Last Painting Update of 2008

Happy New Year!

While technically this is being posted in 2009, these figures were all finished up last night and so I’m considering this an update for the end of 2008

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Assorted vkings for skirmishing – I think most of these are old Citadel miniatures.. though the one in the center is from Old Glory.


Three Hobbits and a Dwarf. The hobbits are from Copplestone Castings and the Dwarf is from Reaper Miniatures.


Another Reaper figure – an Elvish Druidic Mage


Here he is on his HOTT base…


Finally, Two more stands of Elf Archers.

So the grand total of painting and hobby projects for the year is:

28mm Foot - 539
28mm Mounted - 13
28mm Vehicles - 2
28mm Guns - 3
28mm Terrain bits - 12
28mm Buildings, Ruins, etc - 2

20mm Foot - 236
20mm Vehicles - 25
20mm Guns - 1

1/144 Aircraft - 1

Micro Tanks, etc. - 5
Micro Infantry stands - 1

Wee Ships (built and painted) - 9

New Masters Modeled - 7

A pretty productive year. I was thinking I’d go back through all the painting updates and figure out what all those were… but I’d rather forge on with new projects!!!

Uuuuuuuuuggggghhhh....

My head hurts....

Anyone know what the LD50 of chocolate is...? I'm concerned that I may be rapidly approaching it.... 

The Big TO-DO List

Once again I’m not quite sure what direction to take. So much to do, so little time. I find if I just work a bit on this and that, here and there, I’m not nearly as productive as when I’m a little more focused.

Here’s a list I tried to compile of all the things I’ve been thinking about working on recently….

Repair hills
Make new hills

Make more coniferous trees!

Make urban rubble (20mm/28mm)
Make city buildings (European)
Make city buildings (modern North America)

Make subterrainian 28mm terrain bits (halls, rooms, etc) for dungeoncrawls, tomb raids, and bunkerstorms!

Finish trenches and/or make new/better ones (28mm)

20mm Modern Canadians
Finish 3rd Para Commando
Make Para CO stand + Para observer stands
Paint Grizzly(x2), M113(x1)
Assemble and paint Grizzly(x3), M113(x2), Cougar(x3), Leopard(x5)
TO GET: Lynx Recce(x1-2), Iltis(x4-7), M109(x1-2)

20mm Modern VDV
Assemble and paint BMDs (3xBMD-1, 3xBMD-2, 1xBTR-D, 1xSP-Mtr)

20mm Modern Russians
Paint T-72 (x5)
Assemble and paint BTR-60 (x3), SP Artillery, BRDM-Sagger,
TO GET: UAZ-469(x6-8), BMP-1(x3),

20mm Modern Americans
Paint M1 Abrams(x3), Bradleys (x5), Humvees(x2), Infantry,

20mm Modern British…
FN – 7 infantry stands and 1 HQ stand finished off battalion (less mortars… need to make as I have a feeling FAA isn’t ever going to send the ones I ordered…)
SA-80 – Assemble and paint Warriors(x10), Challengers(x6), Land Rovers(x6)…
(have enough infantry for a second battalion of light infantry/paras/marines…)

20mm Modern Africans….
Loads of trucks (die-cast) to paint and militia…

20mm Modern Aricraft – Assemble, paint and mount of flgith stands assorted jets and helicopters.

28mm WW2 Russians
Assemble and paint GAZ jeep
Paint last of the infantrymen…

28mm Modern Russians
GET: Heavy Weapons for Motor Rifles (TAG), More VDV (Mongrel)

28mm Partisans – there so few of them to finish up then I never have to think about them again…

Other 28mm Modern – like to get a few more Cold War British (with FN - finish a platoon…?) maybe a couple more Americans…?

20mm Sci-fi – Timashek Legion
Finish assembling and paint:
F’ngen heavy Grav Tanks (x3)
Kra G-IFV (x8)
Grav Command Cars (x4)
Grav Command Centre
Heavy Grav SP Rocket Batteries (x3)
Aero-Space Ground Attack craft (x3)
Drop Pods…?

20mm Sci-fi – Opposing Force
Infantry – modified Modern Germans
Attack Walker – crazy Japanese walker robot thingy…
Transport Walker – AT-AT

28mm WW2 Desert Stuff…
Commando/LRDG/SAS – need trucks/Jeeps
D.A.K. – Couple infantry to finish… need vehicles…?

28mm Victorian Horror/Sci-fi…
28mm Zombies…
28mm Fantasy skirmish heroes and HOTT/WM armies…

Micro Sci-Fi – Eldar and Marine and Battletech forces – to be painted (or, in some cases, REpainted)

yeah... and this is just the things I've been thinking about lately... I don't even want to think about all the other unfinished projects... because... well.. then I'll start THINKING about them and be even MORE distracted...

Since starting this list I have very nearly finished off the 3rd Commando of Canadian Airborne and have some ruined buildings for both European and Middle East well under way… I’m thinking the Victorian SF is going o be shelved as are the zombies for the time being….

What to do first…. Well I’m well into a terrain building spree so I should see that through… but then what..?

The Russians and partisans would, once again, seem the sensible thing to do – as there are few of them and I’m not buying any more (I SWEAR!!!). I have 8 Russian infantry and an AT gun and crew on the table right now, but I kind of don’t want to get started as I’m expecting a couple more in the mail next week (I’m not actually BUYING these things... long story…).

For some reason I’m totally stoked about painting up some of my Fantasy stuff!?
I’d like to make enough to field some armies for Hordes of the Things (which will eventually be expanded so I can field them as Warmaster armies…) and also some individual heroes and characters and monsters for some old school dungeon crawls.... This had probably come about because I’ve been working on some more Descent figures for John. Maybe it will pass before I put and paint on any of my own figures… It’s kind of stupid because I don’t really have anyone that would be really interested in playing… well the Saturday Night Savages would probably be down with some dungeon crawls…

I do have at least one person totally stoked to play Future War Commander… but that feels like “starting something new”, when I’m really in the mood to “finish things up” before going on to something new… Of course, I HAVE all the things I need for the Future War forces, they just need to be assembled and painted, whereas a number of the Cold War armies I actually need to pick up a few things to “finish” up some forces.

...sigh...

What to do, what to do…

guess I’ll go prime that next batch of descent figures and work on the ruins… maybe by the time I’m done those things will be clearer…

What to do... What to do....?

I'm not really sure what to do next....

I'm kind of feeling like "finishing things up". I've acquired quite a few things lately and honestly feel like I don't want any more, at least not until I've "finished a few things up". As I mentioned in the last post I had a brief happy/satisfied moment when I realized I had painted ALL of the 28mm Modern military figures. Now I've got a few more on the way in the mail, but not so much that a couple nights couldn't see those finished off. In the meantime, however, I'm looking for projects that I can easily finish up and have a sense that something in my life - however small - is complete.... If only for the moment...

