Tuesday 24 March 2009

Witterings...

Well here we are in late March, and the sun is shinning nicely, as we move towards Springtime. Life always improves in relation to the weather I think. It feels like it anyway. Work, sadly. has taken up most of my time lately, though in the 'current economic climate', I shouldn't be complaining of that really should I.
We didn't manage a game last week, ( I'd been on nights, and I'm beginning to feel the effects of shiftwork these days!) so we had a round of 'Call of Duty', an Xbox WW2 game-(I have been told by my youngest that Xbox does not start with an 'E'...weell what do I know eh!). I have to say, it fills a spot for a type of skirmish game, and it's very random and realistic I think..as a plain soldier, I didn't know if I was coming or going most of the time, there was bullets and explosions everywhere, and I hardly saw the enemy. It was hard work just to keep my character alive really, so yeah, realistic to the point of making you think how damned awful real warfare is. Still, the 'Nazi Zombie' scenario at the end was different, and a tad worrying too, even with MG's/shotguns/grenades we didn't live for long. The bugger's just keep coming on till you run out of bullets..if you blaze away as I do, theory being that more firepower=more defence..I found, c/o Richie, that actually hitting the target did help and that Zombies don't suffer from morale. After all, they're already dead, so what do they care eh. It does teach a good lesson on the need to have a basic plan and to work together though, so as a quick gaming session, it were good and enjoyable.
It's Salute this Saturday, large hurrah, haven't been for some years now, so I'm looking forward to that, there's a car full of us going down there for a visit, including Hairy Dave, lately back from a Missionary Trip to New Zealand. I'm not planning any big purchase, but there is a particular 25mm wagon set I need from Old Glory, so I hope they've got one in. And with a wander about, no doubt there'll be something else that I need that I didn't realise I needed till I saw it. You know how it is. I have got round to preparing my 10mm Hugomont buildings for painting, so really should get on with that soon. A bit of variety keeps the interest levels up and avoids stagnation. I'm back up to date with BattleGame and WI magazines, having received bundles of them by post, and had a right god read through. It's surprising what you miss when you let your subscriptions expire.
Lastly, welcome to Andy McMaster, latest Follower, who does a very interesting AWI Blog himself, see the Links list and have a look through it..I'm sure I know you from a Site somewhere..hope you enjoy the Blog and thanks for joining.
Apologise for being a tad quiet of late, but as said, work interferes with my hobby at times, and that's where I'm off to now. Bah Humbug!
Regards,
Peeler

8 comments:

Andy McMaster said...

Hi Peeler, Thanks for the welcome, not many people bother! I really like the look of your 10mm stuff but just have too much committed to 15mm AWI to change. If I ever switch to another period then I think I'll either go 10mm or 6mm.

I frequent the GdeB/British Grenadier Forums as Belisarius and WD3 as Count Belisarius (I still have plans for a 6thC Byzantine army!) so you may have seen me there.

Looking forward to following your blog. It's sooo hard to keep them up to date though!

Cheers

Andy

Peeler said...

Hi Andy, GdB/WD is where I've seen you, true enough, and you're very welcome. I always try to bother, t'is only polite I think. The smaller scales are good for 'that other period' to make it easier to do, though I did make it my main scale really. Each to their own though I say, it's all good stuff whatever scale. And yes, keeping yon Blog up to date..it is hard at times, but it's nice and gentle, you can do it as and when, I've found. Look forward to seeing more of your AWI.
Regards, Peeler

Snickering Corpses said...

Call of Duty...I can't say the zombie thing has made me eager to catch up to the latest in the series. I love the first two, but the venture from "historical" shooter to zombie shooter is kinda disturbing.

I've only played the PC versions myself, the original, United Offensive expansion, and COD 2.

Peeler said...

Hi SC...that's a damned scary name you have! LOL. Good to hear from you, look forward to more. Yes agreed, it is fairly disturbing, but then again, how disturbing is the "Assault on Berlin" (?) game? People randomly dying all over the place and bullets bombs etc coming from everywhere...realistic enough though, for a game. Certainly makes you think, "God how awful!" Must admit, I'm pretty crap at the WW2 games, and have to get rescued often by the joint player. I don't think I'd last long in reality. Or in the Zombie Unreality either to be fair. Sadly, doing a runner isn't an option! :-)

Snickering Corpses said...

Hi Peeler,

I guess I sort of meant disturbing in that, while under no illusion that the games were full and accurate depictions of warfare, they do have a sort of flavor of attempt to give a picture of reality to them. I'm willing to suspend disbelief and follow the expereince, but sudden infusion of zombies destroys that suspension of disbelief by going firmly into the realm of fantasy.

Perhaps a way of putting it is like the Assault on Berlin you mention. You know it's not a fully realistic picture, but it gives you a taste of some of what the real soldiers went through, and an appreciation of their risks and sacrifice. And sudden invasion of zombies just totally breaks up that feeling. Know what I mean?

As for the name, there's a story behind that, actually. It all started when a friend responded to a joke over instant messaging with *dies and laughs*, and the phrase popped into my head. It was just too interesting a phrase to let go of it, so I kept it. And it sort of seemed to fit in with wargaming and video gaming both. They're about the only place one can be dying repeatedly but having fun anway, after all.

Peeler said...

Yes, I know what you mean there SC, it is a bit way out...but hey, like you never know when the 'experience gained' may come in useful? We're all doomed you know, and when those corpses do start to walk whilst snickering on, at least I'll stand a chance of survival..Or not, if my abilities on the game are anything to go by...:-)

I like the tale behind your name there, very good!

Peeler said...

Oooh by way SC, nice collection of Blogs you have Sir!

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