Progress demands sacrafice

Good evening folks,

Time for another update, still not as frequently as I'd like but probably more frequently than you're used to. Which is nice. . .

So first of all I've made a little progress with Si's challenge. A tiny little bit progress, but progress none the less. At this rate I'll have finished the first one by my thirtieth birthday.



I've also been working away on a trio of Panther Gs for my late war Germans. Not a lot left to do now, probably just weathering and national crosses on the back of the turrets then I can call them done.







Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, I've got my mini rulebooks back from being re-bound. Really pleased with how these turned out, and they'll be infinitely more useful now that they will stay at the required page.



Thats all for now folks, thanks for stopping by.

Hit the beach!

Hi folks,

Back again after a wee bit away, been busy with work and suffering from some reduced hobby time due to the great god Ra putting in fairly regular appearances at the moment. Anywho, I've been busy with something slightly different from my past few updates and this will probably set the theme of things for the next few months. 

A long time ago my good lady bought me the US Assault company box as I'd intended to use it for a Glider company since it had the correct number and type of heavy weapons and troops. I built it up and it sat unloved for a very long time as I could never bring myself to paint models that were so obviously wrong for the purpose I was intending. After some recent discussions on Facebook and the plethora of documentaries and films that were shown during last month's D Day 70th anniversary, I decided at long last I needed to paint this assault company up and for their intended purpose. 

Below is my test platoon, a standard boat section plus their option .30-cal MG. The platoon has a mixture of assault company models, standard GIs and a couple of paratroopers to give a lot of variety of poses and models. Additionally, I've included some special effects Michael Bay would be proud of after watching the opening of Saving Private Ryan one too many times.

Cheers for looking folks.

Green Light Means Jump!

Good afternoon folks,

It is once again time for a cheeky wee update from the desk of Dave, probably long overdue seeing as got these finished last week and just haven't had the time to upload photos!

Parachute 75mm Artillery Battery

First gun section

Second gun section

Command, staff and observer teams

Completing this final platoon now gives me something I've never had in over a decade of wargaming. . . A fully painted army! Quite pleased about that, to be honest.

The full 1750 points force

The astute amongst you (if he is here today) will note that I've rearranged the bazookas, moving them back to the company HQ. This is probably a more sensible idea as it means I can boost each rifle platoon with a second bazooka and double their tank killing powers. 

Well, thats it from me for now. Off to open the feldgrau now. Toodles! 

Picking Up From Before

Time for another update! 

Apologies for the last, very short, post. Was half way through writing it when I was summoned away so to pick up from where I left off, here is what I'm planning on for a 1750 points 85 Infantriedivision force.

• Company HQ with two panzerschreck teams and  panzerfaust command teams
• Three full rifle platoons with panzerfaust command teams
• Machine Gun platoon with two sections
• Mortar platoon with three sections
• Anti tank platoon with two PaK40 guns
• Fallschirmjager platoon with two squads 
• Schwere Panzerjager platoon with 3 StuG Gs 
• Artillery battery with 2 gun sections (using SS models)

The idea behind the force is that I'll be using a core of Heer from 85 division, with some mopped up units from KG Walther (artillery and FJ platoon) and 559 Schere Panzerjagerabtielung. Hoping to get started on this force fairly soon, once I've rounded off the 101st guys I'm working on just now. Speaking of which. . .

Mortar platoon

Airborne Anti Tank platoon

Also a WIP of the next unit on my bench,

Sherman troop. 

Peace out for now folks.

Backshifts and Big Guns

Afternoon readers, time for another wee update from the desk of Dave.

This past week has been rather busy at work and, while the coming week is also busy, I've moved from business shift (9 a.m. starts) to backshift (2 p.m. starts) for this week. This means I've actually got a few hours to myself every morning and will be able to squeeze in a bit of painting before work. This morning was spent on my current platoon, taking them from the green base layer to what you will now see below.

Airborne anti tank platoon

At this rate of progress, I should get markings, metallics and washes done tomorrow, maybe even gritting and painting the bases (though no grass yet. . .). This, in turn, should clear the way to start on the mortars or howitzer battery this week, putting me on course to get the army finished by the end of the month.

Short and sweet one today, hopefully my next update will be a little more substantial. 

Bye for now!

Curahee!

Evening readers.

After about five, maybe six, minutes of agonising contemplation, I decided just to use the tufts I had left and get the third and final rifle platoon finished off.

Third rifle platoon

With third platoon done, I finally have the fighting core of the army, all three combat platoons and the HQ are now done, and I can finally move on to the fun (large calibre and high explosive) elements of the force. Now I'm really excited! 

Airborne anti-tank platoon

This platoon should be fairly easy to bash over the next couple of weeks, though at present I'll be unable to take them all the way to completion and put greenery onto their bases. Never mind. . . 

FoW Goodness Sake. . .

A wise man once said "start as you mean to go on" but a slightly lazier man once said "why do today what you can put off until tomorrow."

I was planning to do this over the weekend but I've been talked into taking on some overtime at work so I figured I'd put an update on here today and actually give you lovely lot something to look at! As promised, today's update is the first of many that will involve Flames of War. This game is probably my game of the moment as it combines fairly simple rules and easily acquired models with my favourite period in history: the second world war. 

My previous efforts with Flames have been a little sporadic and over the years I've picked up a variety of models with little semblance of a plan, something which has resulted in an erratic and slightly incompatible collection of stuff. I an attempt to prevent that from happening in future, I've decided to limit myself to not just a single period or single theatre, but a single campaign. That campaign is Market Garden, and I'll be collecting and painting American, German and British forces for all the major units that took part. Additionally, I'll be putting together a large selection of terrain appropriate for battles in The Netherlands. All of that is to come in the future, and for now I'm just trying to do the impossible and paint a full and usable force (I've never once achieved this in over a decade of wargaming!). That force is as follows. . . 

101st Airborne Parachute Company

• Company HQ
• Three rifle platoons with three small squads each
• MG platoon with four MGs and one bazooka
• Mortar platoon with four tubes
• Airborne AT platoon with two guns, bazookas and jeeps
• Airborne artillery battery with four tubes 
• Irish Guards troop with two Shermans and two Fireflies

All in all this list comes in at 1750 points, though as I've only played two or three games of third edition I have no idea if this list will actually work. Guess I'll have to find out the hard way. A pre painted picture of the force is below, along with pictures of the platoons I have painted thus far.

1750 points list

HQ section with MG platoon's bazooka

MG platoon

First rifle platoon

Second rifle platoon

Currently have the third platoon work in progress just now, hoping to get them done within the next few days and then probably move on to some of the fun stuff.

Until next time folks!