The Snowball Effect!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, you folks will recognise this I'm sure.

Its another frosty Christmas Day Morning, Mr H is opening his enormous stack of pressies, and finds that his wonderful wife has purchased him what is known as, " A Nigel Looking Book"

Of course, its very much my sort of thing, I've read most of Mr Cornwell's books, and enjoy them a lot. They have proved to be the catalyst for many a gaming project ( most of which lie hiding in various boxes in the Loft of Shame).

So, this gets the old brain cell working, and a quick perusal of my extensive library, unearths a collection from days gone by.

and in the dark recesses of the Loft of Shame, some boxes are retrieved.

and the brain cell goes into overdrive, figures are counted. lists are made

and bases worked out

A bit more rummaging, and the desk now looks like this

Welcome to the new, old, resurrected Teutonic Order Basic Impetus army circa 1410.

See game fans I have not let you down..........................Oooooooooooooohhhhh shiny strikes again!!!

Two 2013 projects on the list, Spanish Civil War and Teutonic Order. Place your bets folks, how soon before he's off on one again?

XVth Brigadas Internacional

Always nice to get some figures finished off. Back to the International Brigades for the time being, as I need to add some support weapons to my force. Here is a Maxim team moving into position, couple of conversions by my good self ( just head swaps and gun additions). Painted in the usual motley collection of uniform items

"….a comrade looked at us casually, and handed us a neatly tied up bundle of clothes. This bundle contained a heavy undershirt and drawers, a pair of socks, a knitted sleeveless sweater, a pair of pants (breeches or long baggy trousers tied at the ankle), a heavy tunic, a wooly cap that could be pulled down around the ears, an overcoat or a woolen poncho……The caps, coats, jackets, overcoats and ponchos were grey, green, olive-drab, khaki, of all manner of styles; no two looked alike. They were apparently the hand-me-downs of a dozen different foreign armies "

I'm really enjoying working on these figures,its easy to forgot just how good these sculpts are, and how a careful paintjob can reap rewards. Don't care what other folks think, but I reckon Paul Hicks is easily the equal of the Perry twins, and in some cases he is actually better.

Could be stuck painting the Spanish Civil War for a while, so apologies if you are getting bored with it. I will have a flight of fancy at some stage, I usually do!!!

A Cast of Thousands!!!

Getting all the stuff together, for my 2013 project!!!


I have decided that my Spanish Civil War collection needs a lot of additions, especially in the motorised transport side of things. Now having a good old look about, I have noticed that the light trucks all look very similar.

This got the old cogs grinding, and `i came up with the rather mad idea, that I could make a generic chassis, front section, and flatbed, and then make a silicone mould to cast these up. Once cast I could then add various bits n bobs, like cab roofs, radiator grills, Wheels etc, to make a few variations!!

This will go a long way to explain my latest purchase

Oooooooooooooohhhhh, a rather dangerous looking collection of chemical type thingies!!

First of all, we have Addition Cure Silicone Rubber, decided that the two part equal mix was an easier route to take, rather than the more complicated try to add a bit of catalyst, and make sure you have worked out the exact fraction to add, that I have used in the past! Only a small supply to start with, just to see how well the moulds turn out. Looks pretty bloody simple to use, mix equal bits of blue and white, pour it into your mould box, and wait, ohhh say 24 hours to be on the safe side ( TOMPS say you could cast after a few hours, but I would prefer to wait, and make sure the whole lot has cured properly)

Then we have a two part resin, went for an equal mix again, and a slower curing option to give me a bit more pot life, as I am not the fastest person in the world!! Reviews of this one look quite good, its a very thin mix, so pouring should be a lot easier, and hopefully its thin viscosity, will enable it to get into all the little nooks and crannies in the mould. I don't have a nice Pressure/Vac chamber, so bubbles may be a problem.

If this first experiment works OK, I will go on, and make up some more moulds for Truck/Bus passengers,Motorbikes and other assorted paraphenalia to add to my collection


Finally,
I would like to wish all my blog watchers a very MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR . I hope you and yours have a fantastic festive season

                                                           

Whats on the Desk Nige?

