TFL Painting Challenge: Tuesday Night

Hi all.

Enough achievements posted to merit a quick Tuesday night update.

In no particular order, we have:

• Joakim with some completes he forgot to mention last time
• Mr Helliwell with some more Hessian types
• Fred Bloggs lists what he painted in February
•  Andrew McCarthy enters more (pictures, Andrew, pictures!)
• Jon adds some men to his cacti
• And Topyob bangs in some AWI and FOW figures

Plus I've had several requests to badger Rich for pics of his painting...but I think I'd rather leave him to get on with rule-writing. After all, he's got to hurry if he's going to get everything finished by Easter!

As for today's photo...well, it's a few days late but it's my tribute to an actor who both was and was not his most famous character. RIP Leonard Nimoy, 1931-2015:

Live long and prosper!

Weedl Scout Flyer

I've mentioned before how much I like Zombiesmith's Quar: WW1 era anteater types with suitably Heath Robinson vehicles.

One of their latest releases is the first of the 'aerocraft': the Weedl Scout Kite. This is a lovely model that is easy to put together and paint. It even comes with a propeller in thin brass.

Here's my attempt at painting one of them:

TFL Painting Challenge: Saturday Night Update

Ah, as I listen to the oft-heard sound of wife and eldest daughter arguing about...well, I don't know what and, quite frankly, have no wish to know as I might then get dragged into it, I think it's time for a painting challenge update.

Today's entries are from:

• Mr Douglas with more LOTR figures
• Mr Baldwin with an entry that originally got lost and is now found: some 6mm Sudan figures and some 15mm WW2 American Paras (I must get started on mine)
• Joakim with twelve Brimstone figures
• Mr Luther with over 100 6mm infantry and 24 6mm AFVs
• Jon Yuengling submits some cacti
• Mr Slade submits some Prussians
• Our friend Topi submits some 15mm WW2 vehicles and guns
• Mr Ralls returns with some more re-basing and also a spot of Brimstone painting
• Bad news for Carole: she's been laid up with a bad foot...but good news for her painting challenge score as it's given her a chance to ready another prodigious entry

Carole also becomes the first person to beat her 2014 score (new entrants don't count) although I suspect her previous year's score was so low because she only started submitting entries late in the year!

Today's picture is a reminder to me to get on with my US Paratroops: it's Mr Baldwin's US Paratroopers...

CDS AAR: The Horror, The Horror!

Something we haven't had for quite a while: a Charlie Don't Surf! after action report.

This one comes from the excellent A Wargaming Gallimaufry blog (click on the name to go there) where you'll also find AARs for Chain of Command  and other, non-Lardy games.

The scenario pitches a Free World aid station coming under attack from NVA while an under-strength company is on their way to relieve it.  The aid station has the advantage of a Platoon of special forces but were likely to face a heavy assault before the relief force could get there. Click on the picture, below, to see the full report.

Q13 AAR: Harook Play A Blinder

I'm still playing lots of Q13...and still getting beaten with monotonous regularity!

Here's a quick AAR of a game featuring the Harook (bird men) versus some Weird World War 2 Americans. I played the Americans and...well I'm sure you can guess what happened!

Click on the pic to see the whole AAR:

TFL Painting Challenge: Sunday Night, Lots of Achievements

So here we are, Sunday night, the calm before the storm of a week's work ahead of us. What could sustain us through the darkness? Why, the TFL Painting Challenge of course!

Here, in no particular order, are this week's entries:

• Jon Yuengling paints more 15mm vehicles
• Mr Burt does Alexander and his Companions
• John de terre neuve submits some French, some pulp and some appropriately winter-like terrain
• Monsieur "I Am Bruce" enters some Dux stuff
• Carole, never off this list, submits another brigade of 15mm Nine Years War figures
• Treadhead pops in a squad of US troops for CoC, some heavy weapon teams to support them, and almost enough outhouses to see to their other needs!
• And Mr Helliwell adds some more 15s to his collection

Rare that I choose terrain as the pic of the day, but today I have. Herewith JDTN's winter terrain in 20mm:

More Garn, more Quar

Just filling in a few gaps in my Garn and Quar armies.

