Finished Afghanistan Boards.

Here are some snaps of the finished boards. Truth to admit I have a couple of tweaks to make. But for the sake of it, I'll call them finished. Some have been cropped to take out the background which is pretty uninteresting, unless you really like seeing a messy shed maybe another time. That's all for now I'll post again on Monday. Thanks for looking, and enjoy the jubilee. All the best Clint

Afghan Buidings WIP

Here are some pictures of the buildings that will go on the boards. Each board has a specific place for a specific building which you can see in the bottom picture. But we'll talk about that in a while. In these shots the buildings are nearly finished you can see that they have all been painted the same colours and in the same style this is because most villages are all built of the same materials and have the same vernacular aesthetic. Close examination of the pictures will reveal at least three different sand colours on the buildings (all a mix of emulsion and ready mixed poster paint and maybe a dash of acrylic as well), that's part of the joy of water based paints they can all mix together as long as you are somewhat careful. The darker shade was dabbed on and then wiped off to create a patchy affect. and the lighter shade was brushed on lightly from the top and dragged downward. It's not perfect, but it looks OK to my eye. The last pic shows one possible layout of the 4 boards, as you can see the roads exit from 3 sides of each board which allows many different combinations. This will not be the final show layout, unless it happens by chance or the players on the day decide they want it this way. It will be finished by the weekend and I plan to show it all put together with figures and grab a few pics for this blog assuming the weather on the day is sufficiently good to take photos outside.

That's it for today. Thanks for looking. Next post on Saturday. All the Best Clint

Adding colour and Texture WIP

A few more work in progress shots. I started byadding texture to all the boards. This was done mostly using wall filler from the 99p store.  I also added some white wood glue (PVA) and some yellow poster paint. The yellow paint was added for no reason other than to confirm the glue had mixed evenly. Without a coloured paint in the mix everything is white and you think you have an even mix, but you cant really be sure. Using a cheap disposable brush. 30p for two from Wilkinson's in this case I painted the filler mix on. Before the filler could dry I sprinkled with builders sand. The only reason I use Builders sand is because of its cost, any type of sand would do.

Allowing it to dry overnight I mixed up enough paint to cover all the boards with at least two coats. Again mixed in some PVA and painted all the boards while sitting in the sun. By the time I had finished the fourth board the first one was dry. So I painted them all again with the base colour, a very dusty looking yellow.

Then I mixed some burnt umbar acrylic which turned it a kind of Brown-grey. which I then painted the roads. Adding some white to the mix I then painted all the walls.

And that's where I have left it over night. I hope the low angle shots  give an idea of both the finished texture and the walls and crop fields.

I'll post again on Thursday, all the best and take care folks. Clint

Laying out the last board (WIP)

As I am by now hoping you should be aware that Broadside is two weeks today. And by the time I finish this post in two weeks the door of the show will be open and At that stage I really will be in a flap. The only thing I can do is wonder what vital thing I will have forgotten.  That being the case I thought I should share the last of the boards layout with  you.

As you can see from the top picture I wanted something which could represent a built up area. A village square if you will. I can imagine a few shops selling all sorts of things from farm produce, maybe a leather workers or a shop selling cloth or farming supplies Or anything that a small agricultural community could want. There are four building "blocks"  clustered around a small square. Most of the buildings are of similar heights, mostly for ease of construction. One building is noticeably larger. (Third Pic on the right hand side). I have left the building deliberately vague in its use. It may be the village elder/tribal leaders house, that of a local dignitary, maybe it's a mosque or perhaps the home of a major drug runner. From that point of view it does not matter. If it is a mosque though the coalition troops better not fire apon it.
The last two pics show the entry and exit points for the village centre. I have left them deliberately tight without much room for the vehicles to manoeuvre. My background reading suggests this is the right approach and it will give plenty of opportunity for ambush from the Taliban point of view.
I intend to have everything finished before the end of the week so progress on these boards might become rapid and I might need to leave one or two stages out of the blog.  I will try to keep it step by step if I can, but my primary aim is to finish everything to a high standard in plenty of time.
Now that the light is at the end of the tunnel I am beginning to wonder what I should tackle next. As a club I think we have settled on playing SAGA probably as a league, but that will only involve figure painting, and I have really enjoyed this so far I am pondering loads of different projects. Perhaps I would be wise to wait and see if anything at BROADSIDE grabs my attention.

