It sounds painful ... but I hope that it isn't!

I have had an idea clumping around in my head over the past week or two ... and it is that it should be possible to devise a simple set of ironclad-era naval wargame rules based on my ITCHY AND SCRATCHY rules. For want of a better title I have called them the ITCHY AND SCRATCHY NAVAL wargame rules. (Had I called them the itchy and scratch navel rules, they might have sounded unpleasant ... or even painful!)

Ideal candidates for a play-test of my ITCHY AND SCRATCHY NAVAL wargame rules.

I have yet to put pen to paper - or, more accurately, finger to keyboard - but I am thinking along the lines of ships moving 3, 4, or 5 grid areas per turn (depending upon ship type) and using the same gun ranges as in the current ITCHY AND SCRATCHY rules. Hits would be scored on targets using a similar D6-based dice system to that already used in the ITCHY AND SCRATCHY rules (e.g. A pair of 1s will hit and damage an unarmoured ship whereas a pair of 1s and another double will hit and damage an armoured ship). Allocation of damage caused by hits would require a second D6 die throw (e.g. 1 = Hit on armament that knocks out a gun; 2 or 3 = Hit on machinery that reduces speed; 4, 5, or 6 = Hit on hull that can cause a ship to sink).

It is very early days as yet, but I think that it should not take me very long to get a working set of rules ready for play-testing ... hopefully before Christmas.

Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside ...

After posting all out Christmas cards, my wife and I decided to go out for a fish and chip lunch ... and as the best fish and chips is always served at the seaside, this meant a trip to Herne Bay!

(To be truthful my wife's car also needed petrol and a longish run to make sure that the battery was fully charged before the onset of winter ... and a trip to Herne Bay enabled us to kill two birds with one stone. In addition we both love watching the sea – even during wintertime – and are always looking for an excuse to go to the seaside to indulge this minor vice.)

We arrived at Herne Bay at about 1.30pm ... just as it began to rain rather heavily. We were able to park the car quite close to Mackaris Coffee Lounge & Ice Cream Parlour (which is situated on the seafront at 54, Central Parade, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 5JG) and we both had an excellent lunch.

The rain had not stopped by the time we had finished lunch and so we had to forgo the pleasure of taking a walk around the shops in Herne Bay and just drove home ... but it does give us an excuse to go back again when the weather is better.

Who invented the Christmas card ... and why?

This is a rhetorical question, and therefore needs no answer ... although I am sure that a search using Google would soon provide the answer!

I posed the question because my wife and I spent quite a lot of time yesterday writing, addressing, and sticking stamps on Christmas cards. We have a spreadsheet that has all the names and addresses on it, and that is regularly updated throughout the year. As each card is completed the name (or names) are marked on the spreadsheet with a highlighter pen, and the stamped and addressed card is placed on top of the ever growing pile.

Having already paid a visit to the local Post Office collection box yesterday afternoon to post out the latest issue of THE NUGGET, I will take the the pile of Christmas cards there first thing this morning. Then we shall await the cards that people will send us ... and hope that we don't get too many from people who are not yet on our spreadsheet!

Nugget 266

I collected the latest edition of THE NUGGET (N266) from the printer this afternoon and I intend to post it out to members of Wargame Developments tomorrow.

I have therefore uploaded the PDF versions of THE NUGGET and THE NUGGET COLOUR SUPPLEMENT to the Wargame Developments website, and they are now available for members of Wargame Developments to read online or to download and print.

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IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the second issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2013-2014 subscription year. Resubscription forms have been sent to all members who have not already resubscribed. Please note that the subscription costs rose with effect from the beginning of the current subscription year.

