TFL Painting Challenge: Week 9

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Well the ninth update even if it isn't exactly week nine.

Another good-sized batch of entries so, in no particular order, we have:

  • Lardy stalwart Chris Stoesen rather unbelievably sends in his first entry ever for the challenge: some lovely eastern front terrain
  • Mr Naylor sends in some Germans to inhabit that terrain
  • Ever-present Matt Slade has been sowing the Hydra's teeth
  • Mr Luther is back to painting little 'planes, lots of little 'planes
  • Chris Kay has some vikings for us to admire
  • Carole might be playing some ASL, so has painted up some GZG sci-fi figures in preparation
  • Another newbie, Craig MacNeill, has some WW1 Canadians for us to see
  • And Mr Weathersby also enters for the first time: a couple of 1/1200 ships. That rigging must have taken ages...still only 12 points per ship though
  • Keith Davies prepares for Arnhem with a couple of German big cats
  • And last, but by no means least, here's John Haines with some more AWI militia

Today's pictures are:

Here's Chris Stoesen's terrain for the eastern front

One of Brian's lovely 1/1200 ships:  hand-rigged!

Chris Kay's vikings in 28mm

Carole's Space Marines in 15mm

Something for the Weekend? Try April 9th

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I was flicking through Netflix the other night, trying to find something that I hadn't seen already, and came across the film April 9th: a Danish movie about the German invasion of Denmark on April 9th 1940.

Here's a slightly edited version of the IMDB plot summary: 

"In the early morning of April 9th 1940, the Danish army is put on full alert: the Germans have crossed the border and Denmark is now at war against Europe's strongest army. In Southern Jutland, Danish bicycle- and motorcycle troops are ordered to hold back the invaders until reinforcements can be mobilized. We follow Second Lieutenant Sand (played by Pilou Asbæk) and his bicycle company as they become the first Danish soldiers to meet the enemy in combat."

The film is rather good actually. It doesn't rush to get to the action, it doesn't judge the folly of sending men on bicycles (yes, really) to confront what others would call the blitzkrieg, and it doesn't contain Pearl Harbour-like unrealistic and fictional acts of heroism. It just portrays what happens to a platoon of bicycle troops who have to go to war, mad-looking helmets and all.

That said, the action sequences are superbly done. You can really feel the tension as the platoon waits in ambush for the German recon elements to arrive. You really get a sense that, actually, what they are doing is bloody dangerous.

The noise of the enemy bullets zipping past; the sight of LMG bullets plinking off the paintwork of an SdKfz 222 armoured car; what happens when you split your men up to cover both ends of a narrow street (a lot of running backwards and forwards to try and keep abreast of what's happening): it's all done really very well...and don't get me started on their changing-a-bicycle-tyre training drills.

Maybe not a film that's going to pack out movie theatres (not that it's on anymore: it's a 2015 film) and set the world on fire, but well worth watching, especially if you're into early war gaming

IABSM AAR: The Bridge at Urk

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Nice to see someone playing a scenario from Vyazma or Bust! 

Here, fellow Lardy Vaggelis plays #2A: The Bridge at Urk in 6mm. Will the Germans manage to find a way through to outflank Sychevka? Will the Soviet commander survive the disgrace of his last battle? It all happens around the bustling metropolis that is Urk.  Click on the pic below to see the story unfold...

You can visit Vaggelis' excellent looking blog Wargames and History by clicking here.

CDS AAR: Operation Frontier

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Charles Eckart has sent through a nice little Charlie Don't Surf! after action report. 

Here we see the US carrying out a Search & Destroy mission: a company of 173 Brigade infantry reinforced by three ACAV tracks and three M48A3 tanks searches for the newly arrived NVA 95B regiment that is trying to establish a base in South Viet Nam near the Cambodian border.

It is an unusual game, in that the PAVN forces are strong enough to put up a semi-conventional fight combined with guerrilla tactics. 

Click on the pic below to see all:

Xar: Infantry Almost Finished

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Quick bit of painting done whilst I wait for my next batch of Poles to arrive: two more nine-man squads of Xar, the 15mm Critters from GZG.

Just one more squad to go (the Critters in hand-to-hand, martial arts poses!) and then I think I have enough Xar infantry for the moment. Just got to think what armour to get them now...

IABSM AAR: The Defence of Arras

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Many of you will have seen some of Egg's beautiful models in the pictures from the TFL Painting Challenge. Here's a chance to actually see them in action, with a quick AAR covering Scenario #01 from the Cymru Am Byth Welsh Guards scenario pack: the Defence of Arras.