So here's a few things I've found, unfortunately none of them really jump out as THE thing to get on with... Any suggestions? (especially from anyone that might actually play with me...?)?

28mm WW2 Russians
-Half-painted KV-2 to finish up.
-8 Riflemen
-76mm AT gun and crew.

Unfortunately even finishing the eight riflemen doesn't really give me full sections... of course when would the russians ever have fielded platoons with full sections...!? I also don't really have anything for the AT gun to shoot at... or anything with a hope of taking out a KV-2.... so...

But then finishing those eight riflemen WOULD give me something resembling an under-strength platoon... hmmmmm...

28mm WW2 British/Canadian Paras
-17 infantrymen
-1 mortar + 3 crew
-1 6 Pdr AT gun (crew already done)
-1 prone sniper

Finishing that section and a half of infantry (half of which are half painted....) would finish up a second full platoon of them... less a platoon command section... (not sure where I'm going to get that from....). When am I ever going to use TWO FULL PLATOONS of 28mm WW2 British Paras though!?

In addition to a command section for the second platoon I could probably do with some specialists - engineers, etc.... someday...

28mm WW2 Resistance/Partizans
-20 Assorted French Resistance/Partizan types

These could do double (or triple) duty as both French Resistance/Partizans in straight up WW2 skirmishes, but also work great in Pulp Adventure games or many could even pass off as armed Polish civilians in a Twilight:2000 campaign I've been thinking about running...? The down side is irregulars are... well... irregular, it's harder to set up a production line than with uniformed troops... not saying it can't be done or anything... but it is a bit harder...

20mm Modern Canadians
Well there's actually lots to do here... so might as well get cracking, right...? When I get them done I'll get back to sculpting and finish up the french and start working on my "generic commies" (very generic looking troops armed with soviet equipment that could be from any number of nations simply by painting them a bit different...).

28mm Modern Civvies and Supers.
-5 "Scare Crow Gang" members
-4 "Stretchy Gang" members
-4 Urban Cowgirls
-3 Street Violence Hotties
-7 Assorted Super Hero/Villain types
-16 Civilians (13 unarmed, 3 with guns)
-3 Terrorists
-2 Riot Police

Well there's a bit to do there but since I am almost done with the other moderns (the military types) I have this urge to finish these up as it is a collection that I don't feel the urge to add to (or if I did at some point it would be a figure or a pack here and there that I could paint straight away and not have such a huge backlog of stuff on the theoretical "to do" list....

Many of them will be a pain in the butt to paint, though... Especially the Super types...

28mm Vietnam
-8 ANZACs
-9 Vietcong
-3 Villagers
-20 "Cham"
-30 PAVN Infantry
-Mortar, MG, Recoiless Rifle and Crews...
-Ox Cart
-Half-finished Tank

It's another collection that has a bit to do, but is stable (i.e. not buying any more for!) so could be finished up and be FINISHED! Some of them would be easy enough to paint...

There's others too that are similarly close to being finished... Especially in the 28mm WW2 Category; Germans ("Euro" and DAK), Commandos, etc... but I dont' feel like sorting through them tonight and am not feeling particularly motivated to work on any of them. probably because they are in definite need of MORE STUFF and looking at them will make me start thinking about what more I actually "need" to make them "whole"....

Zombies, Rippers/Space:1889/Colonials, Pulp Adventure... all seem equally interesting, too, and have a few things here and there to finish up...

There's others I'd like to work on, but they're more like "starting" projects than finishing them up!

Then there's a few things I feel like I "should" do but dread... the BMDs for my Soviet VDV force. I only have six (plus a command on and a mortar one...), two companies worth, and realistically won't be adding any more any time soon. They WOULD definitely give me some fun new options for the force... but they're annoying kits to put together.... seems like "WORK" - and there's something wrong when a hobby seems like "work"...

I have an absurd amount of modern British armour in 20mm to work on too. They're Revell kits, nicer to put together but still tedious and time-consuming. Enough to equip an entire mechanized battalion. Unfortunately that's MORE than I can field for the Russians... and something about that just seems... I don't know... WRONG?!

ugh....

So where to start!?

Got any suggestions? Post 'em in the comments!

Status Report

There’s going to be a few changes around here in Tim’s Miniature Wargaming world….

Where to start…

First I’ve cancelled my regular, weekly Thursday historical miniatures gaming night – so there won’t be so many AARs for a while. As the days get longer (and warmer!) Gary will off to the cabin, Christian will be off to play war and/or teach or take various courses, and John will be insanely busy building his new house. Britton… well I haven’t actually SEEN him since last September anyway…. Maybe I’ll try and get this going again in October – after ‘cross season…

As for me I’ve got other tings to do as well. Any who know me, or read this blog regularly will know that I’m a pretty dedicated and productive hobbyist! I don’t watch TV or play computer games so I manage to get a LOT of stuff accomplished, especially over the last couple of years. This, however, has come at a bit of a cost. I’m turning into a fat, fat bastard.

Now at just under 100kg (215lbs) many of you will probably won’t think I’m all that damn fat. As my sole modes of transportation are walking of biking I probably am a bit more fit than most gamer-types I know. I am feeling big enough around the mid-section to be uncomfortable on the drops (the lower part of drop handlebars) so something has to be done.

While my family was away last week I planned on doing a series of EPIC rides to kind of get “back in the saddle again” and going on rides just to go on rides – not just to get from Point A to Point B around town. I was going to work my way up to 100km rides by the weekend. Then it snowed… and rained… and froze… and then snowed some more… I did manage to set up the much-neglected trainer by the computer and watched a few DVDs while spinning up a storm! I’ve also been trying to lay off on the Root Beer and licorice. Anyway I am going to try and spend a considerably larger chunk of my spare time riding and getting fit again…. Maybe even “race fit” to do some Cyclocross in the fall…

I’m not saying I’m going to be quitting the wargaming altogether. Not by any stretch of the imagination! I’m just not going to be enjoying the same high level of productivity and regular gaming that I have over the past two years or so…

Savage Saturdays

I have a very regular group of guys that come over on Saturday evenings and play Savage Worlds. Right now we’ve got a pretty good Savage Worlds: Pirates of the Spanish Main campaign going on. That will continue!

Out of Town Gaming

I’ve bailed on Mayday this weekend… got some work on the house to finish up that I didn’t get done while the family was away.

A friend in Regina was planning a gaming weekend in June (I think) and I’m still hoping to make it to that…if it happens. I am also still planning on heading out to Calgary for an extended weekend to hook up with the John (et al) for some serious dice-tossing…

Of course if the price of gas (and bus tickets) triples…. I may have to rethink these…

The blog

I’m not going to be posting quite as regularly. I’d like to set aside some specific time each week that I can write draft a post about what I’ve been doing over the last week. I’m thinking either Sunday morning or evening… Hopefully I’ll get posting a little more regularly on the Other Blog.

