Gitungi and Nova Respublik Lists Updated

A couple of updates to the Q13 Army Lists.

First up, I've rationalised the Gitungi list: making their support drones into mini-vehicles instead of crewed support weapons. It fits the figures better. Click on the pic to see the list.

A squad of gitungi veteran infantry from Micropanzer

Secondly, I've almost totally revamped the Nova Respublik list. This involves allowing a split into half-squads of seven instead of the original, very inflexible squads of fourteen; adding stats for Militia/Penal and Guards units; and adding the new NR releases from Khurasan: the Drakon tanks and Grifon APCs. It's a rather nice, rounded army...one I rather fancy getting for myself. Click on the pic to see the list.

Nova Respublik Command Set from Khurasan

Vornid/Horrid Minelayers

Another unit of Horrid APCs finished at the weekend.

These rather turd-like tanks from Ravenstar's Horrid range are actually minelayers: the flaps just behind their 'heads' can disgorge patches of larvae that, with Chrome, I have defined as being the equivalent of mines i.e. they attack any enemy men or machines that enter their ambit.

I haven't painted up the 'mines' themselves yet, but you do get a rather pleasing number of them with your tanks. I've also defined the horn thing on the front as a sort of natural mortar that can also lay down the equivalent of smoke.

All in all a very useful squad of vehicles, despite their appearance!

TFL Painting Challenge: Sunday Update

Another very big update today, with two people submitting their first entries for the year.

In no particular order, we have:

• Chris Stoesen, with his first entry of the year, pops in some US Cold War infantry
• Carole submits another PSC German Panzergrenadier platoon. Obviously enjoying those camouflaged smocks!
• Mr Hodge sends in more figures for Dux Raiders
• Jason Ralls sends in another ginormous entry: two 28mm infantry platoon and enough 15mm houses to solve the nation's current crisis. This takes Jason past the 3,000 point mark (well past it) so congrats for that!
• Mr Hat, I mean Bowler, enters some more WOTR figures
• Geoff "Bond, Geoff Bond" Bond also appears for the first time this year, with a mamoth entry. Not prehistoric elephant-types, but sixty-seven 28mm chaps for Chain of Command. Has already beaten his score for last year by an impressive margin.
• Richard Naylor submits some more modern-day USMC
• And finally Mr Plowman has two orcs and two elves to add to his collection

Pictures? I don't need to ponder here: as is traditional, we'll feature the two returnees with their first entries for the year.

First up, Mr Stoesen's Cold War figures:

And here are Mr Bond's sixty-seven CoC-ists:

Is that a towel they're guarding? Must be for a 1940 scenario!

And finally I'm going to sneak in a quick pick of Mr Ralls' street. Lovely!

Vis Imperica Galleries: The Later British

I've had a chance to add another gallery to the Vis Imperica, 19th Century section of the site: my Later British collection.

These were the first 15mm figures that I ever painted...and it shows! They are simple block paint jobs, no shading, no washing...and those eyes!

I look at these now and almost cringe...but then I remember that no-one starts out a genius painter: it's something that has to be learnt, like any other skill. I might be able to paint a lot better nowadays (as I said, to the point where these make me cringe) but everyone has to start somewhere. These serve as a good reminder of that. And, anyway, a quick wash and then a couple of highlights, and these would fit right in with my later efforts.

The army is split into two parts: those in mainly red jackets and based on 'grass' for southern Africa; and those mainly in khaki and based on 'sand' for the Sudan and North-West Frontier. Almost all the figures are from Essex Miniatures.

Click here or on the picture below to see the full gallery.

Vornid/Horrid "Grandmother" Command Tank

Ravenstar have expanded their range of sci-fi monstrosities, the Horrid. As I'm using the range to provide AFVs for my Vornid army, this was a perfect opportunity to buy the new stuff and to fill in the gaps of what I hadn't got already.

First off the painting table is the "Grandmother" Command Tank: a solid lump of resin that takes the paint very nicely indeed.

The gun stalks are removable i.e can be replaced by hatch covers. The wing bits on the side can also be glued in place ajar as Granny can lay eggs - and plenty are provided with the model - but more on that at a later date when I reveal my Horrid minelayers!

Granny was painted using my new GW brushes: they've revamped the whole range and although I expect them to gradually get as rubbish as the old range, I thought I'd get a new dry brush and base brush and see how they went. Quite well, is the answer: I certainly found the base brush covered the model in paint very easily (it is assymetric in that it has a pointy bit to get into the cracks) and the dry brush is big and shaped just right. Good texture as well. Anyway, we'll see how long the quality is sustained...

So, new additions to the Ravenstar range, new additions to the Horrid Army List. Either go through to the Q13 Army List page, or click here to see the updated list.

IABSM AAR: Semois 1940

Another short but sweet battle report from the Stipsicz Hussars: this time an early war encounter between the Ardennes Chasseurs supported by French tanks and a German invasion force.

As always, forgive my poor translation...click here or on the picture, below, to see the report.

TFL Painting Challenge: Monster Update!

A truly vast number of figures submitted for this update...and I mean vast!

