20mm Vietnam North and South armies.

Before you all get bored and wander away in droves to find something more interesting to look at. And let's be blunt there is loads out there of interest. I thought I would finish off all that I have rebased for the Vietnam conflict. I am still working on some bits and bobs so there will be more at a later date, indeed I expect to have repainted and re-based some more Americans by next week.

But until then here are all my North Vietnamese army (NVA). Yes a massive amount, OK only 12. But there is an RPG and a LMG included there. I may at a later date get an additional 6 so I can field 2 squads even if they are diminished squads. As you know from the last couple of posts I am looking to do "Local Militia" and not the NVA so I expect these to be used sparingly. As I lay in bed this morning I did ponder the possibility of doing it from their point of view as opposed to the US troops. And while I still could and in doing so some of my players would be happy I also know that some would not be.

I have even less of the South Vietnam army. Just a mere 9 figures. And it is interesting to note they all have WW2 Vintage weapons including BARs, M1 Carbines and Garand rifles. Yes there is even one with a rifle grenade. I have not put the tall grass on these yet. That is a job for this afternoon. And I think it is a case that the tall "Elephant" grass does improve the bases. When you look at their uniforms you can see I have painted the green striped camouflage patterns on. Simply a green base colour, then a white stripe and a thinner black strip through the white. At this scale there is little point in over doing it and trying to get the uniforms totally 100% correct. As that would drive me doo-lally. And to be honest about it I just do not want or need the stress.

I see this last squad as being used even less regularly than any of the others which is bound to get them used in every game. Life is just like that.

Thanks for looking today. Take care and have a great Easter. And I hope you get a very nice chocolate egg.

Cheers Clint

20mm Local force Viet Mihn

 Yes continuing with the Vietnam conflict today we have local force Viet Mihn. These are all locals fighting for the communist faction. They are Viet Mihn as opposed to Viet Cong as there was no such thing as Viet Cong EXCEPT that the US forces called them Cong as it sounded more aggressive than "Mihn". But strictly speaking they should be called Viet Mihn and NOT Viet Cong!

Rant over, there are 26 in all with a wide variety of weapons. And 1 Casualty marker (I may have to buy a few more). The weapons range from rifles and carbines through sub machine guns and Ak47s all the way up to LNMGs and Rocket propelled grenades. Simply put they were using everything they could get their hands on including stuff from WW2 and the French Invasion a few years before up to and including the stuff supplied to them from China and Russia. I have very few LMGs or RPGs just one of each so they are very likely to get out gunned at most opportunities. But as Local force militia they will rely on ambush and evasion. Firing a few shots from cover and then disappearing rapidly and taking any dead and wounded with them if they are able.

All the figures are SHQ and 20mm for easy of use with vehicles and my US troops. There will be more of these to show soon, but also some NVA and some south Vietnamese army as well, but in lesser numbers as I want to keep the games manageable. And Games do get over complex sometimes with too many figures on the table. Dependant on the rules uses of course. But as I am looking for a squad level game more troops would be gilding the lily I suspect!

Thanks for looking, I hope/plan to post again on Saturday. But If I don't have a great Easter.

Take care Clint.

20mm Vietnam Platoon.

Well as mentioned a couple of days ago. Here are some 20mm Vietnam conflict figures. Typically I am starting with the US troops by which I mean no disrespect to any other nation involved.

I have 3 squads of 10 for your standard US Troops. Each of the soldiers has the 7th Cavalry shoulder patch on the left arm. Which if you look really closely you will see as a black and yellow triangle with an additional "Diagonal" black stripe.


Each squad consists of a Pig gunner (M60 LMG) and a Booper (M79) Grenade launcher. I do have sufficient Bloopers to go to 2 in each squad if need be, or enough M203 grenade launchers to swap them out if need be. I did select the M79 Booper in preference to the M203 as it did have a higher rate of fire and was more common in the earlier part of the conflict. Additionally 1 squad has a shotgun (I may buy a few more at the Salute show) and while they were used think of "Bunny" in the film Platoon, I already suspect that many players if given the choice will opt for an M16. It is just a case of knowing your players. And by that I know they will want one to start with just to try it out, but will most likely prefer an M16 as the game(s) progress.

Someone is bound to ask "What rules will you use?" Well currently I am reading "FNG" by 2 hour wargames and quite like them. Many players do like them for this conflict when dealing with few figures but prefer "Charlie Don't Surf!" by Too Fat Lardies for company actions. But as I want to keep to squad level actions I do not feel the need for there purchase. Plenty of other rule sets exist of course so it is all personal choice.

