Molly; RIP

      The last few weeks I have gotten quite a lot of wargaming projects done. Earlier this week I was going to show some of the projects. Unfortunately, Molly, my dog, who has been sick for a few months, took a turn for the worse and so we had to put her out of her pain. Needless to say, I haven't been much in the mood for working on anything. However, Donna and I are trying to get out of the funk both of us are in.  I will at least try to do a report on an AWI game I played last week using some BATTLE CRY variant rules.

Molly playing "soccer" in the house.

One of the last pictures I took of Molly, having her  coat groomed.

Dog Days of Summer

A picture is worth 1000 words. This picture of Molly pretty well sums up the kind of weather we have been having. By the end of work I have no energy to do much except do a little reading. Hopefully today I can get something done as far as wargaming.

Garden Wargaming with 30mm SAE Figures

With warmer weather coming I found myself thinking about how to get more wargaming in. SomehowI just haven't had the time to get games in. On my day off by the time I run my errants, do the required work around the house and getting the dog out, the day is done  and my wife is home. Now

I always feel guilty because I don't get my dog out as much as she should. Last week as I was sitting out in the yard and Molly was enjoying the fresh air, I started thinking of playing with Airfix figures in the yard when I was a kid. With "little Wars" in mind, I was trying to figure what toy soldiers I could use. Now Airfix was fine as a kid, but even based they are still pretty tipsy. I wanted to use metal figures for their weight. While considering which scale to use, 40mm or 54mm, some SAE 30mm British Guards figures purchased several years ago caught my eye. I grabbed a few of them and brought the outside. The size of the bases seemed to work fine. But I only had 8 of the figures. I went on Ebay and found a good size lot of SAE 30mm Civil War figures at a good price.  The figures has seen many campaigns and most of the rifles are broken and some will need repairs, but for what I want them for they will do.

Today was a beautiful day and Molly was itching to get out. When I got home from work the package of figures were in the mail. I grabbed a handful of the figures, some dice and made a quick measure stick.  Using basic rules, as Molly laid in the sun, I started playing with the figures.  While it was just to see if the figures would work, I found not only did they work, but I was having more fun than I should have for the time invested in the setup.  I fought 2 skirmishes, the Union won the first; Confederates the second.  I even decided to snap a couple of shots of the action.

The Yankees manage to cut 2 Rebels off from the rest; discretion being the better part of valor, the Rebs surrender.

Higgins Armory Museum Closing

     This week I learned that my favorite museum, the John Woodman Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts was closing their doors after 82 years. The collection of 2000 pieces of armor, which belonged to a local industrialist John Higgins, first opened in 1931 in a custom built art deco building, which was used to house the collection and offices of his factories.
   As a child my parents made it a point to take us to local attractions. The "Armor Museum" as we would call it, was my favorite.  I still remember fondly the anticipation of the first glimpse of the Armory, which has a large suit of armor on the roof.

My brother Mike's favorite piece in the museum.

One of my favorites, a knight preying in a castle chapel.

Probably the most famous and popular suit in the collection.  Just about any article  I've seen shows this suit.

Molly dreaming: "If I could only get that suit I could rule the neighborhood!"

   The good news is that the collection is going to stay in Worcester, where it will be housed sat the Worcester Art Museum. I only hope the the building itself will last.

The Blizzard of 2013

1. The usual doom and gloom reporting started on Wednesday, speaking of the Blizzard of 2013.  The storm was to start on Friday morning. For Cape Cod, where I live it was to start as rain and turn to snow in the evening. The storm was to blow until mid afternoon Saturday, with hurricane force winds. My wife was to work on Saturday, and a fellow employee offered her a room at her house, which was only 5 minutes away from work. My wife took up the offer; a relief for me knowing she only had a short drive to work. Alas, she never did make it to work. And so Molly, my dog, and I hunkered down for the night. We lost power at 10:00 PM, but my furnace has a manual override switch so we had heat and with the old gas stove I could simply strike a match and light the burners, so I would have plenty of coffee.
2. Now I had the house to myself for 24 hours with no place to go. It was the perfect time to get some wargaming in. Over the course of the weekend (my wife managed to get home Saturday night) I managed to play 3 wargames, painted some figures that I have been putting off, and got some casting done.  Not a bad weekend considering.
   

   

   The view outside my front food during the storm.