10mm SCW Guardia de Assalto

During the Analogue Painting Challenge I expanded my Spanish Civil War forces. In this instance a detachment of Guardia de Assalto. These fellows were a paramilitary force before the Civil war broke out and to be eligible to join you had to have had prior military experience. When the war started loyalties were split and thus we see these form of troops fighting for both Nationalist and Republican.

Firstly this is a "Bilbao" armoured car it has a crew of 4 and is able to carry 5 additional troops. It is armed with a 7mm Hotchkiss machine gun. It was the only pre war armoured car built by Spain. I went for a simple very dark grey colour scheme and applied a black wash. Job Done.

I doubt I will need more of these vehicles as they were quite rare, More common than any other type of armoured car to be sure, but never built or distributed in the kind of numbers as we would expect in later years.








The Uniform of the Guardia de Assalto was black shirt and trousers with a black peaked cap. If you have seen the film "Land and freedom" these are seen at one point not as front line troops but in Barcelona entering a mans house and arresting him. They did also fight as frontline troops and were some of the most mobile troops of the war usually going by truck, but there was also a motorcycle detachment.

As I plan a game later in the year (Autumn) I still have plenty of time to sort the forces out. The main thing holding me up is terrain though. "Timescape" do make some terrain for this scale and region there really is a limited choice. Which leaves me wondering if I should make my own buildings.

That's todays update. As these have already been on the painting challenge this feels like a backward step putting them on my blog, But as they have not been seen here it is allowable.

Until next time, take care and have some fun Clint

No Prisoners (Aqaba Arab Revolt Game)

For those of you who cannot remember the film. The history is of course different from the film and the actual battle lasted 4 days.

But as a wargamer I am more drawn to the spectacle of the film. So here is Our game interpretation that we played out yesterday. Some amendments to make to the playing boards and to the rules before Broadside, but no reason not to give a game walk through of one of the games we played.

 Starting positions for the Arabs.

4 foot long Arab camel line and 2 Turks in a trench Not expecting guests

 Mostly a deserted Desert town

Turkish Patrols wandering the town

Over-running the trench line the Camel charge moves on

Laurence of Arabia and entourage.

They reach the out skirts of the town

Moving through crop fields

 And skirting buildings. In the distance you cane see a Turkish Patrol taking cover behind a low wall field boundary.

Another Turkish Patrol taking cover. As the Charge gains momentum.

Turkish shooting starts to take it's toll and Camel riders start to tumble.

Laurence Moves forward in the centre of the board

 Skirting the building a first wave of Camel riders suffers devastating incoming fire.

 Else where melee is joined and while some Arabs slip past others engage in the Melee.

 Having survived, for the most part, the incoming fire the arabs start to get stuck in.

 The Melee is not all one sided and it delays the Arab attack long enough

 Long enough for the Turks to get reinforcements.

 Laurence gets dragged down in Hand to hand combat by three Turks and unfortunately DIES! Graham is a ROTTER!

 The Flag bearer pushes forward but the Turkish reinforcements are to many and their fire power concentrated and eventually he runs to cover.

Arab reinforcements finally arrive, but too late to turn the tide.

 

 

Yes so the Turks managed to defend Aqaba in this game but it was a close run thing. If two more Turks had died it would have been an Arab victory. I(n the first game, the Arabs did win and that was also a close run thing. So I must conclude that the rules and forces are quite balanced. There will be a few changes made but just minor tweaks. The Boards also need a slight revamp, but nothing major. As a teast game it worked very well.

 

 

Thanks for reading and more again as soon as I can. All the best Clint



Slim pickins

Well I have been home for about an hour now. So that must mean it's time to blog. So today I went to Spring Skirmish ( LINK) Where Tim Graham and myself put a game on. Dave and Paul were putting on a different game at the same show so were unable to assist. I will do a Game report Next time out. Two other Bloggers were present that I know of. Big Lee and David Crook. So they will probably do a little bit about the show in the next few days. (Click on their names to view their blogs).

Anyway Mr Crook has an interest in the Arab revolt so he will be joining us a bit at Broadside to Play. That invitation extends to any blogger who attends Broadside and wants to join in. Games take about 2 hours so if that's too long feel free to step in and step out when the mood takes you.

So we used the Skirmish show to play-test the rules I wrote yesterday and the game does work as a participation game if you want it to. I shall just give you one Pic of the game today. This is the starting position of the Arab Camelry before the charge starts. So yes That is 4 foot wall to wall Camels! With two poor Turks in a trench on sentry duty........ They tend to die in the first turn! but it does get you an idea how the rules work very quickly.


It was a good day and despite many temptations I spent only £4.50. Yes I am a cheapskate. So all I bought was 5 plastic Lord of the rings Figures for 20p Each These are for my nephew and with luck it should keep him busy for about 15 seconds! (so money well spent!) £1 was also spent on small round MDF bases.... and my big purchase of a 1/200th scale Ju52. The aircraft will be painted in civil colours and used in my planned Spanish Civil War Game.