Wargames Weekend(s) ‘09

There will likely be some changes to the previously announced Wargames Weekend ‘09. Originally this was to be a Wargames Weekend in February and it was going to have a “Quebec 1759” theme to it. Due to the anticipated downshift in productivity this is not likely to be possible. Instead I am thinking I might do a Quebec 1759 weekend later in the year. Perhaps it could be in September, which would be closer to the anniversary anyway…

I would, however, still kind of like to have a Wargames Weekend in February. To gurantee it’s success I’d like to plan something that I already HAVE most of the stuff I’d need already complete. I’d also like to have the weekend be a mini campaign of sorts. Right now I’m considering a couple basic formats with a multitude of possible themes/specific settings for each.

One option would be an “All Quiet” Campaign. The inspiration for this comes from an article in Wargames Illustrated (#101, Feb 1996) by Richard Crawley. Though originally written as a mini-campaign for modern skirmishes in Chechnya it could easily work for any modern (or not so modern…) campaign where there are lines that have been stabilized and the main fighting is going on somewhere else – indeed I have run this campaign with different rules set on the Eastern front in World War Two.

The campaign will involve two opposing platoon sized units doing a turn in the lines for three days. Each day will consist of two campaign turns; one day, one night, for a total of six sessions/scenarios. During each turn the commander of the respective platoons will be given missions to carry out. Successful completion of the missions will gain the platoon victory points – loss of their own men will lose them victory points (and the ability to successfully carry out further missions!) – thus for the platoon commander it will be an exercise in management of resources. Also using personnel for more than one turn in a row will cause the unit to be fatigued, reducing it’s combat effectiveness.

This option would work well if I had two players committed to the entire weekend (they could take on the role of platoon commanders) and just a few others that might show up for one or two sessions – the campaign could not handle more than one or two players on a side for any given session as – by the very nature of the campaign missions will generally be carried out by the minimum number of troops necessary – to keep the others “fresh” and reduce the potential for massive casualties. Indeed there were sessions where neither side made contact!

The games would be played out using Savage Worlds. Though it could take place in any number of settings it would most likely take place during World War Two simply because I have platoons of opposing forces. … Germans vs. Paras in Normandy, Germans Vs. Russians on the Eastfront (maybe even in Stalingrad – if I got a bit more ruined city terrain finished!) Germans vs. French Foreign Legionnaires in North Africa (Gazala?). Other possibilities could include Marines vs. NVA at Khe Sahn, 1968. French vs. English in some siege during the Seven Years War in North America (maybe even Quebec…?).

Another similar option would be a series of programmed scenarios – or a matrix of programmed scenarios (victory in one scenario would determine which scenario is played next) – always involving one particular unit on at least one of the sides so that there is some continuity to the campaign and decisions have to be made whether discretion is the better part of valour and saving the unit is more important that accomplishing certain missions, etc.….

This could be with ANYTHING I can currently field either skirmish games using Savage Worlds and 28mm figures or a larger scale (of action) and some appropriate rules (BKG, CWC, WM, etc…).

The other option would be a warband/every-man-for-himself weekend – the most obvious example of this would be Mordhiem. Everyone has a band of his own and plays against other participants in one on one or multiplayer scenarios – casualties are kept track of – some may recover, others are removed from the roster. Between games surviving members gain experience of some sort and potentially improve, new members can be recruited, new equipment purchased, etc.

In some cases some participants may be able to bring their own units – which would greatly expand the possibilities… Some of the setting options could include:

Mordheim: Bands of fantasy adventurers scour the ruined city of Mordheim for wyrdstone. The plus with this one is a number of people I know own their own warbands.

Legends of the Old West: Grab an outlaw gang or sheriff’s posse and shoot up some old west towns… I have a few old west figures of my own. not so much western buildings… but I might be able to throw together something.

Legends of the High Seas: Grab a ship and a crew and ply the high seas for adventure and gold! Ya-HARRRRR! My collection of pirates seems to be rapidly expanding I’m sure I could put together a couple of my own crews by then.

Of course any of these above could be converted to Savage Worlds…. Other Savage Skirmishing possibilities could include:

Pulp Adventure! Grab a group of intrepid adventurers: Archaeologists, Foreign Legionnaires, Nazis, Bolsheviks, Treasure Hunters, Bizarre Cultists, etc and set a course for a globe-trotting, two-fisted high adventure!

Rippers: the Horror Wars: Monsters versus Monster Hunters in the Victorian age!

Near-Future Post-Apocalypse/Zombie Plague Survivors/Scavengers…?

Any of these I could easily run at anytime, so there’s no need to decide right now – just thought I’d throw some options out there in case anyone did want to get together for a weekend in February next year. I guess the earlier we decided the more time anyone wanting to paint their own unit would have to do so (should we go with the bring your own warband option…). I’d also have more time to work on some setting specific terrain.

The other issue with a February Wargames Weekend is when to have it? I had originally said the last weekend in February to keep with the tradition of Tim’s Wargaming Birthday Bash – but two weeks earlier is a long weekend (in Saskatchewan and Alberta, at least) and a couple of people (who live in Alberta) have suggested that I move it make it easier for those who are traveling (mostly from Alberta). Now when thinking about Wargames Weekends in the past I avoided long weekends as usually people have things planned with friends and family…. So, I don’t know… If there’s anyone out there that’s thinking they might come to a gaming weekend in February (whether in town or not) would having it a week or two earlier on the long weekend (Family Day!) make it more or less likely that you would be able to show up…?

Your thoughts…? Post a comment!

The Game Plan 2008 – Project Schedule

Well having decided to do Quebec 1759-60 for my Wargame Weekend next year I’ve got a lot to do….

January 2008
2 weeks – paint a pile of Fantasy Skirmish Figures - more or less done...
2 weeks – Assemble and paint 5 remaining BMP-1

February 2008
2 weeks - Assemble and paint 2x T-80, 1x T-72
2 weeks – paint more Russian infantry… maybe some American infantry…?

March 2008
Model 13-19 masters for Seven Years War (see Quebec 1759-60 post for details).

April – December 2008
Casting and painting like a mad bastard!

There are 39 weeks rom the beginning of April to the end of December and I have 39 units to paint (again, see Quebec 1759-60 post for details). That leaves the first 8 weeks of 2009 to do any catching up, full-scale play-testing (there will be plenty of smaller scale play-testing throughout the year as units get painted…). And building any additional terrain I might need.

There are a few units which are “optional” – some of the extra French Militia units, the Cavalry Corps – and a few units that I already have painted, though with older figures with not entirely correct uniforms for the era – British 35th Regiment, Langedoc, la Reine, Royal Roussilon – these will all be the last units I do in case things take a little longer and I run out of time…

Tonight and last night I’ve been painting a few pirates… I guess I better set them aside and get cracking on some BMP-1s!

