WW3: Flames of (Cold) War

Last summer I started painting up some WarPac miniatures to use with the unofficial Cold War Flames of War supplement. I haven't progressed much past the East Germans I started and some British armour that has been undercoated but things will be about to change later this year due to the announcement by Battlefront that they will be launching Flames of War into a new period in October with Fulda Gap...

This is what they posted "October sees us diving into a brand new period as we release Fulda Gap. The period of the modern war when tensions between NATO and the Warsaw Pact were running high is a wonderful theatre to develop as the forces arrayed on both sides boast some of the coolest-looking equipment in history. And with the advances in technology, we are looking forward to seeing forces of M1-Abrams covered by A10-Thunderbolts pitting their might against the swathes of T-72s and BMP-mounted infantry. We plan for this to be a complete period with books covering nations and plastic sets for all the main vehicles of every nation. October is just the start and 2016 will have more books and additional miniatures."

As with my Yom Kippur project (which I shall be returning to soon) I don't fancy doing this in 15mm but having piles of GHQ micro-armour already in Lead Mountain (and some now painted), Autumn should see a more dedicated return to the Central Front of 1983, finishing my East Germans, BAOR and starting a few other armies I've always fancied (MERDC camo in 6mm should be fun!)

The Flames of War App

If any wargames company is really embracing modern technology, it has to be Battlefront. I've already discussed how they are pushing the envelope with electronic version Wargames Illustrated, so I was looking forward to the promised Flames of War app.

Whilst it is obviously early days, I think the app is pretty user friendly and intuitive to use. Battlefront have only started populating it so there isn't a lot of material available yet, but it still worth checking out. The third edition rulebook is available for free download along with the two Art of War painting guides, which are really useful for 20mm gamers as much as 15mm.

A couple of the campaign books have been made free to download as well, Bridge at Remagen and (the expanded) Fate of a Nation. A nice touch is you can decide whether you wish to scroll vertically or horizontally through these. There are also a number of German unit briefings (army lists in old currency) from the Devil's Charge, Panzers to the Meuse campaign book free to download.

There is also material you can purchase, including the Barbarossa campaign book, with the promise of more to come.

Even if you don't play FoW, I think their products are pretty useful, so if you have an iPad or similar, I would recommend downloading the app and grabbing some of the free stuff to have a look at.

Flames of (Great) War

Rumours have been confirmed, Battlefront will be expanding their Flames of War game into WWI by releasing Great War in August as a supplement with Wargames Illustrated 322.

The following miniatures will be released:

British:

Mark IV Tank (x2)
Mark A Whippet Tank
OQF 18 pdr (x2) HQ & Rifle Platoon
Machine-gun Platoon
Trench Mortar Platoon

German: 

A7V Tank (x2)
7.62cm Krupp IG (x2)
7.7cm FK gun (x2)
Infanteriekompanie HQ
Infanterie Platoon
Infanterie Machine-gun Platoon
Regimental Support Platoons
Stoss Platoon

Should be interesting to see how well the rules convert to WWI...

Watch Am Escargot: French Armour I - Hotchkiss H35's

I managed to finish the first French AFV's for Watch Am Escargot today, a platoon of three Hotchkiss H35's. Two are early model H35's and one H35 model 1939 (more commonly known as the H39).

The models are from QRF and in this day of injection moulded plastic and 3D rendered quite charmingly "old school". They might not be up to the straight line standards of the latest releases, but I like them and they fit nicely with the Peter Pig infantry. The tanks are quite small at 42mm long and I am pondering basing them.

As the main bulk of the force will be Somua S35's painted in the more common three colour 1940 French camo pattern, I wanted the light tanks to look a bit different...

In the end I opted for a two colour green pattern based on the Heller 1/35th kit box illustration (below). I am not sure of its historical veracity, but there was so much variation in how the French painted their vehicles in 1940, it is quite possible that this "Dark Green" over pre-war "Army Green" is accurate. Whatever, I liked it...

