IABSM AAR: Royal Tanks

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I have been trying to use scenarios other than those I've written myself, so my latest game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! featured a game taken from the TFL Summer Special 2005 based on the Royal Tanks scenario adapted from Skirmish Campaigns by Tom Ballou.

The game was quite short:  involving me being completely tactically outsmarted and looking certain to lose until a sudden and very major reverse turned the tables on my opponent with devastating effect...on both his chances of winning and his temper!

Click on the picture below to see all:

6DW: Second UAR/Egyptian Platoon

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I'm gradually getting to the end of that section of the lead mountain devoted to the UAR or Egyptian forces for the Six Day War. Here's the second infantry platoon, leaving only one more infantry platoon, the Company HQ, finishing the recon tanks, and then what odd bits of support I decide that I need.

The only real pain is the transport for the infantry company. Getting enough of the right sort of truck is going to be expensive: so I shall have to wait until the next Battlefront 40%-off sale!

Anyway, here's another twenty-six infantrymen, painted as before:

TFL Painting Challenge: Entries Flooding In!

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Loads of entries again today: excellent work everybody!

In no particular order, we have:

  • Stumpy with a teeny bit of re-basing and a very nice Rourke's Drift lavatory
  • Chris Stoesen makes a welcome return with a building in 15mm
  • Ms Flint adds some bugs. I rather like them, and might get some myself
  • Mervyn goes up a couple of sizes with some Riders of Rohan
  • Mr Clarke, the man himself, pops in more than a handful of 28mm figures
  • Matt Slade makes his usual modest entry: 52 goblins and (in a Sheffield accent) a cave troll
  • Richard Naylor finishes his Egyptians and adds their mummy...I mean, adds a mummy
  • Mr Helliwell turns Russian, with a Soviet infantry platoon and supporting SU-122
  • And Mr Ralls proves he is still with us for this year's challenge with a mighty entry of various 28s

Today's pictures are one from Mr Clarke (I know which side my bread is buttered) and one from Mr Ralls:

He didn't say who they were, but here are some nice 28s from Mr Clarke

And here are Jason Ralls' Teutonic Knights. I do love a bit of Teutonic Knight!

Q13: Another New Manufacturer

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Well, I think a returning player rather than a brand-new one: Art Crime Productions.

ACP Games produce a small but beautifully realised range of sci-fi figures that they say are "nominally based on 15mm", with the final size dependent on the designs.

So far they have some what they call Characters, mostly infantry of a couple of different types; some rather nice looking Vehicles; and the start of a Makat Empire range that looks definitely worth investigating.

Here's one of their tanks: the Spartan:

TFL Painting Challenge: Big Update

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It seems like the end of January has driven you all out of hibernation: lots of entries submitted over the last few days.

In no particular order, we have:

  • Mr Naylor, with some Fez-wearing Egyptians
  • Mr Duffell joins us again with some In-juns and a few WW2 chaps as well
  • As does Keith Davies, but with some little buildings and some considerably bigger Napoleonics
  • Mark Luther takes a break from playing fantastic-looking Chain of Command games to submit some more micro-aircraft (click here to see his flickr album: very much worthwhile)
  • Treadhead also returns, also with some Napoleonics
  • Derek Hodge is another come-back king: with some nice looking guerillos and a host of re-based fantasy stuff
  • Sapper pops in some more Ancients
  • Mr Plowman sends in some great-looking sci-fi figures from Shapeways
  • And finally Kev continues his crusade to field every possible X-Wing spacecraft possible with another fleet's worth of entries

As usual, Scorecard will be updated tonight.

Today's pics? Treadhead's Napoleonics, Mr Luther's 'planes (well, some of them); and Derek's Guerillos:

Napoleonic British infantry from Treadhead

Continuing the Napoleonic theme, Derek Hodge's Spanish guerillos

And just a few of Mr Luther's 1/285 aircraft

IABSM AAR: Leningrad Lend-Lease

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Another excellent battle report from Joe Patchen: this time set on the Eastern Front in 1942. 

It's July 1942 and the Russians need to break the siege of Leningrad. A new batch of brand new American lend-lease armor has made its way through  U-boat infested waters to Murmansk and down by rail to the battle area. Into the maelstrom it is thrown...click on the picture below to see all.



Q13: New Figure Manufacturer

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Here's another new 15mm sci-fi figure manufacturer: White Dragon Miniatures.

