Yet 2 more Jungle Huts.

Yes 2 more jungle huts in 15mm for my Pacific WW2 forces. While I do not promise these will be the last, they should be in this scale for the foreseeable future. They are by Frontline Wargaming(LINK) Tim (of said company) was running one of the Flea market stalls (with me and Peter, as a club venture) at Broadside about 10 days ago. I had bought 2 of these before but well terrain is always a pleasure so at the end of the day he stil had these left and I had a little spare money and an exchange was made.

They were quickly repainted as they had a very few chips and scratches. And they are now part of my Pacific War terrain. Which means I just about have enough to put on a decent game of US vs Japanese WW2 in 15mm. Yes we can all want extras of everything But 25mm pacific buildings I should have enough as it was not then very built up and overpopulated.

That's it for today thanks for looking and more in 2 days. All the best Clint

Swimming Japanese tanks (15mm)

Firstly the tanks swam in real life, not the models. I feel If I don't say that then there will be a comment from someone trying (and failing) to be clever.

The Ka-Mi Tanks were real ww2 Japanese tanks. And rather than being developed by the army were developed by the navy. Here is a link (LINK). Being developed by the navy they were mostly used on pacific islands. As such I am not sure they were ever encountered by the British army.


Yes that is a real life pic of one swimming. I knew if I did not include one I would be doing the tank a dis-service.

You will note the model tank has a taller turret. Clearly it is a bolted on section to stop high water from waves getting in. As is the funnel over the engine. When they had landed several part and flotation areas could be detached and a more normal tank would bee seen.  If you look at the model the front two and rear 2 sections (where the diagonal groves are) dismount as they are flotation devices and offer minimal protection but do make the vehicle harder to steer around tree/building.

 The models did not offer the choice of swimming and land based vehicles. The turrets all came in the larger format and the hulls all came with flotation devices. The funnels did come separate but seriously what would be the point of leaving these off.


 As you can see, the picture on the box shows 3 tanks on the front and back however when opening it turns out there were indeed 5 tanks included. When you buy things online you can't always tell until they turn up, and to be honest for the price I paid I would have been happy with 3 tanks. Let us be honest with each other the models are great but in real life the tanks were not. Do not expect them to win battles on their own. They simply will not. But to round out my Japanese ww2 forces I am more than happy.

Thanks for looking and more (but no idea what) in a few days. All the best Clint

Remember to paint if you can and play when you get the opportunity.

Telegraph poles.

 let me take you back to November when I bought these. (23rd November 2017) . As you can see they are now painted and based.  A figure 20mm is included to show scale and the fact that if put about 1 foot-2 foot apart these will look most suitable for BoB wargaming.

They can also be used for anything up to modern in wargaming in the set scale. So Along with BoB they can be WW2 or WW1 20mm as well as modern. While I have not seen any pictures of them in Afghanistan that will not stop me using them as they instantly give height to the battlefield. (which most wargames are lacking if you were to ask me... thank goodness you did not!

As mentioned at the time they are 3D printed and they are a little rough. None of which bothers me in the slightest. Personally I think they are great and just what the BoB battle field needs.

Obvious scenarios include, stopping a message getting through, perhaps calling up reserves perhaps furthinging the campaign story. Maybe calling for a plane to rescue an important person or artefact. Maybe to chop down and use to stop a train, maybe to show a no fly zone (due to the wires) anyway you get the idea and I am sure there will be supplementary scenario ideas.

all 10 (more than I need) are now finished and will enhance the battlefield in due time.

Lastly some more strange Japanese WW2 tanks for my PBI forces.  I expect them to provide more of a laugh than a threat in games as let's be honest not the most potent of ww2 tanks. But they did exist and they were amphibious and were cheap on eBay. And they is good enough for me. I hope to get them painted this week. More about them then.

Have a good weekend and paint if the mood takes you.

Te-Ke (15mm Japanese Armoured car With tracks)

yes the title is misleading. It is not a Tank. It was not designed as a tank or used as a tank and it is not intended to be a tank. I grant you it does look like a tank, but a very small one. It was actually designed and used as an armoured car. Yes it has tracks but with only 12mm of armour (which is enough to stop bullets and shrapnel of the period,) It was never intended to be a tank.

 While it is NOT a tank it was armed with either a medium/heavy machinegun or a 37mm anti tank gun. All these have the second option. I was going to paint the other turrets up and use them, but as these turrets kept falling off (and at least 1 broke) I have decided to keep the glued in place.

