Little Heroes

The Heroes

Last night I played a 20mm scale WW2 game with some regular gaming friends (Paul, Shaun and Tom). Myself and Shaun commanded a German infantry force against a Russian infantry force commanded by Tom and Paul. The objective of the battle was to take and hold a large church on part of a large island land mass. This involved a race to get to the objective (cut off by a wide river), and battling for key positions including 2 bridges and any building near those bridges. There were no tanks, but there was heavy artillery guided by forward line spotters.

The objective

20mm Scale - Less is more

I've finally succumbed and started to play 20mm scale WW2 wargames. It's probably the correct decision for some types of games, especially the larger tank battles. I'll still prefer 28mm for the infantry close-quarters and skirmish games. I also love the amount of detail that can be painted in 28mm scale.

It's so cold......

 We had some good timing this week. The snow came down. We also happened to play a game based on a Russian retreat in the snow. Paul had set up his gaming table with snow tiles and coupled with the real cold (myself and Shaun had to wait outside when we arrived with no coats, and then the gaming room needed to have the fire turned on!), everything was very atmospheric. The picture above shows some of the Russians I was trying to retreat southwards. They got pinned and suppressed at the north end of the battlefield before they even made the first bit of woods. The German tank ignores them to chase after the bigger Russian group in the far distance (and the German tank support infantry were following anyway).

The retreat was chaotic, with German units actually getting ahead of some of the Russian units they were pursuing. This made the Russian units scatter, occasionally using the woods to make a stand. Any pinned or suppressed units were left behind to fend for themselves! As the German armour got further south, they did take a casualty, by fire from the 2 Russian artillery and a single tank. However, these also were retreating, and withdrew soon after their single tank kill. At one point, a German tank moved between Russian units only feet away, the tank being on a road sided by dry-stone walls which had infantry sheltering behind. The tank crew were lucky their vehicle was not assaulted.

All in all, it was a fun game. There was real confusion over large ordinance firing as both German and Russian troops looked near identical in snow smocks. We also used a snow rule requiring a dice throw to see if units within range could actually be spotted in the snow. This is how so many Russians held out even in open ground.   

Fallshirmjager

I have added a few pics of the 50 Fallshirmjager to the Gallery. I painted them up quite swiftly for a the Arnhem campaign we are currently playing (we need a lot of them!), and will probably use them tomorrow night. They have the plain jump smocks as they are going to be used for my early war Seaford project at some point.

The campaign continues...

German transports hit at extreme close range by PIAT teams in the building they were trying to take.

Last night we played a battle in our "Bridge Too Far" campaign. The campaign is working well using the map and campaign board from Flames of War, and then selecting the most decisive battles to play on the tabletop in 28mm.

Falshies progress

Base colours done for jump smocks and trousers.

Caught out by forgetting some officers and command had special tunics!

Falshies....I made a start today

 

I managed to prepare, base and undercoat 50 Falshies today. 

German generals

I have approximately 70 28mm WW2 Germans to paint up. I also have a blister pack of Foundry German officers to go with them. I usually like to watch a film or read something to give me inspiration when painting officers. They have to be character paint-jobs rather than rank and file. German officers are usually stereotyped as being stylish, barbarically cruel, or often stupid. Most of the stuff I found on the Internet seems to be along those lines....

Campaign Fighting

I had a go at playing the Flames of War "A Bridge Too Far" campaign system the other night. We (me, Shaun and Tom) played the historical version. This involved me trying to take the bridges from the Germans. The system involve declaring moves which result in several simultaneous battles. It is complex, covering things like supply routes, terrain types etc. For instance Falsheemeger Flashimiger Fishmonger German paratroops have better ability on certain terrain. So you may beat them in a conflict because your units were better on that sectors terrain, but it may not be wise to pursue them as they may fall back to a different type of terrain where they have the advantage.

War Veteran

I took a trip to another local beach/port at Shoreham, to get some more ideas for my Seaford project. The main interest was seeing if the area had the makings of a WW2 German invasion scenario, which it did due to the railway bridge, port, deep(ish) river estuary etc.

Newhaven Fort

As part of my Seaford project, I'll be making some WW2 coastal defence scenery. Thankfully, 2 miles from my front door is Newhaven fort. I was able to take some photos when it was closed to Joe Public.

Sadly, its hard to get into the fort these days unless there is a public event there, which then means you can't take decent pictures because of advertising, grotty kids and ice cream vans etc. So i think these pics may be some of the few decent reference pics available. Also, the beach has been closed off by a French company who operate the port. They are able to do this under some legal clause. Its so ironic because the fort was originally built to keep Napoleon at bay!

Macro photography

I got a new camera. Its an Olympus SLR E420. Not leading edge, but certainly beyond my photographic talents and a step up from point and click digital cameras. Having said that, I got bored reading the instruction manual, and decided to do some point and click close-ups.

What I've learned is:

• I still have a lot to learn about photography
• macro photography can give great detail - which can be quite unforgiving to basic paint jobs

Be warned, some of the pictures below are very close-up for 28mm.

Wings of War

I got to play my first game of Wings of War. Its a pretty amazing game system. It uses cards, counters and model planes and simulates the art of WW2 pilots getting into a good kill position. Its hard enough working out if the plane you are chasing is going to break right/left, bank sharp or wide etc, without the pilot suddenly doing a stall (in which you overshoot with him ending up on your tail), or an Immelmann manoeuvre (where he turns 180 degrees and ends up coming at you).

Scenery

I took part in a fantastic WW2 game on Friday evening (thanks Shaun & Paul). Using the Crossfire rules we continued from a previous game with the Germans counter attacking american Airbourne troops in a French town.

The star of the game had to be the scenery in my opinion. Crossfire is a fantastic set of rules, but with the right scenery, it is even better. I shall let the pictures do the talking.....

