Devon Wargames, painting, gaming...............

Back again with another load of old crap.

Saturday was the latest gathering of like minds, which is a scary thought,  at the Devon Wargames Group.  Three games were played, 28mm English Civil War, 15mm Napoleonics and 15mm WW2.

Things begin at Marston Moor

Marston Moor was the basis for the ECW game, catering for 8 players and involving much toing and froing.  It looked like a fun game and the players seemed to enjoy shouting at each other.  Look for a report soon on the DWG blog.

Contact in the centre

JJ put on a typically beautiful 15mm Napoleonic game using figures from his ongoing Talavera project.  The rules used were apparently called DBJ, not sure if that's for De Bellis Jon or Death By Jon.  Again the players looked to be having a good game, even if they did get their units a bit mixed up.

JJ's Talavera game

If you want inspiration on what you can do with 15mm figures and some spare time then check out his previous posts about the Talavera project, they are worth looking at.

These are not the gun's your looking for

Brits appear to steady the line

Unhappy Spanish Cavalry

German's advance through the woods

The final game was a 1940 Chain of Command game put on by me.  Four of us played it, Nathan and Christopher took the attacking Germans, Jack commanded the dug-in Highlanders and I took the French.

Each German player had a platoon of infantry (4 squads of 10 men plus a 5cm mortar) plus  2 Pz IIs, 2 Pz 38ts, 2 Sd222s, a tripod MG and an engineer section in support.  The British platoon(3 squads of 8, 2" mortar and Boys AT rifle) were supported by a Vickers MG team and a 2pdr gun while the French Platoon(3 squads of 12) were backed up by a Hotchkiss MG and a mighty 25mm AT gun.  The allies also had a carrier section(3 Bren carriers) and a single Vickers VI light tank as reinforcements. 

Defenders appear in their entrenchments

2pdr appears, not that it did much

French 25mm gun gets hit

The Germans had to break through the defences, but failed miserably.  The Brits were hard hit by the end, with two sections routed and the third pinned down.  All their support was still there though, although the 2pdr had run out of ammo without killing a single enemy vehicle.  The French were in a stronger position, with one squad at half strength and pinned.  The AT gun was slightly battered and the MG was pinned, but the remaining squads weren't even deployed.  The Germans took heavy losses due to remarkably accurate fire from Jack's Highlanders.  It did help that he managed several multiple phases during the game, one time he had 4 in a row!  This really scuppered the German's advance and prevented their infantry from ever getting going.  Low point was Jack's 2pdr firing 10 shots and only damaging a Pz38t once and an Sd222 once.  This was despite hitting on 5+ on 2d6 as they were in the open AND rolling 5d6 against 2 or 4d6 for penetration.  Not good at all, but the Boys AT rifles made up for it.  The infantry one knocked out one Sd222 and kept the other one and both Pz38t's pinned at the edge of the table.  The carrier one fired 2 shots and caused both PzII's to retreat off the table.  Fear the Boys, for it is mighty!  Anyway, the game went well, even if the German's never really got into the fight.

I have managed a bit of painting too, so things are not going too bad.  First things I have done were a couple of 4Ground 15mm terraced buildings that I have based and detailed to improve how they look on the table.  At least that's the plan anyway.  First one was a definite learning experience and took far longer than the second.  The buildings have been painted up to cover the scorch marks from the laser.  They were then attached to a hardboard base with some pavements and back gardens added.  I cut the board too big and was left with some space at the end(measure and check before cutting), so I added a small allotment to fill that.  The walls and fences are 4Ground too, with plants from various sources.  Some are just grass tufts while others are railway modellers scenic bits.  The garden paving is Wills sheets of various types.  they are a bit overscale but look ok and will do.  I think they came out well and will soon be joined by some more as I have many buildings that need doing.

 The second terrace was based on a correctly cut bit of hardboard and has more grass in the gardens.  As I said, it's been a learning experience.  It's been a fun exercise though and will be repeated soon(ish).

 I also managed some 28mm WW2 Germans, a 32 man platoon of Bolt Action plastic figures for eBay.  Got to pay for the MOT on the car, which cost a bit more than we hoped for.

Final things were some entrenched 15mm WW2 British and French infantry.  The figures are all from Skytrex, but the French are really Germans with Peter Pig heads fitted.  Nobody does dug in French troops.

Well that's your lot again.  I am off to paint some more on the French tanks I am doing before calling it a night and going to bed.  Off to Torbay Hospital tomorrow for the op on my stomach, assuming they have found me a bed as I have to stay in for a day or two.  Have fun while I'm offline, I know I won't.

Absent without leave.

