Modern British Sniper and Armed Civilians

Okay... I am officially COMPLETELY distracted from the Great War and Greeks…

I hope to get back to both later this fall (or maybe winter...), but I recently picked up a copy of Force on Force and I’m pretty damn excited to try it out. I've been reading reports of games of Force on Force and Ambush Alley on a number of my favourite blogs for a while now and I finally broke down and picked up a copy. I’ve been giving it a read through this past week and it seems to have all the elements I’ve kind of felt have been missing from Savage Worlds: Modern Ops. Hopefully I’ll get to play it sometime this next week… stay tuned for AARs!

I’ve also been on a massive re-re-basing project – the 20mm modern stuff… I haven’t played Cold War Commander in ages (which they are ostensibly based for). While 28mm is my choice of scale for skirmishy games, I figured I have LOADS of stuff in 20mm I could use for Force on Force

If ever I get around to playing Cold War Commander again I’ll just have to use sabotted bases... or perhaps entirely rebuilt all those forces in 6mm! Micro stuff is cheap - and it'd probably work better for that game anyway! 

In the meantime, here’s some stuff I’ve finished up recently.

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Some armed civilians. All are from The Assault Group’s assorted modern ranges.

A British sniper – also from The Assault Group.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Probably more modern stuff…

Although  Bolt Action also arrived this week… so… 

The Jackals

“The Jackals” are the handpicked, elite personal guard of the president of Timbogo (the fictional African nation that has been the focus of some of my AK-47 Republic/Cold War Commander campaigns). The Jackals are ruthless and loyal and have been highly trained by foreign mercenaries that have boasted previous experience in various special operations forces throughout the world (SAS, US Special Forces, Spetznaz, etc.).

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“The Jackals” are actually surplus British SAS figures I had from The Assault Group.

At some point I thought I might pick up some more 28mm Africans to play out some more clashes between the Federal Army of the Republic of Timbogo (F.A.R.T.) and their arch nemesis the Peoples Revolutionary Army of Timbogo (P.R.A.T.).

I already have an African Generalthat I though could Head up P.R.A.T.

The President for Life figure from Matakishi’s Tea House looks like a perfect leader for F.A.R.T.

The rest of the F.A.R.T. and P.R.A.T. forces I could fill out with a mix of The Assault Group African Militia and Congolese figures from Britannia Miniatures and/or Mongrel Miniatures…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

More minis… sometime… Could be Belgian Carbiniers or mreo modern stuff.

The recent surge in modern stuff is due mostly to me breaking down and picking up Force on Force

MORE WW2/Pulp/Modern Odds and Sods

A few of the things rolling off the workbench in no particular order…

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A couple pulpy characters from Artizan Designs Thrilling Tales line.

A Great War Canadian (British) officer from Wargames Foundry. What is it with British officers and double-barreled shotguns? Were they all that common among the officer set? I have at least one other officer with a double-barreled shotgun that I can think of (like This One that I painted earlier this year from Great War Miniatures). I’m sure I’ve seen others as well…

A Soviet staff officer from West Wind Productions

A modern assassin also from Wargames Foundry

A couple of modern soldiers from The Assault Group. On the left is a British forward observer (same as This One but in Termperate DPM), and the chap on the right is yet another of the SAS armed with MP5s that I tried to do in CADPAT Arid thinking I could pass them off as JTF2…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

More odds and sods or Great War Cavalry.

I should really do some planning for the final quarter of 2012… I seem to have veered wildly from my original plan of doing the Battle of Queenston Heights this fall… Perhaps I need to only plan 3-6 months in advance. I can’t seem to maintain momentum on projects for longer than that… well… I CAN, and HAVE… but that’s usually been on projects where I was actually getting games in along the way and having a lot of fun. I haven’t been playing games so much lately… so it’s hard to stick with stuff… 

Modern Americans in NBCD Gear

A few more Americans in Nuclear Biological Chemical Defence gear…

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I don’t know if you can see them there (because they’re so well camouflaged!), but there’s four Americans in NBCD gear from The Assault Group in this picture. I picked up this pack to add to the ones I already have to fill out a squad of sorts. I love (LOVE) that you can order a single pack direct from the Assault Group and not have to pay an astronomical amount of postage.

Here’s the whole squad together….

