2 more jungle huts

Yes two more. This should be enough now. As the jungle is not the heaviest populated area on the planet tis should be MORE than enough buildings.

The models are 1 piece resin castings by Frontline Wargaming (http://www.frontlinewargaming.co.uk/) and as Tim is part of the wargaming club I do get a very small discount... big enough to stop me looking elsewhere.


I have painted these up to represent an old hut and a newly built hut. I will let you decide which is which although it should be very obvious.

Painting was very quick, about 30min if we include drying time. just a simple 1 colour and a heavy brown wash and then when dry a black to paint in the door. Ok I did leave them overnight and varnish them in the morning but still very swiftly painted with no fuss no muss and I think, to a good result.

Elsewhere on the painting table I have started a VSF Tank. It is currently on the third paint job as I was ever happy with the result. This time it is SO much simpler and just needs 1 bore base coat to get rig of any blotches or patchiness. So you may expect that pretty soon as well.



 Thanks for looking today and now to start the next Zombtober figure....

All the best Clint

Carry on follow that March or ten tall legionares (?)

Right this gets me back for now to posting on my normal ever other day. Bet that does not last long. Unfortunately I will not be able to do a detailed AAR from Sundays Club game. But I will talk though it as best I am able.

All figures are IT miniatures 20mm ( http://www.frontlinewargaming.co.uk/) All the terrain is scratch built by me and the rules were an adapted "Songs of Blades and heroes!"

We played "Songs of Blades and heroes" BUT not a fantasy version a Riff war version. Firstly I did muck up the rules a little but not enough to ruin the game and the next time they will be better. That is a promise.

A total of three games were played. (I was only in the last game as I took over from Richard (aka Dick)).

All the photos are from Battle 2.

Battle 1>

Game one was that there had been a sandstorm and the baggage mules had run off. Both sides wanted them. The FFL to resupply the fort and the Riff to have some loot and also to deny the fort any supplies. I was ref. Bob and Peter played the Riffs and Dick and Tim the French Foreign Legion (FFL). The games started slowly with all players taking single activations and getting used to the rules which no one had played before.

 However things soon changed. Each board had 2 pack mules so a draw was possible. Peter quickly nabbed on of the mules and took it off table thus denying the possibility of a FFL victory at his side of the board. But 3 mules in total remained so still everything to play for. Tim (FFL) tried to circle around Peter (riff). But realistically too little and far to late. His troops  just took too long to circle around a building complex.

At the other end of the table Bob (riff) again slow to get going but using the long move of his camel mounted troops and managed to steal both of the pack mules. Dick (ffl) did his best and killed enough Riffs to get morale checks working. (WHICH I mucked up by having instant removal rather than retreats) However with all 4 baggage mules in Riff hands the fort was going to have a tough time in the next few weeks being both short of food and ammo!

Battle 2>

The guys decided on one big battle rather than squabbling over mules and supplies. Both Riff players decided to concentrate on Tim (FFL) and leave Dick (FFL) mostly alone. Yes I know Peter did send a small force to hold the FFL under Dick up.

The FFL did considerably better this time. Only Tim took any casualties and the FFL inflicted almost total wipe out on the riffs. Bob and peter did put Tim on a morale check at the same period BOTH of them were also taking morale (Which I am doing right at last). As Tim had about  2 times as many attacking him he was faced with few options .  He defended well with even the Arab guide fending of a savage Riff not once but twice. If he had not defended so well it could easily have been very different..But the writing was in the sand and the Riff lost decisively

Battle 3>

I played the Riffs against Peter (now FFL) and we went for speed back to the baggage column and pack mules. Knowing now how the rules work. I charged a single riff up the road and grabbed a mule and mad it of the table by turn 2. Before Peter got most of his troops on the table. peter tried the same thing and sprinted legionaries after the remaining mule on his table. They made it forcing me to send my leader (hero) straight into a melee with them.

A rugby scrum of a melee resulted with each side sending in more and more troops. Until neither of us had any left to commit and all the troops were in one big brawl.

At the other side of the table Bob (Now FFL) grabbed a mule and shot Tim to pieces. Tim was now lacking sufficient troop strength and despite some heroic last actions te FFL managed to not only secure a second mule but with a mixture of sword and gun fire manage to whittle the FFL down to a few men.

While we did not finish I did offer Peter a draw. Being a gentleman Peter did admit he was not in a position to win and that eventually I would win. (I had not lost a man and Peter had lost 3 at this stage This gave me weight of numbers and I was almost able to have 2 men attacking each one of his).

So the Results were

Bob 2 wins     1 loss
Clint 1 Win. (Only played 1 game)
Richard  1 Win     1 loss
Tim 1 win and 2 losses.
Peter 1 win and 2 losses.

Riffs 3 wins FFL 3 wins.

That being the case it was an even day with the winners being the ones who had the most fun.
Just as it should be!

I feel we will play again and that Tim will make a few more FFL figures He has admitted to having started a Hotchkiss and crew (Machine gun), Like wise I have enquired about FFL in shirt sleeves and FFL with Lewis guns. I doubt anything will come of the later 2 ideas (yeah my ideas) but the Hotchkiss is a possibility.