My inventory of 1:87th-scale models

The recent additional purchases that I have made on eBay have increased the inventory of 1:87th-scale models I own. Today I did a stock-check and the inventory is as follows:

German

• Pzkpfw III: 11
• Pzkpfw IV: 16
• Pzkpfw IV (Small): 1
• Pzkpfw IV (AA): 6
• Pzkpfw V (Panther): 3
• Pzkpfw VI (Tiger I): 4
• Pzkpfw VI (Tiger II): 1
• Stug III: 4
• Jagdpanzer IV: 4
• Jagdpanzer VI Jagdtiger: 2
• Grille 10/88mm: 1
• Sdkfz 234/1: 1
• Sdkfz 234/3: 1
• Sdkfz 250: 6
• Sdkfz 251: 1
• Sdkfz 251 (75mm gun): 1
• sWS (Cargo): 6
• sWS (AA): 6
• sWS (Closed): 9
• Sdkfz 18: 3
• Kubelwagen: 2
• Schwimmwagen: 2
• Mercedes Staff Car: 1
• Unimog Truck: 4
• Unimog Van: 1
• Opel Blitz Truck: 5
• Opel Blitz Van: 1
• Small Truck 4 rad.: 11
• Large Truck 4 rad.: 1
• Large Truck 4 rad. Van: 1
• Large Truck 4 rad. Bowser: 1
• Large Truck 6 rad.: 5
• RSO tracked Truck: 1
• 15cm sFH18: 6

Allies

• T-34/76: 19
• T-34/85: 9
• KV-1: 5
• KV-2: 1
• SU-85: 4
• JSU-122: 1
• JSU-152: 3
• Dodge Ambulance: 1
• 2.5-ton Truck: 19
• 2.5-ton Van: 1
• 2.5-ton Bowser: 2
• 6-ton Truck: 3
• High-speed Artillery Tractor: 1
• 155mm Howitzer: 11
• 105mm Howitzer: 12
• Small Trailer: 1

Post-war

• M48: 2
• T-54: 1
• Saladin: 1
• Munga: 1
• Sheridan: 1
• Raketenpanzer: 1
• Lacrosse Missile + launcher: 1
• Jagdpanzer: 3
• Jagdpanzer (small): 1

It is now getting to the stage where it is almost embarrassing that I have not yet started on my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project ... but I hope to do so within the next six months.

Another foray on eBay!

I recently mounted a couple of successful 'forays' on eBay and acquired some more ROCO artillery and trucks (you can never have too many trucks!) ...

... and some rather battered Britains Guardsmen.

The latter will certainly 'do' for knock-about LITTLE WARS battles, but I may re-paint them ... possibly to represent the Danish Royal Life Guards (Den Kongelige Livgarde).

Another important clipping!

One of the other clippings that I found whilst sorting through my files was the first magazine article that I wrote and was paid for! It was published in one of the early issues of MINIATURE WARGAMES, and was about one of my abiding interests, the Chaco War.

To read this article, please click on the images.

The paper was quite yellowed by age, which accounts for the poor quality of the scans ... but I think that they give you an idea of how the originals looked, and after reading the article I am of the opinion that was not too bad an attempt to interest other wargamers in this interesting and relatively unknown war.

A very important clipping!

In amongst the clippings I was recently looking through I found the first ever wargames article I had published. I submitted it to Donald Featherstone and he kindly published it in the WARGAMERS' NEWSLETTER in the mid 1970s.

To read this article, please click on the images.

Bearing in mind that a lot of what I write today is about my solo wargames and the interwar era, it is not surprising that the article was about fighting a solo wargame set during the Sino-Japanese War.

Things have not changed very much in nearly forty years, have they?

A few blog facts and figures

I have kept a series of six-month-long dairy/records of all my blog entries since I started in 2008, and this morning – to satisfy my own curiosity – I totalled up the number of words I have written and the number of A4 pages in my diaries/records. The annual results are shown below:

It is interesting to note that year-on-year since 2009 there has been a steady increase (I don't count 2008 as I only started blogging in September of that year), but that after I retired in 2011 the upwards trend was greater than it had been before. I think this is due to having more time on my hands to both wargame and to travel, the latter giving rise to quite a number of long 'I have been to ...' blog entries.

Keeping clippings

Over the years I have bought a large number of wargaming and/or modelling magazines, and every so often I go through them and cut out anything that I think that I might find of use in the future or that is just plain inspirational. These clippings are kept in a box ... and when the box is full, the clippings are filed into plastic wallets that fit into A4-size, four-ring binders.

I noticed that the clippings box was almost full last week, and today I have spent quite a few hours sorting and filing ... and also having a jolly good read! It made a chore into an enjoyable experience ... and I wish that I could say that about some of the other things that I have had to do recently.