December 8, last meeting for 2014

Our last meeting of the year saw three tables being used and a lot of people dropping. Great to meet Rex, who has a growing collection of 1/72nd scale Napoleonics, and Connor who came along to see what playing toy soldiers is all about.

Connor, Ross and Gary getting organised for a Wings of War World War 2 dog fight.

Craig and Neil were planes that passed in the night! Wings of War, World War 1 version.

Warren and Vince played DBA, quick play Ancients. Connor was keen.

October 27 meeting

The October 27 meeting was quite small, with only two games being played. Both were historical match ups, though not refights of actual battles.

Andrew and Craig played a 15mm Napoleonic game, using the Napoleon's Battles rules. Each had a corps from the French invasion of Russia in 1812 . Andrew used Russians, and  used Saxons Napoleon's army.

David and

Vince (in ethnic t-shirt)  played 15mm Ancients.

This is part of David's army, Macedonians, with Philip II as King and some boy, his son, Alexi, Alexapov, something like that, commanding the Companions and other cavalry. Vince used Thebans. The Kingdom of Macedonia and  the city state of Thebes and her allies were chief protagonists in the wars that eventually ended the independence of Greek city states and established Macdonia as the dominant power in the balkans. Philip did not live long after his victory. He was assassinated, probably by one of his household guard, and "the boy"eventually  followed his father as king. 

Where to buy Toy Soldiers?

This is a piece I've been meaning to write for some time - New Zealand has a lot going for it, but easy access to toy soldiers isn't one of those positives!  I intend to update this, as and when new info comes to hand, and hopefully it will make it a bit simpler for us all to spend our hard-earned pocket money on little men!

Locally

-  The Toy Box, Queen Street, Masterton:  This is the only place in the Wairarapa that sells Games Workshop products.  They also have a decent selection of Army Painter products, and model railway stuff (for terrain building), plus plastic models (Tamiya, Italeri etc.) and Humbrol enamel paints.  They can also get all the stuff sold on Pixel Park (a NZ board games importer), which includes all the Fantasy Flight products - that's X-Wing, a bunch of roleplaying games, strategy board games and a whole lot more!

- Jaycar Electronics, Queen Street, Masterton:  Just down the road from the Toybox, Jaycar has a very good selection of plastic model kits and train stuff, in various scales.

- Cwmglyn Farm and Middleton Model Railway:   This is one that you may not have come across - I only found it because of my childrens interest in model trains (this place has several very nifty installations that you can actually get hands-on with).  It's north of Masterton, just after the ANZAC Bridge, and clearly sign-posted.  They also have a website here.  They have a very good selection of materials that can be used for terrain, and if you're a Flames of War or other small-scale historical player then the train stuff can often be used - HO scale is approximately 1:87 (close enough to the 15mm/18mm), and O scale is equivalent to 1:45 - pretty close to the 1:56/1:48 that 28mm is generally rated as.


Online in New Zealand


-  Slave to Painting:  These guys here are relatively new on the scene here.  They're based out of somewhere down South, and I've personally found them very good to deal with.  They have a very large range of lots of products -  Games Workshop, Wyrd Miniatures, Privateer Press, Army Painter and more.  They have a flat rate of postage in New Zealand of $5, and sell almost everything at less than RRP, as well as having regular sales.  Have a look at them here.

-  Trademe/Sella/eBay:  These are all good places to buy and sell.  As always, when buying or selling second-hand the most important thing to remember is caveat emptor!


Online from Overseas


-  Caliver Books:  This is a pretty good website (find it here), even though it looks like the design hasn't been changed since the early '90s.  They have a reasonably good selection of most of the major wargames, from Spartan (Dystopian Wars), Games Workshop, Flames of War.....pretty much, if you want it, they've got it.  The main reason I like this place is that all miniatures are post-free world-wide!  Also have a really wide selection of books and historical references, but they are not covered by their postage-free offers.

-  Defiant Gaming:  An Australian website (Defiant Gaming) recommended by Peter for Warmachine stuff.



I hope you find this information useful.  If I've left off a site that you've used, or a shop that you go to, please leave a comment or email me on masterton.marauders@gmail.com and I'll update it.

James

September 29 meeting - the biggest we have had?

The meeting on Sunday September 29 was possibly the biggest we have had. It was great to see so many people come along and play games. Six tables were being used for a wide range of periods. Come along to our next meeting and join in too. 

Our venue, the Masterton Croquet Club.