Huzzah!

Wargaming Weekend 2009 - Quebec 1759-60

I have more or less settled on a theme for my 2009 Wargaming Weekend. It may seem a bit odd as it is more than a year away, but I was working on my Game Plan for 2008 and realized I should really look at what I want to play next year so I can better plan my projects for this year.

There were a couple high on the list, and I was going to take votes from interested parties but then I realized that 2009 is actually the 250th anniversary of the battle on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec and that kind of settled it. I wanted to work on some Seven years War stuff this year anyway… now I’m just going to be a little more focused on it as I have a LOT of stuff to do to play the scenarios I am currently planning.

I am using Habitants and Highlanders as a major source of inspiration for the scenarios. I’d like to run a mix of bigger battles and skirmish games. I imagine the weekend will go something like this:

Friday Night – Captain MacDonald’s Company Climbs the Heights of Abraham, 12-13 September 1759
This will be a skirmish game – likely using Savage Worlds (my preferred system for all things skirmishy). Perhaps the outcome of the scenario could affect the next days battle somehow…?

Saturday Morning/Afternoon – Battle on the Plaings of Abraham, 13 September 1759
This will use a variant of Warmaster – borrowing heavily from Bob Barnetson’s Two for Tea rules for the American War of Independence.

Saturday Evening – The Woodcutters, Winter 1759-60
This will be another skirmish game involving a British woodcutting party being ambushed by some French habitants.

Sunday Morning/Afternoon – Battle of Ste. Foy, 28 April 1760
The battle for Quebec, round two!

Alternatively Friday night could be some other skirmish leading up to the events at Quebec – maybe involving some Rangers and/or Indians in a mad skirmish in the woods somewhere… and Captain MacDonald’s climb could take place Saturday Morning and the Battle on the Plains of Abraham on Saturday afternoon… we’ll have to see how the play-tests work out and how long the game runs….

I’m not entirely sure which weekend I’ll do it as my birthday falls midweek. So it could be either the 20-22 February 2009, or 27 February to 1 March 2009… Probably the latter just so I can say it will always be the last weekend of February.


TO-DO!

The Toy Plan

I’m going to be painting figures for two levels of action here: battle and skirmish.

The figures for the big battles will be based on 60x40mm bases (8 for regular infantry, 6 for militia, 4 for skirmishy types like rangers or Indians). Most units will be 3 stands per unit – though a few units, particularly on the British side on the Plains of Abraham, had considerably more troops so they may have four or five stands (I went with one stand per 150-200 men available/present). The figures for the skirmish games will be based singly. All will be 28mm figures.

As with The Vimy Project I am going to model and cast most of my own figures. Things that are harder to cast, or that I only need a few of I will probably buy. I may even buy a few units for the skirmish gaming just to have some variance in the figures…

Here’s what I’m going to need:

To Model (masters which I will cast many of later…):

British Fusilier
British Grenadier
British Light Infantryman
British Officer
British Drummer
British Ensign
Highland Fusilier?
Highland Grenadier?
Highland Officer?
Highland Piper?
Highland Ensign?
American Ranger?

French Fusilier
French Grenadier
French Officer
French Drummer
French Ensign
French Troupe de la Marine Fusilier
French Militiaman

Indians?

I have almost enough of the Rafm Highlanders to do my unit of them, I’ll need others for the Captain MacDonald Climbs the Heights scenario, but I think I might buy the bag o’ Old Glory for those… The Rangers, same thing, I have enough Rafm ones for the three stands form battle games and I might like to buy a bag o’rangers from Old Glory. We shall see...


To Paint:

For the battle games of the Plains of Abraham and Ste. Foy:

British

15th Regiment of Foot – 3 stands
29th Regiment of Foot –4 stands
58th Regiment of Foot – 3 stands
78th Highland Regiment – 6 stands?
28th Regiment of Foot – 3 stands
47th Regiment of Foot – 4 stands
2/60th Regiment of Foot – 3 stands
3/60th Regiment of Foot – 3 stands
35th Regiment of Foot – 5 stands
48th Regiment of Foot – 3 stands
Royal Artillery – 1-2 Guns & Crew
Louisburg Grenadiers – 3 stands
Light Infantry – 3 stands
Rangers – 3 stands

French

La Reine – 3 stands
Guyenne – 3 stands
2/Berry – 3 stands
3/Berry – 3 stands
Royal Roussilon – 3 stands
Langedoc – 3 stands
Artillery – 1-2 guns & Crew?
Companies France de la Marine – 2 units of 3 stands ea.
Milice de Quebec – 3 units of 3 stands
Milice de Trois-Rivieres – 2 units of 3 stands
Milice de Montreal – 2 units of 3 stands
Corps de Cavallerie – 2 stands?
Indians – 2-3 units of 3 stands


For the other Skirmish games (20-30 of each including a couple of officers and/or NCOs):

British

British Regulars
Rangers
Highlanders

French

French Regulars
Comapnie de la Marine
Habitants/Militia
Indians

Other things to do to prepare for the event….

Things to Read/Reread

Time to brush up on my SYW history. I’m a painfully slow reader so I’ll be lucky if I get through all of this over the next year… but I’d like to try!

Quebec 1759, C.P. Stacey – Read this years ago, it’s time to reread.

Habitants and Highlanders, Canadian Wargames Group – I’ve read it a couple times, it’s been a while though – couldn’t hurt to do another cover to cover read through.

Quebec 1759, Rene Chartrand – From the short-lived original Osprey Orders of Battle Series. I’ve looked a lot of things up in it but never sat down for a cover-to-cver read. Its about time I did.

Century of conflict, J.L. Rutledge - I picked this up recently at the Friends of the Library bookshop for 50c. It looks like it tracks the rivalries between the British and the French in North America from the late 1600’s to 1760 so might be a good backgrounder.

Empires Collide – An Osprey Essential History Special that “contains material previously published in Campaigns 140,121, 76, 79; Men-at-Arms 23, 48, 228, 302, 304, 395; Warrior 19, 42, 85, 88; Essential Histories 44; Fortress 27; and Elite 93”. I somehow doubt it is simply a reprint of all of them under one book cover, like the German Army in WW2 book that I have – which is too bad, I like it when they do that – collect entire series into one big book, I wish they did it more often.

Other things to maybe pick up and read:
I guess I’ll wait and see how much information there is in the Empires Collide book but there are a number of other Osprey books that look like they might be interesting and/or useful.

Things to Watch - Some movies of the period to get me stoked:

Last of the Mohicans – own it on DVD – it will go into heavy rotation on painting nights for background inspirational noise…

Barry Lyndon – Not set in North America but part of it does take place with the Seven Years War as a backdrop. I recall it had great costumes. I’d like to track a copy down of my own – I’ll have to start hitting the bargain bins!

