28mm Foundry Wild West Citizens arrive in Angry.

Most of these were picked up in a cheap bundle on eBay to start populating the town of Angry and for the painting challenge as well, I still have a soft spot for a good Foundry figure.........well I think they're all Foundry figures (I think Wild Bill is from Artizan)!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 92: Django Unchained 2012 (4 STARS)

"Another movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in it that I like and who the hell was Zoe Bell playing (girl with axe)?"- Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review.

The boy took pity on me last night and took me to the movies with very little notice (41mins), quick rush around Bluewater (Hotel Chocolat for the other half, White Dwarf, Nachos and a drink with 10 mins to spare!).

I remember watching the original Django 1966 movie and sequel with Franco Nero and directed by Sergio Corbucci (banned in the UK until 1993), over the top, very violent and dubbed, Franco Nero does appear briefly in this new movie (nice touch).

This is a bloody entertaining and quite genuinely tense movie, quite bloody, disturbing look at slavery during the time in America's past, never been keen on Foxx but he's fine, DiCaprio is manic and great in his role as a bastard of a human being, Samuel L Jackson is downright creepy as a bastard of a human being, great performances all round (Don Johnson for one....)but Waltz is excellent again as a German bounty hunter who rescues/ buys Django freedom as a black slave two years before the American civil war starts, Django has information he needs and a friendship/partnership develops and an agreement to rescue Django's slave wife who has ended up as the property of DiCaprio and this is where the movie eventually heads for it's dramatic outcome.

The movie does tend to be a little disjointed at times but the real fly in the ointment for me was the scene where Quentin gives acting another go (awful, never been a fan even with From Dusk til Dawn), the time (165 mins did fly by quite well) and the ending while over the top brings matters to a satisfactory conclusion (nearly!)

A lot of laugh out moments, actio and great performances.......

28mm Painted Black Flag Wild West Townsfolk.

While hunting around for townsfolk and citizen figures for my wild west town of Angry I stumbled upon these while ordering a gallows from Black Flag, not bad at all, very little flash, quite easy to paint and welcome in the town as long as they do as they're told and pay their taxes!

Dipping my large toe into 28mm American Civil War.

As stated before I've started to dabble in 28mm ACW skirmish with a touch of Outlaw Josey Wales and a smidgen of madness, I've started with the Perry Miniatures plastic infantry sets but added the metal command set (not my favourites the plastic but as the budgie said "Cheap"!).

The main unit is 28th Massachusetts Regiment, 4th Irish Brigade (had to be Irish!), some casualties (I have a weird fixation with casualty figures, there's even more to come!) and a 9pdr artillery piece, everything is from Perry Miniatures except the limber which is from Dixon Miniatures.

Started reading this for some colour and flavour.........

Even more 28mm Old West Buildings and Outdoor Plumbing for Angry!

The last of the painted Hovels Wild West buildings I got in the deal, lovely stuff but the roofs don't come off so really just lovely scenery but then I'm a scenery junkie and you can't not like the outdoor plumbing.

It's so cold here tonight that Ray has switched the heating on in the bathroom 15 minutes before going for a movement.....he needs to man the feck up!

15mm ACW 1862 "Battle of Snake Hill" Game, the view from the Alabama boys!

All the local Rejects (it's been a while for a full turnout) turned up on Sunday for an epic 15mm ACW game (there was an issue with space around the 12"x 6" table, I was beside BigLee), there has been 2 blog reports already about the game so I'll be brief.......

I was in charge of the 3rd Division and represented General John Bell Hood, considered quite a good Confederate general (unfortunately I'm not), I had 5 brigades of Alabama infantry and 3 batteries of artillery (1st through 5th and a mixture of crack and veteran in 1862).

I'll start by saying I was tired, a little cranky and still had to go to work that night, what happened next was a cluster feck of bad tactics, bad luck and bad attitude with some lively banter as both sides bitched and slagged each other off, the Confederates lost the game at the beginning and continued on the same vein for the rest of the fecking game....

It was a well thought out and balanced game, a good looking game, fecked up by the Confederate players with a little help from the fecking Union players and those fucking dice gods, I hardly moved the whole game (trying to secure two other players flanks (one who thought he was fecking Patton and other who taught he was having a fecking picnic on a hill!).

Me and Ray had to leave early to go to work and I thought I would be able to get away before hearing the result but no luck as the game ended before we had to go and I had enough time to hear the result and fecking disaster!

Eye candy to follow.......

My brave boys.......

My view for a lot of the game.......again! 

Contractual Postie shot and contractual blog whore shot!

Along the confederate line.......

Jeb Stuart on my right flank.......

The union rush forward to the lovely hills, the cliff parts were impassable....

I move forward in column with the railway tracks and small hills dividing my position.....

The Union were concentrating in the middle....

The confederates rush to meet them.......

Too late and the meat grinder is set in motion.....

Me!

The Union forces on their left flank, nice position and some of their best troops....

Nice position!!!

A couple of columns got hit in these formations.....

Jeb Stuart on the hill.......

The centre and the disaster......

Things were a little chaotic.....

There were quite a few withering fire and swept from the field results for the union here.....

The view from the right edge of the hill......

Yellow markers represent worn units......

I went a little hot air balloon here......

Red markers represent spent forces......

My artillery after several rounds of counter battery fire, union artillery is far better than confederate artillery.....

Carnage......

...more.....

....more of it......

The end is nigh....

The Alabama boys show their metal and kick union ass.....

Longstreet surveys the end of the battle....

As I said a good scenario and well thought out game but not for everyone and here's the question....

....do you play for fun and dice rolling or try to play tactically but less fun, less movement and less dice rolling?

I know we try for a fine balance in wargaming but can you get that all the time, maybe I was just a bit cranky but we give up a lot of time for our wargaming addiction!