Click on the pic below to see all:

TFL Painting Challenge: possibly the Biggest Update Ever!

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A truly enormous update to the painting challenge this week. I'm just glad I've had a chance to upload it all before the start of the rugby!

Right, here goes:

  • Steve Burt with some Ancients, and I've re-loaded his missing pic from last time
  • Mervyn with some Middle-Earth elves and peacekeeping Crusaders
  • Matt 'the machine' Slade, obviously, with some more Napoleonic Rifles and a couple of handfuls of mythical Greeks: harpies and minotaurs
  • Egg completes (allegedly) his Cold War Brits: lots of squishies and a 'plane
  • Mr Yuengling has gone all Aeroneuf this week
  • Jon Davenport sends in his first entry of the year...and it's enormous: enough 15mm Napoleonics to fill the largest of tables
  • And so does Kev: same century, different era...but enough 15mm ACW figures to fill the other half of the table
  • Mr Naylor pops in some 15mm German weapons teams
  • And Carole sends in a British platoon who might oppose them
  • Mr Plowman sends in his usual eclectic mix
  • Derek Hodge is also of the WW2 mindset, but in 10mm rather than 15mm. Lovely figures.
  • Andrew Helliwell has gone all ACW, with some foot and guns
  • The Mad Padre has been spreading the love with some campsites painted for a friend
  • John Haines is still in the AWI: more British infantry
  • And last, but by no means least, Cabey Cabey has a few more beautiful Nappies for us to admire

So many pictures to choose from...here are today's selection:

A brace of 10mm 88's from Mr Hodge

Egg's Harrier

Reb Commanders from Kev

More Nappies from Cabey Cabey

Mr Plowman's walker

New Scenario Pack for Chain of Command

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Chris Stoesen, author of the Campaign for Greece, Call this a Ruddy Picnic (East Africa), and In the Name of Roma scenario packs for IABSM, has just published a new supplement for Chain of Command.

For those interested, here are the details:

"The Campaign for Kharkov contains two pint sized campaigns. One covers the advance of the German 57th Infantry Division and the other the German 101st Light Division. The attack came in October of 1941. This city would be the site of three major battles for the city. The interesting aspect of the October 1941 battle is in the nature of the troops involved. The Soviets had superiority in armor. The Germans advanced with only a single STUG battalion in support of the 57th ID. The Soviets fielded the T34 as well as several improvised armored vehicles such as the KhTZ-16. While not a success on the battlefield, it demonstrated the Soviet inventiveness under the extreme pressure of the blitzkrieg.

"There are twelve total scenarios in the campaign. Full force lists are available for both German Divisions and the Soviet troops present. Maps are based on aerial reconnaissance photographs taken by German troops in September 1941.

"The scenarios are availible from my blog at $6.00 US. PayPal the money to cstoesen@corecard.com and I will email you the PDF. Or you can order them from Wargames Vault for an instant download for $7.00 US.

Note that a Kindle and a hard copy will be available on Amazon within the next couple of days. Stay tuned."

Click to go to Wargames Vault

Click to go to Chris' blog
 

Polish Mounted Commanders

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Following on from my "Don't Forget the Officers" post, below, here are three mounted commanders for my WW2 Polish cavalry:

These are not actually Polish officers at all, but the remainder of the German mounted command pack from Peter Pig with a head swap into rogatywkas.

You can't see it very well from this angle, but the headgear they are wearing aren't peaked caps but  rogatywkas: from the other side, they have a lovely mortarboard like flat surface that makes them quite distinctive.

The head swaps are, of course, because Peter Pig doesn't do a Polish range (but maybe they should, eh?) and I didn't want to buy an entire company of cavalry from either Battlefront or FiB just to get a few commanders.

Head swapping, btw, is really easy. All you need is a pair of clippers and a pin drill...oh, and some new heads from Peter Pig. Just snip the old head off, drill a hole where you want the neck to be, glue in the new head. It really is that simple.

Here's the two figures together:

TFL Painting Challenge: Update Seven

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A very slightly slower week this week, but still masses of entries.