Dangerous Liaisons – again, period piece just to get me stoked.

Brotherhood of the Wolf – yeah these are really stretching it… I can’t actually think of any other movies with the Seven Years War in North America as the backdrop…

That’s all I can think of at the moment… any others I should watch?!

HATS!!

For those of you who are regular gaming pals or followers of the blog you will be aware of my passion (madness) for wearing appropriate period hats while gaming. I’ll need to get a tricone. Actually I’d like to get about six – if I could find some relatively inexpensive ones. Maybe a blue Scotts bonnet and/or a grenadiers mitre cap – probably dreaming here…. Though there’s got to be some crazy horse and musket re-enactors out there that must be able to make them (though they’d probably be crazy expensive)…? Maybe I need a white powdered wig too…

September 13th is a Sunday in 2009… I’ll have to organize an additional game day later in the year to play the battle again ON the actual 250th anniversary. Maybe I could be talked into dragging it out to Fallcon in Calgary… maybe not…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

The Game Plan 2008 – Project Schedule

Wargaming Weekends and the Game Plan 2008

Before coming up with a Project Plan for 2008 I realized I should really look toward 2009 and what I’d like to do for a Wargame Weekend. I’m kind of assuming the weekend will be at least moderately successful here, and that I’ll do another one next year. As I’ve mentioned before I’d like the weekends to be mini-campaigns of sorts of programmed scenarios or otherwise linked battles or at least have some common “theme” to them.

Over the last couple of days I’ve been making a list of conflicts/campaigns I might like to run and I’ll go through a number of them below.

Which will it be for 2009…? Well, I’ve got a few months to think about it I guess… Some of the major factors I’ll be considering are what people would be most interested in – won’t be much of a weekend if no one shows because no one is interested in playing what I’ve got set up… But just as important, if not more, there is the reality of having all the toys and terrain required for each and as I’ve had a moratorium set on spending money on toys, so I really SHOULD focus on ones that I currently OWN (or can cast for myself) all of the elements required…

If you’re someone that might be attending any future wargaming weekends please feel free to post comments below and vote on which you would most like to see run!

They will mostly follow the same format of 5 games (Friday Evening, Saturday Morning, Saturday Afternoon, Saturday Evening, and a grand finale Sunday mid-to-late-morning to mid-afternoon. My current thinking is that any larger battles will be played out with Cold War Commander/Blitzkrieg Commander/Warmaster Ancients or one of it’s many variants. Skirmish actions will be played out using Savage Worlds.

The weekends will be taking place the last weekend in February of each year – partly because it won’t conflict with any other cons – that I know of – or any long weekend travel plans. Of course this means anyone planning on traveling to this will likely have to book a day off work (the Friday)… look at it as a bonus long weekend in February… The other reason for holding it in February is to carry on the tradition of Tim’s Wargaming Birthday Bash – an event started in 2005 to celebrate my birthday with an evening of gaming with my favorite gamin’ pals (which is basically being extended into a full weekend…).

Originally I was thinking I’d let this turn into a mini-con, if enough people started showing up, with multiple games going on through out my house (a miniatures game on the war game table in the War Room, boardgames on the dining room table upstairs) and in the Bike Barn (my “garage”) where I’d build a second wargames table…. Or if it got big enough maybe move it out of my house… I’m starting to think that may be a bit chaotic and hard to organize/coordinate, so now I’m considering simply limiting it to the games I am running and 6 participants….? I don’t know – any thoughts on this? Post comments!

Here they are, in no particular order, the ideas for themes/campaigns for future wargame weekends – In some cases I don’t know a lot about the history of the period or campaign and so some of the battles might not work out for tabletop action (i.e. have enough elements for 4-6 participants to play for a couple hours)… obviously in the year preceding the Wargaming weekend I’d be doing a considerable amount of research and finding which would work, which wouldn’t and finding better actions to replace them – nothing is set in stone here, they’re just ideas off the top of my head…

Campaigns of Alexander the Great
Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, Hydaspes…? All played with Warmaster Ancients. This will be sometime in the far future as I have NOTHING for this period – except for my crappy old DBA Later Achemenid Persian army – not much of a start…

Montrose’s Scottish Campaigns 1644-45
Lots of options here – Tippermuir, Aberdeen, Inverlochy, Aulderan, Alford, Kilsyth, Pilipaugh… maybe I’ll make it a wargaming long weekend and do them ALL! BWA-HA-HA-HA!

Seven Years War in North America
A series of five battles from the campaigns… OR…

Quebec 1759-60
I have to admit at this exact minute I am kind of leaning towards this one as it just occurred to me that next year will be the 250th anniversary of the battle on the Plains of Abraham! I am using Habitants and Highlanders as a major source of inspiration for the scenarios here:
Friday night - Captain MacDonald’s Company Climbs the Heights of Abraham – a skirmish game using Savage Worlds – the outcome of which might somehow affect the next scenario.
Saturday morning/afternoon – Battle on the Plains of Abraham – using a WMA variant – perhaps Bob Barnettson’s Two for Tea…?
Saturday evening – The Wood Cutters – another Skirmish scenario.
Sunday mid morning to mid afternoon – Battle of St. Foy 1760.
I have some stuff that could be used for this. I was planning on working on some SYW stuff this year anyway – I’d just ramp it up a bit and model and cast a pile of my own generic tricorne figures… We shall see…

England 1066AD
Fulford Gate, Stamford Bridge, Hastings, and maybe a skirmish game or two or the winner of Hastings has to go beat down the Scotts under Malcom II. This will be high on the priority list as I have a lot of Dark Ages stuff.

English Civil War
Edge Hill, Marston Moor, Naseby, Dunbar? Some skirmish action…?
I have a lot of ECW stuff now...

Falklands 1982
A skirmish battle in the streets of Port Stanley during the initial Argentine invasion
South Georgia? Raid on Pebble Island?
Some air and/or naval action (I have no idea what rules I’d use…)?
Goose Green for sure (CWC)!
11/12 June – Mt. Longdon, Two Sisters, Mt. Harriet (CWC)
13/14 June – Tumbledown and Wireless Ridge (CWC)

The War of 1812
Queenston Heights, Chateguaney, Chrysler’s Farm, Chippewa, Lundy’s Lane… New Orleans?

Canadians in the Sicilian Campaign 1943
Grammichele, Assoro, Leonfort, Agira…?

Moro Crossings/Ortona 1943

Canadians in Normandy 1944
Capriquet, Buron, Authie, and other battles around Caen, etc…

Arnhem 1944

Closing the Falaise Gap
Operation Totalize I and II, Operation Tractable

Northwest Rebellion 1885
Duck Lake, Fish Creek, Battoche, Cutknife Hill, Frenchman’s Butte
Not sure what rules I would use for these they seem a bit big for Savage Worlds skirmish actions, a bit small for a WMA variant/Colonial War Commander… maybe a modified version of Ever Victorious Armies…? Of course if I use cold War Commander with one stand equal to an 8-10 man section and formations being companies – that might work… at least for Batoche… or maybe a scaled skirmish action using savage worlds (1 figure = 5 or 10 men – depending on the size of the historical action…?)

