Karim van Overmeire and the Stipsicz Hussars are continuing to play through the Operation Sealion scenario pack, this time they fight scenario #02: Rearguard at Pevensy.
Will the British hold the bridges, or will the fearsome Hun get in amongst them? Click on the picture below to find out all…
Morning all. Here’s this week’s update to the Painting Challenge, and not an April Fools amongst them.
In no particular order, we have:
Mark Luther updates his gallery with some pictures of all the Sugar Islands figures he’s been painting
Blue Moose Ken sends in his usual eclectic mix of figures
There are some Orc archers and BEF supports from Travis
Mr Slade has finished off his Belgian Chasseurs for 1940, and reports that (unbelievably) his newly painted troops have won a victory on their first outing
More Condotteri ride into Carole’s collection
And more of the usual from Mr Helliwell
Jon Yuengling has some early war Germans and Dutch in 15mm for us to see
And last, but by no means least, Stumpy bases some Zulus and paints some nuns!
As usual, clicking on the name of the person in the list above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window).
Now, before the pictures, a confession: I haven’t had a chance to update the scorecard with all the points generated form the above yet. I could have done it last night, but chose to finish off some Jagdpanzer IV tank hunters instead! I’ll try and get it done tonight.
So, on to today’s piccies:
Those of you who have the The Defence of Calais scenario pack for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum, and those who have read the Blitzkrieg: The BEF theatre supplement, will know that during the fall of France campaign the British were often forced to use Searchlight Infantry (i.e. line of communication troops whose purpose was to help anti-aircraft units hit enemy ‘planes by shining big searchlights into the sky) in the front line.
Up to now, unfortunately, there’s been no way to differentiate Searchlight Infantry from normal, run-of-the-mill types: after all, they wore the same basic uniform. Now, however, at least in 28mm, Sarissa Precision Ltd has produced a portable searchlight and generator.
Now the model is actually not quite right for the Searchlight Regiments (they used the searchlights either mounted on trucks, or carried on lorries with a slightly different stand) but is the closest thing I have seen so far.
Credit where credit is due: I didn’t see this on the Sarissa site, but on the Bad Squiddo games site, where Annie has created a Home Front female crew for the spotlight, and is selling the Sarissa model for them to, er, man.
Apologies if you’ve seen this before (the model is not marked as a new release on the Sarissa site) but I thought it worth mentioning. You never know, Sarissa might produce a 15mm version as a result or, equally good, Annie might start doing some of her Soviet female infantry in 15mm!
Dan Albrecht has posted a retrospective battle report onto the IABSM Facebook group.
The game is an adaptation of the Skirmish at Grandcamp scenario from the Skirmish Games scenario book Heroes of Omaha and Panzer Lehr .
Click on the picture below to see all:
Tim Whitworth and the Like a Stonewall Wargames Group had a second go at the “Attack on San Marco” scenario from the “Cymru Am Byth” scenario pack.
Rather than start a new AAR, I’ve added the words and pics to the bottom of their first attempt.
Click on the picture below to see all:
As it’s only been a week since the last update, the number of entries to be processed since week remained with the “normal” bracket, even given a huge first entry of the year from John de Terre Neuve.
So, in no particular order, we have:
Andrew Helliwell makes his usual weekly deposit: more SYW figures and a couple of WoR biggies
There’s a lovely 28mm garage from John Emmett
Travis rocks up with some orcs and some skeletons
Massive entry from Matt Slade: the start of a Belgian Chasseurs Ardennais platoon and more AWI
Another massive entry, this time in 10mm from Sapper with his Western Desert forces
And then it’s time for the truly massive first entry of the year from John de Terre Neuve. A mixture of 28mm fantasy and 1/72nd scale WW2
Carole has some more Condotteri
The Hat is back with more ships: the rest of the Japanese Fleet box…well worth a look
More Star Wars from Chris Kay
And last but not least, some Saracens from Steve Burt
Actually that was a pretty big set of entries this week after all!
As usual, clicking on the name of the person above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window).
Here are today’s pictures:
Another great battle report by Carojon and the Devon Wargames Group.
This time they have ventured into the Western Desert, with a version of the battle for Longstop Hill: the encounter that opened the way for the final Allied advance on Tunis.
What’s great about this AAR is that the forces are detailed as well: so it will be easy for you to replay this encounter yourselves should you want to.
Click on the picture below to see all:
Yes, it’s another Russian church: the eighth in my collection.
