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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

Despite the season in Australia, the following picture sums up how I think of a traditional christmas.


Then trying to match the season to the general gist of this blog I thought the following fellow should get a run.


For those of you hoping for hobby pressies - I hope the mail system has worked for you.  Otherwise lets hope the new year brings lots of new lead (or plastic depending on your preference), some painting and gaming as well. 

But especially more lead !!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Next up in the WWII US pile

Chose an eclectic mix of models over more Shermans or a bunch of halftracks.



There is a Tracks and Troops GMC truck with pontoon, a resin radio body to be attached to an Airfix GMC truck chasis, a Milicast GMC with office body, a Milicast trailer with smoke generator and a Retrokit Lefrance wrecker.  Should be fun to make and paint up over the Christmas break between family duties.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

20mm US armour


A few plastic kits that have been sitting in the cupboard for a number of years




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Some Conferedates

Back to ACW.  A plan is forming to break the back of the ACW forces by painting for a specific battle.  The Wheatfield at Gettysburg has a strong pull for me.  Anyone who walks those fields late in the afternoon will feel there is something different about that place.  It was an amazingly heroic struggle.

So in that light, I have painted up these two units to represent the 2nd and 3rd South Carolina from Kershaw's Brigade in McLaws' Division.

 

 
And for anyone interested in reading about the battle, this is a great story.  Amazon has them - but I'm sure many other on-line booksellers also do.
 

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Are you a wargamer?

Sorry no posts for a while.  Bit too much happening in real life to think much about painting - should be able to get back to it very soon I hope.


I have seen these questions on a few blogs recently - can't find where it originally come from though.


So here are my answers - what would your answers be?


- Spend at least $500 on figures / tanks - and you get extra kudos for every $500 you've spent.
Per year?? How many points can I earn for multiples of 500???


- Pricked your finger or thumb on a pike block - several times. 
Yep – especially when on the painting table, so much so that I now leave them off until painting is almost over.

- Tried at least 10 different rule sets and vowed never to play half of them ever again.
Not really – wish I had more time to try and play and then discard rulesets


- Bought an army off EBay
Never bought an army from eBay – bought lots of unpainted stuff though.

- Sold an army on EBay
No – why would I sell anything??

- Spent months painting an army - then used it in anger once.
Yep – most of micro armour

- Tried several different periods and genres.
I have all tried through the ages – even fantasy with my son (LOTR)

- Dropped a box of figures on the floor from a great height.
Luckily not


- Lost a battle on the last throw of the dice
.
No – I have usually lost the battle long before that.

- Made at least one enemy for life.
No – hopefully not

- Had a proper, stand up argument over a wargamers table.
Usually let others do that.

- Thrown a dice across a room.
No – but at someone else ….

- Rebased an army for a different rule set
Tempted but not undertaken.

- Inflicted a whopping defeat on an opponent.
Many years ago won the “MasterBlaster” crown in the microarmour at Cancon – M1A1 against T55s will help you do that.

- Suffered an embarrassing defeat due to a stupid tactical decision.
I wouldn’t admit to it even if I had.
- Joined a wargamers club.
I occasionally play with a great bunch of guys at Goulburn

- Bought a ton of lead that remains unpainted
More than one tonne – also lucky that plastic and resin doesn’t weigh that much.  This was a consideration in placing the games room in the basement and not on the upper levels of the house :)


- Been to a wargamers show.
Yes – I’ve been blessed to attend shows in Australia, the UK and US.

- Have more dice than is logical or necessary to own - and have used most of them.
I can never find them – and dread going into my son’s room to look.

- Have taken boxes of troops down to a club just to show them off to your mates.
Not really – but I think blogs may the modern day equivalent.


- You have reference books on each period / army you play.

Many – books might be the second love of my life (after the family of course)

- Having played so many different games you confidently quote rules for a totally different period, scale or ruleset to the one you're playing at that moment.
No.


- You have lied to your partner / spouse about how much you've spent on the hobby.
No – I’m lucky that she does not ask.