Battles on the Somme 1916

Battles at Paschendale 1917

The Last 100 Days 1918

Great War - East Africa

Red Dawn – Soviet invasion of North America 1986…?

Peloponnesian War?

Punic Wars?

Ia Drang 1966?

Well.. that’s 21 years worth of Wargame Weekends – assuming I just do one a year…. Maybe if it really works out I could do two a year – one in February and one in the summer or fall sometime – the secondary one would have to be one I already have stuff ready for – like the assorted WW2 ones, which I have a lot of the stuff done for already, or once I had the Canadian Corps (and a German one to oppose it) finished I could easily so any of the Great War campaigns with a minimum of effort (maybe a bit of battle specific terrain…)

The 1066 campaign is likely to happen sooner rather than later as it’s one I’ve wanted to do for a long time and HAVE a lot of the stuff I’d need. I would have to buy some Norman Cavalry and model and cast a few more generic dark ages warriors – mostly skirmishers with javelin or slings…

Looking at anniversaries - the 1885 Northwest Rebellion is another one with a big one coming up – 125th in 2010. Of course 2016, 2017, 2018 will see the various Canadians in the Great War campaigns as those will be 100th anniversaries. 2012 will be the Falklands 30th…? 2018 - Sicily or Ortona’s 75th, 2019 – D-Day, Normandy, Arnhem….

THE GAME PLAN 2008

Happy New Year!

It’s a New Year and time for a new plan. I thought I’d more or less follow the same format as The Game Plan 2007. (Do also check out – if you haven’t already – 2007 In Review - to see what I actually accomplished).

CONVENTIONS

I’ve kind of lost interest in conventions. The ones I went to were all very well organized – but some of the participants… well… they’ve kind of turned me off. Life’s too short to play games with arses. I think I’d rather plan some gaming weekends with just friends so….

TIM’S 4TH ANNUAL WARGAMING BIRTHDAY BASH/1ST (HOPEFULLY ANNUAL) WINTER WARGMING WEEKEND

The weekend of 22-23-24 February is going to see a mini-convention in my basement War Room (and maybe the garage if I get the heat hooked up and more people show up than I’m expecting). It will be an invitation only affair with just the friends I actually enjoy gaming with.

MAYDAY (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

Okay now that I think about it everyone I played with at Mayday were pretty good blokes. Friends that promised to be there did show up for games (well the important ones did - I love you guys!). So I think I'll go again this year, but maybe just PLAY games!

CALGARY GAMING WEEKEND?

Last year this was Fallcon. Fallcon is a supremely well-organized convention - an example for all to follow. But some of the players that show up there… well… auction or no auction I just don’t think I’m going again…. So hopefully sometime during the year I can organize a weekend in Calgary that my friends WILL remember and WILL show up to play at…!

REGULAR GAMING

Thursday Game Night

I’ve had some success with a regular wargaming night on Thursdays this fall with a really excellent bunch of blokes (John, Christian, Gary, Britton – thanks guys!). I think I will continue with it in the New Year. This has mostly been Blitzkrieg Commander and Cold War Commander and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future… until I finish up some Warmaster Ancients or Seven Years War armies… or sit down and bang out some rules for “Great War Commander”.

Savage Saturday

I have another pretty good bunch that are showing up regularly on Saturdays for Savage Worlds. In the past this had been strictly skirmish war games – but the group has shown some interest in – and considerable talent for – role-playing so it has turned into a more straight up role-playing game. The action is still played out on the tabletop with miniatures, but there is now as much, if not more, time spent role-playing – which is a nice change of pace.

The current campaign is a Fantasy campaign set in a world of my own design. As it gets fleshed out I may start another whole blog to chronicle the campaign.

PROJECTS

Well now… here we are at the “meat” of the plan. What to do with all my hobby/crafting time? So many toys to paint, so little time… I was feeling a little overwhelmed earlier when I actually started taking stock of all the stuff I own and have yet to paint – nevermind the things I’d need to still buy or make to finish up any of the projects I am working on…. Also having taken out and had a real good look at things while taking stock of them I’ve gotten really pumped about a whole bunch of things simultaneously…

So to make some sort of plan I should look at what games I’ve got coming up – the Wargames Weekend. Most of the stuff I’ve got planned I could do right now without adding anything… the one that would be NICE to have a bunch more stuff would be the World War Three game on Sunday – I’d need some more Russian stuff.

Also for my regular Savage Saturday games it would be nice to have some more bad guys… the same old zombies are wearing a bit thin… so it might be nice to paint up some Orcs and monsters and other baddies that I happen to have kicking around. (…and I should really get some of those figures John Burt gave me to paint finished up since he’s planning on playing Hero Quest and all…

So… THE PLAN for January and February

January
2 weeks – paint a pile of Fantasy Skirmish Figures.
2 weeks – Assemble and paint 5 remaining BMP-1

February
2 weeks - Assemble and paint 2x T-80, 1x T-72
2 weeks – paint more Russian infantry… maybe some American infantry…?

I’m too all-over-the-place to determine what I’ll do beyond that – we’ll see how the first two months and the Wargames Weekend go and work from there. I do think I’d like to work on the Seven Years War, and take a chunk out of the Armour TO-DO List.

I’d also like to work on my 20mm WW2 Canadian infantry and I’m getting pretty excited about the Dark Ages… but that’s probably because I’ve been working on taking stock of them over the last couple days.

I also need to build some new terrain – trees, bigger hills, more mountains, more buildings – especially for 20mm.

I still need to finish taking stock of a few things and that will help me finalize my Long Range Toy Plan – which, in turn, will help me figure out what manageable bits I will work on this year…

More to come!

The Armour TO-DO List

As part of my general taking stock and planning for 2008 I thought I’d take stock of the 20mm/1:72 armour kits I have this evening…. Oh dear…

Here’s what I have:

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

Armour – WW2

World War Two kits seem to be almost exclusively German:
7x PzkwIVG
2x PzkwIIIM
1x Panther G
2x Wirblewind/Flakpanzer
2x Panzerjager(?)
1x Jagdpanzer IV
1x AA/AT kit (Pak 40, Pak 36, and Flak 38 – all with crews!)
1x StugIIIG
4x Sdkfz 251 – various sorts – they’ll all just end up being the standard infantry carriers
1x Sdkfz 251 with rocket launchers
1x Sdkfz 251 assault bridge
1x Sdkfz 250/9 recce
2x Jagdpanther
1x Sdkfz11 and Pak 40
1x 88 and tractor
1x Sdkfz 222 and Kublewagon
plus assorted bits for various “bashed” kits

I also have a T-34 to repaint and two IS-2 (both assembled and primed and started painting– just need to finish)….

