Death in the sand

Friday nights game was a shameful total defeat. In some ways it was very realistic in that 4 British officers (me, Shaun, Tom and Paul), thought we'd march a troop each, in column, towards a British outpost, casually dealing with any Arab-types we saw along the way. Then we subsequently got slaughtered by inferior armed, poorly trained enemies.

The rules set used was "A Good Dusting". We used the solo play so that we could all be British officers. The Arabs were concealed by using the vegetation markers to randomly place possible unit locations. These were randomly revealed by a combination of dice rolls and proximity of the British units. Considering the random nature, it was surprising that the Arab tactics were perfect. They even let 2 units of the column pass before flank attacking, and also attacked simultaneously.  

So here's the abridged version of events, and because I'm still lost for words over what happened, its mainly told in pictures.....

The objective.

The route. Come on from the near end. March to the objective at the far end.

The column got half way to the objective, before Arab tribe units appeared on 3 sides.

Considering all Arab unit placement and start times were random, it was a perfectly co-ordinated group ambush!

No time to form a square. The Highlanders and the Sussex form back-to-back. The Marines and the red jackets formed??

The Highlanders and the Sussex firing lines inflict minimal casualties as the Arabs move in.

The Marines cover the Arab left flank attack, while the red jackets cover the right flank.

The red jackets only got a single volley off, inflicting minimal casualties, before the Arabs got into hand-to-hand combat.

Back-to-back, there is nowhere to retreat. The Highlanders and the Sussex are overwhelmed.

 

Coming over a nearby hill, meant the Arabs were only ever in the Marines line of fire for 1 volley.

The Marines broke and fled. Sadly the Arabs could run faster....no survivors.

The dismounted officer rallies the last troop section to try to use bayonets to repel a 2 sided attack.

The remaining Arabs, plus a newly arrived superior Mahdi group, swarm around even deeper.

The horrific, bloody end. 

Rare Praetorian Guardsmen for sale

The blister pack for sale

A painted Praetorian from my collection

On Ebay I currently have a rare unopened blister pack of  2 40K Praetorian Guardsmen. This blister pack came from the Praetorian box set that was a limited edition release in the 1990's.

Its nice to have a whole regiment of them, but that would cost a fortune these days. However, they look great as part of a command squad along the lines of chosen men or hand picked elites who accompany the senior officer etc. The 2 figures have great poses. One has the rifle ready for close combat with a fairly serious bayonet fixed. The other has grenade launcher. Both have parade dress tunics with epaulettes and "tassels".....and of course the pith helmets!

Happy bidding.

Woody's now selling Games Workshop products

If you play Warhammer Fantasy or 40K and live in the Mid-Sussex area (or just fancy a trip to Burgess Hill), then you'll pleased to know that Woody's in Burgess Hill, are now selling this range.

Woody's is an independent retailer situated in the Martletts Shopping Centre in Burgess Hill, Sussex, UK. The Martletts is 2 minutes walk from the railway station, and also has lots of car parking. the owner is a guy called Peter Woodhams. He is very friendly, and will give you all the help and advice you need for whatever hobby you enjoy.

Mention my name or "petesminiatures", and Woody's will give you a 10% discount.

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.

More distractions...

It's another HassleFree piece that I think I picked up at  show. It makes me think of the Hancock film where the delinquent super-hero sometimes did good deeds while he was drunk and improperly dressed.

If you are a super-hero called upon in the middle of the night to save lives, why waste time putting on your Lycra suit and cape? Dashing straight out in your Y-fronts could save vital life-or-death seconds.

Falshies progress

Base colours done for jump smocks and trousers.

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

Distractions

It can get very boring working on 50 Falshies, so I feel this little bit of self indulgence is justified. I'm repainting this model. It used to have Space Marine shoulder pads and was a chapter standard bearer I used to put on the table at the start of 40K games to provoke my opponent.

I tried to paint the base with a disco/Manga or alien bar (a la Star Wars) feel. Not too unhappy for a first try with about 30 seconds of thought and planning!

Falshies....I made a start today

 

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

A Little Milestone

OK. So it's not a Golden Demon entry. But this cute Foundry Ork is precious to me. He is the first thing I've painted using my new detail spectacles and after having a little bit of treatment on my eyes. Two weeks back, I couldn't even see the end of my paint brush.

The optician said start off with simple bright contrasting colours to begin with, and then progress at whatever pace I am comfortable with. As we have 2 long weekends coming up (Easter and a royal wedding/May day), I think I'll be starting on all my WW2 stuff. By that I mean falsmegger Fulscumugger Falchemeegs Falshimeggger German Paratroops.

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....

I need space - not Space Marines!

I have a couple of Classic i.e. discontinued 40K tanks for sale on Ebay. They were becoming expensive insulation bricks in my loft, so they are being offered at a good price. Links available in "For Sale" section in left hand column of this page.

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.

Skink Time

 

 I have a job lot of metal Skinks for sale on Ebay. There is also a command group for sale. A link will appear top left of this page while the auction is still active.

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.

Tau for sale

I have some Forge world Tau models on Ebay at the moment. The 2 white dudes are Air Caste pilots, and the grey guy is a tank commander. I also have a Forge world Heavy Bolter Pit for auction. Links at the top left of this page while auction is still running.

Brightorian Comms Trooper

I promised to post this for somebody, and forgot. So now I've remembered. Sadly, the picture only shows a glimpse of the large holster. Because the trooper is part of the command squad, he has a sword and pistol. However, the Brightorian guard have a command trait. They carry pistols in large rigid holsters. These holsters clip onto the handle of the pistol to form a stock, thus giving the trooper the range of a rifle, but still able to holster the weapon for hand-to-hand combat.