Building Done.

Ok Not quite finished it still has filler and Paint to go yet, but at least it gives the overall look, size and shape so come Monday I should be able to crack on with the next stage.

As you can see I took my favourite tools of destruction. Two scalpels 2 steel rules and engineering square. I only used 1 scalpel though with a 10a blade for those that care about such things. Oh only me then. I set about the Grey Board. For those of you who don't know Grey board is the cardboard version of MDF! It's cheap and versatile and robust and comes in different thicknesses.

 Working from a scrap of 3mm mdf for the base. This was cut square and sanded to remove any tool marks. I used both a foot and camel mounted figure to gauge the building height and size and height of the windows. The Grey board I had was also 3mm thick so I decided to double up on the layers to give it a more thermally massive appearance.

 I started by cutting the front and back and getting them about how I wanted them. I then cut the sides making sure that they were all the same height. Yes I know common sense, but still worth stating.

 I then assembled the basic box like structure. Using plenty of Resin W (PVA white wood glue). I allowed it to dry overnight.

 You can see I left an area at the back. It's not too neat at this stage as filler and paint can work wonders where my patience and inaccuracy are lacking. So no biggie! Again checking the sizes at every stage as you don't want to get it wrong if you can help it. Totally common sense.

 In the Morning I added the rear section to make the building "L" shaped and the roof on the main section. I gave this plenty of time to dry..... Ok I took a break and watched the Curling!

After the curling I added the roof to the rear section. I deliberately put the roof level lower to make this parapet deeper. This was done as I wanted the building to look like it had had a second stage so it would look like it was made at a different time. And then allowed a second night of Drying.

 Tomorrow I will go to my first wargames show of the year so expect a loot post tomorrow evening. It's not that I have a very large shopping list at all. But there are a few things I do intend to purchase. Possibly a few things for 20mm Vietnam games, possibly a few Victorian/steam punk Items, maybe some scenery and maybe some rules, definitely a few pots of paint! But we shall see what takes my fancy on the day.

So until tomorrow night take care and have some fun, oh and enjoy any SUN while you can.

All the best Clint.

More 20mm Terrain Boards

 I am taking a few days out from painting and working on some terrain. These two boards will combine with my Afghanistan boards to make the game terrain for the 20mm Arab revolt.

Yes there are a few differences between Afghanistan and the Middle east, but really there are more similarities. So with a few modifications they will pass muster, no one will know and let's be honest most wargamers will not care.

The first stage was to recycle two older boards, so much better than making new ones. Firstly it's quicker, secondly cheaper and thirdly no worries about where to put them as you already know you have space.

The next stage is to quickly sketch out what you want and where you want it. As all the other Afghan boards have road/tracks on the centre of 3 edges I decided to keep that protocol to allow for modularity.

In Sketching the boards out it is good to start with a strong idea. And for these two boards I wanted them quite sparse to reflect the town edge.

 Wanting them sparse I have decided on just one building, with some walled enclosures. I had one piece of door mat left so that was positioned and included to help continuity of the boards and to make it look like they were built at the same time (fingers crossed).

One board would also have a small trench. This is a free standing piece so it can be removed or moved in other games. It would also have a couple of free standing hills for the same reasons.


 As you can see there can be issues with recycling boards is that they may need a little cleaning up, where things have been glued down previously. Also as you can see this one corner has a 5mm wide notch cut in it. Most likely I will ignore this and as long as it goes on an outside corner will not affect the game in any way. I could patch it though al lot will depend on how cold and wet it gets in the next few days. Which will impact on whether I can be bothered or not. I know I should and guilt may well make me patch it, but I am tempted to leave it. I'll let you know what I decide.

 The next stage is to lay out and glue down any dry stone walls. Dry stone walls are so easy to make at this scale. Simply cut chipboard into a thin strip all done by eye, but about 3mm wide. You can then simply break this with your fingers to the right height and length. Obviously make sure there are no large and obvious overhangs and simply glue down.

I have put walls at road edges which gives me an indication of where the roads need to go a little later. And that is this stage done. It really does not take very long I would guess it took less than 2 hours to get to this stage.


The next stage is to build the single building. I might make that tomorrow. At present I have no firm ideas of how I want the building to be, other than single story quite long and thin and of a style to fit in with the ones already made so I shall "wing it" as I make it.

That's it for today, with luck I will be able to share the "Casualty bonus round" figure I painted next time. But that does depend on If Curt can get them all on his blog for the painting challenge.

