Archive for June, 2011

Suitcased arena

This Sunday I took a break and I went to Terni to test two new games by Ganesha Games: the large battle version of Song of Drums and Shakos and a fast game for tanks. I have got photos to present them but now I haven’t time to do it. My computer passed away the last week. The collapse of HD was fatal. I think that my computer worked in this form since 2003 or 2004. I know, one day all must end. In these days I spent all my free time working on it. It is a real mess because I have to reinstall all programmes and dates, and some of them are lost forever, like a beautiful scheme for Anticamente that I wrote to help me to manage games. I must work on two big websites and now I am stopped. The great thing is that after I will recover my computer, I have to pass a lot of time on it for programming. So, no time for this blog too. And it is summer, but I can’t taste it.

For a report of the day in Terni go on Drums & Shakos blog.

Well, even this time I want to give you something, just because I prepared it before. Again with arenas.

As you can see, this arena is thought like a hole with around only an upper squared surface. There is even a handle to easily transport it, like a suitcase. Maybe all seems more a subterranean arena than a Roman arena, but this is another solution for the “arena project”.

More to read here.

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Hexes made by DAS

arena

Everyone has got his arena for his fighters… I saw this arena a lot of time ago, in Pordenone, from the Grifoni Rantolanti club. Another arena with hexes, but not in felt, here they used DAS. Less portable of a fabric but more with the touch of a three-dimensional game, even if this arena is not very Roman in style. To keep things in small, they used 15mm gladiators. I recognise Museum miniatures.

arena

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Felt arena

arena
Here we have a more sophisticated arena than mine, but it is flat like mine. It is a felt arena made by Hotz ArtWork. It is a square 58.5 x 58.5cm, with the arena area measuring 21.0 x 21.0 inches/53.5 x 53.5cm in diameter. The hexes are 1.0 inch wide.
Hexes are a constant in gladiator games. The problem is the facing of the fighter and the scarce importance of sophisticated movement in a flat terrain. It is a solution but I think this net can appear too strict, you have a limited space for your moves, and the feel is that of a boardgame. Well, this felt has a lot of hexes, so you can move enough…
If you want know more on sand made of felt:
https://www.hotzmats.com/mat_1-gladiator.html

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My portable arena

This is the portable arena for my game. I needed something as playground for my little gladiators and this is an economic solution, good for everyone. I take an old A3 card folder recycled from the office, with a colour similar to the bases of my pieces. With a compass I traced an elliptical form, and after I cut the angles. Simple and with the right proportions to set a fight.
In the next future I will have a more sophisticated arena. In the works…

folder arena

folder arena

This is the first post of a long series about arenas. I have surfed the web drawing inspiration from what I found to build my personal arena. You will see a lot of arenas!

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Stylish Blogger Award

Well, I received a Stylish Blogger Award from mr. Zerloon. Thanks! What this means? This award is a way to spread knowledge of beautiful blogs, a different way to promote links. When you go along the chain of these links, you lost yourself among interesting blogs, too much to read them all. It is even a form to give approval and respect to other efforts beside you to give a written form to passions and hobbies. So mr. Zerloon chose my blog among others. It is an honour!

To receive an award there are four steps to follow:
1. Send a thank you and a link to the nominating blog.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass the word on to 10 or so other deserving blogs.
4. Let them know of your nominating them for the award.

1. Send a thank you and a link to the nominating blog


Zerloon Place is made by Lorenzo (mix the letters and you get “zerloon”) who plays boardgames and 3D wargames. He plays a lot and with different games. Here you can his reports.

2. Share seven things about yourself

1) Moscarelli is the surname, not the name.
2) I’m not so fat as you can see on photos. It’s all a matter of lens distortions.
3) If I lost a game, the rules was wrong.
4) I don’t believe in superstition practices about dice throwing. I believe in cheating dices. But until now I don’t find them to buy. Damn it!
5) My friends make fun of me because I have got only a little number of lead soldiers (this is the pretext that I utilise when a new pack of little lead men arrive in my house).
6) If you have got Romans in 15mm, you have to build them even in 28mm, then you feel the need to compose a Roman army in 10mm, but a day you will have them in 6mm too.
7) My father paint almost all my miniatures under my supervision. My mother sew my uniforms under my supervision. My sister sometimes have something to do under my supervision. So I’m a very busy man.

3. Pass the word on to 10 or so other deserving blogs

Here I have mainly chose blogs that I support because they are made by people that I know. You can always find their links on the right bar of my blog. If I suggest them, then I can give them an award!


Anticamente is a ruleset by Fabio Farneti about battles with a terrain made by hexagons, using 10mm soldiers. It is very original and smart, fresh air if you are used to only DBX geometry.


Song of Drums and Shakos is a ruleset by Sergio Laliscia about skirmishing with Napoleonic troops. It made me discover the weird world of Napoleonic uniformology.


RoninClan is a blog about Paolo Blasi hobbies about boardgames and 3D wargaming, and obviously about Japan. And like a Japanese, he take a lot of photos.


Pippoweb’s Blog is a place where Filippo Simoncini put his realisations about 3D wargaming. Sadly only a few posts, but he has a lot of things to say and show.


Parte Ghibellina is the blog of Roberto Bagna, a good painter for his 3d wargames.

And now something different. Blogs that I follow most and I think are good to know:

The Angry Lurker is a man with a mission: constant presence on the world of wargaming blogs, and with something to say.

6 Mil Phil’s Adventures in Wargaming is full of great realisations for his wargames, and the best of the best is the propaganda truck of VBCW with a mp3 player inside!

BigLee’s Miniature Adventures is a giant involved in miniatures!

Giochi sul Nostro Tavolo is an interesting blog with boardgames reviews and impressions.

