I want my mummy!

Well last Saturday half of the 4Cs took a day trip to Dallas to visit mummy dearest. Cruft and his trophy fiance joined me and my sweet wife on an excursion that took us 190 miles north and 3,200 years into history.

The Dallas Museum of Art is hosting the King Tut Exhibit presented by the National Geographic Society. The exhibit opened back last November and will close and move on in May. This is an amazing show, and although we didn't get to see Tut's actual head piece or his sarcophagus but we did get to see some of his personal possessions that were buried with him. Such as one of his ceremonial daggers, the crown he wore while he was alive and a beautiful chest piece.

There was a sarcophagus and a "death" mask, those belonging to Tjuyu, Tut's grandfather. There were artifacts from other family members as well, wall carvings of his father, miniature sarcophagus of his still-born sister. There were also canopic jars of his mother's and various items found in his family's court.

I am still trying to wrap my brain around how old these artifacts truly are. These items are over 3,200 years old, remember the United States is less than 250 years old and Europe has only been aware of the "New" world for just over 500 years. And what is even more mind-blowing is that when King Tut came to power the pyramids of Giza, outside Cairo, were already 1,000 years old. We are talking OLD.

It was a terrific trip, and we will be going back to the Dallas Museum of Arts to see the other permanent exhibits. We are also planning a trip to the Witte Museum in San Antonio in April.

ZOMBIE ATTACK!!!

68%

TANKS !!!! Your welcome.

Well, technically they are tank destroyers, M10 Wolverines to be exact. I have finished my first platoon of my new Flames of War army.

The M10 was a pretty nasty surprise for the Germans in North Africa and continued to dog the PanzerKompanies though the rest of the war all the way to end, only surpassed by the M18 Hellcat after the D-Day landings in Normandy, France.

The main armament of a 3" gun using an armor piercing shell was devastating to the German tanks, being able to penetrate most armor of the Panzers of the time. Only after the Normandy landings did the Wolverines run up against tanks to tough for them to take head-on. The Germans had brought their Panther and Tiger tank companies from the Eastern Front to meet the Allied invasion. The M10s needed to find new tactics to continue to be effective against the more heavily armored tanks. They started to hide even more then before and wait for the enemy to pass and hit them from behind.

More than 6500 M10 Wolverines were built.

I think I did a pretty good job on them, being that I haven't done any real painting for quite a while. I am trying to be good and not start painting on my M4A1 Shermans until I finish my first platoon for my US rifle company.

I will post pics of the rifle platoon once it is finished, I just need to finish one more bazooka stand, and five more 4 man rifle teams.

So be on the look out for that post in the coming weeks. Because I really want to get painting my Shermans.

13 Days to Glory

187 brave men lost their lives 173 years ago this morning. The Texican defenders of the Alamo had valiantly fought off the Mexican Army's advances during the day and ignored the psychological attacks that came during the night for the past 12 days.

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna started the siege in the afternoon of 23 March 1836, ultimately sealing the fate of these brave men. On the 24th Col. William Barret Travis wrote, the now famous, letter addressed To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World. The letter was printed all over the United States and Europe, many historians consider it one of the best examples of American patriotism.

The siege continued for another 12 days until in the early morning hours of March 6th when the Mexican Army made its final push and broke into the plaza of the Alamo. The hand to hand fighting was brutal and unrelenting. The battle was finished almost before it had begun. In the end all the Texican combatants were killed, the women and children that sought shelter in the north side of the chapel had been spared and allowed to leave with the message of the Battle of the Alamo.

They may have not won the battle but they did provide General Sam Houston the time to consolidate his forces and choose the time and place to face Santa Anna. Finally, after more than a month of retreating east Sam Houston met Santa Anna on a gently sloping field in combat. With the cry "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad" the Texicans fell upon the Mexican army during their siesta time. Fifteen minutes later Texas had won its freedom that the Defenders of the Alamo had died for those many weeks earlier.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

UFOs are Landing at the Triangle

WOW!!!!!

That is all I can say about the Flying Saucer in the new Triangle shopping center. What seems like another pretentious cookie cutter bar along the lines of Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Cafe on the outside is a pure treasure on the inside. This place offers over 200 different beers from all over the world (most on tap) with nightly specials on various types of pints.

What about the food you ask? Well all I can say is that not only super-delicious but fairly reasonable, two people can easily get out of there for less than $30.00 dollars if they don't go nuts on the beer. And as I said it is super-delicious. I had the Bratwurst Plate. All I can say is YUM! This dish includes 2 different type of brats, warm german potato salad and sauerkraut. The brats were grilled to perfection, and the potato salad was out of this world. Along with the sauerkraut, the potato salad had bacon in it, this was a pleasant surprise and frankly a quite good addition in my opinion. My partners in crime, Clay and Cruft, both decided on the Brat con Queso. Talk about the melding of two cultures that work. Take your standard Chili con Queso and add sliced, grilled beer brats and mix it in, I can't think of enough different words to tell you how tasty this is. It is New Braunfels meets Brownsville all in one long bowl.

I can't say enough good things about this establishment. If you like a light atmosphere, good beer and great food, try it out.

Oh, did I mention the Beer Flights? for around 10 bucks you get about a half dozen 5 oz glasses of different beers you can taste test.

Amazing place.

1500 pts of US Infantry goodness

So I have worked out a preliminary list for my Mid-War US Infantry Company. I present it here for your perusal and scoffing.

Co. A, 1/141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division

1x HQ section 20 pts
1x CinC Carbine
1x 2inC Carbine

2x Rifle Platoon 260 pts
1x HQ Rifle section
3x Rifle Squad
9x 4 man Rifle section

1x Weapons Platoon 135 pts
1x HQ Carbine section
3x Lt Mortar section
4x LMG section

1x Machine Gun Platoon 100 pts
1x HQ Carbine Section
2x Machine Gun section
2x HMG

1x Ammunition & Pioneer Platoon 130 pts
1x HQ section

1x Pioneer supply truck
2x Rifle Squad
2x 4 man Rifle section

2x Bazooka section

1x Tank Platoon 345 pts
3x M4A1 Sherman

1x Self-propelled Anti-tank Platoon 240 pts
1x HQ Carbine section
1x Jeep

1x AAMG
1x Carbine section
1x Jeep
2x M10 3” GMC

2x AAMG

1x Field Artillery Battery 165 pts
1x HQ section
1x Staff Section
1x Observer team
1x Jeep
2x Gun section
2 x M2A1 105 mm gun
2x 2 ½ truck

1x AA Artillery Platoon 105 pts

1x HQ section

1x Jeep

4x M1 40mm Bofor gun

4x 2 ½ truck

Company Total 1500

TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY

Remember the Alamo!!!

Remember Goliad!!!

Happy Texas Independence Day every one. On this day, 173 years ago, the Texicans decided to shrug off the shackles of oppression thrust upon them by the Mexican President for life, Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón, also know as General Santa Anna.

LONG LIVE TEXAS!!!

May her flag wave free for many years to come.