I have been a bit remiss of late regarding posting on here, I can only apologise to anybody who actually reads it for that.  I have been pretty crock for the last couple of months and, to be honest, it's got me down and I have been struggling to get back to any form of normality.  Painting and gaming have both taken a big hit and I am finding it hard to concentrate on anything, so finishing anything has become a problem.  I am just waiting now on a referral to a London specialist to find out if he has any ideas for treatment of my stomach, as my local consultant has tried everything he can think off.  Ah well, I am still losing weight, so its not quite all bad.

Gaming has been very limited, just a couple of boardgames and a Napoleonic naval skirmish in the last few months.  I played Firefly the boardgame with Zob, Andy and a visiting Student Layabout Mat last week, which Mat won and I definitely lost.  Getting all your crew eaten by Reavers is not a good thing to do.  The week before that I played Axis and Allies: Battle of the Bulge a couple of times with Nathan, which I really enjoyed.  I enjoyed it so much I bought my own copy so I have it to hand.  Its simple and the combat system works very well.  We still have not managed an American win yet, but it's a lot harder for the German's now that we are doing the trucks properly.  If you can give it a go and see how you do, it doesn't take long to play and the rules are quick to pick up.

Last night I played a Napoleonic naval game using "Signal for Close Action" by Langton.  I had 2 French ships(a 1st rate and a 3rd rate) while Zob had 2 3rd rate British ships.  Despite my excellent rolls for crew quality and captains ability, I managed to completely screw things up in 2 turns.  First I rolled a double 1 and damaged my own 1st rate, then Zob rolled a well laid shot and took down 2 masts, then I rolled another double 1 and blew up my own gun deck, starting a major fire in the process.  Because of all this I had too roll several morale checks and, while I passed the first two, the final one was a test too far and my first rate ship struck its colours.  In all I rolled four double 1's last night, all on my own ships firing and all causing damage to my ships.  I don't know why I bother sometimes!

I have managed to get a bit of painting finished in the last few weeks, but they have all taken a lot longer than they should have.  Some more delightful 15mm Napoleonics have joined the finished pile, with another British Line unit being joined by some RHA gun crew.  I still need to paint their guns though.




Then there are the Foundry SWAT figures, eleven in total that I stripped and repainted as my old paint job looked quite crap compared to how I paint now.



I also got some Dead Man's Hand gangs painted for a nice chap in Germany.  7 Outlaws and 7 Pinkertons, which were actually quite nice to paint after the 15mm gun crews.

So that's it for now.  I am off to the dentist tomorrow, then to see a medical type on Thursday so it's all go here this week.  Keep smiling folks, it's not all that bad really.  This time last week I was preparing to have a camera shoved up my "Khyber Pass"!!!

And now for something completely different!

Last weekend was spent down in sunny Cornwall, annoying my mother and visiting the Classic Air Force museum at St Mawgan.  Its not the best advertised attraction but is well worth a visit if your in the area.  The staff are very helpful and pleasant, which is always a bonus.

VC10 Tanker Aircraft

 There are a selection of aircraft kept there, mostly post World War 2.  First thing that grabs your attention is a VC-10K3 tanker aircraft.  Massive doesn't really cover it, that is my 6' stepfather walking beside the wheels.  You can get a guided tour of the aircraft as well, which is a true plane of the 60's with thousands of dials in the cockpit. 



Other aircraft on display include a Venom, a Hunter, a BAC 1-11, Meteor, Harrier, Rapide, Chipmunk etc.  All in all a lovely collection and well worth the entrance price.

Venom

 

Hunter T8

My Favourite the DH Rapide

Mum and Harrier GR3

 In a small room in the display hanger is a ridiculous model aircraft collection, the vast majority of which came from one man's widow.  There are over 300 models on display and, apparently, another 400 still in storage.  Here are a few pictures of what is a staggering collection.  Puts my figure collection to shame really.

I also managed a bit of painting, finishing another unit of 18mm Napoleonic British and some 28mm Winter War Russians.  Normal service will now be resumed.

40th Foot

Baker Coy WW Russians

More painting, more gaming...........

Well its been another week and things are ticking along fairly well.  I have done a fair bit of painting and a bit of gaming too.  Painting has been a varied mix, with a couple of units of 15mm Napoleonic British getting done, as well as a 1944 British platoon with a pair of Cromwells as support, a T-35 and a pair of Katyushas.

Light Battalion

Not light Battalion

The two British battalions are for "Cornish" Keith, part of his ongoing plan to have every British unit at Waterloo apparently.