The plan is to use them in Savage Worlds RPG/Skirmish games – zombie games or post-apocalyptic or other disasters where Biological or Chemical agents or contamination may be… I have a very specific scenario in mind for them first, but I don’t want to give anything away lest any of my players figure it out…

I’m awfully tempted to pick up a few more (that’s the truly eveil part of being able to order any number… is you can just order one or two or three packs and “hey it’s only ONE pack, right…?” and then you order a few more…)… or perhaps I should pick up a pack of Copplestone Castings Bio-Chem Squad for some (rather heavily armed!) CDC specialists.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Oh, so much fun on the workbench these days… Maybe it’s time to clear it off and start fresh… the same old WW2 British Paras and Soviets are there (plus a few new ones that just arrived… West Winds was having a sale… curse them…) and a pile of Great War cavalry all based and primed and ready to go (shall I start with the Germans…? or the colourful Frenchies?)… Ancient Greek… assorted Modern–ish stuff… yadda-yadda same old stuff, who knows which I’ll do next…!?  

Greek Light Horse, WW2 GIs, and a Modern Operative

I’ve had a pretty busy week or so… here’s a few more…

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Modern Operative from The Assault Group

A WW2 American GI command team from Black Tree Design.

Greek Light Horse from RAFM.

The Rafm figures are kind of smallish compare to more modern manufacturers…

Rafm vs BTD

Maybe as long as I don’t mix BTD mounted and Rafm mounted in the same army I’m hoping I could probably get away with using these with some of my Greek Hoplite armies… Besides the light horse will usually be operating on their own off on the flanks of the enemy…

Rafm mounted with Crusader foot

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Did I say something about some Great War French Cavalry… we’ll see… my workbench has become clogged with an overwhelming amount of stuff and I need to clear it off and start afresh. Hopefully the Frenchwill make the cut… and probably some more modern stuff and some WW2 Soviets… and maybe the Paras… 

More Assault Group Moderns

Just a few more… all from The Assault Group.

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Two more SAS troopers; a forward observer and a chap with a FIM-92 Stinger SAM. I’m not sure who the SAS chap would be using the Stinger against…? What theatre have they operated in recently that they did not have total air superiority….!? I have three more of them!? I’ll do two in Temperate DPM and they could be handy for Cold-War-turns-hot type games… or even a Second (or would it be Third?) English Civil War…

A modern Agent and a thug with a shotgun. The thug with a shotgun  is actually from African Militia with Shotguns pack… except that they don’t look all that “African”… Others in the line have a very African look, but these are the same figures from the Russian Mafia packs in the Organized Criminal Gang line, remodeled with shotguns… Guess I’ll have to order some others to start my African force… and these guys will do fine as thugs with shotguns.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

More Moderns… and some Greek Cavalry…

More Modern Special Ops

Another batch of the recent NBGH order…

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These figures from The Assault Group. I painted them to use as members of a Private Security company – for the same scenario that I’ll be using the US troops in NBC gear for – I figured if there was a major disaster large corporations might hire private security companies to move in and safeguard their assets (form looting, or whatever…) in the disaster area… (The patch I did on their upper sleeves is not supposed to be the crest of any private security company I know of – I just made it up… )

The figures are actually SAS fire team with silenced weapons (plus an SAS Sniper). I picked the pack up (and two more like it) despite already having the same – already painted as SAS… I figured I could easily use these as Private Security Contractors. Another pack will be the private body guard for my African Dictator.

More figures from The Assault Group (from left to right); a news reporter, a CIA or Delta operative, and an SAS sniper.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Some more modern figures… then maybe some WW2 or Ancient Greeks or Amazons or Great War FRENCH!? 

Modern US in NBC Gear

These are the main reason I placed that big order with North Bay Games and Hobbies - In and upcoming adventure there’s… well… a bit of a catastrophic disaster, which takes places in the USA. I figured I could do with some modern US troops which would have been deployed to the area… and it’s a disaster zone that could be contaminated by some chemical or biological (or supernatural that is mistaken for biological or chemical) agents.

