Medics (VBCW and more!)

I finally painted these 3 figures. They are Foundry 28mm from the set "Dumping the body!". However I intend to use them as VBCW figures. In fact they are painted as normal VBCW figures (with no particular uniform with the intention that they can be used by any side.  I am not sure why I purchased them originally maybe I was thinking of a grave robbing game (I know that was a plan years ago).  But now they shall function as VBCW medics. No that is not the best way to move a wounded person, before anyone says, but at least it will get them out of the area of firing so they should not be hit AGAIN!

Additionally I found this dead body. so I thought it only right to paint it at the same time. While I do not at this moment have a use for the figure I am sure that in the goodness of time a reason of its painting  will some to mind. I thought it might be best floating in the water as being a little different to just lying on a grassy knoll not least because I had a bottle of unopened GLOSS varnish I was eager to try.
Now all I need is a water filled area, maybe a Victorian docks, in which to leave the stiff!


SECRET PROJECT no 2)

I also needed to make some flying bases. Mostly for Aeronef. Obviously the helicopter is NOT aeronef related so I shall talk more of that another time. To get the 6mm (1/300th scale )Helicopter "right" I shall need to finish the base. I will also need to cut the rotor disc more accurately. But the ideas work fine I just need to execute them better, so expect that to be done soon! When I say soon It all relates to a pre-order I have made with Brigade Models for pick up on Sunday at the Broadside show. I have some pre-orders already in place but most of my spendz will come down to what money I have once I sell a few things. But we can save that for a show report on Monday and a LOOT haul report on (I hope) Sunday night.

Until then take care have fun and paint and game  as much as you are able.

Maximillian 34 (Kind of Review)

Each to their own. And As I have been banging on about Dieselpunk for more than a year you might guess (correctly) that this is my cup of tea!

Ok what do you get? A full colour, soft back, stapled rule set 54 pages in all. 

Production: I would say a lot of time, effort and energy has gone into the production values of this set of rules. Which is not to say they are well padded with junk, however there are a lot of Photos and a lot of things that could easily have been condensed. (More of this later). The booklet when you pick it up feels of good quality and is a pleasure to flick though. Being stapled is not a bad thing it allows the pages to be turned very easily with no fear of it falling apart in your hands. Overall I do like the production, it is so much better than many rule books as it feels as if the whole thing was a passion project and not started just to take money from the gamer. Good Quality throughout the book.

Pictures: I am an old school wargamer who grew up on Table top Games rules. As such I like the whole thing to be about the rules. It is after all what I am paying for. As you can see to the right there is a lot of "wasted" space. The Contents and the introduction could quite easily be put o one page on the inside cover. and not 2 pages in. These are VERY Minor gripes though. The Pics of the minis are good and the minis well painted and overall the layout is fine. It has a nice mix of 1930's pics (mostly associated with either war or racing, seriously what else did we expect) Pics of minis, diagrams and film poster(for modern films set in the 1930's or 1930's style adverts. Overall the pictures do add to the rules But as they an take up 1/2 a page (or in the pages above 1/3rd of a page) I do wonder if they may have been better on the internet or just reduced in size. Again only a minor gripe as they are all relevant and do add some flavour to the rules booklet.

Mechanics: Yep how does it play? The answer is that the rules are simple. I mean that comment to be positive. They are so much easier than Car wars by Steve Jackson. Players are allowed to premeasure and are not forced to make abstract judgements about corners or distances. There is even a nice rule suggestion that anyone taking this too far buys the other players a drink. I am guessing NOT a Cup of water! Most of the mechanics revolve around a player rolling 2 different coloured d6, with more or less D6 depending on circumstances. With only 5's and 6's counting simply add the positive dice and take away the negative dice to determine a result. As most wargamers have D6 in a variety of colours this is not much of a hardship. So all moving and shooting mechanics are very simple and logical and straight forward. mechanics for shooting and moving are similar but not the same. Which lends to consistency and logic and not having to learn 2 different mechanics to complete a game turn. Again overall the mechanics are good , sound, quick the learn and logical. Range for example is for every FULL 12" you add one negative dice.
 So 0-12" no dice added, 12+"-24" a negative dice added, 24+"-36" two negative dice are added to the dice roll (and so on ever 12" an extra die is added). Like I said Simple and effective an straight forward. So Simple logical and straight forward that it is easy to explain as a show game for participation purposes!

