28 March 2014

Dux Brit: The Raiders

If you've been head down, bum up busy with the last weeks of the painting challenge and unwanted 1:1 scale modelling projects like me (stupid laundry...) you too may have missed the news from Lard Island that the first supplement for Dux Brittaniarum, The Raiders, will be released at Salute next month!

From the Lard Island Blog:

Great news for Dux Britanniarum fans who are attending Salute is that The Raiders supplement covering the Irish, Scotti and Picts will be released at Britain’s premier wargaming event in the heart of London’s docklands.

This long awaited supplement won’t just include the addition of the three new and exciting factions for Dux Britanniarum, but will also provide two beautiful new maps over which to fight your campaigns covering modern Ireland and Scotland. Once again the stunning artwork has been produced by Coral Sealey and we’re sure you’ll agree that they really set the tone for a campaign in the Age of Arthur.

The will to game in Arthurian Britain grows stronger in this Man Cave..

27 March 2014

A Dux of a plan

Aficionados of this Man Cave blog may recall that last year I was subjected to unethical coercion by Comrade James when he bought me the British Army book for Bolt Action last year...when he knew I didn't have any figs or the core rules, yet.  Clearly, I folded like a deck of cards and got into the game.

Now Alan aka Dux Homunculorum himself has taken a leaf out of this evil book of persuasion, sending me the Dux Bellorum rulebook from the sale at War and Peace Games when he knew I was trying to be good and resist such temptations.  A gamer can only take so much, or maybe its just me?

It isnt fair really, and lovely eye candy it is too....

25 March 2014

Something a little different.....

In my quest to find the best colours to use in my Saga warband, I came across this excellent blog, and in addition, an amazing post....

http://1000footgeneral.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/lego-goes-to-war-brickfest-2013.html
Can we convince Paul he now needs enough Lego for his Bolt Action army...?

21 March 2014

The Battle of Mouen

For historical context and game setup see here: http://tasmancave.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/coc-counterattack-at-mouen.html
Game setup prior to the Patrol Phase: Flanking Attack
Chain of Command (CoC) commences with the patrol phase, which is rather different and reflects pre-game reconnaissance.  Being a Flank attack, the British deployment area was one corner quarter of the battlefield, while the Germans advanced their tokens from two edges.  It certainly made for a different symmetry to start from.  The Germans advanced their 6 markers from both edges while we Brits pushed hard in one direction only.  In the end James had snuck a Jump off point nicely up the closer long edge of the board while the Germans on the other side were locked down before advancing far onto the board, so we could try and make the most of the wooded terrain with open fire lanes to the front which the Germans would have to advance through.

Battlelines are drawn after the Patrol Phase completes
The German Perspective-Deployment: Our plan was cunningly simple and fiendishly clever....as the scenario simply called for us to break the British Force Morale before our own was reduced to 3, and our forces had the firepower advantage, we determined our best course of action would be to set up in good cover and pour it on the hapless British till they had had enough...

The Germans deployed first, with a few squads and a Pz IV (James was still scarred by the game where it never came on and didn't want to take any chances!).  I then rolled well for my phase, getting 2 sixes to gain the next phase also.  I quickly deployed an infantry squad in the woods, and ran up to the hedge to let the advancing Jerry squad have it.  Lots of dice were subsequently thrown and while it could have been worse, that German squad was pinned and a shadow of its former self.  A good start I said to myself.. 
That that Jerry! Brits open up on advancing SS PzGrenadiers in the open
German Perspective- Surprised as we were by the aggressive British patrolling, my Panzergrenadier comrade found his forces caught in the open as they tried to take up their positions against the hedges...my Wehrmacht lads were able to exploit the advanced patrol areas on the British right flank and start a firepower duel with the Brit MMG that appeared behind the ruined farmhouse. My Platoon Commander, starting on the table, dispatched the Panzerschreck team to an advanced position on the opposite side of the field, so they could put some wunderbar HE into the PIAT team skulking in the farmhouse....

