary following the robbery indicates that ''This Post Office is Shit'
This is the local Police Station. Please note that detainees have ready access to a cell containing complimentary fresh air before they are brought into the station to confess their guilt when questioned.
Rick's Cafe American in close up. The Henri Mankini quartet can be seen pounding out some serious tunes. The sanitary facilities include the only flushing toilet in Khazi.
The death of Roberto Mankini. Hacked down for the sum of 3 Gold Coins
Unpleasantness at Khazi
The Khazi game was played at the end of last year. It was a preamble for some more 'normal' Bolt Action games set in the desert. The game was a mixture of role play and house rules, nothing sophisticated, just some fun.
Situation.
The Axis and Allied commands are both seeking information from the occupants of the town that may help with the identification of the location of an ancient artifice. Both commands must enter the town and try and acquire as much information as they can. They have three agents each that can attempt to enter the town and interact with the locals.
The local Thugee's will interfere with any attempts by 'Foreigners' to enter the market. This may mean looting, robbing and murdering visitors.
Method
The Allies and Axis had randomly determined bags of gold with which they could use to bribe the locals. Success/failure was on the roll of a D6. Each gold coin was an extra 'blip' on a dice roll. The number of coins used to bribe had to be declared before the dice were rolled.
Both sides were given prior notice and had the opportunity of being creative in 'making money' on the day. Innovation would be rewarded!
Each side had three agents who were sent in one at a time.
Rich as Head Thugee had to disrupt Allied and Axis activity, the more disruptive the better. He had some scripted characters and events and some activation requirements.
The Game
Craig sent a van full of Allied troops dressed up,as Germans. He pulled up behind the Post Office, climbed onto the roof, forced his way in and then proceeded to rob it. Clearly he had put the acquisition of gold coins ahead of intelligence.
He was lucky, complete surprise, no 1's and sack loads of Egyptian Pounds. His troops were dressed in German Uniforms so that if it all went wrong the Axis took the blame ! Sneaky.......
However I was not using Germans in the game at all. I sent in my Italians, the first of whom was Mr Murkov, purveyor of the finest Italian Ice Creams who drove straight to the Police Station in his ice cream van to apply for his All Day Refreshment Licence. Very fortunately the Chief of Police rolled a double 1 and not only was the licence granted to sell ice creams anywhere within the town, but the cost was only a dozen Tutti Frutti Specials for the local constabulary.
The game continued with both sides gaining intelligence with varying degrees of success although Rich did intervene and robbed Craig of some valuable coins.
Unknown to Craig the Post Office in Egypt was actually run by Italians so in kidnapping the postmaster he had unknowingly incapacitated my Secret Agent.
Tragedy struck when Rich's Thug was a little heavy handed in robbing the archaeologist 'Roberto Mankini' striking him a fatal blow.This tragic incident took place directly outside Rick's Place where Roberto's brother, Henri, was playing with his Jazz Band.
I can't say too much on the success or otherwise of the intelligence gathering as that is something that has yet to be played out, but a good night was had by all.
Situation.
The Axis and Allied commands are both seeking information from the occupants of the town that may help with the identification of the location of an ancient artifice. Both commands must enter the town and try and acquire as much information as they can. They have three agents each that can attempt to enter the town and interact with the locals.
The local Thugee's will interfere with any attempts by 'Foreigners' to enter the market. This may mean looting, robbing and murdering visitors.
Method
The Allies and Axis had randomly determined bags of gold with which they could use to bribe the locals. Success/failure was on the roll of a D6. Each gold coin was an extra 'blip' on a dice roll. The number of coins used to bribe had to be declared before the dice were rolled.
Both sides were given prior notice and had the opportunity of being creative in 'making money' on the day. Innovation would be rewarded!
Each side had three agents who were sent in one at a time.
Rich as Head Thugee had to disrupt Allied and Axis activity, the more disruptive the better. He had some scripted characters and events and some activation requirements.
The Game
Craig sent a van full of Allied troops dressed up,as Germans. He pulled up behind the Post Office, climbed onto the roof, forced his way in and then proceeded to rob it. Clearly he had put the acquisition of gold coins ahead of intelligence.
He was lucky, complete surprise, no 1's and sack loads of Egyptian Pounds. His troops were dressed in German Uniforms so that if it all went wrong the Axis took the blame ! Sneaky.......
However I was not using Germans in the game at all. I sent in my Italians, the first of whom was Mr Murkov, purveyor of the finest Italian Ice Creams who drove straight to the Police Station in his ice cream van to apply for his All Day Refreshment Licence. Very fortunately the Chief of Police rolled a double 1 and not only was the licence granted to sell ice creams anywhere within the town, but the cost was only a dozen Tutti Frutti Specials for the local constabulary.
