First post of the year - Desert defences.

First post of the year and as the news tells me we can expect a weather bomb due to Storm Goretti and with snow outside.... the perfect time to throw up some trenches for the Western Desert.

Having been gaming for over 35 years, it's inevitable that as some point long and trusted traders would likely be looking to get out and retire. December saw John over at Ironclad Miniatures decide to call it a day.

Great news they have been saved and sold on to Leon over at Pendraken.. John held a retirement sale - just the excuse I needed to grab a few more trenches to help bolster the Vichy defences for Operation Exporter or perhaps Torch?

Great castings and the prefect balance between playability and sculpts.

Not a bad start for 2026.

10mm American Colonial Buildings - 1776 Lexington & Concorde.

Limited game time but an opportunity to get some additional buildings on to the gaming table, a mix of Pendraken and Timecast Models.

The stone walls are from Timecast and will be useful for walling a few of the properties on the approaches to Lexington and Concorde.

Next up Hancock - Clarke House, the guys at Things from the Basement in the US have released a range of 15mm MDF models, which come with an historical reference for each. I have borrowed their paint design for my variants and their descriptions.

Based on The parsonage, located in Lexington, MA, was originally built for John Hancock I, the grandfather of the patriot John Hancock in 1737. Subsequently, the house was occupied by Jonas Clarke and his family. It was built on what later became Hancock Street. On April 19, 1775, just after midnight, Paul Revere arrived on horseback to inform John Hancock and Sam Adams that “the Regulars are out,” not the commonly known phrase, “The British are coming.” John Hancock and Sam Adams, leaders of the colonials, were guests at the Hancock-Clarke house at this time.

Hancock's House and Barn in the background. Next up Jacob Whittlemore House.

Located on the Bay Road in Lexington, in 1775 this house was home to Jacob and Elizabeth Whittemore as well as their daughter, Sarah, her husband Moses Reed, and their three small children. Neither Jacob nor Moses fought with the Lexington militia on April 19th, although Jacob had trained with it and Moses would volunteer for other Revolutionary War campaigns. Instead, Jacob and Moses carried Sarah Whittemore Reed, who was still recovering from the birth of her third child 18 days earlier, and her children to the relative safety of a nearby woodlot just before the battle reached their home. To the west of the house, Captain John Parker led the Lexington militia in engaging the retreating British Regulars. The Whittemore family lived in the house from the time of its construction in 1716-1718 by Jacob’s father, Nathaniel, until 1780 when it was sold by the family.

A selection of smaller huts and out houses, these were from the Pendraken Russian range but will be a useful addition to bulk out the table.

Next up AWI Woodland Indians.

AWI - Rebel Sharpshooters, casualty markers and buildings

The end of the summer and the AWI stage one is complete.

I admit I might have to have watched Revolution again to get these over the line.

This post is some what of a sweep of the least elements, 4 skirmish units representing woodsmen or riflemen to counter the British Army and their German Jaegers. 

Rather than taking figures off units within Rebels and Patriots given I plan on using casualty markers before I take a base off. Hopefully clusters of ones and two's will be enough in a 48 Point game. 

Just need a game to play and this cracking purchase from Helion makes for some light reading.

Last up a couple of buildings to flesh out the table also from Pendraken.

The planning continues for phase two.

Fox holes - Western Desert - Iron Clad Miniatures.

Back to the Western Desert and some welcome cover for the foot sloggers, these fox holes are from Iron Clad Miniatures.

I had thought about creating my own and adding in half figures, but in the end opted for some more functional that can be moved around on the table top. The down side is the placements are quite high but a far comprise vs game play.

The CO gets something a little more sturdy with the sides shored up with planking, cast in resin these are really good value for money with two man fox holes at £4.00 and single for £2.00 

Enough for a section and supports all done in a day...

Next up the Germans get some extra fire power...

Bunkers get a make over.....

 A short break before diving back into the final batch of Africa Korps.

These have been languishing in the draw for a number of years, made by the sadly out of production Snapdragon Productions. They originally had a Northern Europe paint job but never really had any table time, hopefully the spike in desert games and a middle eastern make over will give them a new lease of life.

