Latest book received

[Dashetal]

Have been reading The War Lovers

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/23/book-review-the-war-lovers/

and enjoying it especially while watching the old Rough Riders made for tv miniseries. My fingers are twitching for the credit card as I look at Old Glory and Tiger Miniatures. Must resist  Ohhh  shiney 

[gamer Mac]

After seeing Svennn's Indian Mutiny stuff I thought I would get this.

[Lowtardog]

Chronopia rules from evil bay, I have plans to convert for a bit of Splintered light animal fights

[former user]

this wonderful book which was presented to my by Don Diego Bezzo, thank You very much again


only had time to briefly leaf through it yet, so here my impression:

Apart from giving a very detailed and personal report of the building of a HO narrow gauge layout starting with the 50ies (and all from the POV of the models as if they were really building this thing), it reveals several parallels between the wargaming hobby and the model railroad hobby:

- a collection (layout) is never finished, so the actual state has to be somehow integrated into the hobby concept. for us wargamers it is the fractioning between units, armies and settings
- what You don't have You must build (and mind You, there was much less available in the 50ies, and the average railway modeller nowadays is a douchebag who is barely able to glue together a kit and has only to stick the track together, for the elaborate RC technology relieves him of the tedious wiring). In this aspect the wargamer has by far left behind the railway modeller. What one is shown as "weathering" etc in RM is almost laughable and daily business for the average wargame collector. The dark clouds nowadays appearing on our horizon are GW and the rattail of prepainted miniatures that are about to flood the market and that will make future wargaming a matter of budget and most of us a dying species. Nevertheless, the detailed BW pictures of this book show the old times of RM the spirit of which is still held up by few.
- every model collector needs a background to inspire a soul to his collection. What for us are heroes, detailed army lists, scenarios and RPG elements for RM is a small story to every detail on the layout, like the small rainwater pond and the sparrows that are bathing in it.

As such, this book offers a good insight into what makes us collect miniatures, being RM or wargame collector (like me) and is thus a highly recommended lecture You can grab in flea markets or amazon.

[white knight]

Some WFRP volumes for the Empire fluff:

[Svennn]

The Siege Of The Peking Embassy 1900 - Sir Claude Macdonalds Report

No pics but looks a good read

[Johnno]

Not a book per se but "Death in the Dark Continent" by Chris Peers

[myincubliss]

Anima Tactics rulebook that was stashed at work for a month, because it's rather pretty (and hopefully will drive me to finish painting some miniatures and get a game in...)

[JollyBob]

These arrived today:



Hellboy Vol 10: The Crooked Man.



Witchfinder.


Lots more Mignola goodness. Well, scripted, anyway. Lazy git doesn't bother to draw anything anymore (But has got Richard Corben for the Hellboy one - mmmm, tasty!).

[Prof.Witchheimer]

not yet read it.

Amazon.co.uk : In November 1913, three German shipbuilders, led by master shipwright Anton Rüter, were ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm II to dismantle a steam ship, send the parts to German East Africa, and reassemble it on Lake Tanganyika. Their initial aim of getting the job done quickly and returning home to claim an excellent salary is quickly eclipsed by the enchantment of the exotic lansdcape, the governer’s beautiful wife, and the violent machinery of colonialism. At the same time, Winston Churchill sends Commander Geoffrey Spicer-Simson to transport two dilapidated and incongruously named gun-boats, Mimi and Toutou, to the other side of the lake. When World War I breaks out the Germans and British are facing each other, and the boat-builders reluctantly find themselves fighting under the unsympathetic Captain-Lieutenant Gustav von Zimmer. The whole endeavour is a fiasco – von Zimmer and Spicer-Simson both miss their chances – but eventually the German steamer is sunk, if only because the imperial pleasure-yacht turned battleship is in an even worse state than Mimi and Toutou. In the midst of the horrors of war, however, there are moments of great humour and pathos – when the formerly antagonistic Rüter and von Zimmer scuttle their ship and make off into the bush; at the same time as the inveterate showman Spicer-Simson defies expectations and turns his back on professional glory in a gesture of humanity. War, colonialism, absurdity – Capus deals with big themes with a rich, warm humour and without a moralising undertone – he adds vibrant colour to characters and locations, and lets events speak for themselves.

there is an english version of:

[JollyBob]

JB, I just read the top one and 3 of the novels are bloody good, especially the ones drawn by Corben and Mignola. It is really a crying shame that Mignola doesn't draw more adventures himself, the Molok short story is one of his best, IMO.

Witchfinder I found a bit lacking but not a shitty read.

Cheers for the review Hammers, I only had chance to glance through them while I was home for lunch and am looking forward to getting stuck into them properly tonight. 

I'm expecting Witchfinder to be of similar quality to the Lobster Johnson miniseries, which while enjoyable didn't really add a lot to the Hellboy universe as a whole. 

[Hammers]

I'm expecting Witchfinder to be of similar quality to the Lobster Johnson miniseries, which while enjoyable didn't really add a lot to the Hellboy universe as a whole. 

I just think many artists charged with drawing an colouring Hellboy lack the subtlety and artistry which one craves in these stories. Witchfiner is drawn in a rather generic comic style with just the occasional, half hearted attempt to mimic Mignola's finely tuned plakat stil (as one has recently learnt it is called).

Corben, I think, does Hellboy universe honour since he has his own, disturbing style in the genre which lends itself very well to it.

[General Roos]

Vlad the Impaler - Warhammer Historical from the LAF-member soapy.

[Col.Stone]

Tools of the trade. The weapons, gear & uniforms of the IDF from the LAF-member soapy.

[JollyBob]

I'm expecting Witchfinder to be of similar quality to the Lobster Johnson miniseries, which while enjoyable didn't really add a lot to the Hellboy universe as a whole. 

And I finished it last night. Better than I expected, although Hammers is right there is something missing. I think its the wonderful blue-collar, just a guy doing his job-ness of Hellboy, actually. This is a bit more portentious and serious, possibly because of the Victorian setting.

I thought there was some nice background added to characters that turn up in BPRD/Hellboy though, and some nice new characters (who get badly served, IMO).

Gotta side with Team Hammers again though, as nice as the artwork is, it would have been so much better if Mignola had done it himself.