The game continued with both sides gaining intelligence with varying degrees of success although Rich did intervene and robbed Craig of some valuable coins.
Unknown to Craig the Post Office in Egypt was actually run by Italians so in kidnapping the postmaster he had unknowingly incapacitated my Secret Agent.
Tragedy struck when Rich's Thug was a little heavy handed in robbing the archaeologist 'Roberto Mankini' striking him a fatal blow.This tragic incident took place directly outside Rick's Place where Roberto's brother, Henri, was playing with his Jazz Band.
I can't say too much on the success or otherwise of the intelligence gathering as that is something that has yet to be played out, but a good night was had by all.
Thursday 10 March 2016
Khazi, your new holiday destination
Retrieved from an old railway station, here are some photographs of the less than picturesque destination of Khazi. A hotbed of vice and avarice, the role of Chief of Police at this market town attracts those who wish to line their pockets with huge wads of cash.
From a distance and viewed through the (currently) unpolluted feature known locally as 'The Pond, Khazi looks like a desert travellers ideal Oasis
From a distance and viewed through the (currently) unpolluted feature known locally as 'The Pond, Khazi looks like a desert travellers ideal Oasis
The view of the main through road and market area. The Post Office is centre on the left, Ricks place is to the right and the Police Station is at the far end of the market. All the buildings were scratch built as were the market stalls
This is a side view of the town, the Oasis is to the right (off camera)
The Police Station is to the right, next to it is the Mosque
Another view of the town from the opposite side looking towards the Post Office
Saturday 5 March 2016
Flying Officer Lee
I like 'specials'. In particular I like them when they add something to the game. Not necessarily a character with special rules, more a special character. Rather like 'Welsh Dai' the shepherd who gets 'really annoyed' if one of his sheep is caught in the crossfire but otherwise plays no role and has no impact on a game, vignettes and one off figures have the potential to add humour and chance.
Last year Warlord released a figure of Christopher Lee shortly after his death. Lee was a Flying Officer in the Intelligence branch of the RAF and served in North Africa (Including as a liaison officer with the SAS and the LRDG) and in Italy where he memorably served with the Ghurka Rifles at Monte Cassino.
There is lots of potential for scenarios here. Lee spoke Italian, French, Spanish and German fluently as well as passable Swedish, Russian and Greek, meaning he could be placed in theatre almost anywhere in WW2 especially if you add in his known contact with the Ghurkas.
My FO Lee is now all painted and finished in Desert/Mediterranean kit. Just be cautious that he might turn into a Vampire if wounded!
Last year Warlord released a figure of Christopher Lee shortly after his death. Lee was a Flying Officer in the Intelligence branch of the RAF and served in North Africa (Including as a liaison officer with the SAS and the LRDG) and in Italy where he memorably served with the Ghurka Rifles at Monte Cassino.
There is lots of potential for scenarios here. Lee spoke Italian, French, Spanish and German fluently as well as passable Swedish, Russian and Greek, meaning he could be placed in theatre almost anywhere in WW2 especially if you add in his known contact with the Ghurkas.
My FO Lee is now all painted and finished in Desert/Mediterranean kit. Just be cautious that he might turn into a Vampire if wounded!
Friday 4 March 2016
The Eyes have it
One of the decisions that the average painter has to make when painting 28mm figures is whether to paint the eyes or not. I admit I have flittered with either painting in or leaving the eyes over time. I have now come to the realisation that in most cases the quality of the miniature itself will dictate that decision. Either that or I cannot face painting the eyes of a unit of 32 Crimean Russians.
This week I have made steady progress with my DAK to the point where I am putting together and basing the figures. Just a few tweaks will be needed to finish them and this should all be done by tomorrow. Most of these are Perry plastics but I bought the Artizan DAK sentry pack before Christmas and have undercoated them and started on the flesh work. The sculpts are really good and the temptation was there to 'do the eyes' because there are only four figures whilst the remainder of the Perrys are 'eyeless' with a dark wash giving the impression of eye sockets.
For a long time I had problems painting eyes until a friend 'God bless you, Jim' suggested that I paint the whites, then paint two straight lines in black. One vertical across the centre of the eye and the next horizontal across the top to represent the eyelid. This is very simple and avoids the Mad 100yard stare (in most cases). If you do get this then it is quite easy to touch up and 'repair'.
However you still get a few nightmares. As I am right handed I find it easier to paint the left eye than the right and occasionally it all goes a bit 'Pete Tong'. As an example, here is one of the sentries before he was given remedial eye surgery.