Jacob, Ben, Simon (wearing ethnic scarf) and Alexander played Lord of the Rings Risk.

Gary (Free Australian) and Ross (Republique de France) played Dystopian Wars.

Neil (Bretonnians) and Aaron (Ogres) played Warhammer Fantasy.

Andrew and Craig played the World War 2 variant of Wings of War. As you can see, Craig has boxes of planes!

It was definitely a day for Warmachine.  Peter and James facing off.

Then it was Peter and David .

And the big bash, James, David, Peter, Jacob and Thomas. Armies included, but were not limited to, Cyrx, Cygnar, Legions of Everblight, Skorn and Circle. Variations on spelling are entirely mine!

David and Vince played Ancients.

David (Patrician Romans) giving them the chop!

Sunday 8th Report

I know it's several weeks late, but in my defense.......I'm incredibly disorganised and lazy. 

Anyway, Vince wasn't there, so I'm afraid there were no lovely pictures this week. 

Craig bought his extensive collection of Wings of War planes, and much fun was had roaring Biggles quotes and un-PC soundbites from Commando comments as the tiny, magnificent-men-in-their-flying-machines models chased each other around the table, resulting in a resounding victory for the Kaiser.

There was also some naval action with Dystopian Wars, and myself and Harley managed to finally get Dreadball out of the box, and really enjoyed this excellent little future sports game from Mantic.

As usual, much fun was had by all!

James

Giving voice to thousands of dead soldiers: WWI memorabilia to go online

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/world-war-one-experience-touch-button The diaries, photographs and records of thousands of New Zealand soldiers are being placed online to mark the centenary of World War I.

Henrietta Bollinger, 20, from Wellington, looks at the diary of WWI soldier George Wallace Bollinger, her great-great uncle who was killed in 1917.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9102041/Giving-voice-to-thousands-of-dead-soldiers-WWI-memorabilia-to-go-online

Sunday August 25

Four tables were being used today, with 13 people playing and several others dropping in through the afternoon. Everyone is welcome. Feel free to bring any rules, any scale, any period.

Neil, Peter, Andrew and Craig played World War 1 aerial, using the Wings of War rules. 

Craig had his new toys, the bombers, which were a real handful. 

Gary and James played Descent. This looks a very cool game with excellent quality tiles and counters.

Warren (Germans), Simon (Canadians), and Jacob (USA) played two games of  late war World War 2 using Flames of War. They clearly had fun as one of the boys got loud! 

David, John, Vince and David played 15mm Ancients, using the DBMM 200 rules.

David brought his Mayans, which are very nice. Here are a couple more pics.

If you click on the pictures you should get a better idea of the shield patterns on these boys.

Remember, these are 15mm.

Vince brought his early Slavs - proto-Polish.

 Next month, probably on the last Sunday, John and David are planning to bring their Ancient Britons and Early Imperial Romans. I Claudius!

Sunday August 11

A rainy Sunday in the Wairarapa seemed the perfect excuse for a day of wargaming. We had three tables being used, all for historical games. 

It was great to see James able to drop by, escorted by Katrina. On Wednesday he had been taken into hospital and on Thursday they whipped out his appendix. He was certainly feeling tender but keen to catch up on some wargaming reading while off work for a couple of weeks of recuperation.

Warren (late World War 2 Germans) came up from Featherston and was helping Jacob (USA) learn Flames of War. 

Neil brought along Puerto Rico a game for up to five players, developing the economies of islands in the Caribbean. Neil, Peter, Ben, Gary and Vince (taking the photo) played.   

Harley and Craig played a game of Napoleon's Battles. I am sorry, I did not note the armies but I think they were British in India and French.

Next meeting we are hoping to play some Ancients, using the DBMM 200 rules. Come by to see what is happening and you are most welcome to bring toy soldiers (any and all periods and rules welcome), planes, boats and board games.

Sunday July 28 meeting

We had three tables being used at the meeting today, Sunday July 28. Harley, Peter, Vince, Torun and Risa also came along to catch up with buddies and talk toy soldiers.

Simon (Canadians) was teaching his big brother Jacob (United States) how to use the Flames of War rules. They were playing late war World War 2. Yes, Simon is the baby of the family, about 20 minutes younger than Jake and about a foot taller than big sister Jessie ;-)

Harley remembered he likes Flames of War and said he will bring his army along to a future meeting. He also said now that he has a new prescription for his glasses, he will buy new specs and get back to painting. Good on ya!