Maybe I will even make a FFL fort. (No not the airfix "Fort Sarhara" as that would not be large enough). Only time will tell. Whatever it was a fun day and I really did like how the rules worked and also how the terrain looked.

My position in the final battle
at the end of play
although I did not win and it could have turned around
Peter refused a draw and clained I had won

To me the the last battle was undecided.

Thanks for reading and more again soon. maybe even a steam tank. 1 Have now been started.

Zombtober 1

My first ever Zombtober and guess what? I was without internet connection all day Sunday. The issue is solved for now so here is my first ever entry.

With luck the organisers will forgive my tardiness. If they don't there is nothing I can do or indeed could have done so oh well!

Only 1 zombie from Mantics "All out war" the walking dead game. cast in hard plastic this single 28mm figure was about as easy to paint as I could hope for. But given the fact I was at the club yesterday and had been up and sorting thimngs out (as a care giver) since 3 am again I hope I will be forgiven.

So that is my start to Zombtober. Good luck to all involved and while I am not intending a massive out- put it does get the ball rolling for me. And I have published as swiftly as I am able given internet connectivity.

Changing the Subject!

I had a few extra gifts while at the club yesterday. See the very bottom photo. 2 Ironclad miniatures (Part painted (But you all know I will have to start again. ) Victorian Science fiction steam tanks.
(http://www.ironcladminiatures.co.uk/). While they may not have been the ones I would choose for myself they are very welcome additions. Cheers Bob. (I will admit I have considered buying the green one in the past but always had other things to spend the money on).

Additionally: 2 extra Pack mules for WW1/ late colonial form IT miniatures. Thanks Tim.

Also from Tim 2 additional 15mm jungle buildings. I now have enough to start playing WW2 pacific  games of PBI. Which is not saying I have enough troops (I do but If I say that I may have to stop buying and not continue to round out the collection) but at least I have enough Jungle buildings. So expect them to be painted very swiftly. I may even start today.

And A big thanks to mat for printing off some Aeronef cards for me and some ship name tags. We can probably get a first game in reasonably swiftly now. Cheers Mate.

It was (In my opinion) a good day at the club and I will do a report in the next day or two.

And the games were more Beau Geste/Legionaire/ten tall Men/march or die. Than the were "Sons of the Desert" or Carry on Follow that camel (I think I have mentioned enough films). Despite Peter calling out "Mustava leak!" frequently. (I promise to have the correct name spelling for the game report)

All the best Clint out

March or dice!

yep although I am sure it will be more "Carry on Follow that camel!" I am using the working title of "March or Dice!" (Maybe with the "C" in brackets, maybe not.

I am of course thinking of the French Foreign legion game that I have been planning.

For those not following this project it is an early 20th century "Beau Getste" skirmish game of the Arabs (Riff) versus the French Foreign Legion (And the Spanish, don't forget they were involved!)

I already have enough mounted Riffs (about 45 on camels) so here are 10 on foot. % armed tith swords and 5 with rifles. All the figures are by IT Miniatures (Here is a LINK) they are all metal WW1 20mm castings. The 3 Mules (or Donkeys) are also WW1 IT miniatures but in the British lists and not the Arab lists..

I will be looking at the "Songs of blades and heroes" engine but using the very nearly identical "Fist full of Kung Fu" Osprey rules. There will of course be a few amendments to represent the setting, but these should be very minor.

With luck I will have enough done for a club game on Sunday.

Cheers Clint

Sci Fi trees?

Ok lets us start by saying NO ONE KNOWS what trees will be like on another planet. I really do not, not got the foggiest idea. NOT A CLUE. I don't even know if we will recognise them as being plant life> I have no idea.

However wargamers being human will always tend towards what they know and as we know what a tree is like on this planet, and as all wargames rules want some soft cover/concealment, these will do for now!

Now many of you might remember Joe (AKA Zabadak (Link to blog) purchased a plastic "flower" ball from the 99p store. I followed suit. I will turn it into Jungle in short order.

Now as you can see in the top picture there are a few purple "Fronds". I had initially no use for the purple "fronds" but waste no want not. I have turned them into sci fi trees.

Taking it apart (there were only 3 purple, the rest are green). So using a glue gun, I stuck them to 2mm MDF bases.

An easy job, and done quite quickly. You could stick them to plastic counters as well, but you would need to "Key" the surface or the glue will have almost nothing to cling on to.  I would choose not to use the glue gun on coins as they really do need to key to the surface. But you are welcome to try it if you like, BUT I would not recommend it.

The Glue guns are quite safe as long as you don't try anything silly, like squirting hot glue in you eyes or onto your tongue. And if you get any on you quicker to wipe it of than run to the sink and pour cold water on it. Look it is common sense.

Also cover everything with news paper as it makes tiding up easier and you will get nagged less.

