Cyclops - monsters for the Greeks

For the Greek Kings of War/Dragon Rampant army I picked up some Dark Alliance Cyclops - soft plastic miniatures. So with a little slap-chop I have got them painted. 

Overall they have come out fairly well - i think. But i perhaps should have dry brushed a little more before applying the speed paints. These will be classed as ogres for game purposes - hopefully they will get the table soon … but probably won’t. 

Morts

Stugs

I have repainted some STUGs for the WW2 games I might play in the future (I real need a room that has a table set up in it, so I could play games over a couple of weeks … but that really needs a lottery win, so isn’t likely to happen). 

I think they look pretty good - but I have to decide if am going to numbers on them. The ones I have are on the sheets in the picture, which look a little big for them to be honest. They are BPM 15mm numbers, but I don’t think they will look right. Perhaps I will look to see if Victrix 1/144 will fit better. Then they will need varnishing and some weathering. 

Morts 

A couple of games

On Friday the BND invited Steedo, DK and myself over for a game. After a brief discussion Colditz was chosen. This is an old seventy’s game that Osprey have reissued - with very nice production quality. 

BND was the guards, Steedo the US POWs, DK the British POWs and I was the Dutch POWs - we had 42 turns to escape - well get 2 POWs out of the castle… they might have had to be of the same colour, but I can’t remember. 

The game has quite clean mechanics - collect stuff needed for an escape and avoid the guards. It plays fairly quickly and is pretty enjoyable, and I would play again. But the BND with the guards won - he did some very good placement of his operatives, but I felt it was too easy for guards to come back into play - so possibly we were playing there return rule incorrectly (in fact I’m sure we were - as they should be able to return on the turn they arrest a POW). Also the rules for POWs getting out of solitary although simple can be frustrating - you just had to roll a double … for a number of turns all of my operatives were in solitary and I could roll a double, so not much to do - possibly a house rule is needed for that situation. It didn’t help that BND had positioned guards so you basically got arrested as soon as you got out of solitary.  Anyway a cracking evening of fun - “this time the war was over for you Tommy” (well DK got one Brit out). 

On Saturday, I met up with an old university friend - MickyT, to watch the mighty Grecians play Charlton. MickyT had managed to snag hospitality tickets which was very nice. Lunch and interviews with the manager and a player. 

It was a good game - the first half saw Exe with the best of the possession and territory, but unable to take advantage. Charlton had the best chance, but it was well saved by the keeper. So 0-0, was fair, although Exe did shade it. The second half saw Charlton come out with more intent - however Exe managed to score (in one of their few visits to the Charlton penalty box), this was quite early in the half. This obviously made Charlton push harder for an equaliser - they certainly tried hard, and put a number of shots just wide of the uprights … had a shot cleared off the line. Exe rode their luck as they couldn’t put together any consistent possession of the ball - 1-1 would probably have been a fair result, but football isn’t always fair and Exe held on for the win. 

A cracking game, with the bonus of a free lunch, cake, coffee and pasty … and padded seat -  I like hospitality. 

Morts

Shermans finished - at last

The decals arrived from Bulters Printed Models - nice they are too - although each you have to cut each individual symbol out as they are printed on one sheet, probably why they were cheaper than the FOW ones - but I do have lots of choices. I haven’t used the divisional markings - I was hopping the 4th or 8th Armoured Brigade - but they weren’t on the sheet. 

The 4 British tanks - pretty pleased with these. Put stars in circles on the rear deck - which is generally how the British displayed the allied star. 

The US tanks with stars on the turret - put on the weight symbols - I only did light weathering on the tracks and hull. 

Better paint some Germans next - probably stugs (as I have 3 to repaint from dark grey to the classic Normandy/late war scheme). 

Morts

Shermans Painted

I have finished painting the Sherman tanks I put together at the weekend. Two British and two American - just waiting for the decals to arrive (should be tomorrow).

The darker green British M4A1 Shermans with sand guards. The jerry cans are stuck on the front guard, as I saw this on pictures from Normandy when I was checking if the British used the cast hull M4A1 model. These are probably a bit too dark … but nevermind - I might have to get a Churchill tank.

I think these M4A3 Shermans have come out rather well - so hopefully that bodes well for the other 6 or so tanks I have to paint - I am looking forward to finishing these off with the decals and some light weathering. 