All these figures are SHQ miniatures and painted a long while ago so all I have done is to re-base them and to touch them up where needed so they were never going to make the Analogue painting challenge. The basing was done exactly the same as my WW2 US Paratroops so if you flick back a dozen posts or so you will find a walkthrough of how that was done. But the bristles were not cut as short this time as I wanted a Jungle feel and not a scrubland/marsh look.

In addition to swap out figures I also Have some LLRP and special forces but I do not intend to use them at this stage simply because they are not always carrying the weapons you would think of in a squad. Far too many telescopic sights for example. And while telescopic sights were issued to first platoon then squad level it would only really be 1 a squad at the END of the conflict. So not common at all for the 67-8 period I would choose to portray.

Next time either Viet Mihn or South Vietnamese troops.  But I only have a single squad of South Vietnamese troops so may have to include a vehicle to bolster the post. So the Salute shopping list may grow!!

Thanks for looking, have a great day and take care. All the best Clint

 

WW1 German Jaegers (28mm)

Yes Paint monkey has done it again. Here are some more Germans for Matt. Matt has said that hw wants to do some WW1 games in 28mm so I would imagine I will be painting some more bits for him soon, actually I think he'll give me some more to do next weekend as I think Scott at the club will also but Scott wants Malburians in 15mms done so that might be a nice change of pace.

Anyway before then here are some WW1 German Jaegers for Matt. First off 3 officer types. While 1 may not actually be an officer he is studying either some orders or a pamphlet or it could even be a map. But the other 2 are definitely officers.

I have also finished* two heavy machineguns. Each of 2 crew and each ready to bring a rain of fire down onto any British or French or even Russian should they need to. I am not looking forward to facing these! Not one little bit!

While the heavy Machineguns only have 2 crew they also have an extra one each either with binoculars or with pencil and paper. While I am not 100% sure what Matt will do with these he wanted them done and now done they are!

Lastly this week we have a few (OK 3) rank and file riflemen. These should make up the bulk of any units and not the officers and Heavy machineguns. Clearly they are all in early war uniforms before the trenches became so dominate on the Western front.  Sorry for the dullness of the pictures as it is raining here at the moment and that has left them a little darker that I would normally want. So When it dries up I will varnish them in the light.

* when I started taking the Photos I did notice that I had left the regimental number off of some of the hats so that will be added before I varnish them.

Thanks for looking today and I will most likely be repainting and rebasing my Vietnam 20mm figures this week. So expect the first of them by Close of light on Tuesday, if not earlier.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I hope to see you all soon.
All the best Clint

ACAV M113 (1/300th scale.)

Being honest I don't know what these are for! I got them so long ago and have now painted or should I say repainted and based these 4 vehicles. The problem is now that they are done I cannot find them in the cold war era German Army lists. (I have also checked the Canadian and Greek lists) So while I am sure I shall find a use for them I just don't know what yet. DOH!

So while I figure it out here are 4 M113 ACAV personal carriers. But they are done now and despite the fact that 2 and facing the wrong way in the pics I am quite pleased with them. So Pleased in fact that they have sidetraked me into refreshing my 20mm Vietnam war figures. So expect them in a week or two. But for now I will finish painting some WW1 figures for Matt, and you can also expect them soon.

But Back to these, With the exception of starting a 1/300th scale Vietnam force (or 2, one for each side) I may have to use them as cold war era US National Guard. There is nothing wrong with doing this of course but it does not help my German cold war troops one little bit!

Thanks for stopping by today and with luck I will be able to focus on a more productive project next time.

Take care and get some painting done.
Cheers Clint

Atlas and Hermes

No not a comedy double act. But 2 more Battle tech "Mechs" painted. It has been a LONG while since I painted any mechs one of the reasons is I never know what colour to paint them. One school of thought is to paint them camouflage patterns and colours as they are fighting vehicles. The other line of thought is to use heraldic colours. Personally I do like both approaches and being totally inconsistent will flit between both with different mechs as the mood takes me. But this time I have settled on a hybrid scheme that is both heraldic and camouflage in nature. I used a sandy colour up to the waist and a light blue for the torso head and arms. You can see the camouflage colouring on the right. I will not do very many mechs this colour but you can see it might just work!

The models are that very nasty plastic and not the metals of yesteryear. They were included in the 25th anniversary box set of Battletech I bought a couple of years ago. And these were the first things started AFTER the Analogue painting challenge. The plastic has lots of casting issues and quite a bit of "Flash" overall I am not impressed with the choice of materials. The Mechs however are just about the same as the metal ones from when I was just a tad younger.