I knew NBGH had some assault group stuff and it was on sale, so I went to check to see what they had and discovered the Assault group stuff was considerabley more deeply discounted… $5 per pack… and MOST of them were 8 figure packs – how could I go wrong - so I ordered most of what they had left… Unfortunately this was the only really useful pack of Americans (there was also an “Agents and Operatives” pack – which will be useful for other things, but not the game I had in mind) and this pack – and the Agents and Operatives – were the ONLY four figure packs in the whole she-bang!? DOH!? Oh well…

I also got a PILE of Modern British – mostly SAS. I ordered THREE PACKS of the SAS with silenced weapons… Now, considering I already HAVE this pack – and it was ane eight figure pack – why would I need 24 MORE of the same dudes!? Well, I figured one pack I would paint in a plain tan uniform with black equipment and try to pass them off as members of a private security company of some sort (which may very well be deployed to the same disaster area!). Another pack I thought I’d paint up as Africans – to be the private guard for African Warlord/General/Dictator (scroll down, he’s near the bottom)

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These four are from The Assault Group.

I’m not totally excited with make up and  poses of the pack. Some of the Assault Group packs are hit and miss with me – especially some of the moderns. This is the only pack of marines in NBC gear… say I wanted more than just one fire team… I’d end up with a force where one in four is getting ready to fire a rocket, and one in four is holding his M249 upright and signaling for someone to stop or something…?

There is a pack of Delta force in NBC gear, which are similarly equipped and would be a great addition to this team… I think I'll have to order one... (DOH!) 

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

A few more modern types… then hopefully back to some WW2 and ancient Greeks… and the Great War!

Moderns, Colonials, The Chindit and Some Giant Purple Worms

A couple more things I’ve finished up…

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A couple more modernish types from (L to R) West Wind Productions, Hasslefree Miniatures, and Wargames Foundry .

A mounted Boer and a British morale failure marker from Black Tree Design.

Major Lumley of the 3/6th Gurkha Rifles from The Assault Group. I say “THE” Chindit as it’s pretty much the only one I own…

That’s not quite true, I also have two Vickers teams!? Why on earth do I have TWO Vickers teams when I have no other Chindits!? Well North Star was blowing them out at super-deep-discounted prices and I accidentally ordered two. I’d meant to order two of… something else… (I can’t remember what) but ended up ordering two of the Chindit HMG teams by mistake.

Giant Purple Worms from Reaper Miniature’s new Bones line of plastic figures. Generally I don’t care for plastic figures… but these, being solid hard plastic, seemed hefty enough and at $4 a piece it seemed a pretty good deal (compared to the $28 for the metal version of the same figure!?)

For a sense of proportion….

I put these on 60x60mm bases because, well… they’re big enough that it wasn’t too awkward a size for them in a skirmish game, but also so they could be used as some rather frightful LURKERS in Hordes of the Things!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Um… more painting… Unless I play some DBA/HOTT with the kids this afternoon. 

SWAT, Aliens and Soviet Snipers

Another odd assortment…

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Two soviet Snipers form Black Tree Design.

Some SWAT team members from Wargames Foundry.

I’m getting to have quite a collection of Law Enforcement Officers from a variety of manufacturers. Maybe when I finish up the next batch I’ll do some comparison pics.

Some Kryomek Aliens from Scotia Grendel.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Oh… lots of stuff cluttering the workbench… More modern stuff, WW2 Soviets, Amazons, Hoplites, Boers, etc, etc… Because I’ve started a Savage Worlds Cthulhu Now Campaign I’ll probably be cranking out a few moderns… and some more Greeks for the Greek Myth Campaign with the kids… 

Odds and Sods: Spies, Sorcerers, Civilians, Cyborg Simians, Centaurs and… er… Ghoul Kids on Bikes!?

An odd assortment of things I finished up today…

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A Spy from Artizan Designs Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang line…

Gigori Rasputin and Kriegaffe from Steve Jackson Games Hellboy Villains set.

Three civilians from one of the old  West Wind Productions Supersystem civilians packs. I think the two with their arms in the air are supposed to be surrendering or something. I suppose they could be doing some sort of calisthenics...? 

A centaur from Mega Miniatures - on an extra large base for use as an army marker (should I ever get to use the new Centaur Army in a campaign…).

And finally…

Ghoul kids on bikes from Black Cat Bases. I think this is the first stuff I’ve bought and painted from them… I’d certainly like to pick up more! Like the Book Golem… or the Weird Appliances… or the Mythos Beasties… and I totally need a unit of  VSF British with gas masks… and… well… you get the idea… they have a lot of odd, neat stuff. (I could do an entire ARMY of Undead Roman Legionnaires … MWA-HA-HA-Ha-Ha-ha-ha-haaaaaa…)

(now I’m just being Silly again!)

