More BF Open Fire Grenadiers

Howdy folks,

I hope all is well on your side of the internets. Hard to believe that we are pushing into March now…the last month just sailed by. I had all the best intentions to post a couple of updates, but here we are with only one post for February.

Last month I kept working on the German Grenadiers from the Open Fire box…I gotta say, I had approached this with a certain amount of keenness…but the more of these first-gen plastic sculpts that I paint up, the more i get annoyed with them. So yeah, kinda soul sucking and maybe a little demotivating. Regardless, I decided to push through, and while I was going to base up the second batch for Flames of War, I instead just kept basing them for Force on Force. Maybe I can use them for Afropia and alt history or some such.

At this point, I’m not sure if I’ll finish the rest of the remaining figs or try to sell them off at CanGames…we’ll see how I feel. Anywho, I based these guys for FoF and while I was at it, I ended up putting together a couple of old-school Battlefront Marder III’s. These were fun to finally get some paint on…and I kinda forgot how challenging these old metal models can be. I had a hard time with paint transferring from the tracks to my fingers, so I had a few repeat applications of primer.

Hope you enjoy the pics. In this batch I had 2 leaders that I delineated using FoF classic colour coding…i.e. I painted a couple of desert yellow rocks on their base. 

You can see the 2 leaders in the front range centre-ish

Running up that Lead/Plastic Hill...

Painted

1/200          

15mm          46, +23    

28mm+       

Fabricated

     

Bought        0 

Progress   +46

Open Fire - German Grenadiers

Howdy folks,

I hope all is well on your side of the internets. So, here we are hitting mid-February and we are fresh off the best storm of the current season…although many would ay the first actual snow storm of the season. We had an excellent amount of snow fall the other day, and in some areas with the blowing snow, we got to walk up to 1 to 2 feet of snow. Good news…we have the chance to do a repeat of this tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to that.

The year so far has been fairly steady, and I have been trying to push through the Open Fire German grenadiers…following off my recent work on the US Para’s that came with the box. I had been looking at doing 1 platoon of gren’s based for Force on Force and then another for Flames of War. If I’m totally honest, I’m not really impressed with these plastic figures…so I am having some motivational issues with getting through them.

I’ve completed a first wave of the figures…and have started another batch. In between that time, I did see a post on Reddit where this fellow said that he uses 15mm FoW figures for Bolt Action. I think I can get behind that idea and ditch my plans for making a FoW platoon out of these figures…I think some more for Force on Force or 15mm Bolt Action might be a bit of motivation that I need to help me out.

Anyway, here is the first batch of Grenadiers…I’m looking forward to getting the rulebook for Bolt Action to see how that goes…and hey, 15mm Bolt Action.

Enjoy the pics. 

The group overall…mix of leadership and grunts…SMG’s and riflemen.

A couple of MG42 crews…they’ll work as part of a Grenadier section or standalone teams.

Tried my hand at splinter camo as well…it has been a while.

Another group shot, you can see the Officers and NCOs up front…these would be a platoon HQ or company HQ stand for FoW formation.

…a little Kate Bush love…

Running up that Lead/Plastic Hill...

Painted

1/200          

15mm          23    

28mm+       

Fabricated

     

Bought        0 

Progress   +23

Beyond Mig Alley - BRS - North Vietnam Rumble

Howdy folks,

Here's to the first battle report of the year! I was able to get together with Duncan and Mike and we had the chance to give a try to Blood Red Skies/ Beyond Mig Alley. We have each been painting up fabulous aircraft that Duncan picked up from Lead Pursuit Podcast and this was a great chance to get them on the table.

The setup for the game was Vietnam War, US aircraft are pre/post strike (actual timing was irrelevant) and they get 'bounced' or ambushed by North Vietnamese aircraft (Vietnam People's Air Force - VPAF). So force composition was:

• US - 4 or 5 x F105 Thud's - strike aircraft, self-defense machinegun; 1 x F4 Phantom - air superiority on top cover, no gun, armed with AIM-7 and 9 air-to-air missiles; and
• VPAF - 5 x Mig 19's - air superiority aircraft, air-to-air missiles and guns.

A few quick thoughts: it was a pretty fast paced affair, the missiles were a little frustrating (so maybe they lived up to their historical references), and the gun shots were epic. The jet age is extremely fast, even with the movement distance capped, several aircraft end up moving at the cap of 16” which is about 3-4 times the average speed of WW2 BRS.

The game was a lot of fun…Mike was on fire with his gun rolls…and definitely looking forward to next iterations.

And now the pics…enjoy.

The Setup & Start: the Thuds blend in pretty good with the mat…but they’re heading South when a bunch of MiGs jump on their 6.

Mike was able to bounce in and be in advantage. If I remember correctly, Duncan’s Thuds were pushed to neutral. Mike lined up a few shots and is able to splash his first Thud. I think the MiG gets a heavy hitter rating and that ends up being pretty devastating. You can see the token where the Thud falls to the earth.

I was able to jump into the fight from my ‘high cover’ position on the edge of the table. I was able to take my full 16” move and get in behind the MiGs and reduce the advantage of one of Mike’s aircraft. Unfortunately the shot didn’t take, but it put him on the defensive a little.

