Nutz and Open Fire....and more buildings

I finished up the 4th building.  At this point I have a good flow going.  All I am doing to adjusting some details to make building faster and more accurate.  I also used plastic windows and doors like on the church.  I am not thrilled with the window paint jobs but that just gives me something to work on next time.

 I also dropped by my local game shop today, X Planet, and picked up my "Nutz" (pun intended) and my copy of "Open Fire".  So many new models to work on.  First on the chopping block will be the Germans painted in a winter scheme.

 Kevin

Monster Island: A Review

I am in the middle of a new FOW buildings and Open Fire does not get released until Saturday, so i though I would write a review of a book i just read.  A friend of mine gave me a copy of the trilogy a few years back.  I will try to keep it vague so I don't spoil anything for anyone interested in reading it.   

"Monster Island" is a zombie novel written by David Wellington.  It was originally a web serial and was eventually published.  It is the first of a trilogy.  The novel takes place in Manhattan shortly after New York is over run by zombies.  It appears that the world is in the middle of the zombie apocalypses and there are very few pockets of humans left. 

The main character is a man named Dekalb.  He is a former UN inspector.  He is forced to accompany a group of teenage Somalian child soldiers to New York to find medication for a warlord (Somalia is one of the last strongholds of humans remaining).  As with every good zombie story, all plans go horribly wrong.

The basic plot is nothing special but the author takes a different approach with the zombies.  They act and appear very much like typical zombies.  However as the story progresses you find that the dead are all connected.  Thus leading to specific powerful zombies can control the other weaker ones.  It is like "The Walking Dead" meets "Army of Darkness".  The story also has a unique antagonist, Gary the Intelligent zombie.  (and for some reason I kept picturing Roger from "American Dad" as Gary).  

For me the characters of the book were not the highlight.    I found that the characters were very 1 dimensional.  The people were not complex and particularly interesting.  New "Useful" characters had a tendency to pop up out of no wear when they were needed for a plot turn.  There is never really any build up to this people.  I do like how the main character is not a highly trained super soldier, and that he relies on the teenage girl soldiers to stay alive.

There was also several times when characters (mainly Jack and Gary) would make a decision that felt unnatural to how they had be developing.  Gary (the thinking-mans zombie) denies he is a monster, then says he is evil and a monster, and denies being a monster again at the end.

I really dont want to give much away.  Over all I enjoyed the book.  It was not great literature but it was fun.  It was easy to read.  The book jumped back and forth between Dekalb's story and Gary's story.  The author does a great job keeping me invested by keeping chapters short (4-8 pages) and alternating between the two characters.  David Wellington does set up a very bleak vision that is more then a little unsettling.  He does a great job describing the city and the atmosphere.  This is what kept my eagerly turning the pages.  

I would defiantly recommend this book to a zombie fan.  It wont take you long to get through (I am a slow reader and I got through in a few days),  so give it a try.
Kevin 

The Finegan Faimly (1885)

My mom found this old book in the study today.  It is an odd book but really interesting.  It is called "Along the Mission Trail".  It was published in 1988, and give the history of the Mission Trail.  Mission Trail was one of the trails that went through Bonnie Doon and Lake Francis before Manitoba became a province.   The book talks about local industry, education, disasters and family history.  It even has old property maps showing who owned which acres of land  (we found both my Great grandfather and  his brothers land).

My Great Great Grandparents, George and Elizabeth Finegan, came to Bonnie Doon on June 29th, 1885.  They had two sons, William and Sam. 

William (my Great great uncle?  I am not sure what the exact term is) carried mail for the post office between 1905-1918.  After George and Elizabeth passed away, William ran their farm until he moved to Edrans, Manitoba.    
   
Sam married Martha nee Hill (Irish decent) and had two children; George and Rita. George is the man that served in the 100th Overseas battalion.  The Finegans ran the Bonnie Doon Post Office from June 1st, 1897 until April 16, 1918.

I have not found much information on Rita, other then she moved with her parents to the United States.    

L. to R.: George, Ray, Ellen Finegan

When George returned from WWI, he married Ellen Stewart in 1919.  Miss Stewart had grown up in Oakville, Manitoba.  She was a school teacher in a one room school house.  She taught the Bonnie Doon school from 1915-1917 until it closed due to small enrollment.  She also taught Ossowa and Glennie school districts.  Growing up we always called her Great Grandma F.  We would go and spend summers there. 

This past summer my girlfriend and I drove across Canada.  During this trip we tried to find her old house.  I was unable to recognize it from memory (it has been probable over 15 years since I was last there), but I did find the White Horse statue which was just down the road.  George and Ellen had one son, my Mothers father, Ray (Born 1922).

 Kevin

Churches, Windows and Doors...oh my

I made a new building this week for FOW.  I wanted to make something a little more complex and a bit bigger.  I went with a generic 4 level church, complete with steeple. 

 

 The first two floors are the size of 3 standard infantry bases.  I used model railway windows and doors.  I cut full holes into the walls to fit the hardware (so now you can see through and see whats inside the building).  The steeple levels can fit a standard infantry base or 2 small bases.  In the end I can fit my entire Canadian platoon of 9 stands into the church.  

 

 Here is my current table.  I still have a few extra pieces of road and train tracks.  

Barbed wire

 I am going to try and do a few more 2 level buildings next week, before the release of "Open Fire!"

Kevin

THE WINNIPEG GRENADIERS

Thank you to everyone that send me some links about my Great Grandfathers battalion.  I have learned a little bit more about it.

