Secret Santa, Flockbox and yet more painting.

Hello again,  I'm back with another update of absolutely no importance.

In a moment of madness I signed up to Chris Stoesen's Secret Santa project.  So I have bought, painted and based my "secret" and it will be soon winging it's way to the far reaches of New Hampshire, USA.  I won't put up a picture until after Christmas as I want it to be a surprise for the unfortunate chap who got me as his Santa!

Talking of Santa, my lovely wife has bought me an early present so I am now the proud owner of a Flockbox.  I have had a play about with it and it really does make a difference.  The static grass stands up and looks like grass, as opposed to my usual mix of flock and flat grass.  I am impressed and I will almost certainly end up rebasing lots of my based figures as it looks so much better.  The first figures I have used it on are shown below, along with the last figures I based with my old system.

British Highlander extras

Painting has been somewhat slow, but fairly steady.  I managed to find, paint and base the remaining BEF 1940 Highlanders that I had left over. Another 12 Highlanders, supported by another Vickers MG with 3 crew.  I just need a 2pdr and some bren carriers to make the force fairly complete.

1940 German Platoon

I also managed to get a full platoon of 1940's German infantry painted up, these are from the Plastic Soldier Company box.  There are 59 figures, making 2 commanders and 4 squads with support in the shape of a 5cm mortar and an AT rifle.  There are also 4 spare LMGs and 4 extra riflemen.  These have been based with the flockbox, so upright grass is all over the place.  I just need to add an HMG, Pak gun and some form recce elements.  Then it's on to the French that I bought in January!

I am now cleaning up some more Cowboy figures for Germany again, Lawmen and Desperados this time.  There will be a slight delay on these though as I am off to London on Sunday to see the Tower of London poppies before they are taken away after the 11th of November.

Well that's it for now, I am off to do something less productive.  Keep rolling those dice folks.

Painting continues, new figures are purchased and other ramblings

Hello again, unfortunately for you all rumours of my demise have been vastly exaggerated.  I am still struggling on, painting when I can manage it and playing the occasional game.  I have been back to the hospital again, I should probably have my own bed by now.  Still no sign of any immediate fix, but new consultant and new tablets and a new plan, so it's all good (hopefully).

First up, my new purchases.  Best bargain by a country mile is the latest supplement for Chain of Command, covering actions of the US 29th Infantry Division in Normandy.  "29 Let's Go" is 32 pages of goodness for less than the price of a pint.  Scenarios, background and special amendments make this supplement both a treat and a bargain.  I am looking forward to running the scenarios for the local gamers, espescially as there are no Tigers!

My other purchases have been from the Plastic Soldier Company, with a box each of their  Early War German Infantry and Late War British Infantry joining the painting line.  The Germans will provide opponents for my BEF Highlanders and French infantry while the British will bolster my existing platoon to enable me to field a company for Battlegroup Overlord games.

15mm ANZACs

Painting has been a bit limited, both due to feeling ill and having other things on.  I did manage to paint up a couple of platoons though, so it's not all bad.  First up is the first of my Vietnam period ANZAC's.  These are Battlefront figures, bought in their recent sale and painted up and based for Charlie Don't Surf or Chain of Command.

The other platoon involved a bit more time and effort, but was quite rewarding to finally get painted.  I have had these original Bolt Action figures since they were first released many years ago.  I never had enough to make a full platoon though as for some reason I didn't buy enough.  Then I decided to reduce my collections of WW2 figures to just 15mm and sold of the painted figures I had.  So these sat in a drawer, ignored and forgotten for a long time.  Then, following a moment of madness, I contacted Warlord Games and just asked if they still had the original figures or molds?  A very nice chap called Nick spent some time finding out for me and then got back to me to say yes.  So I spent a few quid and finished off the platoon.  Having spent a few extra quid on figures in a scale I didn't use I then spent several days painting and basing them.  I actually quite enjoyed painting them, the figures are lovely to paint and I still rate the Paul Hick's sculpts as some of the best out there.

25mm US Platoon

1st Squad

2nd Squad

So, here they are.  A full platoon of three 12 man squads plus command and some support options.  Each squad has an NCO with Thompson, a BAR gunner and ten riflemen.  These are supported by three 2 man Bazooka teams, an M1919A6 LMG moving and firing, a sniper, a mortar FO, two Officers, a platoon sergeant, a radio man, an extra rifleman and a medic.  All told there are 54 figures all marked up, coincidentally, as members of the US 29th "Blue and Grey" Division.  As I don't use them they are going to go on eBay, probably on Sunday.

3rd Squad

Support and Command

Well, that's it for now.  I am off to pick up the in-laws from Exeter in a little while, so wish me luck.  Hopefully my ears will be able to stand up to 3 days of constant, inane chattering that always accompanies the meeting of my wife and her sister.  Have fun and keep rolling those dice.