So with luck some painting next time and some terrain making again if the weather holds, before the weekend! All the best take care, Clint

Rain stopped Play.

 Well kind off. That is to say There was a game at "posties" but I could not attend. As I do not drive (my eyes are just not up to it!) As a consequence I am reliant on public transport. Yes I know it's a git! Anyway the game started at 10 am and British Rail (Southeast Rail) had cancelled several trains before 11am due to the persistent bad weather. So other than getting a taxi each way (and who can afford that) I was forced to pull out. I feel bad about it, but what can you do. I gave Postie as much warning as I possibly could. So not much else I could do!

So all my plans for yesterday went up in smoke and I was left feeling like I could not concentrate on painting. I did try a little of course, but really not too much progress I just was not in the mood. I had already submitted my "Casualty Bonus Round Figure" For Curt's painting challenge so I was not forced to paint. Therefore I had a day off.

Or did I? I did re-base some tanks for the planned Spanish Civil war game which being honest did not take long. But it did need doing so not a waste of time.

So the "Tread Heads" out there will no doubt be able to identify them. Yes 3 Russian T 26, The most common tank of the SCW, and probably the best. It is interesting , I think, to note that Russian Communist tanks in this conflict were mostly painted dark grey, while German, Fascist tanks were painted Green. The exact opposite of the colour schemes used in the second world war 2 years later. For many people this will make no difference at all and indeed for wargamers it also makes no difference.

As well as there being few Tanks there were also very few Mortars. Additionally they used a WW1 tactical doctrine. As opposed to a much more mobile WW2 approach. Thus when mortars were set up they were not planned to move during a battle. I think this might catch a few players out. Specially if they are used to playing WW2 games.

The last things I rebased were these Italian Tankettes. They are considerably smaller and lighter than the T26 with just a 2 man crew.

One last thing Ray Lee and Fran should be aware of is that the tanks were usually owned and operated by the Army. While that may sound totally obvious in any Civil war the Army is but one faction. I have 17 SCW army lists, all of which may (or may no) have armoured vehicles assigned to them. But they would be operated by the Army personnel.

That's it for today. I hope to be a little more productive with the paint brush and jig saw today.

All the best Clint

Turkish Force

 Coming hot from Curt's painting challenge today I am showing the 20mm Turkish troops I have painted for my forthcoming Arab revolt game. All the figures are IT miniatures as with the Arabs. Obviously all being uniformed these were quicker to paint the whole 24 taking me just over a day if we include basing. All this means that the Arab Revolt game just needs some more terrain making which I will start today (weather permitting.... stop laughing!) You know I will show each step of the terrain making so look out for that in future blog posts.

Meanwhile back at these figures. Both of the officers have swords and holsters for pistols. This is perhaps a mistake on the sculptors part, but not a major one. While swords were used they were not generally taken into battle. Pistols were not issued but were commonly used generally being purchased commercially Needless to say this could lead to different ammunition calibres and types being used. Likewise the infantry would be equipped with different rifles in different units or on different fronts. This would have no tabletop implications and is just mentioned to highlight that at times the Ottoman Army of this period was not as well equipped as many of the WW1 Western front armies. 

This is nearly the whole range of IT Turkish troops and will allow me to fight some WW1 Skirmish battles other than the Arab revolt. Indeed I am talking and thinking about putting on a WW1 Palestine game on for the Rejects. At present I am just tweaking the rules .because  at the moment the rules I would use would make the game a little slow. The flip side is that it would make them play very tactically. Good Lord making wargamers think it's just wrong!

That's it for today. I am travelling to Posties Shed of war for a colonial game all day long on Saturday. Ray, Big Lee and Fran will not be present so I will be the only blogger there. Unless my camera plays up or I forget it there should be an AAR on Sunday. So until Sunday, take care and have fun and try not to get too cold or wet! All the best Clint.

Guardia Civil Spanish Civil War.

To the right you can see my rebased Guardia Civil figures for the Spanish Civil War.The paramilitary forces of the Guardia Civil (Civil

Guard), followed standard Spanish military organisation patterns, with a few minor variations.
Typically therefore, their individual platoons
(Secciones) consisted of a small platoon command staff of simply a First or Second Lieutenant (Teniente or Alferez), accompanied by a Staff Sergeant (Sargento Primero). There were two large sections (Pelotones), each led by a Sergeant (Sargento) and composed of three squads (Escuadras), each of a corporal and five Guardia; except the first, where the Sergeant replaced the Corporal.  I however have mounted 3 figures to a base to keep the figures consistent with my other forces in the two armies.