The models are "battlefront" Flames of War 15mm vehicles. based on plastic-card 30mm frontage and 40 mm long. So feel free to measure the photos and see how big they are. (They are small) . During WW2 about 620 were built and they were used in China, Burma and the pacific Islands. In PBI they have an armour value of 4 and a gun value of 5, which is pretty low. BUT as they are intended to be used as tracked armoured cars we cannot really hope for them to stand up to late war heavy armour. They just could not. They only have a crew of 2 the driver and the commander. The commander takes the role of gunner, loader and vehicle officer, while the driver drives.

There are not so many of these that survived the war and many/most would have been destroyed but a couple of examples still do exist I tank museums around the world.

These 5 help to give some variety and a very little armour to my Pacific forces. Yes looking at the photo on the right they were this small. And small obviously means both low profile and harder to hit. So perhaps they may be alright on the table (who am I kidding players will kill these as quickly as they can).  Which takes nothing away from how much fun they were to paint. Just do not expect them to last long against many opponents.

20mm Type 98. (15mm scale Japanese WW2). Anti Aircraft guns

Now I must admit I have had a bit of a splurge in the last few weeks. Picked these up on eBay for £3.30 instead of the shop price of £8.10. So I think a bargain. But only a bargain if it is something you want. Luckily I do but I now many wargames do not.

In the game it has no HE capability but the Anti Tank rating of 5. (Which is the one lower than the 70mm Infantry gun. and 1 higher than the Japanese Anti-tank Rifle). And with more chance to rapid fire and effect infantry.

To the right is what it actually looks like in real life. I will not go into technical details but it is light enough to go anywhere the 70mm Infantry gun can go in the jungle. So it was quite versatile and while mostly used to defend islands and airports could easily be transported and used almost anywhere.

Bloody flash did not go off!!

Not the most dangerous of support weapons perfectly good enough for me and my WW2 Japanese 15mm forces. For the money I received enough crew and additional troops who would accompany the AA gun in order to bring up ammunition. This has meant an additional Rifle armed Infantry stand added to the 3rd Platoon (seen a few posts ago). Where with most companies I would either pay more or not get the crew so doubly a bargain I say.

The last picture (from the front) the flash did not go off so colour wise go from the top picture.

Just my jungle game picture

As a small target and no gun shield I am not expecting these to survive overly long in any game but they are cheap points wise (14 points with an average crew) so will not make a huge dent in any force size.

Anyway, thanks for looking today. And with a little luck more again on Monday.
All the best from Kent.

3rd Platoon

These are 15mm Battlefront ww2 Japanese. Painted and based or 3omm squares for PBI the ww2 company level game by Peter Pig. ( http://www.peterpig.co.uk/ ). It was cheaper to buy a Battlefront company pack than to try to buy individual packs from any other source. Trust me It is something I looked at! So getting a deal at a show (Cavalier) in February I have slowly completed the company.

The wounded markers are Peter Pig and while no one wants dead/wounded markers for their own troops they are vital for the game.

leaders have a 10mm strip at the rear of the stand to clearly Identify them (and name them if you choose). As yet I have not named them and am not sure I will.

The reeds are bristles from a Wilkinson's Wall paper brush. which I bought a few years back for the pricely sum of 99p and as it has just about been used up I fear I will need to buy another and I suspect the price will have changed.

I have shown the WHOLE company as I know several of you like to see complete "armies" all in one place. Ahh but is it complete? That answer is NO of course not, there are still things to add to round out all the options.

Lurking in the background are a few more additions. But for today I am only looking at the 3rd Platoon. It is comprised as follows.

• Platoon Commander
• 2 "Knee" Mortars
• 2 LMG stands
• 6 Rifle Stands

Much like previous platoons. This was the most efficient use of the figures and I was able to get the Whole Company out of one box with no extras. I cannot guarantee that every one will be able to, but it did work for me in this instance. And Yes I did manage a few more stands than those shown... just one or three and they are currently in Paint!

I still have a few things waiting in the wings to get painted but I have at least reached a critical mass with which to face my US troops at a Pacific Island  from now on.

Still waiting to be completed.

That is it for today. Have fun and get busy with the painting. All the best Clint

£25 THANK YOU Money well spent. (I think)

yes I won £25 on Bryan's ( LINK AKA Vampifan's) Blog. I am sure you are all regular readers so I will say no more about the blog.

So here is what I spent the money on. (I believe it had to be wargames or at least wargames related.... NO I could not just buy beer, jeez some people) I did scour the internet and try to find the best (for me ) BARGAINS. Top to bottom left to right!

