A litle bit of everything..... OK NOT evererything!

The painting Mojo has not returned so I Painted up a pair of M16 half tracks for my Arab Israeli wars collection They were still in use in the Yom Kippur war of 1973 as anti aircraft guns.

The rules say I am only allowed 1 but I had 2 models so I thought I might as well paint them both! For those of you who are not all that familiar with the M16 Halftrack if you think of a WW2 M3 American Halftrak with 4 (quad mounted) .50 Browning heavy machineguns in a small turret. Here is a pic of a real one In Israeli colours and Markings. So Colour wise I am pretty close,

The M16 was used in WW2 by America and for many people the "Matchbox" 1/76 scale plastic model was our first introduction to the machine. I know it was mine. While the guns are designed for Anti aircraft I know it can also be used against ground targets either soft skin vehicles or Infantry. By the later part of the second world war it will have little to no effect against tanks.

But in the Arab Israeli wars it still has its uses both against aircraft and to a lesser extent against ground forces, apart from tanks. but still a nice piece of kit to have on the battle field.

 Meanwhile back at the steam punk tank... no NO pictures now until I finish it. But any colonial force be they Zulus or marhdist forces does need something to counter the Beast! So the obvious choice is to include magic! I can Hear certain people "Frowning" from here. And you did not think Frowning made any noise. I can assure you that it does.

 So I present 1 Zulu "witchdoctor". Do not worry I do not see him casting any fireballs and lightning strikes, or any of that sort of malarkey. but more sort of portents and consoulting with oracles and checking the stars and maybe having "Sabotage" card to play on the tank. There may be more on this another time.

 And finally my order from Pendraken has arrived today. I will not go through my whole list of goodies but I have got some stoff for the Steam tank and a whole new project which I hope to get completed over the winter period for Curts Analogue Hobbies painting challenge AND for the Pendraken painting competition.  No reason I cannot do both IF they come out how I hope they will.

Stay tuned to find out what mad thing I have in the planning! But Do not hold your breathe as it will take a while to get up and running!


Hope you found something interesting today. All the best Clint

M3 Half tracks

 Not very much painting done this week. My mother has been poorly but is on the mend. Last week she could not stand and this week I have managed to walk her to the local shops and back so that is  good progress.

However enough of real life! Here are 5 heroics and Ross M3 US Halftracks.  I say Us Halftracks, but they are in Israeli service and were the MAIN infantry fighting Vehicle/Battle taxi up to 1973. Which is the date I have set for my Arab Israeli wars collection. I only painted 5 as I only had 5 I would have painted more If I had them, The joy is they are the kind of thing that will turn up at a wargames bring and buy and they are also the kind of thing I would like to buy!

In the rules I will need at least 3 infantry squads per 1000 points! So I can see these getting some use and abuse. And used as Target Practice by the Syrian, Egyptian and Jordanian forces.

In the coming week I would expect to see some more "Burpas!" (Matt dropped some off today! For me to paint) . Also behind the scenes I am working in a Royal Navy Land ship (Circa 1889) which is coming on OK and when my order from Pendraken arrives I will be able to finish it off and furnish it with some crew. So that is all to look forward to in the coming week, but for now just a meagre offering today.

Cheers From SUNNY  (and Hot) North Kent!
All the Best Clint!

Centis.

Very little done wargames wise these last few days, Well nothing I can talk about anyway.

So instead of posting nothing I have managed to paint up 3 Centurion tanks in 1/300th scale (or 6mm if you prefer).

These will be going to my Aram Israeli wars collection for cold war commander. In the rules no matter how big your army you can only have a MAXIMUM of 3 of these tanks. So no point in painting many more. I suppose I could paint another 3 as Jordanian Centurions! And that would be just to scare the Israeli player!

In the game it has a range of 100cm and a firepower of 5d6 which for the time period is pretty impressive. More so a it has 6 hits. I knew it was an impressive tank for the time after all in the Korean war not a single one was  knocked out despite one vehicle being hit (mostly by RPGs) over 90 times.

So in the rules I do Like the fact that a maximum of 3 are allowed in any one game. Which considering 3 Centurions would be nearly half your points in a 1000 point game! But we all know players who would want more "super tanks" in a combined arms game than anything else including infantry, artillery, command, recconisence, air support  or everything else put together. Which does not in anyway lead to a balanced game. And that is just because they want to win. Even if you played a 5 or 10 thousand point game you would still only be allowed 3 in the game MAX.

That's my very small post today as I have sickness in the family and my painting/hobby focus is elsewhere.

