New Broom January Part 3: Black Hawk Down!

"Six One: We have a Black Hawk down. Repeat: We have a Black Hawk down."

It looks like the Zugandan rebels have got lucky and managed to bring down of the American's Black Hawk helicopters.   

  The whole point of this months 'theme' New Year, New Broom, was to get something finished that has been hanging around for ages, and otherwise would probably just not get finished. So far I have painted a fire team for my Force on Force Delta Force. I had put off painting them because I hate painting Multi-cam, but for this model thing were a little different: I had bought this model of a crashed Black Hawk last year at the Wolverhampton Show. It is made by Britannia Miniatures, and is simply lovely. The reason why I had not got round to painting it is that I was daunted by how big it was. 

Inspired by Leon (aka Pulp Citizen) and his determination to finish the Giant Hadron figure for Pulp City, I set my mind to the task of painting the Black Hawk crash. In the end, it wasn't as terrible as I had imagined it would be, and I got it finished in just two evenings. I am delighted with the way it came out. Now I need to find a downed black hawk crew to act as hostages for my Delta's to rescue. 

Force on Force: Snatch Land Rover

Just a quick post to show off my new Snatch Land Rover. It is the Airfix 1/48 scale one, which I think works pretty well with the scale of figures and other vehicals I am using (Perhaps a trifle large, if I was being picky, but defiantly good enough for me). 

I have to say, that this is the first time I have ever put an Airfix model together and I was very impressed with the kit. The level of detail is amazing! I never added much of te interior details because I always intended to paint the windows so that it matches my other FoF vehicals, but even so I was thrilled buy how cool it was.

I opted to paint it green rather that the more commonly seen Afghan colours because Zugando, the fictional location of my Force on Force campaign is in West Africa, and is dominated by jungles, not deserts. I am rather pleased with the way the colours came out. 

New Broom January Part 2: More Delta Force

New broom January continues with more completing two more Delta force operatives, completing my last fire Team. These are Empress miniatures, and while they are really mince miniatures and beautifully sculpted I don't get much pleasure form painting them. The problem, I think, is that the camouflaged kit makes them a bit samey- everything they are wearing is just a variation of the same dusty colour. The end result is, I spend ages paining them, and they end up looking a bit ... meh.

First SAGA Game

Leon and I got together last week for a bit of a go at SAGA, the rules all the cool kids have been playing last year. Being something of a fashion victim/trend-setter and while I have had the rules for ages but this was actually the first time we have played the game as it has taken me about two years to get my warbands ready.

We found SAGA to be lots of fun- it is a radically different game to any others we have played, and it is fast pace and fun. We played with four point warbands, and found that we could easily get through a game in an hour, and that is with a rules set we are still leaning!

Combat was suitably brutal and short affair, and usually decisive one way or another. In the first game Leon's Viking berserkers cut a bloody swathe through my ranks. 

It strikes me that SAGA is one of those games that is easy to learn but difficult to master. There are lots of tactical decisions to be made, and that keeps it lively and fresh.

By the end of the day what had we learned? SAGA is a lot of fun, for sure, and I can see why it has become an instant hit in the gaming community  It is brutal, quick and bloody, which is the way I like my Viking action. Berserkers are REALLY scary and need to be managed (i.e. quickly killed) if you are fighting against them. We also need more units and more options. Four points is the minim sized war band recommended in the game, but I think another unit or two for either side would be great. I also plan to do some Normans, while Leon is going to do a Jomsviking warband. This will give us four different warbands, which will greatly increase the variation. In the mean time, we can carry on trying to master the subtle variations of the Viking and Anglo-Danish warbands, and once we have dome that we can swap armies and do it all again. I think there is a lot of life left in this game and we will defiantly come back to it!

Alfred Grey-beard looks out at the approaching Viking raiders.

"Sound the horn- let battle begin!"

 The Viking Warriors advance- eager for battle and plunder!

The Vikings sneak through the ruins of a Roman temple to out-flank the Anglo-Danish army

Anglo-Danish warriors from a shield wall- ready to meet their enemy. 

VBCW Battle Report: Blood in the Snow

Now is the winter of our discontent...

I joined Ash and the other guys in Stourbridge for a Very British Civil War Game.  Ash decided to set the battle in the middle of a bleak winter storm  The plot was that the British Union of Fascists (BUF) were attempting to shift supplies (Christmas pressies, turkey  brandy etc) to their out-lying bases, and one such supply train was accidentally intercepted by Col. S. C. Rouge, of the left wing coalition of militias, who was out drilling his men.

The ensuing battle took place in deep snow, which hampoered mobvememnt and preveted either side using vehicals or artillary. Waht followed was a large,a nd often brutal firefight between two roughly equally forces of infantry. 

 BUF advancing in strength

 A view from above- chilly!

 Both sides fought to hold a strategic hill.

The socialists prepare to charge a BUF position, but the snow hampers their advance and they are cut down by accurate rifle fire. 

In the and the BUF defeated the Socialist convincingly, and captured Col. Rouge. They garrison got their knitted socks and pigs-in-blankets.

A great game and an imaginative board created by Ash- Many thanks for him for setting it up and thanks for the invite. I look forward to a rematch.