• A set of Deep ones. These are Black Cat bases (SHOP LINK) For a while I have thought about doing a bit of Lovecraftian wargaming/roleplaying. I  had not seen the figures in the "flesh" and just did not know if they were any good. I am delighted to say they are lovely. When I sent the order off I had no indication of if it had arrived or how long it might take or anything else. So one day about 12 (less than 2 weeks at least) later I received a small parcel via the ROYAL MAIL>  I will e getting more from this company now I have seen the quality.
• 2 figures from Dave Stone at Warganes Terrain Workshop (WTW shop link) I was surprised that no one else had said that they wanted the free figures. Well Free figures has my name all over it! And seeing the two figures That I received I am so very pleased I said I did want them.  They are both Judge Dredd figures. One (the large) is a 2 part casting of a gorilla judge. I say 2 part casting as it has a choice of weapons. (Either a lawgiver or a stun baton) To my eye the baton is the best choice as I think I would be more scared of a gorilla with a baton than a gorilla with a gun.  And Tweek. I was never a huge fan of Tweek in the comics, he was all right but to me he was more an annoyance than a supporting character. Each to their own though and I am sure others will have the opposite view. Of the two figure I prefer this figure. Not being in a judges uniform it can be used in any sci fi game. personally (not that I am any judge) I prefer the sculpting as well. I have always had VERY daft ideas about putting on a "Clangers" show game and this figure would IF converted make a very nice "Clanger". I did say it was a daft idea.
• I was also very lucky to get a pack of Type I Ho-Ni Tank destroyers for my slowly growing 15mm Japanese force. More about the Ho-Ni (Type I) when I get around to painting them. Ideally I would have preferred some Chi Ha medium tanks but 3 of those would easily have tipped the free moey way over the top

So £25 well spent in my opinion all of which have uses, although not all are exciting and new projects but once again a BIG thank you to Bryan.

Company command (ww2 Japanese)

As I know most will have gone to Salute and will do some very good blogs post about the show. I am simply showing my latest 15mm WW2 Japanese. A single stand of Battlefront representing Company command.

I settled on the army flag as opposed to the marine (Navy) flag for 2 reasons. 1, it is easier to paint. 2. it was a lot more common and allows these troops to function in Burma, Singapore, Malaysia etc. as well as the Islands of the Pacific.

So just 2 figures in 15mm, but another finished stand and dare I say from the game point of view a rather important one.

Enjoy all the Salute posts I am sure I will as well.

All the Best Clint

1st Platoon. (Japanese PBI)

Well as you can see I have now finished my 1st Platoon of Infantry for PBI pacific. The Platoon consists of Junior officer (with White tab at the back) 2 LMG stands, 1 light mortar (Knee Mortar) stand and 5 Rifle stands.

I hasten to say this is nearly as small as an infantry platoon can be in the Japanese Army list. SO expect more stands to be added.  In fact I am already on the next 2 stands as I type this. I hope to show some more stands by the end of the week. (Fingers Crossed)

As I am not going to Salute I have placed another order which is now marked as dispatched so shinnies are coming this week.

That is just a quick one for today. Now back to the Paint table!

Japanese Sniper Assets (PBI)

Well I have finished my first assets.  In PBI snipers are Assets and the Japanese you will not be surprised have the opportunity to get more than 1 sniper. So for now I have made 2. I will need to increase this number and may eve go as high as 4. For now 2 is enough.

So today is 2 sniper stands for ww2 Japanese army (Or  Marine). Only 4 figures but I hope to have the first platoon finished by the weekend.

The chance to get 1 or 2 or even 3 Japanese snipers in PBI is quite high. It depends on rolling well and being brave.  The Japanese in Pacific Island wars have a dice pool of 15 for a sniper.  You may select as many dice up to that score but the score or pool of dice is diminished each turn by the number you select. If any of the dice roll a "6" then the sniper would turn up for the rest of the game.  So with 15 dice in the pool it is VERY likely that at least 1 sniper will arrive.

The figures are by Battlefront and are 15mm in size.

Thanks for looking and with luck a whole platoon before Sunday.

All the best Clint

Dead Japanese wargames figures

 One of the things you need for PBI is dead markers to represent battlefield casualties.

As such here are my dead/casualty markers for the Japanese force in PBI. I did not make then to grizzly with blood and guts everywhere. In Fact no red paint was used at all.

Some people don't like dead or casualty markers All I will say is that they are part of the rules so I made some.

The figures are 15mm Peter Pig models They come 8 in a pack and I hope a single pack will be sufficient for the game.

Hopefully something less gruesome next time....  in fact I know it will not be but just what it will be I cannot at this stage say.

All the best Clint

Type 92 Infantry gun (九二式歩兵砲

These are more 15mm Peter Pig miniatures. They come in packs of 2 so I have used just 1/2 a pack of crew. This will allow me to put the remaining crew either with different cannon or Allow me to buy another pack of these. As the crew come in 3 different poses I was less keen on the same figure repeated on each base more than once. So 2 figures and not 3 was my choice.

The (九二式歩兵砲, Kyūni-shiki Hoheihō Battalion howitzer was a very good gun being both light and effective.  It was light enough to drag through jungle settings and as it fired High explosive Smoke and Armoured Piercing rounds.

