Burma: Chindit Patrol

The second round of Lead Painters League saw me finish off five more Chindits for my 1943 Burma campaign.  Again I have tried to up the ante a bit on the painting, and am quite pleased with the blending and highlighting on the cloth. By all accounts the Chindit's Jungle Green (JG) fatigues faded very quickly when they got into the humid jungle, and so I wanted to simulate that effect. 

These models are from all of manufactures of Chindits in 28mm (as far as I am aware). They are, from left to right, BAM, Foundry, TAG, BAM and BAM. Foundry are my favourite  but they only make them with SMGs, and according to the Bolt Action army lists in the Armies of Great Britain book Chindits only have 2 SMGs per section, so I need loads more with rifles. 

By the way- this round of Lead Painters League was a draw. so that is won one, drawn one so far. Looking good!

SAGA: Norman Warlord and Knights

Having got a few games of SAGA under my belt  my fancies turned to expanding out the game a little and trying something new. With that in mind I decided that a new war-band was in order,and so I have started a Norman war-band. Bearing in mind that it took me two years to paint the Vikings and the Anglo-Danes, this is likely to be one of my slow boil projects. 

These figures are plastic ones made by Conquest Games  (confusingly, not Conquest Miniatures, which is a different company). I painted them for the first round of the Lead Painters League competition  run by the Lead Adventure Forum. This is the third year I have entered the LPL and I'm trying really hard to up my game and produce high quality figures. I think I have been guilty of taking a few short cuts to get figures finished recently  and that shows in the photos on the blog. That stops now, and it's back to basics, with good highlighting and blending. 

Due to the rules of the competition I will only post my pictures on the blog at the end of the weeks voting, so as not to unduly influence the votes. I have to paint at least 60 minis in 10 weeks, so it's something of a marathon rather than a sprint. The standard of the competition is always rather high, so wish me luck. 

Four Colour: Starfire

Starfire is the latest in a long line of superheroes protecting the city. Starfire, aka Douglas Barrow, was a geeky research student working in the Metropolitan University, examining meteorites.  When the university laboratory was destroyed by a freak lighting bolt, mutagenic compounds extracted from the space rock somehow infused Douglass Barrow,s weakling body, transforming him into a superhuman, with incredible strength, endurance and the ability to project photo-thermionic energy from his body. 

Owing to being distracted by other projects I noticed that there was a distinct lack of four colour goodness in the blog this year, so I thought I would try to readdress it a little with this offering. This figure was a gift from my old pal Leon (AKA Pulp Citizen), a life long wargamer and comic book fan, who went to the rather extreme length of commissioning this figure to be sculpted and cast in resin. He only had a small number made, so I was honoured to get one. Obviously I wanted to pull all the stops out paining this one, and I am rather pleased with the results. I think it is the best one I have painted this year. The colour scheme was inspired by Booster Gold, one of my favourite heroes from the 1990's

French and Indian Wars: British Light Infantry and French Fur Trappers

 Here are some more of my French Indian War figures for Muskets and Tomahawks. First up, some British Light Infantry, skirmishing away on the flanks of the Regular Infantry.  

Next up, some Frenchies (boo!).

 These are fur trappers and frontier traders, or as they were called by the French Coureur de Bois (Forest Runner). These rugged types penetrate the deep forested interiors of Canada, living off the land and trading furs with the natives. In M+T these guise are a sort of elite skirmishers, able to use the terrain to their advantage. They sport beards and fur hats too, so they can't be all bad.   

These figures are by Redoubt Miniatures

French and Indian Wars: British Regular Infantry

It's time for another distracting aside. 

SAGA certainly took the gaming world by storm, with it’s quirky game play and fun skirmish scale battles. Leon (Pulp Citizen) and I have been playing a few games and are starting to get into it, but that’s not going to stop me getting distracted by an all new gaming project and, for me, an entirely new period: Muskets and Tomahawks and The French and Indian Wars.

The French and Indian Wars (sometimes called the French Indian War or FIW) was basically the Seven Year War as it was fought out in North America, between the British, with their Native American allies, and the French/Canadians and their native allies. The war is most commonly remembered in the collective consciousness thanks to the Last of the Mohicans.

The games Muskets and Tomahawks, (M+T for short) is a game by the same writer as SAGA, but it is a very different game that really captures the atmosphere of the period. I have read the rules, but have yet to play a game, and am really looking forward to it. It has been getting rave reviews.

I have begun work on the Red-coated British Regular Infantry. In truth I have been plugging away at these steadily since November, just doing one or two as the mood struck me. I still have a few more to go, but then I can start on the really good bit- the Indians!

These figures are by Redoubt Miniatures. 

SAGA: Another Clash of Arms

Leon (Pulp Citizen) and I managed to get in another couple of games of SAGA as we try to get our heads around the rules. I have added another unit to each of the warbands, making it up top 5 points each. My Anglo-Danes have a levy of 12 bowmen, while Leon opted for a rock-hard 4 hearthguard for his Vikings. 

My New Levy Archers Scrambling Through the Ruins of a Roman Temple

The first battle proved be be something of a none event. Leon was concerned about the Anglo-Danes ability to liberally scatter fatigue markers over the Vikings, and held back, playing too cautiously and thus playing into the Anglo-Danes hands. He tried a suicidal charge with his bezerkers against my warriors, which was predictably lethal, but that proved too late to inflict a decisive victory.

The Viking Invaders Form a Ragged Shield Wall

What followed was a debate about the Anglo-Danish battle board, and wither it had rather too many ways to add fatigue compared to the Viking's abilities to remove it. In order to try to resolve the debate we switched sides, so that I played the Vikings. 