Their first releases are for what their range background calls the Marine Tactical Units of the Earth Exploration Fleet. There are some nice looking infantry and tanks, and some enormous anthropomorphic walkers as well. 

The infantry are exquisite: highly detailed and nicely animated. The tanks look fairly standard to me (like squashed modern MBTs) but I am loving the Multiple Rocket Launcher System and Mobile Gun System: very innovative. The walkers...well, most of you will know what I think of giant humanoid robot-types with BFGs! That said, I have rather taken a fancy to the Armadillo Support Mech, and will probably buy a few to use with one of my existing armies.

TFL Painting Challenge: A Windy Sunday Update

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No walk down by the river for me today: far too cold, wet and windy. I shall just have to stay in and update the painting challenge, and then paint a few figures myself.

Today's entries, in no particular order are:

  • Carole with a couple of alien tanks
  • Fred Bloggs makes his first appearance of the year, complete with 28mm farm
  • As does Mr McCarthy: but with WW2 15s
  • Kev pops in another X-Wing pic: very bright, very shiny!
  • New entrant Garrett Gatzemeyer, the Double G, sends in his first ever submission: eight Anglo-Danish in 28mm
  • Mervyn continues his desert trip with some more British infantry and a couple of Mahdists
  • And, finally for today, Mr Helliwell has some nice Hetzers to add to his collection

Today's pics are from the Double G, his Anglo-Danish, and then Carole's Kra'vak alien tanks, as I'm in a Q13 mood at the moment...

IABSM AAR: The Shattered Town

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Great battle report for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! from Joe Patchen featuring a German assault on an American held town.

Click on the picture below to see the whole thing:

Incidentally, this AAR hasn't appeared elsewhere on the web: Joe sent me the images and words to be loaded specifically onto the Vis Lardica site. Anyone else who wants to do the same for any of the TFL company-sized games (IABSM, CDS, Q13) should feel free to follow suit. Prompt service guaranteed! E-mail me at admin@vislardica.com with the "deets" (as my daughters would say).

Google AdSense: Much Amusement!

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So some of you may have noticed that I've added Google AdSense to a couple of pages of the Vis Lardica site. Not exactly ready to retire yet on the proceeds (so far I've made enough to buy about half a 15mm tank!) but it's certainly quite an amusing journey.

AdSense looks at a combination of the content on the page and the cookies associated with you, the visitor, before deciding what ads to serve. Usually that means there's advertising for retirement products (oh, we are just so old, us wargamers)  or online computer games: not a bad match.

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Yesterday, however, you may have noticed that I posted about my latest painted unit: a UAR or Egyptian infantry platoon for the 6DW. 

What advertising do I see today?  

Yup:  "Date Arab Women" from arabmatchmaking.com!

Remind me never to post about Big CoC*

R

*Big Chain of Command

6DW: UAR (Egyptian) Infantry Platoon

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Now that I had broken the back of the vehicles needed for my UAR (Egyptian) force for the 6DW, it was time to start on the infantry. Platoons of twenty-six figures: three squads of eight plus a two-man Blindicide team.

These were standard Battlefront 15s, and painted up very nicely. Undercoat in Army Painter Skeleton Bone, then wash with GW Agrax Earthshade, then highlight with Foundry Raw Cotton (helmets); Vallejo Sand Yellow (Uniforms); with webbing in two shades of grey from GW. 

Only another two platoons and the Company HQ to go!

You can see the rest of my Six Day War Egyptians by clicking here.

TFL Painting Challenge: Thursday Update

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Unusual to have an update on a Thursday, I know, but plenty of entries have come in, and it's good not to be too predictable!

Today's entries, and there are some corkers, come from:

  • Jon Davenport with some AWI infantry painted whilst sheltering from the recent NY storms
  • Mr Plowman submits a downed walker (of the mech not white variety)
  • Oracle sends in some 28s and lots more 6mm figures
  • Chris Gilbride pops in his first entry for 2016 with some 20mm Germans
  • The Bowler Hat also makes a welcome reappearance: some very nice WOTR mounted knights and the start of his Romans
  • Doug Melville leaves Aeroneuf behind for the moment: sending in a trillion 15mm Franco-Scots from around 1421. Lovely stuff
  • And last, but never least, Kev treats us to another couple of his Star Wars models for X-Wing.