Apparently the "100ths Overseas Battalion" was part of "The Winnipeg Grenadiers".  This was their badge:

The 100ths Overseas Battalion was formed on December 22, 1915.  Within a few weeks of the original picture I posted was taken, the battalion disembarked for Great Britain (September 18th, 1916).  The battalion provided field reinforcements to the Canadian Corps until January 20, 1917.  At this point it was absorbed, along with 11th Reserve Infantry Battalion, into the newly designed "11th Reserve Battalion, CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force)" 





Flames of War
I have been playing around with a different approach to doors and windows.  Here is a sneak peak.  I hope to be done around Friday. 

Kevin

Older Buildins

 Here is some of my older FOW terrain.
The apartment building was very simple.  It is a upside down tea can from Starbucks, with the lid glued to the bottom.  Gave it a coat of plaster for some texture.  I carved out the windows and brick work.  The building is very sturdy but the plaster can chip easy.  Also troops can not be placed inside physically. 

 

This building was quick, resilient and cheep.   It is a $2 pre-built bird house from a local craft store.  Down side as before is that it is solid and troops can be placed inside. 

  

The hedges are made out of Games Workshops old hedges.  I simply put them on a base and cut them in half (height wise).  (the left over hedges was used to make bushes around the new buildings.     

 

 I am working on a church right now, (it will have a 4 level steeple, good sniper nest!) should be done in the next few days.  Pics to follow

Kevin

Finished Product

The buildings are complete.  I am happy how they turned out.  The windows and doors a little rough, something to improve on the next round.  I have a few different ideas on how to do windows and doors (cutting them all out or using plastic model railway windows and doors).  

Hardwood floors and purple wall paper

 

I like to base all of my terrain, I think it helps keep it from getting as banged up.  I used smaller square bases so I can use the buildings as a country home (putting some hedge rows and trees around).  Or I can place them base to base and make more of a city setting.  

Kevin

100th Overseas Battalion's Roster and FOW buildings

Thank you to Brad, who found me a complete roster of the 100th overseas battalion.  On page 7 of the document my Great grandfather is listed, Private George Watson Finegan.  Very cool, a great start to find out more.

Back to Flames of War.  Buildings are a big part of the game, and the new system of rules have a few new additions.  I wanted to make some buildings that had removable levels so I could put platoons inside.  Key idea for this as well was to keep it cheep.  I used odd cuts of foam core.  To get a good frame without slipping while the flue dried I used push pins.   I used a little "L" plastic card to cover the edges and wooden stir sticks for the trim.    

The roof was made out of a cereal box.  The roof tiles were made out of the same box cut into strips and layered (very tedious, but I like the result).   

 To give the foam core some texture I played around with a few options.  I ended on watered down drywall compound (melted ice cream consistency) with a little bit of sand.  

Next time, Paint.

Kevin

Family Histories

I was cleaning my basement out yesterday and found something really interesting.  It was packed away hidden behind a box on a shelf.  I found this picture.  At first glance I thought it might have been my grandfather on my dad's side.  He was an airplane mechanic during WW2.  However the time on the photo was much old, 1916. 

It turns out that my great grandfather on my mom's side was in the 100th overseas battalion during WW1.  This was a picture of his whole battalion.  It was originally at my great grandmothers house in Winnipeg.  Over the years it got moved to several houses and packed away.  Sadly we don't know exactly which soldier is my great grandfather.  He passed away in 1950 (32 years before I was born and even before my father met my mother). 

I would love to learn more about this battalion.  If anyone knows any good websites or sources, please let me know.  

"Leadership at the Point of a Bayonet" - Major Dick Winters

I have been thinking of writing a blog for a while now.  I have followed the online postings of several friends for the past few months.  Reading Jay's "Worlds in Conflict" page, however, finally prompted me to act. 

For almost 8 years I worked for Games Workshop.  I had a lot of fun and met some really good people during my time.  A few years back I left the company and decided to go back to school full time.  While earning my diploma I did not get much of a chance to work on my hobby.  I only played games while on Christmas break.  I realised that I missed the hobby community.  I was at my most creative when I could bounce ideas of the regulars as well as see what other people have been up too.   I liked the advice and tips as well as the support.

I had a great time in school and met a new group of great people.  Sadly, because I has not in the hobby as much, I tended to lose touch with some of my old friends.  However, I have now successfully completed my Occupational Therapy Assistant/Physiotherapist Assistant diploma (with honours), and now have some free time (in-between job hunting). 

I have just finished reading "Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters".  It is a fantastic book (it is also were I got the name for this blog).  It adds a lot to the Mini-series "Band of Brothers".  I found it very interesting to hear the thoughts that Major Winters had of the soldiers he served with.  It also had some interesting stories not found in the show.  This got me looking at my Flames of War (FOW) army again.  I have been working on a Canadian 3rd division for some time.  I have also done some work on a German army for a good friend of mine. 

I decided to start a new army.  I narrowed the choice down to the 1st Special Service Force from "Dogs and Devils"  or an American parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR).  When I went on to the Flames of War Website I read about the new release of "Nutz", which had rules for Easy Company of the 506 PIR, including rules for Major Winters.  I started to lean one way.  When I saw the plastic paratroopers in the new "Open Fire", well that sealed it.  Since Open Fire does not come out until the end of the month I have some time to kill.  I have decided that until then I will up-date my terrain for FOW. 

Here is the work in progress for some buildings for FOW.  I would love an tips or suggestions.