WGA "The Damned" KS finally arrived!

 Back in 2023, I was excited to join in WGA's (Wargames Atlantic) kickstarter for their first wholly realized "Death Fields" faction/army - "The Damned".  After many delays and changes, I finally received my "15 box set" pledge (and the many, many bonus sprues).

My order included:
The Damned Infantry,
The Damned Female Infantry,
The Damned Heavy Weapons,
The Damned Command,
The Damned Artillery,
The Damned Beastmen,
The Damned Heavy Infantry,
The Damned Brutes (Ogres),
The Damned Cavalry,
The Damned Hounds & Handlers,
The Damned Mauler

As with all WGA sets, there are no assembly instructions included, so some kits can take a few tries to figure out.

I am in a temporary housing situation, with most of my things in storage, so have limited hobby supplies available, but am throwing together a few models - starting with the Maulers.

The Mauler went through several design changes over the course of the KS - and looks different than the originasl concept, but ended up being what it was supposed to be:  a basic, and somewhat modular APC that can be used for many purposes, in many miniatures collections.

The main options include "armored box troop transport", open topped troop transport, and flat bed transport (which could be a crago hauler, or have a gun mounted on the flatbed).

I chose to build each of my kits slightly differently -  "armored box" troop transports, open topped troop transport (similar to a WW2 half-track or a BTR-152), a flatbed gun platform (no gun on it yet), and a four-wheeled open topped variant..



 

The flatbed was the first one I built - due to inadvertently gluing on the wrong rear body option.

I also did not figure out until later that the ladder is designed to go on the rear, so I cut them down and used them on the side of the crew compartment.

I used a troop compartment overhead door as a maintenance hatch for the engine, and the weapons rack to add some flavor to the cargo area.

I then built a basic 'transport box'.

For the third, I placed the interior parts in the troop compartment - flooring, seats, and a weapons rack.

After painting the interior, I might add the cover, which I have built with the overhead doors open.

I then decided to try a four wheeled variant.   I decided to use the railings form the gun platform to create "grab bars" over the troop compartment.

I think I prefer the six-wheeled version.

I wish I had used the doors (top hatch doors for the troop compartment) on the rear, instead of the ramp, as it would give a "lighter"/leaner look to the open-topped transport, and allow teh tow hook to be added.   The doors are just slightly too wide to do this without carefully shaving them to fit.

Some assembly notes:
The seats fit better with the narrowest seat forward.
The cover is not actually symmetrical - it has a front and rear.  The rear fits in with the rear armor.  The floor of the troop comparntment also has a "front" and a "back".

While theMauler model is not perfect for all my light APC desires, I think that they are the most fun to build sci-fi gaming vehicle model since the orginal 40k Rhino. The basic pieces are simple to put together, and then there are many quick and easy options for standard (or personal) variations.

Intervention needs to be timely

In February of 2010, I started screening and then teaching a reading intervention program for 1st grade students in the Walnut Creek School District who were “at risk” for falling behind in reading.

My intervention classes were held after the normal school day, rather than instead of other school activities. Each of my intervention classes had six students or less.

In some districts where I have worked in the past, "intervention" is for students whose skills are two or more years below grade level.

In Walnut Creek, the intervention program I was tasked with teaching was for students who showed skill deficiencies that put them at risk of ending the next year (i.e. in June of 2011) performing below grade level. This program was designed to make sure that they ended the 2009-2010 school year with the foundation skills to stay on track when they entered 2nd grade that fall.

I ran into all of the first graders who were part of my after school reading intervention classes when I was substituting at their intermediate school when they were in 6th grade.
All were reading fluently - all but one at the 6th grade level (and that one was a special education student, and was reading at a mid 5th grade level).

All of them remembered me, and told me how much they had loved reading with me.
Two of the parents saw me on parking lot duty at the intermediate school, got out of their cars and came over to thank me for the huge impact that the early intervention had for their kids.

I have worked in other districts where we regularly had kids entering upper grades - going to intermediate school - who have never had any such targeted reading intervention, despite the fact that they have been reading at a kindergarten or low first grade level year after year.

Far too many students are socially promoted to higher grades each year based on their physical age, without regard to whether they are prepared to succeed in their new grade. These students are being set up for failure – as are their classmates and their teachers. Their regular teachers had to try to teach the curriculum for their current grade - 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. – as well as reaching back to try to teach two or more years of lower grade level skills.

Why do we make Math hard for English Learners?

It's beyond sad that, at a time when many of our K-12 students are "English Language Learners" (kids whose primary language is not English - what used to be called "ESL" or "English as a Second Language") or who otherwise struggle with reading, that the move is to adopt a Math curriculum that is made up solely of word problems.

If you wanted to design a system that would cripple the education of those who struggle with reading - or just with the English language - you couldn't do a better job than this - making math as inaccessible to them as reading is.

And making the textbooks and resources bilingual in English and Spanish, or having Spanish speaking teachers still leaves out every "English Language Learner" whose home language is not Spanish.

Math is a language that is international when it uses numbers and symbols, but loses that strength when it focuses solely on word problems.