Let’s say about 30 kits total – that I could find… wow… I actually only bought three of them – of the German kits that is. The two Airfix kits listed on the bottom were given to me, the rest I got in trade for my Falklands 15mm stuff! (along with a pile – like HUNDREDS – of 1:72 plastic WW2 infantry)… Well all this along with the piles of late war SS infantry I’ve already got painted would make for some great Canadians vs. 12th SS in Normandy games! (or British paras – which I’ve also got piles of already painted – vs. SS panzer troops near Arnhem!)

I think the PzkwIV and Panthers and 251s would probably be my first priority, along with the AT guns… the two Jagdpanthers would be dead last – I already have two (from a HaT/Armourfast kit) and there just wasn’t that damn many of them, especially on the western front.

I also have 4 Corgi die-cast shermans which I will at some point base and re-paint to look like Canadian tanks – maybe even convert one to look like a Sherman VC.

Now for the modern stuff….


Armour - Modern

Well I have a bit more of this stuff…

French (not in the picture)
2x AMX-30
2x AML-90
4x VAB

British
3x Scorpion/Scimitar (one assembled –needs to be painted)
6x Challanger I (two of which are the up-armoured variety)
10x Warrior IFV (eight of which are the up-armoured variety – there was a crazy sale at squadron…)

Canadian
5x Leopard 1A4
5x M113
4x Grizzly
2x Cougar

Russians
1x BTR 50 Command
3x BMD of assorted varieties
5x BMP
1x AT-3 Sagger
3x BTR 60 PA
1x 2S9 Nona
1x Hind D
2x Mi-8
1x 2S1 Gvozdika
2x T-54
2x T-80
1x T-72

USA
5x Bradleys (die-cast kits that just need to be re-painted)
1x Blackhawk
5x Cobras (I’ll probably only ever build and paint two – got them as part of an auction lot)
1x M-48 (assembled and primed – just need to finish painting)

Australian
2x M113 FSV (one assembled and primed – just need to finish painting)

So… uh… another 80 kits or so… okay, I may have gone a bit overboard here… adding the two together is about 110 kits… If I did one a week, that would be just over two years… Hmmm I better get cracking!

Actually I’m hoping I’ll be able to do some of them in lots – say over two weeks do four or five of the same or similar vehicles – setting up a bit of a production line.

The sad thing is there’s a couple more kits I’d like to pick up ( a couple more BMDs… some ERC-90s – as they’d be more appropriste to go with the VABs…) I think I can hold off on them for now.

As for priorities for the Modern equipment I’m thinking Russian stuff first! After the Russians I should probably get cracking on the British equipment – as I have a lot of British Infantry done – equipment will mechanize them. The American Bradleys would be up there too as they’re quick repaints, I have some M1s done, and I have American infantry based, primed and ready to be painted.

Stuff like the French VABs and the Canadian M113s and Grizzlies aren’t going to be all that usefull until I have some infantry – which may be a while. I guess the M113s could be used in Vietnam so they’d be slightly higher on the list than the Grizzlies and VABs.
Conclusions.

Of course there are things I’d like to do besides build and paint armour kits for the next two years…

Modern 20mm – Part One: British and French

As I mentioned a week or so ago my plan for the next month is to take stock of all the figures I have (painted or not) and make a loose project plan for the next year.

I thought I’d start with the 20mm figures as that’s what I’m most stoked about right now.

I’ll be using these with Cold War Commander. The idea is to put together a number of versatile forces to cover a number of conflicts or potential conflicts. The soviets, for example, could be used for the war in Afghanistan, Red Dawn/World War Three games, and their equipment could be used by any number of Middle East or African forces.

Lower level conflicts/actions seem appealing to me so I would probably be using a figure/model scale of one infantry stand = one section and one vehicle or gun model = approximately two on the ground.

I think tonight I shall start with the British and French….

Why Brits….? Well, being a super-power (or former super-power – depending on who you’re asking…) with fairly strong ties with their former colonial possessions, they’ve been “involved”. There are loads of conflicts they’re actually been involved in and many, many more potential/”what if” conflicts they could be used in.

I’ve been particularly inspired by Fireman Tim’s Cold Wargaming Blog. Checkout the Red Dawn scenario ideas – in the July 2007 Blog Archives! Something about fighting Russians in the Rockies or on the Canadian plains tickled my fancy. I thought a British Battlegroup could slide really easily into a campaign like that – they could be a battlegroup that just happened to be training at BATUS when the Russians launched their surprise invasion!

I also imagine they could be used with my African armies – a task group being brought in to protect British interests in some small African country spiraling down into chaos..

Of course any FN armed British would see action in the Falklands…

I debated whether to do them in temperate or desert DPM. In the end I decided to go with temperate. I decided that really I’m just not interested in the Gulf War (episodes I or II) – which is pretty much all there is to do with guys in Desert DPM. The tropical DPM is identical to the temperate (just lighter weight) if I wanted to dump them in a jungle somewhere. Considering the locales I envision them operating I decided to go with Temperate DPM (Actually I was at CFB Wainwright – in Alberta - in the summer of 1992 taking an MSE Op course and there were British training there and they were using Desert DPM out in the field… but… whatever…).

Next I had to decide SA-80s or FNs. I’d have liked to go with FNs all the way. That would have made them useable for the Falklands. I have about a company’s worth of guys armed with FNs. However, as there are cheap plastic figures with SA80s readily available, the bulk of my force, for the time being, will be thus armed, making the nominal date of my forces late ‘80’s and beyond.

The French are interesting for many of the same reasons. I’d like to have a few for intervening in Beirut or Tchad (or Timbogo…!?). So early ‘80’sish Legionnaires in OD uniforms (maybe even shorts!) and not so much body armour.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve got so far…

HAVE:

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

I have three Airfix Scorpion CVRT kits. Conveniently the kits can be built as either a Scorpion or a Scimitar. I’ve assembled one as a Scorpion, leaving all hatches open for adding turret crew and driver in the future. The other two kits I will build as Scimitars.


I’ve picked up some other equipment for the Brits recently; Six Challengers, including two with reactive armour. Three of the kits come with sprues of infantry – enough for three more companies of SA-80 armed infantry.


For painted and ready for action troops I have exactly two stands of Platoon 20, SA-80 armed British infantry (these are quite old. I ordered them from Platoon 20 back in 1991? That’s the original paint job, though they have been rebased recently)….


…and two platoons worth of the 1:72 plastic Revell figures (plus two command stands).