There is a section on Building the cars to play the game ( NOT a section on Model making but all the starts needed and there are not too many.)
A couple of weapons have been left out, no smokescreens for example, but no silly weapons have been included either. |So a very healthy 1930's feel is maintained.

Overall the mechanics are very sound.

 Background: There is no Background. This maybe to include more options, So "Back of Beyond" Very British Civil war" "A Right Bloody mess!" (I think that is what they call the Australian Civil war (fictional before anyone questions the notion)), "Crimson Skies" (but on the ground) or your own dystopian alternative history are all playable. Just remember the 1930's and you can't go far wrong. I personally like background in these types of games. to me it is more useful and interesting than pictures, but each to tier own.

Negatives: There is in my opinion too much wasted space.  Take the double page spread above and to the right. If the publisher and games designer feels this is absolutely essential to the rules (you  may guess that I do not)Putting it all on a single page should be quite sufficient, not a page for each vehicle. I do realise that the publisher does try to make the page numbers devisable by 4 but as there are more than 4 pages of "Fluff" I feel it could be reduced.


Conclusion: I will admit to being bias towards this period so please be aware of that before I sum up. The rules are clear enough for a dyslexic (I am one) to understand. They are not complex and they are (to me at least) logical. The main drawback is the lack of vehicles that are available without conversion and model making. I know at my club if the rules take off there will be some "GOD AWEFUL!" contraptions . I guess at many other clubs as well. Therefore I have 3 choices. 1) Make everything myself. (this is currently my favourite option). 2) make players stick to the official Eureka miniatures (I know this will be limiting) or 3) just put up with it (he types through gritted teeth).
Overall I am impressed and look forward to getting some vehicles done and up and running.

Thanks for reading al this. If you have any questions more than happy to answer them. If no questions comment as you choose or choose not to comment. I am happy either way.

Take care, have fun and paint/game if you can.

Lewis Gunners and Tea chests.

 Well painting for the club members again. The figure on the left (with the finished base) is for Matt. While the two on the right are for Richard (aka Dick).
Starting with Matts figure it is converted and as such has a head swap. This is not a problem for me after all I did not do the work, I just slapped the paint on. It will go with his VBCW collection. I have painted it to fit I with almost any of his factions so It may be a fascist or a miner or an Anglican or well you name it.


The two figures on the right are painted for Dick. They are Ironclad miniatures Miners. Richard did not provide bases or give any indication or how he wanted the bases done. Therefore I have had no input on what exactly he wants so I have left them bare so he may base them. When I paint for Peter at the club (some very soon, hopefully tomorrow) I am instructed not to base them as he will do that himself. Consequently I have left an email for Richard but have not yet received a reply.  And to be honest unless I get one this morning this is how I will hand them back to him.

Finally for me some Ainsty castings Tea chests. They all came in one pack are enough scatter scenery to edge the dieselpunk project just a tiny bit closer. For those younger then myself you may never have come across a Tea chest! I only vaguely recall them from when I was 5 years old. They were used after that time but I have no personal recollection of them at later dates.

Needless to say they were what tea was transported in from China or India to the UK. As such they were wooden chests with metal edges. I have only used 2 colours of brown for the wood as they are just scenery and will get shot by players (no not literally) as figures take cover behind them on the big airships and in the warehouses.

That is it for today. Please enjoy any weather and have as good a day as you possibly can.

All the best Clint

Wargames Club Gifts.

One of the great things about my club, and not every club is like this, is that if a member has more than he needs he gives it to another member. This week for example I gave Matt a figure (right) and a set of rules I had a spare copy of. (Thanks to Jon Rogers who very kindly gave the spare set to me). I only had his thanks which is actually worth more than I can say. Likewise Tim knew I wanted some 20mm tank turrets. (Dieselpunk project maybe something to show by weekend, don't know yet.) and he likewise gave me 3 resin Tank turrets. He claims they were miss cast, and the hulls might be but the turrets are fine. And I am likewise very grateful.

Now about this figure.... Yes it is a 28mm "Belt Fed" Girl from Col Bill. Firstly let me say It was an absolute joy to paint and I may well get one for myself! As a gift it was not expected and I am sure Matt was delighted. It should fit in with his VBCW 28mm figures quite well. After all (Repeat after me) "You can never have enough Lewis Guns!". I gave her a blue skirt so she could be a member of the Anglican league! matt did say that her state of undress would not make her suitable! feel free to disagree.
I did take a pic of her from the back but the pic was out of focus and if you have seen 1 cream coat you have seen them all. The figure (unpainted) retails for £3 and to my mind is one of the better of the sculpts but most are quite good IF they are of the right period for you.

