Sunday 16 February 2014

Rain stopped Play.

 Well kind off. That is to say There was a game at "posties" but I could not attend. As I do not drive (my eyes are just not up to it!) As a consequence I am reliant on public transport. Yes I know it's a git! Anyway the game started at 10 am and British Rail (Southeast Rail) had cancelled several trains before 11am due to the persistent bad weather. So other than getting a taxi each way (and who can afford that) I was forced to pull out. I feel bad about it, but what can you do. I gave Postie as much warning as I possibly could. So not much else I could do!

So all my plans for yesterday went up in smoke and I was left feeling like I could not concentrate on painting. I did try a little of course, but really not too much progress I just was not in the mood. I had already submitted my "Casualty Bonus Round Figure" For Curt's painting challenge so I was not forced to paint. Therefore I had a day off.

Or did I? I did re-base some tanks for the planned Spanish Civil war game which being honest did not take long. But it did need doing so not a waste of time.

So the "Tread Heads" out there will no doubt be able to identify them. Yes 3 Russian T 26, The most common tank of the SCW, and probably the best. It is interesting , I think, to note that Russian Communist tanks in this conflict were mostly painted dark grey, while German, Fascist tanks were painted Green. The exact opposite of the colour schemes used in the second world war 2 years later. For many people this will make no difference at all and indeed for wargamers it also makes no difference.

As well as there being few Tanks there were also very few Mortars. Additionally they used a WW1 tactical doctrine. As opposed to a much more mobile WW2 approach. Thus when mortars were set up they were not planned to move during a battle. I think this might catch a few players out. Specially if they are used to playing WW2 games.

The last things I rebased were these Italian Tankettes. They are considerably smaller and lighter than the T26 with just a 2 man crew.

One last thing Ray Lee and Fran should be aware of is that the tanks were usually owned and operated by the Army. While that may sound totally obvious in any Civil war the Army is but one faction. I have 17 SCW army lists, all of which may (or may no) have armoured vehicles assigned to them. But they would be operated by the Army personnel.

That's it for today. I hope to be a little more productive with the paint brush and jig saw today.

All the best Clint





21 comments:

  1. I am sorry about that, I had planned to pop into town yesterday only to find a gang of National Rail chaps digging up the station! Best laid plans and all that, eh!

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  2. Yes if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans. Thank you Michael.

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  3. Oh, I know how you feel (I really do this time!) :D :D

    As for the miniatures, those are tiny! I'm always happy to see some of those Italian tankettes. So cute!

    I have studied SCW tank doctrines for my MA, if you want I can find you a pair of nice articles about their use?
    Out of the head:
    Tanks cooperate with infantry, except they get over zealous and advance ahead of it. Then they should return, but they rarely did and whole attack got pretty much stopped.
    German tankers were told not to engage soviet tanks (MG vs. AT gun sort of a problem :D).
    Italians at least once chased T-26 in their flamethrower L3. It didn't work.
    Tanks got completely trashed by even the lightest AT guns.
    Tanks were never used in groups bigger than 50 vehicles.
    They were great for morale, however. Shattering enemy's and boosting own troops' morale.

    So playing tank the correct way, you should only point it "vorwarts" if my German is any good :D. Avanti!

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    1. Thank You Mathyoo. I would not say I had studied Tank tactics in the SCW. My reading does agree with all that you have said. I just want the players to realise that Tanks will be effective but not monster weapons and for some part out of their control.

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  4. Nevermind mate. At least you got a fair bit of work done.

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    1. Thank you Simon I was hoping for a good game but how often do we all get what we want.

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  5. Shame you missed the game Clint, but at least you managed to get something wargamy done instead!

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    1. Yeah I'm Gutted, but I will no doubt see you all at Cavalier. I have even bought the ingredients for Fudge. See you next weekend mate.

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  6. Ah, the best laid plans and all that. I feel your pain, Clint. Still, at least your day wasn't a total washout. I spent most of yesterday painting figures and made great progress in finishing off ten of the blighters. That's ten less from my lead mountain. Yay, me!

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    1. Yay you! I am gonna paint a few bits today. Some 28mm Figures for horror games! Should get them done for next weekend and on the challenge for a few extra points! Nice One Bryan.

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  7. Clint

    Bad luck on the transit issues. OK I gotta ask - if your eyes aren't up to driving how are you able to paint so well - it is a distance thing?
    Cheers and love the itsy-bitsy tanks
    PD

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    1. Yes I am very short sighted. So anything within 8 inches is great focus....... and it rapidly goes very fuzzy beyond that.

      Thank you Peter

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    2. I figured that might be it - your close up vision is very good obviously.
      PD

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    3. Yes I am seriously short sighted.

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  8. What a bummer, having your awayday cancelled. These things are sent to try us.
    I always looked at the SCW as a pre-liminary trial of tactics for WW2, those that didn't work were ditched or changed.
    Good luck getting a game sorted soon.

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    1. I agree it was a trial run for certain countries. And just as things changed from 1939-45, so they also evolved in the SCW. Thank you Jo.

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  9. You definitely made a decent attempt for the game, but your other efforts have been fruitful. Must be pretty heavy weather to cancel trains. Best, Dean

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    1. Yeah, last time it was a land slip and trees had fallen on the line. But no details from yesterday. Still it can't be helped. Thank you Dean.

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  10. Thank you Loki. Yeah shame about the game but had more of a productive day today. Finished 2 figures ready to base, prepped 48 15mm GZG IF troops and moved about 3 other things on. So progress has been made.

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  11. Bad luck, for sure; I'm sorry that you missed your game.

    SCW isn't something I'm likely to do myself, so I'm very interested to see what you make of it. Looking good so far!

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