A little at the club gaming - Flames of War

Howdy folks,

Yup...the summer is going by way to fast! I'm sure we can all agree on that...however, I have not been solely enjoying the summer sans painting and gaming.  I have been putting brush to mini and was able to get some gaming in the other day at our local club, Ottawa Miniature Gamers (OMG).

However, as the week had been particularly busy at work, I took the easy way out and put together a VERY quick list that took all of 23.7 seconds of thought.  I didn't want to introduce anything that I had not already painted up...I kinda wanted to get some minis on the table that I had not used before, but most important...I wanted something that I could grab from the collection in mere minutes.

Needless to say, all requirements were met...and I have to give kudos to my opponent, he was very gracious in allowing a very cheesy list.  As it turned out we had more German players than Allied so my opponent and I were engaged in a 'when doves cry'/post-Valkyrie type scenario.  He came to the table with an armoured company with Stugs, PzIVs, a couple of Panthers, scouts in Kubelwagons, and PzGren platoon in halftracks...very nice all around list with some good punch from the vehicles and scads of panzerfaust assaulters...

However, CHEESE was on my side...in my haste to fulfilling my core requirements I went with an armoured company with KingTiger HQ, 1 KingTiger platoon (of one tank), and a Tiger platoon (of four Tiger 1Es), and sporadic air support (bring on the Stuka's).

Yes...I did win the fight...yes, I thought it was very close at times...it did really come down to the luck of the dice.  Afterall, with 2 platoons of panzerfaust goodness, my opponent was unable to destroy any of my tanks...and he was able to approach from cover allowing him to sneak in real close.  I gambled that I could withstand the assaults and chose to ignore his advancing infantry instead focusing on the vehicles in front of me...we had a great game, and I was very happy to get some minis on the table that I had done as 'interest only'.

I left my camera at home, but managed to take some crappy IPhone pics.  Enjoy and take care.

 

Company commander

 

Platoon held in reserve...came on late in the game

The boss - looking at some burning hulls...

 

 

Tiger platoon with one destroyed on the objective, burning halftracks in the distance and Stugs coming in hard and fast...

 

one round later...6 x main gun shots...no more Stugs

Cheers.

Neo-Sov's looking for a fight in Tomorrow's War

Okay...apparently I had time today for more than just one quick update...here goes then:

I have been checking out Ambush Alley Games and their Force on Force ruleset for a few years now...a couple of years ago they also came out with a near-modern-future-scifi ruleset by the name of Tomorrow's War.

Great looking book, great looking artwork, and just a great product overall...it sure helps that they rank as one of my favorite forums to read through...anyhow...I wanted to paint up a force that could be used for this setting, be it pure sci-fi or near modern, something that could work.

Having put on my google pants, I sat down and quickly found the mainpage for Khurasan Miniatures and knew that amongst the great selection and lines I would find some vehicles that would work.  After taking my time and looking through all the choices, I went with the Red Faction tanks and infantry fighting vehicles (Khurasan - Red Faction) and a light utility vehicle as my future BRDM (Khurasan - Light Utility Vehicle - Pic).  It has taken me some time, but I recently finished up the last of 8 vehicles that I purchased about 18 months+ ago...

For your viewing pleasure I have Khurasan's take on the T55 of the future, I have chosen to call these the T5500 (original eh?!? I know...) main battle tank, you'll see two variants with the main difference being the turret and main gun <insert suitable sci-fi explanation here>.

As well, I have three BMP-3000s (again, my originality shows through) with some very cool turret weapons systems...and I have two BRDM3000s...I really like these little guys.  Yes, they are noticeably much smaller than their tracked comrades, but they have some great weapon systems options.

In deciding how to paint these guys I chose to rely very heavily on a mix of Cold War Soviet and some liberal licensing of my own (I wanted to try a different take on block camo plus make it more hard-edged...thoughts?).  My only disappointment is with how 'different' the base colours are between my tracked and light vehicles...my fault...I did take to much time between project phases to complete them, however in terms of back story I can always go with the light vehicles being spoils of war being re-branded as their own.

And in terms of back story...I will save that for a future post when I get some acceptable pictures of the infantry minis that I have finished for this force.

Enjoy the pics, constructive comments and questions are always welcome.  Cheers.

The vehicle side of the force...3 x tanks, 3 x infantry carriers, 2 x light trucks...

 

 

The BRDMs and BMPs of the future...and I always forget to mention, these are in 15mm and yes, Khurasan has amazing detail...

 

The T55 of the future...2 variants with reactive block armour, 1 more with the amour blocks + a big f'ing gun!! The only thing left to do is to find a commander figure for this one...

Hello there Sandy...

Howdy everyone,

Just a quick update today...life has been a little busy as of late, but thankfully I was able to squeak out this beautiful piece of miniature goodness.  I have long been a fan of the A-1 Skyraider, or as the title suggests, a fan of one of her great nicknames.

Sandy, a sweet girl-next-door who travelled abroad in Vietnam has a great history and a great place in the history of war and airplane development.  One of the latest additions to their growing Vietnam line, Battlefront brought their version of Sandy to the gaming world end of last year-beginning of this year.

When I saw the release notice, I jumped at the chance to get one.  Overall, I am very happy with the model and weapons load out...it is a fairly general representation of what this bird could field and the provided payload gives a good overview of all that Sandy was able to bring to the battlefield.  As well, there was a great painting guide for USAF or USN depending on your choice.  My only beef with the kit from BF:

• the decals provided only represent the US Navy Skyraider...

As I chose to paint mine a la USAF, I did my best and hand 'drew' the tactical lettering but chose not to jerry-rig the insignia (didn't really want to frig that one up).  Luckily I found some great online resources and saw a bunch of pics of Skyraiders with subdued tactical markings and no stars and bars insignia...so, point goes to OCD and google.

The only other dilemma that arose came immediately after I picked up the aircraft to apply the first coat of Vallejo US tan earth...the damn thing fell out of my hands, spun hard on the port wingtip and CRASHED into the ground...oh dear God, the humanity...once the screams were over, recovery ops began...Sandy proved pretty sturdy, but she did snap her left wing off about an inch down from the tip...<sob>

Quick bit of glue, some deep breaths, consoling words from my kids, and she was good to go.  NOW, the pics.  Enjoy and have a good one.

Hello there Sandy...

Closer look at the girl...nasty snarl on that left wing

So this is what the flash button means on my camera...not sure how I feel about this...

Mandatory fly-by pics...

 Sandy...comings and goings...and a great looking undercarriage...

Cheers.