Mini-Wars 2026 Sat Oct. 10 & Sun Oct. 11 convention webpage is LIVE!

I am happy to announce that the webpage to register games to GM and buy tickets to attend MINI-WARS 2026 is now LIVE on the Table Top Events website at the other end of this handy link: 

https://tabletop.events/conventions/hmgs-psw-mini-wars-2026

This is the first time in some years that HMGS-Pacific South-West has been able to finalize the convention venue many months in advance, so I'm hoping the ability to promote the event for the next 8 months will help to increase attendance.

In the meantime, here's the flyer for the event, the theme of which is "INDEPENDENCE, Celebrating the 250th Birthday of the U.S.A.":

Unlike last year's Mini-Wars, where I was too busy volunteering to help out with the overall convention to run a game, this year I hope to get back to my usual ways and bring a game as a GM.  If that hope turns into a reality, I will of course post about it here in an effort to recruit players for whatever game I manage to bring!

Mini-Wars is a modest size local convention but always features a great collection of stand-out games in multiple genres, including historical miniatures, fantasy and sci-fi miniatures and RPGs, a flea-market, at least a handful of cool dealers, and a few cool lectures and/or classes.  2025 featured a report on the Ukraine War by a retired Army Brigadier General, and classes on figure painting and DIY rocky terrain making.  If you are located in Southern California in general or Orange County or Los Angeles in particular, I strongly encourage you to attend!  You can learn more about exactly what will be available by checking in on the event list from time to time over the coming months as it fills up with dozens of games (last year there were m ore than 40) and a handful of hobby classes and/or lectures.

Since today happens to be March 11, I'll close by saying that 8 months from now I hope to see you on the campus of Cal State University, Fullerton, playing games and having fun at Mini-Wars!

It's Raining (little) Hobby Projects

Over the past few months I have relied on the hobby to help keep me sane.  That's probably always been an aspect of my wargaming life, but my wife and I (together shoulder-to-shoulder) have had to deal with a particularly unpleasant situation that I don't want to get into the details of, and while doing so, I have been dealing with some of my frustration by using bits of free time to work on a bunch of small projects -- five of them to be exact.

Each of them started as an upgrade or addition to my SECOND BATTLE OF ALI MASJID Alternate History "Relief Column to the Rescue!" scenario, which I first posted about last Spring.  I plan to post my typical detailed "How To" tutorials at some point for each of these, BUT I want to share the positive results of these efforts without delay, which is the point of this post.

First up is my scratch-built version of the Ali Masjid Masjid (mosque), from which the fort that still stands near the south end of the Khyber Pass (in modern day Pakistan, near the Afghan border) and the October 1878 battle that kicked off the Second Afghan War both got their names.  After a long drawn-out building and rebuilding process, I am very happy with how this model building turned out...

A few old & one more recent photo of the real Ali Masjid mosque:

My scratch-built 28mm aka 1/56th scale version of Ali Masjid mosque:

Second is a scratch-built water-wheel specifically made to fit in Afghanistan, or other arid settings -- unlike my previously made watermill, which is very cool but made to fit into more temperate North American or Western European settings.  Having built that one 8 or 9 years ago, I was also able to put some more bells & whistles into this one, slightly upgrading its quality level.  On the Ali Masjid tabletop layout it serves the Lala Cheena Mill on the Khyber River.  I was also quite happy with how it turned out...

2 pics of some South Asian & Middle-Eastern water-wheels &

2 Afghan watermills photographed during the Second Afghan War:

My scratch-built 28mm aka 1/56th scale waterwheel

alone & in place adjacent to its mill:

Third is a pair of scratch-built elephant limbers and harness for drawing 40 pounder Armstrong RBL guns, a battery of which was present at the real historical battle of Ali Masjid.  Getting the ropes linking the first and second elephants to work when using both of them (for really BIG games) and also when using just the rear elephant alone (for smaller games) was challenging, but I'm happy to say it all worked out well in the end:

Photos of real draft elephant teams drawing

Armstrong 40 pounder RBL:

My scratch-built limbers doing the same:

Fourth is basing a bunch of JTT Scenery Product (formerly JTT MicroScale) model Mountain Gum Trees for use on this or any of my other Afghan or similar arid terrain layouts.  This "project" was very modest, but still very useful, and once again I am very happy with how they turned out:

Based & terrain-ed JTT Mountain Gum trees:

Last but not least comes "Little Project" #5: a bespoke sangar -- Afghan fighting defensive position/breastwork made of rocks, stones, etc. -- built to fit perfectly atop the low sandy hill near the front gate of Ali Masjid fort (using Gorilla Glue activated by dunking little pebbles it's gluing together into water).  This is one that the British & Indian garrison will really not like...

Period illustration & photo featuring Afghan sangars:

Some pics of the WIP & finished version:

Okay, that's all for now.  I'm really happy I found the time to make this post and I hope you enjoyed seeing all this stuff half as much as I enjoyed making it.

I hope to run my "BACK TO ALI MASJID!" scenario again for a bunch of my friends on this new-and-improved version of the tabletop in the very near future.  After that I'll be back with a Battle Report.  Until then, I wish you a belated but sincere HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!