Firstly we have a 100 ton Atlas class mech,  it is just about the largest Inner Sphere mech you can get. It does not carry the scary PPC, but does have the more devastating Ac20 for close in work. This does not mean you  can stand off at long range and snipe kill it either as it also has a LRM 20 for those long range shots. As one of the biggest and most powerfull inner sphere mechs you knew it was not going to be so easy to deal with.

Secondly we have the Hermes class mech. It is only 40 tons so we cannot expect too much from it. But it has a running speed of 9 so it can move about quite well, OK very well despite the fact that it is not jump capable. It is one of the rare mechs that has a flamer and while that does not do oh so much damage to other mechs and only has a 3 hex range it can cause the opponent to "Run hot" which as battletch players we all know is not good. It also has an AC5 for long range work and a medium laser for closer in and when ammo consumption is an issue. Not as lightly armoured as some other mechs of this 40 ton weight limit but for the weight I would go for a "Whitworth" but it really is personal choice when it comes to Battltech mechs.. Some mechs are just horrid but most can be good if you choose to play them in the right way. And that is what I like about Battletech even 25 years on, it can be quite balanced if the weight classes are the same. I still don't fancy 4 "Urban Mechs2 against a single "Awesome" though.

I apologise for using some of the slang from the game as if you have never played Battletech most of it will be a foreign language to you. But if you are a battletech player the slang is like music to your ears.

Thanks for looking today and I hope to have some more new stuff by Friday. (Working on it now). But most importantly have fun take care and get some painting done.

Cheers Clint

28mm Viking-es

 Yes a female Viking. Hence the "word" 'Viking-es' I do not think that is a proper word so be very careful about using it. This figure is one of Colonel Bills "Beltfed" miniatures range which are a selection of saucily clad females in various historical costumes. And this one is of course a female Viking. As I want to do some Conan style wargames this year she seemed to be just the right type of figure and for £2.50 I thought a bargain.

She was also the last figure I painted for the Analogue painting challenge and was mostly done for some fun and relaxation. I can honestly say I did muck hers skin up on the first try and it came out looking somewhat grey and dirty. Which was not my intention so I did paint her twice out of necessity.

While I did find the sculpt and casting very nice my only pet gripe is that her trousers came with the vertical markings for the stripes scratched in. While not a problem as such it does limit her to having striped trousers as to paint them in another way might show the sculptors marks. While I will only ever get one of this figure it is not a huge issue but I will forever feel that the choice has been taken from me and that everyone will paint stripes on her bow. That really is my only quibble with the miniature.

I am not totally happy with the shield I have painted either. I might re-paint the end part of the tail so that it is in line with the head, it might give it a better balance. What I do like is the shield design though and the colours. It is only where I have put the end part of the tail upwards. That is a very minor issue and I can change that in moments when I start painting today. What I do like about the design is the ambiguity between is it a "Longship" or a sea serpent. I can take very little credit for that either as I saw the design on a re-enactors shield once long ago. So credit should go to them, or the source they used for it.

Overall I am happy with the figure and for the price would struggle to find a better one.

Thanks for looking. One more post to go to catch up so expect that about Wednesday. Take care have some fun and may your paint pallet never run dry or your inspiration wane.

Cheers Clint

More 10mm Samruai

While at the Cavalier show I was able to pick up some more Pendraken 10mm Samurai from Second City games. They were a mixed bunch probably left over from someone else's collection. So together with my "Odds and Sods" I cobbled them together to make a few more stands.

As my two agmies are currently matched I have decided to make a Green force. Which I can use as an ally of either of my other armies. Not a large allied force as there are only 7 stands of infantry. And 2 of those stands may actually join my main armies as by checking the pose and the catalogue number it identifies them as Samurai with Naginata.  The issue being that the Naginata in question seem to have very short handles and to my untrained and now squinting eye look more like No Dachi (2 handed swords). So I may be better off pretending that is what they are.

4 of the Cavalry stands are already put aside for my other armies but the 5th one can belong to the allies. It just balances everything up nicely this way.

The last 2 figures are Samurai mounted separately as messengers. It is quite possible that when they do deliver new orders they may get ignored entirely as the lord in charge of that section arrogantly chooses to do his own thing.

These were also painted as part of the Analogue painting challenge but I just did not get round to posting them on my blog during the challenge.

The VERY good news is that I have started to paint already, currently working on Battle-tech mechs. Just to do something for me and to keep it light.