Well that's it for today. I will post again on Tuesday. Thanks for reading enjoy the rest of the weekend and hope its the weather you want where ever you are. Al the Best Clint

THANK YOU

This post is basically a thank you to all the bloggers who have started to advertise the Broadside show.

http://www.mhwc.co.uk/broadside-2012

 

Please check the webb site for more details of the show.





 I am humbled by the number of Bloggers who have posted info about our show on thier blogs, or who have promised that they will. It is really touching. It speaks very highly of the wargaming community thier kindness and willingness to help those in need. I'm not going to say anything else remotely embarassing but just to let you all know you are all valued and appreciated.  Many Thanks.

This Thanks also extends to Jasper and Guy at WSS. Jasper contacted me within 6 hours of the Rejects blogs being published and others taking up the call. WSS are doing what they can to help the show. If you norrmally recieve a newsletter from them, expect the next newsletter to carry the show infomation. Not only that, but they have asked when the release of thier newsletter best suits us. I cannot tell you how much this means. It's really fantastic! We hope that Guy from WSS will be able to atend the show as well, but no garantees on that.

This action by WSS clearly shows they are involved in the hobby, and not just about selling papers. We all know the quality of thier publications both from production values and (most importantly) content. It is also important to note that they must be at least browsing blogs to keep up with the grass roots of our hobby. A 6 hour response time from Reject bloggers is staggering for a publisher. I am really impressed, I only hope the other magazine can take note and follow (in some way) thier lead.

All the best, Thanks for reading this. Big thanks for the show support, and Happy Blogging. Cheers Clint.

British Squad



Fire Team A

Fire Team A (back)

As you can see I have managed to paint some British Infantry. Actually I have finished all the figures now. (Until I buy more of course and we all know I will even if I say I wont). The figures are all Elhiem 20mm painted in acrylics. I have taken 2 pics of each fire team.The weapons are as follows (left to right).

• Grenadier with Sa80 UGL (Under slung grenade Launcher)
• Gunner with L108A1 SAW
• Squad leader with Sa80
• Gunner with Minimi

Fire Team B

Fire Team B

Fire Team B (again left to right).

• Gunner with L108A1 SAW
• Gunner 7.62mm GPMG
• Fire Team Leader with Sa80
• Gunner with Minimi.

I feel sure that this is not the correct TO&E for a British Squad, however it is the one presented in some of the scenarios for Force on Force in the "Enduring Freedom" supplement. I could have put a designated marksman rifleman in the mix for example and taken out a Minimi. But at the end of the day I am happy with them as a force and for this purpose it is for a game.

Thanks for looking, more on Friday.All the best Clint



Bad News

It's very disappointing. As a Show Broadside is still young, very young. As such we need all the help and support we can get. So when two of the three wargames magazines that you have bought advertising space in fail to deliver the advert for the show it's very disappointing. The main problem is that shows ARE time critical. With a wargames product, for example, if you advertise a month later you can still sell your products. If on the other hand you are running a show and the adverts get missed out you can't run the advert again. The show is over, the traders disappointed with the numbers and the public uninformed. So while we should have adds in Wargames Illustrated and WSS this month, just weeks before the show we only got an apology from those in charge. Disappointing! I know some of you have put show details on your blogs and that is very much appreciated I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Especially now that 2 wargames Magazines have failed to promote the show. In addition to the adverts, or more rather the lack off adverts in magazines we have had to cancel the DBA tournament. Personally I was never convinced by the tournament at the show, but a number of people have pulled out so we have had to cancel that part of the show. We have contacted our first reserve club though and offered then the tables we would have used. Which may work in our favour. Time will tell. We will also get to see just how powerful advertising is and maybe look at which magazines should get our advertising budget next year.