Peter Pig British Platoon

FoW Cromwells

The WW2 British are joining the ever expanding line of CoC platoons that I have.  I did plan to do the French 1940 platoon, but these figures were inherited from Gus and came already undercoated in black and stuck to pennies, so I thought I should do them first.  The two Cromwells have been in a "glued together but unpainted" state for over a year.  I felt a bit guilty as the other two were done long long ago.

Zvezda Katyushas and Peter Pig crew

Zvezda T-35 (because I could)

Why I have bought and painted the T-35 and Katyushas is beyond me, other than I wanted too.  I have no Russians and I had no plans to get any either, as Nathan has hundreds of them already.  However, a single platoon only costs about £30 including support, so it may well be that you see some Eastern front types appearing on the painting line soon.  The Katyushas will probably end up on ebay, they don't really fit into a CoC game.  I have modeled them as one loading with Peter Pig loading figures and the other firing, making use of some pipe cleaners that I have here.  It looks quite good with a ball of cotton wool behind it.

Gaming has been mostly Chain of Command.  I had a visit from an old friend who played a game against my son Michael last week.  He isn't really into WW2, being more of a horse and musket man but he had a good game and seemed to enjoy it.  I then put on a game at the Devon Wargames meet, with Michael (again) and Everett ganging up on, and managing to defeat, Andy.  Again, they all seemed to enjoy it.  Last Monday was gangster night, playing a homegrown game put together by Zob.  Don Taffleoni was doing alright when we finished, but the "Pink Fluffy" Don (aka Andy Noel) won.  Seems to work pretty well and most of us had a good time.

Off now to start painting something else.  Maybe some 25mm zombies, maybe some 15mm WW2 French, probably some more Napoleonic British.  Have fun and keep rolling those dice.

Highlanders and Shermans, what a mix.....

So it's been another week, or so anyway.  Still no news on No2 son and his knee.  We spent nearly 3 hours in Exeter hospital to be told "We are not sure what he has done so we will put him on the fast track for treatment.  Come back in 4 weeks for a scan".  Not overly impressed with not even knowing what he had done, we rang his insurance company to see if he is covered for scans, Aviva said yes so he is know in on the 30th for his scan and to see the consultant. Money talks I guess.

Painting wise, here are some pictures of the Highlanders and Shermans.  The infantry are off to Cornwall soon while the tanks will be on eBay tomorrow.

42nd "Royal Highland" aka The Black Watch.

 The first of three units of Highlanders, these are AB figures I believe.  Painting tartan is still quite interesting, but the other units have more colours in them than this, so may push it into annoying instead of interesting.

A Sqd, 1st Coldstream Guards

 First unit of Shermans, painted and decaled to represent A Squadron, 1st Coldstream Guards, part of 5th Guards Armoured Brigade in the Guards Armoured Division, circa Normandy 1944.

B Sqd, 1st Coldstream Guards

The second unit is marked up as B Squadron, the only digfferences are the turret markings and the number of commanders.  The vehicles are all Battlefront from the Open Fire box set, which are pretty good models and match their metal models nicely.

Gaming has been a bit hit and miss, but an improvement on the previous couple of weeks.  Monday night we played a Cheapass Game, which involved time machines.  It's not my favourite game of theirs, but it was a reasonable way to spend the evening.  I have also had a couple of races of Formula De with No2 son, 'cos he's bored being stuck at home.  Little git kicked the crap out of me in the first race, hitting every corner just right and getting a 1-2 result.  Race two went a bit better, with me getting 1st and 3rd.  Round 3 will come up soon, unless X-Wing rears it's ugly head as my loving wife bought me a Tie Interceptor and B-Wing last week, which was nice. 

Monday night will see us having a multi-player game of Chain of Command, being set up by Nathan.  We will have to play in the wrong scale (25mm) as the more aged members of our group can no longer see anything smaller (no comments please).

Anyway, its late and I have stuff to do before bed, so keep rolling those dice and I will catch you later.

More random musings and thought-type things.

Yet again it's been longer than I had planned since I have posted here, but I am back....again.

First things first, I have managed to get a little bit of painting done, so things are not all bad.  More Napoleonics have been done, with the third unit of French Old Guard Grenadiers getting covered in paint, as well as a unit of Battlefront US HMGs.  Currently on the sticks are 15mm Highlanders, being painted up as the 42nd "Royal Highland" Regiment of Foot, aka The Blackwatch.  Yes, I am painting tartan on 15mm figures and yes, it is a pain.  However, it has been quite nice to be fair, as I have experimented and played about until I have a method that works for me and seems to give a fair representation of a kilt, at least to my eye.  Once I have finished the unit I will take some piccies and bung them up here.

