A very leasurely Crisis 2025

Took the girls and a friend to Crisis 2025. For some reason, this year parking was even worse than last year, but after a few ever increasing circles we found a spot in the local area. We arrived around 10:30 so and we could walk right in (after paying of course. Fee was 15 per person but kids under 14 are free, so next year it will be the last time the girls are free, after that I'll have to pay up).

Basically the same layout as last year, and shops in roughly the same location as well. Lots of familiar faces, some small chats here and there. Shops could be shorthanded to Paints and Tools, Kits, 3D Prints and a few shops with mixed stuff. Focus is, as usual, mostly on 28mm, so lots of Warlord etc.

Plenty of bargains to be had....Battlefront was 40-50% off in a lot of places, even relatively new plastic boxes. But that is what you get for not listening to your buyers, retailers etc and thinking you know best. Great for me though as I picked up some items for AK-47 and other 15mm projects.

50% discount so 45 euros for 9 T-72A's, 2 Hinds and decals. In hindsight I should have skipped this one, though I'll turn some of the T-72's into blasted wrecks for TW:2K someday..

16 euros for a entire Kompanie. Should work fine for a Socialist backed yet unnamed African country to oppose Wadiya

Mortars for either AK army, and Belgians that will end up as UN or better quality troops. Both again 50% off. 

 

 

Only 10% off, but 2 BTR-152's and 4 Saracen Armoured Cars. The BTRs can go with the East Germans, the Saracens will go into the Apartheid faction box for later. Might use one though for the Wadiyan Police to go with the police jeep I made (but never finished) for another Group Build. 

More Vallejo washes as I have been using these a lot and Russian Uniform spray primer for the 3mm tanks I need to prime. I also added some washes I did not have yet to try out. 

Just for the artwork and background. Could not pass up for a fiver, bandnew.

And that is it. No scenery, I have enough in stash to build and the printer can just print. No need to buy more plastic kits as I have plenty. 

My mate bought....nothing. The girls bought some bases to go with the spiders they bought earlier this year. I picked up some stuff for another mate and then made the trek home with a sidestep to the gasstation to fill up some jerrycans (saving 40 cents per litre of 95, yes please)

Back home, I crashed out. I was totally spent, but it was a good day. Tomorrow a short trip to my folks who are babysitting a friends house and then back home again for some proper rest. I have a very busy week ahead of me with deadlines

Crisis 2024 loot

 Took a trip to Crisis 2024, together with the girls. They managed to keep themselves going for over 3 hours, colour me impressed. They each got a Primaris Marine so we will paint that the next weekend they are over. Emma even bought a blister of Dolphins....cause she likes Dolphins. Best reason I'd say.

It was nice to talk to the old guard, people I had not seen in a long time. The new place looks great, spacious. Plenty of vendors, even if there were a few cancellations that dropped the entry fee down from 12 to 10 Euros. Quite a bit of choice but not nearly as much as the old Crisis, but I wasn't expecting that. A lot of gaming tables but not crowded at all. Nice variety too.

My purchase goal for the day was 28mm scenery for Stalker, 28mm trees and nothing 15mm. Well.....that dind't quite pan out. 

• Scavengers II for Stargrave/Stalker, had my eye on this one for a while. 

• Silver Bayonet Carpathia and vampires, the Forest Witch and a blister of Cultists. These were from a pre order I made, on the show I saw hardly any SB stuff.  Only 1 seller had a few warbands that I could see, and he had no sales/discount. Saw quite a few plastic army boxes suitable for them but buying a 30 euro box with 40 troops of which you need just a few.... (says the man who routinely buys boxes for just that reason)
•  Gravestones....as I can't find my bag
• Tents....for a Stalker camp. 
• Large scrap piles from Kraken Wargames at 50% off.  For my Postapoc collection. They had some nice bags of barricades as well, but even at 50% off these were expensive....and I think I prefer to make my own anyway. Eventually.
  

I found no 28mm scenery for Stalker that I liked. Some printed stuff, but with (for me) too prominent lines. The MDF choices were limited to mostly Western and what I already have. Foam I can make my own. Trees, I only saw the same stuff. Plastic stem, reindeer moss for the shape and coated with flock. Not my thing. 

Well, 15mm then.

• 40% off on PSC kits if I'd buy 5 kits. You always need trucks, more AT guns are always useful, if only for the towed versions and a box of 38(t) for my future. Pity that yet again, no Russian trucks to be found anywhere.
• 40% discount on all Nam stuff at one shop, seller was kind enough to discount it even more to 5 euros per blister when I took his entire stock of T-34M's....cause I love the T-34 with starfish roadwheels. I want a small stash so I can build them for Iraq, the PLO, AK-47 etc. I doubt Battlefront will ever release these in plastic.....but a man can dream

No where near my usual amount, half of it is just for stock now, the other half I can get working on next week.