"Made a diary entry this morning.  Simply says: Bugger!"
...which is where my opposing number thought it was time to bring on another squad into a flanking position and bring up a Tiger tank for direct fire HE in support.  Coupled with HE shots from the advancing Pz IV on the right flank, it was a grim day for that squad and the three remaining chaps beat a hasty retreat as the broke.  That said, exchanging one regular Infantry squad for an elite PzGren squad with 2 MG42s was well in my favour, just don't ask the NOK. On our right flank we deployed an infantry squad and a MMG to cover the wire obstacles and a long range exchange of fire with a German squad commenced with mild, mutual attrition. 

German Perspective- The temptation to advance the Tiger forward to crush the Britishers once and for all was ALMOST overwhelming for my comrade, but he held his Teutonic discipline and held back, thus not subjecting the Tiger to being swarmed...the PzIV had a cracking good time pumping HE rounds into the British lead section, whilst the Bow MMG sprayed the PIAT team to keep its head down...

One of the support options the Germans took was a preliminary bombardment (for 2 points).  Given the nature of the game with no units on the board when the battle starts, this is executed in an abstract fashion - a 50% chance that a unit will actually deploy until the first Turn ends.  This turned out to be invaluable as British units continued to fail to deploy (having been deployed by shells, diverting around shell holes etc etc).  This included a few infantry squads and both Churchills which let the Panzers roam freely in the meantime.  For 2 points, it was a very effective support option, and one which makes sense for a counterattack too.  The Churchills did eventually come on, through the one access point over a bridge and the lead tanks started a long range duel with the Pz IV, which started well, tapered off in the middle and the less said about the end of it the better from the British side of the house.  
There goes the 5 quid that tank's driver owes me...
As a result, my Churchill was stuck on a bridge behind a flaming wreck (again) and unable to get into the battle. 

German Perspective- The PzIV had entered Overwatch as soon as the rumbling of lost tanks was heard down the road...this proved an excellent psychological weapon more than actually effective, as the first shot went wide.
We got right into the vehicle rules over the next few phases as each side hit but failed to penetrate, whilst the Tiger managed to fire an 88mm HE round at point blank into the nearest British squad to little effect....

Back up at the main forward line, the infantry clash continued unabated with lots of lead flying in both directions. 
The PIATs were brought into action against the PZ IV, scoring a couple of hits to wound the Commander, damage the bow MG but not knock it out completely. 

German Perspective- That was a bummer..... fine German engineering right there....
PIAT teams in the building take aim at the Panzer down the road
The infantry firefight, supported by close range fire from the Tiger, was starting to really knock the British around now, with Force Morale down to 6 having lost another infantry section unit and the MMG .  The Germans were also down to 6 though, having had a number of leaders wounded along the way.  At this point we had a really interesting set of interruptions which showed the mechanic very nicely.  It went something like this:
  • Brit Player 1 declares shooting by an Infantry section onto an enemy squad
  • German Player 1 expends a CoC point to interrupt this action to fire with the squad being targeted.
  • Brit Player 2 declares an interruption with a separate Brit rifle section to fire at the same German squad (ie before it could fire)
  • German Player 2 declares an interruption with the Pz IV to take the second British squad under fire.

In resolving this in reverse order, the:
  • Pz IV inflicted 2 casualties and 1 shock upon second British section.
  • The second British section opened up on the Germans, also inflicting 2 casualties and 1 shock on the German section, which resulted in it being pinned.
  • The now pinned German squad engaged the original British section with much reduced firepower due to being pinned, with minimal result, and
  • The original British section engaged the German squad, inflicting further casualties.
That sounds complex but it was quite straightforward to determine and execute.

EDIT - it also appears that we did this quite incorrectly, and that only a single interrupt is possible.  Pity, as this was pretty cool.

