Second golden age of war gaming.

[Robin Reeve]

"aint" is a Hebrew term I believe so legal English now!

Are you alluding to אין ?

 

[Actionjick]

Hi All

My two cents - it "aint" dead yet ("aint" is a Hebrew term I believe so legal English now!)

As an example of a recent surprise in my life...... I thought plastic model tanks were a thing of the past - only done by nerds until a recent experience....

I have had to do an academic sabbatical - thing you do when your an academic Doc - My dear wife said your getting old and need a hobby outside of medicine and she want results this leave period (note can't play sport, can't play music, drinking does not work etc etc)- I talked about ASL and she said Blah Blah Blah so I go a message that I needed more and having more and more VASL PBEM players which I did on my long service leave I noted was not helpful (stress of waiting on next log - tried every thing I could to remember rules and failed! - roll of dice stress etc etc) so I stayed static with my current games! and opened up one of those cupboards (that you never open in a hurry!) and there was covered in dust all these 1/35 model tanks from my childhood - started to clean them and tried a few repair jobs and went - oh well lets have a look at this!

So a journey started - new models - from 2-3 companies in my day to now 10! - really expensive and out of the reach of most children (until I looked at the price of LEGO!!) - really cool tools, really cool paints and lots of things I learnt a huge amount from by building and painting etc etc as well as soooo many shops sell the stuff!- I most probably have way overspent on this hobby believing my current building rate of 2 or 3 a week would continue and I am back to work soon (no time again!) so I now can see me doing one afternoon a week maybe on it or a couple of hours over two evenings (you may say live VASL may be an option but time zones continue to hinder that, I always get a call to the hospital even when not on call and I never have weekends)

My message is - lets take a helicopter view of this! and we are fine

Sure MMP - best product on the market but 9 other companies produce this stuff
I don't really see a lack of players any more being any mora reality than I see house prices falling soon despite the fact that a house is no longer a home but a piggy bank
I really cant see Hasbro giving up on this market but I am not a business man

Maybe - like when the queens dies - only the UK will have a monarchy in the commonwealth - Australia will join the modern world and get a president
Maybe when Perry, Chas etc etc move on we might see a change but I wont be alive then probably and If I am, I have so much un-played stuff, so many unpunched counters and there are so many TPP always coming out - conclusion.... I and the rest of you will be ok!

Think about it - we now have digital releases from MMP - products and rule books - things happen for reasons - the future is upon us - old and nerdy we are but that does not mean we are inflexible

My Thoughts and back to writing these papers for the sabbatical and building a German 88mm Flak mount on a tractor recently bout out from trumpeter

Rob

PS 1. - I never understand why these truck and half-track models make you build engines in such detail only to have them under the hood and never seen!!!
PS 2. - I really find putting track links together bit by bit a real chore! - bring back complete rubber tracks for 1/35 models!!

Be sure to post video when the models meet the firecrackers!

 

[bendizoid]

Hi All

My two cents - it "aint" dead yet ("aint" is a Hebrew term I believe so legal English now!)

As an example of a recent surprise in my life...... I thought plastic model tanks were a thing of the past - only done by nerds until a recent experience....

I have had to do an academic sabbatical - thing you do when your an academic Doc - My dear wife said your getting old and need a hobby outside of medicine and she want results this leave period (note can't play sport, can't play music, drinking does not work etc etc)- I talked about ASL and she said Blah Blah Blah so I go a message that I needed more and having more and more VASL PBEM players which I did on my long service leave I noted was not helpful (stress of waiting on next log - tried every thing I could to remember rules and failed! - roll of dice stress etc etc) so I stayed static with my current games! and opened up one of those cupboards (that you never open in a hurry!) and there was covered in dust all these 1/35 model tanks from my childhood - started to clean them and tried a few repair jobs and went - oh well lets have a look at this!

So a journey started - new models - from 2-3 companies in my day to now 10! - really expensive and out of the reach of most children (until I looked at the price of LEGO!!) - really cool tools, really cool paints and lots of things I learnt a huge amount from by building and painting etc etc as well as soooo many shops sell the stuff!- I most probably have way overspent on this hobby believing my current building rate of 2 or 3 a week would continue and I am back to work soon (no time again!) so I now can see me doing one afternoon a week maybe on it or a couple of hours over two evenings (you may say live VASL may be an option but time zones continue to hinder that, I always get a call to the hospital even when not on call and I never have weekends)

My message is - lets take a helicopter view of this! and we are fine

Sure MMP - best product on the market but 9 other companies produce this stuff
I don't really see a lack of players any more being any mora reality than I see house prices falling soon despite the fact that a house is no longer a home but a piggy bank
I really cant see Hasbro giving up on this market but I am not a business man

Maybe - like when the queens dies - only the UK will have a monarchy in the commonwealth - Australia will join the modern world and get a president
Maybe when Perry, Chas etc etc move on we might see a change but I wont be alive then probably and If I am, I have so much un-played stuff, so many unpunched counters and there are so many TPP always coming out - conclusion.... I and the rest of you will be ok!

