A Look To the Old...On With the New...hey there 2018

So, as is observed tradition in the blogging world...it is time for that obligatory look back at the gaming year that was and embrace the new year coming to identify some objectives and hopes for where our gaming activities may lead...

So, happy new year folks...I hope all was and/or will be well as we move from 2017 to the first week of this year of 2018.

For me, a look back is definitely worthwhile as it gives me a chance to pause everything and actually admit or recognize what really did happen...and not just transpire in my brainpan...as well, because I'm not without my brainfarts or memory lapses...it is a good chance to get some recall on the year that was.

To start, lets take a look at the lofty objectives I laid out for myself 365 ago...

• I hope to get more terrain work done...I am at odds for theme, 15mm Afghanistan, 15mm Vimy Ridge, 15 or 28mm sci-fi (thank you Rogue Stars), 28mm modern?
• Unfortunately this was a bit of a bust for me...while I did produce a couple of 'ice wall' terrain pieces, I did not have a coordinated plan for moving this objective forward.  I do have several pieces in progress that could work for 28mm sci-fi and 15mm but they require an extra level of attention that I did not get to last year...
• I want to increase my painting output...I have a wall of mountain that I would like to reduce...I'll share that at a later date, but I'd like to reduce it.
• at the end of 2016 I had painted about 183 x 15mm figs and vehicles and 44 x 28mm figs...while I did not approach the numbers for 15mm...Thanks to some advice from a fellow TMP poster, I discovered Sorastro and I had a significant change in my painting style which with some models does take up more time.  However, I was able to paint up 75 x 15mm figs and vehicles and 91 x 28mm figures.  I'm very happy with this output and definitely can see that for me, 2017 was the year of the 28mm figure.
• 4 CMBG for Team Yankee...more Russians as well, there are some new great looking models coming...these would work for some First Clash scenarios
• as my 15mm output was under half of what it was in the previous year, my progress on Team Yankee did suffer...however, I added some great Soviet models to the force and have some ZSU's basecoated waiting for their time.  As well, I did get back to 4CMBG, and as advertised, I did take extra time on these models...however I was able to finish 6 x Leopard C1's for my Royal Canadian Dragoon squadron...as Battlefront is going Canuck this year there maybe some plastic tanks with C1 details in the future...it'll make scratchbuilding solutions easier...but all in all, I'm happy with my TY progress
• Viking warband for SAGA...first immediate goal of the year for our clubs SAGA campaign
• this objective was completed rather quickly...I painted up 4 points of warband early in the year...
• I think that covers it...keep the objectives limited...and in that vein, my last objective is to keep a closer tally of how my painting progresses (give the Russian internet bots something more to falsely ring my view count up with...thanks Vlad...)
• keeping the objectives light meant a little more distraction than I wanted...combined with some heavy DIY reno work around the house between June and August, my painting was not as focused as I would have like...but, I definitely became better at keeping account of my +/- overall progress...so very happy with that.

For next year, the question comes up...what are my objectives?

• I would like to finish the core box for Imperial Assault and The Walking Dead...Star Wars Legion and Fallout are coming...the models are 30-32mm-ISH and they look spectacular! So, it would be good to get IA and TWD completed
• I would like to finish the TY models that are currently on my bench.  I have a box of Leopard 1's to prep for my RCD's...I have a battery of M109's basecoated for my 4CMBG...I have a ZSU-4 unit and additional BMPs and T-72s as well as a couple of Frogfoots to complete for my Sov's...AND, I need to finish the bases for my Soviet MR company...oh, and the Marines are coming...so, yeah...get my arse moving on that...
• Complete my terrain pieces that I started for Star Wars and Cold War...there are about 3-4 pieces total...it would be good to get those done so I could move on to some other terrain...potentially some scatter for Frostgrave and/or a 15mm Afghan compound/ville and/or scatter for 15mm Cold War
• I would like to put together a sequence of scenarios for Cold War gaming that could fit into a campaign...more thoughts on that later in the year...

So, with that I guess that pretty much sorts it out...my last overarching goal is to reduce the size of lead mountain and make some actual progress on my wall of shame...I did reduce the number of blisters on my peg board...BUT then like a fool, I went ahead and filled in the holes with more models...sigh, first world problems...