After that a quick trip to a Delhaize supermarket to get the kids some Eclairs (not for me, I got pickled flavoured crisps and a big bottle of French herbes cause I'm weird like that - crisps for eating and harbs as forest floor scatter) and then gassed up the car with some much needed and much cheaper Belgian gas and went home again. Spent almost 4 hours driving back and forth, including the traffic jams due to work on the Belgian roads. Like war, that also never changes.

Kids are beat, I'm beat, and a lovely day of nothing tomorrow.

With a little help from my friends

Had a long detailed chat...well, argument really, with Kim, enroute to a wedding. As we arrived a bit early we continued our chat but in a more civilised human beings kind of way and one of the things we decided on, other then raising cash for the occasional baby sitter so we can start dating again and have a talk (somehow that just doesn't work right here at home) and try to save up money for a bigger buffer if the shit really hits the fan, is that I should take a hard look at my collection (of unbuilt stuff) and the Crisis show.

Kim was a bit upset I was still spending money (granted, way less then before, and currently I have more coming in then going out) and had mentioned me discussing taking cash to Crisis really soured her mood as I really should not be spending money but making money selling my unneeded tat. And it might be a good idea to organise what I have?

Well, it can't hurt to think about that and ask around how others do it, so a few chats later I get the idea it might be smart to box up stuff according to projects like Partisans, VC, Normandy Brits etc and anything I don't have a good reason for having around gets tossed in the For Sale pile.

So, now I should make a list of projects. Sounds easy enough. (looks around the room) Oh....

Well, WW2, Moderns, Gaslands, Frostgrave, Mordheim, Necromunda and TNT narrows it down a bit. Except the first 2 are divided in a lot of things. And I mean a lot. Still, it is the easiest way to make sure I keep what I want to use and get rid of the surplus that has ne reason to be here.

(actual footage of my attic)

Oh, and the Crisis show? Well, if Will from PSC doesn't have a job for me this year.....I'm not going. Yes, some people have already agreed to pick up stuff from there, and I could really use the job and the day off to meet so many wargamers and maybe even a couple of you, my readers. But as I should not be spending money, at all, going to what in essence is one giant bit of bacon strapped a a man sized mouse trap, yeah......

Still, no news from Will yet (usually I hear something from him a few weeks before the show) and only 1 small pre order with Sgts Mess (who informed me last week that they will not make it to the show) I think I will be able to manage, if I go or not. It's not like I don't have enough stuff yet.

Yes, that much stuff. Honest to God.

I survived Crisis....and got more then a T-shirt.

Well, I didn't get a T-shirt, just a L sized Plastic Soldier Company polo to fit over my XL frame. Talk about form fitting!

Kudos to the TSA. Antwerp is a bloody mess with roadworks everywhere but their FB page was up to date and markings had been set up at all the turns needed to get there. I got there at 9:00, and was fully expecting to have to set up shop like last year, only to find Will and Ross already having done most of the work. I handed over my offerings of Belgian beer and Dutch treats, put on my Polo and went to work, as the place was already packed with browsing shopkeepers, TSA staff and people doing demos. It stayed crazy busy till 13:00, with a small cue most of the time, after which it died down just a little. By then several items had already been sold out :D 20mm was in high demand this year compared to 15mm.

Around 13:30 I could go on my break and dropped off a prepaid package at Wargames Illustrated and then went to the Bring and Buy to drop off another pre paid package for Migs at a table manned by Brecht. I was told he was the one selling Warhammer stuff. Qua comedy hour with me having to ask at virtually every table if the person selling was Brecht, as everyone seemed to be selling their Warhammer tat :D Fortunately, a guy in the que overheard me and pointed me to a chap way in the back, which was Brecht. I was so relieved to drop that off as I could finally start browsing for myself.

Not a major haul, but with an average kit price of 6 euros I'm not complaining. They are all destined to become wrecks (eventually) except the Bishop and the AT-1. The AT-1 I have been eying ever since Barbarossa came out, and I found out it had only 2 had been made and the project had been cancelled it 1936, but it is such a cute vehicle on the ubiquitous T-26 frame. Sadly, Ebay prices back then were a bit through the roof so this find was great! The Bishop I picked up cause it will go in the British forces for Afrika box. I'm normally not a artillery man (I feel it has no place on a 4x4 or 6x4 battletable) but I do like the idea of making this one day.