At this point we had run out of time (4 hours) and had only just gotten the last of the units onto the board (except my Sgt, who has never actually made it onto the battlefield in 3 games!) and a draw declared.  Comrade James's Pz IV earned its first kill ring (which painted on after the battle) while my Churchill has now survived 3 battles, two by hiding on a bridge concealed by the wreck of a flaming comrade!
Comrade James's Pz IV proudly sporting its new kill ring
German Perspective- We had just deployed the 81mm off-board mortar battery FO and the Sniper team, but sadly were unable to bring either to bear.....the off-board fire support mechanic looks particularly interesting, especially coming from a Bolt Action background, as there are opportunities for multiple fire missions in one game, and the choice between using spotting rounds for better accuracy or going straight to FFE for speed quite realistic.

Overall a most enjoyable game, but we did spend a bit of time looking for different rules and mechanics, particularly the second level effects like Tank HE vs Infantry, or the effects of "Slow Tank" and "Heavy Armour" attributes.  We found them all eventually (thanks mostly to the online FAQ it must be said) but it did slow down the game.  much of this was an artifact of our inexperience though.  Having played two games now, we'll consolidate our thoughts on the CoC system and publish that separately.

20 March 2014

The Fat Lady has Sung!

The timer has expired and the 4th Annual Painting Challenge has come to an end!
Having set ourselves 500 point challenge totals, how did we go?

Not too badly as it turns out!  Alan smashed it in just one point shy of an amazing 1350 points to take 13th place overall and beat us hands down.  Well done old bean!  I finished off with just over 850 points in 25th place and Comrade James heroically pulled himself across the finish line with 522 points in 42nd place despite having moved house in the middle of the challenge.  Bravo to all.

Thanks especially to Curt for running a fantastic competition, and for all the other mad buggers out there who participated and provided such great motivation and enthusiasm to deliver.  I've done more in the last 3 months than the last 3 years, easily.  Among other things I started and finished a new Army (my 28mm Paras) within 2 months and have now used them three times on the table...and at 1 win and 2 draws I claim them to be undefeated!

Thanks to all for a most invigorating and enjoyable activity, and congrats to all who participated.
This is indeed the blogosphere at its very best.

Read the final round-up here: http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/so-concludes-4th-annual-analogue.html

18 March 2014

CoC: Counterattack at Mouen

Another 2 v 2 battle this week but this time using the Chain of Command rules. Also, as we had just done two British attack games recently, we wanted something a bit different than a frontal assault.

Comrade James swung into his usual routine of whipping up an excellent historical context to get us in the mood: the Counterattack by 1st SS Pz Corps onto British flanks during Operation EPSOM as part of the battles around Caen in late June 44.


At 0600 the Germans began two strong flanking attacks, with the intention of pinching out the British salient. Kampfgruppe Frey on the salient's eastern flank, launched an attack north of the Odon supported by Panzer IVs of the 21st Panzer Division. This reached the villages of Mouen and Tourville but the British counterattacked from the direction of Cheux, resulting in confused heavy fighting throughout the day. Frey's battle group managed to gain control of Mouen; British counterattacks supported by tanks halted any further advance but were unable to retake the village.

We used the Flank attack scenario from CoC.  The Allies would have 2 Regular Infantry Platoons (one of which would be cunningly disguised as my Paras), supported by 2 Churchill MkVII tanks, a Vickers MMG and some barbed wire.  The Germans had a Regular Grenadier Platoon and an SS PzGrenadier Platoon and no doubt the gents would make the most of the opportunity to field a Panzer or two as well...

16 March 2014

Battlegroup Barbarossa

Now available for pre-order!

To be honest I'm unlikely to play it much, as I am really enjoying the earlier Battlegroup releases (Kursk, Normandy and Fall of the Reich).  I am loving this rules series and am looking forward to seeing what author Warick Kinkaid makes of the early Eastern Front period.  These books are so great with the history, organisation and modelling sections that they are well worth their cost if if they are never used for actual gaming.  Its the kind of book you can pour over for hours or just enjoy in an odd quiet moment.

Then again, maybe something a little different could be fun, like Romanians.  I know Dux has his eye on making some Finns too :-)

14 March 2014

Bolt Action: Battle of Breville

The approaches to Breville, as seen from British lines

With sniper teams and Forward observers deployed in what cover was available, the British preliminary bombardment commenced and the Battle for Breville began!