3 20mm Turrets

There is a battle report coming but being honest it is not very visual so I may leave it out. I will just have to wait and see what else I get done this week.

So until next time take care have fun and paint figures. All the best Clint




++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Post Script: I forgot to mention I was also given a few LotR figures, they are still in my bag. Thanks Tim

More 28mm Empress miniatures SCW figures (VBCW)

Yes I have finished another batch ready for matt on Sunday. The figures are Empress miniatures Spanish Civil War figures. However they will be used as Very British Civil war figures.  At the end is a group shot of the whole batch.

Again Mat wanted a socialist look so plenty of Red on handkerchiefs ad balaclavas, neck ties and caps.
The figure holding a pole will later be a flag bearer but that is a job for Matt and not me.

Some (a few ) of the figures are women and a few have head swaps or at least hat swaps. Which means there are more British helmets.
Not a problem to me or as it happens Matt.

The final photograph the figures did not all fit in the back drop. So 1 has been photographed (on the right) without the back drop. DoH!

matt is aware that there is a figure missing. It has gone absent without leave and will have to have another blog post linked back to this one.


 That's it for today. I shall try to get an ECW figure done for the week -end. But no promises just if I get time. It is now started and should (fingers crossed) be finished soon.

Thanks for looking. More again soon. All the best Clint

SCW 28mm Empress Miniatures

Slow off the blocks today. Took me a long time to get going. Sometimes we all have days like that. Anyway here are 13 28mm Empress Miniatures Spanish Civil War figures. They have been painted to be Very British Civil War (VBCW) figures for matt. The last pic does show them all together as I know by now that people do like a group shot.

broken down into one lot of 5 figures top and 2 lots of 4 figures each. Theer are more on the painting table and I plan to have them finished on Saturday (sunday at the latest)

Weapons are a mixture bur mostly rifles as well as 2 SMGs and a pistol and one I just do not know what! (Middle figure top pic)/ I bet some of you have taken a look just to tell me. Great if you have and even better if you have not.

All the clothes are civilian clothes and in a variety of colours. Well the helmets are old military but what did you expect. We could go into detail about what a Spanish Civil War figure should be wearing but the truth is that for a Very British Civil War all the rules are out of the window as it is a fictional war so seriously anything could have happened. It is all down to you.

The last Picture shows them all together and what a mixed lot they look too. As I know matt wants to use these as socialists I have put red ties on them where appropriate but I have tried not to over do the colour as then it looks artificial. Which honestly it is but as Walter Gropius once said "Less is More!" (which did start a verbal debate among architects to which my favourite reply was "Less is less", but you really have to read all the replies to get the full meaning of that comment some 80 years later.)

Guess who had to write an essay on it! yeah you guessed.

Not sure there will be another blog post in 2 days time. Nothing even nearly finished. But Japanese Tanks started (and abandoned until I get the correct colour paint.... I can't mix enough) as well as another lot of these and even another ECW figure. So no ideas what will come next. It really could be anything.

All the best Clint.

Paint if you an and the mood and the weather takes you.

Miner Gun Team

Well here is the "other" gun team I was talking about. They are 28mm "Ironclad Miniatures" (LINK) miner Gun crew. This now allows matt to use the same guns but with different crews as a wide choice of forces may be fielded. Being Ironclad miniatures they are 28mm and as such will tit in with the rest of his VBCW collection. Which by now is quite large.

I have painted them all in dull colours to best reflect the miners of the period and the clothes they would wear. I am not saying they never wore yellow and orange suits just that I have never seen it. The miners helmets are a common theme but in reality I am sure a miner unit would also have people who did not work underground in it as well. So maybe it is as much uniform as practical clothing for working underground.

The final Pic shows both new gun teams together. Miners on the left and Fascists on the right.

Thanks for looking today more again soon. maybe an AAR on Monday. Until then take care have fun and paint if the mood takes you.

Al the best Clint

VBCW Fascist Gun Crew

yep some Empress miniatures gun crew. Officially these are for the Spanish Civil War but the double up very nicely to be Very British Civil War figures.

I know boring background as it was taken on the dining room table and not one of my usual backdrops. I shall rectify that for when they are seen next. (Probably Saturday).

If they were SCW you might expect grey helmets and not very very dark green. That is one of the joys of VBCW you can change the colours to suit as you want and perhaps make new uniforms.

Again 28mm and painted for Matt. I have another gun crew on the painting table and they should be ready in a day or two.

