Highlanders and Shermans, what a mix.....

So it's been another week, or so anyway.  Still no news on No2 son and his knee.  We spent nearly 3 hours in Exeter hospital to be told "We are not sure what he has done so we will put him on the fast track for treatment.  Come back in 4 weeks for a scan".  Not overly impressed with not even knowing what he had done, we rang his insurance company to see if he is covered for scans, Aviva said yes so he is know in on the 30th for his scan and to see the consultant. Money talks I guess.

Painting wise, here are some pictures of the Highlanders and Shermans.  The infantry are off to Cornwall soon while the tanks will be on eBay tomorrow.

42nd "Royal Highland" aka The Black Watch.

 The first of three units of Highlanders, these are AB figures I believe.  Painting tartan is still quite interesting, but the other units have more colours in them than this, so may push it into annoying instead of interesting.

A Sqd, 1st Coldstream Guards

 First unit of Shermans, painted and decaled to represent A Squadron, 1st Coldstream Guards, part of 5th Guards Armoured Brigade in the Guards Armoured Division, circa Normandy 1944.

B Sqd, 1st Coldstream Guards

The second unit is marked up as B Squadron, the only digfferences are the turret markings and the number of commanders.  The vehicles are all Battlefront from the Open Fire box set, which are pretty good models and match their metal models nicely.

Gaming has been a bit hit and miss, but an improvement on the previous couple of weeks.  Monday night we played a Cheapass Game, which involved time machines.  It's not my favourite game of theirs, but it was a reasonable way to spend the evening.  I have also had a couple of races of Formula De with No2 son, 'cos he's bored being stuck at home.  Little git kicked the crap out of me in the first race, hitting every corner just right and getting a 1-2 result.  Race two went a bit better, with me getting 1st and 3rd.  Round 3 will come up soon, unless X-Wing rears it's ugly head as my loving wife bought me a Tie Interceptor and B-Wing last week, which was nice. 

Monday night will see us having a multi-player game of Chain of Command, being set up by Nathan.  We will have to play in the wrong scale (25mm) as the more aged members of our group can no longer see anything smaller (no comments please).

Anyway, its late and I have stuff to do before bed, so keep rolling those dice and I will catch you later.

More Chain of Command and some more painted stuff

 Friday brought about another game of Chain of Cammand.  Yet again Gus and I visited Casa del Stumpy, where the newly based US Paras faced of against the newly based Fallschirmjagers.  The US, commanded by Nathan, were attacking a Fallschirmjager infested town.

Jump off points are deployed

Initial recce put the Paras on the ridge just outside the town while the Germans occupied the buildings at the edge of the town.  The Americans had a reinforced platoon, giving them 4 squads (12 men with 1 LMG), a 60mm mortar and a FOO able to call in 81mm mortar fire.  The Germans had 3 squads (10 men with 2 LMGs each) and a 2 man AT team.

US Paras appear

Fallschirmjagers deploy in the cafe

German NCO and right flank unit.

The US advanced on their left, with 2 squads facing 1 FJ squad while the other 2 squads engaged the remaining Germans with suppressing fire.  This tactic didn't work the way Nathan wanted, although in the long term it won him the game.  The fire of 2 German squads worked out at 36 dice(4 LMGs with 8 each and 4 riflemen).  This proved too much for the right hand US squad and they were forced back with lots of "shock" hits, but only 2 dead. The US return fire was 32 dice(2 LMGs with 8 each and 16 riflemen), which wasn't much less but the Germans were also in hard cover.  Although the shock effect was much less, the US fire killed more Germans. US riflemen reroll 1's to hit, due to the Garand rifles.  It doesn't sound like much but it does make a difference to their fire.

Sarge is down!

On the left the Paras advanced to the edge of the field, then came under accurate fire from the German squad.  Despite their best efforts they were forced to go to ground.  Their return fire did manage to kill a few more Germans though, this "few hits but always a kill" effect was starting to cause the Germans some problems as they started to run out of men.

Boom boom boom...missed!

As the game went on the American continued to whittle away at the Germans, despite taking much more shock.  Their superiority in NCOs allowed them to rally the shock more effectively than the Germans.

 Another turn and the FOO managed to bring in the 81mm mortar support.  Despite his spotting round being on target, the actual barrage shifted just enough to miss the Germans.....fortunately. As time went on though, the steady attrition of Germans caused their morale to go and they were forced to fall back.  Damn und blast.  They nearly won, with the US suffering a large number of squad NCO hits, all of which cause a possible loss of force morale.  Unfortunately they didn't lose quite enough.  Every US squad had their NCO either killed or wounded, which resulted in the platoon officers and NCOs having to step in.  It was a good game again though, with Nathan managing another win.

