Christmas Haul - The ground sloggers have arrived!

 I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the following purchases:

1x late war German infantry (new casts)

1x 1944 British infantry (new casts)

1x 1944 British infantry support weapons (new casts)

1x US infantry (new casts)

1x Soviet infantry (new casts)

a few Achilles TDs, GMC trucks, M20 car, Whites scout car, KV1s and a KV2. 

This was to fill a few holes in terms of vehicles, and having transport for command units etc. 

The quality and poses of all of the infantry are top notch. They really are gorgeous. Some flash, but not much. They are also easy to clip off from the sprues. Now, having begun the process of attaching British figures to bases for painting - I immediately regret this decision. I should have painted them on the strips and clipped them off for basing. Oh well. It has been a few years since I have really painted any H&R infantry en masse. 

I also had the following situation - the British infantry (and all other nations) are in strips of 5. The infantry pack came with 10 strips. There are no indentifiable Bren guns on these strips, whereas in the old US infantry packs there is definitely a BAR armed figure. I panicked! How was I going to properly equip my infantry sections? I have soviet infantry who are armed with generic looking small guns which I am happy to fudge into rifles. But in reality I want the Bren guns to be featured. Then I opened the support weapons pack and there are a few teams that I thought were sniper teams...but maybe the scope is actually a top feeding magazine? So I decided that these are my Bren teams and that will be that.

I also have one large mortar, a few 2" mortars, six PIAT teams, some men who look like they are throwing grenades? There is a strip of men lying down with binoculars - one of whom I have already enlisted as a sniper spotter. Flame throwers, mine sweepers, and a strip of figures holding long, thin explosives perhaps? Bangalores? I have honestly no idea what they are meant to be. 

I wish there were some command strip thrown in. I will remember this for my next order. As it stands I can make things work with infantry stands and hoping I can remember what stand is what when on the table.  

Christmas Haul - British armour and support. German transport.

 I recieved a large lot of British armour and other support vehicles for Christmas this year. I also got some Chaffee tanks, some Opel Blitzes, Sdkfz 250s, an Sdkfz 222 and a few Kubelwagen. The idea was to get my already existing German infantry more mobile - they can now be Panzergrenadiers or just infantry in trucks. The trucks can also count as supply columns for my Tiger II. The 222 is specifically for recon for Battle of the Bulge. Chaffees are just because they look nice, but also for some more US light tank options. 

The idea behind the British vehicles was to go with the infantry I was hoping to get from my secret santa. Turns out they bought me some Lego instead. That will be fun to build, but now I need some British infantry. I will have to put an order in for some more I guess. 

You can see a couple of Sherman Firelies here, and then three each of Churchills and Comets. Plus a Challenger for funsies. I also got a Humber and a Staghound for recon. The Quad is to go with the 25Pdr that I haven't put together yet. The other vehicle, I can't remember what it is called is to tow things.

Here I have three Cromwells, a 95mm armed Centaur, a 17pdr and two 6pdrs. You can also see unbased Kubelwagens and Jeeps. I intend to base some of those with infantry in order to make some command stands. 

All of these are Heroics and Ros. I am largely impressed by the sculpts. The 17pdr looks absolutely beastly. 

GZG Not-Xenomorphs

 I bought a few of these back in 2016 with my first batches of 6mm sci fi figures. I based a few up and then never did anything with them because I didn't like how they looked. I ended up buying different Xenos. However, now I have finally gotten around to paint them up, in order to get them off my pile of unfinished projects, they look pretty good. 

They have an interesting look to them. I think the remind me more of the original from Alien, rather than the more quadropedal aliens from Aliens. I will see if I can base any on a smaller base, but these are fine for now. The main question is will I ever actually use them? I think I have done just the one bug hunt game in my entire 6mm sci fi side of the hobby (since 2016).

December Game Night

 Two days ago I managed to get to games night, I also went in November. It was nice to get out twice in a row and solidify some relationships. On Friday night I arrived just late enough to have to wait for another person to arrive - who ended up being the last guy to get there. It was a night of two player games - which means I couldn't play any of the games I brought. Classic.

I was handed Cartographers to entertain myself until someone arrived. Part way through reading the rules the other guy arrived and taught me how to play. This game was a blast. I have been curious about it for a while now, after spotting it in the raffle. It has gone straight on the to-buy list. It is fun, light, and creative. I love creating maps, and while this is less about creating a real map, and feels a bit like Tetris at times, I enjoyed it emensely. I think I can play this with the children.

Next up was Set - it was nice to get a game of that in with someone who could play as quickly I can, not just the children.

Then it was Cascadia. I have been curious about this game for a while also, since it came up on an Actualol video. Pictures are constantly being posted on the BGG Facebook page asking about scoring. I enjoy tile-placing games as it is, and apparently I love wildlife themed games (see Wingspan). There was just something satisfying about trying to place pairs of bears, and making sure my eagles/hawks were placed appropriately far apart from each other. This is on my to-buy list also. I think I will start putting some cash aside from now until UK Games Expo. I hope to pick them up in the Bring and Buy if possible.

I also ended up playing Citadels again. This was nice. It always feels good to get one of my own games played...even if I lose every time.