All the best Clint

Dust clouds

Some of you may remember my desire to do some 1/300th scale Arab Israeli wars as I harken back to my youth. Well I have moved it ever so slightly forward as a Project. Yes I have painted 2 SU 100
Soviet Tank Destroyers used by the Egyptian army in the wars up to and including the 1973 Yom Kippur war. So that is an extra 2 vehicles done.

Also I think I have found the rules I like. Simple enough for big battles yet detailed enough to have a good fun game. The rules in Question being "Cold War Commander." The rules do cover most actions from 1946 to about 2010. But you may have to do some slight research to get balanced forces and NOT use vehicles out of period with other countries. For example some WW2 tanks, APCs and artillery were being used in the Yom Kippur war including German Panzer Mk 4s but the main front line troops were not using them very much at all. Also the famous Russian T34-85 was being used by both Egypt and Israel (Israel captured about 300 from the war of 1967 and they were used but only in desperation as the main Israeli tanks were either British Centurions or US M48 Pattons) and while the rules do give a very good place to start the army lists are very broad in regard to who can have what. But seriously nothing that a little background reading on the Net would not sort out, that is UNLESS you have players who want to always have the best equipment in unlimited numbers..... We have all come across them I am sure.)

 One of the things about the desert is the fact that vehicles moving (Particularly if moving fast) tend to have dust trails following them. I stole this idea shamelessly from BIG LEE LINK and I hope he does not mind me sharing it and does not want to batter me for doing so!

So following Big Lees example I decided to make my own.

This was done in a very few easy steps.

Firstly MDF bases were used, although you could use other types of bases and for bigger scales that is probably the right thing to do. To the MDF bases, some "Woodlands Scenes" Clump foliage was super glues.

Once dried I watered down some PVA white wood glue. (Which is technically a resin ("Resin W" if you want to know) ) I then soaked the clump foliage in the watered down PVA and left it for a couple of weeks. This allowed for thorough drying and... (Yeah it was up the garden shed and I forgot about it!I will confess!)

But Once dry it had a solid texture and not spongy like Clump foliage usually is. So once dry I sprayed the bases with Grey Primer. Other colours are available it was just what I had available. Then I used two Highlights to colour the dust clouds. Starting with the desert floor colour and then adding about 50% white for the second coat.

The grey still shows through and the desert colours tie the dust clouds to the terrain and setting.

Other than drying time (which was long... too long really as I forgot about them) the 15 dust clouds took about 45 minutes from start to finish.

Simply placing one behind a vehicle will tell me if it has mover either this turn or last turn.  Which may alter its chance to hit or be hit when firing occurs.

A simple game addition which will remind me if the vehicle has moved and will look the part in game without distracting from the look of the game.

Thanks for looking today.
I may not post for a couple of days as I am about to start a conversion and I dislike doing work in progress blog posts.

Cheers Clint

Maglach 2 Israeli Tank Company.

 Yep here we go again another catch up post. This is a 1/300th scale (6mm in wargames speak) Maglach 2 Tank Platoon circa 1967. All ready for my 6 day war project.

yes I keep promising to "re- cover" the desert but I think that can wait until the summer and it gets slightly warmer. So for now I will just put up with it.

The Company consists of 2 tank Command platoon and 3 platoons of 3 tanks each. They should be a very good match for my T55's (yet to be shown). I did struggle with the Hebrew lettering on the turret sides, but at that scale an going over a bumpy surface in lettering I am not sure of I can life with the result.

All the models are Heroics and Ross and each tank works out at 50p each so an affordable army to put on the table.

Rules wise I am thinking of Flames of War. As while I prefer the "Challenger 2" rules by Bruce Rea Taylor I think trying to explain the different ammunition choices to some of my club might be tricky. So Flames of war will be an easier option for a club game. I could well be wrong as I am sure there are some there who not only will understand the difference between HEAT and HESH DU (depleated Uranium) and AFPFDS many will just ask which is the best against Tanks or infantry or soft skins and to be fair it is the kind of thing that the commander and gunner would know.

More again in a couple of days.

All the best Clint

Fresco. Mig 17

I have been quite lax over the Christmas/new year period. So here is a post that has already appeared on the Analogue Painting Challenge. In Fact my first post of  Challenge and it got me on the score board quite early with a massive 2 points. Yes I could like most people have pushed for more, but as I sometimes struggle to get started I was happy to kick of very small.

The model is a 1/300th scale or 6mm (in common wargames parlance) Mig 17 "Fresco" painted in Egyptian Livery circa 1967. For those that need it spelt out it is the very very start of my Arab Israeli wars. I will be using the Flames of war "Fate of the Nation" supplement and rules for the project and being in 6mm it should be easy to transport, paint and store.

