comic Apache: A Tank's Tale - A CAAR

[Heinrich505]

Bud,

  Love it.  Really nice work.  Thanks for all the hard work.  It really shows. 

  Interesting how you might have had to do an "alternate ending" version if Apache had rolled over that Teller mine earlier.

  As for the unfortunates in the Bren, I don't think the lads ever realized what happened.  Too quick.

  Thanks again.  You've got quite the following here.

Heinrich505

[Bud Backer]

That was excellent @Bud Backer.  Well done!

Thanks, Ian! Glad you enjoyed it! 

[Bud Backer]

Bud,

  Love it.  Really nice work.  Thanks for all the hard work.  It really shows. 

  Interesting how you might have had to do an "alternate ending" version if Apache had rolled over that Teller mine earlier.

  As for the unfortunates in the Bren, I don't think the lads ever realized what happened.  Too quick.

  Thanks again.  You've got quite the following here.

Heinrich505

You're too kind.

I worried quite a bit throughout this comic, and the several battles it comprises, if Apache would survive to the end. It would spoil the first comic about it were that to happen. 

The scouts in the Bren...yeah you're right, it was instantaneous and total destruction.

[Bud Backer]

So the inspiration for this story was a painting I saw in the official history of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, of a Sherman in Sicily:

This is a painting by Will Ogilvie, the first official Canadian war artist. There is an interesting history as well as other paintings here. 

The concept of making the comic about a tank flowed from that painting, which with its name boldly emblazoned on the glacis seemed to be imbued with pugnacity and personality. Kohlenklau was kind enough to volunteer to make the graphic for the Sherman Mk.V. 

 

[kohlenklau]

You made it through! So everybody knows, that was neither staged nor rehearsed. APACHE very well could have been toast!

Hey, you now have 4 blue completed and only 1 red in progress so I guess "Red Lightning" is next on the agenda to finish?

But if you fancy something in North Africa ever or the snows of Russia, you know I will try my best to oblige.

Edited March 2, 2016 by kohlenklau

[Heirloom_Tomato]

Nicely done Bud!  I liked the smoking barrels in the last panel a lot.

[Michael Emrys]

Yeah, the smoke was really cool and nicely done. I would surely like to see the further adventures of APACHE, should you be inclined to pursue them.

Michael

[Doc844]

Beautiful job, thoroughly enjoyed the rip roaring ride.  Thanks for all the hard work you put into these comics.  Also liked the teaser at the end where there could be more battles from Barnes and the Apache tank.

[Bud Backer]

You made it through! So everybody knows, that was neither staged nor rehearsed. APACHE very well could have been toast!

Hey, you now have 4 blue completed and only 1 red in progress so I guess "Red Lightning" is next on the agenda to finish?

But if you fancy something in North Africa ever or the snows of Russia, you know I will try my best to oblige.

Thank you for that fantastic last map, Kohl. Your vision made the story really stronger that it would otherwise have been.

Yes, I have to get back to Red Lightning. That's very demanding in a different way as it's the one thing I can't do on my iPad, which limits when I can work on it to when I'm at a computer.

I may just take you up on your offer - Russia, Winter, 43-44.... 

[Bud Backer]

Nicely done Bud!  I liked the smoking barrels in the last panel a lot.

If you go back and look, you'll see that there are four frames over the last few panels that have smoking barrels.

 

Yeah, the smoke was really cool and nicely done. I would surely like to see the further adventures of APACHE, should you be inclined to pursue them.

Michael

Yay! I liked the look when I did it, but wasn't sure if it might not work for others when they see it. 

I am inclined to pursue them indeed. In fact, it's my desire to pursue all four character groups that I established over the four comics that I've done so far, Lt. Warner for the Germans, Serzhant Ivanov for the Soviets, Lt. Blanchard for the U.S., and Apache for the Canadians. 

I think you started reading my comics with Rundstedt, and went back to Apache. If you're so inclined, take a look at the other two, you might enjoy them as well.

 

[Bud Backer]

Beautiful job, thoroughly enjoyed the rip roaring ride.  Thanks for all the hard work you put into these comics.  Also liked the teaser at the end where there could be more battles from Barnes and the Apache tank.

Thank you for the generous praise.  Getting comments from people makes it fun for me and more than worthwhile.  

My hope is that time (and public interest) permitting, I can follow Dunn, Barnes and the rest of Apache's crew as they make their way through Sicily, the Italian boot, and eventually to the Scheldt.