Once dry. Trust me it is quick. I waited 30 mins (go and make a cuppa for the better half). It was simply a matter of painting with dark brown on the base and sprinkling sand in place. No need to be precious, every thing is already covered and no one really cares about the bushes. So be quite liberal in the sprinkling.

Once sprinkled I repainted again with dark brown and then hi-lighted in a desert sand/yellow.  That way job's a good un and only the tidy up to be done. leave over night to dry and in the morning put them away, or don't put them away and get nagged at, the choic e is yours>

Quick and easy sci fi terrain. I just wish I had a few more to bulk out the terrain.

Being Sci Fi they can of course be any scale and being purple they have an otherworldly look to them.

2 things

My Sister on Khan (the horse)
at Hickstead this year.

Firstly a big congrats to my sister. She came 9th out of a field of 29 at Hicktead Horse Trials. She was competing in Dressage.  While 9th is not Olympic standard it is still pretty good. (FAR better than I could have even attempted to do!)

I do not mention my sister often as she has NO interest in my hobby.



And the Rosette for coming 9th

Can I ride a horse?.... I have learnt to cling on but I am in no way proficient.


















Ok back to wargaming...... here is the start of Matt's Aeronef British fleet!


At this stage he has Far to many small aeronef and they have been a right paint to paint. But they are done now so I can put them out of my mind and get something else done.

below are a series of close ups of various class vessels. With the brown ones at the end being airships. I had to paint 3 times before I was happy with them.

That's it for today. Take care have fun and paint if the mood takes you.

best wishes Clint


A place in Country. (15mm)

here are 2 of Frontlines (http://www.frontlinewargaming.co.uk/) 15mm jungle huts.


Suitable for many jungle locations across the world. While these are both the same 2 varieties do exist. I will be using them for both Pacific War PBI and "AK47 Republic" . Just because the difference between African Jungle and Asian or Pacific jungle in wargames terms is minimal. Not minimal in reality, but only n the wargames setting


Very easy painting, (grey undercoat, dark brown wash then sand yellow highlights.) probably too about 10 mins not including drying time. I painted them in this way as I wanted the grey to be in evidence. (Wood turns grey with age... just look at garden fences).

2 quick and easy additions. I have already asked Tim for 2 more which I shall get in a couple of weeks.

I have a little more Jungle terrain to make (Hope to this week) then pretty much finished (Famous last words)

That's it for today, very quick and simple and another post in 2 days as I am about to start the Arabs for the carry on follow that camel game.

Stay safe and happy. best wishes Clint

Dux Britaniarum skirmishers.

Well the title says it all. In Dux Britaniarum missile troops do not play a major part. Nor Historically should they. A unit, this time 4 (and not 6) represents the young warriors perhaps on their first raid. maybe they are not considered strong or brave enough to be in a shield wall or in a main unit. But they still have a purpose they act as harassing and missile troops.

These are 28mm hard plastic dark age missile troops. I cannot tell you who makes them as they were bought unpainted/2nd hand on eBay. I have kept the coulours as realistic as possible and put patches where they have been repaired. Given that there was about 3 miles of thread in a tunic (I am told, not measured it myself) and they were often in a persons will when they died patching seems not only likely but also nessercary.

That is another unit finished for Dux Britaniarum. The smallest unit I grant you but it did need to be finished. One more warrior unit to go. (yes there will be a group photo when all are finished.

Now the painting table is "Almost" cleared I can start to look at the FFL again. More of that NEXT week, I am sure.

Autumn Skirmish show report.

Numbers were down, both in traders and customers. most likely due to Colours being on the same day. With luck the organiser will check in advance next time  and adjust the weekend accordingly. But nothing I can do so nothing for me to worry about.
The Spring Skirmish will be a Vietnam Themed show, so I will have to read a few sets of rules and work from their. My Current favourite set of Vietnam rules are "FNG" as most other sets want either platoon or company level engagements and in my mind the whole thing about Vietnam is it is squad based. But each to their own and if bigger contacts suit you more who am I to criticise!

Here are the games that were on Sunday (and I hope the club names) feel free to correct me if I make any mistakes.


The Old Guard, an Imagi-Nations game

Skirmish Wargames, Sharpes Village, 54mm



Not Sure... but 15mm naps

 

Privateers of London, The Battle of Grand Port 



Milton Hundreds (AKA Sittinbourne) Wargaming Club, Strike on Karalis, 15mm Sci-Fi



Not sure who but a rather large 40k game

 

Gravesend Gamers Guild, Battletech



Medway Wargames, Wrath of Kings

 

Maidstone Wargames Society

 

Not sure whom, but Dux Britaniarum 28mm



Herenbay&Whitstable club 20mm naps



North London Wargames Group, 6mm Battle 

And then we come to the Rainham game.

I do not like Naps. but we played a 28mm French vs Prussian encounter. But not to any result.. A nice sociable event but not really my cup of tea at all. Probably ended in a draw which of course a victory for my side. yes we could have finished it but with wandering around the show and chatting to the public we just did not. Oh well. Like I said a victory for me and Peter and a defeat for the Prussians.