Some Recent Painting

   Just a few quick snaps to show some of what I have been working on these last few weeks. I am almost "done" with my Flames of War Afrika Korps forces for v4. I just want to finish a trio of Panzer IVs, five stands of infantry and support weapons, and get some AA trucks (Sdkfz 250/4, I think...).

A Great Pillar to Great Cthulhu

For Frostgrave or just for fun...

3 PaK-38 5cm AT Guns for Afrika Korps in Flames of War

Afrika Korps infantry and support weapons

Better shot of the 2.8cm AT gun

DAK 8cm mortar

Closeup of the Phone Box for VBCW (28mm)

Police Box, Phone Box, and Post Box, all 28mm for VBCW

Pair of JU-87 Stukas for FOW v4 in Africa

More Freshly Painted Hotness

   Well, I just clear-coated a new bunch of freshly finished minis. As is becoming my habit. I took pictures while they are drying.

Overall shot. Lots of fresh goodies!

2x 15mm "long corridor" pieces from Ion Age

Also, some of the many air conditioner units for Team Yankee

A Reaper Saproling Warrior - bound for Dr. Vardu on Venus (VSF!)

And a Reaper Blacksmith. Because I want some fantasy villager NPCs, dagnabbit!

Lorraine Schleppers for Flames of War, a 15mm WW2 wargame

Closer view of the Lorraine Schlepper. I like the guy covering his ears.

The Lorraine Schlepper was a stopgap measure for the Wehrmacht. They took captured French Lorraine Schlepper tractors and added a WWI-era 15cm sFH 18 cannon to it in an armoured superstructure. It was slow and lacked an effective traverse system - you had to move the vehicle to aim the gun, basically. The extending stabilising spade is a cool touch though.

And more progress!

   This will go down as the busiest month on this blog in a long time.

   Here I present for your enjoyment and comments the remainder of my productivity over the past two months or so. A few 15mm Flames of War items and some terrain.

PzKw IV

   I bought these Battlefront Panzer IVs a long time ago in a platoon box. I have all five. Problem is, they are really a later war model than the Afrika Korps would have had. Note the Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine coating and the protective skirts on the turrets. Neither would have been in Afrika. When I figured it out I had already sprayed them in the basecoat. So I just inked them, dry brushed over it, and painted one or two minor details. I didn't bother with the track skirts, as they are both a  bit fiddly and inaccurate in the desert as far as I know. These will have to do until I get some more appropriate models.

Four of the six desert palm trees I finished

A pair of Hurricanes, ready to hunt the Hun in the North African desert.

These are the newer Battlefront range.

A resin palisade. suitable for 15mm as a tall fence or 25/28mm as a somewhat short one.

   Pieces by Ainsty Castings, I think. Or maybe Acheson Creations? I bought them years ago at Historicon from a big bin they keep, made from their leftover resin. Rather than waste what's left in the pot after a pour, they pour it into some small molds. The result is a lot of small pieces that they sell for relatively cheap - like a buck or two each.

Upgrading Mars...

  A few months ago I decided that I wanted to work on improving the appearance of my tables when I get to play games. I also decided that I didn't have a lot of time to spend on scratch-building stuff, so I would focus on ready-made, and preferably pre-painted.

   At Christmas a couple of things I did obtain that are noteworthy for gaming was some new terrain. GF9 finally re-released their popular Badlands series of terrain, and I got two boxes for Christmas: the Plateau and the Tors. These will fit nicely in as Martian desert terrain, I think, and the best part is they are ready out of the box. I also ordered the Badlands Bluff a few days ago from Amazon to help fill in space. Of course, I can probably also use these as desert rocks for WWII gaming as well.

   Back in October I attended the BROADSIDES! Gaming convention held aboard the Battleship TEXAS near my home. One of the vendors there carried Cigar Box Battle Mats, which I already had purchased one of at Historicon a while back. I really like these mats. I decided I wanted to upgrade my Martian terrain this year, so I bought one of the Red Planet 6'x4' cloths. I like it a lot, though I haven't used it in a game yet. I also have one each of their Grasslands and Desert cloths.

Some British Tanks Finished

 4th Indian Division Sikhs manning a captured Italian gun

 

   I have finally finished a few miniatures this year. Yes, these are the first truly start-to-finish items I have managed to paint so far this year. Nine 15mm tanks for my Flames of War British 8th Army collection. These will support my 4th Indian Division infantry company.

The Lot

Matilda II, Valentine VIII, Crusader II

Another Crusader - with commander.

