Armoured Storm: Eastern Front 3mm

After weighing up all the options, I've chosen the late war Eastern Front in 3mm as my way into Armoured Storm, primarily due to cost and simplicity. The Tumbling Dice 1/600th land range, while limited in scope has all that I need for a late 1944 to early 1945 winter themed set up. I've ordered T-34/85 and Su-85 packs for the Soviets, with Pzkpfw IIIL and Pzkpfw IVH tanks for the Germans, along with some StuG IIIG and Jagdpanzer IV assault guns and tank destroyers. This will give me enough kit to try out the rules and also keep the cost down to a minimum. The bonus is that I can also use the Tumbling Dice aircraft range for some ground attack and anti-tank support. Good stuff!

Tumbling Dice 1/2400th Huascar

This is today's output, a slightly modified Tumbling Dice model of the Huascar for the Battle of Pacocha in 1877. I added a new tripod foremast with cut down staples for the arms, a boom from the main mast and spare on both masts, to replicate the original rig of the Huascar in Peruvian service. This changed several times over the years she was in service with both Peru and Chile, my other models being later versions from the War of the Pacific. 

Armoured Storm

That was a bit unexpected. Steve Blease set up a Facebook group for Dan Mersey's Armoured Storm set of fast play WW2 armour rules yesterday. This caught my attention, as I'd considered the system as a potential solo project, so duly signed up. Shortly thereafter, Steve asked if I could take up an admin role on the group, despite the minor obstacle of never having actually played a game. Not to be unsporting I accepted, so I'm now going to need to get some micro armour organised! I'm thinking of using 3mm models for this, to save time and expense, as well as space and storage considerations. With Oddzial Ozmy no longer having a UK distributor, this isn't as straightforward as I would like, but I have at least three potential sources of models to consider and may well be combining them to kit out what I need.

Tumbling Dice 1/2400th HMS Shah

Not a lot achieved today due to family stuff, apart from assembling a Tumbling Dice model of HMS Shah for the Battle of Pacocha. As my War of the Pacific ships are all modelled without sails, I followed the same approach with this one, removing the cast on spanker, replacing the spanker gaff with a furled sail, then adding cut down staples for all of the spars. I did think of replacing all of the booms with staples but that seemed a bit too much trouble. It's a bit rough around the edges but will look fine when it's painted up. 

War of the Pacific Revisited

The next thing I'm going to tackle, having successfully refurbished the sea bases on my Indonesian Confrontation models, is a similar repainting job on my 1/2400th scale War of the Pacific fleets. I had a lot of fun devising scenarios and playing games with these a few years ago, but they've been gathering dust since. The plan is to give them a refresh by repainting the bases in my default shades, while also adding a few additional models. These include a third model of the Huascar in Peruvian rebel colours, together with HMS Shah and HMS Amethyst, the latter using the Tumbling Dice model of the Chilean corvette O'Higgins. These will allow me to replay the battle of Pacocha in May 1877, which I've been wanting to do for ages. 

RN / RAN Fleet Refurbished

I've completed the repainting and refurbishment of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ships for the Indonesian Confrontation reboot project. They look better now that the bases have been repainted and I have two additions to the fleet, HMS Zest and HMS Eagle. I still need to add a couple more models and obviously now need to paint some FAA aircraft for the carrier, but I'm moving on to something different for next month, as a break from painting 1/3000th scale bow waves and wakes, one of my least favourite things to do!

RN Repainting Sitrep

Some half decent progress with the RN and RAN repainting today, including painting up HMS Eagle and HMS Zest from scratch, including flight deck decals for the carrier from, no surprise, Flight Deck Decals. Superb quality as always, even when applied by a cack handed duffer like myself. Next up will be wakes and bow waves, then a shiny varnish for the bases and a couple of labels. 

RN Refurbishing and Reinforcement

I'm now starting on the base repainting of the RN and RAN models for the Indonesian Confrontation reboot, the aim being for them to match the lighter blue of my sea terrain cloth. I've applied the basecoat and will do a dry brush and highlight tomorrow. I've also decided to finish two extra models, the fleet carrier HMS Eagle and the Type 15 frigate HMS Zest, both of which took part in the conflict. If I have time I'll also paint up the commando carrier HMS Albion, the light cruiser HMNZS Royalist and a couple of Ton class minesweepers.