- You get genuinely excited when a package arrives in the post - then hide it upstairs quickly before your partner sees it. If your partner finds it first, you lie about the contents.
Love getting home from work to find a package but do not hide them


- You have joined a re-enactment society (5 points for this one!)
Nope

- You have played in an unsuitable venue.
Years ago mum used to say that the kitchen table was unsuitable.

- You continue to search for the perfect Napoleonic / WW2 / Ancients / ACW etc. rule set (knowing that it doesn't actually exist).
Not so much a search but a regularly fed desire to see what different rule sets offer. 

- For that reason you have developed your own house rules for certain periods. And think them far superior to the original author's efforts.
No – too lazy


- You have returned from a wargames show and sneaked upstairs to hide the stash.
No

- You have an irrational aversion to some genres and vow never to play them regardless of how much fun they look.
The only things I buy from a certain games company are spray paints and LOTR for the son.

- You have made your own wargames scenery.
Not much – love resin buildings

- You have reached a painting 'wall'.
Yes – right now

- You have lost - and regained - your wargaming mojo.
No

- You have done armies in different scales for the same period.
WWII in 6mm and 20mm, Napoleonics in 6mm and 28mm and still have a few unpainted 15mm from a stupid foray.  Same nations / units as well!

- You have jealously coveted someone else's troops.
Regularly.

- You have laughed (secretly or otherwise) as someone else's paint job.
Only the ones that are on eBay described as ‘Professional” – you know the ones. 

- You have provided a piece of useless trivia relating to the troops on the table to show off your wargaming knowledge.
No.

- You have contradicted someone elses' trivia - demonstrating your superior knowledge and giving you a warm glow inside.
When the other bloke might be annoying me I may have made something up just to irritate him


- You have caused a major disaster on a wargames table.

No usually been saved by my allies before it is too late

- You have cheered when an opponent's dice lets them down at a critical point.
Yeah – who wouldn’t – although it is done with respect !!!

- You have lied to your partner about going gaming.
No.

- You have lied to an attractive woman (man) about your hobby.
No – have told people I work with that I collect little toy soldiers. 

- You have made an opponent cry. It doesn't count if they are under 8 years old though.
No.

- You have reference books on armies you haven't even got (I have books on ECW, ACW, SYW, 30YW yet not one solitary figure for any of these periods).
Absolutely – see above on love of books.  Next project at home is to extend the library (or create a wargamers annexe library - yippee)

- You have bought figures for a period you have never and will never play - because they were cheap.
Sort of  – see above for 15mm Napoleonics … 200+ AB Napolenics for $60 – too good a bargain to refuse


- You have inflicted grievous bodily harm on a dice that has let you down.
No

- You blog or have a web-page about your Wargaming activities.
Where you’re at at the moment.

- Your book collection is almost all war and wargames related
Mostly – also travel has a big slice

- You critique 'war' movies (especially Hollywood war movies) for historical accuracy.
Not too much – but I do notice when old Leopard 1 tanks have been poorly modified.

- You spend car / train journeys checking out the lie of the land - considering which way you would attack from and whether it would make good wargaming terrain.
I often do – work has been lucky enough for me that I get to wander many old battlefields on weekends tacked onto work trips. 

How would others answer?

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Room's first outing

First game in the new room this morning.  My son wanted to play a game of Rapid Fire so we got a few units out and had a Commando attacking a village held by two companies from 21 Panzer with support.

He was most interested in getting the buildings on the table.  It made it very obvious how much more terrain we need (maybe not buildings - although there are a few boxes left of unpainted resin ones).  Need lots of trees, hedgerows, roads etc.








Saturday, September 1, 2012

Earl of Essex's Regiment

Mainly Renegade minis with a few from Bicorne added for variety - the casualties, kneeling firing and loading with the muskets resting on the ground.  All great figures to paint although there is sometimes (3 of this unit) disfiguring flash on the Renegade faces.





Add caption

Another TBM 20mm building


Really like these buildings.  

Would like to get some leaf litter to put into the edges of that carriageway as if they have been blown there.





British Transport

Had a few of these nice Brittania Bedford QLT's hanging around.

I have a plan to do another brigade of British Infantry so these can be the RASC company for them.  Did the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division as a bit of a nod to that quarter of my heritage.



6mm French bits

Two regiments of dismounted dragoons - not sure where I will use them but Adler did them so wanted to have them for something different.