Then I started zig zagging the halls with my very tired legs to pick up the few pre orders that I had, and made 2 impulse buys, a TT Combat Brownstone for TNT and a full set of 20mm DAK tank commanders from Adler (new releases). The pre orders were a upgrade pack, 2 vehicles, 3 boxes of scenery and some more weathering paints. The grey blob in the lower right is a pre release cast (well, castst) I got from Ywan and that has just become nr.1 with a bullet on my painting list. You'll see. (also nice to put a face to his name....it feels like I had been talking to him for ages and I've never even seen the guy till today, and his simple rules mean so much to me :D )

Sadly none of the shopkeepers who had FoW scenery had the railway track. I had pre ordered it 6 weeks ago but the shopkeeper had been unable to get it from the UK. Cue meetings with all of the shopkeepers who sell Flames of War. Answers varied from "Leave your adress, and I will see what I can do" to "Battlefront are scum and we will drop them next year". The general concensus was is that they aren't the best at keeping promisses. But yeah, I need those tracks, so I put out some feelers for 1 or 2 boxes. That should last me forever.

 Around 16:30 we started to pack up, I set aside some boxes that I would like to purchase (sadly for me, by then the 20mm Blitz truck had been long sold out) and the new Wacht am Rhein book.

When we finished packing up, Will and Ross thanked me for all my help, all of the beer and treats, wished me a belated happy birthday and Will said, let's do the math on what you want. Here, this pile is a birthdaygift (stack of boxes). Yeah, this is a birthdaygift too (another stack of boxes). These 2 boxes have been opened so here, no charge (we really wish people would just ask us to see the contents instead of tearing open the boxes......Will can't sell them if they are torn open.) Hmm, what will I charge for this pile of boxes? I'll have to deduct that from your wages, young man. And hands me another pile of boxes and almost my full wages. Also I'm practically ordered to come and work for them next year, something I am happy to oblige.

So, what does my birthday present look like?

Yeah. Missing from this picture are 2 more boxes and the Wacht am Rhein book. Cripes, that is a lot of stuff.

I really like Will. No, not because of the gifts (well, it helps) but he keeps rehiring me every year, he knows I just like to work and sell stuff, i know almost the complete product line by heart now, and trusts me enough that he will go on his merry way sometimes and chat with fellow shopkeepers and leaves the shop to me. If only I had a every day boss that would do the same. <sigh>

With that, the long haul back to Holland started.....almost felt like I was migrating! I managed to work all day at Crisis without once sittin g down, and while my knee and feet are now killing me, I'm glad I can still do it. Sure, I'll be pretty dead tomorrow and maybe even sick for a couple of days, but it was all worth it.

Tired as I was, I just finished hanging the laundry, cuddling Emma 4 times and she kept crying for Kim (who is out for an evening of Christmas card making with her sister) and she toutched my heart when I asked her if she missed me much today and she just smiled , said yes, and then hugged me and pulled me into her crib at the same time and didn't want to let go either! And we repeated this 2 more times within the hour till she finally fell asleep.

And why not, I thought, lets clear the boxes from the living room and put them where they belong.

I think I have more PSC kits now then the average shop..... I swapped a box of modern kits last week for 2 boxes of WW2 kits that should be in next week and after that I'll sort everything into Early, Mid, Afrika and Late war piles (for the Germans that is) and I really want to start painting again.

I'm not ending this on a high note though, due to 2 things. 2 Reservations of 60 and 70 euros each had not been picked up, and to my dismay I found out I had no Internet in Belgium (I had checked last week and was told it would not be a problem) so I could not send a message to the 2 individuals.

When I arrived home I paged both, and both had managed to "forget" that they had such expensive reservations. At least one of them was so nice to ask for a shipping quote to get the stuff, but the other chap said sorry and after that I got no more replies.....which pisses me off even more as this stuff has been reserved for more then 6 weeks now and I had other buyers for it then. Oh well, live and learn. I still managed to leave Crisis with more money then I entered so Kim is happy.

Second item is that a felow blogger listed only as Blogger ( I kid you not) has been replying to new and older blogposts of mine with adverts for cheap sigarettes, soda, greencards and links to websites that help you make money off your Blog. I've been deleting around 5 of his posts....well, spam really, a week for weeks now and I just filed a complaint. I'm also thinking of setting my comments to moderated so this shit doesn't happen anymore, but not sure about that.

No pictures from Crisis from me sadly. I barely saw more then a few tables, heck, I barely saw what most shops had for sale .....and that only saves me money so it's a good thing! I'm sure plenty of people will Blog with pictures of Crisis and the pretty tables.

Now, I'm off to bed for a loooong sleep. Well, untill the kids jump on the bed anyway.

Frankenstein and a Crisis (of the good kind)

After yesterdays let down I decided to keep my head up and move on. I emailed Hasegawa for spare parts in case my seller turns out to be a dead beat (and then emailed team USA by accident, who now has directed me to our local importer....not sure what good that will do me), and then grabbed a spare PSC Panzer IV chassis to do some dryfitting.

