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