Camoflage Bases! How dare you!

 Well the bases I was waiting for have arrived very swiftly. Thank you Warbases. for yet more excellent service. So I have been able to crack on with some more 1/300th scale Russian cold war stuff. But I still had 20mm by 20mm,  2mm thick MDF bases so I decided to start with some of the smaller stuff.  First up we have 2 divisional close Recce Platoons. There are 3 of the BRMD2 Armoured cars in each platoon each armed with a 14.5mm machinegun as well as a 7.62mm machinegun. Click the link to take you to the Wiki page. (LINK) . Nice vehicles not only capable of 100KM/H top speed on Roads) That's 62mph for us oldies still stuck in the old, non metric, age, but also amphibious. And if you have the money you can even buy a real one for around £7000. Prices vary as all will be second hand and "slightly used" from different governments. And being equipped for NBC operations you might consider it a zombie apocalypse vehicle. Although getting spare parts in the UK after an apocalypse might be tricky.


Continuing the theme here are also single section of regimental anti tank vehicles. While these have a similar performance and capabilities as the armoured cars they are equipped with wire guided anti-tank missiles (Sagger C). Perhaps less use in a zombie apocalypse unless your zombies drive tanks.

My painting table is now abso-pheckin-lutley crammed with stuff now so no idea what will be finished next.  I have 6mms, 10mm 20mm and 28mm stuff all started at this point so I look forward to clearing a little space and getting things finished.

So unlit next time (Sunday) take care have fun and enjoy the sun or rain as appropriate.

All the best Clint

New Horde Started.

Well I have caved in and here are my latest zombies. Yes a change of scale and manufacturer and material and focus! I must have had another senior moment!

These are all Soft plastic from the board game "Zombies" which in itself if quite a fun game. As you can see they are all the same pose, and I have 100 to paint in all so I needed a quick uncomplicated way to batch paint them. Still loads to go but I have the next 17 undercoated and ready to start.

That will have to be it for today as I have some 1/300th scale cold war stuff calling my name and I am itching to get some more done.

So have fun. Enjoy yourself and hope to see you all soon.

Best wishes Clint

Death in the desert

The British Objective to reach the town

Battle was quickly joined on the southern route.

The scenario was that we had to get the remnants of he destroyed fort back to civilization. As the British (yes it was me) had lost the last two games this would end the mini campaign if we could get the troops back. I am not going to sugar coat it ! It was a disaster for the British from the outset. Firstly there was an escarpment which meant 1 of three options. A) Enter a bottle neck, B) scale the escarpment meaning we would move about 3 cm per turn. C) Split out forces, As time was against us and as we had limited ammunition we decided to split our forces in the hope that at least some would make it. Rob took the Northern Route, I took the southern.

I pushed my troops on as far and as fast as I could. But even in the first turn the Mardist troops were out and about. And they managed to charge my infantry that were in column.

The column held and an ongoing melee ensued. Being short of time to organise I hurled my second column into the brawl. While my Cavalry charged the Camalry. Both were victories for the British but not decisive so the Mardhist troops just withdrew a move.








AS My Cavalry were considered disrupted after the battle it allowed the Ansar foot to charge them. Nothing I could do evidently. Which resulted in them all being slaughtered.










Meanwhile on the Northern route.  The Marhdist forces had come out to play and in 2 turns Bob was wiped out to a man. Outnumbered and as we kept loosing the initiative poor Bob just got swamped. Each of his units was forced into melee against 3 or 4 times their number and without any initiative breaks no opportunity other than to stay for the most part in column. Disaster.

More and More Mardhist troops kept attacking and there was no opportunity to recover. I did manage to get one infantry column into a square but they only had 4 rounds of ammunition so they were never going to hold out for long. Whereas my other unit was attacked by 3 units of ansar and when rolling for my morale test rolled a 3 on 2d6 they fled the board immediately.

DISASTER!




Conclusion: an utter defeat. 3 times in a row the British lost in the Sudan,  Looking back would or could I have done much differently? Well I could have kept the forces together but I don't think that would have helped as that would still have meant that the British were out numbered 3 or 4 to one with limited ammunition. I think IF the Ansar had turned up in dribs and drabs we might have made a difference as It would have given us more chance to organise. But in retrospect on this game the British were ambushed and there was not a lot we could have done to change it .

Oh well.