Morts 

Sherman tanks

So I have been struggling with Sherman tanks - especially with having painted the 3D printed Firefly and Cromwell. In the Hit the Beach Set you get 8 Sherman tanks - all with cast hulls M4A1s, which the British didn’t use that much … I also had 2 M4A3 hulls from the Tanks set I picked up - So I was thinking of using the M4A3’s as the basis of a couple of British Shermans - again the British didn’t use that version very much either. 

However, I did find this https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=6634  

So I decided to make 2 British M4A1- with sand-guards for the 8th (or 4th) armoured brigade. Top picture. The US Sherman tanks won’t have sand-guards when I build them.

While I was building the British Sherman I thought would tidy up the M4A3 Shermans which came with the tanks. The bottom picture shows an up armoured Easy8 (like Fury) on the right and a standard M4A3. 

Morts 

Voidscarred Corsairs - Completed

I have finished the last 5 of the Voidscarred Corsairs.

The leader - called a Felarch. 

A Corsair warrior (another head swap on a guardian) and the sniper - Fate Dealer.

The Starstorm Duelist (2 pistols) and a Kurnite Hunter (has a Faolchu bird thing - which allows the corsairs be able to see a concealed enemy). 

Mainly done with speed/contrast paints - which are pretty useful, still trying to get the best out of them. I plan to paint my Celt/barbarian army with them. 

As to 40k stuff - there is the 3rd edition of kill team out - but at the rate I have been playing games, I will probably stick with 1st and 2nd editions - I do plan to have a play with the One Play Rules for Kill Tram and 40k. I have the space marine captain in terminator armour to do (and possibly some more skitari to do - I picked up some bodies cheap off LAF and have some spares from previous purchases - might just be a squad of 5 vanguard). 

Morts 

Some painting done - WW2 and Kill Team

 Been busy so I hadn’t varnished these for a while or done anything else with them.

The Sherman Firefly and Cromwell 3D prints I picked up a while ago (not as far back as the plastic tanks, but hey Ho). I might have picked a too dark a green for them, but in my mind British Tanks were always a darker green than American tanks. I’m happy with them, just need to get some decals to finish them off.  Actually need decals for the Germans and Americans too. 

Also varnished these 5 Corsairs (still need to base).

The Way Seeker - the psychic for the team. 

A gunner with blaster (I think, but it might be a wraith cannon) and a Shade Runner. 

A soul Weaver and a warrior (based on a guardian body, but with arms and head from the Corsairs kit).

I am going to have to write the type of warrior on the base somewhere, because there are too many to remember. 

Just 5 Corsairs to go and the team is ready for action. 

Morts

Big Country and the Alarm

Last night saw a trip into the city to see Mike Peters of the Alarm and Big Country. 

First on stage was Mike Peters of the Alarm - to be honest he didn’t look well - but he did say he was stuffing with blood cancer and put a call out for people to register with the Love Hope Strength donor list https://www.dkms.org.uk/get-involved/virtual-drives/lhs

So all things considered he actually wasn’t looking too bad. And he was singing really well - dead impressed. 

The main event were obviously Big Country - who played all of the Steeltown album. The first 4 songs were played with out any breaks. Bruce Watson really going for it on guitar - his son Jamie was having issues with his amp, through a fair bit of the gig. But they did sound awesome - a wall of guitars coming at you! I don’t know Steeltown that well, so it really kicked off for me when they started playing classics from the Crossing and the Seer!

A really good evening at the Phoenix! My first time at the venue - more intimate than the Corn Exchange (where I saw Lloyd Cole again in early September - no pictures as they were policing that very well!). I will be looking out for other gigs in the locality. 

Morts

Some Kill Team in a busy weekend

 

This has been a busy weekend - it has been one of the olds 80th birthday, so we have had visitors and been out a lot. We managed some games of Ultimate Werewolf, Codenames and Pass the Bomb. 

But as my nephew was staying with us, we played a game of Kill Team (over 2 days). Space Marines versus Eldar.

Initial set up below.

From each side. 

At the end of turn 1 the Marines were winning 3-1 with objectives - but due to me not reading the rules correctly had taken some serious damage. So during turn 2 he was allowed to bring on a marine back on.

The Dire Avengers were taking some damage as I tried to collect more objectives. The APL 3 was giving the Marines a move, collect objective and shoot system. 

Above the end of turn 2, the score was 5-2 to the Marines. But a number injured Marines - would they survive turn 3? I needed to wipe them out to win the game -  I operatives were too far away from the objectives to be able to score them. 