The models were base coated and then painted with Army Painter Strong Tone dip. The decals are Battlefront, and despite the oddity of the blue circles in the French roundels being separate from the red and white were very easy to use and not as fiddly as some 15mm decals can be.

2014 Painting Target: 135/1000

Watch Am Escargot: French Infantry III

The final (for the time being) French infantry for Watch Am Escargot are a couple of bases of Bold Captains (or Command Rifle Teams in FoW speak...)

Here is the Bold Captain card:

I also painted up a Staff Team (FoW term) for the Artillery Divisional support should I want to use the French with FoW (my forces should make up a 1400 point Escardon de Combat when finished).

In an attempt to use the Peter Pig miniatures I had rather than buy any more (well apart from the Grenadiers I intend to order later this week) I used an infantryman, a surrendering German and two French officers to create a little vignette.

2014 Painting Target: 132/1000

Watch Am Escargot: French Infantry II

I managed to finish off the remaining three Watch Am Escargot 1940 French Rifle/LMG bases today...

As previously, they are 15mm Peter Pig figures bought many moons ago for a long forgotten project, based on FoW bases.

And here are all four of the bases together...

And their Axis & Allies card...

2014 Painting Target: 122/1000

Watch Am Escargot: French Infantry I

I have just finished a couple of test pieces of French infantry for my Watch Am Escargot 1940 Axis & Allies project. They are based for FoW but can be used for a number of systems.

French LMG Team

It is a long time since I painted any 15mm and it is not my favourite scale from a painting point of view. Not small enough for micro techniques, too small for larger scale ones. Consequently I decided dip was the way.

French LMG Team

The figures are Peter Pig, bought many Fiasco's ago, and are nice miniatures, the dip does a good job in picking out the detail. I went with the block paint, dip and some drybrushed highlights technique and think it has worked quite well.

French Observation Team

The remaining French are currently dipped and drying for 24 hours, so hopefully there will be a load more done this week. Next should be the French AFV's...

2014 Painting Target: 110/1000

Flames of War: An Un-PzIV-tunate Mistake...

You may have seen that Battlefront's new plastic Panzer IV Ausf H has a bit of a quality control issue or as stated on John's Toy Soldiers a "cock up"! For non-rivet counters out there, there should be five schürzen plates not four. Unfortunately it is rather obvious when you notice it...

However from adversity and all that, Battlefront come out with some credit. Rather than hide, stick their fingers in their ears and pretend that all is ok in the "Flames of War hobby", they have held there hands up, admitted their mistake on their website and offered replacement parts to anyone who has the gammy four plate schürzen. In a world where I can't get a reply from Dell, let alone anything approximating customer service regarding a PC order, hats off to Battlefront for the way they have dealt with this...

Back to Bas(e)ics (and Hound Dog)

I have always thought that basing vehicles was, well, a bit weird. I don't know why, but the thought of tanks having bases seems a bit strange. Of course there is a logic to it, especially as your figures are based as it will ensure they are the same height but it just doesn't seem right.

This personal logic even extends to 6mm, even though it is clearly less of a wargaming faux pas to base your micro-armour, I have never based any of my vehicles, no matter how tiny (and 6mm jeeps can be a bit on the small size), until now...

First off I'm blaming Big Lee and his ongoing 6mm North African project. Lee has been basing his vehicles on small FoW bases and I must say it looks blooming good. Secondly have you seen how thin the barrels are on a GHQ Centurion? They bend if you look at them funny. Yes, basing the Arab-Israeli stuff will be the way to go.

With Lee's collection looking so good I thought I'd copy him and use the small FoW bases, picking laser cut MDF ones from Warbases to save time dicking about cutting up plasticard. Just before I sent off an order I decided to play with my test piece Sho't Kals on some card cut to FoW size. Good job I did...

The small FoW bases are 1" x 1 1/4" (or 25mm x 32mm in new money), the Centurion measures in from rear to tip of the barrel at 34mm. Given I want to protect the barrels this clearly wasn't going to work. So I've been having a Pooh Bear "think, think, think" time...

