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War at Sea: Stat Cards Gallery Update

The number one thing I’m contacted about by blog visitors is my War at Sea Stat Card Galleries. The enthusiasm from visitors is always high, their appreciation sincere, and their inquisitiveness on when more will be shared pervasive.

This article is titled War at Sea: Stat Cards Gallery Update but it is more an open letter and response to everyone who has privately contacted me about the galleries. I am thrilled and excited to receive e-mails from the plethora of visitors on this subject. Far too often bloggers operate in a vacuum subject to the whims of their internal monologue and those who post comments. Without comments the blogger doesn’t know if people are reading the posts and what their thoughts are. As important as it is for the blogger to post new content it is equally, if not more, important for readers to post comments.

Leaving a comment is very easy to do. At the bottom of the post is an empty box. Once you signed in (because you REGISTERED your FREE blog account) type your remarks in that empty box and click the SUBMIT COMMENT button. You’re done.

That said I do have actual progress to announce. I spent three hours tonight scanning in stat cards and making them available in the War at Sea: Picture Card Gallery comprised of the Base Set stat cards. The process is time consuming and painstaking so I believe readers will be interested in how the cards are scanned and made available on the blog.

All my stat cards are kept in a binder (nine to a page) and I try to scan them in groups completing one page at a time. It is easier to remember where I left off and where I need to continue. I own duplicates of almost every single miniature (and card) for each of the sets. I go through each of my cards looking for the one in the best condition. This can take as long as a minute per model to identify the best card.
After I have three cards I lay them out on my scanner with space between them. I scan the cards three at a time at 600dpi into a computer. This provides a clear and clean high resolution scan without spending too much time scanning. It takes 30 seconds to scan three cards at 600dpi. I save the scan of all three cards as a single jpg. I will work with this in the next step. When one group of three is complete I do the next one until I have completed nine cards.
I open each scan, in turn, using Adobe Photoshop. I crop the image so I work on one card at a time. I resize the image, maintain its high resolution, and then save it as a jpg. I back up the steps to the main scan and work on the next card. When I’ve completed each step for each card I close the file and open the next scan.
After all nine cards have been processed in Photoshop I open a FTP program. I’m fond of Fetch and Cyberduck on the Mac or SmartFTP on Windows. I upload the individual card to the appropriate folder on my server.
I update the zip file with the latest additions and upload that to my server. Uploading each card, the zip file, and original three card scans can take up to 20 minutes due to their large size (usually 8-12MB).
In the case of the Base Set scans I go to War at Sea: Picture Card Gallery and edit the article. I upload each of the cards into WordPress’ gallery for the particular article. I sort them into the appropriate order based on their set number. After saving my edits I verify that everything looks appropriate in the article. I check each new card to ensure it looks crisp.

All told the entire process takes a very long time. Tonight I added three pages of cards (or roughly 24 cards) and it took me two hours from start to finish. This project is very time consuming but tonight I completed all the scans for the Allies. Originally I finished the United Kingdom and did a few scans for the United States. I left a comment on War at Sea: Picture Card Gallery and War at Sea Task Force Picture Gallery stating my intention to complete the Allies by the end of the month. Instead I pushed forward and completed them tonight.

You have patiently waited a long time for the scans and I am happy to give you this late Christmas gift. While working on the project I have also made a decision that will impact how the project continues. Originally I planned to scan the fronts and backs of all stat cards from the Base Set and Task Force. I have since changed my mind and will only scan the front of the cards. I have decided that the purpose of scanning the cards is to offer gamers a preview of what they will get when they purchase the starter and booster boxes for each set. It allows gamers to determine if a particular set is worth their expenditure of time and money. In the current fiscal climate people have to be wiser than ever before on how they spend their money. It may be difficult to choose what games to purchase and how much to spend on a game. It is my hope that these scans, along with our extensive War at Sea coverage, will help gamers make informed choices.

There is another reason to not scanning the backs of the cards. If we scan and make the backs of the cards available there is no reason for gamers to purchase War at Sea. They could print out the scans making their own cards with some cardboard. Instead of the beautiful miniatures they could use pieces of paper or tokens. I’m not opposed to trying a game before buying it but if gamers completely skirt purchasing the games they play then the companies who make them will be unable to afford manufacturing those very games.

It is important for gamers to support the stores they play in and the games they play by purchasing those games in their local gaming stores. Gamers may think twice about buying War at Sea if they can print out the complete stat cards. As an avid War at Sea gamer I want Richard Baker to come out with the 5+ sets he has planned. That means we need to buy the product to play with.