This one comes from Mark IV Miniatures’ Fury on the Steppes range, and is quite lovely.
The church is in three bits. The base, up to the height of the thatch, the smaller roof, and the larger roof with spire. There’s plenty of room for figures in the base: I reckon you could easily fit a platoon of infantry in there.
What I particularly like is the detail:
You can see that the “onion” is thatch held in place by strips of what I’ve painted as metal; and that the roof, tower and ornamental woodwork really enhance its look.
Recommended.
A quick, pictorial battle report from Mike Whitaker’s blog Trouble at T’Mill, featuring his newly painted half-tracks. Click on the pic below to see all.
Matthew Matic and friends ran a game of IABSM at Cold Wars this year. Click on the pic below to see a few photos, including one that shows just how much kit goes into to putting on a demonstration game of this quality…
I’m happy to add any other pictures or info people have about the game: usual address of admin@vislardica.com.
It’s been ages since we saw anything from the Stipsicz Hussars, our friends in Belgium/Flanders, so I was really pleased when the following battle report dropped into my Inbox.
Here we see the first game from the Operation Sealion scenario pack: the British defending a vital bridge against assault from German Paratroopers.
Click on the picture below to see all, and it’s great to see the next generation of wargamers pushing lead round the table…
It’s hard to reach the middle of the table when you’re only nine!
Regular visitors will know that I have a thing for 15mm Russian churches.
I have six already, and when I posted pictures of them all (see post here) claiming to have all that are available, several people were kind enough to point out the ones missing from my collection.
The first of these is a truly enormous building from Total Battle Miniatures. It’s not so much that it has a big footprint, but more the height of the thing. It goes up for ever! That’s a BA-64 armoured car for comparison.
It is a nice model, though, and very easy to paint. Spray brown, drybrush in a lighter brown, wash, highlight with Screaming Skull, wash again, and then paint in the bits you want: I did the windows, window frames, door frame and the “onions”!
The piece actually comes in three parts. A base, the bit that goes on top of that, and then the roof of the tower with the “onions”. Each is made to take figures, so you can pop your FOO in position without difficulty.
Recommended.
I know no army is ever really complete, but my 15mm Sassanid Persians are now effectively so. I have all the cataphracts, heavy cavalry and light cavalry allowed, and now have two deep units of Sassanid foot as well.
These have been sitting on the painting table for far too long and were effectively blocking me from getting anything done: whilst they were there, I didn’t want to start anything new; and yet the thought of painting them just caused my mojo to flee!
Anyway, they are done now, so hopefully the block is cleared…
Which is what happens when you leave it for a week and a half!
Some great looking entries this week, so recommended you take a look.
In no particular order, we have:
Mark Luther continues with his Sugar Islands painting in 15mm
Carole does a few more Gendarmes, and paints the Bad Squiddo female Soviets. Great looking figures, if only Annie did them in 15mm!
There’s Ken’s usual mix of figures: Gauls, fantasy, Ancients and Native Americans
And talking of usual, Andrew Helliwell sends in some more Prussians, some more WoR and some more home-made terrain
But Travis, on the other hand, branches out: yes, there’s a German howitzer, but there’s also a whole load of 28mm fantasy figures as well
Jon Yuengling pops in a bridge and some FJ machine gunners
Chris Cornwell sends in a very impressive looking unit of forty-eight 28mm Sarmation cataphracts
Some of you may remember I told Sapper to remember that there’s no such thing as a finished army…I rest my case!
Steve Burt grips the beast with four Mongols
Mervyn is still back in Middle Earth with what must now be just about a one-to-one recreation of the Riders of Rohan
There’s a big entry from big Matt Slade (I got the shirt BTW, thanks)
Mr Plowman can’t decide if he’s painting terrain or aircraft…or is it both?
And last, but by no means least, Stumpy makes his first appearance of the year
As per usual, clicking on the name of the person will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window). Here are today’s pictures:
Captain Cliche and friends have played another game based on one of the scenarios from the late war Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack.
This time, they have adapted scenario #5D (or scenario #5N): Near Vcheva. This is an encounter battle as two armoured forces meet to contest a vital junction.
Click on the pick below to see all:
Another great 20mm IABSM game from the Like a Stone Wall Wargames Group.
This one is set in Italy in July 1944, and represents the British attack on San Marco.
Click on the pic below to see all:
Another week flies by, meaning it’s time for another update to the TooFatLardies Painting Challenge.