In no particular order, we have:

  • The Mad Padre with some Falcata Napoleonic Spanish Light Infantry
  • Two Grand Manner manors from Sapper
  • Chris Kay pops in a huge Warbases building and a Humber armoured car, both in 28mm
  • We have some CoC jump-off points from Carole, along with some rather nice late war German infantry, all in 15mm
  • John Haines is back with some early Continental line infantry from Warlord
  • The Great Gatzemeyer has gone all Dropzone Commander on us
  • Cabey Cabey doesn't forget the pawns: some lovely Napoleonic 'minor characters'
  • A fan of Gaming Models, Jon Yuengling sends in three and a gun
  • and last, but by no means least, Mr Helliwell has some AWI Hessians for us to look at

A quick set of today's pictures, as I have AARs to post:

Cabey Cabey's 'minor characters'

Mark Luther's Burma terrain, claimed in the last update but only just now photographed

I do like Dropzone Commander kit, just wish it was 15mm

Some of Carole's Germans

Lebanon 1982 AAR using IABSM/CDS

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I'm loving adding all the modern AARs using IABSM and/or CDS: some really nice photography of some really nice models.

Here's a quick AAR from Jon Yuengling's excellent blog, Basement Games, dating back to November 2010. The IDF are trying to rescue a downed pilot from in amongst the Syrian militia. Click on the pic to see all...

Never Forget the Officer!

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Regular visitors will remember that I recently painted up a couple of squads of Peter Pig WW2 German cavalry that I'm using as early war mounted scouts:

Although you can see the squad commanders (two of them, furthest row) you'll note the absence of Big Man to lead the platoon forward. Well that's because as I was ordering them I was thinking that I had plenty of German Big Men, so wouldn't need any more. Problem is, of course, that although I have Big Men, I don't have any mounted Big Men!

This is where Peter Pig really come into their own. You can buy four "German Mounted Officers" in a pack rather than with, say, Battlefront, having to buy a whole blister or make some sort of never-arriving special order.

So here's the Big Man to lead the mounted scouts forward. Face looks vaguely familiar...

Q13: More Xar Line Infantry

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Just a quick post today to showcase the latest nine-being squad to come off the Xar production line:

Note that this lot include the first of the squad commanders: painted up with the gloves-of-rank, but without the red edge to the base indicating a Big Man.

Only eighteen more Xar to go to give me two full three-squad platoons!

Cold War AAR using IABSM

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Some of you will remember that I use a variant of CDS to wargame battles from the Six Day War. Other people also use the core IABSM and CDS systems to fight other periods in history, especially those campaigns that we wargamers call 'Moderns': Yom Kippur and other later Arab/Israeli conflicts, the Cold War, the Falklands and more.

So today I've added a page where all these AARs can be collected together. It's under the CDS section in the NavBar at the top...and the first AAR to appear is an excellent 1984 Cold War game from Egg:  Stellingbostal.

Click on the picture below to see if the British can hold the village in the face of the Soviet steamroller...

Q13: Xar Officers etc

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I'm really driving through the Xar at the moment, mainly because I know there's a big Battlefront order on its way, and I want to clear the painting table before it arrives!

Today's offering are the Xar officers and specialists:

First up are the Xar Big Men (above). Note the natty gloves: they are what I decided to use to indicate rank, as the Xar don't appear to affect any other form of clothing or insignia, and only the command-type figures where gloves.

Next up (below) are half the specialists: probably to be used as FOOs to bring in some off-table artillery.

Then we have some of the most important chaps: the drone operator specialists, along with two general purpose GZG drones that have been, er, purposed for the Xar. 

These look so good, that I might actually get a couple more of each type, giving me two platoons of three drones each. The Xar shown, by the way, is for size comparison only.

TFL Painting Challenge: Sixth Update of the Year

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A quieter week this week, but still plenty of new submissions.

In no particular order, we have:

  • Lloyd "The Hat" Bowler with his first entry of the year: a zillion little 'planes and some much bigger Romans
  • Sapper spans the ages: New Kingdom Egyptians, Grenzers and a  couple of cracking 15mm helicopters
  • It's scenery time for Mr Luther: some more for Burma and even more the winter
  • Cabey Cabey submits some rather nice Austrian Jaegers...and their dog
  • Mr Yuengling sends in some 15mm WW2 Home Guard (I've actually just been watching 'Dad's Army' on the tv)
  • Matt Slade has already amassed an amazing amount of points. To this total he now adds some Cacadores and a large number of fantasy figures
  • Andy Duffell also mixes and matches his periods: some great looking 28mm WW2 vehicles accompany a Dropship Commander troopship
  • And last, but by no means least, Mr Helliwell submits yet more Thirty Years War foot 

Today's pictures?  See below:

Cabey Cabey's Jaegers

Sapper's 15mm choppers!

Andy Duffell's 38(t)s

The Hat's fleet of aircraft