That's it for today. I shall do another blog post soon. So until then take care and Have fun. All the best Clint

Building done

I find that when I get near the end of a terrain board everything comes together in a rush. Today is an example. I have painted up the building top go on the board. Yes It's a bit rough in places, but seriously who cares too much about that. Yeah alright I know I do! But it's not too rough and plenty good enough to pass.

Keeping it brief so I can get back on with things. In particular the last few figures for the game.

Hope to talk soon. All the best Clint

Desert Board Update

just a quick update as I wait for paint to dry. I am now at the stage where I just have to wait for them to dry and them dry brush them with a couple of lighter tones and they I can plant the trees.

I will attempt the dry brushing later today once this yellow top coat is dry. Assuming I can dry brush them ok later I will then need to lighten the walls to make them stand out a little more. Then that will be the painting done. So less than an hours work for that.

At that stage I will plant the trees. I want to add 6 trees to each board. These will be palm trees that I have bought from China via eBay. They will simply fit into holes I have yet to drill. At that stage the boards will just about be done.

There you go a very quick update today. Maybe another one tomorrow I'll have to wait and see.

So until then take care and hope to see you soon.

All the best Clint

Half Tracks

Having bought these in June last year I have finally gotten around to finishing them. As you can see these are WW2 US halftracks. They are by the Plastic Soldier Company and come with 5 sprues in a box and each sprue capable of making one halftrack. There are several options on each sprue allowing for different weapons mounts, different bumpers, optional stowage and up to 8 people in each vehicle. With all the options I wanted to peep them fairly uniform though and have just changed the bumper on one of them. This allows me to identify a platoon leader vehicle should I need to. And that is the only reason I changed one.

I found them quite fiddly to put together due to their size but would happily get more if I needed them. The instructions were clear and concise and once you had worked through the process once or twice you knew how to do them. They did not come with the decals though but I had some spare. As already mentioned you could put up to 8 figures in each M3 Halftrack I settled on 3each though as I want to use these more in a battle taxi role. So my three figures are the driver and co-driver (a one piece casting so easier to have them both than just a driver) and a guy to operate the .50 Browning. 2 of these are just sitting and "relaxing" in the back, the other three are poised at the guns. The soldiers manning the machineguns are two piece castings allowing you to position them and the weapons at different angles should you choose.  I felt no need to do this.

This should bring my US PBI force to a logical end. Well as much of an end as any project has as there are still more options I could select and knowing me I will want to tinker and try out different things. As I type this I immediately realise I have no flame throwers or mine detectors or anti aircraft support. But for now this is enough and I have reached critical mass on this project.

Thanks for reading. I may update tomorrow with some terrain board information as the last two boards are now dry and I just need to colour them up and do the edging and plant trees. So I hope to see you all soon. All the best Clint

Yesterday

As sometimes happens we are just not in the mood. It was club day yesterday and I was just not in the mood. Maybe it's Curt's painting challenge taking it's toll, or maybe it was because the rugby was on or maybe the stars were just not right. But unfortunately I was just not in the mood. Which means I did go to the club and had a chat with the good folks (and some of the less good) and instead of having an AAR today I just have a few snaps of 2 of the games that were being played.

Firstly Dave and Paul put on a huge 28mm Ancients game of Greeks vs Galations. It stretched the length of 2 table tennis tables with hundreds of figures on each side. It really was a spectacle to behold. There were so many figures that it did look like a show game as opposed to a club game.

They used the fantasy "Kings of War" rules as they wanted to be able to finish the game in a single day. My observation is that the rules worked very well with such a horde of figures and combats were quickly resolved.

In addition to Paul and Dave, Ian and Kevin also played and having never played the rules before understood them and got to grips with them very quickly.  I left after they had each only had 2 turns so I have no idea how any of the games were resolved but they had gotten into contact and casualties had been inflicted and Dave had even lost a whole unit from a failed morale check.

Overall it did look like a good game and they would have made room for me if I had wanted to join in. But as already mentioned I just was not in the........ you know the rest.

One game I did not take any piccies of was the new Peter Pig dark age rules. The reason for no pics was that they had just finished the pre-game so the terrain was in the process of being set up. I am sure I will get to play this fairly soon so I will keep an open mind about it.







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Following the ACW game I played last time, Tim had tweaked the rules a little and was having another game with 3 other chaps. Including a guy who had never played any wargames before but wanted to try one out so came along. This is great any club can always use new members and he seemed like a decent bloke and I hope he enjoyed it.

The rules were a tweaked version of "Honour and Glory" with Tim having amended the mistakes from last time and lessened the effect generals had on units shooting as well as evening up the turn distribution. I would imagine these amendments would improve the game.

Tim also mentioned some linked games of ACW and is planning some kind of campaign. More of this as/when it happens. But if anyone in the club can Tim can.



I managed to scrounge 2 sets of rules to flick through as well both of which I am interested in. That is the great thing about clubs someone will either have it, be that a set of rules or armies for a certain period, or if not they will know someone who does and they will be able to point you in the right direction.

Anyway the rules in question are "Body Count" an old set of Vietnam rules and "1644" by wargames foundry. This later set as Tim wanted me to read through the campaign system as I would be interested in doing a campaign as well, and he thought this was the best place to start.

