Skyy John - Links To His Stuff

Skyy John is a guy in the states, who talks about all sorts of things. He completely cracks me up :)
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Fat People and Airplanes Seats
Airlines are now charging obese people for an extra seat. God help the employee that has to tell someone, "You're fat and need two seats!"
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Warhammer On-Line Age Of Reckoning - Trailer

Here's a rather excellent trainer I found on U-Tube for Warhammer On-Line 'Age Of Reckoning'.
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Interesting Links

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Dunkirk: a miracle of war
The failure of the Germans to overwhelm the British Expeditionary Force on its retreat to Dunkirk continues to baffle and fascinate historians. Many theories have been put forward and discarded. Here, one of our leading historians presents, for the first time, fresh evidence to explain Hitler's thinking, and why he issued the infamous ''Halt Order'' of May 24 1940. Link
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WWI veteran Patch dies aged 111
The last British survivor of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, has died at the age of 111. Link
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CRB Checks
For those involved in the running of Wargames Clubs, the following thread on the TMP makes intersting reading with regard to the requirement for people to be CRB checked. Link.
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RAF Wyton Familes Day Airshow

Went to the Airshow last Friday, which was if I'm an honest a bit of a washout, on two accounts. The weather was very mixed, and varied from being quite hot to being a heavy thunderstorm with torrential rain, thunder and lightning. Secondly the flying programme was rubbish with little fast jet activity and the Typhoon, Vulcan and Lancaster all being 'no shows'. Got a couple of 'okay' photos of the Spitfire during its display piece and an Apache that dropped it. The Spitfire was the version fitted with the Griffin engine. It just doesn't sound as good I'm afraid as the normal Merlin, that said a beautiful plane all the same.
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Interesting News Links

Churchill bunker 'not bomb-proof' Winston Churchill complained he had been "sold a pup" when he discovered his underground wartime headquarters in Whitehall were not bomb-proof. Link
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How Poles cracked Nazi Enigma secret. A silk scarf bearing the image of a horse race was a suitably cryptic gift for a Polish mathematician to receive from a British code-breaker. Link

Slide Show Of My Visit To Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Last night I got round to uploading most of the photos I took from my visit to Portsmouth last Saturday. There is a new album in my web shots area just for Ships now. Here's a slideshow of the photos:
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SHIPS
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News Links Of Interest

1. Medieval battle records go online. The new website reveals which medieval soldiers rode the furthest The detailed service records of 250,000 medieval soldiers - including archers who served with Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt - have gone online. (Link)
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2. Topic: German Casement Tanks - Leopard 3. Modern arour buffs should find this interesting (Link)
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HMS Daring

Visited the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth on Saturday. We were lucky enough to see the Royal Navy's newest destroyer HMS Daring on show to the public. Quite an impressive looking ship !
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Back Off Holiday - News Links

After a weeks holiday in the Isle Of Wight just got back tonight. Hopefully (time permitting) I'll post some photos tomorrow of the military hardware and sites I saw. In the meantime, here some interesting links:
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1. Oldest WWI veteran dies aged 113. Henry Allingham, the world's oldest man and one of the last surviving World War I servicemen, has died at the age of 113, his care home has said. Link
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2. Stryker Fires TOW Missile on Insurgents. Link
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3. Murtha Questions Army Camo. This is a very interesting article of personal camolflague. Here's a quote from one of the messages: " It is interesting to note that in the visual region ALL colors and patterns, at 300 meters, integrate by the human eye into a single homogeneous color…olive drab! It is also interesting to note that armor camouflage is only of value when in defilade and that when moving the motion and dust raised is as big a giveaway as jet contrails. Also, dust and oil fog layers on a vehicle surface change the IR emissivity to the point where it becomes a near black-body radiator". Link
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News Links Today

1. Russia 'shot down its own planes' - This makes quite interesting reading, Seems the Russian Air Force and Army didn't co-operate during the Georgia conflict, with predictable results... Link
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2. 3 JDAM's on Taliban Compound. You wouldn't want to be on the recieving end of these...
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3. Marines Battle Taliban. Firefight in Helmand Province.
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4. London Blitz Begins. Winston Churchill tells it like it is to the invading Nazi's.
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Bird and Fortune: George Parr, Army General

Bird and Fortune: George Parr, Army General being interviewed. Brilliant :)
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GZG Excellent Service + Chinook Problem

Placed an order with GZG last Thursday afternoon for one of their newest vehicles, the command version of their 8 wheelers, and a few bits and pieces for buildings. The order arrived by recorded post on Saturday morning ! Simply outstanding service !
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Here's a fascinating video clip of a high power ground run on a Chinook that went slightly wrong due to ground resonance.
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UK Navy carriers '£1bn over budget'

A £1bn cost over-run is threatening the future of the publicly-funded project to build Britain's biggest aircraft carriers. Oppsss, not good news. Link to the BBC web site is here.