First up, the command and FOO teams for the Garn. These are the "new look" Garn just released by Khurasan: less T-Rex with guns, more sci-fi lizard- or dragon-men.

Here we have a couple of commanders, and a couple of FOO who are presumably calling in fire from their "Distant Tooth" satellites.

Then we have a few more Quar Coftyrans:  three Big Men and the howitzer from the Heavy Weapons section:

Clicking on the photos will take you to the full gallery page for each army.

IABSM AAR: Skirmanevo

Another amazing AAR gallery from Mark Luther. This one dates from 2008, and features the battle of Skirmanevo on the eastern front in November 1941.

There are over 85 photos in the gallery (I know, I've just spent three days captioning them all!) and although 6mm might not be my thing, you've got to say they look fantastic.

Click on the photo, below, to see them all.

Skirmanevo Before The Storm

TFL Painting Challenge: Is It Tuesday Already?

Some big entries tonight...no smirking at the back there!

We have:

• Mr Douglas with lots of LOTR infantry types
• Mr Ralls with lots and lots of 28mm infantry
• Mr Helliwell with some British Grenadiers
• Benito with some more DAK for CoC
• Tony Stapells swallows his embarrassment...
• The wonderfully named Maerk joins us, and enters some rather nice 28mm figures for Sharp Practice
• Topi reappears with a huge entry of 15mm figures that immediately sends him over the 250 point mark
• And Mr AJH pops in a triple brigade of 6mm ACW troops for Elephant

 Today's picture is from newcomer Maerk: a rather nice horse and cart for SP...

A Kryster Dosran-Ka or Two

I really like Zombiesmith's Quar: alien ant-eater types locked into a perpetual civil war in what is effectively World War One in terms of technology and troop types.

Available in 28mm, 15mm and 6mm, Zombiesmith regularly release new factions, each with their own distinct heritage and equipment.

The latest faction for release in 15mm are the Kryster: desert nomad types who fight in small companies of mixed infantry and armour. Best of all, the armour is typical Quar: wild, whacky and looks like something that could have been developed here on Earth.

First off the painting table is the armour: two Dosran-Ka, each comprising two Sothwyr armoured wagons and one Gwaeyr light armoured tractor. Here are the models grouped together rather than split by unit:

Sothwyr armoured wagons

Gwaeyr Light Armoured Tractors

See the rest of my Quar in their gallery by clicking here; or visit the Zombiesmith website by clicking here.

NB  I'll be updating the painting challenge again tomorrow: so get your latest entries in now!

TFL Painting Challenge: Sunday Morning Update

Yes, it's an odd one: a Sunday morning update.

Well, it's early and no-one else is up, not quite light enough to paint by...so it must be a good time to do an update and perhaps tidy up a few bits and pieces on the site.

BTW if you have your own website and like Vis Lardica, as I'm sure you do, whether you're in the Challenge or not, do please put a link to VL on your site: the Lard must be shared with all! Whatever it says in the top nav, www.vislardica.com will get you here, and it won't take more than a moment of your time to do.

Now, on to today's Challenge entries...

• Joakim enters some 28mm fantasy figures
• Topyob bangs in some AWI figures (photos please)
• The prodigious Carole finishes a whole brigade of horse and an orc found in the back of her drawer. That takes her flying past the 500 point mark: huzzah!
• Mr Yuengling pops in three more panzers 
• Owen is back, and with a vengeance. Three entries at once: some 15mm infantry, and then an enormous amount of 6mm sci fi including 58 houses. Takes him straight past the 500 mark as well: huzzah again!

To all you people who have been slaving away all weekend but haven't managed to send in your entries yet: don't worry, I'm sure I'll do another update tonight, tomorrow or Tuesday!

Today's picture is of Carole's brigade of horse: how does she paint so quickly?