Thanks for looking and with any luck another post come Monday.

Take care watch the rugby and have some fun with a paintbrush in your hand.

All the best Clint

top 10

Well the Analogue Painting Challenge has ended for another year. And as my 2nd year involved I have done slightly better than last year managing to get in the top ten painters. Which means I have come in at no.10. This is not a measure of skill but of production. If it was skill I would probably have come somewhat lower. Still I worked to the criteria and I for one am pleased with my 10th place.

Next year (assuming there is another challenge) I will act very differently. I will settle on a lower production level but I will enter the side challenges and try to amass bonus points where I can. As this year I did not do any of the bonus rounds I just wanted a "Pure Points" target. I hasten to add there is no slight intended by anyone who went for bonus points it is all part of the challenge and as I have said next year (well late this year) I will do the same.

I still have figures to put on my blog from the challenge and will start doing that soon, just not today. One of the issues I have had with the painting challenge is that I was only allowed to make post onto the challenge forum on set days (Every Monday in my case). This has meant that my own blog has suffered as here I would normally post every other day. So to get back in the swing I will post again tomorrow. And then every other day after that. Well that's the plan but I am sure real life will stop that soon.

So thanks to you all for your support and in 9 months it all starts again!

Cheers Clint

Spring Skirmish 2015

Well as you saw from my last blog post I did NOT have a big spend at the "Skirmish" show in Sidcup on Sunday.

But as a club Rainham was going to put on a game. And to my mind at least it was one of the best looking at the show. "Skirmish" is only a small local show and to be honest has a mixture of model kits and toy soldiers then a smaller selection of  wargames stuff. But there is usually enough to keep it interesting. 

So anyway Rainham was going to put on a Muskets and Tomahawks game. Everything was supplied by Tim, the terrain the figures the rules and the ideas. So I really will take NO credit for his excellent work.

None of our group had ever played "Muskets and Tomahawks" and I found the rules fairly intuitive and quite easy to pick up. I did struggle with different units being able to move different rates a challenge. But once in the swing of it and if I played a couple more games I would be happy enough.

Bexhill Reapers wargames club. Trying out their game for Salute.
I am told there is much more to do with lighting effects etc.
And they might even get some roads finished by then and some more figures painted.
It was a WW2 Zombie game.

Larry and Dave from Herne Bay/Whitstable club.
Playing Lion Rampant rules.
At the end of the day they told me that they liked the rules
as it was their first time playing.

Zombiecide board game.
I think Tolehaven put this on but I am not 100% sure.

Some of the Pre-release civilian figures from East Street Games.
They will be released at Salute.
The rules will be a little longer!

Bullets and Brains or might be Brains and bullets! By east street games.
This with some tweaks will be at Salute as well.
Speaking to the guys they are hoping to come down to our club
and put this game on for us.

Needless to say it's a zombie game so I will probably buy the rules at some point!
Anyway if you read this guys I really do appreciate the offer.

A view of the games hall. no traders in here.
The Picture below was taken facing the opposite direction.
 

 So that was the small local show for me. Being Mothering Sunday foot fall was a bit low as certain people could not get a kitchen pass out of the house!


 Overall a good day. But here are my highlights which cannot go in pictures.

• I have been offered a lift to the Salute Show. Last year the British rail ticket sales woman on the day sold me the wrong ticket which cost me £9 more than it should and did not allow me to use the tube. So by the time I had got a tube ticket I was about £14 out of pocket more than I should have been.
• East street games are coming to the club to put a Zombie game on for us. I just hope the club guys appreciate it. I KNOW I will. So in a few weeks time expect a mass of pics of that game.
• I was asked to sculpt something after talking about my early career as an architectural modelmaker. I stopped going it after 4 years as I had a nervous breakdown. I am not going to sculpt anything as I am not any good at all at sculpting and would not want to disappoint anyone. But very flattering to be asked.

That's it folks. More to come in a couple of days. Take care, paint figures and have some fun, all the best Clint




Loot. (Spring Skirmish)

I have been feeling a bit down these last few weeks hence the lack of posts. But today I went to a small local show and helped put on a game and it has brightened my mood a little. No not because I won, I lost. Have you not realised I always loose. So yes lost again, or I would have done IF we had actually finished. So while it technically might be a draw, for me it might feel like a win! But it was actually a loss.

But I thought I would do a very quick loot/swag post as I tend to after shows! So here goes.  Other then food here is what I bought.... as for food I bought a corned beef and salad roll and 2 cans of coke, but 1 can was free from the organiser so I am not sure that counts.