And then two French Batteries.


Friday, August 31, 2012

ACW buildings

Three new 15mm ACW buildings to add to the haul.





Saturday, August 4, 2012

A brief Indian sojourn

Haven't got much painting done in the past few weeks - family holiday and then a work trip to India.  Justa few photos of the trip.

Did the obligatory trip to see the Taj Mahal


Saw some interesting things on the drive down there.


Dodged a few trucks on our side of the highway on the way back.




And of course managed to get something on topic - part of one side of the
Red Fort in Delhi.



Don't worry - normal service will be restored soon.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Part of a lead mountain

The process of sorting out miniatures and terrain stored all over the house continues so it can be boxed and placed in the cupboards under the table.

So, this is what my lead mountain looks like (or to be completely truthful I haven't yet pulled out all the projects from their various hiding places).

It is like a week long shopping trip - similar to Historicon visits.  I am discovering things that I had forgotten I had or had lost among the various boxes.  Given the size of the mountain, I think it may be the last shopping trip I enjoy for a while.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

ECW Judgement

Just painted up Redoubt's Gibbet set.  Used a picture from the the Alternative Battle of Worcester as inspiration (as shown in the WI Great Wargames Special).




Fevered activity at the paint desk

After spending most of the past 2 months getting the games room done, the deadline for the 30 June phase of the year long Guild build loomed up very quickly.

So it has been a frenzied week of painting something up for each of the five tasks I am doing.  At 8.30am this morning, the table looked like this.


On the table is:
  • A bit of captured french now german armour to add to 2 M36s already done for the 20mm NWE- they just need varnishing and thankfully it is a nice sunny (if cool) day
  • A unit of 15mm ACW Zouves with the glue drying attaching them to the bases
  • 28mm ECW vignette
  • 2 20mm buildings with drybrush coats drying awaiting some pastels
  • A brigades worth of Adler Polish Napoleonics - there's no way the brigade will get done as planned - hoping to get a battalion done.
Breakfast now and then call in a few favours to avoid household tasks to get it done by end of the day.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Terrain racks finished

Lots of woodworking and most of the joints fit and match up - so not bad.

This is a terrain rack that will allow us to store the TSS tiles we have when others are being used on the table top.


All in place waiting for the frame and table top to be placed - needed to stop as it was very dark and raining outside - not good for the power saw!


Sunday, June 10, 2012

Progress continues on the room

Busy weekend so far - cupboards all finished and lights installed.  Very happy with the Ikea cupboards that were on special.  Especially when I had originally planned to make them myself.

Need a trip to the hardware store to get the timber to make the terrain racks and the table top.  BUT, it is pouring rain and I need to do the work with tools like a router etc in the yard - so brakes are on at the moment.

Notice the 'test' unit in the cupboard.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Room - paint, carpet and lights

The title probably says it all.

Painting is finished and the electricians have returned to install ceiling lights.  My son and I have just finished laying the carpet tiles I picked up at a bargain basement price.



Have spent the remainder of today building cabinets.  Another update soon.


Sunday, May 27, 2012

Room update - plastering all done

Have just finished all of the work on the ceiling ready for painting tomorrow.  All gyprock seams covered and smoothed and the cornice installed.  Paint is sitting on the laundry cupboard waiting.

Got 4 cabinets on sale during the week at Ikea - reduced in price from $389 to $189 plus a 15% discount off that.  I first saw these on Olincanalad's blog.  They come with glass shelves but more could be installed if needed.  They also have a hole at the back of the two levels to take power for a small light to illuminate the figures inside.  They were delivered on Thursday and all eight of the boxes are lying in the lounge room which is OK as long as they are gone by next Saturday. 



So, quite a bit of work to do over the next few weeknights to get painting finished, carpet tiles down and cabinets installed.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

New painting stick

Here is one of my new painting sticks.

While I had the tools out of the shed on the weekend working on the basement, I grabbed a length of pine, cut it down and ran one end around on the router table to get the 'comfort' grip.

First use last night.  Feels good to use and no more falling over figures.  Question will be what I use to hold the figures on that gives a good balance between hold and removability so I can reuse the sticks over and over.