The wall of shame...sigh

 

Completed near end year...definitely one of my favourites...

 

and another favourite, the beginnings of the Rhino Company...not to mention the misfit collection of the Rogue Stars Dirty Half-Dozen...obviously, we need to add in that last guy...

 

And some random recaps...Happy New Year folks...

 

 

 

Operation Bagration - Club Campaign - Battle Report

Howdy folks,

Just catching up with last year items...in December we ran the second turn of our Firestorm Bagration campaign at the club.  For this go I was again a Soviet commander squaring off against my German opponent fighting into a fortified city (can't remember the name of the city).

For this fight, I had two Firestorm troops allocated to me for the attack...2 x IS-2's and a Submachinegun Company of 14 x smg stands.  Because the fight was for a fortified city I thought this would be a great chance to try a Soviet Infantry based force...and because I've always wanted to try it out, I chose a Shtraf Penal Battalion of 2 x infantry company (21 x smg stand with komissar), 1 assault gun company of 5 x su-76 assault guns, a heavy machinegun company of 6 x maxim hmg stands.

Opposing me, Bernhard had an infantry force with rifle/mg teams, some heavy machineguns, a couple of Tigers (with Otto Carius warrior in one), some anti-tank guns, and I think he had a panzergrenadier platoon in halftracks.  I can't recall the scenario type, but Bernhard had to do a phased withdrawal of his force...he did get to begin in prepared positions and gone to ground.

The city fight gave me the perfect chance to break out some of my old Stalingrad inspired terrain that I had made a few years back...they haven't seen the light of gaming day in some time so it was great to break them out.

Enjoy the pics...comments are always welcome, thanks for the views.

Initial setup, my force is coming in from the right, the Germans have set up on the left hand side of the city...the cobblestone road is pretty much centre.

 

I've deployed my forces...this is only the second go I've had with a Soviet infantry force so I'm still getting used to the hordes of stands...with combat attachments, my 2 main companies had about 25 stands each...I've deployed my armour on my left flank...the idea being the space will give them clear firing lines and room to move without sneaking infantry.  My intent is to have my infantry move through the city and get close to the Germans and then close assault until the defenders are crushed.

 

The first couple of turns are simply me moving into buildings and using cover to block line of sight...at the top of the table, I'm moving troops in fields to basically 'island hop' from building to building using assaults...this seemed to make sense...it avoided most of Bernhards fortifications and allowed me to reduce his defensive footprint...that was the plan at least.

 

On the left flank, my IS-2's were slowly moving forward to engage the Tigers and pak's that were on their flank...as they moved forward they engaged what targets presented.  The bulk of the action took place on my right as my infantry pushed forward...

On the far right, my Shtraf troops pushed forward, getting close with a farmhouse removing the defenders and then focusing on the redbrick party building with the barbed wire next to it.  Tactically, this is where I made my biggest err...that dogged me the entire game.  In my brain the edge of the table was the green field and the barbed wire stand...I simply forgot that I had another 4-6 inches to the right...so instead of hooking around the barbed wire, I went for the cobbled street and launched successive assaults from there.  As I was soon to learn, this placed me in a crossfire of about 3-4 different platoons that were able to lay down defensive fire...simple mistake, big effect...

 

In the 'middle' I continued to use the apartment buildings as cover and a means to move my troops forward to close the gap out of line of sight...

 

My hmg company uses a burnt out shell as a means of bulletproof cover and concealment...this was a good location to lay down fire...

 

The left sees the armour engaging infantry teams at range getting hits where they can...

 

The bulk of the close assaults would take place in this little battlespace...

 

Various 'battlefield' pov view shots from the German lines of my Shtraf's moving forward...

 

The German right flank, where my armour is slowly moving up to try to engage Bernhard's tanks and anti-tank guns...

 

Bernhard's close assault defenders looking across the street...

 

My maxim gun teams look across at the German defenders...

 

My Shtraf carries out multiple attacks, reaching the party headquarters and pushing across the street to begin routing out these defenders...

 

The defenders fall in the party building...as the bulk of my other company makes it to the street, I launch consecutive assaults to try to break them...

 

Desperate for more firepower, Bernhard brings in his halftracks...