7th Armoured Division marking

Yep, turret markings are done too.

Valentine III

Matilda II/CS

A not-quite-complete India Pattern Carrier

   This brings my total British tank force to seventeen, I believe: 3x Grants, 3x Crusader II, 5x "Honey" Stuarts, 2x Matilda II, 1x Matilda II CS, 2x Valentine III, and 1 x Valentine VIII. I can't field any sort of Armoured Squadron or Company, but I have a variety of support choices for the infantry. Finishing the two India Pattern Carriers puts me at eight total: two carrier scout patrols and a spare pair for observers or company command.

Back to the Table

   I have returned to the painting table in a limited fashion over the past week or so, after months of being away from it. As you can see in the sidebar, I have a goodly number of things in the works. I haven't any photos as the only operable camera I have is my phone and the light wasn't good enough to get a decent snap. I'll try to add piccies later this week, alright?

   The nine tanks are for Flames of War, my British 8th Army forces. Almost finished with them, actually - just a bit of weathering to do on the decals and they are done. With these finished, I will have an additional three platoons of tanks to go with my existing Grant and Honey platoons. About seventeen tanks in all, essentially all support for my infantry company.

   The two India Pattern Carriers are nearly done as well, and are also for my Indian Infantry Company. I've misplaced their pintle-mounted Brens, but I was planning on using them as command vehicles or observer vehicles anyway. I think they need a whip antenna instead. Just need to add the antenna, paint up a couple of crew for each, and paint the attached bases, flock them a bit, that sort of thing.

   The force-field pylons come from the Macragge box set for W40k. I will buy them if you have more. Zach found these at a game store we rarely frequent, in their random bits for sale box. He snapped them up for me. I use them for sci fi and VSF both: anti-dinosaur energy fences are a must have for the well-heeled safari on Venus.

   The Flea is an old mini I have had banging around for years. Nothing new there! It's the FLE-15 Ral Partha sculpt 20-805. So far, it's primed black. I have to go back and check which color scheme I was using on the light mech lance some years ago.

   The 15mm sci-fi trader and the vending bots are mostly just scatter designed for my Gruntz table. The trader may become a faction commander if I ever get there with him. The bots are headed towards opposite ends - one Coke red and one Pepsi blue. I may repaint the yellow one I did a year or so back to be a taco vendor or something. Maybe go with a red, white, and green scheme? Or just paint TACOS on the signage. That would be easier. These minis are from The Ion Age.

   Anyway, a quick update on what I have been doing. It feels good to be getting something done again. Also, I have a game weekend this week, playing the North African FOW campaign again this Saturday. Last time I went 1-1. This week I want two Allied victories. Now if I can just keep the DAK from rolling up a Tiger as a Firestorm unit...

North Africa Campaign, Day 1

   Last weekend the Clear Lake Area Wargamers Squad (CLAWS) kicked off our North African campaign using Flames of War. We managed to get in six games and rolled off the unfought battles for the turn, including an unsuccessful LRDG raid. Darn it. Overall, the first day went well for the Axis, unfortunately, but in our second turn... I predict the Allies will surge back. Personally, I lost a 4-3 and won a 4-3. So pretty close on both fronts.

A shot of the room. Three tables in play.

Some of Gerald's amazing Algerian terrain.

A sight to warm the cockles of every Desert Rat's heart: Jerry tanks brewing up.

Some of Gerald's Vichy French (Senegalese, I think).

   I have a British Indian infantry company as my base force, with a variety of add-ons. I made the mistake of choosing to use a special rule in my first game which allows me to attack at night. Unfortunately, my opponent had fielded a German Pionierkompanie, and they can hold like the devil. The night-time also kept my air off the table. Plus, he rolled a freaking Tiger I-E as his Firestorm unit (we are using a modified Firestorm Bagration ruleset), and I got a platoon of Crusader IIs. Not a fair trade. Ah well. It was still an interesting game.

   In the second game, my placement of artillery left something to be desired. Zach's Panzers almost made mincemeat of them, and did kill off the staff team and one gun crew. He also took out my only real armour on the board, a platoon of Grants. I did enjoy machinegunning down a platoon of his infantry, trapped in the open, with a patrol of India Pattern Scout cars, aka lightly armoured mobile MG nests. A separate patrol did fine work against his anti-air platoon as well. In the end, I managed to stave off defeat because we ran out of time. Otherwise, it might easily have been a 4-3 loss in my second game as well. I might have been able to keep the objectives contested long enough to pull off a victory. Maybe.