[Doc844]

Thank you for the generous praise.  Getting comments from people makes it fun for me and more than worthwhile.  

My hope is that time (and public interest) permitting, I can follow Dunn, Barnes and the rest of Apache's crew as they make their way through Sicily, the Italian boot, and eventually to the Scheldt.

I don't think public interest will be a problem in the slightest.

[Bud Backer]

So a bit of background and thoughts on Apache, with the hope that you will give some feedback (so I know what works and what is a waste of effort)

 

1. This is the only comic that did not have the old-style comic halftone dots. I edited and enhanced the screen captures, but they were left to appear otherwise as they naturally would look, rather than like a comic. Originally, Rundstedt was going to be in the same style as Apache, but when I asked a few people what they thought, the opinions were unanimous: make it more like a comic! Personally, I really like how Rundstedt came out so the advice was good. But what do you think of the look of Apache? Would it have looked better if I made it more like a comic? I wanted it to look more like a graphic novel but maybe that wasn't the best choice? 

2. Every comic I've done has a colour scheme that is unique. Starting with Somebody's Hero, I tried to make the colour scheme relate to the country the comic is about. Hence, bright red for the Soviets, red-white-blue for the G.I.s, and red-white for the Canadians. Did that work? Was it even noticed? Does it matter? 

3. In an effort to make Apache more like a graphic novel, I included several full-panel "art" pieces - HMS Abercrombie was one of them, but there were others, usually something I made from a screen capture in game. How did that work? Did it make the comic more interesting, original, or was it just "filler"?

4. More than any other comic I've done, here I was trying to tell a story. The focus was on Apache, and not on the whole battle. The other comics (Somebody's Hero less so) were all trying to show the full scope and action of the battle. In some cases I found  scenes almost repetitive in Rundstedt because static situations would arise in the battle, and I had to find how to present the same situation in different ways to keep the reader interested. But Apache was focused on the story of the tank and her crew. Did that work? Is it more interesting to read a smaller scope story over a full AAR of a battle? 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2016 by Bud Backer

[A Canadian Cat]

So a bit of background and thoughts on Apache, with the hope that you will give some feedback (so I know what works and what is a waste of effort)

You do know how to ask for feed back - good idea.  Answers below.

1. This is the only comic that did not have the old-style comic halftone dots. I edited and enhanced the screen captures, but they were left to appear otherwise as they naturally would look, rather than like a comic. Originally, Rundstedt was going to be in the same style as Apache, but when I asked a few people what they thought, the opinions were unanimous: make it more like a comic! Personally, I really like how Rundstedt came out so the advice was good. But what do you think of the look of Apache?

I missed the comic look - I like it the way you did Rundstedt.  But let me be clear halftone dots or no dots I'm in for reading every one of them. 

 

Would it have looked better if I made it more like a comic? I wanted it to look more like a graphic novel but maybe that wasn't the best choice? 

So, my preference is for dots but my real preference is for the work you are doing.

 

2. Every comic I've done has a colour scheme that is unique. Starting with Somebody's Hero, I tried to make the colour scheme relate to the country the comic is about. Hence, bright red for the Soviets, red-white-blue for the G.I.s, and red-white for the Canadians. Did that work? Was it even noticed? Does it matter? 

Cool.  This is one of those things that I did not even notice but can see clearly now that you mention it.  Don't stop because I think it would be missed.

 

3. In an effort to make Apache more like a graphic novel, I included several full-panel "art" pieces - HMS Abercrombie was one of them, but there were others, usually something I made from a screen capture in game. How did that work? Did it make the comic more interesting, original, or was it just "filler"?

I liked it.  It would still be good using halftone dots too

 

4. More than any other comic I've done, here I was trying to tell a story. The focus was on Apache, and not on the whole battle. The other comics (Somebody's Hero less so) were all trying to show the full scope and action of the battle. In some cases I found  scenes almost repetitive in Rundstedt because static situations would arise in the battle, and I had to find how to present the same situation in different ways to keep the reader interested. But Apache was focused on the story of the tank and her crew. Did that work? Is it more interesting to read a smaller scope story over a full AAR of a battle? 

Yes, focusing on a single person or a crew did work.  Do I think you should only do it that way from now on - no way.  Both narrative styles are fun to read.  So, go where it moves you make a mix switch to only one way - just make more please

[Michael Emrys]

This is going to be a trifle awkward since I haven't quite got the hang of the multi-quote function of the new forum software. So I am injecting my comments directly into your quote in a distinct color. Red is not the most pleasant for the eye, but I wanted it to be easily distinguished from the original. So, onward...