Mike fended off my F4 attack, but was able to splash another Thud (second token on the table)

The furball move inch by inch on the table, Duncan was able to get into a tail chase situation as well, so Mike had to drive one of his MiGs into the clouds for cover. At this point we had taken enough boom chits that the Thuds would’ve left the field. Mike elected to keep the fight going…so we did.

Again, I try to line up a shot with my Phantom…no gun onboard really sucks, but I let loose another missile with no effect…or maybe I scored a damage, I can’t remember.

I try doing a maneuver in order to change my facing back northwards…given the characteristics of the F4,  this meant that the high G combined with the ‘complex’ layout kept me at neutral for the turn while the crew sorted out their bearings…

This gave Mike the chance jump in behind and put me at disadvantage which gave him the chance to hit me with a gun shot…which he did quite nicely…and down I went with a ticket to that fancy hotel in the North’s capital.

Hey There ‘25

Happy belated New Year one and all,

I hope your respective side of the internet is treating you well. We are just shy of the 3rd week of January with a pending Polar Vortex coming our way…on the heals of a +1 Celsius day tomorrow…so that will be fun. I’m actually looking forward to it, apparently we will be seeing some snow before the cool temps hit…so while we’ve had hints of winter, we haven’t had the real big snow falls that I like, and we’re about to get a shot of REAL winter.

Anywho, onto the mandatory rehashing of the gaming year that was…

I tried to keep my goals pretty basic last year, nothing too in-depth, but enough specificity to guide the years activities. Reviewing my list from almost this exact time 12 months ago…

1. Work on a proper Red/Northern Dawn scenario, ideally 2 of them, and that includes the terrain to get it to the table. So, I would like to work through the VDV starter box, and fill out my Cdn Abn Regt; this one didn’t age well…while the scenario development and Cdn Abn died on the vine, I did finish the VDV starter box…so yeah, me. I did however get a chance to do a recce of southern Alberta this past year, and that will help guide scenario development as well as any terrain building that I need to do. I’ll keep this at the edge of the table.

2. Work on a 15mm scenario inspired by some of the Bush War actions, I think this will be a good kickstart for me to push som progress on the greater Afropia idea - and really work on some of the wider mechanics and construct of that verse; this is another idea that didn’t get too far. I did however start penning the initial build-up to an Afropian scenario/campaign. I have the initial die-rolls, but just need to get some of the actual gaming complete and then work on some of the higher level elements. 

3. I’d like to get some moderns to the table, so thinking of either Danger Close, Spectre Ops, or Force on Force, but moreso a limited small action scenario; I’m going to call this one a big success. I was able to get a few games in, paint a few figs, make some terrain, and get a game for CanGames. The game was a mixed success, but I’m going to chalk this up as a win regardless.. and

4. Continue with MCP played a couple of games, finally painted up Cap’n Sam America. I have a backlog that really needs some love…and get my Hoth force for Star Wars Legion moving. Wow! SW Legion did not get any love from me this year…I did get a few figures as gifts, but my Hoth intentions ran rather Coldth…

One this that I did not forecast last year, but ended up making a heap of progress with was my dive back into 15mm. Thanks to my VDV work, I was able to pull ahead by a few hundred figures, most of them 15mm, and had been sitting in the lead/plastic pile for years. I finished the US Parachute Company for FoW and Force on Force…So yeah, victory!

So the question stands…what will the painting gods bring us over the next year?

1. I want to get moving…somewhat slowly with Afropia. I have the bones of a mash up between Petoriastan and Aponwana. And it gives me the chance to try a few different game types, as well as some game mechanics that I’ve been checking out. So I am actually getting exciting with the idea…again.

2. Stemming from my 15mm US Parachute Company painting…I want to get a similar number of German infantry on the table, mix of basing for FoW and FoF, so that I can run a game at CanGames this year. I think it will be a FoF game, with Market Garden as the inspiration. More to follow on that.

3. Recycle some of the ideas about Red/Northern Dawn and get some Cdn Abn painted, as well as the framework of some scenarios and some small town Alberta terrain done.

4. Misc…SW Legion of course, MCP as well…and whatever floats the ole boat. Of course, I think it’s time I did a big clean of the basement area and get an appreciation for what I actually have and thin some of the not so achievable. More to follow on that one, lol

That’s it folks. Thanks for tuning in…take care of yourselves and all the best in the new year.

Cheers.

Last Post of the Year - BANG!

Hey folks,

As the title says, we’re in the final push of the year and I wanted to get in a final post for 2024. To mark it with a Bang, there’s no one better that I could think of than the Big Bang Theory gang dressed up as the Justice League for Stewarts comic bookstore New Year’s Eve party.

These beauts are from Knight Models and if I’m not mistaken were part of a series of releases…for a game that I can’t think of, but would have been ‘legal’ and playable on the tabletop. For me, I bought them cause they made me laugh, and I thought they would be fun to paint up. Given the end of that episode, our fear[less/ful] gang were walking the mean streets of Pasadena, so I thought I’d base them up with a suitable grungy back alley setting.

So, in that vein…please enjoy and Happy New Years folks!

