We crossed Apennines to go to a modelling fair in Macerata for two days. It was inside a larger fair about second hand and vintage objects.

Large halls and a lot of things to buy. The modelling part was the widest that I personally ever saw in Italy.

Among models I found these two Zaku dioramas. I like them a lot.

A modelling contest for various categories was held in the fair. Here some of what I think is the best.

Germany navy.

Italian navy: motorboat with explosive charge inside.

Three Italians tanks in Africa.

Picchiatello, the Italian Stukas.

Reenactors about Italian war in Africa.

More helmets.

There was space for various kinds of rc models.

From these photos you could believe that all was inside only a structure, instead these were three, one covered and closed (where we were), one covered, one half covered.

I bought only a couple of coins for my collection and four little cars. We were not so interested in other things, we are more miniatures oriented than generic vintage objects. But on the way to home we stopped to Col Fiorito to buy some cheese, lentils and beans. We wished to visit more the surroundings but hast is a bad mate, so we visited only where we sleep (a very little rural hamlet with a huge and ancient knight templar church built over pre-Roman sacred site), roads among hills and mountains, the fair, and good and bargain restaurants. We saw the Adriatic sea too.

Some news about the last month that I didn’t put on these pages.

Romics is the opportunity to buy comics and watch cosplayers. I went even this time with Andrea for the Spring edition. But I chose to go the afternoon, so we had less hours for our visit. It was the first day on the four days fair but a lot of people was around the same. More stands were present. My regret was the scarce time to do more things: time flew and I couldn’t took usual tons of photos and buy all what I thought. So only a DrWho mug for upcoming dices and a comic book about Roman times. At the end a fast pizza at the station, waiting the last train to Terni for Andrea.

Another time Andrea came for a playtest session for Power Legion, the super heroes rules by Ganesha Games. We are working on them since some years but it wasn’t the right time for their publication because we were not so sure about the results. Even this time we changed some mechanics. After this session we found new ideas for a better gameplay. Andrea is writing the book just now.

Do you remember what I said about the wargame convention in Canino? Diego broke his car, Andrea broke his car, I broke my car (one foot indeed). So no convention for us from Rome. After the give up of this year Hellana and Salute, respectively to health and money problems, even Canino.

To resolve this sad situation, the day before we met with Andrea at Diego’s house, for a full playtest day on Power Legion rules. This time we had a half definitive written text, so we tried it with real slugfests.

A true kitchen game, because Diego have to buy a green game mat! However we had games packed with flying cars, crashed buildings, powerful blasts and big bosses at large. A lot of notes were taken to refining the rules. Another playtest is scheduled in the following days.

Sunday there will be the second edition of a wargame convention organised by my mate Narciso, “La Storia per Gioco” (History for games). It will be during a local country festival about asparagus agricultural production. We have programmed a mega-game for Of Gods And Mortals, and other games will be played. I hope to visit some archaeological and historical sites too. Food will be not a problem…

A full report on these pages. More information here:
https://www.legiopalatina.it/lastoriapergioco/index.htm

Some important news that I want to share about my all time favourite Japan anime/manga series: Gundam, Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell. And about a big lizard.

We are arrived to the 35° anniversary of the first Gundam transmission on television. Among other celebrations and anime, the greater news is a new anime series divided in four parts about the years before the events of the first series. It is called Origin and it is adapted from the manga of the same name.

It was a long time that we don’t hear news about this great series. Now they have thought to propose a live action version. It is a retelling of the same story with real actors but they changed uniforms look and something. 13 episodes on television and a film in 2015.

It is ongoing the new Ghost in the Shell series called Arise. It is composed by four parts and two of them are released as it is. It focuses on early years of the Section 9, its creation. And the Fuchikomas/Takikomas have got a new primitive look and colour: red.

And now something always from the Japan but this time produced by USA. A little different than the crap made by Emmerich…

All things that I will watch in the following months and years…

My third time in Pa.Bo.Gel., a food fair for restaurateurs. I have got a free access but the entrance was 30 euro. Ovens, exposition fridges, pizza, fried, croissants, ice creams, beer, main dishes,… The great thing was the free great food for everyone at bulimic rates!!!

A pizza association without interruption took out pizza of the oven. Many other stands produced pizza for free. But you could find other food kinds. They were advertising ovens, schools, supplies for restaurants or restaurateurs associations.

The quality was overall because they are from the top of their class. Some contests were in action, like this one with a quaint quality jury.

Some chaps just entered in the fair saw this automatic machine for pizza and said:”great, a pizza to eat now for only one half euro”. They still didn’t know that in the fair they could take a bath with pizza…

A couple of elder people systematically filled up three bags with free food for the following days. Likewise I was with a mate of mine, eating what we could. But at the end, when people offered spontaneously more food to us, we declared a defeat. More and we could collapse.

Some days ago Ganesha Games released a new edition of the post-apocalypse rules Mutants and Death Ray Guns. Some tweaks to the rules, some new rules, new format and new art. Digital version available for free to owners of the first edition, at a small price for the rest of the world. In a few days even the printed one will be ready.

This is not an April fool! Instead a new resource is available at this address: https://www.massimomoscarelli.it/ogam
It is the Of God And Mortals website! I made it, it is approved by Osprey Publishing and it is cured by Andrea Sfiligoi, the author of these mythological wargame rules. You can find on it: news about the game, game reports, miniatures and so on. And all the new materials to play: new pantheons (Inca, Japanese, Pre-Islamic Arabic so far, in the following Roman, Vudu, Aztec), more characters for the pantheons in the book (Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, Norse), tournament rules, Q&A, errata, a datasheet list builder and what we will think to add in the future. It is the website to support this engaging game with updated materials and news. Follow it and play with OGAM!

A different way to pass the 8th of March. Castel Decima is a nature area near a rural castle at the South-West of Rome, just outside the GRA (the motorway that encircle Rome). Here there was a large, and practically unused, WWII defence system for Rome, with bunkers and trenches. A visit was organised only for local WWII reenactors. No other people involved.

The area is not properly equipped for visitors as a museum area: bunkers are houses for bats, trenches are among debris and woods. After 70 years th structures are still solid, made by concrete or tuff stone. I tried to find the layout of the area by GoogleMaps, but from the sky all is well concealed. We think to explore more the surroundings for another time.

The visit was even a photo opportunity for reenactors, a way to show off weapons and uniforms. It is a way to live and understand history, as wargame. And there was the presence of a real veteran of war, a man that fought in that area to delay the Allies in their march on Rome. We listened about his experience and visited with him the place where he and his comrades destroyed a Sherman column.

I’m a member of the Italian paratroopers historic group. Almost 70 years ago in this place, the commander of Italian paratroopers died heroically. So we organised a ceremony at the war memorial.

Maybe in April I will participate to another meeting, but this time with a paratrooper uniform of the other political half of the divided Italy after the 8th of September.