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Hmmmmm…. Hard to say… Probably more odds and ends… I don’t seem to be able to FOCUS on anything long enough to paint a unit – or even an element of anything… 

Modern Americans

A couple more modern-types I finished up over the weekend…

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These guys are form Devil Dog Design – which seems to be out of business at the moment… I can’t remember if they were a forward observer team or a sniper team….? Doesn’t really look like a sniper rifle…. So I’d go with forward observers.

Same guys from the back. This was my first crack at modern American ACU camouflage.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Hmmmm… not sure… still a few modern types polluting the workbench. I may or may not finish them up. I have a hankerin’ to pull out the DBA and HOTT stuff again… Have some new armies ready for when the kids get back from their holidaze. 

Modern Investigators, Spies, Thugs and Amateur Cricket Players

As I knew it would be pouring rain this morning (and I thus wouldn’t be getting up early for a ride) I stayed up a bit late last night and got some painting done….

I’ve been reading a lot of Hellboy and B.P.R.D. – and even tracked down a copy of the Hellboy Role-playing Game and Sourcebook - and have been thinking about running games inspired by those… maybe use some Cthulhu Now adventures I have – but run them with the players being agents of the B.P.R.D.?

Anyway, thinking about it all got me inspired to finish up a few modern-ish figures I’ve had haunting my un-painted boxes for some time…

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This first chap is from Artizan Designs “Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang” line.

More “Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang” figures, but these are manufactured by Copplestone Castings.

A few investigator-types from Wargames Foundry.

And finally the "Amateur Cricket Player" from Hasslefree Miniatures.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

As I mentioned it’s been raining all day, The kids are at my folks and Amanda’s off at an all-day yoga workshop – so I’m getting some MORE painting done! Stay tuned for that action. Mostly more Modern-ish Skirmish-Role-Playing-Adventure types. I have some more from Hasslefree Miniatures.  that will be PERFECT Cthulhu Now investigators!!

Stay Tuned for that!

TAG British Medic

Another of the Free Minis from The Assault Group. One of my players picked this one… and as they have no intention of ever painting any minis for themselves… it was turned over to me to paint for them… (now if only they’d use the discount code to buy me a birthday present!)

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This is the Modern British Medic.


The figure and pack are separate - so if you had a casualty figure the medic could be positioned to be working on the casualty with the bag next to him.


His presence on the battlefield should bring some relief to the rest of my TAG Modern Paras.

It’s been a while since I painted some DPM.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Probably some more WW2 stuff… But there are Ancient/Mythological Greeks hanging out one the workbench too… 

FREE MINIATURE!

Two updates in one day… this is madness!?

No, I’m not giving minis away… I GOT a free miniature!! The Assault Group had a deal going (and may very well still be doing it) where if you “like” their Facebook Page and post on their wall asking for a free mini… they’ll send one to you! And they have sent me one…

More info HERE.

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The figure I asked for (and received!) is called ”Tracy Burka”. Now all I need is a pile of other women in burkas to hid her among… Of course the figure could also do duty as some sort of special ops trooper “in disguise” – or even Captain Haddock or Tintin – who I seem to recall escaped from the clutches of their foes in one book by dressing in burkas….

Anyone know where I can GET more women in burkas...? I seem to recall there was a market set Eureka had that had a few...

I suppose I could make a few myself... 

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

WW2-ish stuff…? There’s a pile of Soviet Naval infantry on the workbench and I’ve just started assembling some Soviet Zombie Bombs!?

Or Amazons…

Or Greek Hoplites…

The A Team

In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team…

The A Team is, of course, ©®™ and all that jazz of NBCUniversal Media, LLC… not that that stopped Wargames Foundry from making “The B Team”…

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I’m a sucker for this pop culture icons turned into wargames minis…

I may have to run an “A Team stops the zombie apocalypse” scenario on Savage Saturday one of these days… Maybe they’ll team up with Jack Burton…

Zombie scenarios aside… I was thinking in a Savage Worlds scenario involving these guys they would have to have some sort of edge/special ability whereby they could shoot at people and if they were hit they would be automatically shaken – but could never actually be wounded. Likewise, any one in a grenade or other explosive burst template would be automatically shaken, but never actually wounded… and all their weapons would count as heavy weapons – so they could affect vehicles and any vehicle (car... helicopter... tank... whatever...) they hit would, without rolling for damage, crash, flip over and explode (but only after safely ejecting all passengers… who would automatically be shaken…).