(See the setup and historical context here: http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2014/03/bolt-action-2-v-2-intro.html)
My sniper team and FO observe the Jerry positions
HE screamed down from the sky, scattering a range of pins around the German units.  A direct hit on the Jerry Light Mortar removed one of its crew while an infantry squad also suffered a casualty.  As the impact crumps faded the Paras moved forward, praying that darkness would soon envelope the battlefield and mask their approach from German Fire.

The terrain was rough and the going slow.  My first wave chaps went up the right flank, bringing the Churchill on the extreme right to drop long range fire in the Huns around the forested objective.  Paul took his up the centre toward the manor (housing not one but two Jerry sniper teams).  Comrade James and I initiated our traditional sniper duel with no effect this turn.  With pins all around their force, the Germans failed a lot of their leadership rolls and the residual long range fore was ineffective.  Much to my surprise, my German opponent aggressively moved forward with a squad, threatening my sniper and FO.  Before night could fall, all three British FOs called in their fire missions.
The Lads of No 1 section use the scraps of open ground to move forward as quickly as possible
Turn 2 saw night refuse to fall as the British arty started to drop.  Somewhat inevitably, the first one was highly inaccurate and dropped right in the middle of my first wave of troops!  I was fortunate in that no men were lost, but several pins were distributed and the sounds of Germanic laughter echoed over the ploughed fields.  In fact, this was quite historical.  In 1944 a friendly fire mission caught the paras as they crossed the line of departure for the attack, killing and wounding several men including the CO.

Shrugging off the pins as Veteran infantry can, my men moved up into effective range where their accurate rifle and Bren gun fire removed a few enemy infantry.  The rest of my force (bar the Lieutenant ironically, clearly he was engaged in a heated phone call with the CO of that Artillery Battery!) all came on and continued to push.  Did I mention that the rough ground was slow going?  A German infantry squad tried to position itself to do some nasty work but FUBARed, and sprayed friendly fire at another German unit.  As my chaps grinned amusedly, Comrade James’s sniper dispatched my own sharpshooter, adding another to his impressive tally of confirmed kills (which are painted on the bottom of his base).  As the turn came to a close a German StuH43 SP Howitzer rumbled into view in the outskirts of Breville village itself.
Paul's Paras advance on the Manour house on my left flank

While my own Platoon pushes forward

Turn 3 saw daylight linger on the battlefield and I continued to inch my way forward, passing all my leadership tests and my fire was quite effective as I outranged the many German SMGs.  My Churchill was particularly effective as it targeted an enemy Squad, dispatching the sole panzerfaust toting Jerry with the bow MG while pulverised another with direct HE.  Over in the centre a protective smokescreen had dispersed and the Cromwell tank skirted off so it didn’t get blown away by the StuH.  Cue Comrade’s James Truck de Fromage: a halftrack with a veteran PanzerPioneer squad which flank moves onto the board, disembarks the squads and flames the Cromwell all in one action.  Amusingly, the FT didn’t have any real effect on the tank and left the pioneers swinging in the breeze, just as my fellow Para commander swung in his own flanking force and dispatched them all with some nasty close range firepower.  This counter-fromage manoeuvre was applauded by all non German players!
Sprechen ze fromage Mein Herr?
Turn 4 saw the veil of darkness stubbornly failing to appear as I suddenly realised I barely had enough time to get to my objective before the end of the game.  Time for some desperate action in crossing open ground in front of five MG42s, two on tripods in the MMG role.  This would be grim.  Some lucky order dice activation saw my first squad sprint across the gap from behind my Churchill and get stuck into a Jerry squad on the treeline.  The “Blood Curdling Charge” characteristic was fantastic as the lads went in with the bayonet and dispatched the Huns to a man before the leapt into the cover of the forest.  Bravo!  The next squads couldn’t make it and ended up caught in the open – so Comrade James pivoted his StuH and targeted one of them.  They wouldn’t make it to the objective before the end of the game if they sought cover so it was stiff upper lip time – do your worst Jerry!
Forward men!
And that’s exactly what he did – killing all but the Corporal who stoutly refused to be troubled by this outcome thanks to being Stubborn.  Damned mucky business!
Oy! Where'd you go lads?
Turn 5 finally saw the shadows lengthen and darkness finally arrive, but on my flank it was all too late as the units were getting into close proximity anyway.  My German opponent desperately threw his Assault rifle toting HQ units into a close assault on the paras next to them and were dispatched for their troubles. To capitalise on this, I rushed another squad up to the last German squad guarding the objective.  But the Germans were crafty chaps and were waiting for them so in the end the Paras squad was destroyed in return for a few more downed Germans.  My other squad which had just cleaned up the German HQ unit took a close burst from a tripod mounted MG42 then the survivors moved in and removed that threat with cold steel. 