This really fired me up to play more games. With the Christmas break here I intend to get playing. 

AI Art

 I thought it would be fun to experiment with AI art. I signed up to Gencraft.com and get 10 free prompts each day. They are pretty cool. I thought it would be fun to create images to set the mood for battle reports. Well, words didn't really work to get WW2 specific art created. Have a look at these where I asked for WW2 Germans, Volksgrenadier, Battle of the Bulge, Panzers:

This looks like a T34 with a Chaffee turret all protected by Schürzen. Classic. 

US infantry with made up guns? Wonky guns! 

These look more Russian than German. Not accurate though. 

Then I went for a Cyberpunk style picture of a rag tag crew armed to the teeth. I like this one most. 

BattleGroup - 500 points US infantry division vs. Volksgrenadiers

 Last night I decided I would play a game. During the early evening I set up my mat and then got my terrain out. My four-year-old son loved helping me build a village, he especially liked placing the trees. In fact, he wanted to do it again today but we didn't get to it in the end. The lighting wasn't exactly great, and I have to admit, even though I had the table set up early, I didn't start playing until 20:30. 500 points was a push at that sort of time. I ended up calling the game after 2 hours as I was getting tired. 

The table looked great. It made me happy to see my terrain being used, and not looking as garbage as I often believe it looks. The dark green field is a new addition, made from an actual green towel, drybrished with cheap craft paints - white and dark yellow. I also stuck some clump foliage along one edge, which I think was a genius move. My burnt out cottage also made its first appearance on table, in fact I put a smoke marker over it which was fun.

The game was an Attack/Counterattack game. The US forces had some scout units while the Germans did not. It made for an interesting start, but eventually it all bogged down into a bit of a slog fest of me bringing troops on slowly from the rear into a meat grinder. I didn't particulary enjoy the game much. Maybe I am bored of solo games?

Here the 57mm ATG starts putting in work, knocking out a StuG III who decided to advance up the road. 

High point of the game was when that same 57mm crew needed to roll 12 to penetrate the Panther - and managed it on their second shot. 

There was heavy fighting over this barn - it is one of the objectives. The flags represent a unit inside the building.

In the end it worked out as a marginal US win who had pulled 17 BR vs. 20 BR for the Germans. 

The Grail I didn't even know I was looking for!

 Over the years I have printed out many, many PDFs for various wargames. I have tried having them in book form in different ways, none of which have been pleasing to me. Getting them ring-bound online is surprisingly expensive! More than the PDF is worth most of the time, especially if I want them to have a card back and plastic front. 

But then! An email! They found one at work and are offering it out or getting rid of it! I have never moved so fast in my life! Printed out and tested a bind! Here is my new, shiny copy of A Sergeant's War - a set of rules I haven't played in a long time, but love. Now I have them in a format that I can actually use like a book.

Some finished Knights appear!

 Last night I put the final, finishing touches on those three knights, and here they are:

After the all-over-Agrax Earthshade wash, I highlighted the steel parts with Runefang Steel - a light drybrush. I then used one of the bone colours for a general, all over the figure highlight. For me, table top distance is the more important factor - not award winning painting. I am really pleased with these guys.

Below I just used that same bone colour to highlight everything. I am a bit done with these guys. I haven't played X-Com in a while, so my interest in these figures has waned. I also have no aliens for them to fight, nor do I have terrain for them to fight in.

Here are all of my steel-armoured figures. I absolutely love them, although the one time they have seen combat, they lost. My favourite is still probably the one on the far right, ot the guy in the middle. 

Knights of Non-Lockdown

 Hi, all. It has been over a month. In that time I have written part of a Soviet army list for Battlegroup, planned numerous times to paint or play something, and have played a few little card games with my wife and children. I missed the boardgame night, and the first few weeks of term are generally incredibly busy. I just haven't wanted to do anything. We had no TV for a while as my one-year-old broke the sound cable when he knocked the sound bar onto the floor, and that was bliss. I read my library book - still unfinished. Anyway, while on Zoom last night I forced myself to get my gear out and made progress on these three figures. 

The two on the left and middle are Perry Miniatures Wars of the Roses men-at-arms. The figure on the right is a Reaper Bones miniature. I painted his shield purple, and used purple hints on the other two to make some kind of faction if needed. Last night I also put the steel and some blue on another couple of guys.

All that remains for these is some steel dry brushing, then some highlights on that black cloak especially.

Super Cheap Wargaming - my battlemat

 In an effort to save space and funds, I have been trying to figure out how to more efficiently store my wargaming surface. 

I have the grass mat pictured below, which looks lovely, but takes up a lot of space. It doesn't fit in my cupboard when rolled up. I don't have a 1m wide/tall space that is easily accesible so it just sits around in the way. Also, when playing with 1/72 Airfix Cromwells, the tracks get all caught up and hooked in the mat. 

When going to the Super Cheap Wargaming group many different things were suggested, one was spray painting patches onto my already existing desert felt.

So I gave it a go. I sprayed a section of my felt to see what it would look like. I was pleased. A few light areas, a few dark areas. I happened to have a green and brown spray. Lovely. I will try it with a game soon.