Journey up Lead/Plastic Mountain

Painted

1/200          16

15mm         214

28mm+       50, +6

Fabricated

Terrain        2

Bought        24 

Progress   +258

BRS - MiG Alley...and Beyond MiG Alley

Howdy folks,

I hope all is going well over the Christmas and holiday period for everyone. Continuing on with my latest distraction. Not only have I dipped my toe into the Korean War conflict with Warlord Games Blood Red Skies MiG Alley...I have also recently discovered Lead Pursuit Podcast who has license with Warlord to produce aircraft for said game. AND who also have license to produce aircraft for Blood Red Skies and Lead Pursuit's free expansion rules for beyond the 1950s. You can find them here, Lead Pursuit Podcast

I have 8 aircraft now, some A4's, a couple of F4's, and a couple of Mig 19's...these are 3d printed and are super super sharp looking aircraft. They are probably the cleanest 3d prints I've seen, and certainly some of the cleanest aircraft models I've seen. 

The models all came up very quickly, but I gotta say that right now my favourite are the MiG 19’s, they were the cleanest and took the paint really well. The detail and lining really came out well…I am somewhat disappointed with the F4 and A4’s, but they will definitely work for the tabletop.

Enjoy the pics. Take care.

Group shot of everyone…I painted up one of the MiG 15’s with a red nose after seeing a pic of the Soviet Air Forces paint scheme for their “advisors” flying with the North Koreans. I have one MiG 19 in plain gray paint scheme and the other with grey and green…both inspired by North Vietnam Air Force paint schemes. The pic includes aircraft from my previous post…the weather was above freezing today, so it was dullcote day.

The A4 tails were inspired by the paint scheme of the Skyhawk’s that were flying off the USS Independence circa 1965. I think I’ll keep them fairly clean, keep them rather generic for use with other Air Forces.

I am currently waiting for decals for the Phantoms, they will be getting the Sundowners tail…looks very cool and will really top of the F4’s.

Journey up Lead/Plastic Mountain

Painted

1/200          16, +12 (2 x Sabre’s, 3 x MiG 15, 2 x MiG 19, 1 x F4, 4 x A4)

15mm         214

28mm+       44

Fabricated

Terrain        2

Bought        24 

Progress   +252

US Airborne Troops

Hello everyone,

Merry Christmas to one and all, happy New Year around the corner as well. I wanted to throw a quick post up of the last Battlefront US airborne troops that I've gotten painted up before the end of the year. While I am building my US Parachute Company for Flames of War, I also took one of the platoons and painted them up so I could use them in other rulesets...although, you can still use FoW based troops, they just need a little accounting work.

Anywho, I was thinking of doing some WW2 gaming using Force on Force so I ended up basing these guys accordingly. As well, it gave me the chance to try an alternate paint scheme, so I ended up trying to capture the D-Day and prior uniforms. I ended up with a platoon of about 30 troops and can easily swap in some of the HMG stands that I have already done.

For those inclined, here are the pics. I hope you enjoy!

Journey up Lead/Plastic Mountain

Painted

1/200          4

15mm         214, +30 (US airborne)

28mm+       44

Fabricated

Terrain        2

Bought        24 

Progress   +240

Geronimo!! More US Airborne for FoW

Howdy everyone,

I hope that the winter is treating everyone well, although with today’s weather, it is a lot less like winter and much more like spring. Anywho, I wanted to put up a quick post with my progress on my US airborne troops. I had previously finished the plastic platoon that came with the original Open Fire box, HERE.

This next platoon, and extras, come from the old US Parachute Company box that included 3 platoons worth of troops as well as company HQ stuff (i.e. snipers). 

There was definitely a difference between the plastic molds and the metal figures. The plastic ones look really good and have some pretty dynamic and expressive poses. While not as dynamic, the metal figs always feel good to paint. They’re also much easier to manage the detail with in terms of flashing and there area few spots where the plastic sculpts are chunky and lack that dimensional feel. I’m thinking mostly of the webbing and equipment like that where you are left with extra bulk where a space would normally be, and then you end up having to try to hide with the paintjob.

Regardless, it feels good to get some 15mm painting in and to finish up pieces that have been sitting around for far too long. Enjoy the pics.

Brand new platoon painted and good to go…2nd Platoon; standard platoon is 7 teams including 1 command team; 1 bazooka team, 1 mortar team; and 2 optional hmg teams and 1 optional extra bazooka team. For this platoon, I ended up using VJ Brown Umber on the edges for easier identification; as well, I ended up making tree stumps out of plastic offcuts to further identify the platoon as a unit.

Close up of a HMG team…

Close up of mortar team and command stand…

Some of the extras from the original box…snipers and pathfinder…and a couple of company command stands.

The company as it looks right now…2 combat platoons…I’ll have to paint up a couple of HMG teams and an extra bazooka team for the 1st Platoon…and then on to support platoons.

Journey up Lead/Plastic Mountain

Painted

1/200          4

15mm         184, +50 (US airborne)

28mm+       44

Fabricated

Terrain        2

Bought        24, +12 (beyond mig alley aircraft and another MiG Alley box) 

Progress   +210