Ali-G Interviews Posh Spice and David Beckham

Remembered this totally hilarious vid clip today, and just had to add it :)
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WWII Poison Darts Secret Emerges

This makes interesting reading. Link.
Top secret War Office papers have revealed a strange and macabre weapons
project tested by the Allies during World War II.
Lethal clouds of tiny poisoned darts were to be tipped with mustard gas to
kill enemy troops without damaging nearby buildings or equipment.
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Top Gear - Series 13 - Tornado Steam Loco

Sunday night saw the start of Top Gear Series 13. What the hell has this to do with wargaming and military stuff I hear you cry ! Well absolutely nothing of course ! However, IMHO no wargamer worth his salt could not be a fan of TG though :) Therefore, here is a clip from the last quarter of this weeks challenge. Enjoy, the last part of the race from London to Edinburgh between the car, bike and the impressive 'Tornado' steam engine :)
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Duxford Military Vehicle Show - Fathers Day

Attended the Duxford Military Vehicle Show today with my son Alex. Had a great time this afternoon browsing the exhibits and getting a good look at their vehicles. A great fathers day all in all :)
I've uploaded some of the vehicle photos I took, which can be viewed here. The most interesting thing for me was seeing their SU100 in action. Here's some video I took.
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VERY low Harrier ("I won't flinch..") + JSF

A quick vid of a Harrier doing an uber low pass.
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Heres a short vid of the aircraft that will eventually replace the Harrier in service, the Joint Struke Fighter (JSF). Watch for the last few seconds of the video when you can see the Lift Fan directly behind where the pilot sits.
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Injured Stormtrooper - Star Wars Parody

Stumbled across this little Star Wars parody this I thought was quite amusing :)
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Horrible Exam & The Caspian Sea Monster

As I mentioned in a few postings back I've been studying for yet another wretched exam (in Project Management this time) these last two weeks. Had the exam today... The words horrible and nightmare spring to mind.. Sadly, confidence in a positive outcome is well low...
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The upside is however, as the study and course work is behind me now, I can get back to the serious business of gaming again :) Hope to post a few pictures at the weekend.
In meantime here is a short vid of the so called Ekranoplan Caspian Sea Monster. Is it a plane, or a ship, or something else ? You decide :)
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Tank Museum - Bovington

If you haven't visited it, the (British) Tank Museum web site is well worth dropping in on. Link
The range of active displays they have is quite amazing. Check out this vid of last years 'Tankfest'.
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Spitfire Low Pass !!

A well known clip this one, but still worth posting, as it always makes me smile :)
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France Honors D-Day Vets

This is an interesting page on the US DoD Buzz web site about D-Day vets, and it has some great interviews with veterans on it. Highly recommended.

Bird & Fortune - Admiral Sir George Parr

A brilliant comedy sketch about the British Royal Navy :)
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USS LIBERTY

This makes a totally fascinating read.....
Was it a deliberate attack, or just a tragic accident ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
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10,000 Visits !!!! + Predator Movie Clip

It is now 4 months since I've been actively running this blog, and today we reached a small milestone. Today there was the 10,000 visit to the Blog !
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Decided to celebrate the occasion by including another favourite film clip, this time from that classic movie, 'Predator'.
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I'm stuck doing pre-reading for a Project Management course I'm on next week, so little chance for doing anything with figures over this next week sadly.
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65 Years Ago It Was D-Day

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D-Day

This quite an interesting page on the BBC web site about D-Day. Worth checking out. Link.

Kelly's Heroes

I'm back on the treadmill of study again (sigh), as I now have a stack of pre-reading for a Project Management course next week, which will then be followed by an exam. Gaming and painting is again being pushed to the background. :(
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Here's some classic footage of the best bits from that great war film 'Kellys Heroes' to entertain you
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SPACE MARINE - TRAILER FOR NEW GAME

This trailer for a new 40k Space Marine game from those smart chaps at Relic has just been released. V nice.
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Das Boot - Trailer

Not much happening on the gaming front since I last posted due to exams and being away visiting the outlaws. Thought I'd post a trailer for what is IMHO the best submarine movie ever made.
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The Hunt For Gollum - Fan Film

An unofficial and free 39 minute Lord of the Rings fan film, made for less than $5,000 by Independent Online Cinema. Based on parts of The Lord of the Rings, it tells of when Aragorn tracked down Gollum between The Hobbit & The Fellowship of the Ring. Definately worth watching ! :)
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The Two Ronnies - Fork Handles

Took the first of my two CIPS exams today. Some of the damn questions were so ambiguous I couldn't work out what the hell they wanted ! (deep sigh). No time to post anything about gaming tonight, but here is a classic sketch from The Two Ronnies to make you smile.
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Gladiator

This is a brilliant trailer for one of my favouriste films. There is lots of trivia about the film on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), which is just a fabulous resource for film buffs everywhere. Seeing this film always gives me the urge to dig out my 25mm Romans and give them an outing using the Warhammer Ancient Battle (WAB) rules.
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Two of the best quotes:
'My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.'
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'What we do in life, echoes in eternity...'
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Firing up a Rolls Royce Merlin V12 (or is it a Meteor ?