Compulsory troops

Despite the requests for zombies, I have none finished to a stage where I am happy to share them. It's like I am having to learn how to paint all over again. So excuses aside I have started to re-paint and base my 1/300th scale cold war figures. I have no soviet infantry so you'll have to look forward to them another time (which means when I buy some).

In the mean time I thought I would start painting and see where that gets me. Starting with a Soviet Airborne Desant Battalion circa 1986. According to the Bruce Rea Taylor & David Shepherd "Digest No:4" the compulsory troops for this force are:

• 1x Bmd 2-Ksh (To act as Battlegroup Head quarters)
• 2x UAZ469 each with a half section (acting as HQ security)
• 1x Brmd 2 u (Acting as an artillery observation post).

You have the BMD (back left) the Brmd (front left) and the two Uaz 469s on the right. You can find lots of videos online should you want to know what they are like in full size and real life but these will do to represent my Headquarters for my Desant - Russian airborne force. I have studied Russian camouflage and am pretty sure the colours are close if not exactly the same as seen in the picture below. Maybe I should use a little more "tan" Paint so I will try to in by next batch. They are based on 2mm MDF bases with the rear edge painted white to identify them as part of the command section.

Thanks for looking today, I will be continuing with more of these today as well as the zombies so with a game report on Monday I predict zombies by Wednesday with a chance of gore and blood splatters.

Have a GOOD weekend folks and hope to see you soon. All the best Clint.

Finished (for the Moment)

Well it has taken a couple of weeks but I have now finished painting the colonial Indian troops for Matt for the Northwest Frontier. He'll see me Sunday and collect them and most likely give me some more to do, but for now I am finished and here are the latest Batch.

Sorry for the rough photography on a couple of the pictures (well none are perfect... ho hum!). Still they should give you some Idea.

7 Figures in this batch including 2 flag bearers. Again either Foundry or Old Glory. Flags are from "Body's Banners" stocked by "Redoubt".

Flag bearers from behind.

Rank and File

Rank and File from behind

All together now,

 The Last picture is because some bright spark usually asks for a group shot. So this time I thought I would save them the effort. It shows all the troops that Matt has asked me to paint this time out. One of the great things about Painting for Matt is that he never sets me a deadline so if I can finish in 6 months or 6 days he's content. And that is great as it really does take all the pressure off. So thanks Matt.

So now I have 4 days in which to indulge myself and paint what I want so I may well start too much and get nothing finished. But my plan however is to start some 1/300th Cold war figures and some 20mm Zombies.

So until Saturday, take care, have fun and try not to hurt anyone! Next episode should be Saturday so I hope you can tune in again then.

Best Wishes from Paint Monkey.

More figures for Matt.

Three posts in three days. Good grief what's come over me!
Let's not get over excited. But here are the Infantry I have mentioned over the last few days. Yes I have 6 more to go and hope to have them done by Sunday morning so I can give them back to Matt. So I most likely will manage it which will give me time to progress one of my own projects. No Idea which one yet before you ask and not even thinking of it until then.

I will not go into much more detail about these I believe them to be a mixture of Foundry and Old Glory, with the majority being Foundry. It is all British Empire troops of the colonial period suitable for fighting battles in the Northwest Frontier.

Rifle armed rank and file.

Command Figures

All together

About Face.

That's it for today I am now back to posting every other day and with luck and a fair wind that means Thursday. So until then take care and hope to see you soon. All the Best Clint

British Officers.

AS yesterdays post was not wargames related I thought I would show you may latest 2 figures.

They are 2 British colonial era officers for the Northwest Frontier. Painted and based to fit in with Matts expanding collection. These should give him a couple of dizzy toffs to boss the rank and file Indian soldiers around. Some of the officers were very good, others less so.

As mentioned these are for Matt and there are more to come. With luck I should Have 10 more infantry finished by late tomorrow so I will put them on as quickly as I am able. As I am on the bases highlight and finishing touches now (Yes the best bits).

That's a very quick one for today as I will want to carry on with the footsloggers as swiftly as possible.

Take care all "Paint Monkey" out.

Not Really Wargaming.

Let me take you back to Friday. Friday morning 10am to be precise. At that time and on that day the official opening of the extension to our new wargames hall was carried out. The original hall is the taller section of the building on the right. Many of the locals thought it was either an electricity sub station or derelict building as it had a neglected and at times vandalised feel t it. Anyway it was originally built by the Royal Engineers (REME) back in the early 60's. It consists of loos, a kitchen and a main hall with a stage. All pretty basic but all still very functional.