99% perfect fit tbh. Technically it should not have 4 return rollers but 3, but the way the track is designed you can't just go cutting off bits. I'll leave that one for the purists to catch. I've plated up the underside of the casemate so you can't look through it sideways. I'll need to cut the front lower chin off the original kit and splice that to the front the PSC hull. Shave off the first 2 roadwheels and stick the metal ones to them. And plenty of the parts will go nicely on this kit. Guns like these scream out for a nice commander figure so I will go over my boxes and see who fits best.

Which brings me to Crisis. The failure to find the correct filter made me go over the list of retailers to see if anyone has them, and while I was at it, I thought why not look if anything else has my fancy too. So here's the shortlist (for now)

*Gringo 40's - He has a Saint-Chamond-Mondragon 75mm gun in his Mexican Revolution range for 5 Pounds that would be just the gun I need for my 28mm Anglican Church gun team. It's old enough at least! (some really interesting history in these guns >> Saint-Chamond-Mondragon ) I have no interest in making forces for VBCW btw. Just this gun team for funsies and to get rid of the itch. I can always sell it later. Scroll down for the gun

*PK-Pro has Mig Ammo 1506 Brown for Dark Green in stock so that is a must for me. 4 euros.

*Shellhole Scenics - 2x 4.7PaK on 36R chassis, good for Barbarossa and Overlord/Fall of the Reich and Holland/Belgium, 15 Pounds for the 2.

*Charlie Foxtrot Models - Just the swimming pool I need for TNT. 7.25 Pounds. >> Pool

*Adler - 2 or 3 packs of the new German Tank commanders for Afrika. Cause the Russian steppes got mighty dusty too. 8-12 Pounds

*Ainsty Castings - 9206 Full wheelie bin plus pile of rubbish. 4,50 Pounds. Wheelie bin

Roughly 40 euro worth of stuff for pre orders. I'm getting soft at my old age :D I've got my eye on some terrain but the compnaies discount program is a bit "vague" so I'm waiting for email confirmation before I commit to an order.

Disapointment and change on the hobby front

3 weeks to go till Crisis, I've checked the figures and the finances, gone over the pre orders with a fine tooth comb to make sure I stay within the budget and spent last night up to 2 o'clock sending them all (but 1) out, and except Foundry they all replied already! Magister Militum will have to come tonight as Evin hadn't replied yet to my question about his part of the order.


But then....


Fenris Games - not coming. :(
Renedra - not coming. :(


The Dice Bag Lady is willing to take orders for Fenris, but as I had been in doubt whether to go for Fenris Games or Thomarillion. I just edited the order and sent it to Thomarillion, to pick up all of their crypts except the small chapel and a few other small bits for the graveyard. Bye 60 euros.


Renedra....I must have misread a previous traderslist or something? Have an order for even more gravestones, bases and I wanted the church for AWI/pulp (and because it is a great deal), 33 pounds in total. Their reply was a bit short (one sentence) telling me they are not coming, and they didn't even ask what I wanted to do with the order. I'll have a rethink now about dropping the order entirely just because of the reply, it's like they don't want my business? (That's how it feels to me anyway)


The replies from Ainsty (more Crypts and graveyard bits and a big Mausoleum, total for another 25 Pounds) and Thomarillion were pretty quick (Thomarillion replied at 5:30 in the morning....mental!) and those items will be ready for me at Crisis.


No reply yet to the 32 Pound Foundry order (just 3 packs, pricey stuff), added in a last minute prehistoric killer bird for Frostgrave as a stand in Worm for the Worm Hunt. Looking forward to painting that.


For the rest I'm doing some swaps with fellow gamers, I will be getting quite a few skeletons on the sprue, new and old, as well as a Vampire and a Necromancer, plus some Flaggelants and some more Pulp African Explorers. I'll be trading some money and some 20mm items for that. I hope my current sales will sell before next week, if not, I'll do some additional discounting to push them, if not for Crisis, then just to boost my bank account.


I'm avoiding the Crisis Traders list like the plague now. I don't want to get any more ideas and what I have selected should be more then sufficient to last me till next year. I have a small amount of money set aside for impulse buys, plus another 50 from sales to take Kim out to dinner as a thank you for taking care of the kids all day while I'm having fun and her oncoming birthday.


Finally, I managed to win a large lot of LotR scenery on Ebay, too much in fact, so I will be selling off some of the bits and pieces when it arrives and just keeping what I need for Frostgrave. What I now need to look at is finding either premade Mordheim scenery or do it myself. Both should not be impossible.


My replacement parts order from 3D Horizons has been delayed, US Customs sent it back to the seller for some reason, but that is ok. I'm still working on the sketches for the towers anyway. Need to buy another roll of lead to stuff their bases with, don't want them to topple. Fortunately the local DIY send me a 5 euro discount birthday coupon I can use for that. Always trying to save money :)

Buy N Large

After a rather devastating friday evening at the club, in which I showed 0 interest for modelling of any kind, I did manage to walk away with some extra cash in hand and a brand new box of Kastelan robots (finally) that I traded for some plastic Cadian sentinels and troops. I will treasure it, and I won't unpack it untill my skills have improved. The Cadians won't be missed.