It’s somewhat ironic that this year’s challenge is proving so immensely popular, with loads of entries every week, at a time when I haven’t picked up a brush for a fortnight: family matters, martial arts and a new job keeping me incredibly busy.
I went into the wargaming room last night to find figures on the table set up for photography from a month ago. But, then, that’s this hobby for you: it ebbs and flows like the tides (in the few months before Christmas I was gaming twice a week) but, like the wine-dark sea, is always there, washing in and out as a background to daily life.
So, for the moment, I will have to live vicariously through the Challenge, so here are this week’s entries:
Chris Kay has painted an awful lot of 15mm tanks
Travis fills in some more holes in his 28mm WW2 collection
Jon Yuengling is still in Blitzkrieg mode: some Dutch, some Germans, some Home Guard
It’s more sugar plantation madness from Mark Luther
The first of today’s first entries of the year: Doug Melville is back with some lovely 28mm WW2 figures
Andy Duffell is still in fantasy land
It’s more Seven Years War from Andrew Helliwell
Mervyn is still in Rohan
And Lloyd is still sailing on the Cruel Seas
Carole sends in some more Condottieri
Our second first entry of the year, Chris Stoesen, has some rather nice houses for us to enjoy
And last, but by no means least, John Emmett sends in a little collage of a ruined house
As usual, clicking on the name of the person above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window).
Here are today’s pictures:
Those of you who know me will know that although I can paint a not-bad-looking tank or little soldier, my talents where terrain is concerned are severely lacking.
Not for me the expertise of Mr Clarke: I read the TFL blog with amazement not just at the results but at the effort and work that goes into getting those results. At least when you’re painting a tank or a figure, the construction is mostly done for you.
This weekend just gone, however, saw me putting all the above aside as I assisted in the making of a huge terrain piece. Not for the wargaming table, I hasten to add, but for my daughter’s castle project.
Last term it was Stamford Bridge and Hastings; this term, castles. It sounds as if those who decide what she has to learn in history are finally getting it right!
So which castle did the little flower choose to build? A nice little motte and bailey perhaps? An even simpler hill fort? No, she chose Castle Gaillard: a huge Norman monstrosity from, appropriately, Normandy built between 1196 and 1198 for Richard the Lionheart.
Here’s what the historians reckon it looked like:
Errrr…that’s quite a big castle to build out of cardboard boxes, cereal packets and toilet roll centres.
Well, this is what she came up with. I helped a bit, but the design and construction concepts were all hers:
That’s a 4’ by 3’ bit of foamboard BTW
Now that is definitely recognizable as Gaillard, and I have immediately promoted her to chief terrain maker for me!
This is what the castle looks like now:
PS Now I find out that she could have built the thing in Minecraft. Might have been a tad easier and less of a strain on my wargaming supplies!
Another large update this week, so let’s waste no more time and just jump right on in:
Mr Clarke makes a welcome return with a huge 800-point submission from Malaya and Singapore
Travis has some more Brits for France 1940 for us to admire
John Emmett had a host of tastily painted Germans to fight Travis’ Brits
It’s a bit of a mixture from Mervyn: 15’s re-basing and 28’s painting
Carole alliterates some Condotteri
Finally a non-Star Wars entry from Chris Kay
The Hat, Mr Lloyd Bowler, has truly huge numbers of 6mm ACW figures to submit, plus some very nice modern patrol boats
There’s more SYW Caribbean painting from Mr Luther
Steve Burt starts a new project: Saracens
John Yuengling paints some more German tanks in 15mm
Sapper claims to have finished his Normans…although there’ s obviously no such thing as a finished army!
And last, but by no means least, there’s Mr Helliwell: with his usual SYW and WoR submission
As per usual, clicking on the name of the person in the list above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window). Here are today’s pictures:
This weekend just gone, John, Dave, Bevan and I re-fought the Battle of the Bulge scenario that we played a couple of years ago. You can read the AAR for that game here (opens in a new window).
I played the Germans in that one, but played the Allies today. A cracking game that was action, action, action from the moment battle was joined.
Click on the picture below to see all:
Vis Lardica is a website devoted to wargaming and military history, with a special emphasis on the company-sized rulesets produced by the TooFatLardies: I Ain't Been Shot Mum (WW2); Charlie Don't Surf (Vietnam); and Quadrant 13 (science fiction)
Welcome to Vis Lardica, a not-for-profit website mostly dedicated to the company-sized wargaming rules produced by the TooFatLardies, but encompassing my other gaming interests as well.
If you need to contact me, you can do so at:
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