 

So a bit of background and thoughts on Apache, with the hope that you will give some feedback (so I know what works and what is a waste of effort)

 

1. This is the only comic that did not have the old-style comic halftone dots. I edited and enhanced the screen captures, but they were left to appear otherwise as they naturally would look, rather than like a comic. Originally, Rundstedt was going to be in the same style as Apache, but when I asked a few people what they thought, the opinions were unanimous: make it more like a comic! Personally, I really like how Rundstedt came out so the advice was good. But what do you think of the look of Apache? Would it have looked better if I made it more like a comic? I wanted it to look more like a graphic novel but maybe that wasn't the best choice?

I think you should follow your instinct and go for the graphic novel look. Anyway, I like it better, possibly because it more closely resembles what I see on the screen when I play.

2. Every comic I've done has a colour scheme that is unique. Starting with Somebody's Hero, I tried to make the colour scheme relate to the country the comic is about. Hence, bright red for the Soviets, red-white-blue for the G.I.s, and red-white for the Canadians. Did that work? Was it even noticed? Does it matter?

I think it matters, though it might not be easy to predict just how. I have to say that I was slightly put off by some of the color scheme of "Apache" but not a whole lot and not all the time. And I definitely thought you had the look of the terrain down cold. 

3. In an effort to make Apache more like a graphic novel, I included several full-panel "art" pieces - HMS Abercrombie was one of them, but there were others, usually something I made from a screen capture in game. How did that work? Did it make the comic more interesting, original, or was it just "filler"?

It might have been filler, but for me it did add something to the overall atmosphere of the piece. Something about historic ambience. BTW, possibly a source for those kinds of iconic images would be some of the picture histories of the war by Life magazine. For those who like me grew up on those books, seeing an image from one of them just puts me right back there like nothing else can.

4. More than any other comic I've done, here I was trying to tell a story. The focus was on Apache, and not on the whole battle. The other comics (Somebody's Hero less so) were all trying to show the full scope and action of the battle. In some cases I found  scenes almost repetitive in Rundstedt because static situations would arise in the battle, and I had to find how to present the same situation in different ways to keep the reader interested. But Apache was focused on the story of the tank and her crew. Did that work? Is it more interesting to read a smaller scope story over a full AAR of a battle? 

I think doing "Apache" as a narrative as seen by one person or crew was a very positive thing here. It gave the reader some characters to identify with and made the whole narrative more approachable. But I think it depends on what you consider the point of the piece to be. In the case of "Rundstedt" you were giving a preview of a game yet to be released, and as such attention was to be more focussed on newer weapons and organizations and their effects on tactics. So for that, I think you have to allow the point of view to jump around more and not be tied to a single trooper or crew/squad.

Well, thanks again for a job well done. I'm glad you like doing this as a whole bunch of us like reading them.

Michael

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2016 by Michael Emrys

[Heirloom_Tomato]

If you go back and look, you'll see that there are four frames over the last few panels that have smoking barrels.

 

I noticed them as well, but the last panel I liked the best!

[Bud Backer]

I noticed them as well, but the last panel I liked the best!

My favourite is the one on the upper right in the panel below. As Apache accelerates, the smoke seems to dissipate from the muzzle while the rest, as it has no significant velocity, remains thicker.

 

Edited March 3, 2016 by Bud Backer

[Bud Backer]

I think you should follow your instinct and go for the graphic novel look. Anyway, I like it better, possibly because it more closely resembles what I see on the screen when I play.

Fair enough. You're not the only one who wants it more "realistic" looking.

I have to say that I was slightly put off by some of the color scheme of "Apache" but not a whole lot and not all the time. And I definitely thought you had the look of the terrain down cold.

Can you try to put a finger on what was off-putting of the colour scheme? Speech bubbles? The narrative boxes in the frames? Something else? 

Thanks RE: the terrain. Given the tiny maps we were using, it was a challenge to get the look of the terrain right on the beach scene, though I think it worked ok. But @kohlenklau really nailed the inland map appearance in my opinion. 

 

It might have been filler, but for me it did add something to the overall atmosphere of the piece. Something about historic ambience.

 

BTW, possibly a source for those kinds of iconic images would be some of the picture histories of the war by Life magazine. For those who like me grew up on those books, seeing an image from one of them just puts me right back there like nothing else can.