The weekend was a bust as well, Kim and the kids were sick, our Netflix account got hacked by some guy in Brasil and I think I blinked twice before it was sunday evening :(

During our weekly chat this evening, I informed Kim that I had donated money to charity and won a Rapid Fire book that way, and that I had bought something for my sci-fi scratchbuilding. Her reply, that since I had money, I should give her the same amount as I had just spent. Wait....what? What about Crisis then? I plan to spend about a 100 there or more, saving around 50 (or more) on shipping alone. Well, I'm to hand over the savings in shipping as well.

Well, that went from 0 to full in under 5 seconds. I'll spare you the rest of the argument, but I sit here now telling myself it is all because she's not well yet, she is being irrational but does not know it. Maybe I'm just telling me things but at least it prevents me from being agry at her.

So, any bright spots?

Well, yes, thank you for asking. While browsing the LAF I discovered a topi that has been running for a few months now, called "Elbowtech" link   Years back I was a huge Battletech fan, I have one case with practically every book ever published and another case with what must be around 400 mechs in blister alone, with a couple of 100 based and some even painted. Don't think I ever played more then 5 games in my life with it because it is so dreadfully slow :P Even back then I managed to go overboard. Anyway, Elbowtech. A fans work to make the game run much quicker with less bookkeeping so that you can play a game in an hour. I'm all for that, cause it still does not require a lot of figures to play a game, or use tons of scenery. Better yet, his version is hexless. Since I have not seen my cases of stuff for some time I will keep my eye on his topic, but it sure fired up my reactor. Good memories.

Also, the pre order list for Crisis is almost finished, and I'm still under budget after scratching off a few more things. As it stands now I'm looking at getting the following:

Foundry: 

Four Legged Friends GPR022 - 4 animals - 16,20 euro 

One horse cart - GPR013 - 12 Pounds 

Magister Militum 

Pair of Ducks - AM13 - 0.50 Pounds x 8 = 4 Pounds 

Merchants (Hansa Teutonica) - BRU50 - 7,50 Pounds 

Assasin - BRU68 - 4,20 Pounds 

Ainsty Castings 

Mixed Memorials x4 - 2003 - 4 Pounds 

Chest Tomb x2 - 2005 - 3,50 Pounds 

Crooked Dice 

Repair Drone Deal (2pcs) - 4 Pounds 

Scary Statues set - 13 Pounds 

Fenris Games 

Dice Plinth - FGARC28 - 3 Pounds x3 

Chtullu Grave Markers - SKU00421 - 3,75 Pounds 

Lost Shores Ornamental Pool - SKU02213 - 6 Pounds 

Renedra 

Graveyard sprue - 8 Pounds

Sorted by project, Medieval Merchant and Graveyard, with just 1 Sci-Fi item because it is a robot to add to my collection :)

Things that could be axed to save money are the 12 pound cart, the 4 Pounds mixed memorials and 3.50 Pounds chest tombs, and the 4 pound assasin, though I feel that figure makes a excellent thief for Frostgate.

At the show I'm just looking for Vallejo Air metals, some kits from PSC and anything that peaks my interest at the Bring and Buy in the 1 hour break window that I have.

Anything under 200 euro spent will be a good day I think. Not so much that I can't make it back selling stuff, and not too little in new buys for my plans. Though this year, less is better :) (gosh, never thought I would hear myself say that)

Welcome to the wonderful (and expensive) world of 28mm AWI

Now that I have gone and joined the Dutch 2016 AWI project, and selected Colonial Militia, I'm for a world of hurt. Not only do I have to brush up my AWI knowledge (currently just hovering over 0), but I also need to find, base and paint enough miltia to fit a scenario of my choosing. And learn how to play the game. And not break the bank!

Yeah, no pressure!

Fortunately, because I can focus on Militia, I've now been told I can mix and match uniformed and ununiformed in the same unit. And because I will have no fixed paint scheme, it may not be as fast but there should be enough variation for me to keep going for a while (my aim will be a base a week, anything else is a bonus. If that base will be 4 figures (as Piers does) or 6 figures ( as the locals do) is yet to be decided). Fortunately, I have a lot of time till the game is started in August or September. I've already scouted a fine chap in Portugal who has 60 Militia and Continentals lying spare, so that would be a great start.

Planning this lead me to ponder what to do for Crisis this year. Sgts Mess won't be there this year so no impulse binging on little 20mm WW2 parts. Sofar I've got 50 pounds in my Paypal for pre orders and 110 euros spending cash (which inlcudes the 10 euro entry fee). I thought I would need to double that for all of my wants. So, I did the smart thing and made a list. And some terms to focus on.