Turn 6 – In the darkness the last German Squad faced my only Para unit near the objective, the others couldn’t make it across the broken ground in time - it was going to be down to the wire on this flank and to be honest the fighting was so intense I had lost focus on the other parts of the battle!  The Germans were down to only two order dice so it was no surprise that I got the first move and the Red devils went in, the Blood Curdling Charge again proving its worth.  The objective was cleared of Feldgrau and taken.
Well that's Jerry taken care of - lets make some tea!
The battle in the centre had been raging meanwhile, the StuH being taken out after it has pivoted (to wipe out my No2 Section) by a flank shot from the Cromwell.  Germans in the village poured fire onto the Paras advancing on the centre objective area and in the end a brave Lieutenant and his loyal batman rushed forward, somehow surviving the ambushing fire to capture that objective.  Stout chap – give that man a DSO!  

With no time remaining for a possible 7th turn, the game was called with the British winning with possession of 2 objectives to the German 1.  A close run thing indeed and quite historical in its casualty rates – of my four section platoon I had lost 2 and a half squads, the LT, a FO, a sniper team and a PIAT team.

Another cracker of a game - thanks to Colin for hosting us.

11 March 2014

Bolt Action: 2 v 2 Intro

This week Comrade James devised another of his stellar historical scenarios for a 2 v 2 (4000 point) Bolt Action game: The Battle of Breville, Normandy, June 1944.  The historical situation was thus:
In the wake of the D-Day landings, the Germans launched a series of tenacious counter-attacks on 10-12th June at a gap in the Allied line between the 1st Special Service Brigade and 3rd Parachute Brigade in the area of Breville, east of the Orne River and 11kms NW of Caen.  German attacks aimed to split the 6th Airborne Division, who had conducted the Pegasus Bridge mission on D-Day and was now screening the German approaches to the Invasion beachhead.

The hasty German attacks were beaten off with great loss and a British counter-attack restored the line, killing and capturing over 300 Germans. Nevertheless, the German 346th Infantry Division held onto the village of Breville, which still posing a threat, and repulsed a follow-up  attack by the British 153rd Infantry Brigade with severe losses.

The Germans counter-attacked twice more with infantry and tanks on 12th June, exhausting both sides but the Allied situation was restabilised by a company attack by the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, personally led by an already wounded Brigadier Hill commanding 3rd Parachute Brigade.  When the dust settled, the German advance was contained but the 858th Grenadier Regiment still held Breville.  This position had to be captured to safeguard the beachhead.

All that was left of the 6th Airborne Division reserve was a weak 12 Parachute battalion, which supported by the 22nd Independent Parachute Company and another from the 12th Devons.  On the night of 12 June, Under cover of darkness, they attacked the village of Breville with armour support from the 13th/18th Hussars.

Friendly shell fire straddled the start line killing the 12 PARA Commanding Officer and the Devon Company Commander and seriously wounding many others. Rallied by platoon commanders and NCOs the Paras advanced to eject the Germans from the village in bitter and bloody hand-to-hand combat.  At a cost of eight officers and 133 airborne soldiers, Breville was cleared and the threat to the Invasion beaches removed.
Summary compiled from a range of sources, including:
Stirring stuff indeed with great bravery and tenacity on both sides.  Surely this must make a great game!
In Bolt Action terms this would be a “Point Defence” scenario with three objectives in the German setup area which included the battered village of Breville.  Two players per side would each field 1000 points using the same multiplayer rules we devised for our previous 3 v 3 game. We were keen to try the night fighting rules too, but instead of the whole game being under cover of darkness (the historic 12 Para attack commenced at 2200) we used the “Longest day” rule for a random onset of darkness and then starting to use the rules for night fighting.
 
The Battlefield with the German deployment along the bottom edge
The rather obvious approach lanes to the objectives via open but rough terrain was going to make this a tough task.  More of a job for Armoured or Mechanised infantry but that’s exactly what the historical Para commanders had to face too.  What I needed was plenty of cold steel and a rapid approach.  The onset of night would hinder the use of artillery and indirect fire later in the game, and the need to advance rapidly would preclude much in the way of heavy support weapons.  As a result, I decided on the following force:

1LT (Vet)
2 x FOO (Reg) – 1 being the free one for the British force

4 x 9 man Infantry Sections (Vet): 1 Bren, 2 SMGs, 7 Rifles – no this is not optimised for Bolt Action but is the historical composition of a Para rifle squad
1 x Sniper Team (Vet)
1 x PIAT team (Vet) – not much use but handy for light stuff like halftracks, and it would distract the Germans
Churchill Mk VI (Reg) upgraded with a 75mm gun

In his best pigeon German, Comrade James adds the following wisdom:

Ze brave defenders of ze Vaterland were from ze 346th Grenadier Regiment, and consisted of:
Major +2
2 Leutnants und 1
Stuh 42 Assault Howitzer
LeiG18 Light howitzer
50mm Granatwerfer (lt Mortar)
2 x MG42 on tripod
7 squads of Regular and Veteran Infantry
1 Veteran Squad
1 Veteran Sturmpioniere squad mit Flammenwerfer
1 Unic U107 Halftrack with MMG
2 sniper teams

The plan was to open with a prelim bombardment, then use the 3 FOOs to hit the Jerries with HE and smoke before night made them less effective, and go in as quick as we could.  Accordingly, we went with the National Characteristic of “Blood Curdling Charge”, which effectively paralyses an enemy unit being close assaulted and precludes them from firing at the lads as they charge in.  With a bit of luck this should work well…or it would go horribly, horribly wrong with not much scope for anything in between.

Knowing zat ze Englanders loved ze arty, ze Deustches kept half of zere force off table und only deployed the snipers und fixed arty units, together with a few regular squads to hold ze line…

Fellow Para Commander Paul similarly took a 1LT, 4 squads of Infantry FOO and sniper team, and also a Cromwell medium tank and a pair of recon jeeps which would be very handy indeed.  Over tea and tiffen we agreed that I would advance on the right flank to take the objective in the woods, while he would attack the Manor house and move onto the centre objective.  To keep the Germans dispersed Paul would put one of his infantry squads on a flanking manoeuvre up the left flank, threatening to rush in and contest the final objective in the final turns.  Visibility permitting, our tanks would support the infantry advance by pounding the enemy until the inevitable Panzers showed up.

The Major suspected zat ze Englanders vould move up zeir right flank (our left flank) as there vas too much hard cover on our right flank zat provided us vith superb defensive positions.So, ve deployed the bulk of our infantry und ze 2 MG42’s on our left flank to shoot ze Englanders as they approached. Ve suspected zem of sneaky flank attacks und so had 2 squads of regular Schutzen deployed in the village on our right flank.
Ze Stuh und LeiG would hold the centre objective to provide HE fire support to either flank.
Ze STurmpionieres und eins Leutnant remained in ze halftrack for a counterpunch mit dem flammenwerfer….