Then they served their purpose, if they added to the ambiance. That was the whole point of them, and the original newspaper clipping.

If you remember those Life magazines, then you probably also recall Look magazine too!  But more on point, the objective here was to put images in that could become art, and since the comic was in colour, colour art. I'll keep an eye out for any of the old iconic photographs from the period. Were we in North Africa, this one comes to mind...

I think doing "Apache" as a narrative as seen by one person or crew was a very positive thing here. It gave the reader some characters to identify with and made the whole narrative more approachable. But I think it depends on what you consider the point of the piece to be. In the case of "Rundstedt" you were giving a preview of a game yet to be released, and as such attention was to be more focussed on newer weapons and organizations and their effects on tactics. So for that, I think you have to allow the point of view to jump around more and not be tied to a single trooper or crew/squad.

The approachability is certainly a consideration. Personalizing any of these comics is something that I feel is essential, which is why even Rundstedt spent some time with a small cast. 

 

Well, thanks again for a job well done. I'm glad you like doing this as a whole bunch of us like reading them.

You're welcome. And thank YOU for taking the time to write something interesting, and helpful.

 

[kohlenklau]

An Afrika Korps CAAR would be dang sweet Bud!

 

[Heinrich505]

Bud,

  I think your creative angles worked well for each of your CAARs.  There is a distinctive style for each one, and they all seem to work very well.

  I like either the dots or the graphic look.  The dot look brings me back to the Sgt. Rock and other comics, but the graphic look, like Michael said, is more what I see in my games.  I think either look works well.  I can’t say I have a preference. 

  Your storyline is what keeps me on the edge of my seat.  Clearly having a smaller cast makes things more personal, as you start to quickly develop an affinity for them.  But, in Rundstedt, you had several groups of characters, and you developed them too, so we were wondering what happened to several groups of soldiers and not just one crew.

  Your color schemes based on colors for the nationalities did work for me, but not in an overt way.  They just seemed to be appropriate and defined the genre you were portraying, much like a font might define a literary passage.

  I’ve liked each and every one of your CAARs, each being slightly different than the others, and each holding my attention and enjoyment.  I think your storyline is what holds me, and the graphics just make it all the more real and riveting. 

  As you generally tell these stories based on the actual gameplay, if you focus on one crew or platoon or sniper unit, then you yourself are rolling the dice that they don’t get pasted on turn two from a lucky mortar shell.  This places a lot of pressure on you, as you’ve no guarantee they will make it to the end of the story.

  You sort of place yourself in a position where you now have to decide if you should replay that turn and make sure you don’t drive your tank into the line of fire that ended them to keep them alive, or quickly develop a second story line to continue the game you are playing. 

  If you hedge your bets, like you did in Rundstedt, then a unit or crew you’ve been following that gets toasted from an enemy shell doesn’t end your comic.  You’ve got other units or groups of soldiers that can lament the passing of that crew and the story keeps on going.

  I know you like to get feedback on these, but you are really doing them right as is.  You are the one who is expending your time and hard work for our enjoyment.  I, for one, am mighty grateful that you put these things out, free for my reading enjoyment.  All I have to do is sit back and read them.

  They let me relive my youth when I looked forward every month to my subscription of Sgt. Rock, they are derived from a gaming system that I never thought I would ever see developed but have been fortunate enough to have lived long enough to be able to play and enjoy, and they have compelling story lines that bring me in and make me care about your characters. 

  As I always say, thank-you so much for using your precious free time in making these really great CAARs.  They are really appreciated.

Heinrich505

...and yes, Kohl is right...start thinking DAK...

 

[Michael Emrys]

Can you try to put a finger on what was off-putting of the colour scheme? Speech bubbles? The narrative boxes in the frames? Something else? 

It was the red tinting in the narrative boxes. It was as jarring as it is here.

If you remember those Life magazines, then you probably also recall Look magazine too!

Well sure. I remember Colliers even better. If you can ever find a library that has saved old issues, just bring your sleeping bag and move in for a weekend or two. They ran a multi-part fictional account of how it might have gone if Operation Sea Lion had actually been launched. They did another one on how WW II might have gone if the South had succeeded in securing its independence in the Civil war.

 But more on point, the objective here was to put images in that could become art, and since the comic was in colour, colour art.

I remember quite a few of the images in the early editions (published within a decade of the end of the war) had reproductions of paintings that were quite arresting. And you could always do your own "colorizations".