The simple answer was - but they were down to one Marine with 2 wound left … but the score was 6-3 to the Marines.

The Eldar did take out the final Marine but could only score one more objective, so the Marines won 7-4 on objectives, but were wiped out! Casualties were 7 Marines and 7 Eldar.

Hopefully my nephew enjoyed the game - certainly bloody, with a bit of a mistake in the first turn. 

A splendid, but busy weekend. 

Morts

Been out for a walk

On Sunday I when for a walk out on Exmoor with some old geezers. 

The day started drizzly and over the course of the day got a little bit better, before hammering it down for the last half an hour of the walk. But it was a pleasant day out in the countryside. 

In other areas I have finished (well still needing varnish and basing) 5 more of the Voidscarred Corsairs (5 to go) - I’ll post a picture sometime. Obviously GW has released a new edition of Kill Team … which has invalidated all the compendium teams I have … I am not sure I can keep up with the edition schedule they have, just as I get there, bring out a new set. That’s why Maurice is good - one edition play with what you have - simples. I have also started the 3d print tanks I picked up recently, so should be interesting painting them. 

Morts

Kesselsdorf - a Maurice Game

On Saturday evening Steedo came over to revisit Maurice (an excellent war game by Sam Mustafa), using the Saxons and Bavarians I had recently finished (after many years on the painting list). The scenario was adapted from the Might and Reason on Sam’s website. The actual battle was fought between the Saxons and the Prussians in 1745 - resulting in a resounding Prussian victory.  The Bavarians were being the Prussians in this game.

The map was roughly reproduced with row E and columns 1,2 and 9 missed out. The forces from the Might and Reason scenario were multiplied by 0.8 to match the figures available, giving:

The Bavarians 6 regular cavalry (1 elite), 1 irregular cavalry, 7 battalions of foot (1 elite) and 2 artillery. National characteristic - Oblique movement (probably not historically accurate, but not used much in the game.

The Saxons 4 regular cavalry, 9 battalions of foot (2 elite) and 2 artillery. National characteristic - Steady Lads (possibly not historically accurate - but as Steedo forgot to use it, not actually relevant to the game. 

Both armies started with 15 Army Morale Points.

The Bavarians (me), won the scouting roll so made Steedo’s Saxons set up first as the defender.

Initial deployments saw all the cavalry on the same side of the battlefield, except the Bavarian Hussars who were on the other flank, with 2 battalions of infantry - facing off against 5 battalions of Saxons. My plan was to break Steedo’s horse and get around the back of his position. 

The engagement started with an exchange of ineffective artillery bombardments. The battle was focused on the cavalry side of the field as I tried to force the Saxon cavalry to attack. I also moved the hussars forward to worry Steedo on his right … the only time either of us moved anything on that flank …

Which they did - and to my frustration Steedo had first blood as he broke one of my regiments. However the numbers did tell and the fact I took rally orders to remove disruptions. 

This meant that my Bavarians overwhelmed the Saxon cavalry and to my surprise Steedo moved his infantry off the hill (and away from his artillery) towards my 2 battalions on his side of the river. 

This move did destroy one of my battalions and the use of the dubious ploy of “death of a hero” left us tied on 5 morale points left each. But it also left a battalion exposed to a devastating flank attack and the Saxon artillery in a position to be ridden over! Which was the final move of the game as it broke the Saxons morale. 

The final shot of the unused flank - 5 battalions of unused Saxon infantry faced off against 2 battalions of Bavarians and a unit of hussars. 

The post mortem discussion focused on the lack of use of one of the flanks - on both I think Steedo could have used his infantry to screen off my cavalry - certainly after his cavalry had been defeated. I think I would have struggled force through on a firefight. We both ended up just focusing on one area of the battlefield (again), Steedo would have found some results by forcing a river crossing with his 5 battalions on his right. Making sure you rally troops is key and possibly where Steedo lost the cavalry encounter with multiple charges leaving his units weak. 

An enjoyable relearning game - so now I want want to set up an Imaginations Campaign - I like the idea of picking the National Characteristics for a country and tracking the army’s progress over a number of battles and wars. 

Morts 

Tyranid/Arachnid Overseer and some stuff

I managed to paint up the Tyranid Prime that came in the first issue of combat patrol - I have painted it black with white/blue wings to fit in with the other Arachnids I have - perhaps it should have some red or yellow bits. 