Think about it - we now have digital releases from MMP - products and rule books - things happen for reasons - the future is upon us - old and nerdy we are but that does not mean we are inflexible

My Thoughts and back to writing these papers for the sabbatical and building a German 88mm Flak mount on a tractor recently bout out from trumpeter

Rob

PS 1. - I never understand why these truck and half-track models make you build engines in such detail only to have them under the hood and never seen!!!
PS 2. - I really find putting track links together bit by bit a real chore! - bring back complete rubber tracks for 1/35 models!!

Those Hebrew and Yiddish words sound exactly like they mean, lol. Ain’t, schmuck, chooch, etc...

 

[Actionjick]

Those Hebrew and Yiddish words sound exactly like they mean, lol. Ain’t, schmuck, chooch, etc...

Mazel tov cocktail?

 

[bendizoid]

Mazel tov cocktail?

‘Ain’t’ sounds kinda Celtic to me.
‘mazel tov’ Sounds ‘nice’ so might mean asking nicely if I want a drink.

 

[zgrose]

I think Warhammer40k and its ilk was the second age of wargaming, so this would be the 3rd, if we've entered a new phase of popularity.

 

[Actionjick]

‘Ain’t’ sounds kinda Celtic to me.
‘mazel tov’ Sounds ‘nice’ so might mean asking nicely if I want a drink.

The bar is always open for you!

 

[Robin Reeve]

Mazal means "star" and tov "good".
Thus good star = good luck.

 

[von Marwitz]

PS 2. - I really find putting track links together bit by bit a real chore! - bring back complete rubber tracks for 1/35 models!!

Aren't there special kits for AFV fixtures, gun tubes, and tracks made of brass for the real nerds?

von Marwitz

 

[macrobo]

Aren't there special kits for AFV fixtures, gun tubes, and tracks made of brass for the real nerds?

von Marwitz

 

[waltu]

This discussion, in itself, gives me hope. Such a positive outlook.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Maybe - like when the queens dies - only the UK will have a monarchy in the commonwealth - Australia will join the modern world and get a president

43 countries in the world (of 195) have a monarch, the majority of those outside the Commonwealth.

Canada has no plans to have an American style president anytime soon. No thanks. It has nothing to do with the "modern world" and everything to do with having a reasonable series of checks and balances on power.

 

[David Goldman]

Michael,

The US has several currently unemployed leaders who would like to be a monarch. Are there any takers out there?

 

[von Marwitz]

Michael,

The US has several currently unemployed leaders who would like to be a monarch. Are there any takers out there?

The French had a liking for guilloutining monarchs or would-be monarchs but have not had the opportunity for quite some time. So maybe bring them together and everyone's happy?

von Marwitz

 

[RandyT0001]

Is the 'Second Golden Age of Wargaming' just the latest influx of retirees return to the game?

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Michael,

The US has several currently unemployed leaders who would like to be a monarch. Are there any takers out there?

You also have some ex-Royals who apparently think they could do better than their current monarch - might have to get in line....

 

[boylermaker]

I think the long-term prospects of ASL are pretty rosy.

MMP has done a really good job of preparing for a post-MMP era. Once all the kit is electronic, then the game can live forever without any official support. Between VASL and the eRB, every part of the core game is electronic except the scenarios (and those have all been digitized, they just aren't publicly available). If Hasbro decides to end it all and make ASL abandonware, then everybody just starts sharing their eRBs and scenario scans, and the cost-barrier-to-entry of the hobby becomes zero.

 

[ASLSARGE]

Aren't there special kits for AFV fixtures, gun tubes, and tracks made of brass for the real nerds?

von Marwitz

Yes there are. I had a model of a US halftrack w/quad 50 cal gun mount in back, that when pulled from storage several years ago had all four barrels broken off. Tried gluing old ones back on....no luck. Tried fabricating new guns but not skilled enough. Bought some brass rods, drilled into old gun housings, and replaces broken barrels with brass ones. Painted them to match and looks good as new.....maybe even better. I know some modelers will always replace the plastic barrels on their naval ships with brass ones because the plastic ones can and do get bent sometimes. Some model tank kits come with a sprue of brass parts for the barrel, tracks, antenna, other items.

 

[macrobo]

Hi All - ASLSarge in particular

I am currently building a 88mm Flak on a Tractor thing (I am not very good at the names of German Halftracks but it a big one) from Trumpeter as I work thru my kits doing the support units to the Panzer/Armoured divisions - The 88 Barrel is brass I think or steel (coloured like steel but maybe its "silver" brass) - way heavy!!! since its a 1/35 scale barrel - nothing would bend it!! - Its like a stake - They give you plastic ones as well and the metal one is way better I agree and see the point (the joke is pretty bad but it is my 20th wedding anniversary and I have to wake up my wife before I go to work so getting in the practise)

cheers

Rob

 

[Old Noob]

If we're talking about whether or not ASL will survive, it will.