Post script: My ECW figures have turned up and I shall start one as a trial today. No spoilers though but I have been working out the best way to paint the Family Tartan.

Another VSF "Tank"

Firstly I have not posted anything for a couple of day, just because I was not in the mood, no other reason. But I know that the longer I leave it the harder to post it will become. So with no more ado here is another Victorian Science Fiction (VSF) Steam tank.

This time for the German forces. What German Forces are those? Well none yet but they may, or may not be coming, as might a WW2 Chinese army! (JK well semi kidding at least!)

Matt suggested the colour scheme when I was given the models. It may or May NOT be what he thought at the time and it just may be my interpretation of what he suggested. Who Knows?

So I went for a steel metal finish all over but with a white turret. The turret then looked like a ping pong ball so I added a red top section. Along with a red panel at the front.  I then added some rust. Well I hope it reads as rust anyway and a couple of Germanic crosses.

When doing a black cross on a German vehicle you have to make sure it does not look like a Nazi cross, That would not be the effect I was looking for as in the Victorian Period They had in no way come to power.

I also painted the wheels to be rusty and then covered them in 2 layers of brown to look like dirt! With luck that has worked.

A copper boiler on the back and it is good (I hope) to go.
Shame I could not get the crosses perfect but they are good enough for the wargames table.

Comments always welcome and with luck more again tomorrow!

He who pays the piper.

I always offer Matt the chance to change any figures I paint for him. Normally It goes on behind the scenes and is not on my blog. But this time a small update. Matt wanted them toned down a bit. No Problem to me. He particularly wanted the tanks on the back of the flame thrower and the purple/pink blanket roll changed.

When painting for someone else I will usually offer a repaint of either all or part of the figure if they want something changed. It seems to me the right thing to do and Matt had never really wanted much changed ever before so I was happy to make these small changes.

He suggested Black, Grey, Red, Brown or a similar colour.
Well Job Done within 10 minutes of getting of the phone with him.
I hope everyone likes the results.

Black tanks of the Flame thrower and a brown blanket.

BUF Heavy weapons

Yes a few more BUF for Matt's growing collection. While most of these figures are Empress Miniatures 28mm from the Spanish Civil War range, The one on the far right I know is a Musketeer Miniature and the 2nd from the right is a conversion.

While only 3 pieces the mortar (not the crew) is tricky to put together just because all the pieces are so thin and fidly. The base is easy enough and quite solid BUT attaching the stand and the tube do require some level of dexterity... it is not that they are bad fits, they are actually good fits with up to 3 different angles possible. And that is what creates the issue you have to be able to glue two of the three pieces and attache the third before fully dry. Many people will find this easier than "Butter Fingers"(Me) and I do appreciate the sculptor making some variety in positioning and it has come out well in the end so no real complaints. The Mortar comes with three crew as well (two on the base) and one on a separate base is how I decided to place them, but you could have them all separate if you choose.


 I was unsure what colour to paint the flame thrower mask, but settled on Red as it feels hot and is one of the British Union of Fascists colours. So to contrast the red I put both blue and yellow tanks on the back.  I would have been equally justified in putting a Black mask and even Black tanks on the back, but I did want some colour and variety. Despite the fact that I feel in real life they would have settled on Black for every thin!


The last picture shows the figures in the previous BUF post included as they are all being given back to Matt soon.


The last Pic allows me to colour match at a later date and also just because someone usually asks for one and this may save you the effort of doing so.

Thanks for looking I hope you are having a great weekend. All the Best Clint

A Few More BUF

Yes back on a VBCW for a little,. You might be thinking I wimped out about the Skirmish show Battle report. And the truth is I suppose I have. Which is not to say I will never do it, but I just wanted to break up the waffle with some painting.

I think these are all Musketeer Miniatures, but if you know better please correct me. One medium or heavy machinegun (depending on which rules) an NCO commanding the gun and an officer commanding a bow tie.

I do have a few more to come, so maybe on Friday or Sunday. All depends on what live throws at me.

They are of course painted for Matt and his ever growing collection. But I shall be back to colonial stuff before too long.

Thanks for looking today. All the best Clint

VBCW Womens Auxillery Bren Gun Team.

Well I think the title says it all really. I am not sure who makes the figures but suspect it is footsore miniatures. But whoever made them they did a really good job.

The flag is by Solway though if that makes any difference.