My brother sent me a link to this engine firing up. Turn the volume up to fully appreciate it ! :)
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Republic Gunship & Study

Study revision for my exams next week is well underway at the moment. Currently reading all about techniques for controlling inventory (yawn), I'm absolutely bored out of my mind. Thought I'd post a photo of the repainted Star Wars Republic Gunship I have in my collection (figures are by GZG). My son is trying to encouraging me to jazz it up with some nose-art. I have some intersting ideas which I might try out in a couple of weeks.
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Warhammer Dawn Of War Trailer

Quite simple one of the best trailers ever done for a game IMHO. Certainly worth posting :)
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British Covenantor - Least Successful British WW2 Tank ?

This without doubt must rate as one of the least successful tanks of WW2. Check out this link about the British Covenantor tank which makes entertaining reading:
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Here's a quote: "Deliveries to units began straight away, the first vehicles sent direct to the army were received at Bovington in late 1940, unfortunately without instructions as to starting, etc. Trials here revealed some annoying defects. Rushed design showed - ammunition bins were fouled by various projections, it took four hours to change batteries and one hour to top them up, fitting the radio was difficult, odd items were inaccessible - mostly fairly minor but unlikely to make the vehicle popular, and they would have been easily corrected had production only started after troop trials"
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Space Hulk - By 'Teardown'

Found out from a posting on the Space Hulk Yahoo group that a team of Space Hulk enthusiasts called 'Teardown' have been developing a PC version. Check out their web site for more info. In the meantime here is a small movie of the game. This looks excellent, and could be brilliant as a PBMEM game. Fingers crossed they find they can release it when they eventually finish the programing.
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Interesting Site About The Sdfz251 Half-Track

This rather an interesting site about the WW2 German half-track, the Sdfz251. http://www.sdkfz251.com/index.html.
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Here's a short clip of one running.
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Exam Revision Starting

Wargaming is sadly going to have to take a back-seat here at the 'Vulture's Roost' for the next 12 days as I focus on revising for two exams I have coming up. Due to career uncertainties I decided it might be an idea to get some more qualifications, therefore I'm currently doing a certificate in Purchasing & Supply. I intend to keep the blog going during this period with a few good clips from U-Tube. Here's a good tribute to the classic film Top Gun.
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Mike's new car

A fantastic short movie from Pixar with two of the characters from Monsters Inc.
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Blackadder, Private Plane, Flying Instruction

Classic stuff.... :)
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15mm Terrain

I've been working on some terrain these last couple of days, in between family stuff and playing Company Of Heroes with my son (a totally brilliant computer game). Here's a couple of sci-fi /modern 15mm buildings that I made by using some surplus plastic boxes (that came with 1/72nd scale dragon armour vehicles I recently bought), spraying them gray, and then sticking some paper terrain pictures on the sides and top. I sourced the pictures from the Beamstrike Forum (thanks Neil).
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Driving a Tiger Tank

Stumbled across this on U-Tube.
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A rare chance to see what it's like inside a running Tiger 1. The clip shows a short test run of Tiger 131 at the Tank Museum in Bovington, England.
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8 Wheeled Stuff from GZG

GZG recently released three 8 wheeled vehicles, V15-50A, V15-51A and V15-52A. Its taken me a while but at last I've finished them.
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They form a large part of a mercenary unit I'm building up called 'Coopers Crushers'. I wanted them to look quite distinctively different from the rest of my 15mm sci-fi collection, so I've opted for this arctic 'aggressor' camo scheme. Here's a photo of all the painted vehicles in the unit at present.
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Donald Featherstone on Wargaming

Donald Featherstone, one of the fathers of modern wargaming, talking about how he joined the army, what he really thinks about Americans and of course wargaming. The credits include his practical experience of World War II.
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Beamstrike 15mm Photo Competition

Neil at the Beamstrike Yahoo forum is hosting a photo competition. More details can found here, but in a nutshell he is inviting players to submit up to two photographs of 15mm figures and or vehicles in battle, with a short exciting description couched in appropriate Beamstrike speak :) This has spured me on to try and get a few more figures and vehicles painted and photographed this next week, before I start some revision for a couple of exams that I have mid May.
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Here's a photo I took some time ago of some GZG figures and an Old Crow APC.
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(Link to Page where the Beamstrike rules are:  Link)

Jason Plato "What A Save" BTCC 2009 Round 1 Race 3 at Brands Hatch

Nothing to do with wargaming, but just a great piece of driving in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) I wanted to share with you.
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Jason Plato is hit fom behind behind by Jonathan Adam as they enter Paddock Hill Bend at nearly 100 MPH. Jonathan was subsequently given a four second penalty which handed Jason the win. Commentators are Ben Edwards and former BTCC and 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Champion Tim Harvey.
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Aliens

I was looking through some of my vehicles that I use for my 15mm sci-fi gaming, and my eye was drawn to the Aliens APC I have. Quite a plain vehicle, but very distinctive all the same. Here's a photo I took a while ago.
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This seems an appropriate time to include the Aliens trailer. What a totally brilliant film. Now over 20 years old it is still the benchmark against which all other sci-fi combat movies / series are judged.
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This is an intersting web site dedicated to the film, called Aliens Papercraft. Worth checking out.
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