That being the case the local council paid for an extension.  Not for us wargamers I hasten to add but for the football teams the use the attached fiend, Not that I mind another group benefitting by a new building. WE have not done badly out of it though the council have refitted our kitchen and have promised to update our loos. In addition the car park has been expanded, not enough I hasten to add for one football team let alone 2 and refs and linesman, but even so it will be a help.

Talking to the Project manager (a nice chap as it happens) he made the comment that due to the less than salubrious local youths that they wanted to make the building "Bullet proof"!. The Local Councilman who officially cut the ribbon to open the building, mentioned in his speech that the new extension fitted in well with the existing structure. Given what the locals think of the original building, I for one am not sure that is a good thing.

Given that most people turned up for the event in collar and jackets. As it was hot I was in a bright polo shirt and shorts. Opps! Ahh who cares!

Feel free to ignore this post as I may do another post later today or tomorrow when I finish the figures I am working on. So until then Thanks for tuning in and catch you later. Cheers Clint.

Paint monkey again.

Yes a little more Painting for Matt. As Matt got his WW1 Germans back last weekend he very kindly gave me more things to paint and some beer tokens for doing so. So what Have I managed to do in the last 5 days. There are some mounted officers and Infantry I have just started for Matt as well. So No 1/300th scale started by me just yet.









Well the answer is a Colonial Northwest Frontier Indian gun and crew. I cannot and will not claim to know very much about this period or what the gun is but all the colours are copied from the internet so I am fairly content that they are right.

As there are 4 crew we can assume one is the gun commander, one the loader, one the firer and one the Rammer! I am confident that these will increase his collection and make the Northwest Frontier more of an active project for him. I do have more of this period to do for him so you can expect to see more in the next week.


 The gun is quite small but I for one would not want to carry it up a mountain. so there are an additional 2 donkeys to help with the portage. I am not sure of the make of the donkeys, but the gun and crew I believe are Foundry, but not totally sure about that.







The last picture is them all together and not really much more to say. Thanks for popping by have a good day and with luck more again on Sunday.

Take care of yourself Clint.

New Project Alert.. You are warned.

For the long standing members of this blog you may remember this post LINK about plans for 2013. Well one of them is now on the top of my to do list so I will be starting a new project this week. Gasp shock horror! No it is not chariot racing (maybe by this time next year! Maybe!)

I have mentioned it to other club members and it looks like there is a strong possibility of doing 6mm Cold War Era wargaming. So as It stands it looks like we shall be doing this for our broadside game next year. Unless I get side-tracked or another club member wants to do something else. So we shall see what happens, but as I type this I have good intentions.

This is as much a return to my roots as it is a new project. As I used to play this kind of game a fair amount in the 80's I have found my two armies from this time and will start to re-paint and re-base them over the coming months. I will also build terrain, in fact you may say I have started already as I have three boards carcassed-out and ready to start work on. Don't hold your breath though they are a very long way from finished yet. Merely boards and Battening at this stage, nothing more.

To the right you can see some of my current bedside reading. I do have more rule options as well but as "Challenger 2" was my choice of rules back in the day I have a feeling it will be where I start. First Clash is not a rule set, but more an alternative history.

The following Blogs have inspired me so I would like to say THANKS to them as well. There are of course many more blogs out there covering this topic so this is in no way a definitive list.

http://coldwargamer.blogspot.co.uk/  Doing it in 20mm but packed full of top class information
http://stoppingtheredtide.blogspot.co.uk/ Doing it in 15mm
http://whirarwistan.blogspot.co.uk/ Another 20mm site (more modern than cold war)
http://bleaseworld.blogspot.co.uk/ 6mm Arab Israeli War
http://www.blmablog.com/ 6mm WW2 Western Desert

Well that is just a very short list and I am sure you have got your own favourites for this period and scale.

But now that my SCW game is coming to a conclusion I will be able to concentrate on a new project.

Thanks for looking today and I will have some painted figures by Friday. Just on the basing now.

All the best Clint

Shako shaken

I do not play a lot of Nappys. Lets just say bad experience in the past and leave it at that. But I had a game on Sunday of Shako. I have played these rules about 10 years ago so as you will already have worked out I was totally aware of all the rules and connotations. Also apart from reading and watching "Sharpe" this period is a big black hole in my historical knowledge. So that make me a perfect candidate to act as a subordinate commander as far as the club is concerned.