FoW US Para Platoon

 Apart from playing I have also been painting more bits to sell on.  So here we have the US Para platoon from the "Open Fire" box for Flames of War.  Very nice figures that, like the German Grenadiers, match their metal figures very well.  If I didn't have so many US Paras already I would have used these for my own CoC force.

FoW British Shermans

 Also from the Open Fire box we have the other 4 Shermans.  The first 4 went on eBay last week, while these are on there this week.

FoW Pak-40s

 Finally we have the Pak 40s, again all in plastic and again a nice match for the metal models that Battlefront do.


I am now in the process of painting some Jeeps and a kubelwagen.  There are 10 jeeps in all, 4 for Nathan and 6 for me, while the Kubel has sat in a basecoated state for about 12 months now, so I have decided to finish it off.

Hope you all have lucky dice, I know Nathan did last Friday.  Catch you later.

Trees, AWI and Rugby

Hello again.  This week I have mostly been messing about with trees.  As I have made about 80 trees using the Woodlands Scenics armatures and bushes I decided it was time to base them up.  I bought some of the tree templates from 4ground, with either two or three 60mm removable bases.  After a bit of playing around I have finally made these.

Closer look with base removed

 I now have 11 templates (6x2 and 5x3) with about 40 trees on them.  I think they work pretty well and should do for both 15mm and 25mm games.  They are quite flexible, especially as the trees can be removed to allow units to move through them.
I have ordered some extra 60mm bases to make up as rough ground, which will double the use of the templates.  I still have about 40 trees to base, but these will be individually based on 40mm bases.

British column in woods

I reckon that will be enough trees for any gaming I do, as I only have space for a 6'x4' table.

British Infantry, Artillery and Commanders

British Grenadiers and Lights

I have also finished some more of the AWI figures for Legionary.  The British have gained two units of regular infantry, a unit of combined Grenadiers, a combined unit of Light Infantry, three guns, one general and two "notables". 

 The Americans have also gained two units of infantry and two "notables", plus a rebased general.

All I have left to do now is a unit of cavalry for each side plus some disorder markers.


 While feeling crap has slowed down production this week, I have managed to finish off a platoon of the plastic Flames of War Germans from the Open Fire box.  I am impressed with these, they look excellent and are a good match for the more expensive metal figures.


 And finally a big cheer for the Welsh rugby team who managed to exceed my expectations by a lot on Saturday.  I thought they would win, but not by 27 points.  Totally bossed the scrums and controlled the game well.  Can anyone spot the Welshman in this picture?

Which one is Welsh?

Off now to try and find my painting mojo.  Its here somewhere.  Have fun and keep rolling those dice.

Monday Wargames and more Painting

Monday night saw the lads don their flying hats and get engaged in a WW2 dogfight.  The game was played using the Wings of Glory cards, but with 1/144 models supplied by Colin.  The scenario saw 3 Ju-87 Stukas with a single Me109 escort trying to attack a munitions factory and an airfield.  The Brits had 4 Hurricanes to try and mess things up.  The game went well.  Andy and I flew the Stukas, Colin attempted to escort us with the Me109 and Panjo, Zob, Gus and Nathan had the Hurricanes.

Panjo turned the wrong way after one turn and spent the rest of the game trying to get back into the fight.  Colin meandered all over the sky, failing to stop any of the Hurricanes from getting to the Stukas and eventually bailing out after somebody fired at him.  Nathan and Zob got in amongst the Stukas, shooting down 2 of them. Gus flew into the middle of the Stukas and was shot down by the combined fire from them.  Andy managed to bomb an AA gun before being shot down.  My first stuka managed to hit the factory and then broke up, while the second hit the airfield and managed to escape.  The end result was damage to the factory and airfield plus1 Hurricane shot down, but the pilot bailed out, for 2 Stukas and 1 Me109.  It was a laugh though.

Trees, lovely trees.

American AWI forces so far

 As I mentioned last week, I have made some trees up.  Using the Woodlands Scenic armatures, bushes and glue, I have made 27 trees between 3" and 5" in size.  They look pretty good, although I do need to drybrush the trunks before the are finished.  I have ordered some tree bases from 4ground to put them onto, so expect more pictures some time next week.

I have also been plodding on through my AWI project.  I now have 5 British line infantry units done, along with 8 line infantry,  4 irregulars, 1 cavalry and 3 guns for the Americans.  There are still several more units to do, 3 infantry and 1 cavalry for the Americans and 3 infantry, 1 cavalry and 3 guns for the British.

Still, its coming on and I am happy with the way they are looking.  The American units were selected so that each unit has a different uniform, just because I could.  The British either have different facings or different hats.

British AWI so far

The plan is to us them at the Legionary show in May, but Gus has not had a reply from them yet.  Still going to finish them ready for it, just in case they decide to let us in.