With all that bad show news I thought I should put some British Casualty markers on here as well. These are all Britannia one piece castings. I realise that casualty markers are a controversial subject, more so as they are a current conflict and our own forces which is why I have not "over done" the blood and gore. Obviously the man being treated had to have some indication of injury, but I have left the red paint from the other two.

That's today's post. (I sneaked an extra one in). I hope to post again on Wednesday. Thanks for looking all the best Clint

Club Game- It all went horribly wrong

The club had three games going on Sunday, 4 of us playing "Infinity". A game we had tried before, but  had never fully got to grips with. So Ian and Relfie on one side and me and Kev on the other. I can't tell you what forces we used but only 5 figures each. I had 3 with "Combi rifles" one HMG and a shotgun. The top pic is my starting position. We started playing the game after a couple of turns realised we were playing it wrong and re set the game and started again. We all had a quick "shuffle" of figures in our deployment zone which allowed me to move the guy with a shot gun and the HMG in to better positions. I don't really want to talk about how badly me and Kev got beaten.... but we did. BADLY. All our figures wiped out with Ian and Relfie retaining the majority of their troops intact. We were out played, no excuses they made better use of the terrain and punished us if we tried to close with them. The second pic is Ians troops. Relfie played a blinder he kept me pinned and merged with every bit of cover to stay out of my lines of fire, Then when he got the chance popped out into the open and picked my guys off. I had harassing fire from Ian, but generally Ian was enjoying picking of poor Kev. The third Pic shows my growing casualties, 3 dead and only 2 remaining. I tried to move the shot gun up as it only has a range of 16 inches, well out ranged by everything else that could fire 48 inches or more. He nearly made it to cover but Ian managed enfilade fire as he tried to dodge across a very narrow strip of open ground. With just 2 men left Relfie brought one man forward in a John Wayne type heroic action. I am not blaming the dice (for a change) It was a bold move and it paid off and my last two guy soon perished .

The Fourth pic shows Kevs plight. his HMG was taken out quite early in the game, and as he tried to recover the momentum his chaps were butchered by Ian.

I'll not dwell on the gory details any longer. It was fun and I did enjoy it. But how did I find the rules? Well the game was fluid and easy to understand (having not read the rules) I knew what to do with the mechanics from about 1/2 way through the game. We did have to stop and look a lot of things up, hence the restart. I think if we'd set up a proper scenario we might have gotten a better game. Generally speaking as a science fiction set of rules I would put them somewhere between Stargrunt and 40k. Definitely a step up from 40k but to me not as good as Stargrunt. Stargrunt are an old set of rules now, but they work and work well.

 I managed to get a couple of shots at one of the other games, Tims "Good dusting" Sudan game in 15 mm. I won't say anything about it other than I was told the British lost. This is a work in progress I believe as Tim alters the "good dusting" rules to better suit our club.

Our club meeting on 3rd June is now cancelled, so we won't get another chance to tweak the Afghanistan game before Broadside. A Blow, but I remain confident the we shall overcome this setback without too much difficulty as I don't expect games at shows to be that competitive if played as a demonstration.

I estimate that I have less than 30 hours work to finish the Afghanistan game, and three weeks to do it. Which has taken the pressure off as I feel confident I shall complete it. This in my mind was the cut off date to abandon it and do WW1 Zombies if it was not going well. I am at the stage where I think pushing on is easier than hastily re-vamping an old game.

That's todays Post. I'll Blog again on Wednesday. All the Best Clint.

Village centre WIP

 Ok I'll admit it, I have put of work on the last board because I did not know what I was going to do. Then time started running out and I had to bite the bullet. As such I have decided to make the last board more a village centre set around an open area which could at times also function as a market square. All the buildings are clustered together. Take "Building 1" for example the section with the lower roof may or may not be a separate building or even 2 separate buildings. 