New Broom January- Part 1: Delta Force

My old mate Leon (AKA Pulp Citizen) , feeling the need for the additional incentive of a deadline, has asked me to do another themed month for January.  It certainly seems to motivate him to get his miniatures finished, as he can be ponderously slow and easily distracted.

 As a result we agreed that  as its a new year, we could paint something that has been hanging around on our painting tables for far too long. 

I have had these miniatures based, and sprayed, for almost a year. I painted their brothers-in-arms, but owing to the fact that I decided I hate painting multicam (the type of camouflage pattern used by US Special Forces) I have been putting off finishing this last fire-team for  my Force on Force army.

I will paint two more for next week, and then finish off with something MASSIVE. 

SAGA Monks and Markers

Ahead of this weeks SAGA game I have made a few (16) Fatigue markers. I made these by glueing metal Dark Age shields to copper pennies. The shields are made by Gripping Beasts. A lick of paint and a bit of flock, and hey presto! I am not sure how many of these markers I am going to need, but it's a start. 

Next is a group of Dark Age monks, made by Black Tree Designs. I bought them when BTD had one of their excellent 50% off sales for a few quid. I am not sure what I am going to use them for- perhaps they could be objectives for my Anglo-Danes ("Protect the monastery!") or they might even make up part of my Levy rabble. 

SAGA Warbands!

After many months of inconsistent progress I have finally finished two four point SAGA warbands, ahead of this weeks game. These are the minim size needed to play a reasonable game and, assuming I like the game, I will add some more troops at a later date. But for now, here they are...

 Alfred Greymane and his horde of (mostly) Christian Anglo-Danish warriors, ready to bravely defend England from marauding northmen. 

Ragnar the Fell Handed, bloody scourge of the seas, and his Viking raiders. 

Leon and I are going to get a game in on Friday- our first outing of the SAGA rules.  I will let you know how it goes!

New year Round UP

Happy New Year everyone.

Phew! 2013 is here, and I am delighted that the world hasn’t ended in some kind of Mayan-zombie-apocalypse. I am equally delighted to start 2013 by reaching the epic milestone of having 100 followers. I love to get feedback and comments from you about the things I post, and I hope that in 2013 you will continue to do so.

2012 was a busy year, hobby wise. Apart from some VBCW action, including two Big Games, I mostly played Pulp City. Leon, AKA Pulp Citizen, my regular gaming buddy, is something of a Pulp City obsessive. Last year he joined the creative team at Pulp City, so we have been play testing a lot of mad ideas for the game. It’s been a lot of fun, and jolly interesting, but in 2013 I am hoping -well insisting really- that we get to play some other thing too.

I have spent 2012 prepping armies for some new games we have never played before. It began with SpiFi chic in the form of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and with the Call of Duty inspired modern African Force on Force campaign set in the fictional country of Zugando. Later I added a finished off my Anglo-Danish and Viking force for SAGA. Zombtober added ten more zeds to my growing horde of the zom-pocalypse, which was a great success. As far as Four Colour Supers go, I have steadily added figures to my collection through the year, although not as many as I had hoped, largely due to the cost of the figures. This culminated in Super-November, when Pulp Citizen and I made a real effort to get some spandex clad supers on the blogs.

The idea of themes for the month that began with Zobtober and carried on with Super-November, with continue into 2013, although not every month. Personally I am a rather prolific painter, churning out 3-4 painted minis per week, but Pulp Citizen is something of a painting glad fly. His painting table is strewn with dozens of figures in various stages of painting that he has started, before being distracted by something new and shiny. Many of these half-finished individuals have languished in the man-cave for months (or even years!). Therefore we have decided that the ‘theme’ for January will be ‘New Year- New Broom’. I know it’s not as catchy as Zombtober, but it’s the best we can do at short notice. The idea behind NY-NB is that we will each complete something that has been hanging around, waiting to be done, for a long time. I am going to paint a Navy Seal fire team (I hate painting multicam) and a giant piece of scenery I bought at Salute but have been putting off because it will take so long.

So, apart from NY-NB, what will 2013 hold for this blog? Well, more of the same and some new stuff. Superheroes will be back at the fore, with some super-agents and henchmen planned soon. I will continue to add to my Force on Force armies, expanding the Coalition and Zugandan forces, and adding a few units of Nigerian Peacekeepers. I intend to expand my SAGA warbands to 6 pts each, and to start a Norman warband, featuring cavalry. I want to do a little gang of zombie apocalypse survivors too, ahead of zomtober 2013!

New projects will be based around two great rules I read in 2012- namely ‘Bolt Action’ and ‘Tomahawks and Muskets’. For Bolt Action I will be basing my campaign on the ‘Forgotten War’ of WW2- Burma. I am going to begin with the British Special Forces ‘Chindits’ vs. Imperial Japanese Army, but later I want to add troops from the British Indian Army for a more conventional game. Tomahawks and Muskets is a game by the same writer as SAGA and is generally well received. My campaign will feature British Army vs. French Canadians during the French and Indian Wars.

So that’s it folks! That’s the plan. It’s not much of a plan, and it will almost certainly be subject to change as the weeks roll on, but that’s what makes this hobby so much fun.

Once again, thank you to all my followers, especially those who have posted comments. Please continue to read and follow my blog in the coming year, and as always, your comments are welcome.

Happy New Year.