Generally happy with the painting - planning to use as an Overseer bug in Starship Troopers (I don’t really feel like painting anymore bugs … possibly some chariot bugs). 

I have also been off to Cambridge for a course for work for a week, which was very interesting. Took the opportunity to have a punting, walking tour and catch up with some family who live over in East Anglia.

A beautiful city - well worth a visit. Certainly better than the other place. 

During one lunch break a few of us had a look around a classical archeological museum - I do like the Greek stuff. 

Morts

So a little update … things sold and bought

After looking at the pictures on the blog - I sold off the Mantic dragon as it was too big compared to the other dragons I have, so I moved it on - made a bit of profit on it. I also moved on the Oathmark rules as I hadn’t played them and the units are based on multiples of 5, whereas all my existing stuff are in units of 12 for infantry or 6 for cavalry. So I will put that down to an incompatibility issue. I also sold a couple of other bits (excess 54mm fantasy and 1/72 cyclops), so the figures I have kept are even better value. 

Unfortunately this did mean I reinvested in some other stuff.

I pick up some more Ad Mech Skitari - 9 bodies and bits (I have some spare head etc from previous skitari builds and 5 on sprue but they might go on eBay at some point). 

I also picked up a Firefly and Cromwell 3d prints. 

Got them pictured here with some Flames of War Shermans I pick up in the Tank eBay bargain earlier this year. Happy with the models, scale well with the FOW stuff. Now to paint some …

Morts

Some painting for Kill Team and Maurice

Recently I painted the first of the Voidscarred Corsairs - 3 of these are Eldar Guardians with the load outs to make sure I could pick any of the Corsair options.

I went for a grey, with purple/yellow cloth - so there is some link to the Craftworld Eldar I already have. 

I have also finished the very last of the Age of Reason stuff - the minifigs named generals (which a were annoying packs as it wasn’t clear which figure was which general. 

These lads will be used as notables for Maurice - which I want to play again as I have re read the rules and start up a small imaginations campaign. Picking the National Characteristics for each army.

I also finished basing up the Saxons and Bavarians, so there is not reason why I can’t get a game going. 

Morts

New month - a little rambling and gaming done.

So been out to the moor for a little walk - rather nice it was too. 

The river up from Two-bridges, walking up to Beardown farm. 

The woods at Beardown. 

Walking up to Longaford Tor. 

All finished out with a cream tea - done properly cream on first at the Two-bridges hotel. 

I have also managed a couple of gaming sessions recently - first up was a trip to Boy Next Door (BND) for a go at Valhalla - which I felt did not go down as well as usual … everyone said they enjoyed it, but the vibe I felt was people though it was ok - probably because I won. 

Then as the good lady was out I had Steedo, BND and Boy Up the Road (BUR) over to play They Come Unseen - Steedo Snake-eyes and myself played this a few years ago and it has not been played since. Any way BND has a copy and is indeed a submariner, so I thought it would be good to revisit it. So I’m not going to run through how it plays again - we split into teams Steedo and BUR were NATO in the subs and BND and myself were the Soviets with the destroyers and logistics. The game started well for the Soviets, damaging Steedo’s sub - only one hit left … but then we couldn’t find it to finish him off.  Then we lost a couple of bases - with the supply ship and a container ship in them - this seriously hampered our efforts, due to a lack of fuel! We managed to damage BUR’s sub, but it was in vain - the dastardly capitalists destroyed the remaining bases (including my destroyer as I was refuelling at the time). 

I have to say this was a really good and intense game for the teams - the sub team loved watching us “nearly” catching their subs in the sonar sweeps … so close comrade. A definite play again, sooner than later - but defo with 4 players in teams. 

We finished off the evening with a go at Raiders of the North Sea (always a good game) - the BUR won in his first game - beating Steedo by a point. 

Cracking evening. 

Morts

Combat Patrol - Issue 1

So issue 1 of the new GW part work is out and I picked up a copy. 

Nice little pack - i picked it up for the Terminator Captain for my Space Marines - just need to assemble and put on the rams skull moulding. However rather that just moving the Tyranid Prime on I think I will use as an Arachnid Overseer Bug. The extra dice are always useful. 

Also included were a double sided game mat - which to be fair is better quality (light card) than paper one I picked up with a previous part work. 

Happy with the purchase - should be fun to put together. 