With the exception of the platoon leader and his
second in command, who were armed with pistols, all men were supposedly armed with a rifle or carbine of the Mauser type. Other weapons were also held in their arsenals however, which included sub-machine
guns, riot shotguns and exotic types more usually seen wielded by prison or bank guards. That makes you ponder what the prisons were like! Talk about rough justice.

Support weapons were virtually non-existent, with each Guardia Civil or Carabinero Commandancia (essentially a four company battalion-sized unit) only being authorised a single Hotchkiss M.1914 medium machine gun.  They did however also field mounted units,
as well as, in some cases, motorised or motorcycle units.

The figures are 10mm Pendraken miniatures I have still to attaché flags, but as these troops fought on both the Nationalist and Republican sides during the SCW I will most likely make some slip on /slip off style flags to retain figure versatility. Don't get excited Ray the Mounted unit shown here will not be taking the field in the planned SCW game at the Rejects/posties Shed of War!
  Likewise Fran please do not expect them to look like this and if you have any thoughts about police women it is best not to voice them in public.

I will need a chat with Postie in the next few weeks to find out how large a force the players are happy to field, which will determine how many I will be able to entertain, accommodate, erhm I mean fit in the game.
 

I also suspect I will be able to put on a WW1 Palestine Skirmish game on for them in the near future, BUT I suspect that might be too small for the shed of war at this stage as it would be limited to 2 players until I build more terrain.

 

Thanks for Popping By, I hope to have some more painted stuff from Curt's Challenge to show by Friday as I sent him the Pics on Monday afternoon. All the best folks and Hope to see you soon.

 Cheers Clint

 

Honor and Glory.

Not so much of that really. But Honor and Glory are the rules we were playing at the club yesterday. Yes it was a good game but alas not a win for me this time.


The initial positions with Peter my commander on my right (that's his hand) We had the confederates in an 1864 scenario. My orders were two fold. Seize the town which the fedrals were intent on burning down (the rotters) and capture the crossroads. Peter would also Capture the crossroads (a joint objective as it was between our lines. His other objective was to take the bridge.

 Our troops move first. Then two Fedral moves in a row the our turn then two Fedral turns in a row. Yes they started with more turns than us..... the dice gods were good but the card dice hated us!

 Anyway The fedrals reach the town first and actually manage to start burning it while I just reach the town edge.

 Peters Cavalry take the bridge. Last one turn of fire and then rout from the table never to be seen again! Ouch!
















Union troops form a firing line.









I bring my Rebels up in skirmish order taking and returning fire. Hardly a fair fight but what else could I do.










Peters troops close in on the Crossroad. Peter it must be said is a Murdering officer. Tim Opposite him had 3 Gun batteries continually firing at Pete's troops











I get into the town and then get pushed out of the town. I re enter with the buildings burning. And then manage to push some of the union out.

 Tim's Cavalry take the bridge objective.

 I reach the fence and start to form up into a firing line.

 Peter takes the Crossroads but continues to take heavy casualties.

 The melee in the town continues and My initial successes are thwarted.

 I finally get into a firing line and the Card dice give me two turns in a row. Than goodness! Due to good positioning I am able to get an extra unit into the line to fire at Grahams. This allows me to concentrate my fire on a unit.

 Peters troops charge the guns and despite canister shot actually take them. A Pyrric victory as they are too badly damaged to continue are rout from the table in the following turn.











I loose a General in close combat and get expelled from the town. I also gain by chance a unit of reinforcements which are at this stage my strongest unit on the board.



While it did not go all the Union way the extra turns they got from the Card gods at the beginning of the game made a big difference. Allowing them 2 shots to my one. So when the card gods finally decided to even thigs up my units were so damaged that their shooting was weaker than the Federals.

Not complaining we could have won, but we did not. A good game but a win would have made it a better game for me as me and Peter were up against it given the size of our units at this stage of the war. Oh well maybe next time!

The Horde is Done

FOR NOW!

Yes I have finished my 10mm Mahdist horde, at least for the time being.  So Rather than repeat the Photos I have done for Curt's Painting challenge. I have taken a few pics of the whole lot together. You can see a few British troops on the left.

I am not going to bang on about them too much,  I Need a few more of course, but when does one ever have enough.

I think this is just about enough to play a game, but no optional troops or choices. So I feel the plastic might take a slight beating in the months to come.

So onwards and upwards. Club game tomorrow I think it is an ACW game, but not sure.

Hope to see you again on Monday.

Take care, have fun and watch some Olympics!