Roger Blue Leader!

Found my old VCR copy of "Battle of Britain" the other day (yes the awesome 1969 flick)- I don't even have a VCR anymore...So I zipped out today and got the remastered 2 disk edition. That will give me some inspiration for my new project tonight as I do all the ironing :-D

Just a few Lads for the fray...

1/600 planes are rather small and relatively cheap, so I've (once again) decided that a little diversion is in order, focuing on early war and Battle of Britain in particular. So I've ordered the following from Tumbling Dice:

RAF
ISA41 Spitfire Mk 1 x6
ISA42 Hurricane x6
ISA44 Briston Blenheim x4

Luftwaffe
ISA141 Me Bf109e x12
ISA142 Me Bf110 x6
ISA143 Ju87 x 8
ISA144 He111 x 6

Decals - because little planes just aren't as cool without them...
600-GE-1 Balkan Cross, early war, thin
600-GE-2 Balkan Cross, early war, thick
600-GE-10a Swastika Tail Markings
600-GB-6 Type A1 side panels
600-GB-7 Type B upper wing

And a hundred 1mm x 3mm circular N50 magnets for the basing. I've had a gutful of broken flight stands over the years so I'll give magnets a go I think. Tally-Ho!

Lager Brewing

Bubble, bubble...the first batch of full bodied lager is brewing furiously. Should be botted next week and fully mature for ANZAC day! What a coincidence....

Redemption- Game 4 (Last one :) )

One for Paul, a whole table of these looked awesome :) Aquarium trees I believe.. Initial Deployment..don't blink, you may miss my vehicles actually being alive..... At the end of his second shooting phase...a bad day to be in the Ork Armoured Corps.... End of the game... This will be very short and snappy. Anhilation mission (1 point per destroyed enemy unit) with corner to corner Spearhead deployment, my Orks versus Imperial Guard. First turn went to the Guard.What followed was what I can best describe as a clinical and surgical destruction of my army, beginning with all my vehicles, and then my Warboss and Deffcoptas,and finally my two groups of 30.....and all I managed to give him was a Hellhound with a slight limp......On the very last turn ,one group of boys wiped out an infantry squad in one combat, but given the final score of 7-1 that was definitely a revenge killing.....My opponent was a real gent who thanked me for maintaining my high spirits throughout the game despite the obvious slaughter my army was suffering and for not adopting The Face (that look one tends to get when the battle is clearly lost and all you want to be is anywhere but there...)Personally I think I was just in shock and and didn't have time to register any other emotion!! Thats it for Redemption, if people are interested I'll post my thoughts on the tourney and lessons I learnt as a newbie tournament player, but otherwise I whould shut up for a while..;)

Jurassic Ginger Beer

So strong, it'll rip your face off! Ironically, the kids dont like it though I made the non-alcoholic version for them :-D Mixed with some tonic its quite refreshing to give one's liver the night off.

Redemption- Game 3 (see earlier posts)

Jokers to the left ,jokers to the right of me, stuck in the waagh with you.....

We're behind you lads!!! 12 inches behind you in fact...