Plastic Para Platoon

The other painting I have been doing this week has been some 15mm US paratroopers for Flames of War.  These are not mine, but for a nice chap called Andy.  He sent me the new plastic paras and the really nice Easy Company pack.  I am impressed with both lots and will be getting the Easy figures to add to my PBI force.  I love the "Bull" figure, with the cigar in his mouth.  Anyway, here they are on their snowy bases ready for battle.

Bah humbug and all that.

Time for another update on the life that I lead.  Still working nights at Tesco to pay the bills.  Still failing to win the lottery.  Still painting for other people more than for me.  Thanking god that the US election is finally over and the news can be about something else.  Do the Americans care about who gets in over here when we have an election?  I doubt it somehow, but we are subjected to endless debates about the US election.  Maybe its just me though, maybe the rest of the British people do care.

Maelstrom games seem to have gone completely, taking my money with them.  From the stories on various chat groups it appears that the nice man in charge knew it was going, but still took peoples money!  I would say what I think of him, but kids may read this.  Suffice to say my thoughts on this man are not pleasant.  I have reordered the guns I need direct from Battlefront, but that has now been 3 weeks with no sign of any delivery yet.  I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that this gun order has been cursed by the gods of wargaming.

I have managed to do some painting around working nights and feeling ill.  Two lots of 32 15mm Napoleonic Dutch-Belgians (one line and one militia unit) and 24 Perrys Wars of the Roses figures for the Christmas game at the Devon Wargames Group.  Still have more Napoleonics to do, as everytime I paint any he sends me more than I have painted.  Newest arrivals are Dutch-Belgian cavalry and more infantry.  Two 40 figure units of line infantry and 6 units of cavalry, plus 2 batteries of artillery.  Better to have too much than not enough.

I do have another unit of Wars of the Roses to do as well, but they are for me so may have to wait a bit.  Four units should be enough for my little lot in the game.  Plenty of levy with little of no ability to hurt anyone, led by a complete fool.  That's the way forward.

 In other news, I have decided to get rid of my 25mm WW2 figures and vehicles.  I have used them once in about 3 years now, so will sell them on and reinvest the money in finishing of my AWI forces and getting some more 15mm WW2.  15mm is becoming my favoured scale for most games now, although some 25mm will still be kept (War of the Roses, Ancients, Dark Ages and Cold War).  My British Paras and German Panzergrenadiers will soon be on ebay though.  Here are a couple of pictures just to tease you.

There are more Paras than shown here, but I never got around to taking pictures of them all.  There is also some armoured support in the shape of Tetrach tanks.  Ooohhhh, scarey.

I enjoyed painting them, but can't justify keeping them anymore.

If anybody is interested in them then drop me an email and I can send you some bigger pictures and a full list of what I have.

Well, back to the grindstone again now. Have fun.

Maurice and more painting.

Despite still being ill and having to take loads of tablets, I have managed to do some painting!  

Having played Maurice at the Devon Wargames meeting, I promptly paid out and bought the rules and cards.  This has caused a dilemma though.  I now need to reorganise my 6mm Seven Years War plans, as 1 base per unit won't work for Maurice.  Ah well, more figures to paint.  I am considering rebasing from the 50x40 bases onto something a bit smaller, say 30x30, as well.  Hmm, decisions decisions. 

Painting wise, the Empress Dragoons are done but, stupidly, I packed them away without taking any photos.  I have also painted up a US beach assault force for Andy.  It was a change from my normal basing as he wanted them to look like they were on a beach, so Vallejo pumice has been used for the first time.  I was impressed with how it went on, although it tends to stick to everything!

There were a lot of figures in the box, with 26medium bases and 15 small bases.  The medic figure is nice, but there seemed to be a lot of hit figures (back left on the single base).  They are done and posted now.  The photos were taken before the matt varnish was sprayed, so they are a bit shiny.

Well, onwards and upwards.  Off to start some 15mm Prussian Landwehr now.  Oh how I love Napoleonics.

25pdrs painted and posted

Just for a change from 6mm SYW or 15mm Napoleonics, here are some 25pdrs painted for a nice chap up in the north. I swapped him my later war 25pdrs for the 18/25pdrs he sent as he wanted them for Italy, by which time the 18/25's had all been replaced. So now I have some guns for my planned BEF 1940 force for PBI. Thanks Andrew. :)

Anyway, 4 guns, 4 limbers, 1 staff team, 2 command stands and 1 spotter team in all their glory.

Today I shall mostly be playing Dux Britannarum, the playtest set of the Too Fat Lardies new ruleset. Much chaos shall ensue as the Saxons and Britons do battle. More news tomorrow.

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.

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.