 I'll keep an eye out for any of the old iconic photographs from the period. Were we in North Africa, this one comes to mind...

Ah man, don't get me started. I've viewed probably hundreds of images from NA, many of them quite illustrative, some even kind of funny.

   You're welcome. And thank YOU for taking the time to write something interesting, and helpful.

My pleasure. It's nice to be able to sound off to an appreciative audience. Now if I could only figure out a way to get paid...

Michael

[Bud Backer]

An Afrika Korps CAAR would be dang sweet Bud!

 

Ok, damn you, you sold me on it!

I was going to return to my AAR to complete it, but the fact is I'm aching to do another comic. I'll save the AAR for when I'm really in the mood, so I do it justice; there's a lot to show and tell there and it would be a shame to just blitz through it. 

So a DAK comic. Starring a younger Warner of La Ferme DuPont fame, and I have a new character to introduce as well! 

I've sent you an email.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Bud Backer

[A Canadian Cat]

Oh goody

[Bud Backer]

Bud,

  I think your creative angles worked well for each of your CAARs.  There is a distinctive style for each one, and they all seem to work very well.

Getting a distinct style was my goal. Great to hear!

  I like either the dots or the graphic look.  The dot look brings me back to the Sgt. Rock and other comics, but the graphic look, like Michael said, is more what I see in my games.  I think either look works well.  I can’t say I have a preference. 

At the very least they weren't intrusive for you, which is good.

  Your storyline is what keeps me on the edge of my seat.  Clearly having a smaller cast makes things more personal, as you start to quickly develop an affinity for them.  But, in Rundstedt, you had several groups of characters, and you developed them too, so we were wondering what happened to several groups of soldiers and not just one crew.

Yes, I felt that if I was presenting any of these as a comic, there had to be some elements that were going to be personal to the reader; IE: characters. 

  Your color schemes based on colors for the nationalities did work for me, but not in an overt way.  They just seemed to be appropriate and defined the genre you were portraying, much like a font might define a literary passage.

That's a neat way to express it!

  I’ve liked each and every one of your CAARs, each being slightly different than the others, and each holding my attention and enjoyment.  I think your storyline is what holds me, and the graphics just make it all the more real and riveting. 

  As you generally tell these stories based on the actual gameplay, if you focus on one crew or platoon or sniper unit, then you yourself are rolling the dice that they don’t get pasted on turn two from a lucky mortar shell.  This places a lot of pressure on you, as you’ve no guarantee they will make it to the end of the story.  You sort of place yourself in a position where you now have to decide if you should replay that turn and make sure you don’t drive your tank into the line of fire that ended them to keep them alive, or quickly develop a second story line to continue the game you are playing. 

Nope, no replaying turns. The unusual part of the comic creation process here is that it's one of the few instances of a writer literally having no clue how his story will end...and having to be flexible enough to adapt to whatever happens. 

  If you hedge your bets, like you did in Rundstedt, then a unit or crew you’ve been following that gets toasted from an enemy shell doesn’t end your comic.  You’ve got other units or groups of soldiers that can lament the passing of that crew and the story keeps on going.

It's quite true - in Rundstedt there were two losses I didn't want to have happen that I had to wrap into a story - The Easy-8 (though I got some mileage out of Cliff, the surviving crewman, for a while) and Lt. Lawrence himself. He was supposed to be in future US-based comics!  But I managed to get a decent XO (Blanchard) grow into his shoes. Hopefully I'll get to do another one with him in it. 

  I know you like to get feedback on these, but you are really doing them right as is.  You are the one who is expending your time and hard work for our enjoyment.  I, for one, am mighty grateful that you put these things out, free for my reading enjoyment.  All I have to do is sit back and read them.

  They let me relive my youth when I looked forward every month to my subscription of Sgt. Rock, they are derived from a gaming system that I never thought I would ever see developed but have been fortunate enough to have lived long enough to be able to play and enjoy, and they have compelling story lines that bring me in and make me care about your characters. 

  As I always say, thank-you so much for using your precious free time in making these really great CAARs.  They are really appreciated.

Thanks, thanks a lot, I really am ecstatic that you and a number of others enjoy them as much as you (they) do. It's really a big deal. 

...and yes, Kohl is right...start thinking DAK...

 

Yes, well... we've already started talking about it.  