Indonesian Navy Refurbished

The base repainting job on the 1/3000th scale Cold War Indonesian naval fleet is now complete, taking far less time and effort than I thought. I was expecting to have to replace the base labels and tidy up the models but it all went smoothly without any need to do any additional fettling. It's now on to the Royal Navy, with a handful of extra models possibly making it onto the workbench as I go along.

Torpedoes and Tides

There's a new set of coastal warfare rules in development at the moment which looks really good, based as they are on the Galleys and Galleons rule system, which in turn uses the 'Song of..' mechanics by Ganesha Games. The rules are being play tested by Alan Saunders at the moment, using some ingenious scratch build models, over on The Stronghold Rebuilt blog:

The Stronghold Rebuilt: torpedoes & tides https://share.google/npcHsmAAfsbzxplrl

This is good opportunity for me to dig out my old 1/600th scale early war coastal forces collection, rebase and tart then up for some new games, making use of models that I already have on the shelf, as well as finishing off some of the merchant ships and escorts that I didn't get round to painting way back when. Happy days.

Voidfighter

I pre-ordered a copy of the latest Osprey Publishing rule set Voidfighter today. It looks like an interesting set of non-hex based space fighter rules, with a bit of a retro space opera feel. I'm always sitting on the fence with the Osprey wargaming series, as some are great and others often a bit wonky, but these look pretty good from the reviews I've read this far. A good use for my Brigade Models sci-fi fighter models or perhaps those EM-4 plastic Silent Death space fighters? 

HMNZS Royalist

I found a surplus Davco model of a Dido class light cruiser in my WW2 stash while searching for something else, so had a go at a very basic conversion into a modernised version, to represent the obsolescent HMNZS Royalist. This involved straightening and reprofiling the stacks, removing the QF 5.25-inch C turret and rounding the corners of the bridge, with a few tweaks here and there. It's far from accurate but will do the job, giving me a New Zealand contingent for the Indonesian Confrontation naval project re-boot.

Indonesian Navy Base Brush Up

I made a start on the repainting of the bases for my Cold War Indonesian naval fleet today, blocking in with a basecoat of Vallejo Prussian Blue. This wasn't as fiddly or as messy as I thought it would be, so I had time to paint up two of the LST bases to a finish, to test out the rest of the process. Although I faffed about with the bow wave and wake a bit, they turned out looking acceptable, so I will crack on with the rest of the fleet after the weekend. If this works well, I'll follow on with the RN, RAN and RNZN, adding a few extra models that I didn't paint the first time around.

Dominion of Pike and Shot

  

These rules look interesting. They are designed for very fast play and for solo use, with a minimum of units per side (3 to 6) and a small area. I'm wondering if they might be an option for my 2mm English Civil War project, which ended up being mothballed after I mucked up the basing and had to have a rethink. There are other versions of the rules available for ancients, medieval and so on, as well as supplements covering specific battles. I think it's worth a look, especially as the rules are only about a fiver from Wargame Vault?

Gunboats A Go Go

Now that I've upscaled and upcycled my old ACW river terrain modules for 1/600th wargaming, I have no real need for my scratch built and converted 1/2400th scale ironclad, tinclad and cottonclad gunboat models. Rather than bung then on to eBay, I thought I'd send them off to Nick Jones, author of the Bloody Betancourt blog, who has limited space to set up his naval wargames. 

I think he might find a use for them and, as I put it to him the other day, I'd rather they went to a good home rather than ending up being resold. If he finds a use for them that would be brilliant but if not I'm just pleased that they will be looked after by a fellow small scale enthusiast. Anyway, at least they're not gathering dust on a shelf any more!

ACW River Terrain Chop Shop

I dug out the jigsaw today and chopped off the river bank pieces from my old scratch built modular terrain. These need to be refurbished but, as it stands, there are nine 12" straight pieces, two 12" by 12" river bends, three end pieces and a small promontory, together with a small island made from a skirmish movement tray. I'll give these a tidy up and repaint then, eventually, use them for 1/600th scale ACW and WW1 riverine actions.

Indonesian Confrontation Brush Up

I've realised I only have a week or so left of holiday time to try and get something sorted, so instead of starting on the WW1 Ottoman fleet, I'm going to focus on the sea base refurbishment that I originally planned to do. Also, rather than starting with the War of the Pacific collection, I'm going to tackle the less fiddly and more straightforward 1/3000th scale  Indonesian Confrontation RN and IN warships instead. These were painted a few years ago with a dark blue mix using Foundry Union Blue, which I'm going to replace with Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue, which is a much better match for my sea cloth. I'll have to do this without removing the models from the bases but will replace the labels afterwards. I might even add a couple of models to the RN fleet, or some more aircraft, if I have the time.

The Spanish Civil War at Sea

I grabbed this today at 80% off the cover price in the Helion Publishing Summer Sale. I've thought about it as a naval project in 1/3000th scale and even filled out a Navwar order from for the required warships, but then Navwar went out of business and I shelves the planned project. Navwar are now back up and running, so this is now a feasible project for next year, making another book for the library a worthwhile use of my pocket money. Excellent!

ACW River Terrain Module Upcycling

I tried out my idea to recycle some redundant 1/2400th scale modular river terrain boards into river bank sections for 1/600th scale ACW and WW1 wargaming today. This involved cutting off a river bank length, filing it down, filling and texturing the edge, repainting it and adding some more clump foliage to upscale the vegetation. It's not quite right yet, but as a prototype it's not bad and was quite straightforward to do. I now have about ten more boards to convert, which is going to take me quite a lot of time!

WW1 Naval Project Pick Up

It's been absolutely nuts since coming back from Brittany, with a funeral in Bath, a day trip down to Plymouth to pick up stuff from the boy's flat and even a missing person man hunt for a friend's elderly relative, who wandered off from his sheltered housing and got lost overnight.

This means I've not had time for anything remotely wargaming related, so instead I've set out what I'm going to do for the rest of the month, prior to starting a new project in September.  

http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2025/06/summer-naval-project-ww1.html

I have been focusing on the First World War this year including the naval campaign in the Black Sea and the hint for the Goeben, with a Turkish fleet ready for painting, so this will be my focus for the rest of the month. 

I may also tinker with a few other things of a naval persuasion, such as rebasing the 1/600th War of the Pacific stuff and perhaps even refurbishing the 1/1200th scale models I was given, but nothing too much as I just won't get it done otherwise!

Jasta 18 Scenarios Sorted

 

I spent an hour or so today editing and formatting the scenarios for the Jasta 18, project, after play testing them over the last few months. There were only a handful of corrections or amendments to make so it didn't take long, but it was good to finally wrap them up, ready for the introductory article to be written. There's only one final scenario to play test before I can include it in the submission, which I'm hoping to try out sometime before the end of the month 

Lights, Camera, Action

I've been working on  photographing my 1/600th models for the Jasta 18 project, taking on board some advice I've been given by a couple of professional photographers, so have invested in some Peco model railway back scene sky sheets and some acrylic flight stands, in order to up my game. The idea is to set up and photograph some "action' scenes featuring the Jasta 18 aircraft and RAF opposition, after I've tarted up the models with some decent insignia. It's all a bit experimental but should be good fun, once I've mastered the digital camera instead of my crappy phone?

Messing about on the Mississippi

I'm planning ahead for my autumn projects, which will kick off at the start of next month, including a 1/600th American Civil War riverine or coastal naval project. I am going to have to pick one or the other, so a bit of background brushing up on the options is a good idea. At the moment, it's looking like the riverine option is the contender, as I have some really nice 3D printed models from Long Face Games, some fantastic Thoroughbred Miniatures metal models and lots of Peter Pig tinclad gunboats, rams and river monitors, albeit a bit more chunky and crude.

Big Red Bat Battlemat

I'm back from Brittany and have been unpacking, tidying up, mowing the lawn and generally sorting stuff out today, so no wargaming just yet. One nice thing was unpacking my new 6' x 4' terrain cloth from the Big Red Bat shop, complete with a very subtle 15cm square grid. This is destined for AK47 People's Edition, but I'm also going to use it for Strength and Honour, as my units have very similar base shades. 

I'm even considering using it for the Sandbox Skirmish 15mm solo project, which has been stalked for ages as I just couldn't decide how to go about the terrain. It only needs a 3' or 4' square area, so the cloth would be more than adequate and I can ignore the grid for aesthetic purposes. The figures and vehicles I've test painted also match quite well with the Iberian Plains design, with perhaps a little bit of a dry brush to get the shade just right. It was an expensive purchase but it's looking like good value for money.