A very nice terrain piece with the middle objective visible (the pair of wings) The Warboss and lads close on the pesky Terminators...never mind that Dreadnought!! cough cough splutter!! Game 3 was another Sieze and Hold multi objective mission with the Pitched battle (within 12 inches of the table edge) deployment. This time I was up against Space Wolves, consisting of three Rhinos loaded with 2 lots of standard troops and one of Bloodclaws (close assault specialists), a 5 Terminator squad with Librarian,2 lots of LongFangs (heavy weapon dudes) a Dreadnought and a Lone Wolf (crazed suicide Terminator hero). For Space Wolves it was fairly tame (pardon the pun) but he still managed to steal the DA after a two Rhino assault and kept him until the end. I advanced my two lots of 30 orks together supported by the Deff Dread, and kept the Wierdboy and his Gang of 20 in the trees around one of the 3 objectives. All my armour sat on the left flank to provide fire support. Highlights were the combined assault of the Meganobs (yes Paul, have a giggle) and 30 orkboys that wiped out the Terminators and Librarian (after the Librarian had opened a chasm beneath one of the Meganobs using Jaws of the Werewolf) and for the Space Wolves, the ability of the Lone Wolf to hold off against my Deff Dread and 30 ork boys...until sheer weight of dice overwhelmed him. I managed to get my Deffcoptas to drop Da Big Bomm on a squad of Space Puppies , then charge the same unit, although as I found out to my cost, the low initiative of orks meant that the Space Puppies actually attacked first and swatted my brave lads from the skies.On my left flank, the Battlewagon proved a popular target, and was finally wrecked, leaving the stunned Lootas to pile out onto the nearby hill and lick their wounds for the rest of the game.In the end, the Meganobs and Warboss clung onto the objective in the middle of the table whilst his Dreadnought wiped out my Wierdboy and Gang from the 2nd objective, leaving another uncontested by either side. So a 1 nil victory for the Orks.My opponent went on to claim 5th place overall, and no wonder because he played the metagame of contest points very well, and I was, I think quite lucky that my lads held on in the middle.

Bag the Hun 2 released today

Too Fat Lardies today released the long awaited 2nd edition of bag the Hun: a WW2 aerial combat game. In the same style as Algy Pulls it Off for WW1 aerial scraps (which we have enjoyed), Squadron Leader Johnny Danger leads a bunch of brave lads against Fritz, Tojo and all comers!

http://toofatlardies.co.uk/

http://bagthehun.blogspot.com/

And just found a review of BtH2 here:
http://timbo74.blogspot.com/2010/02/bag-hun-2-first-impressions.html

Actually, with a handful of 1/600 planes this would be a cracker.

....Oh dear, I'm doing it again aren't I....

Thoughts on the new Tyranid Codex...from a published source...

Even if you don't play 40K this is a highly amusing vid!!! Click on the post title

Redemption List

I'll break up this barrage of posts with a quick summary of my list, for those interested..

HQ Warboss with heavy chopper and hvy armour(scrimped on points so no mega armour for him...he managed to survive surprisingly well) Wierdboy psyker with warphead reroll(undecided about this guy, Jase painted him to an awesome level for me (pics to follow) but in game his effect was a little random...which is actually grounds to keep him in an Ork list :))

Elites 3 Meganobs with Trukk dedicated transport (count as troops with a warboss) 4 Lootas and a Mek with Kustom Mega blasta

Fast Attack 3 Deffkoptas with twin linked rokkits and one BigBomm (see earlier pics)

Troops 2 lots of 30 Boyz with choppa and slugga,a big shoota and rokkit launcher each,as well as 1 basic Nob each without upgrades (a mistake) 19 shoota boys (who stuck with the wierd boy, mainly just to see what stoopid things he'd do)

Heavy Support Deffdread with big shoota and rokkit launcher(its how it came when I got it off ebay, I should have taken the flamer option) Battlewagon open topped with Kannon and Big shoota (became the bunker for the Lootas) Looted Wagon with Boomgun (a Basilisk) The list was pretty tame really, I didn't max out any units with cheesy nastiness (darn it) so no powerklaws on the Nobs to open tanks and only a smattering of Lootas and deffkoptas with bigbomms (needed twice as many)

Redemption Game 2 (See Game 1 below)

The initial deployment. Note Orkburger Hill already occupied by my Boyz..

Ah, such an inspiring combined arms view....appearances can be deceptive.....

30 went up, 3 came down...the 3 survivors can be seen running for a well earned rest in the ruins on the right

It was all going so well...........note the two Rhinos...they don;t look very threatening there do they??!!