Of course, there is no guarantee that my enjoyment of painting Napoleonic 15's will continue, as I have another 2 units of Highlanders to do after this one. The 79th(Cameron Highland) and 92nd(Gordon Highland) may well push me from enjoyment to chore, but at the moment things are going well.

Wargames wise, it has been a washout.  Zob spent a few days redecorating the room we use at his house, so we had a break of 2 weeks in gaming.  Gus' hasn't been feeling too well, so no gaming there and Nathan found another job after being made redundant earlier this year, so he is now busy through the week.  And I missed the Devon Wargames meet as I had to take No2 to Devonport so he could injure himself playing rugby.

After feeling reasonable last week, things went downhill on Friday and didn't really pick up until yesterday.  I don't know what I ate that upset me on Friday but having a kebab on Saturday didn't help.  Sunday was supposed to be a day of rugby, but No2 son managed to injure his knee again playing on Saturday, so we spent Sunday morning in A&E.  Back there today to find out how bad it is, but it's not looking good.  As he has had ACL reconstruction already on his knee, if he's done it again then his rugby career is over at 19.  Not good, but he is doing his best to stay positive.  Tina has also injured herself, tearing a muscle in her shoulder, which makes it hard for her to do lots of things that she still tries to do.  All in all its been a good few days in this family.

I am gradually getting my Longstreet armies up to strength.  Many, many years ago, when Peter Pig first brought out a 15mm ACW range, myself and a couple of friends (from the long defunct Torbay Wargames Group) decided to get some armies.  I have since had a small force of painted, but not based, Union troops sat in a box.  They are now on bases ready to get sand put on them.  Unfortunately there are not quite enough to do a full force as I have about 25 bases of infantry and 6 of cavalry, so an order will be going off to Peter Pig as soon as I get some spare cash.  My only concern is that the entire range has been redone and I don't know how they match up with the older figures.  I also have the start of a Confederate force, as I bumped into one of the old club members two years ago and he sold me his force as he doesn't game anymore.  Again, not enough for a complete force, but its a start.

Anyway, thats my ramblings done for now as I need to get sorted to take No2 up to RD&E in Exeter for the good/bad news about his knee.  Fingers crossed.  Catch you all later.

A slow week, but the outlook is improving

Last week was noticeable for its complete lack of gaming.  Monday night saw the whole group of us go down to the cinema to see World War Z, aka "A movie to show off Brad Pitts long hair".  While it claims to be based on the novel by Max Brooks, the only similarity is the title.  Zombies moving like olympic atheletes and no sign of the Battle of Yonkers or the Singh Square.  Its a fair film I suppose, but it could have been so much better, 5 out of 10 for me.

Due to Gus' poor health and both Nathan and I lacking access to a car through the week we didn't get together to play anything.  This week Gus is feeling better so we have scheduled Friday for a game of Maurice, which will be nice.  Unfortunately Nathan is babysitting some of his grandchildren up in Sheffield, so he is going to miss out.

Painting wise I have been slowly grinding through some bits and pieces.  I got 16 Gripping Beast plastic Dark Age warriors done to replace the Wargames Factory ones I have been using.  Another 18 to go and thats the Romano-British done again.  Then I just need to inspire myself to paint up enough for the Saxons and I will have enough to play a game here.  I also did up my Peter Pig American infantry, the start of a new force for BGO and CoC.  So far I have 38 figures done, which is enough for a platoon.  To mix up the figures a bit I am waiting to start on a Battlefront platoon now, which should give me enough figures to field 2 platoons for BGO.  I have some Shermans waiting to be finished, as well as some Jeeps.  All I need now is the halftracks and I am on my way.

I also got a few German bits done, a 37mm flak gun and an Sd10 with 20mm flak on the back.  No idea why I have them, but I do and they are painted now, so they will join the German troops I have already.  On the pegs now are some French Guard Lancers, the final 20 of a 40 strong unit.  Then it will be onto some 15mm Highlanders for Waterloo.  Does anybody sell Tartan paint yet?

The best result I have had has been a new addition to my painting desk.  After years of making do with a normal palette to mix paints on, I have been forced by the hot weather of the last few days to try something new.  I have had the problem of the paint drying out so fast that it has been problematic trying to paint anything.  My nice big 3 window painting area has meant that the temperature has been slightly excessive.  Basically it makes my painting room a greenhouse as it gets the sun from sunrise to sunset, which is usually a good thing.  Open windows didn't help as there was no breeze to talk of and the fan seemed to exacerbate the problem.  The remedy has proved to be a wet palette.  I have heard people mention them on various blogs but always thought that I wouldn't need it, after all I live in sunny wet and mild Devon. 