In no particular order, we have:

• Joakim Strom with twenty 28mm figures and a couple of 28mm vehicles
• Mr Bax with ten more 28s for Dux
• Stumpy submits a mixture of newly painted and re-based (half points) figures: a total of about 280 infantry, 48 cavalry, a couple of guns and ten jump-off points!
• Steve Burt pops in some more command figures to fill his gaps
• Mr Stappells achieves an entire French 15mm WW2 platoon plus supports: 82 infantry, two guns and three tanks. Tres bien, monsieur!
• Paul Baldwin adds thirty-one 28mm foot to his collection
• Mr Helliwell adds another twenty-four 15mm foot to his
• And finally Owen, who has obviously been painting in another dimension, where time passes more slowly than for the rest of us, achieves thirty-six (yes: 36) 15mm houses and 233 15mm infantry 

That's almost 350 28mm foot and another 350 15mm infantry plus an assortment of vehicles, guns and the odd horseman too. A most impressive achievement all round!

Today's pictures are from Tony Stappells, Stumpy and Mr Strom:

Tony Stappells' French supports

French Dragoons in 28mm from Stumpy

Joakim's Italian priest with Tommy gun!

Zulus: Thousands of Them!

Some of you may have noticed a few gaps in my usual post-a-day regime lately. 

That's because I've been making a big push to finish the 19th Century section (or Vis Imperica) section of the website.

Well that's now done: with the last additions being the last of the battle reports from 1999-2002, and a content-dump of all my notes on the small wars of the 19th Century.

In celebration of the completion of the upload, I've finally gotten round to starting to photograph all my 19th Century figures, with the first gallery to be completed being that of the Zulus.

My 1879 Zulu Wars Zulu army was the first army I ever bought pre-painted. It must have been sometime in September or October 1987, and I had my first 'proper' job in an office on the Grey's Inn Road. in London.

I had just decided that 15mm colonial gaming was the thing for me, and had started painting up some British troops for the Zulu War: Essex figures if I remember correctly. Anyhow, up the road in King's Cross was a wargames shop called Gamers In Exile, now sadly  departed. I remember it as a cornucopia of painted armies for sale, one of which was the Zulus that form the bulk of what you can see in the gallery.

The Zulus have been well worth the money I paid for them (£300 IIRC). I only wish I knew the name of the person who painted them so brilliantly so that I could give him a credit here.

Click here to see the Zulu gallery.

US Paras: Bazooka Teams

I've already mentioned how I bought several half-price Battlefront blisters at Salute and the fact that for most of them it was just because they were half-price!

Well one pack I would have bought even if it were at full price as it fits in perfectly with my current US Airborne project: a pack of ten bazooka teams i.e. all you could need for a Paratroop or Glider company and more.

Having used Forged in Battle for one platoon, the LMG teams and the light mortar teams, I must confess it was quite nice to get back to familiar Battlefront infantry grounds. Nice big surfaces, nice big faces...suits my Perry-three-layer style very nicely.

Here they are:

That puts me on 427 points for the painting challenge, with my target for the year being 1,000 points...which means only 73 points needed to paint before the end of June to stay on target.

Well, there's 42 points on the painting table at the moment, and another thirty-three in the garage, undercoat drying.

Last year I missed by only a smidgen. This year I am going to hit 1,000 points!

TFL Painting Challenge: Mid Week Update

A very quick mid-week update mainly to celebrate Carole's return to form and Koen's first entry of the year.

In no particular order, we have:

• Mr Luther adds an impressive sixteen 1/285 planes to his already impressive collection
• Carole returns to form with a whole zug of 15mm Panzergrenadiers and supports...and I feel your pain over those camouflage smocks!
• Sapper slips in a Sherman, a very nice Sherman
• and finally Koen makes his first appearance of the year with an impressive number of 28mm WW2 figures, vehicles and even an oasis

So, as is traditional, we'll have a pic of one of Koen's entries: British supports, including an MMG, company officer and radioman, FOO team, medic and an extra officer

IABSM AAR: The Korsun Pocket

Another great 6mm AAR from Mark Luther: an encounter on the Eastern Front in 1944: see the Panthers run amok...at least for a time!

Reading some of the posts that people have written about the AARs on this website, I would just like to emphasise that they, and the painting challenge, are meant to inspire.

Yes, some of them are full of amazingly painted figures placed amongst amazingly beautiful terrain, but others (many of mine, for example) feature averagely painted figures amongst workmanlike terrain. Who can forget the fact that I used to use green ring binders as hedges!

So don't be put off by what you see here: be inspired!

Here's Mark Luther's latest piece of inspiration. Click here or on the first picture below to see the whole AAR...and if you scroll down a bit further: yes, it's a reminder about those green ring binders from me!

Bit further...

Bit further...

1940's action amongst the ring binders!

TFL Painting Challenge: Sunday Night Update

Nice to see a change from the regulars in this update, with some entrants who haven't sent anything in for some time.

Even more astonishing is that Thomas has actually finished some figures: racking up quite an acceptable total as well. If this doesn't make every Penguin worth his salt reach for the paintbrush, then I don't know what will!