Game 2 was a Capture and Control mission( one objective each) with Dawn of War deployment (1 HQ and 2 troops start on table, the rest are reserves, and night rules are in effect for turn 1, although we both forgot that). My opponent was Chaos Space Marines, with a 20 man and 10 man CSM troops, 10 Thousands sons, 2 pairs of Obliterators (nasty heavy weapons dudes that morph into whatever heavy weapon you want each turn) a Defiler (that enormous Chaos walker with the equally enormous cannon) and two RHino transports.

The twist was that we had to scatter our objectives in a random direction 2D6 inches, which put both our objectives closer to the middle of the table, and critically for me later in the game, put mine into open terrain vice the ruins I had conveniently located it in.....

I got first turn and charged one unit of 30 boys straight up the hill where the DA was and captured him.That hill (see pics) I later named Orkburger Hill, as 30 orks went up, and only 3 came back down...the second mob of 30 skirted around it(orks ain't DAT stoopid...).....the hill became the focal point of every blast and heavy weapon he had right from turn 1, as he attempted to slaughter the boyz holding the DA.......fortunately for me I was very lucky with my morale tests and the 3 surviving boyz held the DA in a ruined building right until the end of the game, earning me 5 crucial bonus points.

Highlights and lowlights were my warboss and Meganobs charging in with their trukk,with Deffcoptas flying in support above, slaughtering the Thousand Sons, then 2 Obliterators, and then charging the Defiler hiding in the back corner.....followed by the Warboss fleeing for his life until brought down by 17 Chaos space marines concentrating fire on his rapidly disappearing green backside (assaulting the Defiler didn't go so well....)

The other amusing moment was the Wierdboy rolling the teleport psychic power and teleporting his own squad of 20 shoota boyz right in the face of the Obliterators, unloading with 40 shots, and scoring no wounds....Orkburger hill was spared that turn as the combined firepower of the Defiler and others left the Weirdboy on his own where moments before he had been safely surrounded by 20 brave, stupid and slightly confused Orks...needless to say, he required rear facing armoured underpants as well as he rapidly relocated to my backline....I lost in the dying turns of the game which until then looked like a draw as we both held our objectives, until his two empty Rhinos, hitherto ignored by me, managed to pick the gap between my Battlewagon and Orkburger Hill and contest mine. His was uncontested at the end as apparently shooting down one of your own Deffcoptas with a blast template fired by over exuberant grots in a looted Basilisk can tend to lower your units' chances of survival....

Redemption 40K Tournament-Game 1

The Battlefield....moments before two Greenskins hordes descend upon it........

WAAAAAGGHHH!!!! My guys are coming from left to right......

A bad day to be a Dark Angel...........

My shoota boyz and Wierd boy close on the left most objective, supported by my Battlewagon with a heavy weapons squad embarked.....

Last turn (which was Turn 2 mind you) of the game, my ladz clamber up the hill to claim the only uncontested objective.

'Dont worry ladz, I'll cover you!!'

Just thought I'd provide a quick run down with pics of my experience of a 1500pt Warhammer 40K tournament held here in Adelaide by my game club. It won't be blow by blow just key events and scenario overview with lessons learnt.32 players, 4 games with pre deterimined missions for each.

Game 1 was a Seize and Hold with Pitched battle deployment, for which we rolled 4 objectives. One of the objectives was replaced by the Fallen Dark Angel. The Redemption theme of the tourney centred around a Dark Angel falling from grace and attempting to gain redemption by sabotaging the war efforts of passing armies...we gained bonus points for capturing(defeating in close assault) the DA and holding him at games end. He was an immobile shooting character who was pretty damn tough in Close assault, and he basically just shot the nearest unit regardless of its affiliation.The twist (issued by the Tourney organiser to each pair after deploying their armies) was that each objective was surrounded by a Strength 4 minefield causing D6 hits to a unit every time it moved within 3 inches.

