Latest VBCW additions.

Following on from "Stinky" the steam-tank-truck, the engineer section have been busy and more vehicles have been added to the ever expanding "Torquay Armoured Royalist Troop".


First up was "Clanker", fully tracked and amazingly slow. As a first attempt it's not bad, but vision was restricted to straight ahead, the Vickers MG was fixed, so the whole vehicle had to be aimed at the target, the tracks were found to be too small to cross ditches and the 2 man crew meant the gunner had to stoke the boiler as well.



The next addition was a Morris CS-9 armoured car, gained through some dubious arms dealer contacts that the Dukes son had made. While expensive, it did give the engineers some ideas about turrets. Arriving unarmed, it some quickly fitted with a Lewis gun to give some armoured support to the mounted platoon.


The largest vehicle made by the engineers was the "Behemouth". Using the chassis and engine of an old traction engine, the engineers constructed a veritable land battleship. With space inside for a crew of 4, well armoured and carrying a fully enclosed turret it was a vast improvement over the "Clanker". It's one weakness was the drive system, with limited cross-country ability and a real problem with tight corners.


The strangest addition was a prototype armoured car seized by the harbour authorities when they boarded a Soviet cargo ship. Listed as a motor car, the armoured car found was handed over the the Torquay Police, who promptly seized it, painted it blue and used it as their anti-riot vehicle. It's fast, has 4 wheel drive and a turreted light machine gun. The only problem has been finding sufficient ammunition for the Russian machine gun.




The latest, currently, addition has been a trio of Polish tankettes, from the same source as the CS-9. Costing a small fortune, the trio have proved to be most useful. Small and fast, they have proved to be almost impossible to stop simply because they are rarely spotted before firing. The 20mm cannon in one of them is also a bonus as it can knock out any enemy vehicles it meets.


So there they are. The CS-9 is from BEF Miniatures, the BA-64 and Tankettes are Bolt Action and the Steam Tanks are from Ironclad. Who says there is an arms race, not me!

More VBCW!

Since the last update I have finished all my VBCW figures! Well, all the ones I have so far anyway. Below is a new, expanded lineup of the forces that will be fighting for the King in the Torbay area!

Added to the force are the Highlanders, from Musketeer again. They will form his Lordships personal bodyguard, with some form of close combat bonus hopefully. The only downside to them is the lack of a Lewis gun figure, but you can't have everything.


The first squad of the local yeomanry, using Musketeer WW1 British. While not as experienced as the Scots, they do get a Lewis gun as fire support.




The second squad of Yeomanry. I do like these figures, Paul Hicks is a cracking sculptor, I just wish he would do a moving Vickers team!




And speaking of a Vickers team, there is one of them to give some heavier support.






Then there is the real "Heavy" support, an 18pdr field gun from Renegade Miniatures. The crew tower over the Musketeer figures, but the price was right and they painted up nicely.





Command and control has also been improved with the creation of a command group under Major B. Lunder!






The mobile reserve, some converted Perrys ACW cavalry. Tally-Ho and all that. Unfortunately, in their first outing, they came across some machine guns and were shot to ribbons.






The despatch riders, the final 2 Perrys figures with different heads and nice red coats. They are supposed to be members of the local hunt pressed into service as messengers.




The Irish Brigade, just for some variation away from khaki. Nice, even if they don't get on with the Scots.




The Engineers Guard, who man the steam tanks, steam trucks, steam boats and steam trains. Some of these vehicles have yet to be purchased, but the plan is there! Their lack of machine gun is made up by having a nice submachine gun, ideal for boarding actions and the like.
The first militia squad, making up with spirit(s) what they lack in experience.


The second militia, as quantity is a quality all of its own.



The third militia, lacking a machine gun but with a few shotguns instead.





His Lordship with a few loyal retainers, including his chauffeur and the local policemen. The trusty elephant gun as been taken out of retirement and is used to put down those damned uppity commoners!




There is also the Steam Tank Truck, as seen before. The armoured support has been joined by a true Steam Tank now, once painted it will appear on here. Well, there they are in all their glory.

I'm officially crap at updating this!

It's now September and I last updated this blog in June! How crap am I?

Anyway, what's been going on you might ask? Life ticks along as usual, money comes in, more money goes out. No1 son is starting a health and social care course at South Devon College. No2 son is doing Sports and Fitness and is in the rugby academy at Exeter college, plus he is in the Exeter Chiefs colts. All this rugby is costing a fortune, but that's what happens I guess.

Wargaming time is taking a big hit now as the rugby is played on a Saturday and the wargames club meets on, you guessed it, Saturday. Arse!

In the last month I have mostly been painting 15mm Napoleonics. French infantry are still too numerous to count, a few units of British infantry are done and a unit of British heavy dragoons are also in the finished pile. I have also been painting a veritable horde of 15mm Falschirmjagers for Steve in Brighton. No matter what I paint, he sends more. Currently on the painting sticks are some panzerfaust stands, snipers and 7.5cm LG40 guns. Still to do are some artillery, flak guns and more pioneers.

I am also in the process of painting up a load of British vehicles for a friend in Exeter. Sherman's and carriers are awaiting decals and weathering now.

For myself I have so far painted up some of the Immortal Greeks I bought at Salute, which are very nice indeed. A 15mm Panther, just to give me a heavy option for my Germans
and two very nice little Hetzers, just because they look so pretty.
I also painted up my Full Thrust NSL ships, but no picture yet.

Plans, too many to list and more than I can afford! Right, off to watch some rugby on ESPN. So long and I will update before Christmas.

It's been a while.......

Since I posted on here, but I'm back!

I am still struggling on with painting 15mm Napoleonics for my brother-n-law! To say that they are not my favourite thing to paint would be an understatement.

The current flavour of the month amongst the group I game with is the Very British Civil War. I have had a bit force for this for some time, but will hopefully get the rest painted now the planning for a campaign is underway. I am in charge of the Royalist faction, led by the Earl of Devon and controlling Torquay. Our opposition includes Facists(Totnes), Communists(Teignmouth), Anglican(Newton Abbot), Devonians(Paignton) and the Navy(Dartmouth).

Here are the few units I have painted.

First up is a unit of "Regulars", representing the local yeomanry who have stayed loyal to the King. These are WW1 British from Musketeer Miniatures.



This is the first Militia unit, from the Musketeer "Irish War of Independance" range.




The second Militia unit looks a lot like the first, but has a different Lewis team. Same source as the others.





Milord, his Chaffeur and some shotgun armed militia make up the last of the painted foot. All but Milord are from Musketeer, while himself is courtesy of Steve.






The last painted unit(sort of) is "Stinky" the steam-truck-tank. A badly converted model-of-yesteryear steam truck, with metal plating around the cab and railway sleepers protecting the flat bed area. The usual weapon carried is a Vickers MG, but recently a 37mm ships gun has also been sighted on the pedestal. Don't you just love magnets!

So that is the painted force so far. Still to be painted are (all Musketeer unless it says otherwise) a unit of Highlanders(veteran bodyguards), another unit of regulars, a unit of boatcrew/railroad crew(Empress Miniatures SCW Assault Guards), a unit of Irish settlers, another unit of Militia, a regular Vickers HMG, a Command Section and an 18pdr field gun(Renegade Miniatures). I also have a 1/48 Hawker Fury biplane to provide air cover.

All in all, not a bad force, I just need to get the rest painted!

Legionary 2010 and May at the Devon Wargames Group

May 1st saw Legionary, the local wargames show take place. Stupidly myself and two friends put on a 15mm WW2 game based around the battle for Veghel in 1944. During the drive to reach Arnhem the Germans counter-attacked after XXX Corps had passed through, in an attempt to break the supply line and blow the bridge over the canal. A valiant defence by elements of the US 101st Airborne Division supported by British 25pdrs and 3.7" AA guns resulted in the German attackers being driven off. But can we do the same on the table?

We used Peter Pigs PBI rules, but scaled up so each unit on the table represented about a battalion. The Allies had seven and a half units plus 6 assorted guns. The Germans had 9 units with a total of 12 tanks or SP guns.

The table looked pretty decent as Gus had spent a small fortune on roads, rivers and hedges from Terra Firma Studios, which look nice. Additional hedges came from Steve, who was drafted in to play the Allies on the south table. The buildings were mostly from Landmark, now sadly out of production.

The game went well, with the Germans eventually driving the Allies back on the north table and surrounding all the defenders to the south. Nathan claimed an Allied victory as the Germans failed to get the bridge, but that was because it was full of dead American para's!

The following Saturday was the May meeting for the Devon Wargames Group, which made it my third Saturday out in a row and is going to cost me with SWMBO! There was a veritable host of games put on this time.

First off was a 20mm Impetus game pitching two forces of chariot riders or sharp stick wavers against each other. Apparently it was all going well for Vince and Chas until Vince went to watch the wendy-round-ball game at Exeter City FC, when Chas threw it all away. Apparently.

Then there was a 15mm Napoleonic game using Rank and File, depicting the far left British flank at Waterloo in a "what if" scenario. Two allied Brigades (7 British infantry, 1 Dutch-Belgian infantry, 4 batteries and 2 British light cavalry units) faced a massive horde of garlic guzzlers. There were 16 French battalions, 2 light cavalry, 2 lancer, 2 Dragoon and 2 Cuirassier units, supported by 8 batteries of artillery. The French infantry units were also bigger than the Allies, so the advantage was decidedly French. Fortunately the sausage munchers were on the way, with 14 battalions of infantry, 2 light cavalry and 4 heavy dragoon units and 8 batteries of artillery. Could the Allies hold until the Prussian's arrived? Hell yes! The French eventually started to drive the Allies back, but not until the Prussians were on the table and starting to roll up the flank.

Guy and Eoghan played a game of the new version of Warhammer Ancient battles. Guy lost as his Gallic horde was speared, stabbed and trampled by Eoghan's Successor force.

The final game was Jacks AWI that he put on for himself and his son as he doesn't yet trust Charlie with other people's figures. Charlie's British army whipped the rebellious colonials back and won the day, at least that's what Charlie said.

Anyway, that's a quick rundown. I have to stay in next Saturday as SWMBO has stuff for me to do. I just wish I could get rid of this sodding toothache and head cold.

Salute

It's come and gone. Another year, another load of money dropped and things bought that were not on the shopping list. The trip up was good right up too the point where the Underground was used. Closures, bad information and staff who sent us the wrong way. Lovely.

Once we got there it was good though. The show seemed quieter than previous years, but that may have just been due to the crowds rushing in next door to sign up for the marathon. It did improve the view in many ways though. Lots of games that were very pretty, lots of traders and too much choice! I never have enough money for this show, but I think that no matter what I took it wouldn't be enough.

Met a friend from the internet for the first time, so hello to Steve and Neil. It was nice to meet you and I hope to do so again. Nice models too, Area 9 is Neil's company and the buildings look very good indeed.

I picked up the building ends and roof from Outpost Wargames, and some Assault Guards from Empress Miniatures for the ongoing Very British Civil War force. They will look good as some form of uniformed group, such as train crews or a ships landing party. Hurrah for the King and Torquay.

I also spent some money on a couple of boxes of Immortal Miniatures plastic Hoplites. This is my favourite period of history so I may have to move them into the painting queue pretty damn quick. They look better in the plastic than they do in the pictures, so expect more to be bought pretty soon.

I also got some excellent dice, with less than polite exclamations on the 1's! Silly I know, but what the heck.

Right, I'm off now to sort out more work. Catch you next time.

15mm WW2 figures!!!

I have finished the 8 gun 25pdr Battery, a Stug Company and a Panzergrenadier Platoon this week.


Here's the guns, enough to upset any German commanders day. The battery also includes 1 medium and 3 small command stands, 2 OP stands, 2 OP Carriers and 1 Jeep. I have based the limbers separately from the guns as it seemed too crowded with it on the gun base.





Panzergrenadiers, and plenty of them. 1 Sd251/10, 3 Sd251/1, 1 Command team and 6 rifle/MG teams. Plenty of firepower there.