The Fresco was used by the United Arab Republic (Egypt) in a ground attack role as well as a fighter when needed.

The Model is by "Heroics and Ros" and the flight stand is by "Frontline Wargaming" . The base is slightly too large, but at least it stops the plane toppling over. And while large it only has to show that ground attack is happening so I am not concerned about it's size.

Thanks for looking today. I will not be going in for all the new year palaver so do not expect any look backs on the year gone by or the year to come.

Cheers Guys all the best Clint

Building done

I find that when I get near the end of a terrain board everything comes together in a rush. Today is an example. I have painted up the building top go on the board. Yes It's a bit rough in places, but seriously who cares too much about that. Yeah alright I know I do! But it's not too rough and plenty good enough to pass.

Keeping it brief so I can get back on with things. In particular the last few figures for the game.

Hope to talk soon. All the best Clint

Palm Trees.

All the way from China.
 

One of the terrain differences between Afghanistan and Arabia is the foliage. As I will be reusing my Afghanistan boards for the Arab Revolt game, it is important to make a few changes. While the architecture is not the same, it is close enough for us wargamers to use without worry. Yes If I was writing an architectural thesis I would point out all the differences but as a wargamer I don't feel the need. From that point of view they are so close as to make no difference. However simple things do make a difference.

The most obvious one being palm trees. With this in mind I scoured eBay and found a company in China selling them at a bargain price. Including postage I was able to secure 50 model palms for £7.99. They took 11 Days to arrive and I must say I am really quite pleased with them. Obviously ordering from abroad does make you wonder about quality, shipping costs and returns. But I have got to say it was totally hasslefree.






3 Trees and a penny!

Here are three randomly selected trees. They are all very similar but trimming the trunk will add enough variety I think. Given that I will want a board 4' x 6' for the Arab Revolt game I will be looking at 6 boards each 2' on a face. 50 trees over 6 boards means I can invest 8 trees to each board. Which seems to be about the correct density having looked at pictures of Arabian Peninsular towns of the period. Obviously there will be a variety of tree densities, but 8 trees to a board has the right feel I think. Once I start placing them on the boards this plan may change. It is hoped that this very simple addition to the boards will transport them from Afghanistan directly to Arabia.

At this stage I foresee drilling directly into the boards and treating the trees as plugs. This will be far easier than placing them on separate bases and mean they are less likely to get knocked over.

That is todays very quick update. No painting finished just yet as only a couple of things on the painting table as I prepare for Curt's painting challenge. Thanks for reading I shall post again on Thursday so until then, take care and smile if you can. All the best Clint

Stupid man!

Actually that's not aimed at you. It is aimed at me! Why is it when something is staring me straight in the face, leaping up and down and waving it's arms in the air I still fail to see it? The answer of course is in the title! Yes I am a dumb ass at times! (Only times not constantly no matter what you or others may say!)

I have to work in full circles to arrive back at the beginning and waste a load of time, money and effort to no effect!

Should I explain now? Or continue the verbal self flagellation.

After a further 10 minutes of yelling at my self! (I knew you would pick the latter option). I now will explain, go and get a cup of tea and a biscuit and settle back down.

Ahh your back now, good. Comfy then I'll begin.

You may remember back in the new year I said I wanted to do some cold war wargaming. You may also remember that I have been thinking about making some scenery/battle boards for it. Additionally I have been thinking of Arab Israeli wars either 1967 or 1973. yes I know this is cold war era and had considered it as already part of the project. Well the Eureka, break-through, slap forehead, epiphany moment arrived this morning. (About time too!)

Can you guess what it is yet? (Imagine Rolf Harris saying it!)

I already have a 1/300 scale desert hex based modular scenery. Now I grant you my two existing forces are not very Middle eastern........ but what a fantastic starting place. I can no doubt use some bits and bobs with a bit of a repaint!

I even have some spare foam board to make some more desert  hexes. And the rest can be tidied up! I may set up a board later in the week and offer some pics!

So I have the scenery already done, the scale all sorted and I am about ready to start! I think I even have the rules (found free on this inter web thingie). And the fly in the ointment is that I am now on a "figure fast!" so I can't buy the extra bits I need.

And this is how my life goes.......

The only question now is 1967 (October war) or 1973 (Yom Kippur War)? I am edging towards 1973 Yom Kippur as it starts with the Israelis on the back foot.

Thanks for reading I just had to bombard some poor unfortunate with it!

TAR7AN board update tomorrow I am still going to work through that before going off on a complete tangent!. This is just me venting as I realise the blindingly obvious! Which I am sure you saw 8 months ago and were too kind to point out! And for not pointing it out I thank you!

