Analogue Hobbies catch up!

 Now then,

So ive not updated this blog for a bit, heres what ive completed so far for the painting challenge, in no particular order.

So first up is 24 Rohan Oathsworn Militia. Old sculpts now but still look great on the table.

To go with them i have painted and textured some movement trays for my LOTR game of choice, War of the Ring.

Next we have some Orcs and Gobbos! 

These are my Forest Goblin Spider riding characters. Ive been meaning to get these done for ages!

I especially like how the converted shaman came out.

Savage Orc Beserkers!!!

These are the random 4 Savage Orcs i had left over from my SAGA Age of Magic warband. I have painted them up as beserkers with the addition of the warpaint.

Some Terrain and civilians for my North Africa setup.

These are 3d prints I picked up at the Battleground show, I like to see this sort of scatter terrain on the table, markets, civilians etc.

The Civilians are from Perry miniatures, actually from the Crusades range. They fit in pretty well for pretty much any era though.

So, im enjoying the challenge so far, its keeping me motivated to continue getting through my backlog of unpainted stuff.

Cheers for taking a look,

Steve

Valentine MK II Infantry Tank.

Now then,

I have recently finished off my Valentine tank for the western desert.

Add caption

I have continued with the Caunter scheme as I really like how it looks.

For markings I have taken a bit of artistic license once again, but after spending a few hours online and looking through my books, it seems almost haphazard how tanks were marked up in the desert.

So I went with what looked cool.

This is a resin model from blitzkrieg miniatures,  but purchased from the Perry miniatures website.

A solid chunk of resin, and minimal clean up meant that this tank was completed in a single evening.

Highly recommended!

Cheers for now,
Stig.

Marmon Herrington Armoured Car MK III.

Now then,

Continuing with my ongoing western desert force, I've now painted up my Marmon Herrington armoured car.

I've always liked this vehicle, very old  fashioned looking, but looks quite sturdy at the same time.

Apparently it was very well liked by the crews, as it was reliable and easy to maintain.

This is an excellent model from Perry miniatures.

Again I have painted it up in the earlier caunter scheme, and taken a bit of artistic license with the markings.

So there we go, another step closer to finishing my 8th army project for bolt action.

Thanks for stopping by,

Stig.

Test game Bolt action in the western desert 1942.

Now then,

We recently played our first game of Bolt Action V2 at the Old Guard wargames club. We played a test game at around 600 points per side.

Set in North Africa in 1942, the British forces of the 8th army took on Rommels Afrika korps. I wont go into too much detail here as I have forgotten what happened when etc, but.....

The not great....

The only problem we really encountered was the difficulty in taking on vehicles. It seemed that you really had to be very lucky to damage one, and we beside trying to take one out in close combat. I managed to destroy the SDKFZ251c in the end but it was a lucky shot and only after trying for turn after turn. My Bren carrier was a terror on the battlefield zipping about and machine gunning anyone foolish enough to be caught in its line of sight..... very frustrating for my opponent....

The good stuff.

Overall we really enjoyed the game, the dice activation meant that both players are constantly active and engaged in the game. The rules are simple enough to pick up fairly quickly but have enough depth to make for an interesting game, while not massively historical, still great fun.

Bolt action is certainly a game we will be playing more of in the future, hopefully the club will get on board and it will become a club joint effort, who knows we may put on a display game at some of the northern games shows.....

Thanks for taking a look,

Cheers,

Stig.

Bolt Action V2. THE WESTERN DESERT.

Now then,

Unfortunately I accidentally deleted my earlier post on my bolt action project, the hazards of touch screen tablets.... or just being a numpty.

Anyway...

At the Old Guard wargames club, we have mostly decided to do bolt action in the western desert, zooming in and looking at the battle of Gazala.  With 8 club members getting involved already it may well be a demo/display game in the future.

My contribution will be a reinforced platoon of the 4th East Yorkshire Regiment, part of 150 brigade.

Heres what I've got done so far.

Heres the basic platoon.

Platoon commander and radio op.
Boyes anti tank rifle team.
2 inch mortar team.
3 sections of 8 men, including LMG.

I also have an artillery observer team and a senior officer.

 Bren carrier.

I've painted this in the earlier caunter camouflage scheme.

Its marked up as belonging to th anti tank regiment (artillery).

It will be used to tow my 6 pounder Anti tank gun.

 I have taken a bit of artistic licence with the markings on the 6 pounder.

I'm not sure if the guns were marked up in this way in the desert, but rule of cool won.

Another look at the bren carrier. I'm experimenting with weathering and chipping effects,  just using very basic techniques.... basically a sponge!

That it for now, thanks for having a look.

Stig.

King Tiger

Now then,

First of all apologies for not updating the blog. Im getting lazy!!

To kick off my return to the blogosphere, here is a 15mm King tiger that I finished tonight.

Ive painted this up for my upcoming batllegroup games, set in Normandy 1944.

I hope you are all well.

Cheers
Steve.

PBI WW2 game.

Now then,

I have just met up with mate Al, who kindly put on a game of Poor Bloody Infantry in his cool gaming shed. I have never played PBI before, so wasnt sure what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised.

The game plays really smoothly,(although we missed a few bits out by mistake). For those who havent a clue what im on about, PBI is a ww2 game from Peter Pig, LINK it uses a grid system, so there is no measuring, its pretty simple (a good thing) and plays really well. There is an interesting pre game system, but we didnt go into that part too much, as we just wanted to crack on with the game.

Anyway, I was the 8th army, and Al took control of the Afrika Korps.

Terrain set up, notice the dots for the grid, areas where there are squares of carpet tile are "closed" terrain, other areas are "open" terrain, but some have partial cover, ie the ones with walls etc in them.

The Brits set up, 2 rifle platoons, and an HMG platoon on the right.

 The Brits have an early success, detroying a Pz IV with sticky bombs!

The outskirts of the small town are captured, but the DAK forces are bringing up some much needed reinforcements for a counter attack.













 The Brits meanwhile manage to get 2 of their Shermans into the fight. The remaining PzIV was to end up in flames shortly after!

Results of the DAK counter attack on the buildings, lots of British casualties...

The game ended with the British forces in possession of 2 of the 3 objectives, so it was a win for me! A fun game, made better by the grid, no measuring and messing about, the terrain rules are so much easier to remember. 

Thanks for the game Al.

I want a wood burner in my gaming shed!

Steve.