And finally some armoured support for the Panzergrenadiers. 5 Stug IIIG's, all ready to open fire on some poor Sherman/T-34.

All the vehicles were the first tries with an airbrush and I think they came out pretty well. Off to paint some more Napoleonics now, the joy of this is exceeded only by my indifference to painting Napoleonics.

Salute

As Salute is rapidly closing it was decided that we needed to get the tickets, so they have been ordered. There are 3 of us going from down here in wet and windy Devon, catching the train this year so we don't have to worry about driving, parking and speeding!

The 25pdrs are closer again to completion, with the basing about 50% done now. I am still waiting for the decals for the Stugs and Panzergrenadiers to arrive. Apart from that I have had a day of assembling models to paint later this week.


Here are the "heavy support" for my Luftwaffe troops for PBI2. Mighty and impressive are they not? What do you mean, Not? They are two former French Army R-35's although they have been joined by some H-35/39's with rockets on the side as well now.

Ho hum, back to the grind.

Twenty days?

Time flies when your having fun. Today I have mostly been painting 25pdr guns. So what has happened since I last posted? Quite a lot, but nothing exciting.

I have played about with my airbrush as I said I would. I'm pretty happy with the first lot, I'll take some photo's later. Done so far are 5 Stugs and 4 Hanomags in 15mm and 1 Marder in 25mm. To do are 2 Hetzers and 1 Panther in 15mm, plus 3 Hanomags and 1 Kubel in 25mm. I have been sidetracked by a commission for an 8 gun 25pdr for Flames of War though. Money talks baby! Plus the airbrush was very useful for base coating all the guns and limbers.

eBay sales went quite well, I sold 2 more platoons for £60, which paid for some more to paint up to sell (honest, none were for me at all, no siree). I have a Panzergrenadier platoon nearly done, I am just waiting for some decals to arrive so I can finish them and get them on sale.












Here are the Falschirmjagers that I sold recently.

As a pointer to how today is going, it's currently 0146 (yes, that's AM) and I am painting guncrews for 25pdrs. Stupid insomnia strikes again.

Aw well, back to the grind. It could be worse I suppose, the kids could be off school next week.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S EASTER?????

Airbrush and other things

Having spent about £100 on a compressor, 2 airbrushes and assorted extras, I finally got it to paint reasonably. That is, I sprayed a test piece and it came out reasonably well painted. Tomorrow I shall mostly be spraying 15mm German armoured vehicles. I have 1 Panther, 5 Panzer IV's, 5 Stugs, 2 Hetzers and 6 Hanomags to paint! Shame that most will end up on ebay.

Talking of which, I sold 2 Flames of War platoons for a total of just over £50, so 2 more went on last Sunday. Hopefully this will top up the earnings a bit. It has also made me get the afore mentioned airbrush working, so it's been good all around.

Sod it all

I can't find my planes anywhere. Where the f*** are they? I did find some more Lord of the Rings figures and a Flames of War Panzergrenadier box that I had forgotten about.

But no bloody planes!

Still, more to paint and sell on ebay so it's not all bad.

I can't find me sodding planes

Has anybody seen my Battle of Britain planes? I can't find them and want to paint them. Damn it, how can 60+ planes just disappear? I would swear, but kids may see this.

I finished the Paras, 2 units are up on ebay as I type this.

Here is one of the MG sections, 4 MG teams, 1 Bazooka team and a command team.

More Napoleonic British

Another unit done, this time the 2nd/30th Foot. Yellow facings means the drummer stands out. I am in the process of painting 18 bases of 15mm US Para's for ebay, just the basing left to do so hopefully they will get finished today. Then I have to crack on with some more French Napoleonic infantry. Oh, the joy!

I am going to find the Battle of Britain planes today though, as I need them to get painted so we can play Bag the Hun 2. Chocks away and all that.

BAG THE HUN 2!

It's here, I am reading it and it looks good. I liked the original Bag the Hun but there were holes in the rules. Bombers gunners were not worked out properly and there was no ground attack element, but that has been fixed now. This does mean that the 1/600th Battle of Britain planes may have to move up to painting list, but that is a small price to pay. Of course I could just use the USAAF vs Luftwaffe planes that I have already painted, but where's the fun in that?