The only issue with the Bren team is that the bren gun had no rest and if any of you have ever lifted one you will agree they are not light! Matt did want it resting on a barrel (shown last time) but it just did not feel right so I did the sensible thing and decided to have it rest on a wall, or fence, which actually ended up as a tree!  Not my ideal choice, but it did work out OK.

The Ladies all have a yellow motif, in either dresses or neck scarfs as I did not want to paint them red or light blue and green when I tried it did not look right. So I settled on Yellow which is consistent and looks in my opinion right and yet is not so glaringly obvious as to stand out too much.

Matt wanted the socialist flag with them (he supplied the flag and converted the figure to hold it. So who was I to disagree with his choice. Because of the Black one might have thought it was an anarchist flag but the first word is "Socialist" so politically one has to assume these are more to the left.


Overall nice figures and a joy to paint. I will show my latest moderns in 2 days time as it was finished over the weekend and I am now working on an assortment of things. Hoping to have them ready by Saturday.

That's it for today I have to get out of the house now and get some work done!

Cheers Clint

THE VBCW BROADSIDE game!

Firstly sorry it has taken a week,. Secondly I may have gotten some of the facts wrong as while at the show I was both distracted by the lovely traders and members of the public and yes even some of the games and a few bloggers. But everyone was lovely and I regret no distractions.

The game was very similar to a practice game (Link ) but with a couple of differences, Most importantly the card activation was alternative forces which meant I was not forced to move a tank only twice in a game when the enemy were able to move one of their tanks 6 times and fire 3 time to my ZERO ) which did make it seem a lot fairer, I know It was just bad luck that made that happen BUT being on the receiving end of such bad luck was not pleasant. Also this time it was both Graham (who needed to leave early) and Tim against me on my own, I had Peter  last time which is always nice even if I do consider him reckless at times and I am sure he finds me cautious at time)

So On with the game and this time I "Knew" how the rules worked... OK I did not know them but I did have a clue This time (as did the other players.)

And Matt who ran and supplied the game did a great job!

My troops begin to arrive and move up the board. My objective being the pub at the end of the road (No one say, "Just like real life!")

 As we arrive I deploy as best as I am able. A long way short of my objective as I found the Battle-taxi's slightly too fragile last time!

 The Boys Antitank unit had been upgraded to Veteran status and were so much better this game. First hitting and casusing a morale check that pinned the enemy medium tank to stay in place and not shoot for a turn. I did fire everything I could at the enemy tank even things I knew would not penetrate in the hope of a second morale check. But no need as the Boys fired again this time for a kill shot and the crew bailed out! (well most of them)

 the Antitank gun had no targets so elected to fire at the BUF Battle-taxis with limited success.

Elsewhere on the board some Anglican league fellows left the church and uncontrolled by me started taking and returning fire on my left flank. They all died within 2 turns gunned down by the BUF and I only became aware of them and tried to support them with a light tank in the second turn.

 The Tank never quite reached them and had to withdraw once they were dead or be out flanked by a horde of infantry. (seen on the left of this Picture)
My Infantry were lorried forward and it turns out the random  event was that my army had caught a severe cold and I had to loose a figure each turn to illness from now on.  Random events were a LOT kinder to me in this game than in the previous one, but Tim did seem to get of lightly as the only random event I recall was a light shower which had no effect on the game.


 Along with the Anglican league a wandering band of Morris dancers turned up. Having just sat down from a quick shop at Colonel Bills I was aware they were not mine so gleefully opened up and inflicted 2 casualties. Graham played in his absence.

 More and More Fascists arrive behind the Pub (theoretically my objective but I was going no where near it,) Including a Heavy MG which set up on the top floor. My troops in the centre field took a beating from that gun as it was a short range and they only had a hedge to hide behind.

 Tim got back to the table after a LONGER walk (about 3/4 of an hour) realised that the Morris men were not his and let loose and after 3 turns on the table not a single  Morris man was alive. Like the Anglican league they acted as a good cushion for my troops and really were BULLET Magnets!

Overall a much better game and It did look spectacular on the table and had many pleasing comments from the public. Some of whom had not seen a VBCW game before and were interested in the background and setting, so maybe a couple more players converted to the cause.





The show ended before a game result was achieved but my troops in the field did not fair well and a unit of 12 was still passing morale checks when just 3 survived! 

From my point of view a good game at a good show and a good result.

Thanks for reading today. If you have sun where you are enjoy that this Sunday and if you have rain stay in doors and paint like billie-OH!

Cheers Clint (Warm but overcast here in Kent today). Another post on Tuesday>>>