Perhaps useful for the likes of Tobruk or the defences for Operation Torch.

That's all for now.

6mm Roads and Paddy Fields - Two Sheds Fred

For several years I have been on the look out for a decent road system, I have tried several manufacturers none of which have really given me what I need.

Step forward Two Sheds Fred. 

Fred and Emily did a great great job on the Desert Wadi recently and they were the natural choice to create a bespoke road system for the new gaming area. I wanted something semi rural, ideally for the 6mm Red Phoenix project but easily able to extend to the larger scales.  

It was great to see a couple of testers first, which resulted in us shrinking the road width and raising the banks. The finished article is just fantastic and with enough T Junctions and Y Junctions to give me multiple design options.

The original plan was for Korea and Cold War encounters between the North and South, no encounter could go by without a number of paddy fields. I had seen several designs on the web in 15mm or 28mm but needed something a little smaller, again Fred and Emily can through providing me with a number of layouts and sizes.

Two Shed Fred have a number of off the shelf pieces but are equally happy to create bespoke pieces. Great value for money and a quick turnaround. 

You can find them here. Twoshedsfred | Facebook

The roads blend in perfectly with my collection and give me a great area to fight over. The paddy fields close off several of the open areas and give some natural protection for the infantry defenders.

I am tempted to give Bolt Action a run out, having read a number of posts about using Bolt Action in a modern setting and adapting the rules to larger scale games it sounded like a few adaptions could give me a blend of the two. 

Increasing the activation system from individual vehicles to platoons and totalling up the fire points for the infantry sections.

There might be a danger of mixing platoons up on the table, but having based the infantry on section bases should reduce this risk and in fairness the number of infantry on the table is probably less than a 28mm game. Each base will have a number of fire points which should should make the firing a little quicker. 

It needs some road testing, something to work on whilst attending yet another zoom call.

With face to face gaming less than a week away, I am itching to give the new terrain a roll out.

Pharaoh's gate..... Battlefield in a Box Review.

A slow week, on the painting front, I am still staring at the same 16 Hittites from 2 weeks ago.... I put it down to yet another lockdown and that lack of in person gaming. Keen to ensure I move forward gradually I figured I would give this a bit of make over, an unexpected Christmas gift and one of the latest offering from Battlefield in a Box - Forgotten City Range.

Gamers can be picky about ready made and painted terrain but having spent hours hunched over a table painting miniature warriors who then has the patience to then create the terrain as well? Hence in recent years the rise of straight to table terrain pieces... 

The forgotten city range is loosely based on Egyptian/Babylonian/Assyrian style. The gate has some clean angles which feels largely historical. The walls have a grainy and sand blasted feel to them, which feels in keeping with the period.

The gate is a good size  coming in at 145mm height by 240mm in diameter which feels right for a large scale centre piece and it won't budge once put on the table.

I can see it being used in some forthcoming scenario's for Kings of Bronze or perhaps some of the Atlantis type games should they resurface in the future.

The colouring was not at sandy as on the box cover more grey to my eye, so won't be a perfect mix with my existing terrain and I needed to dry brush the base to fit with my other basing.

I am not sure about the skulls adorning the top of the model and would have perhaps preferred warrior sculpts. Still I suppose it will fit with the Ghost Archipelago games.

On the downside it's weight with two solid resin columns is almost to have for the base, so much so that the base of mine had fractured and cracked across the width of the model, this looks like it is caused by the to columns leaning out and putting stress on the base. It was solved by cementing the roof piece in place to reinforce the base.  I would have perhaps explored hollow columns to reduce the weight?

The edge of the piece is a little fragile and elements could start to chip away over time with numerous game play. 

I disguised the fracture with the occasion tuft, good job that was a style of base I was aiming for.  

An imposing terrain piece you can see with the 25mm Warlord figures on the roof.

Coming in at £25 it's not cheap but will give you a number of gaming choices across a number of periods although you may find yourself rebasing it long term.

How back to the brushes and these flaming Hittites.