Neil (Wood Elves) played Aaron (Ogres) at GW Fantasy. Peter couldn't help wondering what his dad was doing, and with Peter's army!

Craig (League of Italian States) played the heir, Ross (Republique of France). They played Dystopian Wars.

Not only have Risa and Torun come as exchange students from Tokyo and Stockholm to Carterton but they were brought along to a wargaming club! Clearly they are the best sort of girls ;-)

July 14 meeting

On a rainy, windy Sunday in the middle of winter what better way to spend the afternoon than playing toy soldiers. So we did ;-)

It was Bastille Day in New Zealand (tomorrow in France) so there had to be a representation of a French army or navy.  Jacob should have know better than, today of all days, to pit his Kingdom of Britannia Dystopian Wars fleet against Ross' Republique of France. the result could only have been,  Vive la République!  However, face was saved in their second game when Ross used Antarcticans and this time Her Majesty prevailed.

Aaron (Ogres) and Neil (Warriors of Chaos) faced off in a game of Fantasy Battle. 

David (Imperial Guard) and Ryan (Tyrannids) played 40K.

Craig brought his squadrons of Wings of War planes for World War 1 dogfights. Peter and Simon got intense, plotting how they would use the Kaiser's squadrons. 

Very nice models indeed. Click on the picture for a closer look. Peter, Simon, Craig, Neil and Vince played.

June 30 meeting

About a dozen people attended the meeting on Sunday, playing Dystopian Wars, Warhammer Fantasy, and Carcassonne.

Dystopian Wars is a set of rules for Victorian "science fiction" or steam punk. Ross (Antarcticans) is playing Peter (Federated States of America).

Jacob (Kingdom of Britannia) vs Craig (League of Italian States).

Simon (Chaos Dwarfs) and Neil (Warriors of Chaos) played two games of Warhammer Fantasy, sharing the honours with one win each all.

Gary, James, David and Vince (behind the camera) played Carcassonne.  Carcassonne is a tile game in which players place tiles to create a landscape inspired by the town in southern France. The aim is to control cities,  road networks, and cloisters, and have farms to supply cities.

June Meeting is Go!

Hi everybody! (Hi Doctor Nick!)  Wow, I've managed to do two blog posts in two months - things are looking up!

Just a little heads-up to everybody that we'll be having our monthly meeting tomorrow at 1pm, at the Croquet Club - bring yourselves and your toy soldiers, and get down with some table-top carnage!

James

26th May is go!

Hey guys, we'll be meeting today at 1pm at the croquet club for our usual toy-soldier hijinks.

Hope to see you there!

Business as Usual

Hey chaps and chappettes. how goes it?  I apologise for the long silence from the blog here - many of our members have been busy with the tournament season, work or family, so we simply haven't had any time to update!

We'll be meeting on April the 28th (this Sunday) from 1pm for Games Day.  Hope to see you all there!

James

Wings Over Wairarapa Mosquito video

Hi
Just to whet your appetite, here's a link to a quick edit of a Mosquito video clip that we've put up on YouTube, reminding you of the sights and sounds we experienced at the Wings Over Wairarapa airshow recently:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxq_JhMIFe8

As with the 2009 and 2011 shows, HAFU will be preparing a Video Highlights DVD/BluRay disk of this years show. Check out our web site for details if you're interested.
regards
-- Allan Udy
Historical Aviation Film Unit: http://www.aviationfilm.com
Find our YouTube Channel at: http://www.youtube.com/HAFUVideo#g/p

A Division of Golden Micro Solutions Ltd,

Box 590, Blenheim, New Zealand

http://www.golden.co.nz

Craigs Dystopian Wars Collection

Here's a few photos of Craigs very impressive collection of Dystopian Wars miniatures.  He has painted them all (including the Requblique of France, belonging to his son Ross), and I just wanted to share them with you all.

 The Empire of the Blazing Sun mechanical, submersible squid!  This thing scared the bejeebus out of me, so it was the first thing I tried to destroy!

Here's his fleet of the Federated States of America - in the Dystopian Wars timeline the South won't rise again, because it never fell in the first place!

 The honourable fleet of the Empire of the Blazing Sun!

 Craig counting tiny flyers!

 The FSA lined up for battle against the Imperial Fleet

 The mighty battleship of the FSA.  Love the paint job!

The official Spartan terrain - the kit comes with three islands and the floating base!

Anyone else got armies to share?  Just drop me an email with some photos and descriptions and we'll get them up here!

James