Todays pictures? Well I do like Oracle's 6mm stuff, so one of them; and then it has to be a couple of shots of Doug's Franco-Scots. Here they are:

Baccus SYW British in 6mm from Oracle

Scots Men At Ams from Doug Melville

French Men At Arms from Doug Melville

Highland Axemen, also from Doug Melville. See his gallery for the rest!

Q13: Vasseth in the Jungle

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Here's the final squad of Vasseth Strike Tanks for my 15mm Chuhuac army: this time painted up for jungle operations (matching the camo of the 1st Platoon).

These I painted in the same way as I do WW2 Soviet tanks, just added a lot more of the lighter colour dry-brushes. So they are sprayed in the Army Painter Soviet tank base coat, then washed with GW Agrax Earthshade , then dry-brushed with GW Loren Forest, and finally what used to be called GW Bleached Bone (I think it's now called Screaming Skull!).

Very easy: and the longest part of the process is waiting for the initial spray and then the wash to dry.

I am liking these very much, and can't wait to get them onto the tabletop.

Highly recommended!

Q13: Vasseth in the Desert

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As promised, here's the next batch of Vasseth Strike Tanks for my 15mm Chuhuac army. This squad is camouflaged for desert operations, matching the Chuhuac 2nd Platoon colouring.

Someone saw the command tank I posted yesterday, and asked me what I had used for a hover stand i.e. where did I source that little black post keeping the vehicle off the base.

It's actually a cut-down Chart Pin: you know, those flat headed pins available in different colours designed to be stuck into charts. The flat head makes it easy to push in, the fact it's a centimetre or so long and half a centimetre wide makes it easy to pull out!

These are ideal as hover stands: just the right height, and the flat head makes it easy to glue them to a flat bit of the underside of the vehicle. Even better, the bases are mdf, so if you leave a little stub when you cut the pin bit off (eye protection, please, as clipping them shoots the sharp bit in very unpredictable directions) you can push the stub into the wooden base as you glue it, giving you an even better bond.

Tomorrow I'll post the squad camouflaged for the jungle.

Sad News About A Good Friend

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I have just learnt that my good friend and wargaming buddy, Carlo Anziano, passed away yesterday after a long and hard-fought battle with cancer.

I first met Carlo at Salford University, and enjoyed many, long gaming sessions with him: mostly roleplay, with some of the Call of Cthulu games being the best I have ever played. I still recall the session at my somewhat grim digs in Gilda Crescent Road, played at night, with the lights dimmed low, that ended up being so frightening that Tina, Carlo's girlfriend and then lifelong partner and then wife, wouldn't go down the corridor to the loo on her own!

Carlo is in the centre, wearing the Motorhead T-shirt

Our friendship continued after uni, still centred around gaming as well as the usual meet ups at weddings and the like. There was a particularly good Flashing Blades campaign, I remember, where Carlo's character, the laconic if immensely strong Sergeant LeGros, battled a maddened bear deep underground, providing the delay needed for his comrades to escape...and picking up a new bear-claw necklace in the process!

After our uni group got busy with careers and families and the like, I still met Carlo at almost every wargaming show I went to. Salute, Colours, Warfare and others. He was usually with his friends of the Huntingdon Wargames Society, putting on and playing in a spectacular game with many of his own figures on show. We always found time for a chat and a catch-up, and usually a beer or two too. It was good: the natural order of things, something to look forward to. I shall miss him.

My utmost sympathies go out to Carlo's family, other friends and, of course, Tina. 

 

Q13: Vasseth Strike Tanks for the Chuhuac

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One of my favourite sci-fi ranges are the Chuhuac from Loud Ninja Games. These are like mini velociraptors with body armour and guns, and paint up really beautifully.

Up until now, however, the only armoured support they have had is from what are called 'Battlesuits' : one man fighting vehicles with a big gun and missile launcher on top and a couple of small guns in front. Nice, but not proper tanks!

Now, however, that gap is filled with the release of the Vasseth Strike Tanks. These are wedge-shaped hover vehicles with the same asymmetric armament as the Battlesuits. I bought seven of them: one squad of three for each of my platoons, and one for the Company HQ.

The models come with loads of different armament options. I used the big main gun for them all, and added either a twin-barrelled autogun or a small missile launcher to all except the Company HQ vehicle: that one I fitted with a much larger missile launcher that I found in the bit box.

Here it is:

Watch this space for the jungle and desert camouflaged versions coming up tomorrow and Wednesday!