No doubt the Jerries would setup to make us pay during the advance, try to pin us down prior to assaulting and keep a small combined arms force in reserve to counterattack after we had shown our hand.  With luck, night would fall quickly and let us get stuck into the Boche out of the darkness before that could happen…
Add caption

Busy weekend

Me sailing our Corsair "Mulloka" with 3 scouts
The boys from the Man Cave had a great long weekend away with our scout group, at the Sirius Cup: Australia's largest scout sailing regatta at lovely Balmoral beach on Sydney Harbour.  Many adventures along the way including sailing our little dingies among a fleet of big maxi yachts which was rather interesting!  I managed to pull a second line honours on Sunday which was great, and best of all I caught up with both Dux on Sat for a hour or two and my mate Pete who was up visiting from Melbourne. Great weekends like that make it hard to summon the enthusiasm to return to work...
The scout invasion of Balmoral beach!

07 March 2014

"Medusa" the Churchill

Introducing "Medusa", a British Mk VII Churchill tank.  This heavy tank may not have packed the same wallop as some of the German big cats in her tonnage range, but this was tank which saw plenty of action and could take a beating. 




This 28mm vehicle is by Warlord Games and I was very impressed with it as a whole.  The casting was crisp and the detail very clear.  I was also impressed with the quick and professional service I got from Warlord when I reported that the tank commander figures were missing and they duly arrived the following week no questions asked. Bravo.

I've painted this tank up as part of the 4th Coldstream Guards who served with the 6th Guards Tank Brigade in Normandy.  No 13 Troop of C Squadron to be precise, along with troop mates "Minotaur" and "Minerva" all named after famous Royal Navy warships.  Why did I choose this particular unit?  Because my good buddy Dux Homunculorum painted his own Churchill tank as "Minotaur" last year (see here) and I wanted them to be in the same unit (see here).

But Dux's poor Minotaur doesn't have a tank Commander figure though, which is why I painted up this second one for him as his prize in our side challenge.  Congrats mate and well earned - I'll even deliver him to you this weekend!
"Bill" who is destined to command Dux's Churchill
Medusa joins my British Para force as some heavy support and netted me another 20 points for the painting challenge.  You can see the entry here:

05 March 2014

Vader's little princess

Many of you will have seen the book Darth Vader and Son about and most amusing it is.  Last month the sequel Vader's Little Princess was released and anyone who has a teenage daughter will really relate!





04 March 2014

The Man Cave of Comrade James

Comrade James recently hosted the fantastic 3 vs 3 Mega Bolt Action game to christen his new Man Cave, but in my distraction with gaming goodness I neglected to post the pics of his Cave setup.  Here it is in all its glory!
The proud Cave owner surveys his domain!

02 March 2014

Painting Comp Progress: The Last Big Push

With less than three weeks to run, we see that the Dux's impressive pace continues and his lead is virtually untouchable.  He is also only a whisker away from his revised challenge total of 1200 points- impressive!  I too am almost at my revised challenge total of 800 points and am happy with my productivity despite the intrusion of significant real life factors.  Comrade James is starting to hit his stride now and with his works currently in progress should make his 500 points in the nick of time - good luck mate!

01 March 2014

More Red Devils!

Here are some more WW2 British Paratroopers for my Red Devils army that I have been building over the last few months. They are a combination of Warlord and Crusader metal figures and were painted up as part of the Analogue Painting Challenge.
The second PIAT team adds redundancy to the platoon's anti-armour capabilities.  The PIAT isn't that good an anti tank weapon, but its handy to keep the lighter and recon stuff at arms reach.  Having only one team makes it a bit vulnerable, so the extra team should help build a crossfire too.


A fourth Infantry section provides an additional support element to my core three section platoon.  An additional section is a support option in Chain of Command and an extra nine Elite infantrymen are always welcome!

Here is their entry on the Painting Challenge page:
http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/from-paulj-28mm-wwii-british-paras-55.html

Colours used are: Undercoat in white
Basecoats:
Denizen Jacket - Khaki
Trousers - English uniform
Gaters, helmets, wrist bands, scarves - dark US green
Rifle woodwork - brown
Berets- GW Khorne red (scab red)
Flesh - GW bronzed flesh 

Jacket camo pattern: US dark green, Brown GW XV-88, German camo brown

Heavy GW Agrax Earthshade wash all over
Finish with a Khaki highlight on the webbing and gaiters