Eh hell, a twofer.
Thinking I'm on a banjo thing unconsciously.
Anyways, I'm still neck deep in Xenos killing in
Deathwing and loving it and eyeing
Darktide like a junkie lining up his next hit. Egad.
Whoop, whoop!
I'm vibing on Old Crow Medicine Show! I am not vibing on Warlord: Britannia :/ Something about that game made me want to pluck my own eyes out.
So...moving on to King Arthur: Knights Tale and maybe some Total War Rome Remastered.
I keep getting sucked into playing Monster Train until 2 in the morning, but I really hope to play something else this weekend. Maybe Distant Worlds 2 or Spellforce or even getting up the learning curve on Oxygen not Included.
Last week, I played Gloomhaven online with a couple buddies of mine that I started playing D&D with 40+ years ago. I've not played the tabletop version but appreciate the game's system a lot. If my friends are available, we might have a chance to play that this weekend as well.
I bought a few games over the Steam Spring sale that I'm working through: CK3 and Toy Soldiers Complete. But at the moment I have Cold Waters open. Sometimes you just want comfort food gaming. I'm experimenting with the Dot Mod, but I don't think it's for me. It has a prestige system that I'm not grooving on. I think it can be fixed via a text edit to overcome the system where it locks certain boats until you've earned enough prestige. Taking a diesel Oberon against two Victors in the 1984 campaign is just a lesson in futility.
War of Rights - so many of my friends have this now.
Company of Heroes 3 - trying out their in game challenge system that earns you money and then allows you to buy skins off the in game store.
DCS World perhaps
I have been thinking about trying out WARNO fobs that just dropped. But honestly I think that is a nothing to see here kind of deal. They are the same as red dragon. Artillery spam is back because of it I hear. Not an unreasonable thing for a game about modern warfare. Artillery is often underplayed to allow players to actually "do things" other than pound each other and grind forward ww1 style. I guess we don't have the stomach to see our attacks fail everytime we poke our heads up. I still really wish that combat mission was more mainstream in terms of accessibility, graphics and #of players that can play together. That has some of the best mechanics for artillery I have seen in a relatively small scale game.
(https://i.imgur.com/3VHEtDQ.png)
A challenge to destroy X # of vehicles with m3 Half Tracks with guns on top. I ended up with a few m3 HTs.
(https://i.imgur.com/lM4w87Q.png)
Playing Combat Mission (WW2).
On Sunday : watching Tour of Flanders (cycling race).
My kind of banjo music :laugh: .
Hey Toonces Toy Soldiers Complete is a great collection. I played them all on Xbox 360 many years ago. Lot's of fun to be had there.
I think I've turned into Gus this weekend...
Great War Western Front
Flying Circus
Rising Front
And yes, even a tiny bit of Battle of Empires 14-18 (oh boy I forgot how bad that one was).
This was me by dinner....
(https://i.ibb.co/C9yMK6K/shellshocked.jpg)
^Is that you, John Wayne?
Ironically my interest in WWI has waned a bit now that there are more and more WWI-themed PC releases :hair:
And Battle of Empires made even me cringe :embarrassed:
Quote from: Gusington on April 01, 2023, 06:52:32 PM^Is that you, John Wayne?
Ironically my interest in WWI has waned a bit now that there are more and more WWI-themed PC releases :hair:
Me and my original 1918 AEF Brodie with shrapnel damage, yes.
The magnificent beard and just-visible tuft of chest hair really complete the whole scene.
Quote from: Gusington on April 01, 2023, 08:02:22 PMThe magnificent beard and just-visible tuft of chest hair really complete the whole scene.
I am blessed with the capability to have a magnificent, perfectly full beard.
Head? Not so much.
That Brodie is my pride and joy though. It had the original sheepskin lining and leather "nut", although both rotted away to the point I had to remove them from the helmet and store the bits of them both separately.
Still has the original leather sweatband and strap though.
Where'd you get it? I have a few helmets, including a German one of WWII vintage that a friend of mine brought back from Prague. That's the oldest one I have, though.
Quote from: Gusington on April 01, 2023, 08:18:51 PMWhere'd you get it? I have a few helmets, including a German one of WWII vintage that a friend of mine brought back from Prague. That's the oldest one I have, though.
Interestingly, my parents got it for me as a Christmas Gift in 1985. I was a history nut even at that age and they bought it from an Army/Navy Surplus store in Dallas.
Confirmation that it was a WWI issue helmet came much later when I was older and actually could do some research. I dug into all the telltale signs on how to see if your helmet was WWI or one of the much more common WWII variants. If you know what you're looking for (sheepskin, leather, clasps, magnetization, outer crimp ring) you can spot them.
The shrapnel damage is clear and distinct, a heavy impact along the back right corner. It broke the crown rest nut a little and probably gave whoever wore it a bad day about 100 years ago. It didn't break the armor but I wouldn't have wanted to be wearing it when that happened.
A great piece of history.
So, because I'm showing off and this is an audience that's probably interested...here's the interior
The "Nut" is a hard leather crown rest that should be attached to the sweat band. It eventually cracked and hardened to the point I had to remove it as it was about to shatter. I'd show it but I have it in storage.
Internals though outside the nut are intact. The telltale signs are the leatherwork, that mostly got replaced by canvas for WW2 variants and the sheepskin.
That was once full sheepswool, but of course 100 years takes a toll. The fact any is left is surprising.
I had a collector, Eric Sorensen, who had an extensive WWI rifle and helmet room that offered me $1k for it back in 2002. I laughed at him. It was fair but it's worth more than that to me.
I rarely ever put it on considering what its history has to be. I like to think the person that wore it in '18 went home and lived a long life.
(https://i.ibb.co/jRHJBMz/brodie.jpg)
Enjoyed reading that SirAndrewD. thx :)
Quote from: Destraex on April 02, 2023, 12:44:32 AMEnjoyed reading that SirAndrewD. thx :)
Always glad to stay on topic!
Next week...not joking, my West German Police Helmet that's actually a crudely painted over Russian Red Army helmet.
This man takes his History, and headwear, seriously. :ThumbsUp:
Quote from: SirAndrewD on April 01, 2023, 09:00:19 PMI rarely ever put it on considering what its history has to be. I like to think the person that wore it in '18 went home and lived a long life.
Very cool. Thank you for sharing. It's intriguing to think what sort of oral history the helmet would relate if it could talk.
Quote from: SirAndrewD on April 01, 2023, 09:00:19 PMI had a collector, Eric Sorensen, who had an extensive WWI rifle and helmet room that offered me $1k for it back in 2002. I laughed at him. It was fair but it's worth more than that to me.
Is this the same Eric Sorensen who is a congressman from Illinois?
Quote from: Groggy on April 02, 2023, 09:55:02 PMIs this the same Eric Sorensen who is a congressman from Illinois?
Nope. Just a living history guy that had a really nice Great War collection.