A base depth of 40mm will solve the overhanging barrel issue and ensure they are protected, the question now is base width. Of course 40mm x 20mm bases are a wargames standard so very easy to get hold of in either plastic or MDF. However having played with the FoW bases I like the slightly wider 25mm. Of course 40mm x 25mm is no-one's standard size.

I now have to decide over convenience and go down the 40mm x 20mm route or head out on my own and go with the 40mm x 25mm?

As you can see I knocked up a couple of bases one 20mm wide, one 25mm and am playing with my unfinished Sho't Kals on them to see which looks best...

Gromit of the Day:

Hound Dog

Red Storm Rising

Saxon Month is going desperately slowly, half the figures are based and undercoated but the scourge of the real world is eating into my available time and I haven't had a chance to pick up a paint brush this week (boo!). However this has not stopped me thinking about wargames projects and an email today from QRF started me on further pondering the Yom Kippur/Ramadan/Tishreen War (depending on who teaches you history!)

QRF are offering a 20% discount (enter code redtide) for orders over £100 on top of any other discounts such as their 10% platoon pack deals. They have been inspired by the work of Mike Edwards and the Cardiff Wargames Club who have produced a Cold War version of Flames of War which can be found here, complete with NATO, WarPac and Non-aligned army lists.

This is all useful stuff for my potential 6mm October War project, inspired by Big Lee's use of FoW for 6mm WW2 Desert Campaign. It is the 40th anniversary of the war this year so it might be one to start some planning on for a concentrated effort later in 2013.

Flames of Yom Kippur?

Last year I mentioned the intention to get back into some 6mm WW2 or Modern wargaming. 6mm (or 1/300th or Micro as we called it in the old days!) was my first love and Big Lee's 6mm WW2 North Africa campaign has certainly made the mouth water.

Having checked out 'Lead Mountain' I had a number of potential options which I now think I have whittled down to the Arab-Israeli Wars 1967 and 1973. Whilst I don't have as much unpainted white metal for this project as I have for late WW2 or Cold War BAOR v WarPac these are both terrain heavy and the largely open terrain of the Sinai or Golan Heights is extremely attractive in this respect.

Ruleswise ColdWar Commander seems to make a lot of sense but I am intrigued by Big Lee's use of a 15mm set (Flames of War) for 6mm games. Some Google-fu has produced a lot of links for using FoW for Modern gaming including this page of material for the 1973 October War.

Whilst I've got too much on the go at the moment to start this now I am pencilling it in for the second half of the year. In the meantime I'll have to dig out the books I have on the subject including Quarie's old PSL Tank Battles in Miniatures volume on the subject.

New Year, New Project...

Unfortunately I have been bitten by the "ohh shiny" bug and Santa bought me a present that will kick start a new project in 2010 - 15mm WW2 Eastern Front!

Over the years I've played WW2 in 20mm and 6mm but, despite a rash purchase of some 15mm Peter Pig 1940's French infantry at Fisticuffs a few years back (still unpainted), had managed to resist the lure of 15mm WW2 - until Battlefront released the Mid-War Monsters range for Flames of War...

I don't know why but I can't resist hypothetical and experimental designs and Santa was very kind and brought me a box of Kv-5's (to which I have added

a box of Dicker Max). The models are really nice and I can't wait to shake off the racking cough I've caught from SWMBO to make them up and paint them. I have decided that I am going to restrict myself to 1942/3 Russian Front for a number of reasons, but mainly because the German stuff is still field grey and I'm bored painting three-colour camo. I'm also going to try and restrict myself to finishing a unit before I buy another so despite the temptation t buy a Soviet Naval unit I am determined to resist until both the Kv-5's and Dicker Max unit are painted up. This should mean that I do not end up with loads of unpainted lead and resin being added to the existing mountain of unpainted lead, resin and plastic - well, it's a plan...