Before I settled on the temperate DPM I tried painting three stands in Desert DPM just for kicks…


For FN armed British infantry I have three infantry stands plus one HQ of Combat Minis…


…and darn near a company of other assorted figures. Included in this lost are Platoon 20, Skytrex or Hinchliffe, and Heroes Miniatures (again all ordered from England and painted circa 1991 – you know before the internet, online catalogues, web-based commerce, and all that…?!)


I have a couple more Combat Miniatures figures to make up a couple more HQs or to add to an infantry stand.

I also have three stands of plastic figures, armed with FNs and Sterlings, which I neglected to take a picture or. They’re from an old ESCI “NATO soldiers” box. I’ve recently stuck them on new bases and primed them black for repainting. They’ll look a little out of place but can fill in as an extra platoon until I can get some more appropriate figures…


The French… I recently picked up this Heller VAB 4x4. Wish I could find a few more.

I’ve also ordered a pair of ACE AML-90 from Models UA for some additional light armour support for my Legionnaires. Should be here in the next week or so.


For infantry I have two infantry stands and one HQ of the long gone Heroes Miniatures…


… and three infantry stands of the aforementioned, and likewise long gone, ESCI NATO troops kit…

Where to get more Frenchmen (or I guess I should say “Legionnaires” as technically they’re not really “Frenchmen”…)? I have a feeling I may have to make my own – which will be my first attempt at doing 20mm figures…!

THE PLAN:

For the British I’d like to eventually field a battalion-plus-sized Mechanized Battlegroup. To start with I will probably paint up all the infantry I have still to paint and the CVRTs will take first priority among the armour to be painted. That way they could be fielded as some light role infantry (paras, marines, or regular ol’ infantry)…

Here’s what the battlegroup would eventually look like:

CO (Sultan?)

1x Armoured Squadron HQ + 6x Challenger I (technically the HQ should probably be another Challenger… not sure what I’ll use just yet…)
HAVE: 6 to assemble and paint, NEED TO GET: 1? (or something else for an HQ…?)

Armoured Infantry Battalion
-3x Armoured infantry companies each:
HQ, 9 Infantry Stands, 5 Warrior MCV
Totals:
3 HQ - HAVE: 1 Painted, 2+ To Paint
28 Infantry Stands - HAVE: 8 Painted, 20+ To Paint, (Manufacturer/Store)
15 Warrior HAVE: 2 to assemble and paint, NEED TO GET: 3 to start… 10, maybe someday… (Revell)


-1x Maneuver Support Company with:
--Mortar platoon 3x 81mm Mortar stands NEED TO GET: 3 (FAA? Liberation?)
--ATGW Platoon 3x Milan Stands + 2 more Warrior MCVs?! HAVE: 3 Milan To Paint, NEED TO GET: Warriors? (Revell)
--Assault Pioneer Platoon: 3 Engineer stands + 2 more Warrior MCVs?! HAVE: additional infantry that could be painted up to be “engineers” NEED TO GET: still more warriors!? (Manufacturer/Store)
--Recce Platoon: 4 Sabres? (I’ll probably just used the Scorpion and Scimitars here…)
HAVE: 1 Scorpion assembled to paint, 2 more to assemble and paint NEED TO GET: Turret Crews/Drivers (Liberation?)

Aritillery Battery in Direct Support – 105mm SP Abbot (Cromwell)

Maybe I should do a separate force of FN armed troops for the Falklands…

20mm Modern British Light Infantry Battalion (‘70’s/Early ‘80’s - FNs)

CO - NEED TO GET (BV-202? Land Rover with staff and signalers milling about?)

Infantry Battalion
-3-4x Infantry Companies each:
--HQ, 9 Infantry Stands
Totals:
3x HQ - HAVE: 2 Painted, 2 To Paint
36x Infantry Stands - HAVE: 11 Painted, 3 To Paint, NEED TO GET: 22!? (Combat Miniatures? Platoon 20?)

-1x Maneuver Support Company with:
--Mortar platoon 3x 81mm Mortar stands NEED TO GET: 3 (FAA? Liberation?)
--ATGW Platoon 3x Milan Stands - NEED TO GET: 3 (L:iberation?)
--Assault Pioneer Platoon: 3 Engineer stands? (more infantry stands - preferably with bergens loaded with explosives?)
--Recce Platoon: ? more infantry? Use some of the Special forces that I HAVE?
--MG Platoon: 2-3? GPMG on tripod - HAVE: 1 Painted, NEED TO GET: 1-2 (FAA?)

For the French… well… I have a nice little force to guard embassies or other French interests – but eventually I’d like to field a battalion of the FAR (Force d’Action Rapide) – like, say, the 2e REP!

CO - NEED TO GET

4 Infantry Companies each:
HQ + 9 Infantry stands
Total: 4 HQ, 36 Infantry stands
HAVE: 1 HQ + 5 Infantry Stands Painted, NEED TO GET: 3 HQ, 32 Infantry Stands

Support company with:
3x 20mm AA….? - NEED TO GET
4x Milan - NEED TO GET
3x 120mm Mortars – these could be off-table…
4x 81mm Mortars - NEED TO GET
4x VLTT trucks with 12.7MG - NEED TO GET?

Other supporting elements or options to field as mechanized (1er REI, 1er REC), etc
VAB 4x4 APC- HAVE: 1 to assemble and paint, NEED TO GET: 2-3 more? Heller!
AML-90 HAVE: 2 (on order) to assemble and paint,
AMX-10?


NEED TO GET:

British

81mm mortars! – Priority one! I have just about everything I need to field a Light Role Infantry Battalion circa 1990 except the mortars. Either FAA or Liberation miniatures have suitable miniatures. If the crews don't have small arms they could be used for either force!

Tanks… nothing… except something for an HQ for the armoured squadron – if it ever gets fielded as a squadron and the tanks aren’t just parceled out to directly support the Mechanized infantry companies… This will probably be one more Challenger…

More Warriors – Okay I’m probably NEVER going to have enough to field the entire battalion – but a companies worth might be nice. I have two, at least three more would do the job for now.

FN armed troops aren't going to be cheap so they're a bit lower in priority. I guess I could try making some - as I do need a few, it might be worth trying....

French

The french aren't a huge priority right now... nothing is really "NEED TO"

NICE TO GET:

British

Like I said a British SP gun would be nice to stick at the table edge to show the artillery in Direct Support. Cromwell makes a 105mm SP Abbot.

For the Battlegroup’s CO stand I was thinking Cromwell’s Sultan might do the job…?

French

As I mentioned before I don’t know of anyone still making appropriate infantry models so I’ll probably have to make my own… maybe for mortars and Milans and other support weapons I’ll pick up some generic looking Liberation Miniatures and convert as required…?

The VLTT trucks with 12.7MG…? no idea…

Some more VAB would be nice. Anyone make an AMX-10 RC…?

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

More 20mm Cold War/Modern stuff: Vietnam, Canadians, Americans, Africans, Russians, etc!

Wow… this is going to take a while…