Now I just need to find them a van…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Um…

I did START on some Zulu War British last night…

Slight Diversion – Modern Plainclothes Cops

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These are Plainclothes Police in Tactical Body Armour from West Wind Productions. Nice enough. Not terribly useful right now… but, whatever…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

More Russians… then some Germans… then some Canucks…

28mm Moderns Complete!!

Inspired by watching Generation Kill (which Christian leant to me) and the desire to be able to say “I am DONE those!” I finished off the last four 28mm Modern Military figures I have!

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This Quartet of modern Russians are from The Assault Group. I ordered them direct – it was quicker than trying to get them through the local game store and also when ordering direct you get one of each in the set – instead of a blister of 8 with two of each. This happens to finish off the last of the 28mm Modern Military minis I have! These guys have already seen some action - check it out at Savage Timmy's Playhouse

Oh, I do have some more 28mm Modern/Near Future Civillians and Superheros types… but all the Military ones are done. That’s also not to say that I won’t ever add to them – there’s a number of things I’d like to add at some point, but given the moratorium on further figure purchases until next year… that ain’t going to happen any time soon.

So here’s a look at the complete collection to date:


These are some Ultra Modern Russians. The infantry, as above, are all from The Assault Group. The BTR-80 is from S&S Models.


These Cold War Russians are from Mongrel Miniatures. They sometimes see action with the Ultra modern types above.


These East Germans are also from Mongrel Miniatures.


I’ve had this figure since the late ‘80’s/Early ‘90’s and I have no idea who manufactuered it or where it even came from!? I so wished I could have found more because I was playing a lot of Twilight:2000 at the time… I should give him a Pinsol bath and repaint him to more closely match my other Cold War Russians.


These Afghans are mostly from Devil Dog Design, though the stinger team on the left is from Mongrel Miniatures.


The better part of a platoon of modern British paras (all from The Assault Group)


4+ teams of Modern British SAS (again, all from The Assault Group)


Some Cold War British SAS (from Mongrel Miniatures) – two teams worth.


More Cold War British; On the left are four Gurkhas from Gripping Beast’s MoFo line, while the platoon command and support to the right are from Mongrel Miniatures.


A handful of Americans. The four on the left are from Devil Dog Design. The four on the right are from Gripping Beast. The one in the middle is a converted Copplestone Castings mini.


A fireteam of Canadians. The four with helmets are from Devil Dog Design, the other fellow is from RAFM.


These guys I’ve had since the the late ‘80’s/Early ‘90’s and been used for all sorts of adventures and games – from Twilight:2000 to 40K… This was it for moderns until all the cool new 28mm stuff started coming out… The four on the left are Dr. Who UNIT figures that, I think, were manufactured by FASA in North America…? The four on the right are Morrow Project figures… I’m not sure who manufactured them…


Not Military per se, but 28mm, Modern, and DONE! (and close enough to Military…!) The five on the left are Copplestone Castings, the remaining eight on the right are from The Assault Group.

I’d like to add some more vehicles at some point… a T-72 perhaps, maybe some Soviet APC/IFVs from Sloppy Jalopy - they’d be most handy as they could be used by any number of forces equipped by the Eastern Bloc. Some British Tanks and/or APCs to support the British infantry I have would be nice.

I’d definitely like to finish up the better part of a British Cold War platoon… pick up some more Cold War Russians (more VDV and some Motor Rifles) and some Argentines for them to fight…. I’d like to get some Generic African Militia… and maybe some mercenaries…. More Arabic types… and perhaps some Middle East regulars….

Some day I think I’d also like to model and cast my own Cold War Canadians in 28mm… (since I don’ tthink anyone else is ever going to make any!) but that will be a way off…

Now if only I could finish off the 28mm Modern Civilians and Superheroes! (not to mention all the Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang figures I picked up….). Maybe that should be the carrot – once I’ve finished painting all those I can pick up some more Modern/Cold War Military types!?