Saturday 21 November 2015

"Mum won't like it, Uncle Arthur. "

Yes it was only a matter of time before I got around to these two. So without a fanfare, here they are.

Another two great figures to paint, packed full of character. Of the whole set Sargent Wilson was my favourite to paint the two fingers up to his cheek just epitomise the character played by John Le Mesurier . The other one "Pike" is just as good and the scarf brings a nice touch of colour to the figure set. The Scarf is of course West Ham colours, but painted with a little to much white. Not that it bothered me at all as it does now stand out more.

There are no prizes for repeating the quotes most famous with the characters but neither can I stop you from doing so. So go ahead with my blessing!

Other news:

1 Newline Designs (LINK) have announced a 25% pre Christmas sale. They mostly do 20mm figures (and now 10mm figures as well) but there is also some 28 mm stuff and Sean is a good bloke to chat to at shows so worth using this as an advert for him

2. the 6th Annual Analogue Painting Challenge has been announced.  I for some reason am unable to post any comment on his blog, but I can post replies to other people. So a big thanks to Tamsin for contacting Curt on y behalf so I can get involved. I was going to set a target of 500 Points, but as I am going to do all the bonus rounds this year I am aiming for 755 points. Which will be a push for me this year, but is totally in the spirit of the challenge. So I will be taking part thanks to Tamsin. If you read this Cheers Mate.

3 Yes I am still playing World of tanks, I have bought 2 new tanks both tier 6. One being the pre-production prototype of the panther. The other being a very obscure tank (the VK 28.01) that never actually got past the blue print stage. Now before anyone says what is it. It is a WW2 German light tank. In World of Tanks (WoT) very many people play the light German tanks at tiers 1-4 but at higher levels they are hardly played at all as they can barely defend themselves and Many other tanks can one shot kill them. While your gun just cannot penetrate their armour at all. There are exceptions of course but generally speaking if you get hit in this tank you are dead in the game. Which means it is NOT a popular tank at all.

So on my first game with the tank I managed to set a new record! Like I said it is not a popular tank and the threshold was pretty low. But a new record non the less. Of which I am very proud and no doubt setting myself up for a fall BIG TIME!

 I have now played 5 games with the tank, Including one this morning. This morning I set a higher record. Rather than a Bronze award I was granted a silver award. And in doing so set a new record. I have not recovered yet that is how flabbergasted I am. I will of course carry on with this tank and try to set the record even higher. Not that it means anything to anyone but myself. And In most games I do get swatted like a fly very quickly, very quickly indeed.


Thanks for looking today and that does bring my Dad's Army figures to an end, so I will be posting some of my own figures tomorrow and trying to get back in the swing of things, by posting every-other day after that!

All the best Clint




Friday 20 November 2015

Don't Panic!

While they may be the words of a certain intergalactic guide to hitchhiking they are also one of the catch phrases of Corporal Jones. AKA the butcher! Known as the Butcher as that is his peace time job. A veteran of the Colonial wars in Egypt and the Sudan he is keen to undertake any task his officer suggests which is at odds with one of his catch phrases "Don't Panic! Don't Panic" (He never seems to say it once only!) One can only assume something Traumatic has happened in the past. Yet more great comedy writing from Jimmy Perry and David Croft.

With him today is Private Walker who is in the parlance of the day a "Wide Boy". He does get called a spiv in one of the episodes and is always trying to make some money (usually Illegally) by offering goods that are on strict rationing, like Petrol, whiskey, nylons and that sort of thing. And while it is almost surely illegal he is never turned in to the police. In fact as he is a member of the home guard one has to assume that he while not being anti German he does see his lifestyle coming to an end if they get in power. So is willing to fight to make sure they do not invade.

The last 2 figures tomorrow. I bet you have already worked out who they will be. No not Hodges or the Verger! But the Sargent and (possibly) his son!

Take care, have fun and get some painting done!
All the best from me.

Thursday 19 November 2015

We're Doomed, Doomed I tell ya!

The title tells you how this is! I nearly entitled it "My sister dolly wants to knit you some armour!" Which is of course a quote from Godfrey. Again painted for Matt and from Bolt action in 28mm size. All the figures came without cast on metal bases or "slotta base" tabs so I have drilled and pined them to MDF bases. Needless to say this is not ideal but the only other option was to glue them to the base, but without the pinning. I found the Fraiser sculpt to be least like the character, still a load better than I could do so I cannot complain too much. While Godfrey was one of my absolute favourites and a real joy to paint. Overall I am enjoying painting the figures and 2 more will get finished today and shown tomorrow.

Other News.

As I continue to play !World of tanks " I was astounded to set another new high score in the game. I hasten to add that I am not a brilliant player, there are many that are much better. It was just a case of getting lucky and not making any silly mistakes (for a change).  But clearly the more I play the better I get.

This time the tank in question was the Tier 5 German Heavy tank the VK 30.0. H I believe the Wehrmacht only made 12 of them and they were the tank that was the prototype for the prototype of the Panther!  But I may have gotten that wrong so do not take that as gospel in any way.

The last screen shot shows the full story. It should be noted that I am NOT a player on a Premium account. But it was my first game of the day so I did get the xp bonus so divide the total xp by 3 to get the true number. But clearly still a good score and it makes me happy. Which you will understand if you play the free downloadable game.