Graveyard which technically falls under Mordheim/Frostgate, and 20mm Sci-Fi. So, 2-3 terms.

Just shopwise, that narrows it down to Brother Vinni, Crooked Dice, Fenris Games, Ainsty Castings and Magisters Militium. When I added up the list I was pleasantly surprised. 75 Pounds for mostly graveyard stuff, plus some merchants for Mordheim/Frostgate and some Robots. Even less if I'm honest cause I already have quite a few Brother Vinni stuff lying unpainted, so I'm looking at about 60 Pounds. Add to that some paint, some PSC 20mm armour boxes, a bag of bases and I'm up to 100 pounds.

The last time I pre ordered from Foundry, there was only a 1 figure bonus, so the only saving you really have is on shipping. Having said that, there are some AWI packs I'm interested in. As always, do I buy them now or do I wait when the lot is painted. Decisions, decisions. Not helped by the fact the Dutch AWI group is planning a group buy from Perry.

Thing is, I'm going over each and every possible purchase with a fine tooth comb. Will I build it within a year? Can it wait another year? What are the chances of this item showing up second hand coming year? Where will I find the money? How can I save money?

Well, the last things should not be a problem. I have a big box of Epic stuff that I will be selling soon, and also a lot of other GW boxes that I really have no need for (What do I need a 40K Predator tank for if all I do is skimrish? What do I look like, a Bolt Action player?). And I'm saving money by my decision not to buy premade 3rd World slums (at 4-5 Pounds a hut) I've been holding off for over a year now but by just buying a 10 sheet pack of fine wave cardboard for 2,50 euro and making my own. I want a dozens of buildings so I just went and saved myself more then a 100 Pounds. The items I did pick will be for this year, barring the PSC stuff that I buy for my German army, that is for next year. And you never know what the Bring and Buy will bring. Always a dangerous one, that Bring and Buy.

At least one thing will be free, Jasper from the WSS magazine has some Steel Master magazines for free that I will gladly take off his hands. I love reading those, with my high school French :) Pretty pictures too.

So, did I mention painting? A lot of painting? Thank the Lord for Christy.

Shipping costs, logic and temptation

Went over some or my recent trades and purchases and I think I will lay off buying stuff in the UK for a while. With the average cost of 5 pounds or more for a small package or envelope from the UK I'm paying as much for one of those as I am locally for a couple of kilogram box. As I have what I want (for now), and have no money, I will focus on the local e-shops. Prices for the items compared to the UK tend to be the same at the moment anyway, and since I'm only looking for tools and paints now I'll stick to the Netherlands for the time being, and save up for Crisis to get stuff from the UK at a discount and minus shipping costs.

It is a bit ridiculous how much money is lost on shipping. I always make 20-30 Pound orders and pay 5-8 Pounds in shipping for that. In the current (Paypal) conversion that is a good 7,50 to 12,50 euros.

A single limited mini might sell for 5 pounds, have a shipping cost of 3 pounds minimum and might end up costing me 12,50 for a single 28mm mini.

Moral of the story, buy in bulk?

Buying in bulk means planning ahead and making a big purchase in one go. I keep lists of stuff I want from companies so I can make a order when they have a 10-20% off sale, technically saving me on shipping costs, but not all companies do that and planning ahead isn't always possible. Plus I have to shift stuff first to actually have money to buy stuff. Some sales only last a day or a weekend so I miss out. (Is that a bad thing? No, it is not, I already try to stay in line with the "2 weeks rule"...if I want something I note it down. If I still want it 2 weeks later it goes on the list. If I go over the list at a later date and the enthusiasm isn't there or the order is getting too big, stuff gets cut. Simple as that)

Simple example.

I got the Storm Talon for free but would like a Heavy Bolter or Assault Cannon turret to go with it. A single sprue of that goes for 12-14 Pounds on Ebay.co.uk  plus 4 pounds shipping. That's a good 24 euros. For 10 euros more I can buy a Razorback in the local GW shop and sell on the Rhino and the rest of the sprue for 20-25 euros to friends or Marktplaats (Ignoring buying it online locally as the 20% savings is not enough to cover local postage). A friend of mine was kind enough to point out last Friday, at the GW club, that the assault cannon is a 16 euro sprue with other bits like Hurricane bolters and hatches etc. As he gave me a advance payment for other stuff I used that to get the sprue, and I will pass on the rest to Marktplaats or clubmembers who want to trade bits. So now I have a assault cannon and unless I can trade one, a heavy Bolter is on the horizon too in the near future.

Having no money makes you creative, having a big circle of people to trade with helps to cut costs down even more.