[Doc844]

1. This is the only comic that did not have the old-style comic halftone dots. I edited and enhanced the screen captures, but they were left to appear otherwise as they naturally would look, rather than like a comic. Originally, Rundstedt was going to be in the same style as Apache, but when I asked a few people what they thought, the opinions were unanimous: make it more like a comic! Personally, I really like how Rundstedt came out so the advice was good. But what do you think of the look of Apache? Would it have looked better if I made it more like a comic? I wanted it to look more like a graphic novel but maybe that wasn't the best choice? 

 

As a personal preference I prefer the graphic novel look, I like the cleaner, crisper lines .  However as people have said above, seeing the comic version takes me right back to when I was a boy and I had tonnes of the Commando comics, 50 pence back then , and the annuals of Warlord for Boys, Action annual and Victor.  To my shame I dont know where all my Commando comics went but I still have all my annuals starting from 1986.  Having said that I would say to not fix yourself to one style it must be what feels right to you and what fits the story or impression your trying to get across to the reader's.  Basically dont let yourself become constrained by fan readership, dont worry we'll read them in whichever style you choose.

 2. Every comic I've done has a colour scheme that is unique. Starting with Somebody's Hero, I tried to make the colour scheme relate to the country the comic is about. Hence, bright red for the Soviets, red-white-blue for the G.I.s, and red-white for the Canadians. Did that work? Was it even noticed? Does it matter? 

I have to be honest, for the Soviet comic I noticed the pre-dominantly red colour scheme but for the rest not so much, so for me not vitally important.

 3. In an effort to make Apache more like a graphic novel, I included several full-panel "art" pieces - HMS Abercrombie was one of them, but there were others, usually something I made from a screen capture in game. How did that work? Did it make the comic more interesting, original, or was it just "filler"?

I LOVED the art pieces.  They gave a more direct attachment to the time frame.  I have read  a lot of books regarding WW2, nowhere near as some of our learned gentleman on this forum, but still a lot, words and stories obviously stick but pictures, well when you have seen a picture in a history book then that same picture comes up in one of your comics as conceptual art, well it just takes you straight back to that book and enhance's memory recall of the time frame and story 100%.  Same goes for inserting pictures from the actual events without any tinkering, not to many but just enough to really meld the comic and time frame in question.

4. More than any other comic I've done, here I was trying to tell a story. The focus was on Apache, and not on the whole battle. The other comics (Somebody's Heroless so) were all trying to show the full scope and action of the battle. In some cases I found  scenes almost repetitive in Rundstedt because static situations would arise in the battle, and I had to find how to present the same situation in different ways to keep the reader interested. But Apache was focused on the story of the tank and her crew. Did that work? Is it more interesting to read a smaller scope story over a full AAR of a battle? 

For me this comes down to YOU and what story your trying to tell, both styles are excellent, i dont think one is better than the other, just different.  Remember variety is the spice of life .  I do believe though that your winning formula is the fact that you dont even know how the comic is going to turn out, yes you have your framework of characters and the base of how you want the characters to develop but beyond that, well its in the hands of the pixeltruppen.  This came across very dramatically in Apache, especially when the bren carrier drove over the Teller mine, which if Apache hadn't deviated from the road would have taken them out, RIGHT AT THE VERY END.  (I have to admit to being a little twisted in this aspect, I like authors, film directors who break the mould and are willing to kill the hero at the end).

To sum up, well its easy, keep doing what your doing and all of us will keep devouring them and demand more.

 

As a side question how do you build your comics, do you make them on a seperate program then as you finish a section transpose it over to the site, or do you use mutiple programs and post directly onto the site as you make the strips.  At the moment I use this method where I will have numerous programs open for editing and such like then I post the screenies one after the other with little descriptions.  Now Im not looking at making a comic, time will not allow for that but I do find that my screenies lack polish and I find it very hard to keep my screenies in order and keep the story fluid in my head.  Is there an easier way of doing it and are there any programs that you could recommend that would make my life easier, but without costing money to use.  I could not justify an expensive program for the use it would get here.  Just as a reference point i started this AAR ages ago, http://community.battlefront.com/topic/120334-the-eagle-and-the-bear-aar/?do=findComment&comment=1622475 but I found it a massive task to keep the screen shots in order and to tie the story together whilst using 3-4 different programs, ie saving screens to D>Pictures>CMBSscreens then using Irfan to edit, then upload to photobucket, drop them onto my topic in the forum then add the narrative.  Its very chaotic and disordered and bloody time consuming doing it that way.  I would love to go back to this and carry on but its a daunting prospect at the moment.