Building 1 Has the tallest building in the village centre. As such it could have a number of different functions. I can use it as a Mosque which means the coalition can't target it too much and air strikes are really not on. Or I can imagine it as the Village leaders residence, a local politicians house, a drug dealers dwelling or any other significant building in a small village, even a school. I looked at pictures of Mosques and some of them are really small and plain while others are big and highly decorated. So I made this to be deliberately ambiguous in function, with a couple of small workshop businesses tacked on the back.

 

Building 2 is equally nebulous in function they could be dwellings or shops or anything that a small village needs. But probably not a "Pub" perhaps a doctors or a shoe mender might be more in keeping. All that matters is that they are small buildings huddled together.
 

Buildings 3 and 4 are likewise open to interpretation with regard to what function they would carry out in the village, but there exact relationship to the village occupants does not need to be detailed. They are just General village buildings clustered together sharing walls with each other and getting the "feel" of a village.

Construction they are all made from "Grey board" cut with a scaple and glued using white wood glue to a thin mdf (2-3mm thick) base. In the same manner as all the other building I have created for this project.



As I have mentioned when displaying the compounds (and can be seen on building 4) I don't really plan what they will look like before I start. All I do is plan where they will go on the board, mark which edges face road and then start cutting the card.

As we now only have three weeks to go before BROADSIDE. Now is time to take stock. The show seems to be on course. The club tee shirts have taken a step backwards with the realisation that I was being over ambitious with their design.The Moon boards are finished and ready for Ainsty castings. I now just need to finish this game. I want it finished in 2 weeks time. I feel that is realistic but it will mean me pulling my finger out and stop procrastinating. But I think it should happen. Everything is set and ready to be finished so it's just a case of doing it.

That's today's Blog, Thanks for looking I'll post again Monday. Cheers Clint

Post Script: I had to edit post due to missing pics, which are now added.

Sniper team

 AS you can see I have started painting the British troops for the Afghanistan game. These two (yeah only 2 today) are Elhiem (http://elhiemfigures.com/index.html) really nice figures, well proportioned, well cast and most importantly they come in the right mix of weapons for British Squad composition. As already mentioned these are 20mm figures, but the sculpting is of a quality associated with 28mm figures. All in all I am very happy with my purchase of them.

I hope to have a terrain shot ready for the next post on Saturday. Hope you'll pop by and have a look then. All the Best Clint.

WMIKS

I managed to paint some British stuff over the weekend. Here are two WMIKs, (Weapons Mount Installations Kit) pronounced Wimik. As you can see they are armed differently, the one on the left has a .50 heavy machine gun in in the back in addition to a 7.62mm GPMG next to the driver. The one on the right has an Automatic Lightweight Grenade launcher (ALGL) made I believe by Hekler and Kock. The HMG version is the most commonly encountered but as Britnnia (http://www.britannia-miniatures.com/catalog/) make both versions of course I was always going to purchase both models. The crew are metal as are the wheels, but the chassis in resin. They were easy enough to put together and I would recommend them as a nice fun bit of kit to wander around your Afghan battle set up. They don't look anywhere as slick as American Hmmvs but to me they actually look better. They are also a lot smaller being based on a Landrover Defender chassis. But if you want any more details there's plenty more on Google. From my point of view they are a couple of lightweight fighting vehicles for the Brits.

I posted on this blog on the wrong dates over the weekend. It was probably only me that noticed, however back to posting every other day from now on. On an unrelated note my mind is now wandering to Post Broadside ideas and thinking about what of the many projects I should tackle next as I can at last see the end of the tunnel with regard to this project.

I can't mention anything about what the club is doing on Sunday I don't think it's sorted out yet. I know some of the guys read this and might email me with what they want to do, but as yet nothing is decided.

That's today's Blog, Thanks for reading take care and next blog post will be Thursday. All the Best Clint