Right that's my boasting over.... bet I do not do as well in the future!

All the best Clint

Wednesday 18 November 2015

I was Waiting for you to spot that!

Yes another figure painted for Matt. Just on the off chance that you do not recognise who this is supposed to be, I have put in a subtle clue in the form of a Youtube video at the end of the post! If you need to watch the video because you don't know who the figure is supposed to be, DO NOT ADMITT it to anyone. But if you want to watch the video because you like it then good on you. I did have mixed feelings about the remake of such an Iconic childhood memory. But the trailer has calmed my nerves about it quite nicely.

The figure is of course by Bolt Action and 28mm in size. All painted in acrylics and varnished it will be handed to Matt on Sunday just before lunch.

I will be painting more of the cast this week and hope to do a daily blog post until they are all finished.

Thanks for looking and some more tomorrow. Until then take care have fun and tune in tomorrow for another figure from the range!!!

All the best Clint

All the best Clint

Monday 16 November 2015

Club games yesterday.

I have very mixed feelings about the 2 games of Frostgrave I played at the club yesterday. While I did enjoy both there is something that just does not sit right with me! I played 2 games against Kev who is a really nice guy. I played my Enchanter and crew while Kev had to start from scratch and selected an Elementalist.

In the Pics all the Hedges and walls are book shelves as we were in the "Library". It is also worth saying that any "Fog" I cast is orange in colour (It's actually Hamster bedding from Wilko's for any who want cheap flames.  I am just saying.)


My tactics and the whole reason I had selected the spell at the beginning of the campaign were to get the loot quick and get out quick with the least confrontation.

Game 1. I got in quick and snagged 2 loot counters threw up some fog to cut down on the vicious elementalist range spells




 Kev kept advancing and killing any wildlife on the way (4 Giant Rats if I remember correctly). So I threw up more fog and used leap and telekinesis to get loot off of the table.











My tactics are working and I get 2 loot counters of the table. I also exit my Wizard and apprentice and most of my soldiers.






Kev keeps pushing forward and I exit the last soldiers to be told that they had changed the rules in the last game and any loot left on the table would go to the opponent. Last game we played if all your troops exited the board  then the game would end. (To me at this point the goal post did not just seem to move but to be on elastic.) So Kev got all the remaining loot. I did feel a little aggrieved but it was not the end of the world.

I did snag 2 grimoires and some coin and had lost no one and had gotten experience so it really could have been far worse.

A couple of advances and no losses. I would have hoped that Kev got less loot as that was what my tactics were about.


 Game 2.
The second game again against Kev. was the Mausaleum scenario. And the dice were not in Kevs favour. He did roll a lot of 1's on a d20 including 3 in a row. Additionally ALL the Skeletons exited the mausoleum on 2 faces closes to his troops.

Typically I started with as much "Fog" as I could to cut down on his very aggressive range attack spells.

The Fog stops my archers shooting but they can carry loot away as fast as anyone else.

I move my soldies and constructs up and into hand to hand with his apprentice. Who does well and drops one of my constructs but my infantryman with 2 handed weapons manages to take Ke's apprentice out of the game and then move on towards one of Kev's Crossbowmen.

The damage is being done though and my soldiers are being killed one by one.

Kev does manage to fry my apprentice with his wizard just as I jump the wizard with another construct and a bowman. The Bowman dies quickly and I just have my wizard and my  construct left active enough to put up a fight.

Kev is also retreating as most of his soldierscarry loot to his table edge.

My Construct now on 4 health drops Kevs Wizard so Kev can only activate in the soldier phase. Having learnt from last time and as Kev only has soldiers I exit my wizard from the board as he is on low health and as soon as the fog dissipates be a pin cushion to Kevs archers/crossbow men. I leave the wounded Construct on in order to contest any un gathered loot.

But the plan did not work and the construct fell.

We then rolled for injuries. I have 1 bowman and one light/small construct ready to miss the next game

Kev does less well and his wizard rolls another 1 on a d20. A terrible run of luck means that he has lost 2 wizards killed in 3 games. Both dead and he will need to start again from scratch.

I come away with a good amount of coins and 2 magical items ( a staff of Power [3] and a stone of fate.) I buy another potion of healing And will consider buying a Marksman or ranger to replace my wounded bowman. I will not Worry about the construct as I will get 2 chances to make a new one before the next game (Wizard and apprentice pre game spells)

As Mentioned overall mixed feelings but I will continue and try my best to win the Campaign although Ian is a long way in front at present and Relfie is about 20 xp ahead of me. Poor Kev is last having been forced to start again now twice.


The very good news is that I have scored some free swag at the club (and we all like free swag).

Firstly Thank you Relfie for printing out a set of spell cards for me after I pointed them out on Panzer kaput's blog. He also gave me 3 chests to use as my very own loot tokens so you may expect to see them painted very soon.

Secondly a thank you to Tim (who owns Front line Wargaming) for giving me some samples of his new range of figures. Oh shinies, yes free pre release shinies. I will not say any more about them just yet as I will paint and show them as part of the "Analogue Painting Challenge" in about 1 months time.

Thanks for reading today all the best from Clint