The Anglo-Danish Shield Wall

In the second battle I went for it- rapidly moving my warlord and his berserkers towards the Anglo-Danish flank. My heathguard and warriors followed in his wake. I tried to ignore the fatigue markers Leon was sprinkling like fairy dust over my horde, and closed onto the Anglo-Danes. The battle was brutal and viscous:  Bezerkers are great for pulverising a unit, even if few make it through the battle. Leon's archers also nearly made my Warlord into a pin cushion but I managed some lucky saves. 

Berserkers Clash with the Anglo-Danish warriors and Cut Them Down!

In the end his warlord was cut down in battle, granting me victory. It was messy and not as decisive as I would have liked, but I think I proved that it is much better for the Vikings to get stuck in as fast as they can rather than hang back, especially when facing Anglo-Danes.

Force on Force: Transport for AU Peace-Keepers

The Nigerian Peace Keepers operating in Zugando have received some re-enforcements to improve their mobility and effectiveness.
First off is a Saracen APC. While without doubt the Saracen is out dated by the standards of a modern army they still have a role to play in peace keeping operations. They were used very successfully by the British Army for peace keeping operations in  Northern Ireland until the 1990's and are still used by the Nigerian Army (NA), although they are being gradually phased out. In terms of armour, the Saracen is comparable to a Bradley or a BTR, but it is lightly armed in comparison. Passengers can fire their weapons from portholes in the side and from the top hatch. 

Second up is a Land Rover Defender. This one is not armoured, and is effectively a standard civilian model, designed to transport rear echelon personnel in low risk areas. If a fire fight breaks out it will offer very little protection. 

The Saracen is, I think, by Britannia Miniatures. I bought it of a fellow Lead Adventure Forum member a while ago- I wasn't really sure what I would use it for, but I was delighted to discover the NA still use them. The latest statistic I could find on the net says they still have 10 in service, which isn't many, but enough to justify me including it in my peace keepers force. I Thought about converting the rear gunner, who is using a Bren gun, as the NA definitely don't use the Bren any more, but in the end I decided it would be too much hassle. 

The Discovery is a  Burago 1/47 scale die-cast I bought on Ebay for a few quid. It is the same model as the police Defender in the previous post, although this one was a Fire Department one. I removed the blue lights and filled the hole. It scales very well with the Airfix Snatch Landy, but was cheaper and didn't need assembling. I can also be used by Zugandan army and Rebels, and even PMC, if I ever get round to doing some of them. 

The photos have come out well, thanks to the good quality natural light we are getting in the UK, thanks to all the snow. The jungle scenery is from the latest load I have been busy building. It's very useful for Burma as well as Zugando.

East End Apocalypse: Coppers

Here are some photos of some British police. I am not really sure why I wanted to do these. They're one of those projects I sometime start thinking it is a good idea, but not really sure what to do with it. I could use them in a Supers campaign set in the UK, or for for an addition force for my East End Apocalypse, somewhere between zombies and ASBO hoodies. Anyway, what ever I do with them, here are a couple to start with. These figures are by Warm Acre for No-Go-Zone. They are 28mm. 

In fairness, these are not great sculpts: Scale is odd; proportions are quite peculiar;  limbs come in variable length  even on the same model; details are soft and lacking in accuracy.  All in all there is not a lot going for these models, other than the fact they are the only UK police models in 28mm without guns (in case you didn't know UK police do not routinely carry guns). There are a few manufacturers who make SWAT type figures and Hasslefree even make armed police, but if you want unarmed police you have to use these guys. Also, I got them really cheep on eBay.

This is a Burago 1/47 scale Land Rover Defender 110 I got on eBay for a few quid. It scales really well with my police figures, particularly as they have thick urban bases.

Father Christmas brought me a couple of these in my stocking last Christmas- cleaver Father Christmas. Not sure who made them  but they say made in China on the bottom. They are very slightly over scaled, compared with the Land Rover. They are probably something like 1/44 scale i.e. still usable. 

Force on Force: T-55 MBT

Just another quick one because I am rather excited. This is a Russian made T-55 Main Battle Tank, as used by both the Nigerian and Finnish army (Hmm, very useful indeed!). 

This one is a 1/55 scale die-cast model I bought on eBay. It is a James Bond collectable replica from the film Golden Eye (you may remember the scene when Bond drives one through a wall). It wasn't cheep, costing me £15 including the postage, but that is still cheaper than buying a resin tank. I have another one on the way too. 

It obviously comes ready assembled and painted, so I can use it right away. In all probability  I will repaint it at some point, as it looks a bit flay and boring in real life, as it has been painted a flat green with no highlighting or shading, let alone weathering.  

To those who don't know 1/55 scale is just about right for 28mm, and finding military vehicals in that scale is something of a coup.  Here it is in my garden with it's happy owner- a Nigerian Army peace keeper. 

Force on Force: Radio Areial and Cell Phone Mast

Here is a couple of quick WIP shots of a cell phone (mobile phone) mast and a radio aerial I have made as objectives for Force on Force. They are made from Hornby Trains OO gauge pylons I got form the local model shop. I built them and then trimmed off the bits that stick out the side to hold the power cables. Then I rooted through my bits box of Games Workshop tank parts and added some bits and bobs to make them look the part. The cell phone mast also has some plasticard receivers too.

The Radio Free Zugando aerial

The Cell phone mast is to be used in my modern Finland campaign  It will be painted up and given a light dusting of snow flock. The Radio areal will be part of a radio station complex for my Zugandan shanty town. Both will be important objectives, as securing them can effect the oppositions command and control. 

A mobile phone mast in Finland

The Pylons come with three in a box for £15.99. The other one might get made up as a more traditional BBC radio mast without all the satellite dishes etc to be used for Very British Civil War.