In PBI if has a gun factor of 6 when used in anti tank so it would be possible to destroy a Sherman but it would be lucky to do so. But something like a Stuart would be a much easier kill. So while not a dedicated Anti tank weapon it was still capable. 

Used extensively in Manchuria/China as well as the Pacific Islands Captured ones were also used by the US Marines. 

That is it for today. Just 2 more stands for my Pacific war project.

Take care all the best Clint

 

Japanese Mortars

Continuing with the Pacific Theme today. Here are 2 Medium Mortars and crew.

All Peter Pig Models and all 15mm in size. So Small, but not ridiculously small. Only 2 bases, but enough so I can call the force finally started. These will be company level support.

There could be another mortar if I wanted. and up to 2 rifle sands to represent guys bringing up ammunition that would be attached to the unit. But As I have not started painting those stands yet at present they are not started.

These are the first troops painted and I was trying colours and bases and generally getting the look I wanted. But Now I am happy with the result I will start painting more and hopefully more!

In addition I do need a Platoon commander who will be done I hope by the end of the week.

That is todays quick post. More again soon.

Not all tanks are MONSTERS!

Firstly Let me say I am blindly groping my way into WW2 Pacific wargames. I am not going to say I KNOW much at all about the settings, battles or conditions they all faced. What I will say is that Late war Western front has for the moment lost its appeal, I have seen FAR too many battles which rely on super heavy Goliaths of tanks. So as a remedy I an dipping my toe in the pacific war.

I already have the Americans covered, Graham has the British so I am starting on the Japanese. Who knows maybe I may even think about the Chinese and the Russians and even the French (indo China) or Dutch. But Japanese is my starting point.

So starting with the Japanese here is an objective marker! A destroyed Te Ke (Type 97 Tankette). The model is by Peter Pig and a single piece Resin cast.  The colours of Japanese tanks and even aeroplanes are a NIGHTMARE to get correct. So if you disagree with my colour choices fair play to you you are probably right.

The Type 97 (Te-Ke) was very small. In PBI for  example it is classed as armour 4 and gun 5. Which means that a HMG can shut it down and penetrate the armour! In No way is this a Monster Tank. What is more I know no maker of 15mm Japanese Monster tanks like the 0-1 (Experimental).... which never saw production. To the right does show how small the tankette was. I call it a tankette and not a tank because it really is so small.

 When (if ever) I get some undestroyed versions I will go into the  Tankette details  But as this is an objective marker and not a functional vehicle I am sure you will forgive the delay.

The last Picture shows it with a Zvezda Elephant, and a QRF Short wheel base Landrover. so you can see it ois hardly much bigger than a landrover. Which if you live in England will bring home to you just how small it really is.

That is it for today. I do have some more Japanese 15mm on the painting table so expect some more soon.

All the best Clint

MountainMan and shinies.

Well I am still painting. But I seem to have stalled for a few days and not gotten much finished at all.

One figure I have finished was a Foundry 28mm "Mountain Man". Before anyone asks I am not totally sure what I will use him for. He will go in my Wild West collection but he is totally suitable for "Muskets and Tomahawks" or even "In Her Majesty's Name." So while I do not know what I will use him for I do know that he will get a use.

The figure is wargames foundry and I do have a few more to paint as well. So they may get done reasonably soon. They would get done faster IF I actually did know what I wanted them for.  Oh well such is life.

The way I look a it though is if nothing else it is another one done.


The Reason for my recent lack of painting is that I was waiting for an order to arrive. And guess what it has now arrived. It is one (maybe only I will have to see how I feel) "Not going to Salute Orders. " As I have mentioned before It costs me about £40 BEFORE I go through the door of Salute and that to me is a lot of money.  As such I will go every 4-5 years or so, but going more frequently is not my thing. To me it is a show that is a victim of it's own success.

Anyway enough waffle here is a pic of the order.

 The first Pic is the actual order. many will know it is from Peter Pig and as such is 15mm figures. Trust me if it were a rule set it would be a bigger box. Everything is range 8. For those not familiar with Peter Pig Ranges that means it is all 15mm WW2.

As such it is the things I need to take my Infantry company from Flames of War (Battlefront) to a workable force in PBI. I will not go into the individual pack as I hope to get them all painted pretty soon. By that I do mean this year.


One Pack is worth a special mention though. You can see by the last picture it is a Japanese destroyed Tankette! It will be used as an objective Marker. And is quite small. You will see exactly how small when it gets painted and I put it next to a Panther or Sherman or something similar.

Anyway thanks for looking today. More again in a few days.
Hope it is sunny where you are and I hope you are well and happy.

Best wishes Clint