A quick search on the wibbly wobbly web and a plan came into focus. Most people use a blister pack that they can reseal but I didn't have any to hand, so I used an old take away container.  Some foam from Battlefront packs, some baking paper (actually cup cake paper laid flat) and a small bit of water and there it was.  Its bleeding awesome and I should have tried it long ago.  The paint stays wet for ages and painting is back on.  Happy smiling faces all around now.

Just to really make the week complete the Lions gave the Wallabies a right stuffing, then a Scotsman won Wimbledon.  All in all not a bad weekend really.

CoC game again, plus various ramblings.

On Wednesday Gus and I braved the darker reaches of Torquay to visit its shortest resident.  Casa Goodyear saw another game of Chain of Command, with the Italians, commanded by Gus, taking on Nathans British.  This time we were trying out less commanders on the Italian side, plus neither side knew what the other had taken as support.

Jump off points in place

Gus had an Italian platoon (1 senior leader and 2 squads each with 1 junior leader and 19 men), supported by an additional senior leader, a 75mm infantry gun and a forward observer with 8cm mortars on call.  Nathan had a British platoon (2 senior leaders and 3 squads of 1 junior leader and 9 men).  His support was an M10 Achilles.  Of the two forces, Gus' had the best support options as Nathans M10 had no HE capability and, as Gus had no armour, its mighty 17pdr was wasted.  He also cunningly forgot to bring on his 2" mortar.

Italians on the flank

Italians pushed back

The map was set up and off they went.  Gus pushed around on his left flank, but was then driven back by the combined fire of 2 British squads.  The other British squad was exchanging fire the the remaining Italians in the village, but 10 men with 1 LMG will always lose out to 20 men with 2 LMGs.

The 75mm infantry gun started banging away at the Achilles at long range.  As the HE shells exploded on the glacis plate, the crew of the Achilles were forced to keep their heads down.  Their return fire with the pintle 50cal was ineffectual and the driver decided to move them behind the hill and out of sight.

British advance into the mortars barrage

Nathan reads the wrong rulebook

"Happy" Gus, who finally won a game

Things got a bit rocky for Gus on the left when his sergeant went down, but the mortars saved the day for him.  The CO called them in and when they started coming down they decimating the British squads on that flank.  As his troops fell, Nathan's morale did the same and, before you could say "put the kettle on" he was falling back and quit the field of battle. 

So, another victory for the Italians and Gus has finally won a game of CoC!

 In other news, I have finally got some painting done this month.  Things took a bit of a downward turn as I was getting very pis, ahem, I mean fed up with being ill.  It has been over a year now and lately its been worse than before, which was getting to me.  So I had painted sod all this month until Monday.  Monday morning arrived and I went off to see the consultant, hoping for good news but not expecting much.  I had a scan back in March, were I had to eat some radioactive scrambled egg and then sit in front of a scanner for 90 minutes.  That was fun......it was so riveting that I fell asleep for about half an hour.  Anyway, the idea of the scan is to see how the stomach is doing at moving the food about and sending it on down the digestive system.

Now I had assumed that there was no news as I hadn't heard anything.  The first words out of the doc's mouth were "Well, it's not in your head", which is nice to know.  The scan had shown that my stomach was doing nothing and the radiation just sat there in a nice tight ball for 90 minutes.  That explains why I get stomach ache and feel sick whenever I eat.  The technical term is Gastroparesis, which goes well with my scarred pancreas, hiatus hernia and irritable bowel.

It is nice to finally have a diagnosis though, now I know what I have to beat into submission.  So, after spending the last few years eating high fibre foods, then the last 4 months eating gluten-free, I am now on a low fibre diet.  No more granary bread, which I like, its back to plain old boring and tasteless white bread.  The healthy options of high fibre cereals are taboo too.  So all the stuff I used to eat for its health benefits are now verboten.

So, Monday afternoon I started painting again.  Tuesday morning I finished the first unit of Napoleonic Old Guard for Andy, then I started a WW2 German platoon.  Things have gone on like that, so that I have now painted 70 WW2 Germans, 32 WW2 US Paras and 32 French Napoleonic infantry.  Not bad, although it is all going to slow down again now for a few reasons.
A - The in-laws are down again, so I have to do "holiday" things (see note C).
B - I am off to Twickenham tomorrow with No2 son to watch the rugby premiership final.
C - Sunday we are going to Bristol zoo, with the in-laws........
D - Monday we are spending with the in-laws before they leave to go home again!
E - Monday night is gaming night
F - Tuesday is also scheduled for a game as Panjo has a free day so we are going to Nathans again.

So, no more painting now until Wednesday at the earliest.

So, basically this month has taken a definite turn for the better. Be happy folks and keep rolling those dice.