So what was my MODEST loot list. Well very modest.

3 28 mm martial artists. I have an idea for a zombie game set in a dojo and for £3 I thought to explore the idea.

1 Beltfed miniature of a topless female Viking. When I say topless I do not mean I only bought the legs! I got her because I want to do some Conan wargaming this year. (She is not for the Zombies in a dojo idea.)

The "Fist full of Kung Fu" rule book was actually purchased via a trader on Amazon. (Which turned out to be Cavalier books) and I want to say how good the service was. You really could not get better. In this case I ordered it lunch time on the Friday and it arrived lunch time on Saturday. So about 24 hour service. Having read the rules they will not be suitable for the "Big Trouble in Tiny Dojo" Idea. But they may get used later. I have ideas but not yet plans.

I will do a show report and some chit chat later this week. But for now I am going to look at my figures and dream!

Cheers Clint

How to lose a campaign part 3

The table set up, Federal troops on the left.

Yes another lose for me and the federal troops. I have yet to win or even draw a game in this campaign and I swear I am not trying to lose it. I read the campaign rules last autumn that Graham had written and made the prediction back before a dice was rolled or a figure was put on the table that whoever won the first game in the campaign would win the campaign. So far I have found that to be the case. I am not having a go at Graham who wrote the campaign rules I really am not but I am enjoying saying "I told you so!"

2nd Objective captured on turn 2 by the Rebels.

Anyway here is what happened this campaign turn. I can already tell you what the result will be for the next one as well. But I will let you guess.

We are playing Civil War battles by Peter Pig. A very well balanced and good set of ACW rules. Not my first choice for rules but I do like them.

My 0ne victory of the day.

 The first upset for me was that as I was again defending I would loose troops from the table before the game started. I had a nice VETERAN unit in the 2nd Objective who rolled so badley they all had to start the game at 1/2 strength and off of the table. Oh well bad things happen in war. And I had 2 other veteran units. 1 started at 1/2 strength on the table, the other at full strength off the table. I did have 3 average intantry units as well and did have 2 of them on the table at 2/3rds strength.

So as Scott and Tim had already Captured the 1st objective in the start phase nothing I could do to get it back. So I managed to move (Just move) an average unit into the farm (2nd objective) to hold it. Almost immediately a veteran Rebel unit close assaulted them. My troops instantly turned tail and fled the board. So the second objective was lost on turn 2!

Foolishly I had put my cavalry too far forward and a second Rebel Veteran Unit managed to charge them, they fled but took some damage . They did stay on the board though. This meant that Scott was able to bring 3 confederate units altogether and keep forcing them back. No complaints my mistake for moving them there in the first place. Eventually by the end of the game they had been whipped out to a man with just nothing I could do to prevent it. Shame but I made the mistake so I will live with it.

Elsewhere on the board with 2 objectives held there was no way I could move the Rebs. This gave me the choice of trying and loosing even more troops of carry out a fighting withdrawal. With each of my units out numbered between 3 and 5 units to each of my depleted units I decided the base action from a campaign point of view was to withdraw.

I tried to get everything from the table while keeping everything in good order. I was still clinging precariously to the last objective. I had a 1/2 strength Raw morale Union Cavalry their and a single (Now Damaged) gun . At the other end of the board I had 2 guns (Undamaged) and a battered Veteran unit that started the game at 1/2 strength . The infantry would not get motivated enough to move from the table. So Scott sent his 5 Infantry units to budge them as he was intent on slaughtering them. Not that I blame him both confederate players played well. I was able to ruin one of his units (an average one) and make another fall back.

But the countdown had meant the end of the game. So another Federal Loss 45 pts to 48. yes just 3 points in it and if we had stayed and fought on the loss would have been FAR greater so with the exception of the bad placement of my cavalry I don't think we did badly. But a loss is still a loss.

The next battle will not see the campaign come to an end. But It will mean from now on I will have to pay full points for units that have absolutely no chance of remaining intact before the game starts. So win or lose the game after that will see what is now a VERY tattered  army take the field.

The way the campaign is set up I am now facing a snowballing steamroller and there is nothing I can do to alter that. Graham (Campaign administrator) will still insist that IF I get a naval battle I could win that battle. And true I still could. BUT my land forces are so battered that the Confederates will continue to attack no matter what happens in a single battle as they know there is nothing I can now do to stop them.

But I will play on.


Cheers for reading. Take care and have fun. All the best Clint