I could ramble on, about a fantastic new period I have got into, off on another mad tangent, but no, hold on there folks, I have stuck with something I was already working on!!

The desk has undergone a Spanish Civil War invasion, as I battle on with the huge lead mountain left over from my sale of Anglian!!  ( of course I've added stuff to the pile, be criminal not to you know)

Starting on the right hand side, we have two converted Perry Miniatures priests, to inspire the Army of the Righteous, in the shape of my Carlist forces, moving along, additions to the International Brigades, a few light support weapons to help the cause. Lurking around in the background, we have some Moroccan Regulares, sneaky little beggars that they are.

Over on the left, the FAI still get a few additions, as does the Foreign Legion. I'm still battling on with the Anarchist vehicle convoy, and have added to the stash, with a few select diecast purchases.

and finally, right at the front, a group nearing completion, International Brigade moving Maxim team, and a couple of riflemen.

I would like to say I shall be sticking with these for a while, but you all know by now, that is not something that I tend to do.......................................oohhhhhh look new shiny things!!

Bolt Action WW2 Rules

The problem with going to wargames clubs, is that they encourage you to go out and buy things, that normally you would not bother with. We had a visit from Lee Lowe, who games at the Aftermath club in Norwich, he brought along the Bolt action rulebook for us to peruse. I guess you can see where this is heading already!!

Yep, I went and ordered a copy, just for research purposes you understand!!

I am a tight fisted old git, so my copy was purloined via Amazon, for £15 all in.

So what do you get? Well its a nice hardback book, the same size your standard Osprey book, albeit a lot thicker, 216 pages in total. It appears that Warlord are in collaboration with Osprey for this ruleset, as the book contains a fair few colour plates from various Osprey WW2 books.

All very useful reference sources for painting your collection of WW2 figures. talking of painted figures, the book also contains a number of pictures of quite well painted Bolt Action figures. a veritable feast of wargamers porn in fact.

Everything you need to play is included in the ruleset, there are a set of basic lists for the major players included, you will however, need to make some suitable status markers, mostly for pinned units, and the way the turn sequence is worked, will also required some suitable coloured dice, or chits. The rules are carefully geared towards encouraging gamers to invest in additional bits and bobs, like special order  dice, and pinned markers. There is also going to be a series of supporting army books, for the major forces. My biggest fear is that the army books will go along the route that the old GW40K lists did, with more ridiculous things added, for players to form their own super beardy armies. 

Anyway time will tell on that one, and as I have no intention of collecting a WW2 force any day soon, its not really going to bother me. My short arms, and deep pockets will stop me investing in any special bits and bobs, I prefer to spend my hard earned pennies on more figures etc. You pays yer money, and makes yer choice.

So will they work for the Spanish Civil War? well a bit of work is required constructed the various army lists for both Nationalists and Republicans, but then thats half the fun of it!!

From a quick flick through, and reading various AARs on t'internet, the rules look easy to master, and hopefully should provide a good game for Friday club nights. Whether they can replace our "Disposable Heroes" rules, time will tell, but we'll give em a shot, and report back.

Dixon Minis WW2

Popped off a small order for some Dixon bits n bobs, they have a small range of Resistance fighters, and Civvies, that could see service in my SCW games.

The two sets I have, are not too bad at all. Nice clean, crisp castings, and size wise I think they match my existing stuff, (have included an Empress figure for comparison) The civvie set includes a very neat Woman and Child casting. Will go back and invest in the resistance fighters on bicycles. Worth a look folks.

B.U.F to SCW

Invested in some of the new BUF cavalry from Musketeer Minis. So a few pics I feel are in order.

Just the two packs so far, but I think I will be investing in a few more as I go along.

They are great figures, and its almost a pity to execute them all, bar the officer, who can keep his head.

This lot will be added to some existing conversions of my old Anglian cavalry, to make a Republican unit.

 They also look quite neat on a couple of static horses I had lying about.
Worth a look if you want to add some cavalry units, and they mix really well with the Empress/Anglian cavalry.