This leads me to the conclusion of this open letter. The entire blog and all the stat card scans come with a terms of service or user agreement. There is no cost to using the blog, the scans, or anything you find on the blog. The only requirement is that you adhere to the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License covering the blog and everything on it (including the scans). In addition to the terms cited in the license it means that if you use anything you see on the blog, like the scans, that you need to provide a link back to the blog on the website(s) you put the scans on. Or, if you print them out and show them to friends you need to tell your friends about us and how to get to us.

It is a simple thing that grows the hobby, keeps us operating, and let’s us know what you want to discuss. As always I am grateful for your time and appreciate your reading the blog.

Thanks,

Jonathan

Chester French She Loves Everybody Music Video

Chester French, the famous Harvard duo we first shared with you back in December 2006 with Local Band: Chester French, has released their first music video. The video, which we’re sharing below, is on MTV heralding their first major label album due in stores March 31st.

The dynamic duo has turned music on its head with their ironic and inspective lyrics. Nothing about their music, their songs, or them is what it seems except one thing. They’re both incredibly nice guys. I’ve spoken with them through instant chat and e-mail and they’re truly delightful. They’re friendly and appreciative of the success they’re attaining.

Just recently I read an article about Peaches Geldof in Hello! magazine, which naturally discussed Maxwell Drummey, her husband. It is nice to see people grabbing onto love and not letting go like they have. Their music video addresses love and relationships in an interesting way. The lyrics to She Loves Everybody are innocent enough on the surface but the video provides a dichotomy listeners don’t get from the song alone.

At the start we see DA in almost cherubic fashion singing about his girl. This girl, the one he loves, then proceeds with masochistic actions. She pummels DA, she busts his lip, and gives him a thrashing. Nothing is safe in the video as even Maxwell, on guitar and drums, is assaulted resulting in the dismemberment of the drum set. Through it all DA manages a smile as his bow tie is violently askew and his brutalized body crumples to the floor. Yet, there is more than the literal meaning in this video. It symbolizes the damage we all inflict and receive in any relationship with the one we love. It shows that through it all love empowers us allowing us to smile through the pain.

This message is made more powerful by the minimalist set, which places the focus on Maxwell and DA and the girl. The video culminates in a cacophony of deconstructionism punctuated with a look of unadultered joy on the girl’s face. “I know she loves me; she loves everybody.” You can read another great review of Chester French’s first music video by Lindsay at the official MTV blog.

[quicktime]https://wargamingforums.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/chester-french-she-loves-everybody.m4v[/quicktime]

War at Sea: Battle of the Bahamas Photo Gallery

At Battleground Games in Abington the Bahamas were invaded by the Axis powers in War at Sea on October 1, 2008. They maintained a tentative hold on the island and desperately needed to usher reinforcements to solidify their gains. The United States, leading the Allied powers, sent an invasion force to free the island. The photo gallery below is their story.

The Goal: Hold the main island featuring a 1 strip airfield and shore battery.

Points: 1 point per transport that unloads its forces by ending its turn in the same square as or adjacent to the island. Whomever has the most points at the end wins.

Force Composition: 200pts per side utilizing 2 players as a single team per side.

Did I mention I’m wearing the brown shirt?

Flames of War: Panzerkompanie Journal

At Battleground Games in Abington the historical gamers have been taking a break from Axis & Allies and War at Sea. The store has at last begun stocking Flames of War.

This is a great WWII miniatures game put out by Battlefront Miniatures in New Zealand. I’ve had some stuff floating around my house for several years but have never spent any time on it. There is a solid group of gamers collecting armies and I took this as a sign to pull out my stuff.

Each week I try to spend a few hours working on my models and am hoping to chronicle my progress on the blog. I’ve already completed several weeks worth of work.

I am playing a Mid-War Panzerkompanie. The standard size force is 1,500pts and with that in mind I’m expanding what I already own with a few purchases. After much searching in my basement and closet I found a sizable tank force.

Closet Loot

1 Tiger 1E
5 Panzer III G
1 Panzergrenadier HQ blister
1 Panzergrenadier blister
Sdfkz/70 trucks and other assorted trucks

All I still require are some BMW motorcycles and I should be all set. In addition to the above I purchased a Panzer IV H thinking it was a Panzer IV G but the H will serve as my company HQ.