I want this month to end again with a big plus (last month saw added expenses for the garden renovation and stuff that needed to be paid even with Kim in the hospital) so I will try not to trade anything and focus on filling my Paypal coffer with UK Pounds (to beat Paypals exchange rate if I eventually do need to get stuff in Pounds from producers) and euros, the latter going straight into my bankaccount to pay for the shipping costs and to put me further towards a healthy plus number.

Not spending a dime would be even better, but temptation, temptation......

2nd Joker spent, or That spiralled out of control quickly!

Ok, a second hand lot of 20 riflemen from Portugal for 20 euros, a BTD order of SMG's, officers and a HMG for 35 euros and another second hand lot from the UK of 38 troops including 2 mortars for 40 euros today. Almost 90 troops in under a week, all BTD, all Early War, for just over a 100 euros. God I love the LAF.

With the new additions this is now fully complete troop wise.

• Command Squad - 6 men
• Infantry Squad - 7 men
• Infantry squad - 7 men
• Infantry squad - 7 men
• MG team - 3 men
• MG team - 3 men
• MG team - 3 men

I can now choose to spread the SMG's one per squad (as per the real TOE) and save some for the HQ options. Also, I've now filled the third MG team slot. With the new additions I can also field 2 80mm mortars,  a always handy weapon in Battlegroup (and real life). JP has mentioned he can supply me with a Russian greatcoated AT rifleman that should be converted to a German one for free.  So that is another slot filled in.

The 40 euro, and the Joker, came from my Crisis budget (the show, not my real life Crisis budget!) so that has now dropped to 260 euros. Yes, Crisis is in November, but I have already started planning what I need. Additions to my 20mm Kursk forces will be mostly PSC vehicles as they are so damn good, but those are something I will fill out on the day. Sofar, the only bit planned is another 100 slot paintstand for my budding Vallejo AIR and AK paint collection for the airbrush, meaning I will have 3 of them and that should fill up my desk nicely (splitting the desks into a PC only and painting only was the best decision I ever made, even if the actual event hasn't happend yet :P ) A painstand that size is another 50 euros. The 2 that I have are from Miniaturicum, and they won't be at Crisis, but several other companies do so I will have a gander at them when the time is there (and see if they offer up discounts for pre orders). If this 28mm has progressed as much as I hope it will, I might be tempted to grab a few more extra support options like a PaK and a IG, or a small car suitable for the Luftwaffe officer (for which I have a very nice Foundry model in my collection). I don't think I will go for any of the tanks, for me a 28mm game feels like it should be a infantry game, tanks feel too overpowering for me. Having said that, I don't mind fighting one in Early War, when even a ATR had a chance of putting one out of action.

Anyway, some PSC tanks, a painstand, maybe some 28mm guns. That is the plan sofar, and any money left over from the Crisis fund will be allocated to the buying of a Xbox One for when Fallout 4 comes out. I'm a huge fan of the series, and with the demise of my PC not so long ago this office desktop that I have as a replacement won't cut it.

Crisis 2014

Finally it was the 1st of November, the day of the Crisis show.

It seems that with each passing year, I seem to get exited earlier and earlier, like a child looking forward to Christmas. And thats a good thing! With my new found resolve to plan ahead, this year wasn't any different. From August, I was eveying the TSA site for news about Crisis and who would be coming this year. I used the list of traders to visit their websites to see if anything drew my interest, and noted that in my trusty Crisis Excel file. As the weeks drew closer to the 1st of November I would spend several evenings going over the list to see if I really needed the items for my projects, using the 2 week rule. Quite a bit got written off, I tell you. But, a few traders were emailed with orders and all but one paid in advance.

Crisis-day!

I picked up a mate of mine in Tilburg who wanted to go as he had some 28mm Bolt Action needs to be fulfilled, and we arrived early at the Waagnatie. The cue wasn't very long yet, and the wait was spent exchanging some bits and pieces and talking about our expectations of this years show. Sharpish at 10 the doors opened, we paid, got our yellow tag and a goodie bag.

Now I have to say I did not open the goodie bag straight away, and I probably should have, as inside was the program with a big sized map of the show. Naturally, I found that out when I got home.....

First call of duty for me was to get rid of the stuff I had brought for others, 5 years of bound Wargames Illustrated and 16 euros worth of 2 eurocents for other gamers, and exhanged that for money, a resin house and a metal Pak40.

