Lord of the Rings

THE LORD  OF THE   RINGS
HEY ! One of my favorite books to read is the LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R Tolkien I also enjoy the movies based on it. Last night we played the LORD OF THE RINGS board game that we got as a start of summer gift. It is one of my favorite games. I was Frodo and twice I almost got caught by Sauron and his Nazgul. 

    
                      THE BOX ART

              Everyone's favorite card: Gollum! 

 

 
THE GAME BOARD AT THE BATTLE OF HELMS DEEP


Also I like making things from books I read or movies I watch. Here are some Orc weapons I made based on those used in the Lord of the Rings movie. I used two old metal pipes I found and hammered flat for the blades and part of an old bed for the handle of the sword and a square dowel rod for the spear shaft.

         A short thrusting sword  

The curved end of  the spear.

Post by Bear

THE STORY OF SAM THE BROKEN ARMY MAN

this is a story I wrote for the fair. It got a Best of show Finalist & a blue ribbon. bear

9/2/2013

THE STORY OF SAM THE BROKEN ARMY MAN

    Deep inside of the toy box Sam The Army Man felt the pain again and groaned.

     “What’s wrong?” asked his friend Grenade Guy.

    “My arm  hurts,” replied Sam “or at least what’s left of it. That was one heavy Lego block that hit it. Do you think we can fix it?”

“Of course,” said Grenade guy “ we can start now.”

     Sam and Grenade Guy walked over to where Lt. Green was standing.                                                                

    “What do you want?” he asked.

    “ We want to apply for a hardship discharge so we can fix Sam’s arm,” said Grenade Guy.

    Lt. Green wrote in his note book for a minute  and then said

“ All right, you may go but be careful.”

     So off Sam and Grenade Guy went to find the bottle of model glue. They easily got out of the toy box by propping up a fire engine ladder and then set off across the bed room floor. Just  as they were rounding the bed post they heard the sound of missiles and the shouts of officers. They followed the sound and as they expected  they came to the sight of a battle . In the doorway leading into no man’s land  they saw  that the U.S marines (set 048410) and the Royal Horse Artillery (set 073943) were in a pitched battle with  the Lego Legion from across no man’s land who inhabited the far house corner. 

    The battle was NOT going good for the Leather Necks and Royals. They were being pushed back! Sam and Grenade Guy ran to their assistance. As they were running Sam glanced down no man’s land and his plastic ran cold for coming down it was one of the feared Lego super weapons!

    Sam grabbed Grenade Guy and pulled him into the Alamo and told him what he had seen. They both dashed up to the wall just as the Lego vehicle entered the room.

     “We‘ve got to do something!” Exclaimed Sam.

      “ I know.” Said Grenade Guy.

    Then Grenade Guy said, “I‘ve got an idea. Why don’t we tip over the rock collection on the shelf. When it falls it will hit the Lego vehicle and immobilize it .”

    “ Yes” said Sam “let’s go!”

      So they both started climbing up the front of the book case. When they reached the top they both strained with all their might to tip off the rock collection . Finally they had it to the edge and with one final push it fell off  but as it fell it hit Grenade Guy and he fell with it. .

 Sam watched in horror as Grenade Guy fell down, down, down to the floor. He landed in a pile of broken Lego blocks just as the crew of the destroyed vehicle were coming out. The Lego men quickly seized him and then retreated back to no man’s land carrying Grenade Guy with them. As their main weapon was destroyed all the other Lego men rapidly retreated too as the Army men cheered madly. They had won the battle!

     But Sam up on the shelf did not cheer but rather felt like crying for he had lost his best friend. He knew the fate that lay before him and hoped Grenade Guy would one day return.  After sitting a while Sam got up and climbed off the shelf  he knew Grenade Guy would have wanted him to go on with his  mission. When he reached the floor he crossed over to the door way and peered into no man’s land. Not a sign of the Lego men except for a few broken blocks.

      He then  quietly slipped down the hall for the place called SCHOOL ROOM. He walked quickly but quietly for there were stories of army men who had ventured out of the bed room and were never heard of again some of the known dangers included the black hole ( a deep pit into which no man that ever went in came back out )and  the pulling winds that came from a large dragon shaped machine.

     After a march of 15 minutes Sam came to the land of school room. He knew from previous missions when he was in the medical corps where the glue was kept so he changed his course and headed across the school room plain towards a tall craft cabinet. 

     When he reached it he looked up and was amazed at its size. Slowly he began to climb . Shelf by shelf he went until finally he was at the top shelf where the glue was. Sam advanced slowly towards the box where the glue was kept and after quite a struggle got it open . He jumped in and began searching for the model  glue, in a minute Sam emerged tugging the glue behind him.