Morts

Kill Team - A 4 player game

The good lady said I could have the nerds, sorry the collective over for a game on Friday night, as she was going out. As it turned out she got her dates wrong, so I might get a game in next week as well.  The volunteers for the evening were Steedo, DK, Sylon and Snake-eyes, so what to play? I did think about Valhalla, with expansions as it plays 5 and then I thought I paint all of this plastic and metal, we will play one of those games.  After some deliberation I decided on 4 player Kill Team, with me as the umpire. 

The table before arrival - 7 teams available. Not picked were the Space Marine Phobos, Ad Mech and Chaos Space Marines (with cultists).

A dice roll of for teams lead to:

Steedo - Necrons (Deathmarks and Warriors)

Sylon - the Blooded (Traitor guard)

Snake-eyes - Space Marines (Intercession squad)

DK - Craftworld (Dire Average and Rangers) 

The objective was to pick up victory points on the markers - with 2 points on the marker on the centre.

Sylon deployed first and had initiative for the first turn - and moved out towards the Necrons and the Eldar - taking the opportunity to shoot at the Necrons (not very effectively) only to suffer with some heavy return fire - which was much more effective. Steedo silver robot men then took out the Marines leader - left out in the open (those Deathmarks are a bit tasty). There was some revenge firing, but not enough to kill a Necron and in frustration the Marines lobbed a grenade into a crowd of Eldar causing much annoyance and retaliation from DK! However Snake-eyes did score a victory point at the cost of a marine becoming a bullet magnet. The turn ended with Snake-eyes in the lead with 1 point. 

The second turn saw another grenade lobbed at the Eldar and the sacrifice of 2 more marines for 2 more victory points. Sylon’s Blooded picked up 2 points, but were taking causalities from Steedo’s Necrons. DK’s Eldar got a point as well and DK got increasingly frustrated by my rulings on Line of Sight. I have checked the rules an on the whole I was right and in fact Snake-eyes should be aggrieved as his sniper should have counted as obscured, as the secondary lines from the Eldar attackers would have crossed heavy cover which the marine was within an inch of - will have to check the LoS rules for the next game. At the end of turn 2 the scores were Snake-eyes 3, Sylon 2, DK 1 and Steedo 0. 

Turn 3 saw the marines down to 2 operatives but still taking a point, the Nercons slowly marching forward and collecting 2 points, the Blooded taking hits from both the Eldar and Nercons, but getting a point. The Eldar had lost 4 operatives and most of the rest were wounded - Nil points. More importantly it was the jockeying for position for the final turn. 

Turn 3 the scores were Snake-eyes 4, Sylon 3, Steedo 2 and  DK 1. 

The final turn saw Snake-eyes pick up a point and DK kill the Nercon leader so he wouldn’t be able to get to the centre objective marker (worth 2 points at the end of turn) or collect a point at another marker - this would be key. Steedo picked up another 2 points for the Necrons. The Eldar leader was shot - again stopping a rush for the centre objective, but DK was again frustrated by not being allowed to shot the Blooded Enforcer, as he was in engagement range of a Eldar ranger, only for Sylon’s Blooded leader to be able to shoot into the same engagement, due to a faction ability - “Callous Disregard” - this allowed the Sylon’s leader to move on to the centre objective and then the Enforcer to move onto the other objective and pick it up. The turn 4 the scores were Sylon 6, Snake-eyes 5, Steedo 4 and  DK 2. 

The end of game scoring gave the following final standings Sylon 8, Steedo 6, Snake-eyes 5 and  DK 3. The taking out of the Necron leader cost Steedo at least 2 points and also Sylon a clear run on the centre objective. A good win for Sylon, (who like Snake-eyes finished the game with only 2 operatives left on the table) which I hadn’t seen coming, as the Blooded are a little bit fragile with low wounds (7) and a high save (5+).  

The evening was good fun, with plenty of banter but possibly not the best game to play with effectively novice players. Perhaps we should have played 2 separate games with me umpiring both? There was a lot of downtime between players turns - again time was lost with me having explain rules (especially Line of Sight and putting order tokens down), however Sylon and Steedo did get on with a number of combats by themselves. With 4 players the initiative was very important as, too early meant that your operative could be exposed with no way to retaliate or too late and operatives being taken out without getting to take their actions (the marine leader). 

Anyway it was good to get the toys out and get them used 

Morts