IABSM AAR: Overloon

Here's another blast from the past: a 6mm IABSM game played by Mark Luther dating back to 2007.

I'm gradually loading up all Mark's 6mm AAR:  they do look jolly good!

Click on the pic to see the whole gallery.

IABSM AAR: Refresher Game/02

A quick IABSM AAR from Mike Whitaker from his excellent blog "Trouble at T'Mill" as an understrength company of Germans tries to hold out against an amis attack.

Mike's blog also contains a great article on passwords and the need for online security: well worth reading...and I'm just off to change all mine!

Click on the picture below for the AAR, or on the link above for Mike blog as a whole.

TFL Painting Challenge: Monday Night Update

And the entries keep pouring in!

If they keep up at this rate, we are going to have some seriously high scores this year.

So, in no particular order, achievements for today are:

• Nils Hedglin with a selection of fantasy Viking werewolves
• Sapper with some Garde Francaise and Mongol commanders
• The incredibly productive (and female) Carole with another 15mm brigade of infantry
• Mr Slade with some lovely Austrians
• Mr Douglas switches to 28mm
• Mr Ralls bangs in loads of 28mm foot and seven 15mm Vietnam-era tanks that take him past the 1,000 point mark already. Most impressive!
• Paul Blankenship paints more Japanese...49 knee mortarmen and some guns that take him past the 500 point mark, huzzah!
• Mr Helliwell moves away from Germans to...Hessians
• Paul Baldwin with some Perry handgunners
• Mr Yuengling with some early war Germans
• Mr Luther gets points for his trees (lots of trees, lots of points) but none for his stowage. Sorry, Mark, I judged this to be polishing rather than creating from scratch.
• Mr Duffell submits lots of lovely 28mm WW2 figures
• and finally Mr "I am Bruce" submits some Spartans and some guinea pigs

Today's pictures are from Mr Duffell: his Panther and a modified SdKfz 250:

Q13 AAR: Felid to the Rescue

A great if slightly anti-climatic game of Quadrant 13 the other day, as the Hive try to take out a platoon of Garn before their Felid reinforcements arrive.

Click here, or on the picture below, for the full report.

A13 MkIV Cruisers from Zvezda

I've wanted some A13s for use with the Operation Compass scenario book for some time, but have never wanted to spend the money on metal or resin models. I've got A13s for France 1940, and they ably substituted during the booklet's playtesting.

Late last year, however, Russian manufacturer Zvezda released plastic A13s that were available at just £1.95 a model...and I couldn't resist and immediately bought a squadron from PSC.

Let's start with the downside:

• the model released is the A13 used in France (no extra trackguard etc).
• they are rather erroneously called Crusaders on the box, but then even I keep a special spreadsheet detailing all the different early war British tanks, so I'm quite forgiving of their mistake 
• the models are pretty basic. A six-part snap together kit (for God's sake remember to put the tracks on the bottom of the hull before you put the top on!) with minimal detail and a very thin, snap-py looking gun.

However, the upside easily outweighs the above: ten tanks for under £20 that paint up very adequately for use on the tabletop. An absolute bargain, and I don't think they look too bad. Let me know what you think...

A bit blurred, but here's the Squadron HQ tank

And here's No 1 Troop

You can see them all in the British Desert War gallery (click here or use the navbar, above).

Here's an actual picture from the western desert. You can see that there's no divisional ID number on the front mudguard, and that there's an the 'added on' track guard along the sides...but otherwise it looks about the same. Camo scheme seems right, although I'm intrigued by the track guard colouring. Also love the tattoos on the bloke on the turret's forearms, and the pith helmets on the front deck!

TFL Painting Challenge: Tuesday Update

A Tuesday update for a change...mainly because I spent all last night watching Band of Brothers!

