Friday 31 October 2014

Mine Detector.

A single 20mm "Britannia" modern British mine detector.
I bought this at the Selwg show (I now have 2 of these). The reason I have two is that I know that more than one metal detector is available in a "Mastiff". I am the first to admit I am not any kind of expert on the British army but I thought to have a spare just made sense in a wargame.

Long time members of this blog will remember that I have a modern Afghanistan conflict set up (Both British and Taliban).So clearly this figure will join the rest. I did originally use the Ambush alley rules but for me they really were not what I was looking for. I mean they were good and they worked but for me in this type of game they were the wrong choice. They used squads and I wanted individual figures. WE are looking at small skirmish actions of just a few fire teams being ambushed, or 2 teams doing a patrol type games, or securing a compound. Not platoon or company type actions. Ambush alley was therefore for me aimed at the wrong scale of game.


So Having had a flick through the glossy rules (stocked by Empress miniatures at SELWG) I succumbed to buying the PDF version of the Skirmish Sangin rules by "Radio Dish Dash",  a New Zealand Company. In Retrospect buying the PDF might have been a mistake as it has cost me a lot to print out the 173 full colour pages. I am still reading the rules but so far I do like them they are clear and easy to follow. I may well do a review of the rules at a later time.

So at least you know one thing I am planning!

Thanks for looking today. I will post the next turn report tomorrow.
Until then take care and enjoy whatever the day has in store for you.

Cheers Guys.
Clint out!

21 comments:

  1. Clint, did you ever watch "Bluestone 42" on BBC3? Although it was a comedy, it was very accurate on the military details of a modern mine and bomb disposal unit. I loved that series and seeing your figure I was instantly reminded of it.

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    1. I never did see it. Probably worth a look if I can find it. Thank you Bryan

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  2. Great figure and nicely realised - terrifying job though! Nothing but respect for the chaps that undertake that line of work.

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    1. I know someone doing Mine clearance in Sudan at the moment. Yeah tough job! Thank you Michael.

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  3. I don't imagine it fills the first guy doing mine detection with much confidence, knowing that there's a spare available :-) !

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    1. LMAO! I had the feeling that they would work in tandem and not be used as a substitute. Thanks C6.

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  4. Have you got one in a bomb proof suit as well, I also seen the bomb disposal robots somewhere. Nice job Clint.

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    1. Thanks Bob I have a bomb disposal set and a guy with a dog already. Again by Britannia/Grubby Tanks. They were done a few years ago.
      One of the planed games is to get the guys on Patrol to call in the IED disposal team and then to ambush them all....

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  5. Great addition to the force!

    I am just reading (well, I started it and forgot about it half-way) a book on Brit bomb hunters in Afghanistan. One thing I learned is they don't use bomb suits. Those are hot, hard to work in and make operator a huge target as IEDs are often covered by Taliban ambush.

    I will let you try out Skirmish Sanging for me. I have to admit I like the idea of fireteams in Force on Force, but they do seem to be written for larger engagements in mind. With Skirmish Sangin, I just lose all my enthusiasm seeing all the percentage.

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    1. Thank you Mathyoo. I agree with all that you have said. But the %s do not put me off. In my mind it is just d20 (x5) as they all seem to come down to multiples of 5 in all the calculations.

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  6. Nice looking figure Clint. That's a lot of pages to print out and would plow through the ink quite fast I would think.

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    1. It did Eat the ink. Knowing what I know now I would have bought the hard copy!

      Thank you Anne.

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    2. Or printed it at work :-)

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    3. Thank you Michael. Printed it at work..... shock horror who would dare do such a thing.

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  7. Great little model Clint. Love the way you paint camo. I've lost count how many PDFs I've bought and everytime I end up getting the hard copy within a week or so - even sooner if I like the ruleset. Can't beat a printed copy imho.

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    1. Thanks Blax, I am about 1/2 way through the rules and can see myself getting them. As you say there is something nice about the printed version.

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    1. Thank you Ray. Very small and simple but it does round out the collection a little more.

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  9. Nicely done mate. Sounds like a fun project. I'll look into these rules. I quite fancy the look of Empress miniatures PLA but have no setting I can shoehorn them into properly. Though saying that I've just had an idea..............

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  10. Good addition to your Afghan Brits; I'm a big fan of rules written specific for a particular conflict rather than generic ones.

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    1. I agree if rules are not written for a specific conflict they do tend to lack flavour in my opinion. Thank you Jo

      I will continue to round out this force as we all know no wargames army is ever "Finished" they is always more you could add.

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