 

The German defenders did an excellent job of making their saves when they had the chance to roll, the defensive fire proved highly effective as at least half of my assaults were stunted with troops being caught in the open after having to fall back...if I had instead hooked a little more to the right and left the party building and farmhouses, I could have pushed towards the rear in force with my second company serving as a distracting force...also I should have deployed the hmg's and smg company further to the right to support the assaults...

 

I do very much like these infantry heavy forces as I think it definitely gives me a lot more to think about tactically...

 

Cheers.

 

The First of the New Year...is about the end of the last

Howdy folks,

I hope the new year has started on a positive note for you...the end of the year definitely saw an uptick in distractions from the hobby for me and I made the decision to actually take some days off and slowly chill my way into the beginning of this year.

And speaking of chill...we've been under an extreme cold weather warning for...well, long enough that I can't remember when it started...BUT it should warm up today.  By warm, I mean it is currently -16 with the windchill at -19...I think the first time in a couple of weeks it has been that warm...huzzah!!

So, while I was entirely distracted from blog posting, between commitments and deadlines I took whatever painting time I could.  I'm very happy with how it went, I managed to get through a few figs and try out a few modeling and painting techniques.  Ironically, a few days after Christmas I injured my foot which kept me in a chair with my foot up...so from that I was able to begin a phase of one of my long term projects.  Here's a small teaser of the first installment of my Royal Canadian Dragoon Squadron as part of my 4 CMBG force:

Battlefront Leopard 1's - 15mm

At the beginning of December I stumbled across three zombie figures that had escaped the previous mass painting of the undead, so I decided to see how quickly I could paint them up in three different tones.  Overall, I'm happy to be done, but I must say if I had to speed paint zombies, I would focus on green tones as they can be developed much quicker than a brown rotted look.

While overall I'm happy with the result, I think I'm most happy with the tones I was able to capture in the middle zombie and in the clothing for them all...note for next time...

 

The end of the year also saw me revisit my Rogue Stars figures and start on another crew...for this crew I thought I'd have an odd assortment of explorers so I started with an explorer and a gunbot...in my head it seemed a reasonable grouping.

For the basing, I was very heavily influenced by some of the cinematic settings of Bladerunner 2049...

-movie still from Vanity Fair-

-movie still from FilmSchoolRejects.com-

 

I really like the orange and yellow hues in the scene and I thought I would see if I could replicate or at least match as close as possible this setting for my bases.  I started with painting the base bright orange (Vallejo) and then hit it with agrellan mud (citadel)...once it dried I actually repainted everything with bright orange or light orange depending on what was at hand...when it dried it actually kept the mud-flat look and showed a great mix between the brown and orange of the two paints...looking at the base in some of my pics I think I definitely nailed the look...I'm really happy with the result and I can't wait to run a few more figs through the process...I even have a couple of Hasslefree figures that are going to get the full Agent K treatment...

 

The gunbot was an additional collection of inspirations...I decided to go with a metallic paintjob over the majority of the figure, but I wanted to hit the 'mask' with a contrast and chose an Ironman type look for it...kind of explains the blue/light look for his centre...

 

-pic taken from wiki-

I decided not to try to capture the 'bronze' trim of the mask, but instead focused on the red and its tones...in the end I'm very happy with the results...as well, I had to adapt as I lost the holstered rifle that is on the back of the original model.  I figured as the explorer has a sword, a sheathed battlesword on the back of a gun slinging robot in a sci-fi setting would fit in nicely...

 

  

Slightly changing gears in setting...I also finished a random barbarian figure that I bought a year or so ago at Cangames...I decided to choose The Northern City as the setting for this figure.  Although the figure is set for anything but cold and Arctic conditions, this figure allowed me to try my hand at capturing a wider range of skin tones creeping into the frostbitten...I'm pretty happy with the results...I had initially tried to give the final tones a hint of blue but it did not turn out well and ended up drowning out all of the other tones, so I went back to flesh and then varying whitening/graying. 

 

 

I will have a proper year recap in the next few weeks to see how I progressed, but for now here are the raw numbers:

 

Painting in 2017:

 

Painted:

28mm - 91 (+6)

15mm - 75 (+6 vehicles) 

 

Bought:

28mm - 108
vehicle - 1

15mm - 132
vehicle - 7

Overall PROGRESS: -82