Mechanized infantry and support moving up narrow French roads

India Rifles

Well, I finally got around to finishing them. (Although they need a little more inking and basing). I can't say more about them at the moment, except they are for my Seaford project. I can't tell you about the Seaford project as its top secret and I'd have to kill you if you found out. OK, I'll throw you a teaser.....

These are a WW1 retained India unit, that will fight on the south coast of England in WW2. There are other clues elsewhere on this site......hint: South coast?, WW2? Also think of a war film with Michael Caine in it (yes I know that doesn't narrow it down much).

All will be revealed....slowley, over several postings.

Slow going!

I started to paint the India Rifles for my Seaford project. This is the first time (apart from some tests with night goblins) that I've tried painting since my eyes got damaged and subsequently "repaired". Progress was slower than I expected. I also realise that I will need to change my painting style. I got as far as base-coating and a first layer on the 28mm stuff. As usual, I have mitigation (excuses):

• I was still jet lagged from the Miami work trip
• I was using a Citadel brush that turned into a loo brush after 2 minutes
• I was using some awful Foundry paint (or it could be green clay?).
• I initially forgot to put my special new glasses on

Anyway, I still enjoyed myself and found it relaxing. I have a little problem painting mid-to-dark colours on black base coats. Its OK on the bigger 54mm miniatures, but I can't see the detail on 28mm, and I can miss bits out! - hence the green base coat. I may have to start with white base-coats and use heavier pigment colours in future. My optician says it may take a few goes to get used to the glasses, so perhaps all my problems are temporary. If not, I'll adopt my style, perhaps to something more caricature using a 4 colour method (stuff like blending is definitely out for now).

At the end of the day, I'll do whatever I need to as long as I still enjoy it. If it all goes wrong, I'll just train a small monkey to paint the 28mm models, while I concentrate on the 54mm stuff. Hopefully I'll get the first lot of India rifles done this week. In the meantime, my thanks go out to:

• Specsavers
• Virgin Atlantic - for the free upgrade to Upper Class
• Various totally unqualified people who gave advice about eyesight
• Clint, for telling me to watch a film called Minority Report which contained a possible solution for my eye problems (So sick it actually becomes funny)
• Sheila, for telling me about green base coats

Considering that just a couple of months back I was very ill, I think things are going rather well!

A change of plan

I haven't posted anything for a month as I couldn't paint again. I had a little bit of treatment that improved my eyesight, which then meant I needed my glasses changed again! But I'm all set to paint again now. I've just started on the following projects:

• 28mm India Rifles for my "Seaford" project
• 28mm Rolls Royce armoured car
• 54mm Sikh infantry
• 54mm Hyderabad State Force Cavalry Brigade
• 40K Cyber hounds (hard to explain these!)

Thanks to a couple of introductory games with some local gamers (big thanks to Shaun, Paul and Tom), I am now really into WW2 and a big fan of Crossfire rules. Also, against all my intentions to not impulse buy, I bought some Bolt Action Falshcumoger, Filshmergens, Fulshjoggers, German Paratroopers. I would try to mitigate this lapse of discipline with an excuse, but it would be a poor one involving aliens or ash clouds - so I won't. I guess I shouldn't even mention the North Star figures I accidentally purchased on the internet, while testing to see if my PayPal account was funtioning correctly.

Anyways, work is busy this week, so I'm just priming stuff. But next weekend will be a full-on painting weekend. I am also going to impose a painting points/reward system on myself (infantry = 1, large stuff = 5 etc) in an effort to a) get some of my collection actually painted up, and b) limit the growth of my unpainted collection! Watch this space.

Where's that damn bridge?

This is the artwork for Masterbox's fantastic 4 figure set called "Where's that damn bridge?", which depicts British paratroops asking a local for directions after missing their drop zone at Arnhem. Checking the background of the picture reveals they have been dropped several hundred miles off course, and the only bridge they are likely to take and hold will probably be Tower bridge or London bridge. On the plus side, the paratroops can easily request support by posting a first class letter or making a local phone call, either of which will cost no more than sixpence (old money). However, the Dutch gamekeeper/hunter, will have a tougher time trying to make a phone call or post a letter to occupied Holland. Even if his communication got through, he would then have an even tougher time explaining how he tracked a rabbit across Holland, the English channel and finally cornered and shot it in England.

OK its just a case of somebody enthusiastically adding some "English stuff" to an illustration of British troops without thinking it through. The important thing is that these are pretty good miniatures and I have treated myself to some to paint - purely on medical grounds to test my new glasses.

Home Guard completed

The top picture shows the set with the "sea of potatoes" bases. The bottom picture shows the beach shingle look I should have done for the bases (from Seaford Beach). But who cares, these were such fun to paint!

I've found 2 more sets of foundry "England Invaded" models, which include Germans and a few civilians. I really should be painting up squads for my Brightorian Guard army, but I suspect I'll end up painting a few WW2 miniatures over the forthcoming bank holiday.

WW2 Sussex Home Guard

OK, its not an old WW2 photo. In fact its modern day Bishopstone station, being guarded by the 2 Home Guard models I painted the other day. Bishopstone station is an interesting building as it is Art Deco, with 2 hideous (but practical) brick pill boxes "grafted on". I think it was built about 1938. It is on the Lewes to Seaford branch line (now single track) between Seaford and Newhaven.

Newhaven harbour has a fort and Seaford has a Martello tower, and beyond both towns steep cliffs replace the beach. Therefore the beach at Bishopstone would definitely be an option for German raiding parties (or even part of an invasion). Probably a better option for taking Newhaven harbour and its strategic swing bridge, than a frontal assault past the fort and the cliff face pill boxes.

I think I detect the ingredients for a good WW2 skirmish scenario!