I’ve assembled all of my tanks and even my trucks. The assembly has been quite easy because the models have no more than five pieces. The body is one piece and each tread is a separate piece. The turret for most of my tanks was glued on and only required my adhering the muzzle and machine gun to the turret and chassis respectively.

After assembling all of the tanks I began to paint them. For anyone who knows me the idea of my painting anything will elicit rounds of laughter. I am not a good painter. In fact I am quite horrendous. I also do not enjoy painting, perhaps because I suck, resulting me to often play with assembled models minus paint. The remarks about my bare plastic and metal models continue but I refuse to paint until I began work on my Panzerkompanie.

War at Sea: Flank Speed aka Set 3 Confirmed Releases and Box Art

We have absolutely wonderful news to share. War at Sea has a new set, Set 3, which will officially be released on June 9, 2009. The set is titled Flank Speed and will feature 40 new models. Most models, 31 in fact, will be brand new sculpts while the remaining 9 will be repaints of existing sculpts.

The set will be a booster only release meaning new players still need to purchase the original War at Sea Starter Box ($24.99). Each booster will cost $14.99 or 17.50 CAN. There will be 12 boxes per case meaning a case will cost gamers $179.88. The ISBN for the new set, so you can search for it on Amazon, is 978-0-7869-5255-7.

Wizards released all of this information in their 2009 product catalog sent exclusively to retailers. We managed to obtain this information from a reliable source. Additionally, we have 4 officially confirmed releases along with the entire set list (unofficially confirmed). More on the set list later but the four official releases are:

Germany – Schlesig-Holsten battleship – Rare

United States – USS Arizona battleship – Rare

Japan – “Jill” Torpedo Bomber – Common

Russia – October Revolution battleship – Rare

The 2009 Wizards product catalog had this to say about the new set.

All hands on deck for the second expansion [third set] to the War at Sea naval miniatures game. Flank Speed will contain 40 authentically detailed miniatures that war gamers, WWII enthusiasts, and collectors can use to assemble fleets with which to do battle on the seas of WWII. Battleships, cruisers, submarines and aircraft will help you bring the battle to your opponent. Flank Speed will let players add to their existing navies to recreate historical battles that rage across massive 30″ x 40″ battle maps.

This is exciting for a variety of reasons. Of course there’s the standard excitement over any new release. The confirmed releases are also exciting and discussion provoking. But, this is the first time that Wizards has put so much emphasis on the historical gamer for this game. The game has walked a very thin line between historical game and beer & pretzel game. It has managed to perform as a quick, fun and social game that also strives to be historically accurate.

War at Sea Flank Speed Booster

I know many historical gamers who have held back from War at Sea because they viewed it as simply a beer and pretzel game. It seems that with Flank Speed the tide is turning and the game will delve into more historical waters.

In addition to the confirmed releases, the excerpt from the Wizards 2009 Product Catalog and our above banter on the meaning of the excerpt we are proud to share more exclusives. The first is the official box art you can see at left. We are the first place on the web to have this and share it with everyone. Not even Amazon or BoardGameGeek have this on their websites. Yes, you saw it here FIRST! This is a 600dpi hi-res scan of the actual box art. This is confirmed, official, and will be produced as such. The box art tells us a few things. First it is the same shape and size as the Task Force booster. This means Flank Speed will be a rectangular booster. It features new art, which looks wonderful, and says on the bottom of the box that the booster contains 5 random miniatures.

Additionally, the box shows the insignias for all the nations in this release. The box for Task Force showed no insignias leaving customers to guess at the nationalities of the set. The original set showed 7 insignias (Australia, France, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Italy, and Japan). There are 9 insignias on Flank Speed’s box. Starting from left we see Australia, Russia, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Italy, and Japan). This tells us that Canada will not have any new units despite its inclusion in Task Force. Most likely Canada was dumped to make room for Russia’s two ships.

Lastly, we have the unofficially confirmed set list. This comes to us straight from the wonderful people at Axis & Allies foruMINI. NeuralDream, the forum owner, in particular deserves a round of applause for compiling all the leaks and rumors into a single list (excluding Australia). Please be sure to give him a pat on the back along with your gratitude. We at CWF are eternally grateful to him and the entire Axis & Allies foruMINI team for everything they do to support and promote War at Sea. If you join their community you can find us as a member under the name cwfgamecast. We have reformatted the list to follow the order of nations from the Flank Speed box art.