I have named him Kristoff Toon in homage to Christpher Lloyd's character in 'Who framed Roger Rabbit'. You might see the similarity !
Having read and heard this subject debated I have come to the conclusion that actually in most cases I won't paint the eyes in unless the figure is a 'character' or I otherwise deem it necessary. However that hasn't really helped and I am back to square one.
This week I have made steady progress with my DAK to the point where I am putting together and basing the figures. Just a few tweaks will be needed to finish them and this should all be done by tomorrow. Most of these are Perry plastics but I bought the Artizan DAK sentry pack before Christmas and have undercoated them and started on the flesh work. The sculpts are really good and the temptation was there to 'do the eyes' because there are only four figures whilst the remainder of the Perrys are 'eyeless' with a dark wash giving the impression of eye sockets.
For a long time I had problems painting eyes until a friend 'God bless you, Jim' suggested that I paint the whites, then paint two straight lines in black. One vertical across the centre of the eye and the next horizontal across the top to represent the eyelid. This is very simple and avoids the Mad 100yard stare (in most cases). If you do get this then it is quite easy to touch up and 'repair'.
However you still get a few nightmares. As I am right handed I find it easier to paint the left eye than the right and occasionally it all goes a bit 'Pete Tong'. As an example, here is one of the sentries before he was given remedial eye surgery.
I have named him Kristoff Toon in homage to Christpher Lloyd's character in 'Who framed Roger Rabbit'. You might see the similarity !
Having read and heard this subject debated I have come to the conclusion that actually in most cases I won't paint the eyes in unless the figure is a 'character' or I otherwise deem it necessary. However that hasn't really helped and I am back to square one.
Tuesday 1 March 2016
The Rush commences and a new member of the team arrives
With just over a month to go before Salute I have a self imposed target of finishing my DAK before April 16th. They have sat in my cupboard for far too long, so long in fact that the blu tack temporarily basing them to their 2p coins is hard and brittle.
I intend to have the second squad and command finished by Thursday bar the varnishing and that will give me some time to prime and paint the remaining sprue plus the 4 Artizan DAK sentries that I bought recently before April.
This will give me a full Zug plus a 50mm mortar and ATR as well as a couple of sentries. Certainly enough for a desert skirmish or two but probably not enough to compete with Craig's LRDG and SAS. The one thing I have noticed is the difference in detail between metal and plastic sculpts. The Artizan figures are full of it where's the Perry plastics are, shall we say, a little bland. Having said that, from a distance you cannot tell which is which and that is the whole point.
Assuming that I finish these, next years plastics will be some Russians that I can hack away at and convert into a Penal Unit. That should be simple enough, even for me, no equipment and no weapons for half of them, the rest have only Moisin Nagant and a couple of rounds. Of course the Commissars behind them might have a Ppsh or two 'pour encourages les autres'.
Photos of the DAK as they stumble into the sunshine in a day or two.
My brother gave me an excellent Christmas present the year. I present to you 'Keef' the Zombie gnome. Named after a certain musician who should theoretically be a Zombie given the amount of pharmaceuticals they have added to their bloodstream over the years, his role is to protect the gooseberry bushes on the allotment as well as laying down a few tunes. He came already painted, I was tempted to give him a couple of highlights and dipping him in Army Painter strong tone before he went outside.....
I intend to have the second squad and command finished by Thursday bar the varnishing and that will give me some time to prime and paint the remaining sprue plus the 4 Artizan DAK sentries that I bought recently before April.
This will give me a full Zug plus a 50mm mortar and ATR as well as a couple of sentries. Certainly enough for a desert skirmish or two but probably not enough to compete with Craig's LRDG and SAS. The one thing I have noticed is the difference in detail between metal and plastic sculpts. The Artizan figures are full of it where's the Perry plastics are, shall we say, a little bland. Having said that, from a distance you cannot tell which is which and that is the whole point.
Assuming that I finish these, next years plastics will be some Russians that I can hack away at and convert into a Penal Unit. That should be simple enough, even for me, no equipment and no weapons for half of them, the rest have only Moisin Nagant and a couple of rounds. Of course the Commissars behind them might have a Ppsh or two 'pour encourages les autres'.
Photos of the DAK as they stumble into the sunshine in a day or two.
My brother gave me an excellent Christmas present the year. I present to you 'Keef' the Zombie gnome. Named after a certain musician who should theoretically be a Zombie given the amount of pharmaceuticals they have added to their bloodstream over the years, his role is to protect the gooseberry bushes on the allotment as well as laying down a few tunes. He came already painted, I was tempted to give him a couple of highlights and dipping him in Army Painter strong tone before he went outside.....
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