Hope to see you again tomorrow, so until then, eat some ice-cream and stay in the shade!
All the best Clint

Swapsies

Well Sunday morning and while not painting I have been active. To the right you will see my new (second hand) NSL fleet for Full thrust. Most of the fleet is un labelled so I'll have to do a little research and find out exactly what I have got. One thing is for sure It's much bigger than my FSE fleet. (Maybe I should look at buying some more bits and pieces for the FSE). As you can see the majority of it is stuck (superglued) together and there is a lack of flying bases. These are not things I will worry about too much this week, I am just happy to have gotten it. Also included are 2 boxes of 20mm T34 85's from  Armourfast these may become the start of my Arab Israeli Wars force. I am holding off on starting the Arab Israeli game until Kurt's Painting Challenge starts again ( http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.co.uk/ ).

All the above was swapped with another blogger (Alan Abbey http://leofwinewargamerson.blogspot.co.uk/) . I am sure we both think we got the better of the deal, or at least I hope he does, as I am very happy.

That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in and hope to see you again on Tuesday for the next blog post.

Until then take care and stay safe. Best wishes Clint

Check Your 6 "Jet Age"

 Firstly I have to admit I forgot my camera on Sunday at the club so more typing than pretty pictures.

Tim and Graham had arranged a game of "Check Your 6" JET AGE. So I joined in along with Peter and Bob. Graham reffed and gave Bob and myself 2 Mirage III's while Tim and Peter each had 2 Mig 21's. The date was set as 1967 Arab Israeli war. Tim was the only person who had played the rules before, but only briefly, so no one was really strong with the rules.

We spent the first few turns slowly approaching each other and in general chit chat with each other. Then finally getting into range and the action started. Bob managed to get a rear shot at the engine of one of Peters Migs. He launched a sidewinder missile Peter saw it launch and committed himself to an extreme manoeuvre the following turn in an attempt to out turn the missile. It did not work but the missile only did minor damage on Peters engine as opposed to destroying the plane completely. But it still meant that peters plane was poorly so we on the Israeli side felt good. It got better. In the next turn I was able to get a point blank range shot at a mig in an adjacent hex. Knowing this was the best chance I was going to get I was confident. And this is where it started to go wrong! I rolled the dice and the dice gods laughed.

I was disappointed I will admit it! And then realised my 30mm cannon was not the killing device I had hoped. Never mind I had missiles. I did a "Split S" manoeuvre and flipped the plane ready to get onto the tail of Tim's Migs which were after Bobs Mirage's. I had two planes with rear arc missile shots. My pilots hit the missile buttons and the dice gods laughed loudly. Three of my 4 sidewinder missiles failed to ignite and stayed on the wing pylons. I would be having a few stiff words If I can make it back to the hanger. The fourth missile simply missed. With no more missiles I was now reliant on my cannons and I had seen just how accurate they were earlier!

Bob was near the map edge and had to do a climbing "Immelman" with his afterburners to stay on. It also meant that he was now facing head on into Tim's planes. Tim peppered Bob with his 23mm cannons and got a fuselage hit on one of Bob's mirage which was not so good.

It was about now that club ineptitude can into play! For once not by me! (I admit it usually is!) Peter managed to fly both his planes into the same hex at the exact same altitude. Both his pilots failed to avoid the collision and they both took engine damage with reduced one to only moving 1 hex each turn.

Tim at 1 hex range straffed my second Mirage and while he actually missed and even run out of ammunition managed to get a "lucky" stray shot. he looked at the Luck shot chart rolled 2d6 and rolled a PILOT KILLED. Nothing I could do, Game over for one of my jets. I did say to Tim when I put it on my blog I would make it sound as inglorious as possible. I hope I have archived that. The dice gods were still laughing at me it seems.

The dice gods were smiling on Bob though. Tim's second Mig flew through his sights and DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA later scratch one of Tim's Migs. Bobs other Mirage was limping off the table followed closely.... as it happened far to closely by Tim's other Mig. Bob was able to fly slow enough to remain too close for Tim to launch a missile. Tim was out of Ammo don't forget so his cannons were useless!

We ran out of time at this stage. I would like to say thanks to all the guys, but especially to Graham who supplied everything and despite failing eyesight had painted the planes Very nicely indeed. (Long sighted not going blind I should say so can't paint figures very well usually, well that's what he tells us!).

Conclusion: Would I play the rules again, yes I sure would! While not an "Airhead" I did enjoy the desert tussle and despite the dice gods did have fun the figures we used were by "tumbling dice" and I am tempted to get some. maybe some Vietnam era planes as opposed to the current super jets.

Sorry no Pics. Have fun take care and I'll blog soon. best wishes Clint.