I was playing as Orks for the tourney and my first game was also against Orks in a Greenskin Civil war....my opponent had 4 varying sized Boyz mobs, a trukk and Battlewagon and his piece de resistance, a 9-Meganob (Ork terminators) unit with Mad DoC Gritsnok as the leader. He captured the DA turn 1 as the objective in front of him we rolled as the DA start position and then held him throughout the game. I swung my lads well away from that Mega Death unit and focused on capturing the objectives. My highlight was Turn 2 when I managed to kill 50 of his orks with a combined assault of my Warboss with 3 Meganobs and a 30 Boyz unit. Orks on the charge are a frightening thing...as per the pics, my Deff Dred (Dreadnought) provided covering fire for my other 30 boyz squad as it basically withdrew from his Meganobs. I won that one 1 objective to nil, although my opponent got some nice bonus points for the DA.

WAAAGHing in the south....

The boys on the waagh...80 boyz, with armour support in the background.....

Just a quick few pics, given that its late and I just finished my first ever Warhammer 40 K tournament (or any tournament for that matter) 4 games in one day, took me a while to come down from that!! Overall won 2 lost 2, and came 23 out 0f 32, not a spectacular result but given the two guys I squeaked a win over went on to come 5th and 11th I was pretty happy....of note, the top two guys both ran the new look Tyranid armies...

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

I'm sure you guys remember this classic, written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston way back when. Well Comrade James kindly sent the lad a copy of the new edition version for his birthday, and its been a real treat to see him discover the fun and frustrations of the fighting Fantasy books for himself. Here is the young adventurer hard at work...

Thanks Comrade James, I'd forgotten about these little gems!

http://www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com/

Some Medieval figs

Moving Caves is a real pain in the backside. Time, effort, stuff broken, stuff lost.... but a necessary evil for me. One good thing, however, is the joy of rediscovering past projects and toys. In this case my DBA/DBM armies. I have a few actually, mostly the small DBA size: Polybian Roman, Carthaginian, Gaul, Ancient British, Imperial Roman, Hundred Years War Brits and French, plus a Scots Common and the making of a Feudal Welsh force. Here are some bits and bobs I came across:

So this (and watching king Arthur the other day) now have me hankering for some Dark Ages action with Vikings and Saxons and Picts..oh my!

Man Cave Operational!

I spent some time this weekend getting the man cave into a useful organisation. As you can see, its now ready for action! So wth a view of getting back into some modelling and painting, I was recently inspired by the Painting block here: http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/modelling/painting_block.htm

And so I went to work this weekend to make me one. I used scrap wood and an old rake handle cut into 6cm sections. Holes were drilled with a spade bit, leaving 4cm between holes so I can get my fingers inbetween and get the fig I want. I made it in a 12 x 2 config so it doesnt take up too much desk space. I had some spare bits left over so made a smaller one for smaller projects. The stands comfortably hold up to a 25mm fig on a slotta base. So, job done, now just got to put it into action. And I've just now realised that Autumn is not faraway and SWMBO will be looking for the handle-less leaf rake soon..

the new Man Cave

I'm working with a decorative genre known as chaos theory...

However, I think I have everything I need to survive in there for at least a week without emerging!

Red Hill Brewery

Found this little gem about 20mins up the road, so enjoyed some time there yesterday. Their usual range of 3 is a Scotch Ale (dark but not a full stout), a wheat beer and a golden ale. They are also doing a seasonal brew at the moment, which is a Canadian Blonde All were very full bodied, full flavoured beers better for Autumn or Winter, I think. In the hot summer moths I am preferring the lighter styles we are making ourselves to be honest. I'll go back in Winter to confirm! http://www.redhillbrewery.com.au/

Thanks TWIW

A big thanks to Ken at "This Week in Wargaming" podcast for his plug for Aeronef over the Aegean: Wrath of the Syren in the latest episode (AT-6). The project has now raised over USD$100 for the relief effort in Haiti. So a big Man Cave thanks to Ken and everyone who had d/led this product- hope you enjoy playing it as much as I enjoyed writing it! http://thisweekinwargaming.com/

More handy tips.....

I take it this means this blog is now classified Mancave-In-Confidence???

You know its true....