Today's achievements are from:

• Carole gets his act together and confirms the scale of his Anglo-Scottish Nine Years War Brigade from Lurkio
• Then adds loads of tanks and halftracks...not to the same army, I'm assured
• Mr Helliwell adds a couple of 15mm vehicles
• Benito sends in a lovely picture of an armoured car for the Spanish Civil War
• Mr Douglas adds some more Greeks (I'd love to repeat the joke about the elephants, but I try and keep the site as apolitical as possible!)
• Paul Baldwin, who probably can plow, adds some nice WoR men-at-arms and lots of teeny-tiny chaps from the desert
• Jon Yuengling with a big entry of planes and tanks in 6mm and 15mm
• New entrant "I'm Bruce" pops in a Sidney and a Finnish tank
• and Ashley adds some more sci-fi

Today's official pictures are from Benito (a Union Naval de Levante (UNL-35) armoured car for his Republican Army of the Spanish Civil War); newbie I'm Bruce (a Finnish tank); and Carole (the Anglo-Scottish Brigade).

Finally, one of the list above who shall remain nameless (no, it wasn't Carole) deserves a special mention for his attempts to claim for painting his mother-in-law's bedroom.

I was tempted to give him the points for a "building greater than 28mm", but then I remembered that in the past I've disallowed a greenhouse and a biscuit tin.

I know you all want to see it, so here it is:

Lovely.

Morris CS9 Armoured Cars

Keen to clear the painting table ready for my next major project (WW2 US Paras modelled on Band of Brothers' Easy Company), I've just finished a couple of British Morris CS9 armoured cars for the desert.

Nice little models these, from Battlefront, and with some nice detailing on the hull and crew figure. They will represent vehicles from 11th Hussars for Operation Compass.

TFL Painting Challenge: Saturday Night is the night for an update

Another huge batch of entries this week, from participants both old and new.

Some of the point scores being racked up already are incredible. It both bodes well for the challenge as a whole and inspires me to get my own finger out and finish the ten 15mm tanks sitting on my painting table.

Today's achievements are from:

• Regular Mr Yuengling with three Japanese tanks in 15mm
• Mr Baldwin with some literally small pickings
• The Mad Padre bursts onto the scene with three entries for January
• Matt Slade also adds three entries, including some SYW figures and the Ghostbusters (no controversy here: they are all of the male variety)
• Ralph Plowman plows on with his Fireforge knights (and yes, I'm sure he's heard that one before)
• Doug Melville reappears with a boxful of Wallachians and Hungarians
• Steve Burt adds a few more Makedonians
• Mr Ralls threatens to overwhelm his gallery with three more entries:  Bavarians, Wurttemburgers and a hotel for them to stay in
• Mr Luther adds some more of his lovely Japs and a double handful of 6mm vehicles
• Ashley Pollard also reappears...this time with some starships
• Newbie Andrew McCarthy adds some Italians and a KO'd T-34
• And the rather worryingly named 'Topyob' puts in seven 15mm vehicles and some British Guards.

There's another entry but as they (no names, no pack drill) forgot to let me know what scale the figures are and, unusually, I can't tell, they will have to wait!

Today's picture is from Mr McCarthy...the aforementioned Italians :

Just Published: Kampfgruppe von Luck for Chain of Command

Just a quick note: the TooFatLardies have just published the second of their pint-sized campaigns for the WW2 platoon-level game Chain of Command.

Here's what they say about them:

"Kampfgruppe von Luck is the second of our Pint-Sized campaigns for Chain of Command, designed to be played using the campaign handbook At the Sharp End.  

"Thirty pages long, Kampfgruppe von Luck contains an overview of the British airbrorne landings and the response of 21 Panzer Division on D-Day before then going on to present a mini-campaign covering the first counter-attack by Kampfgruppe von Luck, striking for the bridges on the Orne.   

"The campaign is a total of five game tables with the duration running between five and eight games.  Briefings are provided for both sides, along with measurable objectives, period maps, force and support option listings and everything you need to play this campaign through to its conclusion.  

"Like all of our Pint-Sized campaigns, this is available for the price of a pint in our local pub.  We're sure that you'll agree, that is great wargaming value!"

Hopefully the next Special will contain a conversion guide for IABSM!

You can order KvL by clicking here.