    After applying the glue to his cracked arm and letting it dry for 30 minutes Sam got up and with the help of a handkerchief parachuted down to the floor.  Rapidly he recrossed the plain and head back to no man’s land.                                          

     He arrived back into army men territory after a long  journey. By this time the full story of Sam’s and Grenade Guy’s heroic actions earlier in the day had been  made known and he was hailed as a hero. Sam was later ordered to take part in a mission to exchange prisoners with the Lego men. He went over to their lines with a white flag to negotiate the release of the army men. One of the returned men was Grenade Guy and he and Sam were glad to see each other again.

   After  this Sam and Grenade Guy had many more Adventures one of which was the time they both were caught in the Black hole and became the first to make it out alive but that’s another story entirely.

                        THE END     

COPYRIGHT 2013 BEAR   

 

THE BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL

                                THE BATTLE OF

GUADALCANAL

By Bear

NOTE: Here are the rules for playing a great war game that my brothers and I enjoy playing. ENJOY!

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: On August 6, 1942, the United States finally went on the offensive  against the Japanese by launching a sea born invasion on to the Japanese held island of Guadalcanal . The attack was a complete surprise and the initial landings were virtually unopposed . It took the Americans six months to completely capture the island and when it was firmly in their hands they used it as a base for aircraft and supplies. Its capture was crucial to the American victory in the Pacific

 

VICTORY CONDITIONS: The Americans must capture the airfield within twenty turns to win the victory otherwise the Japanese win.

GAME BOARD: The game board is 7x5. Set up pillboxes were indicated (the small gray squares on map) Around the airfield there are trenches.  For the board you can use cardboard painted different colors such as blue for the ocean, yellow for beach and green for the main land, or you can draw it on a large sheet of paper.    

Board lay out for game. Blue water, Yellow beach, Green mainland.Gray squares are pillboxes the long one is the airfield.

BUILDING THE ARMIES:  The armies for this game are 1/72 scale plastic miniatures. Mine are IMEX  and Airfix with a few unidentified men in the mix. At the end you will find links for soldiers  you can print and use. For this scenario you will need six Japanese pillboxes each completely surrounded by a ring of barbed wire .

Americans                                                  Japanese

 5 companies each with:                          4 companies each with:

4 squads of 12 men including                 4 squads of 10 men including

2 heavy weapons (mg , Bazookas,          1 heavy weapon per squad

Mortars, Flame thrower.  )  per squad.

ORDER OF BATTLE: the Americans are deployed directly on the beach while the Japanese are in their trenches or around the pillboxes.

 

 

TURN SEQUENCES:

1.American artillery

2.American move, shoot, clear obstacles or assault Pillboxes

3.Japanese artillery

4.Japanese move, shoot

 

ARTILLERY : At the start of each turn each side may fire their artillery. The Americans get to throw 15 cotton balls from 18 inches away from the sea side of the game board towards the Japanese. This represents the shells fired by the Americans’ destroyers off shore. The Japanese get to fire two cotton balls per undestroyed pillbox. Any man that a cotton ball touches is removed from the game. Any obstacles that are hit are also removed.

MOVEMENT: Figures move up to 6 inches per turn .

SHOOTING, CLEARING OBSTACLES & ASSALTING PILLBOXES :  

SHOOTING: all figures can shoot 8 inches. Each figure rolls 1 six sided dice.   Americans kill Japanese on roll of 5-6.Heavy weapons roll 2 dice(except flamethrower) . Japanese score a hit on a roll of 6.

OBSTACLE CLEARING : Any American figure that starts their turn in contact with an obstacle may attempt to clear it. Figure rolls 1 dice, if it is a six the obstacle is removed. Heavy weapons clear it on a roll of 5-6 (except flamethrower).

ASSALTING PILLBOXES: Any Americans that start their turn within 1 inch of a pillbox may try to destroy it. Each figure rolls 1 dice, a roll of 6 destroys it. Heavy weapons  destroy pillboxes on 5-6. Except flamethrowers.

FLAMETHROWERS: First off draw a cone on red paper that is 8 inches long & 4 inches wide then cut it out . To fire place the narrow end of the cone at the flamethrowers feet. Any man or obstacle that the cone touches or covers is destroyed. After firing once remove from play because he is now out of fuel.                                                   SETUP: At the start of the game all Americans are deployed along the waters edge . Japanese are deployed in their trenches around the air field.

                       US Marines on the beach

SURPRISE ATTACK  : The landings at Guadalcanal were meant to be a surprise attack, so at the beginning of each game roll the dice, if  the roll is 1-2-3 the Japanese may fire on their first turn. If roll is 4-5-6 the Japanese cannot fire on their first turn. They’ve been surprised!!!

 

Links for Paper Soldiers

http://www.juniorgeneral.org/index.php/figure/figureList/ww2#61

http://www.juniorgeneral.org/index.php/figure/figureList/ww2#56

http://www.juniorgeneral.org/index.php/figure/figureList/ww2#95

 http://www.juniorgeneral.org/index.php/figure/figureList/ww2#60