As number 10 I haven’t made a choice. I read other blogs but not on regular basis, so I leave this award for a future blog that I will follow every day. And maybe that can be your.

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Reggimento Folgore (Roma 1944) at 1/6

The third piece of my 12 inches soldier collection. Another Italian paratrooper of WWII. This one is the last of the Folgore incarnations. In the latest months of war, the paratroopers was reorganised under the Airforce autority, so the uniforms are blue-grey.

My father was in Airforce, I served in Airforce, so my first uniform as reneactor was an Airforce one. Here you can see me this year on the south extreme of the Nettuno front.

Under the camouflage there is the classic paratrooper, and then RSI, uniform without collar, more practical than other cuts. Collar badges are the newer ones, handmade by me. I changed a lot of things on this piece because I want a particular uniform, like mine.

This samurai is the economic and lighter version. Only 5 magazines against 12 magazines of the other version. I have got a real samurai of this kind, with real magazines with bullets, but all is deactivated, they now are only pieces of metal. Mine is a little different, it is a modern reproduction with modern measures, longer because now we are more tall and big than 65 years ago. It is difficult to find old uniforms that fits well, only bigger sizes are good. And my samurai is too much green, I have to put it on sun to decolourise it.

Here you can see a comparative view of the two kind of samurai.

This piece is ready to fight in Castel di Decima, the 4th June of 1944, a few kilometres under Rome, just before the Allied occupation of the city. A bunch of men stopped a Sherman column with the use of panzerfausts and heroism. They had to slow down the run towards Rome after the front collapse after the capture of Montecassino, so Germans could lose touch and recreate a front.

Sunday the 5th of June, this year, was celebrated a remember of the fallen ones of the defence of Rome. You can see some friends of mine historically dressed. Here the report of the day: https://digilander.libero.it/historiamilitaria2/verano.htm

This is the memorial tablet for this episode in the cemetery of Rome.

Back to vinyl. You can see German equipment as panzerfaust and bombs. There is even a Beretta pistol and the paratrooper dagger. Without his dagger a paratrooper is naked!

A picture from the rear. This mode to put the MAB on the shoulder is the correct one because is more stable. I learned this with the real MAB, the Italian machine gun made by Beretta.

The three paratroopers that guards one library of mine. Folgore viewed in its incarnations: Africa, Army, Airforce.

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Just Married: Luca and Abigail

The 4th of June Mr. Luca Blasi and Miss Abigail Hole celebrated their marry in Anguillara Sabazia (north of Rome). Here a brief report.

Do you remember Luca? He is a member of our Legio Palatina wargame group. Now he lives in London. The last time we saw him was just in London, when he guested us for a week. He is the guy with the bald head in the front of a man with a band coloured like our national flag (the Mayor). On the left there is Aby and again the witness, the Luca’s little sister with her first two children. The other witness was from Moscow. Other people went from Germany or other parts of Europe.

A large delegation of English people were present. You can see the lake of Bracciano and strange hats that English people, especially female ones, use in holidays. The official language used was Italian but a 90% of guests only speak English.

After the civil rite a series of photos to immortalise the moment. Here you can see how beautiful is the bride.

Rice rain!

We ate a lot. Before a series of starters in the open, after the rest of the lunch on a big hall. At the end the classic: the cutting of the cake! Near the bride two little children: Gabriel and Jack Romano.

Traditional sensual folk music and dances from the South of Italy accompanied the day. Luca is not from Rome, he birthed in Puglia, but he lived in Rome a lot. And when you are in Rome and you act like a Roman, you are a Roman.

Me and Narciso, another Legio Palatina member. I’m the only guy with a sky shirt. The official shirt colour was white. I’m out of fashion!

Paolo (Ronin Clan and brother of Luca) and I.

After the lunch more wedding time near the lake under the restaurant. This is the lake of Martignano, a small lake in a natural park. These mad English took away their dresses and swim in the lake! Mummy always tell me to not take a shower after a meal and these people from northern lands take their swim suites! Children (more than 10 I think) had a lot of fun in the water. There was a babysitting service for children during the day.

More relax and free fruit juices and cocktails around the lake. English bought beers in industrial rating at the bar, it’s more strong than them. Here you can see Diego, other Legio Palatina member.

More music and dances, with fun dance fertility games! More children on arrival?

The evening went on, with deejay music from London and a dinner, until late night. Diego was tired and today he have to play a battle with tons of little men made of lead. We leave at 20.30. Great day!
This one in the picture is a special gift that we gave to the couple.

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Anticamente: Arezzo 2011

At last! After my heroic first position in the Italian championship of 2010 here we have the chance to show in 2011 that I don’t know how to play Anticamente and the ruleset. Indeed, I can say in the first instance that I played with an obsolete version of the rules, but it was the same because quickly I found what was new. Subordinately this time I found competitive players that studied and tried the rules very well. We are all DBA tournament players so with Anticamente we have found some fresh air and a new way to throw dices against our faces.

This time I lost. But I have fun, I hit and received strokes, in a balanced way. Games were interesting, so this was a beautiful day.
Here you can see the development moment, with screen to hide troops. And you can even see my face with a strange red tone. The day before I take my first sun of summer on the Ostia seaside, but confident with the fact that now is May, I and my fiancée scalded ourselves on all our bodies. So during the tournament I suffered by manifest symptoms of sunstroke…

This man win always all. He is the Italian champion of wargames in 2010. And this time he had his personal dice thrower (children are dangerous) and a support from gigantic martial arts gods. I fought well against well balanced forces, I lost only at the last move.

We played Sunday in a comic shop in Arezzo, and for launch there was a restaurant on the other side of the street. With a cook from Montecatini, even if we don’t understand why he say us he was from Montecatini. Mad Tuscans, they are still get in medieval wars city against city…

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