Then the scouting mission started. I like to do a quick tour of all that is there to see if anything peaking my interest, as well as picking up the pre orders I made, as well as saying hi to traders I know personally. Like Mark from MBM models who had unearthed a cache of old Esci kits in his basement and was selling them at 5 euros a pop. He had a ton of Esci Valentines, M48A2's(?) and Bishop artillery tanks. And Will from PSC who brought his wife this year. For a change, we also glanced over the Bring and Buy. By the time I usually get there the goodies tend to be gone, but I picked up a Hasegawa Ostwind and a Attack 38T Befehlspanzer for 4 euros a piece, new in box. Now they are not in the plans for 2015, but these bargains were too good to pass up. The 38T will come in handy later in the year when PSC releases the 38T set so I can build another Early War force, MarkII, and the Ostwind turret will be spliced onto a PSC chassis. I will then sell the rest of the complete tank or convert it into a wreck.

We were now at the back of the hall, and here I found a realy nice Normandy church from Flames of War. The price was very nice, so I had high hopes for it, until I saw the model, and, as advertised on the label, a 10-15mm model. Oh well, I can always order one from Wikkywok later. I was pleasantly surprised by a shop that had quite the assortment of Mininatur, my favourite Tuft company. I picked up 2 big boxes there to supplement my basing kit, so my order to Mininatur next year can be a bit smaller. Then I stopped and stared at figure cases again like I do each year. But untill a army is finished I think it has no point of buying one, so I passed again. Maybe next year.

I picked up some more preorders and made a quick run to the car to drop everything off, and then went back to do it all over again, but this time slow and watch at the demonstration games. As always, there were a lot of displays, demogames and a few participation games going on. A particularly big and crowded 40K table turned me off, but a few tables next to that a Ork fliers table with what seemed to be converted WW2 fighters with Orks as pilots really impressed me. I did not game, and I didn't ask questions, and in hindsight I really should have as it was lovely. Just my kind of quirkyness.

So what about Impulsebuying? Well, I said no quite a lot. I saw loads of really neat items, like the roads from EWM for example, but reasoned that I would not paint them next year so it wouyld be better to hold off and wait. Now I really need good WW2 roads but they can wait, I can still do the same with sand and it is not like I will be gaming a lot next year. I did drop some euros at Foundry for some more 20mm crew and passengers and added even more stuff on top of my Sgts Mess  pre order. I picked up a Weathering magazine I heard a lot about and after reading it tonight amd pretty certain that I will get the other editions as well, as they are really useful. I also bought 2 old Wargames Illustrated with a interesting article in them for 1 euro a piece and found a PSC Zis2/3 box discounted 30%, so I took that for my Moderns games.

What about paint and weathering powders? I had planned to purchase these, but found no real deals on them, nor on brushes or powders. Since I an pondering about buying a airbrush, any powders, filters or paint that I need can wait till after I made my decision, as if I do buy one I will need paint for the airbrush anyway. The airbrushes on show were interesting, but the cheapest compressor alone was like a 180 euros and this didn't even have a air tank. The one I'm eyeing online costs 133 euro, has an airtank and comes with 2 airbrushes that may not be great but just fine for someone starting out like me. Thats my idea and I am sticking with it. And I must not forget that I will also need cleaning fluid, airbrush thinner, pippets, small trays, a stand for the airbrush, a glass cleaning..ehm, thingie and all of that will add up and stretch my current budget of 200 euros....

So, what was my loot this year?

PSC: 2 boxes of M4A4's, 1 box of 6 Pounders with Loyd carriers, 1 box of M5 halftracks, 1 box of Carriers and 1 box of Zis-2/3 guns. Also 2 Minairion Ford AA Bookmobiles
Foundry: 1 blister each of German passengers, German tank crew and British tank crew
B&B: Hasegawa Ostwind and Attack Panzer 38(t) Command
Warbases.co.uk: 2 paint racks and several 3 and 5 1 eurocent movement bases
Brother Vinni: 8 various Fallout Robots
Sgts Mess: a whole lot of weapons packs, several bits and pieces packs, a policebox, 2 greenhouses and a 1939 bus that will be painted for VBCW.
Fenris Games: 15 sheets of orange and yellow 1.5mm plasticcard from his sale a few weeks back.
Early War Miniatures (and friends): 2x 25 Pounders plus carriage, Wurfrahmen for the 251 and the French tanks and a Citroen car.
Also 2 boxes from Mininatur, 1 dark grass and 1 with several big sheets of Ivy, 2 older Wargames Illustrated, a weathering magazine and a 2nd hand Marauder Dwarven cannon plus crew that is going to be gifted to my mate Piers Brand for his birthday (which was ages ago).

All in all I had a great time, saw quite a few old friends from the hobby,  had a long chat with Will from PSC about future releases (38(t) variants coming soon!) so my apolagies to all of the customers who were waiting in line for me to finish and I did not spend too much money. Will did ask me if I want to help out again next year as Warwick and Piers will be coming over to Antwerp again to promote the Early War book (that will be released at Salute next year) and I gladly said yes as it is just too much fun to do.

Well, that's that. My British now have all they need to get started, but more about that at a later date.

Now I'm going to crash, it has been a long day......zzzzzz......