Here is a small selection of the 1/600th planes
I have for Bag the Hun. USAAF B-24s, P-38s and P-51s take on the might of the Luftwaffe with Fw190A's and D's, Me109's, Me410's and Me163 Komets.

I also got hold of a copy of Rate of Fire from Crusader, so a 25mm WW2 game also beckons. Too much to do in too little time. Right, back to the paintbrush. Have fun follks.

Monday 22nd February

Today I shall mostly be painting 15mm Napoleonic British (again) and some 15mm US Para mortars. The Napoleonics will be the 2nd Battalion, 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment, which have white belts and yellow facings. No buff there at all. The Paras are some I have had in my spares box for ever, so ebay beckons for them once they are done.

My painting list is ever expanding, as we speak I have more to paint. Things on the list at the moment are (in no particular order)
15mm
4 Battalions of 36 Napoleonic French Infantry
8 Battalions of 32 Napoleonic British Infantry
2 Regiments of Napoleonic British Heavy Cavalry
US Para mortar section of 17 figures
2 US Para MG sections each with 17 figures
WW2 Italians for PBI (about 100 figures, 6 light tanks and 3 AT guns)
25mm
12 WW1 Highland Infantry (Musketeer)
12 WW1 British Infantry (Musketeer)
2 Hobbits (GW)
9 Ringwraiths (GW)
120 Uruk-Hai (GW)
36 Rohan Cavalry (GW)
48 Rohan Infantry (GW)
6 boxes of plastic ACW infantry (Perrys)
2 boxes of plastic ACW Cavalry (Perrys)
2 boxes of plastic Wars of the Roses infantry (Perrys)
24 British Paras (BAM and Foundry)
9 assorted German vehicles and tanks
200+ Persians of various makes
Smaller scale
Spaceships for Full Thrust
1/600 WW2 Battle of Britain aircraft for Bag the Hun 2.

That's just what I can remember off hand. There's more. The Napoleonic stuff is not for me, neither are the German vehicles. The rest is mine though. Maybe I do too many periods..........NAAAAHHHHH!

15mm Napoleonics

Now the Napoleonic period is not my thing. It's very interesting historically and very pretty to wargame, but it's too damn complicated to paint! At least I think so. However, my brother-in-law loves it, so I am painting up figures for him. Here are my first ever attempts at painting 15mm Napoleonic infantry. They are not based and don't have standards as he adds them himself.

Here are the British, painted up as the 3rd Battalion, 14th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot. Usually British troops will have white belts, but units with buff facings had buff straps apparently.



And here are some French infantry from no particular unit. the French all seem to have the same uniform, so no facing colours or anything.

First Posting

Hello and welcome to my wargames blog. Introductions first, I am Jason, a Welsh exile living Devon, near Exeter, with my wife and 2 kids (the other 2 have moved out). My interests are WW2 and Ancients gaming, but I also play and own far too many other periods to mention. They will gradually appear on here as time goes by.

Currently I am painting some 15mm Napoleonics (not for me though) and 15mm WW2 (MINE!!!). I also have 25mm WW2 infantry and vehicles, 25mm Ancients, 25mm Medieval and 25mm ACW on the to-be-painted list. Here are a few pictures of some of my attempts at painting.



First up is a 15mm 8.8cm Flak gun for my PBI2 force. Lovely stuff, the model is by Battlefront/Flames of War. They are painted up as Luftwaffe, hence the slightly blue uniforms.






This is one of my Bolt Action 25mm Germans, part of a Panzergrenadier force, over 50 figures and 11 vehicles so far they have yet to win a game









Here are the opposition for the Germans, some of my 25mm British Paras. Again they are Bolt Action figures and there are 49 painted so far.





And here are some of my 25mm Warlord Games Celts. My celtic horde is ever expanding, but has been pushed to one side by more modern periods at the moment.




Well that's the first post done. I'll update occasionally, you just see if I don't!