Anyway Tim was my superior commander and we had the French. Gary, Peter and Colin had the Russians. Gary was more than fluent with the rules and Colin knew them pretty well but Tim and myself lets just say not so much but we had the French. Tim devised a plan and gave me a briefing which made me happy as it meant I did not have to think about tactics or any of that hard stuff. And this is how it all went.

The French line with my troops in the foreground.
The battle was an
Encounter battle.

The Russians had a double line.
It turn out 3/4 of the way through the battle that
Tim had short changed the French
in numbers of troops we were allowed.
Ah well!

The French plan was simple.
I was to hold the Right flank seen as vulnerable
while Tim advanced on the left
and would thus roll up the Russian Line.

My troops move up to the town and then go on defend orders.

My troops hold the town and
 Tim sends his cavalry forward and pivots his infantry.
Taking the battle to the Russians.
 

Tims Cavalry charge.
The Russians form (for the most part) squares.
I think you can guess the result.

The dice were rolled and the
result was just as you expected

Yes you were right! The infantry on in square were trounced
and the follow up charge destroyed another unit.
The Other cavalry died heroically and futility.
Lots and Lots of dead horse
so we all knew what was on the menu that night!
 

Tim wanted a picture of the Russian troops he'd destroyed.

Tim's troops
follow up but have to clamber over
piles of dead horses.
They too get repulsed for the most part.

So as the French Attack had been repulsed.
The Russians went on the offensive.
Firstly with their Cavalry against our reserve cavalry.

The Russians started to advance on the town
 so I brought up my reserve. Yes I was still playing
you cheeky so and so!

Tim brings on some more troops
 as we had forgotten to include them in the army
 at the beginning of the game. I have one more unit to
fill the gap and crest the hill.

From the other side/end of the table.
The Russians having taken the hill
close on Tims Fresh Bavarian troops.

The Russians (under Colin) attack my troops
and the town. The troops on my far right
were driven back. But all others held.
Despite 2 or three columns attacking each of my
Line troops. Yes I got luck with some dice rolls.
 

Eventually the Russians push through the French line.

 

And that's when the French army had taken sufficient casualties to force a withdraw. I think we have to hand it to the other players Gary, Peter and Colin on a good solid game and in Gary's words a Pyric Victory for the Russians.

That's it for today I shall do another post very soon. Thank you for reading. And it has made me want to play some more "Shako" in the future. Take care and I hope you are well.

Can you tell what it is yet (2)

The answer is probably clear by now but for those still in the dark it is 35 of scale 10-15mm dry stone walling. What cha mean it don't look like that? Well it is now close enough for the wargames table. (Yes Jo you guessed it was walls give yourself a smug point and well done!)

Ok so what did I do? starting from the hardboard bases I cut chip board into thin strips. Without a guard or a guide it was all done by eye and some are noticeably thicker than others. That's not the point, it's not even the issue! Then as the chip board was about 12mm thick I was able to break them with my hands to give an un even top and a ragged edge.

Then with a hot glue gun I attached the chip board to the Hardboard bases. I will be the first to admit that I am barely competent with a hot glue gun but it worked for the most part. I only used it because it is pretty instantaneous in drying...... I think it dries too fast if I am honest. A couple of safety tips, as I have seen kids in schools try to use them in glue gun fights I can assure you that it is not a good idea unless you want to ruin each others clothes and loose all your pocket money for a long time! I would also suggest you do not eat the glue (hot or cold!) And lastly if you get it on you immediately wipe it off onto the work bench, do not wait to attract a teachers attention or rush to a sink. Additionally it is not butch and macho to see how long you can bear to hold the hot glue! Lecture over and common sense reinstated for the thicko's out there, you know who I am talking too!


The following day (I went in for some tea) I painted the hardboard areas with a mixture of green paint and Pva White wood glue and coated them with sand. The day after that I watered down some burnt umber acrylic and added more PVA and washed the chipboard to make it darker.

Another day later I repainted the hardboard and sand in a medium green and when that was dry I dry brushed some light green and yellow onto the bases.

As you can see it is all very straight forward but I did need to do it as otherwise my 10mm SCW battle field will look very barren indeed. So these added to my hedges and buildings should give enough cover so the machine guns do not decimate the other troops. This method will work for 10mm troops and 15 mm figures and 20mm figures should you wish to try making cheap simple and effective dry stone walls.

Thanks for looking today and I plan to update on Monday. And If I forget my camera at the club tomorrow I will have to let you in on one of my secret plans (Mathyoo already knows)!

As ever comments are welcome. Have a good weekend and take care of you and yours all the best Clint.