And Finally It's wrong I know but,

 ENGLAND

Beat

WALES!

Thank you

Thank you to those that took part in my small poll  The results were quite conclusive:

British 5
Arab    2
Indian  1

Thus it looks very much like I shall do a small British force for the game with the rejects.
Cheers Again Guys. Next post Monday.

The Girls Team

Disclaimer: This has been re-written since it originally appeared on Curt's Analogue Painting Challenge. Ant supposed reference to any bloggers alive, dead, undead or never lived is purely coincidental and is in no way intended to reflect in ANY way on members of the wargames and figure painting Blogger community. Honest Guv!

The Team of St Searles is a mixed and varied lot. As a team they have many faults and yet at the same time will support each other despite all being individuals.

Starting from left to right.

 "Little" Leeza Hadley. The Little title seems to be a reverse nickname. She is commonly identified by the others as the Rich Girl a title she disclaims and yet it somehow persists to be used to identify her. One of her more distressing features is that it is claimed by the other girls that her bottom burps could be weaponised!

Andrea Saunders. Has an interest in alternative Religious studies. Particularly Norse mythology. Indeed she has been heard muttering about sacrificing Virgins to a giant spider goddess. Needless to Say Virginia in year 9 is particularly fearful. While she has a rebellious appearance she does do the most home work and does have the most house points of all these girls.

 Anne O' Leery is a foreign exchange student. Very glamorous and with an eye for detail she is by far the most feminine of the squad. She is very good with her make up and her work is always very neat and tidy. She also likes ruby slippers for some reason, maybe it has to do with her being an exchange student!

Francesca Lee is a team player but does suffer from anger management issues.  While she is best friends with Rachel that does not stop them fighting like cat and dog. Francesca does have an accent but she hardly ever mentions her past. While you seldom see her smile she does have a sense of humour. Commonly of a very dour demeanour she presents a formidable appearance.  She also carries two bottles in her pack which she claims are to clean up Rachel's mess. One bottle has a strong smell of "Detol". This is perhaps linked to her interest in chemistry and it has been suggested that she is the girl most likely to be able to make a viable explosive device. She also likes films and despite being very opinionated does tend to hit the nub of truth in her diagnosis.

Rachel Rousell is the history buff in the group she is particularly drawn to the periods where lots of lace was worn. Indeed she takes it far enough to want to wear lace underwear at all occasions especially a rather bright blue pair covered in budgie feathers! the other girls especially "Tammy" tease her about a pair of Falsies which they call sandbags! Also it is best not to mention anything about her ..... erhm.... badger!

Also in the Team Miss Campbell, she is the head girl, at least that is what it says on the wall of the loos of the local boys school. She is definitely in charge and keeps all the others in check by awarding house points. In earlier years she had long flowing hair but at present they are trimmed and tidy.

Finally we Have Tammy. She is a total tomboy. A very hard worker with many diverse interests. Despite the picture she has read hair and the pink satchel always contains her trusty lighter and half a packet of cigarettes. She does tease the other girls especially Rachel but she has a kind heart and does make up for the teasing on occasion with small hand crafted gifts.

Well those are my St Searles Girls this year. I hope you like the team, they are all great characters and usually up for a laugh.

That's it for today. I hope you have found it fun and not too serious after all we play games and games should be fun.

All the best Clint./

Another FemBot.

You may remember that I picked up a Crooked Dice Dolly bird head sprue at Cavalier a couple of weeks ago. This was because I had a fembot body but without a head so for the 4th Analogue Hobbies Challenge latest bonus round (favourite characters) I decided to paint it up and get it finished.

So I went for a greater variety and rather than the standard blonde, blue eyed bimbo blonde shell which are more common in films. (See Below).

Anyway this was not my first choice of favourite character but it has come to my attention that as I am not doing well in the bonus rounds it is just worth my time and effort putting in a token effort to get the points and allow others to scoop the prizes. It is a tactic which has helped me justify my participation in the bonus rounds. No big deal of course everyone is allowed to make their own choices. My first choice of characters would have been St Searle's girls. Which should be my next blog post as they are all done now.

So just a single 7TV fembot to show today. Thanks for looking and schoolgirls for my next post either Friday or Saturday.

So Until then, take care have fun and get some painting done. All the best Clint

Something a little different

What skip from project to project, that sounds most unlike me! Ok it sounds exactly like me really. Today I have a cryx warmachine defiler. Warmachine was one of those games that came to the club quickly was played 4-5 times and has not been seen since. Like many games before it and I think for many games still to come. Games that the designers have not even thought about yet.

So I still have most of my figures left to paint. But not wanting good figures to go to waste I will slowly carry on with them. I suspect I will have retired long before I finish them at this rate or 1 every 18 months or longer.

This was a happy distraction while I wait for some SCW figures to appear. They seem to be taking a long while just yet, but that may be because I want them. So while I wait for them I am just going through my back collection and finishing things that have been hanging around a while.

So that's it for today I shall update on Wednesday. Until then take care and look after yourself.

All the best Clint