Bus Bothering

For those of you interested in the malicious hackery of diecast collectors models, I've taken a hacksaw to a shiny 1/55th scale Mercedes bus.It needs a new front end to make it look more 1930s

So here is what I want it to look a bit like

Next step is a new bonnet scratchbuild, and mudguards, then I shall add the roof luggage rack, and a load of mattress armour.

New Bitz

Been adding to the lead stockpile again, just one or two bits n bobs!!

From Musketeer, some Militia standard bearers from their VBCW range, all of these will get a conversion, mostly headswaps, the chap on the left will be made into part of a moving HMG team, and the chap on the right will get a carlist head, and a nice shiny religious flag to wave.

Workers Militia HMG team, again from Musketeer, I will probably swap the vickers for something more SCW, like a Maxim, may get another one of these, and use them as a Carlist HMG team.

Republican artillery, this time from Empress, i think the gun is a 75mm Schneider. No instructions provided, so  a bit of dry fitting, and reference to photos required. I may add some different figures as well.

Storming the Bridge - The Attack at Merida

Took my SCW stuff over to the club again, this time we played the Merida Bridge scenario from the "Atacer en Vencer" supplement for "Disposable Heroes"

Lee and Chris took the role of the defending FAI militia, and Steve and Guy had the Bridegrooms of Death, in the shape of La Legion.

Here is the bridge itself, our one was not quite the same as the real bridge!! Bit harder to make that one.

The Legionarios start a cautious advance, nothing showing from the town itself, but they know the FAI are there, somewhere.

They move their HMG onto some high ground, to provide a bit of supporting fire.

The FAI have set up a couple of barricades. No Pasaran.

As the Legion advance, they come under withering fire from the far building.

They reach the bridge, and more fire comes in, as The FAI Militia start to show themselves. A short, but intense firefight takes place, and some Militia units are driven back. The Legionarios start to cross.

Viva La Republic!! KABOOM, a lone dinamitero lets fly with his sling! Direct hit.

More Legionarios storm onto the bridge.

The Militia commander prepares to move his men forwards, to help stop the advance.

The Dinamiteros throw again, but to no avail, and the Legionarios charge over the parapet of the bridge

HMG supporting fire, helps to keep the militia pinned in place, until the crew are wiped out by the Militia's Lewis gun.

Viva La Muerte, the bridegrooms of death yell their battle cry, and crash into the barricade, a vicious close combat battle, and the Legionarios are  wiped out, but they take a lot of Militia with them.

The last few militia make a gallant stand, but are finished off by rifle fire from the remaining Legionarios

A very narrow Nationalist victory, they now take the town of Merida, and can move on and attack Badajoz.

Thanks go out to Lee, Chris Steve and Guy for having a go, and joining in.

We enjoyed the game, even though we are not too "au fait" with the rules themselves, we may be looking into using the new Bolt Action rules for the period, as they look like they could play alot quicker, and be easier for pick up games. The Disposable Heroes SCW supplements will however, provide a very useful starting point for organising army lists, and scenarios for our future games. I shall keep you all posted.

A Las Barricadas........ Finito!!

In the usual airy fairy manner, once again we find mr short attention span switching to another one of his "projects"  Digging around trying to locate something else, I found my part finished hasty barricades. So, I thought lets get em squared away, and hey presto..... a finished bit of terrain

Left and right barricades, they can work as stand alone bits, or be joined together to make one big barricade. They are for a more rural setting, so they fit in with the majority of my SCW terrain.

I do need a bigger backdrop though!!! Quite pleased with how these have turned out, so much so. that I got some more SCW stuff out, and will paint a few more bits n bobs.

So, this time I have International Brigades, Moroccans and some more FAI Militia. I also have some buildings underway too.

Also been mucking about with a few headswaps etc, and have come up with this moving Maxim team, amongst others.

I should stick with this stuff really, as I can do a much better paintjob on the models.

still regret selling Anglian, but hey ho is done, and I can't buy it back.