So, in no particular order, we have:

• Richard Naylor with some 20mm modern-day US Marines
• Thomas with some highland cattle, some martians and some desert rats. An eclectic mix, n'est-ce pas?
• Andrew McCarthy achieves a 15mm WW2 German platoon and supports, and some nice looking 28mm steampunk types
• Sapper sends in some SYW figures and terrain
• Mr Duffell enters some very nice WW2 Germans in 28mm
• Then there's Owen and his Austrians, lots of Austrians
• and finally Mr Helliwell with a few AWI command stands and two medievals rescued from the bottom of the lead mountain

Two pictures today. First up are Thomas' Martians: loving those figures...

And secondly we have Mr Duffell's 28mm half-track:

Keep them coming, people: almost half way through the year now...

IABSM AAR: West Of The Oktiabrski State Farm

Another IABSM battle report, but up a scale this time.

Here is a 15mm Eastern Front game that comes from Brooklyn Wargaming's website, which is in itself a good place to visit.

Today's action is from the early part of the Battle of Kursk: a Soviet tank advance west of the Oktiabrski State Farm. Click here or on the photo below to see more...

IABSM AAR: The Coriano Ridge

No posts for three days? Shocking! Nothing to do with me watching three hours of Game of Thrones every night for the last three days: no sirreee, nothing to do with that!

Well, anyway, what can I say...except here's another blast-from-the-past 6mm IABSM battle report from Mark Luther.

It's Italy, 1944: can the Allies build the bridge they need...click here or on the picture below to find out.

TFL Painting Challenge: Pre-GoT Update!

Just got time to squeeze in another update before plunging back into Game of Thrones!

A huge update tonight:  loads of models, loads of points!

In no particular order we have:

• Mr Luther adds an outpost and fills in a lot of his missing pictures. Only two to go in fact!
• Mr Bax adds some Romano-Brits for Dux
• Owen adds another two regiments of Austrians
• WillieB joins Dick in Dux: lots of 28mm DB infantry
• Mr Helliwell pops in a loyalist regiment for the American War of Independence
• Mr Ralls smashes in figures in two different scales and tops off his entry with some buildings to die for
• Mr Slade has some lovely looking Dark Age Warriors
• AJH emerges from the Nordic darkness accompanied by some SYW Austrians and goes over 500 points. Huzzah!
• Steve Burt consolidates and adds some command stand for his Napoleonics...and just hits his half century as well: huzzah!
• Finally Lloyd Bowler includes the mandatory (and very nice looking) WOTR regiment

Today's pics are Jason Ralls' buildings and gardens...and just look at those gardens! I want, I want, I want!

Q13 AAR: Down on the Farm (An Invasion Earth! Scenario)

Great game of Q13 on Saturday night against long-time opponent Neil.

We used a variation of the 'Down on the Farm' scenario from the Five Planets campaign pack: moving the action from the planet Three to Earth as part of a series of Invasion Earth games that we are fighting.

Click here or on the picture below to see the full report.

French Lorraine L38 Carriers

Part of my loot from Salute: a couple of Lorraine L38 carriers.

These are (badly photographed!) Battlefront models in resin i.e. come as one complete piece each and mounted on a base. Nice figures: paint up easily, and the integral base saves a lot of time.

God knows if I'll ever use them, mind you, but they were half-price in a bargain box, so an absolute must buy anyway!

IABSM AAR: The Mius River (Part Two)

Another epic game of IABSM in 6mm from Mark Luther: this time a continuation of the battle I posted last week.

Click here or on the picture below to see more.

TFL Painting Challenge: A Mid-Week Post

Lots of really beautifully painted entries today. In no particular order, we have:

• Treadhead and his gladiators
• Paul Baldwin with some more WOTR foot and a load of 6mm re-basing
• Mr Helliwell gives his Germans some wheels
• Benito gives us a 28mm Panzer and more Moors
• Carole gives us a recce zug to look out for
• Mr Naylor pops in a couple of entrenchments
• Mark Luther has built lots of jungle terrain (I mean lots) and also painted up six aeroplanes (yes, I had to look up what a "Nate" was)
• Mr Plowman (lovely boy, lovely boy) enters some more lovely sci-fi figures, these painted a la Argyles if I'm not mistaken
• And Mr Douglas achieves his usual LOTR entry, but adds some smaller horse archers as a cherry on the cake

Now, pictures...lots to choose from. Here are three that particularly caught my eye:

Treadhead's Gladiators

Some of Mr Baldwin's re-based 6mm Austrians

Mr Plowman's sci-fi Argyle's

Check out all the entries in their respective galleries...and keep the e-mails coming!

US Airborne: 60mm Mortar Teams

Next up in my building of Band of Brother's Easy Company are the 60mm mortar teams. I've used Forged in Battle figures again, and am again very happy with the results, even if the photography is a bit pants.

Now onto the bazooka teams: Battlefront figures for them...and a pack of ten 2-man teams bought for half-price at Salute!

Here are the mortar teams: