Modern Warfare: Wargaming the 21st century

Elhiem Iranians? Elhiem Iranians.

2012-02-18T20:59:00.001-08:00

Since no one produces actual modern Iranians I thought I would give it a shot using a bunch of Elhiem's CW German and NATO infantry. I'm sure the rivet counters (read: me) among us can find fault, but I think with the right paint job it doesn't matter TOO much ;)

This guys actually took considerably longer than my US army dudes, since I decided to mix up the uniforms and give them a big more of a rag-tag look. I think it makes the end results more interesting though. I've gone with a combination of DCU (US late 90s-early 2000s), Choc Chip(US 80s - 90s) and Duck Hunter (AUSCAM desert) camo , all of which the Iranians produce domestically or import. I kept the webbing and boots consistent to give them some uniformity as well.

One particularity fun aspect of an Iranian project is the fact that Iran has such a wide variety of equipment in service due to its interesting history. Rifles in service range from the G3 to the AK-47/74 to Nornico knockoffs of the M16. Armor is similarity eclectic; APCs and IFVs under arms include the M113, the BMP (including a domestically produced family of vehicles based of the chassis known as the Boragh) and some Chinese gear. Tanks, too, are really mixed up with plenty of British, US and Soviet vehicles in the stockpile. Fun fun!

Despite the time required I'm going to need a fair few more of these guys than I will US troops, and I plan on mixing in more schemes, like US woodland, into the mix for future batches.

I also decided to outfit the force with some armor other than the standard T-72/T-55 combo that seems prevalent these days. Picked up an old Esci T-62M kit off the bay and decided to kitbash it into a T-62MV, I do love my bricks.

I'll be painting up this bad boy in a big lot of upcoming armor which will continue my QRF project as well

cheers!

Scalin' up with the US Army

2012-02-13T23:42:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, long time no see

Since returning I've been inundated with a bunch of life's drudgeries, I did manage to get some brushwork done on some of Elhiem's tasty US Army guys. Last time I attempted to upscale my 15mm UCP technique to 20mm, but I was never happy with that. This time around I tried an entirely new method. Much happier with the result!

selling off some army projects

2012-01-20T00:24:00.000-08:00

well, despite being out of country I want to line up some space for when I return to work on more stuff.

As such I'm selling off my USMC, French, Russian and Middle Eastern armies, details are here http://ambushalleygames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9010 , let me know if you're interested.

T-72s, T-72s with a Side of T-72

2011-12-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

This should be my last post for about a month or so, as work is calling me abroad. As my last post for the short term I've been working on the old T-72, one of the most widely deployed tanks in history! You can't help but love this guy, or one of its many many derivatives.

The Iwata airbrush is really proving its metal, its truly a tool of precision, and makes camo a breeze (excuse the pun).

First up are some T-72BM 1988s with and without ERA. The scheme was inspired by some Iranian camo patterns, and I think the contrasts look quite nice between the yellow sand and the dark browns. I may have labeled these wrong, but unfortunately the QRF designations are a little confusing! Sorry Geoff!

Target practice, er, T-72B 1983s painted up in Iraqi colors. I decided to keep the skirts their original rubber color, as it gives them a nicer contrast instead of just being flat beige.

I also repainted the PT-76 as I was not content with the scheme. Much happier this time around, and I think it does the model a much greater service.

The arabic numeral decals are also QRF, and are a pleasure to work with, unlike many other company's (cough GW cough).

The QRF motherload build post #1

2011-12-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

Well, lets get into it, 8 hours work has turned up -

T62s

T62As

T62B

BRM-1

PT76

T72B M1983

LAV-25

M1A1

M551

I also updated my Herpa M1s a tad

a whole lot of tin courtesy of QRF

2011-12-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

Geoff at QRF just sent me the entire range of moderns to paint up for use on his website.... there goes my year :)

Marine armor; NATO woodland

2011-12-06T00:39:00.000-08:00

Wheeee back for another round

M1A1Ds

The MATV - Although it looks badass, there has been a considerable amount of discontent about this behemoth.

'Heavy' Hummers with CROWs

group shot

Once again these are all 1/87 kits, but as you can see they match up very nicely with 15mm figures.

Air droppable, combat ready

2011-11-26T20:09:00.000-08:00

As you may have ascertained from previous postings I have something of an irrational attraction to VDV stuff. This week I decided to dust off a conversion of the BMD-3Z that has been sitting around for a while and get some paint on it. As far as I can tell this vehicle doesn't actually exist in real life, but I always liked the idea of whacky crew served weapons on AFV chassis and the soviets did do one on the BMD-1/2 hull, so I thought I could get away with it.

I also stripped the BMD-3 and Shilka previously posted and redid them

that dark streak

2011-11-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update. I wasn't quite happy with my last batch of fellows, so I decided to add another primary color into their scheme, I'm much more content with the result.

T-90 busts out

2011-11-21T23:49:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, the holy grail for us modern wargamers, the T-90, is upon us.

War gaming ultra moderns is always a challenge, particularly in assembling a credible conventional opfor. Although there are plenty of great sculpts of modern US troops out there, Russia, by and large, remains virgin territory. The same goes for vehicles. With the most modern Russian armor being available from QRF cutting off at around the 1986 mark with the T-72bv and T-80BV.

High and low I have searched for this kit. Between QRF, Skytrex and the plethora of other 15mm modern manufacturers I would have thought this badboy would have turned up in metallic form by now, but alas, he remains elusive. While certain hopeless members of the online community have assured us that this will emerge from Eureka's 300 club, I remain wholly unimpressed with the whole venture, and so imagine my joy when finally I discovered that, yes, the T-90 was available in 1/87 scale.

Rather than a proper wargaming mini, this is most definitely a proper plastic injection kit, with all the array of parts included, you must bring the patience. Trust me though, the results are worth it.

I also did a BMP-2D by the same manufacturer

a GAZ jeep by peter pig

Atalya Mig-29 with telescopic stand. A beautiful prepaint that only required a light oil wash and it canopy painted :) its nice when things are easy!

I also forked out and bought a new Airbrush, an Iwata Micron http://www.airbrushshop.com.au/shopmastery_pop.php?id=19 (bank still is in pain) , a big step up from my current Paasche double action and should really help in doing camo schemes, I cant wait :)

Russian paratroopers jump in

2011-11-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

I'm always quite hesitant to begin painting an infantry lot. I often spend more time painting an individual soldier than I do on a tank, largely due to the fact infantry is an entirely acrylic brushwork-related affair. Camo must be tackled by hand and eye, not by airbrush and a general rule of thumb, a process that can be excruciating at times. Details and gear are cluttered across small spaces, whereas tanks have large areas of uniformity. Nevertheless, battlefields are not made up of pure armor and infantry combat is generally more fun and chaotic on the table top, so we must persevere.

I've been working on getting my Russians ready over the last week and my energies have been focused on this VDV platoon. With only 8 troopers left this part of the project is nearly done. I was feeling particularly masochistic with this lot, so, in typical Russian fashion, decided to deck them out in an eclectic array of Soviet and Russian camo schemes :)

the week's takings

Command team with marksman, medic, RPG-7

RPG-7, AK-74 w/ optics, Rpg-18, PKM

AK-74, AKSU-74, RPG-29, RPG-18

RPG-7, RPK-74, AK-74

KORD HMG

Need to round out this unit with more RPK SAWs and a few more rifles, then its on to the French or USMC

French presidents, predatory cats and Irish Serbians?

2011-10-25T01:27:00.000-07:00

Know those little teasers I flashed a while ago? Well here they are. I've now finished both my French and German armor and have begun work on the USMC stuff too. Good thing I've taken a week of leave to recover after the last 6 months.

Leclercs, apparently these guys require a nearby workshop just to keep them running.

Their German contemporaries, the Leopard deuce. Unlike the Leclerc, this puppy(kitten?) has actually had more unpleasant things than harsh language hurled at it. Albiet, in a very limited capacity.

French AMX10Ps, not the sexiest bit of hardware.

The far cooler Marder 1A3. Same basic job, much better execution.

Irishserb's VBLs, funky little armored jeep things.

VAB 6X6, I really liked the way these guy turned out

USMC AAV-7, a real beast of a kit (in terms of size, and the pain to build :P) One of these bad boys can carry close to 40 armed marines.

Also managed to actually crank out some troops

Modern Russians in Flora camo. Although no Russian Federal figures are produced in 15mm, if you aren't utterly retarded you can make up some pretty convincing ones with minimal conversion work.

And modern French troops.

This round I used a lot of mud and gunk to weather these otherwise clean-looking vehicles. I made the mixture with a combination of Vallejo texturing paste and MIG pigments. Very happy with the result

What do you need that for Tommy? Ze Germans?

2011-10-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

Airbrushes are a great time waster :)

La Petite Mort?

2011-10-14T01:10:00.000-07:00

just a little new faction in the pipeline ;)

Russian armor out the wazoo

2011-09-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Moar armor!

2S9 Nona, the VDV's air-mobile artillery. 120mm mortary goodness.

BMP-T; The Russian experience in Chechnya distilled

T-80BV, ERA bricky goodness

Finally, the T-64BV. Really happy with how this conversion turned out. Maybe my favorite tank so far??

Sarah Connor?

2011-09-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

Progress continues in the build-a-thon.

I had a few T-64Bs layin around so I decided to bring them up to a more modernised standard, voila T-64BV :)

These guys will probably be outfitting my CDF faction. You can see that despite being 1/87 they fit very well with 15mm Peter Pig guys.

also spent 4 hours building this monstrosity, the BMP-T 'Terminator.'

Definitely a cool beast, not looking forward to building its twin though :)

Europe 2010

2011-09-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

Since my recent discovery of a whole new range of 15mm resin vehicles my world has somewhat opened up. This has pushed me to do a very contemporary set of forces, and now it looks like the project is in full swing, expect many new and shiny things.

BMD-3

Shilka by QC

converted Bundeswehr trooper

Modern Russian Federals with RPG-29, KORD, AK-107s w/ optics etc

240B on tripod

Future stuff

stay tuned for Marders, Leclercs and yes, the fabled 15mm T-90

Ahead of its time, doomed to failure.

2011-09-04T02:07:00.000-07:00

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the Sheridan. It had an interesting concept behind it; much like the Soviet ASU-85 it was intended to be an air-droppable piece of armor. Unlike the more successful soviet design, its main gun was wholly unconventional by the standards of the time, and used large bore guided missiles as its main anti-tank munitions. This did not go well.

nevertheless the tank remains an interesting CW experiment, and I decided to paint up a few of battlefront's wonderful offerings. Although I have always had reservations over BF products, these models are spectacular, and are each very characterful.

I also got some more US infantry painted up, getting their slowly!

A box within a box within a box

2011-08-17T00:59:00.000-07:00

Peter pig has made some very wonderful, characterful models over the years, and Martin's M113s are no exception. With several hulls and a range of accessories, these really are the top of the line in terms of competition. It makes one with PP would delve more into the modern arena, a PP made M1, T-72 or m60 would be unmatched I would say.

I've painted these with the same Dualtex camo I used on my previous US vehicles. This was a long arduous task, and was supplemented by the sheer amount of crap hung off these vehicles, a good day's work invested.

The M113 has been one of the prime people movers of the US army for a good 50 years. The vehicle has always has always illicited mixed feelings amongst crews, many who feel that it lacks enough protection, while simultaneously presenting a large bulky target for anyone interested. The advent of Soviet IFVs in the BMP-1 saw a mad scramble amongst designers that lead to a prolonged development of the Bradley IFV. The Brad took a long time to come online, however, and the US was forced to rely on the M113 as its battle taxi. Had the two met in Europe, one could surmise that the field would have favoured Soviet mechanized units over their United States counterparts.

and an objective marker of the same can.

Soviet smashfest

2011-08-07T01:36:00.000-07:00

Over this past week I've painted around 15(!!!) AFVs. Much of this is attributable to the monotone of Soviet CW schemes, so I think painting this army won't be too difficult, at least until it comes time for infantry.

some T-55s, The Honda Civic of tanks.

BRDM-2 scout cars

BMP-1s

T-72A

a T-64A

the cool little Peter Pig T-55 objective marker

A US Duster SPAAG

US Infantry

1970s digital cam???

2011-08-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I came across an image on an M60 done up in a weird digital camo scheme I'd never seen before. After a bit of research I found out this pattern was known as Dualtex, and was employed in certain parts of Germany and Italy in the late 70s and early 80s. I'm always looking for a new challenge, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. After a huge amount of masking and patients I am quite happy with the final result, and have applied it to some M60s and a M103

These M60s began life as a purely QRF kit, but I wasn't very satisfied. The moulds are clearly wearing out, and detail was poor. There is also the issue of the suspension on the original models, which essentially hangs freely in the air with no support. This leads to easy warping, the the end result is just not good at all. Rather than bin them I decided to convert them, as I had done with my old BLAZER variants. This time I took the opportunity to pick up some of battlefront's new M48A3s, and used the chassis and suspensions as stand ins. There are descrepancies of course, the M60 hull was flat, whereas the M48 was rounded. This are pretty negligible at the end of the day, however, and the quality of the kit certainly makes up for it. I retained the QRF turrets, did a considerable amount of sanding and added new peripherals and stowage to cover up any blemishes.

Compared to the previous kits this QRF M103 was a dream. A fantastic, solid kit, I only have praise for this heavy hitter. Goes together easy, and mould lines are cake to get rid of.

Full army and terrain set selloffs!

2011-06-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

Given pressures from my local club I've decided to head back to 15mm for a new mid-70's europe project, as such I will be selling my 6mm gear in full sets, this will allow the purchaser to field an entire army in one go. I won't be guiltily taking these down either this time :P

First up we have the US force that can be fielded as either a marine or army group and is flexible for any 1990 - 2010 + conflict
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250848009771&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Next up is an Iranian force suitable for any conflict from 1980 - present.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260811142292&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

I also am selling my full compliment of Middle Eastern city terrain by gamecraft.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260811144081&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

A smaller insurgent group

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250848014192&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

And a WW2 US Mechanized Rifle unit

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250848014827&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

AAR: Jahra Highway blockade

2011-06-26T05:34:00.001-07:00

Synopsis: After successfully crossing the Iraqi border and occupying Basra, Iranian forces of the 92nd armored set south to capture the small Arab kingdom of Kuwait. Assembling on the Iraq-Kuwaiti border, large Iranian armored formations began charging down the Jahra highway towards Kuwait city. Given the speed of the advance US and Saudi forces were only able to assemble ad-hoc blocking units to stymie this advance.

Background: We played this game using a modified Force on Force ruleset that was rebuilt for 6mm, adding a command and control element, as well as range caps, damage simplifications, and an array of other changes that better streamlined it for company/battalion sized engagements.

In this scenario an understrength platoon of USMC infantry backed by a couple Abrams faced a determined attack from an Iranian armored spearhead. The odds were not stacked in the marines favor, and it seemed unlikely they could stop the attack. Iranian objectives were primarilly focused on achieving a breakthrough, with the destruction of the opfor not required to achieve victory.

The USMC commander assembled his forces in the sparse suburban areas south along the highway and waited with baited breath as the rumble of tank engines drew near.

Turn 1 - 3

With heavy Saudi and US air defense assets in place, Iranians were forced to recon in force with armor. An mechanized platoon was sent to screen and probe US and Saudi positions, but as it crossed into the AO the CO decided to halt for a hydration check, causing the column to pause in the open in sights of a concealed M1 who made its presence known with the detonation of lead BMP.

As dazed infantry stumbled out of the smoking carrier, the rest of the platoon hastily drove towards cover out of the sight of the M1.

To the west the 1st platoon of the Iranian tank company arrived, and immediately began a brief and brutal exchange with the other M1. Meanwhile a concealed Javelin team had also broad its tube to bear, and in the end only a lone stunned T-72 remained.

More Iranian armor poured into the battle, 2nd platoon driving straight down the main highway, the third platoon emerging from behind the steaming hulks of its unfortunate sister unit

Iranian CAS and artillery had come online, and were directed towards the lead M1. 2S1 shells inundated the beleagured tank, but as the smoke cleared, it remained unscathed. The same could not be said for the fire team stationed in the building next to it, and their deaths broke the chain of command between the platoon CO and the units stationed behind the forward trenchline. Guided by an FAC a Mig-29 took aim at the Abrams, but quickly became more interested in dodging missiles the size of telegraph poles, and decided to leave the aerodrome over the battlefield permanently.

Turn 4 - 6

The remaining T-72 of first platoon attempted to exact revenge for its fallen brethren on the Javelin team, but it was too late, and another huge missile punched through its deck armor as its shot went wide. Despite its ineffectiveness, the blast did manage to cause the team to put its head down. With the lull in fire, the Iranian tank platoon driving down the highway took the opportunity to finally deal with the pesky ATGM, and three cannon shots latter there was little more than red mist left in the fox hole they had occupied.

on the left flank 3rd platoon opened up on the dug in M1, the 2 shots of the T-72s glanced off, with return fire from the Abrams and another Javelin team leaving two more smashed ruins. The T-90 faired better, however, and the M1's chobam armor failed, leaving the behemoth silent. The T-90 commander had no time to reflect on this impressive kill, however, as a Predator drone loosed a hellfire and left his tank just as dead.

As the tied seemed to be turning against the USMC a lucky break occured in the form of a Saudi M60 platoon arriving from the south, but no sooner had they appeared then another salvo of 2S1 fire fell on their heads, knocking out 2 of the convoy, destroyed the remaining nearby M1, and killed 2 jarheads in the building near by. As the stunned Saudi armor attempted to regroup, the T-72s of 3rd platoon swooped in, picking of the remaining tanks.

2 newly arrived Shilkas appeared behind the mech infantry platoon and shredded the remaining Javelin team. As they guns cooled an A-10 appeared, dropping a 500 pound JDAM in the midst of the assembled light armor, and leaving most of it destroyed or disabled.

Turn 7 - 8

With time running out the Iranians decided to make a move, the T-72s of third platoon sped down the highway at high speeds in an attempt to break through the USMC defence. Little did they know that within the suburban buildings were numerous hidden fireteams, and as they closed rockets began arcing out of the smoke and dust. A Saudi Tornado materalized out of the clouds and tore straight at the tanks, but as it banked over them they were revealed burning, and the jet continued on, burdened by its ordnance.

US/Saudi victory

Overall a great and tense game, with numerous swings back and forth. The artillery strike by the 2S1s completely shattered my initial plan, but then the A-10 completely reveresed the situation. The final push by the T-72s nearly worked, and it was only the last 2 At-4 shots that managed to halt it in its tracks. With a few minor adjustments FOF has shown itself to be an incredibly flexible system for playing at this size!

Iranian Nukes, Saudi Hawks and some good old US grunts

2011-06-23T02:10:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been focusing on some less standard painting projects, empowering my various forces with airpower and some interesting objective markers.

First up is an Iranian SS-20 Sabre ICBM. This badboy was used by the Soviets up until it was phased out under a series of nuclear disarmament treaties in the 80s. The Iranians currently don't possess a TEL or missile of similar make, but hey, thats the great thing about hypotheticals :)

I also did a couple of US objective markers, an AAV command stand and a MRAP EOD with a potential boomer near by

I also did a Saudi Tornado, I was particularly happy with the camo scheme on this one, although the left hand side roundrel is slightly skewed, argh.

Not forgetting the Iranians here is a Mig-29 by CINC

And finally I stripped the A10 (for the third time) and got the grey tone I was happy with.

VVVVRRRRRRRRR

The club has also shown some interest in FoW in recent months (or Nazi Yahtzee as they call it). I decided to bandwagon, but in a slightly smaller scale :P.

4th generation tanky goodness

2011-06-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

Ever since I first saw the TUSK (tank urban survival kit) for the M1 I have been in love. The look of the thing propels what has become the benchmark for 'normal' in tank construction into the supremely surrel and weird. The amount of doodads and tacticool features that the TUSK kit brought to the M1 converted it from the supreme tank-killer of the 1980s battlefield into a weird urban fighting vehicle that is often difficult to distinguish under all that bling. When GHQ did their take I new I had to have a go.

Given the amount of different forms we've seen the TUSK package deployed in, I decided to get rid of the trash-bin style commander's shield and just retain the perspex plates along side the .50.

While working on these I decided to beef up my Saudi forces

I also bulked up my USMC platoon to full strength and added some trees?

and of course we always need to have a nice field to play on

The Reds arrive, the Gulf explodes

2011-05-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

I recently finished my thesis, and therefor my whole degree, hooray. In celebration I took to painting again this week and whipped up a few odds and sods.

Firstly I began with stripping my AAVs, as I was never happy with them. Given that they are MEU armor, I felt that leaving them in a fresh-off-the-boat woodland cam would be appropriate, and add some flavour. Rather than airbrush the camo, I decided to simply 'hard edge' it, as it allows it to stick out more, and at this scale that is important with a dark basecoat of NATO green.

MEU Abrams

Next up I painted some Saudi armor. We've often found running games between USMC and Middle Eastern forces leaves a proffesionalism disparity between the two sides that causes conflicts to be too one sided (suprise suprise). As a result I decided with my background that painting up some Saudi units would be a pretty cool answer to this problem, since the RSAF have a pretty poor training record, leading to some interesting exchanges. Also, Saudi armor can pretty much double for US army gear, given their love of the old 'made in the USA' stamp.

On that deserty note I also painted up my first M1A2 TUSK for the stryker unit I have lined up for the future.

I was never happy with the helos I painted last month, so I decided to repaint the MI-24 and use some of Dom's Iranian roundrel decals. The end result was more cartoony, but I am much happier with it, as I feel it really 'pops' in this scale.

Finally, I also did my first tester Chinese armor. I plan on making a decent-sized PLZ force for operations in Central Asia. As the PLA doesn't appear to have a desert camo for their vehicles I decided to make my own scheme using a mix of Vallejo Model Air Sand and Tamiya buff. The end result is a sort of greenish tan that I think suits them pretty well. The stars also give them some character. I'm looking forward to the type-99 release next year from GHQ, should give them a bit more staying power against the Abrams.

3 army projects finished!

2011-04-26T02:40:00.000-07:00

After slogging through a lot of infantry I am now finished with three army forces. This week I completed my Elite, Regular and Insurgent Middle Eastern forces!

First up the regulars

The Elite/Republican Guard/Revolutionary Guard types

And the Insurgents/Taliban/Basij guys

done done done

Tehran rolls out the big guns

2011-03-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

This week I finished up the final armor for my Iranian forces, after this I'll be focusing on gearing up my USMC and Insurgents, plus painting a whole chockload of infantry (ugh). As one would think, I saved the best for last, and decided to go more hypothetical with this reinforcement.

I started off with a T-90 platoon. The T-90 currently isn't in service with the IAF, but it takes little stretch of the imagination to think that they will end up their at some point given the fluctuating arms trade between Moscow and Tehran.

I am getting much more comfortable with using the airbrush at this scale. For the base coat I used Vallejo Model Air Sand stippled with Tamiya NATO green. Then utilized my successive washing method for weathering.

Next up are my favorite vehicles from the Cold War, the BMP-2. Again I used the same method

I also decided to repaint my T-72MVs in the same method, so after a bath of simply green we got this.

I also wanted to round out the T-72B platoon, so added another plain tan fella

Not wanted to go the full Soviet, I decided to put a little bit of history into this force, and remind onlookers that Iran was once a US client state, with that in mind I did up a platoon of M113s

And finally, I decided to give them some air protection in the form of a couple Shilkas and a SA-6 for an objective.

With them wrapped up I also wanted to give my insurgent/guerilla forces some heavier support. Given that we play at 6mm it doesnt really seem right to simply have a bunch of Hiluxes and infantry, so a few add hoc units didn't seem unreasonable

T-55 platoon

BMP-1s

and a BMP-Z

Until next time

Jarheads in Persia

2011-03-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Dear 6mm,

I love you, you dirty dirty girl.

Moar M1s

T tanks

LAVs

AAVs

Trenches

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated

2011-02-27T05:20:00.000-08:00

Oh hey, its this thing!

Excuse my long MIAness....Between travel, work and finishing off my thesis I've been considerably under the thumb, so painting has not been a priority unfortunately.

When I did finally deign to pick up a brush in the past couple days it was to tackle a project I've never really tried before, 6mms. transitioning to such a small scale is somewhat intimidating, but I think in the end I got there, and the amount of time invested for a decent finishing is rewardingly slight. After just two days work I had enough little fellas to put together quite a large engagement, and today proved to me that the FOF rules can work quite well in such a small scale if one proportions accordingly.

Anyway, on with the show. First up we have elements of a USMC urban combat team

The first thing one will notice is the insane amount of detail GHQ invests in its various models. Such things are harrowing when you first encounter them, but with the appropriate washing and light dry brushing one can get them under hand.

Next up are some Iranians

With such a small scale the possibilities for expansion are near endless, and currently I have plenty more marine stuff to add in the way of amtracs, M1a1s, airpower and numerous other thingos. Iranians will be getting the big armor treatment, as well as getting some hinds. hoo boy

Guns up

2011-01-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

I'll be MIA for a few weeks following this, but I thought I might post these few additions before I leave.

Airbrushing at 20mm is a real joy, and I feel far more comfortable doing more elaborate patterns int his larger scale than I ever did in 15mm. So far I've come up with the following

T-62BV

T-72MV

and of course the old M1A2SEP

Operation Persian Hammer: The 2014 US-Iranian war

2011-01-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

In June 2012 Iran joined the nuclear club. Despite the vocal cries from the neo-conservative lobby within the US, Tel-Aviv remained unaffected, Iran was far more concerned with regional issues in the Gulf than a rhetorical nemesis thousands of miles away. As US and coalition forces began further draw downs in Iraq due to growing crisis's in Afghanistan and the Korean peninsula, Iran began to consolidate and restructure its conventional forces. This evolution was encouraged by both a detente with Russian foreign policy makers, and continual support from the Sino-sphere. During this period Iran began receiving increasing amounts of modernized weapons, and was able to utilize foreign advisers to help boost its own budding defense industry. With a weak and marginalized Iraq on its border, Tehran's eyes drifted South-West, alighting on its only major regional competitor: Saudi Arabia.

With increasing tensions and divides within the Royal family, and between the elites and the rapidly expanding middle class, Saudi efforts to socially liberalize and modernize it's economy were lagging badly. Despite careful deployments of RSNG regular army units to help disarm any potential coups, in January 2014 a collection of national guard officers conspired to dethrone the monarchy and install a military government. The military splintered, with various loyalist and revolutionary factions coming to blows. As the world's economy faltered, Iran acted, and launched a rapid drive through the lowlands of Southern Iran combined with an amphibious assault on the exposed oil fields in the Eastern provinces of Arabia. Despite prior warnings by US intelligence, the paralysis of the Saudi security apparatus meant that Riyadh was unable to move preemptively, and Once again, coalition forces were forced to intervene to prevent a militant hegemon emerging in the Gulf.

Phew, now thats out of the way, shall we get on with it?? This project log will focus on my 20mm efforts, primarily with Elheim's ultra modern US, Middle Eastern and Insurgent forces, as well as wartime's Aussies and a bevy of miscellaneous plastic kits. Lets get started!

My first ever painted 20mms, I used the techniques I employed in 15mm and just expanded them

and a quick peak of the future - a T-62MV conversion I made using the ACE kit (shudder), please note its only undercoated :P

big army selloffs

2010-12-22T00:28:00.000-08:00

This week I'm selling off my 15mm gear, as I have finally given into the bug and am now converting over to 20mm, as such all things featured on this blog are now up for auction, plus more, check it out

http://shop.ebay.com/taco_bat/m.html

Cold War Weirdo versus Tenascious Taliban

2010-12-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Been off the radar for a while as semester has wrapped up and I've been trying (futily) to make headway on the thesis. I got the itch over the past few days and I absolutely had to scratch it, however, so I decided to finish off my gaming Syrian armor once and for all.

While I do have some fondness for the BMP-1, the sheer amount of issues with the platform, combined with some images burnt into my mind from sandland, pushed me to develop a more capable alternative. I ended up picking up 3 BMP-2s from QRF, asking Geoff to kindly replace the stock turret of the model with the BMP-2D's. The basic turret looks strange, and I've never seen nor been able to locate an image of said turret in play. The D's turret seems much more spot on, and with a little bit of filing seems to work just fine.

That finishes up all the armor I intend on fielding in this army. from here on out we've got infantry and objective markers, the next item of which constitutes the first in a series. I got this idea from Geoff at QRF. The Syrians essentially took a T-34 chassis and welded a D-30 artillery piece to the back, bingo SPG. I've always liked the odd look of this thing so decided to make a mini diorama of one. I still need to paint the crew, but here is the finished model with Battlefront hull and qrf gun.

speaking of infantry here is both the US and Syrian forces thus far

and finally some taliban/generic rural insurgents for the occupation of Syria :)

Tank. Urban. Survival. Kit.

2010-11-29T03:05:00.000-08:00

I seem to be coming up on finishing the armor components of this project. The US armor is essentially complete at this stage, I don't think I really need anything more to play some decent sized games of FoF. Syrians will still be getting another mechanized platoon equipped with BMP-2s, but the end is near. Now I really need to focus on infantry, a sobering thought considering I need to paint nearly a hundred teeny tiny mans.

I finished an M1A1 and an M1A2SEP both with the TUSK upgrade

and a little conversion I did a while ago, taking a QRF T-55M and bumping it all the way up to the M5 standard, complete with Kontakt-5. I wonder when the Ruskies will throw Kontakt-5 on the T-34??

and a comparison shot between the QRF model and the Skytrex offering

Infantry here I come

M1A2 SEP with TUSK

2010-11-24T23:11:00.000-08:00

Got another Johnnie Lightning M1A1 in the mail and decided to upgrade it to a M1A2SEP with TUSK.

The main visual different between the A1 and the A2 is the gunner's thermal sight which appears as a large cylinder just forward of the loaders hatch, easily remedied with some plasticard. After that I decided to add a slightly more advanced commanders cupola, as seen on the later generation TUSKs, with complete frontal arc protection. Th .50 on the commanders hatch is also simplified over the A1, so I used a paper clip to simulate that, and added a protective shield over the top. Afterwords it was just a case of updating everything else in line with the previous M1A1 TUSK, loader's M240 with shielding, coaxial .50cal, side ERA platting and telephone unit on the rear.

a b-Radical update: how to get a proper tan, US army tan that is

2010-11-23T23:57:00.000-08:00

It often seems some times the old US desert tan is a contest color on par with Dunkgelb. Across the Internets people argue about its true hue, which paints to use, and where it is employed.

The truth of course is not any one particular thread, but something in the middle.

Hummers painted in tan at ft Benning are a very different palor when compared with those in sand land, I can tell you from personal experience. Sun, sand and dust all come together to erode, stain and bleach army tan into an innumerable amount of shades and hues, leaving a very wide berth for us modelers to work with. So if you are stressing over just how accurate your forces are, dont! The truth is there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to shades of tan. They range everywhere from orange brown to an almost bleached bone color.

Now that thats over with I give you this weeks update, a platoon of M2A3s with the BUSK (Bradely Urban Survival Kit) upgrade). These things make T-55s look like Mini Coopers state wise! naturally they are painted tan ;)

AAR: Cleric Grab

2010-11-21T00:31:00.000-08:00

Played a fine little game today with Syrian Republican Guard versus Brotherhood combatants. The idea was that in the run up to the US invasion of Syria there have been numerous Islamic uprisings across the state, and that government forces have had to crack down hard. Syrian Intel has pin pointed a particularity outspoken cleric and dispatched an understrength RG Mech infantry platoon to pick him up. Government forces must clear buildings in surrounding area and escort the cleric back to be detained.

The mission setup is as follows:

8 Turns/Variable

Republican Guard Forces:
2 Fireteams each armed with an AK, RPG and RPD mounted in a BMP-1P

2 Fireteams each armed with an AK, RPG and RPD mounted in a BMP-1P

T-72B

Points:

Per insurgent Killed - 1
successfully find and exfil cleric - 15

Extra rules: Each building must be searched, on a roll of 4 or LESS the cleric has been found. First building roll a D 20, second a D 12, third a D10, Force a D8. If all buildings are searched and cleric is not found it has been bad intell, exfiltrate area.

Firing ordnance weapons at building requires a quality check, if failed you have killed civilians - lose a point

Insurgent forces:

2 Fireteams with 2 AKs, 1 RPG, 1 RPD

Points:

Per Republican Guard Killed - 2
Per BMP Killed - 5
Per T-72 Killed - 10

extra rules: D3 fireteams arrive every turn as word spread that RG forces are searching for our beloved leader.

Turn 1

RG armored forces occupy the center street and take up over watch while infantry moves in on the south east building, crashing through the lobby to screams of civilians the troopers find the building does not contain the mufti and head upstairs to cover the street.

Meanwhile the other fire team move south of the building, but are opened up on from the adjacent hotel, killing one trooper and seriously injuring another. the sole remaining soldier returns fire but to no effect. Suddenly there is a dull crack and the T-72 announces itself, killing three of the insurgents in the hotel and pinning the remainder. the other RG fire teams take this opportunity to pour it on and finish off the last shell shocked insurgent in the hotel.

to the to the north an RPG arcs out of the old warehouse, crashing into the lead BMP and throwing its track, lightly injuring the driver. The BMP and its compatriot return fire, killing three more insurgents and leaving a single RPG gunner in the dust.

Turn 2:

A single group of insurgents arrives and one of the RG fireteams takes the opportunity in the lull to charge across open ground to the hotel. Quickly clearing the rooms they find nothing except some Filipino guest workers huddled in a broom closet.

The covering fire team left out to the south of the south west building are joined by the sole survivor of b team and head inside the block.

The militants take this opportunity to storm the hotel again from the other direction. With little to gain in holding on and more buildings to check, the RG NCO orders his troops to fall back out front of the south east building already occupied by Syrian government forces, leaving the hotel to the rebels.

Turn 3

Several more militant groups arrive behind the north west warehouse and from the south, and the RG troops are feeling the pressure. Teams in the south east building open up at near point blank range on the hotel, decimating the militants inside and leaving the sole RPG gunner pinned. Out of nowhere a militant machine gun team appears, only to be gunned down by the weight of RG fire.

The team that fell back from the hotel charge across the haze filled street for the apartment blocks in the north east, but receive fire from some of the newly arrived militants, lightly wounding one and pinning the team down right in front of the building.

The T-72 rotates its turret to deal with the remaining Insurgent in the warehouse, but a lucky RPG shot arcs out and strikes the turret ring. The HEAT warhead spikes through, splashing into the autoloader carousel and setting off a chain reaction that leavings the tank a smoking ruin. The combat pauses for a second to take in the spectacle.

Turn 5

3 more militant groups arrive, things are getting hairy. RG forces in the South West building pour it on, killing several more militants across the sector. The BMPs do their bit too, pinning down two more militant teams with KIA.

Finally the Fireteam reach the apartment blocks, kicking in doors they find the cleric huddled behind a bed

Turn 6

three more militant groups arrive and the situation is fast becoming untenable, with the south east building beginning to resemble Swiss cheese. More fire erupted from neighboring buildings, lightly wounding several more RG troops. Finally the Sargent in the occupied building hurls a smoke grenade. Seeing the opportune moment has arrived, the fire team with the cleric charges out into the street to disappear in the smoke. Mission accomplished!

Final tallies:

RG
1 badly wounded
4 KIA (including tank crew)

Militia
~ 20 KIA/Badly wounded

RG Score:
Cleric Caught - 15 points
20 killed/badly wounded - 20
killed civilians - - 1

Total: 34

Militia Score:

2 killed/badly wounded - 4

T-72 killed - 10

total: 14

A great little game, and definitely not 'predestined'. The T-72 loss was a real blow and very much out of the blue for me. Fog Of War cards were a minimum and easily dealt with as they came up

hm what could this be

2010-11-19T05:54:00.000-08:00

that's right

its a can of Malibu and coke

Force on Force Mission: Airport Assault

2010-11-15T05:49:00.000-08:00

In my spare time I've been looking at writing up a linear campaign based on the Task Force Lightning campaign from Combat Mission: Shock force. This represents my first attempt: the 2nd mission that some will remember had a pretty nasty objective tacked on at the end.

hummmmmm...ers

2010-11-13T02:00:00.000-08:00

Well, Lana is off for a couple weeks in New Orleans for a conference so I now have more spare time to focus on writing my thesis. Naturally its time to paint more mans, I am weak willed some times!

While I was working on the previous batch of Syrian armor I was also working on some of Irishserb's hummers in parallel. I've already reviewed these bad boys, and now finally get to bring them into the painting fold. While my force is going to be primarily of mechanized make, these will serve as specialist vehicles for sniper teams, EOD, CAS spotters, as well as the special forces snatch wagon.

The SF buggy I wanted a bit more personalized, so I added an excessive amount of stowage to show a vehicle that was intended to operate independently for an extended amount of time. I also threw on a spare M-60 I had left over from some random Skytrex model just to give it a bit more personality.

MOAR SYRIAN ARMOR

2010-11-11T02:57:00.000-08:00

Hey hey hey, whats that? More tanks for Syria??? Why the fuck not? This week I decided to update QRF's T-62As to the BV standard. I love how awkward these guys look decked out in their reactive protection.

Usual accuracy caveats apply, I am well aware there are more reactive tiles in reality, but I think I got the overall look down :)

Geoff also accidentally sent me a T-72MV instead of the Kontakt-5 panel mounting one I required and in his usual friendly manner dispatched a replacement. In the mean time I painted up the missend.

I also managed to find a 1/100 MI-8 on ebay, this model was a nightmare to strip and repaint, but I got there! I wasn't completely happy with the chipping experinment I carried out on him - the idea was the chopper arrived in typical soviet green primer and has been losing its desert scheme. Grey just contrasts better. Oh well, lesson learned!

I also repainted my Cold War SF operators to look more theater appropriate.

Next week I'll finish up a bunch of hummers and this little beasty - a T-55m5 converted from the QRF T-55m

Surviving the Urban Battlefield: Bradley style

2010-11-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

A while ago I mentioned I had been working on making the 1/100 Forces of Valor Bradley toy into something gamable, well here are the results!

All that was really required was a barrel change out and a new paint job. I'm very happy with how the scheme turned out, as I was a little worried, since painting US style desert schemes are different to our arab counterparts'.

I also finished up some more ACU fellas

A couple more Syrians

and probably my final foray into 28mm moderns, an Imprint T-90

This sucker will be listed on Ebay, along with my other 28mms (T-80UK, BMP-3, BMP-2) as I have decided to focus on 15mm as my scale. linky - http://shop.ebay.com/taco_bat/m.html

Syrian Armored Onslaught

2010-10-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was an utter nightmare, I must say. Some times in the academic realms, things just go horribly horribly wrong, and one must pick up the pieces in very rapid order. Life soldiers on, and this week I have been trying not to think about Saudi Arabia, security, or anything else that will inevitably cause my brain to detonate in my skull. What better way to fill the void with a mass mans painting session!

I decided my Syrians were feeling very lonely, so I needed to fill the gaps, and fill gaps I did. Ten vehicles painted in about 10 hours, phew!

First up a BMP-1P platoon that will serve as the core transport for my infantry

The BMP-1 essentially improved a tad on the earlier platform by adding a slightly less sucky ATGM capability.

Next up Syria has suddenly managed to get its grubby mits on some BTR-90s, badass! The BTR-90 has been an attempt by the Russian fed to convert the venerable BTR series from battle-taxi to fully fledged support vehicle by throwing a BMP-2 turret on a BTR chassis.

Some MTLBs for the weapons platoon. The MTLB: the m113 of the Soviet Union

and finally, a mixed T-72 Platoon, with 2 older models and a converted T-72MV (2001)

The T-72MV has been my second attempt to produce this little beasty through conversion. My first effort was based on the wrong turret and so never quite looked right. I decided to use the QRF model that is actually the right generation, but minus the KONTAKT-5 reactive armor which I added myself.

1st attempt

2nd attempt

Until next time!

Syrian T-55 Platoon

2010-10-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

Rather than just production line I thought this project I would try to give a bit more personality, heres a taste of whats to come!

I'll be mixing model types in platoons, and having a range of Mid Eastern schemes in play to keep the eyes entertained

Syria gets its first armor

2010-10-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I've painted desert armor and I was feeling a little rusty, but after playing around with MIG's washes I am pretty happy how this guy turned out. Hes a Skytrex T-55 with some reactive armor chucked on. While the armor connoisseur will quickly note that this is not a true T-55MV, I thought the addition of the ERA bricks really made the model pop, and am quite happy with how it turned out. Given its brightness I decided to weather it a fair bit more than its darker European cousins, the schemes of which don't really show off good weathering.

I also finished up a few more Syrians/generic middle eastern troops, including an SPG-9 weapons team. I decided to make their kit more eclectic, as it gave them more character.

ACU and Syrians Test

2010-10-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

Well I've finally caved! I'm moving my focus point 20 years forward and half way around the world. After playing way too much Combat Mission: Shock force I am now focused on making an ultra modern US army force and a generic Middle Eastern force that will stand in for the Syrians.

Heres an ACU tester - I decided that this was easier to paint than 15mm Multicam for some reason :P

I also picked up 4 Forces of Valor 1/144 Bradleys in TUSK kit. Funnily enough they are actually 1/103 scale so perfect for 15mm :)

A quick barrel change and we'll be set!

And of course lets not forget the Syrians shall we

I'll be having a mix of these guys in plain janes and fellas in us Woodland BDUs as per Syrian army.

ebay clearance of my painted stuff

2010-09-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

Hey fellas,

I'm having a cleanout of some of my less gamed stuff, and I know some of you have expressed interest in picking up some of my gear so I thought I'd give a heads up

All of this is painted up to my usual standards, so check it out

Chechen army

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painted-Chechen-Army-15mm-Moderns-FOW-Ambush-Alley-/250704305458?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5f241d32

M1a1 platoon

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painted-M1A1-Platoon-15mm-Mod-fow-flames-war-/260670900442?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb13248da

Bradley Platoon

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painted-Bradley-Platoon-15mm-Mod-fow-flames-war-/250703966726?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5f1ef206

US Modern Rifle Platoon

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painted-1980s-90s-US-Rifle-Platoon-15mm-Moderns-FOW-/260671215629?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb137180d

Vulcan anti air

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painted-M163-Vulcan-SPAAG-15mm-Moderns-FOW-/260671217705?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb1372029

T-80bv

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painted-Soviet-T-80BV-15mm-Moderns-FOW-Ambush-Alley-/260671221323?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb1372e4b

all proceeds will be donated to moving me 20 years upwards :)

28mm Russian ultramoderns, 15mm airpower for NATO and WARPAC

2010-09-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ever since I recieved my first order from imprint I cant seem to get over their awesomeness. The last few days were spent on the T-80UK kit complete with crazy ass anti RPG systems aka DROZD.

I also finished up a test Russian Federal trooper sporting 'Flora' pattern cams. I plan for there to be alot of variance within my 28mms since the Russian army seems to have around 1000 different schemes going at any one time.

I also finished up one of Irishserb's lovely little hummers

For a while now I've been wanting to convert my airpower over to 1/100. I had picked up the 1/144 bug from FOW and it always irked me at how small my fliers were, so this week I bit the bullet.

Based blackhawk

Apache

and a hind (Its supposed to be green and gray but sadly the washes seemed to diminish the effect)

Review: Irishserb's Hummers

2010-09-22T02:28:00.000-07:00

Today I received a tiny little package in the mail and upon opening it was greeted with what I can frankly say are some of the best 15mm models I have encountered.

Irishserb has a small but expanding range of 15mm products spanning from the post war period to the ultramodern. His inventory grows slowly, but this is due to the incredible quality each one seems to carry with it. His website disappeared for some time recently, but in the last few weeks he has relaunched a new one and I wasted no time in ordering some of his tasty hummers. He even threw in a bonus one with all the trimmings!

The first thing that hits you when taking these out of the packet is the crisp detail. Because these are made in resin they have retained extremely crisp edges and well defined crannies. The detailing is incredibly pedantic, and actually seems quite intimidating to paint. These are the naughties era Hummers with the extra armor that started to appear after the Iraq invasion.

The kits come in 7 individual parts: The wheels, chassis, turret, and crew served weapon. The last two are variable, with standard or up-armored turret, and a selection of M2, Mk-19 and 240B. All parts are cast remarkably cleanly, and it is clear Brian takes great care in the process. Flash was minimal, as was air bubbles, and all in all, you should be able to get these together in a few minutes including cleanup.

pictured with a peter pig marine

Scale wise these bad boys definitely have the chunk to them, and I think this really helps in 15mm scale. They line up nicely with Old Glory/Peter Pig/QRF and will obviously dwarf quality castings gear. Proportions are 46mm long X 22mm wide X 18mm high minus the gun.

pictured next to an Old Glory/Skytrex hummer

These guys really dominate the market in terms of competition. They blow the Old Glory guys out of the water. While the Old Glory models are definitely usable, they seem thin and ill proportioned, as well as lacking detail. Unfortunately the QRF offering seem to be from one of their less well made lines. Price wise at 5 bucks a pop you really cant go past Brian's hummers even from an economical stand point.

So if you're in the market for some top notch hummers for your Ambush Alley/Force on Force, definitely give Brian a go at his site https://sites.google.com/site/irishserbsminiatures/

You'll be happy to know hes also got an upcoming m2a2 in the works which looks to be the same stellar quality he normally puts out

Super heavy artillery, giant apcs, a weird week

2010-09-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

This week I decided to take a break from painting the armored hordes and paint some slightly different tanks!

First up I decided to tackle my Imprint BMP-3. This is an absolutely wonderful 28mm kit, with a cast quality in resin I've never encountered before. I went for a pretty regular modern Russian camo scheme. Unlike US forces, there are alot to choose from :P

and pictured here with her 15mm buddy

Next up I went after Sloppy Jalopy's BMP-2. After the stellar experience of the last kit I must say this one was far less fun, with alot of cleanup and poorly fitting bits

After this I went for QRF's lovely Pion kit. For those not in the know the Pion was one of those crazy inventions the soviet's came up with in the twighlight of the Cold War, mounting a 203mm nuclear capable cannon on an extended T-80 chassis. This will most likely be an objective in some of my FOF games, I'll get around to adding crew eventually

Finally I threw together one of the 1/100 blackhawk kits I've had laying around

Until next time!

Making kontakt with the T-72

2010-09-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

15mm these days has some pretty gaping holes in its range, and one of them is second and third gen Russian ERA. Kontakt-5 was developed as a successor to Kontakt-1, a reactive tiling that was meant to foul the process HEAT warheads undergo to penetrate their targets. Kontakt-5 took this concept a step further, and targeted the kinetic penetrators on SABOT rounds fired out of the NATO tanks at the time. The result is simple - Kontakt-1 can stop RPGs and HEAT rounds, but has little effect on other types of ammunition. Kontakt-5 on the other hand, seeks to protect against a broader range of munition types, protecting the relatively fragile Soviet AFV from the horrible fiery death they seem to be fond of experiencing.

To remedy this gap I decided to take a basic QRF T-72 and convert it using plasticard and superglue riveting, I'm quite pleased with the result!

The initial model pre-conversion

and after

pictured along side the T-80BV

Vulcans and Bradleys

2010-09-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

This week I've been finishing up my US armor (before promptly ordering some of irishserbs tasty hummers, the slog never ends :))

First up we have the finished Bradley Platoon, these guys kick large amounts of ass in FOF

And to give my guys a bit of AA teeth a Vulcan SPAAG, a conversion made using Peter Pig's IDF vulcan turret and a skytrex M113

The last gasp of soviet engineering

2010-09-08T23:40:00.000-07:00

Given the upcoming campaign we're going to be running at my local game club I've decided to paint up some borderline Soviet forces (ie they never actually were this well equipped), equipping them with a number of AFVs released in the very late hours of the Cold War.

First up are some BMP-3 IFVs. The BMP-3 was the successor to the BMP-1 and BMP-2, basically trying to improve on their designs by increasing survivability and fire power. The result was a mixed bag, and many troops in the modern Russian Federal army still prefer the BMP-2. The APC is heavily armed with 100mm main gun, 30mm auto cannon, 3 7.62 MGs and ATGM capability. These are QRF kits which were a bit disappointing at first, but with some minor modifications such as adding smoke launchers and cutting the wheels to be more even it turned out great.

Next up the Tunguska SPAA. The Shilka was always considered a bit limited in its abilities at air defense since it had a relatively short range as the result of its quad 23mm auto cannons. The Tunguska improved on this by reducing the number of guns and increasing their caliber, as well as adding a SAM capability. Of course radar was improved as well. This specimen is made by QRF and is quite a lovely bit of kit, although the front tow cable might need to be recast me thinks :)

Finally I have once again been painting some T-80BV, the scapegoat of Chechnya. The T-80 was the Soviet attempt to compete with the technically superior Western IFVs. While it had a number of interesting features like a turbine engine and an advanced vertical autoloader capable of putting out a higher fire rate than those found on the T-72, it was considered overly complex by many senior officers and became an easy target to justify the immense losses in Chechnya during the first war. This particular model is QRF's version and is a wonderful kit, with numberous options like Commander's shield, AA MG, external tanks and bog log. I've decided to go with a relatively simplified looking one, leaving off the AA MG and Shield. QRF really needs to do a T-80UD, the prettier cousin of this beasty :)

cheers

VDV support weapons, Chechen technicals and heavy weps

2010-08-30T23:32:00.000-07:00

Another week, another few things down.

First up I decided my Soviet VDV guys needed more teeth, so I gave them another AT-4, a NSV HMG, a couple RPD teams and a sniper team

I also finished up crewing my technicals up. I took a lot of liberties with these guys, as I have heard some pretty hilarious descriptions of the types of vehicles the various Chechen militant groups utilized during their struggle against the Russians.

Finally I decided to add another fire team to the Chechens, for these guys I decided to use the late Cold War Russian camo patterns mixed up with Shemaghs to distinguish them from the VDV guys. I also painted up a carriage mounted Dushka to give them a little more kick.

The Chechens are now finished for now

next up ill be finishing off my US forces, another 8 regular troops, a couple 240 teams, another TOW, a dragon and 3 more bradleys.

SF kill team, technicals etc

2010-08-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well I've been MIA for a little while, but heres the week's spoils

A CIA/SF/contractor kill team, bust out those D-12s

And some technicals who still need their crew

a glimpse at the future

Wargames Factory Greatcoats: Review for conversion potential

2010-07-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

A few months ago when the Wargames Factory posted the teasers of their upcoming greatcoat range my interest was piqued. I'm not a massive fan of 40k these days, but I did enjoy the Death Korps range put out by forge world, and the prospect of creating a unique looking 'new' guard regiment has always been something I have liked the idea of. I decided to do the big order - the 120ish range - and for just over a hundred dollars it seemed extremely reasonable in a hobby where one's wallet can quickly be depleted with the purchase of just a few little mans.

Then I waited, and waited and waited and waited. Here was the clincher - despite the awesome pricing and quality, the unfortunate implementation of Murphy's law meant that the release of the plastic greatcoats was delayed well over a month. Luckily I was finishing up my degree and had plenty of other side projects to focus on so it wasn't much of a deal for me.

A few days ago I arrived home to find a chunky box sitting on my doorstep, and low and behold inside resided over a hundred little potential warhams mans. I cracked it open and got to work.

5 Greatcoats made up with a mix of GW, West Wind, and MaxMini parts

The first thing you will notice is these guys are perfectly scaled with the 40k range, and mixing and matching the various lines is not an issue. The plastic itself is of a similar softness to the GW product and lends itself easily to remoulding through head and cutting.

Despite the large amount of derision I encountered in the various 40k forums around the place the detail is more than acceptable and on par with the GW plastic guard range. These are certainly not up to the standards of the FW Elysians or Death Korps, but that is the difference in working with plastic over resin. I also heard complaints about the amount of 'folds' in the coats, but I have to say when you hold the minis in hand its not something you notice, perhaps those that find this an issue need to stop obsessively staring at pictures on the internet for hours on end.

Accessories are mixed. The rifles are suitably beefy, and I found once you removed the massive weights at the base of the grips and added a lasgun muzzle they fit right in with the 40k imagery. Webbing is pretty lax, and I have found you really need to add GW gear to bulk them up. The shotguns are a nice touch for vets, but the pistol arm is utterly dismal and looks more like a miniature welding device than something for combat. There are also an enormous amount of heads that come with each sprue. One range is straight out of Killzone, and another Star Wars. There are also bare heads, but they are pretty lax on the detail side of things. Finally you have the Cthulhu head which will be useful for those Chaos Cult type guys out there.

Comparison to GW Vostroyan

Overall if you are looking for a bit of a change from the same old Cadian/Catachan lines give these guys a go. At the price they are it really isn't much of a loss if you decide you hate them, and the more money that goes to the Wargames Factory the more interesting releases we can bank on for the future.

Soviet expansion

2010-07-26T00:18:00.001-07:00

Hey fellas,

This week I worked on getting a T-34 and T-70 platoon done. This time I tried to go with a weathered olive tone in the paint, rather than the darker green I used on the KV-1Es, take a look.

And the teeny t-70s

Soviet armor finished Showcase and some more US armor

2010-07-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

The other little thing I've been working on, I finished up my Soviet Armored company :)

Group shot

T-72BV platoon

T-80BV platoon

Motor rifle platoon and Company HQ

Mortars

Company HQ with AT-4 and SAM

squad 1

squad 2

squad 3

All thats left is to add a SU-25 at some point :)

I also finished up and M1a1 platoon

and some hummers

This army still requires 3 more Bradleys, 2 Vulcans, 12 more infantry, another TOW team and an AC-130 Gunship for extra fun time

1980s US grunts

2010-07-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

Been plodding along after a brief hiatus in Tasmania.

Getting through the US grunts, heres an army shot so far

I've mixed in SAWs and M-60s to represent the transitional phase of weapons

A comparison shot between a beefy Peter Pig guy and wussy little Old Glory fella

.50 team

and just to top it off I also finished up a KV-1E platoon

Mid war Panzer madness

2010-06-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

Another week, another update. I've slowly been grinding through the panzers this week

First up heres a new tiger to terrify all that puny mid war soviet armor

I rounded off the Panzer III platoon

Got something to make the Sturmoviks think twice

and finished up my infantry test

Also on the soviet front a T-80BV

a T-72BV

BMP-2D, the slightly less explodey version

BMP-1

and a BTR-60

Chechens? In my Ichkeria!?!?? Project finished!

2010-06-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

Well what started as a little side diversion turned into its own project and is now finished. I've always had a weird fascination with the Caucuses and I guess it was inevitable that I would do a Chechen force, but it happened so fast that I barely realized what I was doing until it was finished.

Well here they are

I decided to spice up the tanks a bit and jewel all the vision blocks

Command with Grail

Cell 1

Cell 2

Cell 3

Sagger ATGM

Recoilless rifle

The best part is I can throw these dudes up against my late Cold War Soviets without batting an eyelash since the early years Russian federals basically had the exact same kit!

Tanks with TUSKS

2010-06-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

Wasn't happy with the afore mentioned BMP and T-72 so I decided to make them into generic East European Militia/insurgent fodder

Also have been discussing doing an ultra modern campaign based loosely on the Harvest Red campaign from Arma II

heres an ACU test I think turned out pretty nicely

And an M1 TUSK conversion

rollin' along

2010-06-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

Rebased the MI-26, this thing is a BEAST

a basic run of the mil Abrams-fodder...er T-72

Stock BMP-1

And the retouched based T-72BV/T-80 impostor

Panzer Gray!?!?!

2010-06-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

I've always loved Panzer gray, and wanted to paint some guys up in it, but ironically have found the concept a bit intimidating - given such a simple scheme I've always considered it difficult to execute well, but I finally sucked it up and gave it a shot, here are the results.

The ultra cute PZIII

And the obligatory group shot

I also decided to redo the T-72BV to give it a bit more weathered soviet character

I wish I was freebasing but instead I've been rebasing

2010-06-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, lots of work rebasing 30 guys, so first up heres a VDV/motor rifle platoon now all individually mounted

A QRF T-72BV

Mortars

Chechen insurgents for Ambush

the QRF Bradley which beats the hell out of the Quality Castings contender

and rebased US grunts

Which T-72?

2010-05-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

Perhaps I am alone in my fastidiousness, but ever since my tearing away from the dogmatic reigns of Games Workshop's "one manufacturer" policy my searches for the perfect miniatures on the market has often caused me long consideration.

Today our topic will focus on that staple of the Soviet Cold War armory, the T-72 main battle tank. While several manufacturers offer their own interpretations of this tank, after sampling 5 seperate models I am willing to throw my chips in with QRF in terms of quality, heft, and range. But I'm getting ahead of myself here, the purpose of this post is to outline the three big producers - Quality Castings, Skytrex/Old Glory, and QRF - and the pros and cons of their versions of the T-72

Quality castings

The first thing that strikes you about the QC offering is how puny it is. While I appreciate that QC's scale is generally smaller than most 15mm producers, this is not simply confined to actual scale - the tracks and hull are out of proportion, with a high belly and stilt like tracks, this little creature lacks character on the battlefield and really gives off the impression that the sculptor wanted to emphasize the cheap crappy quality of Soviet hardward. It also comes with the typical trademark of 'un'Quality Castings, with all three that I picked up having some sort of deformity. Apart from the AA Dushka, there are no accessories to choose from, and the whole kit is very very bland.

Heres one painted in tripple tone Soviet/Russian Fed camo

Pros: not alot really, detail is good when not miscast I guess? Minimal mould lines

Cons: Tiny, no accesories, miscasts galore

Skytrex/Old Glory

For a long time I felt this was the best offering out there in the T-72. The Skytrex model was well cast, hefty and had very little in terms of mould lines. The model was overflowing with accesories - fuel tanks, movable hatches and crew members - you cant ask for much more in Soviet tanks. Sadly however, it was only the most basic early model of the T-72, as is a problem with much of the Skytrex range, it gets up to about 1975 and then suddenly ceases. The model also has a weird shaped turret that is simply wrong for the T-72. This didn't bother me at all until somone pointed it out, then it slowly began to nag away at me and drive me insane much like the beating heart. The barrel is also out of proportion with the vehicle and comes off very weedy. I was happy enough with them, and being a smartass thought that the special offered by warweb on Old Glory (same models) would save me a fair bit of cash, boy was I wrong. As it turns out the Old Glory USA moulds are very much burnt out, and a great deal of that crisp detail was subsequently lost in these frayed old relics. If you want this model, buy direct from skytrex trust me.

Here are a couple I modified to be latter model T-72s with ERA

Pros: Stunning detail on the Skytrex models, accessories, nice heft, clean casts

Cons: some poor proportions/dimensions, only early models avaliable(no smoke launchers!)

QRF

Geoff (head of QRF) and I have had our disagreements in the past, we mainly came to heads over the MI-6 kit which I wasn't a big fan of, but the QRF offerings in the T-72 are in a completely different league. Not only do they offer a wide range of the model, including the early, late, reactive armor and export monkey models, but each comes with a bevy of accessories. Sadly alot of this isn't conveyed on the QRF website, with alot of the pictures being very poor quality, and failing to convey the sheer awesomeness of these models, this issue really needs to be addressed, as these are easily as well cast as Skytrex's offering, minus the bad proportions. Some models even lack pictures completely, and the only reason I actually even was aware that there was a model avaliable with reactive armor was somone in packing sending me the wrong model (I am certainly not complaining here ;)). If there was one non-picture related gripe it would have to be at the mould lines, which are numerous, but at the end of the day, these models are fantastic and worth the clean up. If you're in the market to expanding your Warpac forces, QRF is the route to go for the T-72.

As I haven't gotten around to painting one, here is a T-72 with ERA

Pros: Great range, accessories, attention to detail

Cons: poor pictures on website, flash

Ragnarok roll out

2010-05-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

Well a bit of time has passed so I thought you guys might like to see what became of the Ragnarok I was showing off last time. I decided to go with a winter scheme, but rather than white, do a very light grey. Mabye I'm just terrified of white, but the idea of trying to weather it seems extremely daunting, and after putting the effort into converting up this beasty I didnt want to see it end up in the trash pile.

I used a number of techniques for weathering. For the chipping I took a sponge, cut it up and rubber banded it onto an old brush before lightly stippling on violet olive all over the tank. Rusting was achieved with washes rather than pigments, as I found it to be subtler. track mud was MiG's Russian Earth applied liberally.

Boxing is dangerous and Ragnarok tanks

2010-05-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

Of all the places I could injure myself in boxing, Murphy's law dictated I had to break the one protected area. Apparently I snapped my 5th metacarpal by throwing a right hook which caused my knuckle to move down between my 4th and 5th, which then had to be reset by a surgeon.

After seeing the new plastic longcoats by wargames factory I really got inspired to retry some guard, so I bought a KV Gigant and 40ked it up

What you think?

Are internet wargamers the worst kind of people?

2010-05-09T22:29:00.001-07:00

Recently I was struck by a post on The Miniatures Page which commemorated the fall of Diem Bien Phu in 1954, a battle the was a critical in the removal of French colonialism in Indo China. What hit me about the thread was the way in which people were pining over the fallen soldiers from the Foreign Legion, but completely disregarding the sacrifices made by the Viet Minh, which in many ways seem to be far more noble, fighting for the liberation of ones country rather than fighting for a colonial interest that doesn't even serve your nation of birth.

When I mentioned that perhaps we should be thinking about this from both sides I was immediately attacked from multiple directions by people accusing me of being a Communist sympathiser who was politicizing an a political thread.

How could something already be any more political when you are celebrating the sacrifice made by one group in a battle while completely ignoring the other side?

At one point I was asked if I had a "problem with colonialism in general?" I wonder what king of morale vacum somone must live in where they can even consider that something worth asking?

It got me wondering about the internet war gamer mentality in general. In my time spent on war games forums I have noticed a trend in the proportionality of racists, historical revisionists and a general lack of critical thinking on issues. What’s worse is often these types of individuals are accommodated by the moderators of many of these websites as long as they don't be too outspoken, but you see it bleed through in their posting style, model projects, and the types of perspectives they harbour.

Why is it the German Armored Company is such a popular choice for Warhammer 40k players? Plenty of other nations have fought armored conflicts, but after the Imperial Eagle, the Balkenkreuz seems to be the most prominent symbol slapped on the side of the Leman Russ these days.

Why is it that so many seem to think the ultra-fascist system of government purported in the various 40k codex’s (obviously satirically on the part of the writers) is taken so seriously, and often seen in a sympathetic light by many players.

The obvious answer, (and the one my inner id gravitates towards naturally) is the young nerdy male concept, whereby you have a large group of socially awkward males who are obviously attracted to militaristic concepts and have found each other via the wonders of modern technology. In such a context it should be hardly surprising that this type of ideology would arise and ferment, fascism has traditionally appealed to the young militaristically inclined and what is war gaming if not a hub for the arm chair generals and wannabes out there (of course there are many exceptions to this rule...). Those that are isolated from social norms could be expected to find solace in this type of alternative social perspective.

In the original case, however, I think it is more likely that the omission of the Viet Minh goes back to both the general character of the US, and the incapability of a large portion of the population to accept it was a bad guy, even if this extends to supporting policies the country took that were very clearly immoral, i.e. supporting the French Colonialists.

I would like to say that racism and revisionism was restricted to the internet, but my experience over the years with war gamers in the real world hasn't painted much more of a rosy picture. While we are all aware of the fat creepy child molester stereotype of war gamers, I think the image I have painted here runs a close second in terms of numeracy.

If you are a healthy well adjusted critically thinking war gamer, I apologise, this was not meant for you, but these people are out there, and in numbers.

Realism Reboot

2010-05-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well after much consideration I've decided to pawn a large amount of my currently painted guys and repaint in a more realistic style, heres the first contestant, Johnny Lightning's M1a1, easily the best 15mm model I've encountered thus far

Priests are ready to hear your confession

2010-05-07T23:44:00.000-07:00

too much green....too little sanity

M10 platoon

Shermans, Soviet Goonsquad, and Stewies

2010-05-06T01:07:00.000-07:00

managed to snap a bunch more pictures today (ebay motivations)

BRDMs!

Sherman 76ers

Sherman Command

Sherman Objective

Stuarts

Panzer IV command

Kinda starting to think I need to do a desert board and according armies, starting to go a bit insane painting green :)

a change of colors (quite literally)

2010-04-29T02:59:00.000-07:00

When I started painting my US troops I was unsure of how to do camo at the 15mm scale, as such I ended up settling on a darker base green than I think is appropriate to convey 1980s era woodland BDUs, here are a bunch painted in this style

Since then I decided to go for a lighter green that I think captures it, here is a comparison shot of the new generation (left) and the old generation (right).

I also layered the skin more and left the weapons overall darker, heres a TOW team and a Sniper I did in the same scheme

Apart from that I've gotten more air power mobile

Gotten the soviets some more groovy toys for the VDV

And finally grew some more panthers

the miniature challenges of cold wargaming in 15mm

2010-04-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

One of the most frustrating things of striking out into an area that isn't really covered by an official system is getting the appropriate miniatures for it. In the case of late Cold War I probably shouldn't complain: there are numerous manufacturers out there whom fill most of this period quite well, but the problem at the end of the day is quality, scaling and depth of ranges provided.

Scale

As many of you are undoubtably aware scale in any particular medium can vary greatly. Even GW and Forgeworld suffer from this, with the proportions and height of a typical 28mm Cadian guardsmen being noticably different to their Death Korp contemporaries.

In 15mm moderns there are much the same issues. While companies like Skytrex/Old Glory and Peter Pig produce at roughly the same scales, others like Quality Castings seem positively miniscule in comparison. This was showcased to me most clearly when comparing the Skytrex T-72 with the QC offering.

While the Skytrex model was chunky, well detailed and just 'felt right' the QC model had tracks that were 3 times too thin, lacked any sort of lower hull (it quite literally looked as if it was standing on tip-toes from the front on) and seemed as if it was more on the scale of 1/120 rather than the 1/100 that 15mm supposedly represents.

To many wargamers this type of issue is of no consequence, having pieces set on the table to represent their character suffices, but to the modelfags amongst us it is something that grates upon your sensibilities.

Quality

As somone who was raised on GW I will willingly admit my standards are probably too high in this department. My childhood swung between the space marines of second edition and various Dragon and Tamiya kits, all with their wonderful hyperdetailing.

Such as it was I entered the world of indie miniature producers with a skewed view on what to expect, and that stays with me to this day. While there are many good producers of 15mm moderns out there, there are also some abysmally shoddy ones. Perhaps the worst type is the mixed ranges, whereby some are up to standard, while others in the range are visually repugnant.

Here it is QRF that most worries me. While some of their range appears quite pleasing (I have recently, although with some consternation, ordered a batch of their Bradleys, models that appear quite superior to their only competitor over at Quality castings. While I hope that they turn out as they seem, my historical experience with QRF have shown them to have extremely mixed quality. I am certainly aware that they recieve large amounts of praise around the net, but until this moment I seem to be missing something.

Depth Of Range

Perhaps my biggest gripe lies here. While companies like PP and OG make great products, their gear is often extremely limited. While OG makes three great staples of the Soviet armory - the T-55, T-72 and BMP-1, that is essentially where it ends. Whats more distressing is the news I picked up that there were actual moulds made for an OG BMP-2 and T-80, but because the range never recieved the desired attention nothing was done about standardizing them.
These ranges also have a severe lack of modern US equipment, and one is forced to buy toys like the Johnny Lightning M1a1 to get a decent looking version of it.

If the OG or PP boys could get their shit together and release and release some T-80Us and M1a1s in their stylistic chunkiness they would have at least one eager customer :)

New Panthers and airpower to come

2010-04-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I take back what I said about Panthers earlier, I am quite fond of the new ones I picked up from battlefront, even if they are the early problem ridden D models. I think what really put me off up until this point was Zimmerit, which can look pretty sketchy in 15mm and really detracts from the model. In total there will be 7 split between command and a full platoon. I decided to go for a sortve octopus minus suckers camo, which is a split between Dunkgelb and Olivgrun, although weirdly enough the green looks grey when you contrast it next to the yellow. I also minimalized the track weathering for a chance, I'm quite fond of this look so I may carry it over to future models.

coming up I need to base a bunch of airpower as you can see

First MI-26 takes off

2010-04-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

Little update - finished the first of 2 MI-26s - this kit is HUGE even in 1/144, pictured next to it is a 1/100 BMP!

For those that arent aware this was basically the Russians deciding to make a helo version of the AC-130, capable of carrying 100 troops in full battle rattle or two BMDs

Pershings, BLAZER and good old soviet know how

2010-03-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been just rounding up what needs to be finished with my various projects. lots and lots of shades of green as it were :P

First up we have a finished M60A3 BLAZER Platoon made using Skytrex M48 bodies, QRF M60 turrets and lots of plasticard

Facing off against these bad boys is a group of classic T-55s

Delving back in history we now have a full platoon of Pershing heavy tanks to beef up my US armored boys (if only there were actual rules for them in FoW)

and finally heres some overall progress shots of whats going on

Germans

US Fulda Gap Armored forces

Their Soviet adversaries

So whats up next? well I need to finish off the T-55 company by adding another 4. The T-72s need another 2 so they can pair up with the T-80s to form an understrength company. I also have a few more big expansions planned for the Soviets - 3 KA-50 attack helos to make the yanks keep their heads down, a VDV company complete with 2 MI-26s to hoon around in and of course finish the scout platoon for the T-55s.

US wise I need to finish the infantry for the bradely platoon - at this stage im not sure whether I'm going to just do another squad or break out the big toys and do a weapons squad with .50s and Dragons to help cull the enemy tanks. after that theres the matter of getting 2 more A-10s online and two Apaches to help even the odds for the beleaguered americans.

Germans have a bunch of renforcements coming down the pipeline. I've decided to go with the Totenkopf list from the river of heroes supplement so more infantry is ago - regular panzergrenadier squads as well as a HMG platoon. On top of this there will be another 4 Panzer IVs and 7 Panther Ds (I far prefer the sleeker non zimmeret look of these guys) and I am now getting together an HS-129 flight to give them further bite.

Finally my WW2 Americans need another Sherman squad to fill out all their core units. Beyond that there are Priest and M12 155MM batteries coming down the pipeline as well as a greyhound scout platoon, another armored rifle platoon and a flight of P-47 Razorbacks for CAS

So as you can tell , much ahead :)

Panzer IV new scheme

2010-03-22T01:17:00.000-07:00

Well since I've decided to go for the Panzer Forces Bagration I need to pick up a fair few Panzer IV's and Panthers but I have no desire to paint a shitload more Dunkgelb so I've tried a new scheme, what do you guys think?

the update to end all updates(well not really)

2010-03-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

Well here we are in the new month and I have been a busy, if eclectic, little bee.

Cold War Soviets

I've been trudging ever onward with the Cold War era soviet hordes, skytrex providing the majority of the fodder

First up we have the old faithful BMP-1. I've lightly converted it to carry a more modern ATGM, the Kornet (one of the few decent items QRF actually seems to produce).

Also we have the BTR-60, this particular specimen will be used to cart my mortar teams around in.

Another wonderful model by Skytrex, the T-55. Plenty of companies offer this model in 15mm, but to be honest this one is heads and tails above the rest.

I've also added another T-72 with ERA to the unit.

Finally we have the lovely MI-24 from the Heliborne series of collectable 1/144 toys in Japan. This kit was great! Ready painted out of the box all I had to do was add a decal or two and darken the canopy before megnetizing it for the base

Cold War US

Since I finished the M1 Platoon I've been a bit lazy with the Yanks, I did manage to finish the Bradley Platoon. Quality casting definitely did not live up to its name, with a huge amount of miscasts in these models. Fortunately those that made it through did so well enough, but wherever you can spot camo netting you can be assured there was some kind of nasty defect.

I also picked up 3 Challenger 1 kits from Skytrex. Once again they were wonderful to work with, if only they would produce an M1.

FoW US

I've nearly got my US FoW army up to 1,500 points! All I really have left is another M10 and I'll be able to play some mid sized games, exciting.

First up we have the core 76mm sherman platoon, more to come.

I also managed to slog my way through an armored rifle platoon, I really am not looking forward to having to do another one of these :)

The plucky little stewarts may not be tough, but they sure are cute.

Finally I picked up 3 Pershings from skytrex. Currently battlefront dont offer the M26 in their range, and have yet to publish rules on them, I hope they do so soon :)

FoW Germans

last but not least we have the humble Krauts, not a huge progression this month, just finished off the Panzergrenadier platoon

Whats next?

A few things are in the pipeline. I've decided to restructure my german force around the late war Bagration lists, so my Tiger 1s are all going on ebay so I can raise funds to buy a bunch of PZ IVs. I also recently ordered two 1/144 kits of the gigantic Mi-26 off ebay, so that will certainly be entertaining. Apart from that, just a general expansion of the existing forces, more Shermans, M60s, T-72s, BRDMs, whatever strikes me really.

I leave you with a parting shot of my table that I recently finished, I'm quite proud.

Krieg Mortar thingy

2010-02-10T02:07:00.000-08:00

I thought I might share with you all one of the non-real world related models I've worked on in past. I really liked the FW Krieg range and have purchased a number of their models over the years. Perhaps the one thing that always tickled my fancy were the Baran Siegemasters that were dreamt up for epic. With them came alot of unique equipment including the famous Ragnarok tank, but sadly Forgeworld never swooped on the opportunity. This model was an attempt to model the Siegemasters and set them apart from the regular Krieg guys, I used a head swap from some company that I cant remember now, they do alot of Sci Fi pulp WW2 stuff in 28mm.

Sherman Platoon Finished

2010-02-10T01:19:00.000-08:00

Well, finally managed to crank out these guys, so much olive green, so little sanity...

Tiger Battalion

2010-02-04T04:13:00.000-08:00

This week we have 8 Tigers!

and 4 more

T-80 Platoon

2010-01-28T13:19:00.000-08:00

Not new per se, but I just realised I hadn't uploaded the pics of the T-80 Platoon with the last lot. The models aren't stellar, but I think they turned out pretty well with the tripple color russian cam

T72s to T72Ms, M48s to M60A3s and lots more

2010-01-17T01:39:00.000-08:00

a big update today

I just remembered I took a bunch of photos before I went abroad so thought I might post these here in my free time, after this I'll be off the paint radar for another month or so.

First up we have the half done Cold War era Soviet mechanized platoon. Still to come is a BTR-60 for the mortars, 3 BMP-1s for the command and various other blokes and some Spigot ATGMS

I had a spare T-80 laying around and decided to make it a characterful objective marker. This tank hit a mine and took several subsequent hits, bringing down the overhead powerlines on it and frying its crew

There are currently no 15mm T-72s out there equiped with early ERA bricks (I believe QRF may produce one, but their quality is severly lacking in comparison to their competitors) so I decided to make my own. This conversion was made with the Skytrex T-72, easily the best quality in 15mm modern. Sadly their US range is very limited and an email I recieved from them says that their are no plans to expand the current range.

Next up are the US dudes,

First up an M1a1 tank platoon

Given the comparitive ratio between these guys and their soviet counterparts I wanted to make each one quite personalized. Given that 1987 was a time of transition in camo patterns in the US military I felt I could take the liberty with these guys

I also wanted some M60A3s with the Blazer armor mod, but again, no models were avaliable in 15mm. In the end I had to make my own utilizing the crude turret made by QRF and the M48 hull produced by Skytrex along with alot of plasticard

Finally heres some classic FoW germans I have finished up

First up the Panzergrenadier platoon with Skytrex halftracks and Battlefront infantry - still needs another 2 infantry stands and command

And a late war Panther D platoon using Skytrex panthers with horizontal zimmerit, definitely my favorite model of the panther

Welp, thats about it for this week, see you all later

Hot hot Cold War action

2009-12-21T03:35:00.000-08:00

welp theres been alot of action in East Germany lately, we've been testing out the new unofficial Cold War module for Flames Of War, and its pretty fun, with lots and lots of armor, arty, and CAS. heres some shots of a game demo

A BMP-2 Column advances slowly behind cover of a high wall

Dug in Dragon ATGM on a hillside

Soviet Mortars hammer a small German town

M1s and T-80s knife fighting

A10 about to eat a whole bunch of Soviet armor

US forces dig in along the west side of town ready to defend agains the Soviet spearhead

And I remastered the first king tiger

15mm cold war

2009-12-03T06:08:00.000-08:00

The last couple months I have been preparing for a new unofficial supplement for flames of war which will cover the Cold War era NATO and Warsaw Pact forces up until the late 80s. When I first heard of this I was instantly interested. Its something very close to home for me and my own personal experiences and the chance to model up a Soviet and US force to duke it out in the Fulda Gap (complete with full european scenery) is really something I cant resist.

I've always loved the T72 and T80 despite their hideous track record across the world, and the prospect of fielding a few platoons of these bad boys is pretty sweet, as such I've plowed through a large amount of US and Soviet hardware, heres a few teasers.

And a quick peak at the US, I still haven't photographed the armor

At the moment I am using a mix of QRF, Quality Casting and Skytrex minis with Peter Pig infantry. It was impossible to get good looking cold war soviet infantry in 15mm so I took the PP hardened militia figures and gave them a head swap with the FoW soviet sapper platoon heads who are posed well enough to allow easy clippings.

Skytrex is by far the best quality vehicle producer in this scale, its a shame their range is rather limited for the US, and their Soviet vehicles seem to run into the mid 70s era and then stop, with a distinct lack of T80 and BMP-2.

I'm hesitant to buy more QRF. While their M60 models were adequate, the photos on their site seem to show a pretty average lineup, and while they say they have redone alot of their line in recent times I am unsure what is new and what is old.

Quality Casting are using models created in the late 80s, while they certainly show their age, they do the job pretty well and with the right paint job applied look pretty damn good on the table top. I just hope Skytrex continues their impressive forays into the modern 15mm environment.

More FOW Krauts and Yanks

2009-12-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

been trudging through these guys for a while now, I feel I'm getting down 15mm painting alot more (SS camo in 15mm is a surefire test of skill).

And lets not forget the yanks

Forgeworld Nurgle Comission Down

2009-12-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

Well after around 4 months I've finished up this comission - same client as last time asking for similar stuff. lots of grunt work getting through the basic plaguebearers and then I rewarded myself with the big papas at the end. I gave some variation in the ranks but the client specifically asked I make the big daddys the bluegreen I've used previously

Panther Panther smoldering mildly

2009-10-27T00:16:00.000-07:00

Another kraut tank down, I nearly scrapped this before I decided to spruce it up a bit with netting and such

I've always had a love hate relationship with the Panther. While I can appreciate that it was technically superior to the Tiger in most respects, it has always struck me as a pretty dorky looking tank. Whereas the Tiger is a solid centre heavy beast the panther seems overly tall with a skinny assed gun.

King Tiger

2009-10-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

refining my previously used techniques I tried them out on a new king tiger - I am pretty happy with the results, what do you think?

The Golden Demon entry that never was

2009-10-15T20:26:00.001-07:00

I had hoped last week to get these guys ready for the Aussie GD, but sadly time was not on my side and with Uni, work and everything else real life pitches at you I only managed to finish them after entry was closed.

Oh well I think they turned out pretty swish

They're up on ebay now http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250514999412&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Along with this guy

First crack at 15mm German late war

2009-10-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

This week I did a test mini to try and experiment with 15mm models, the first thing I learnt is that you can really go overboard trying to accentuate all the detail and often it may be better to go a bit more simplistic. It was a learning experience, however, and I now have an idea of how to tackle the project

More nurglez

2009-09-28T01:23:00.000-07:00

Once again I find myself hired to do more things nurgle, so far I've knocked out ten plague bearers, with over 20 more to go :)

starting up the cadian 114th

2009-09-28T01:07:00.000-07:00

As an avid fan of all the imperial armour books I've often found myself drawn to the more obscure elements within their pages, units which get a small nod but little else. Be it the Teutonian armored regiments, or the Dnieperian mechanised brigades, I find the ambigous nature of these rarely mentioned underdogs gives one the ability to create something very unique.

So it is I find myself staring at page 41 of The Taros Campaign's orders of battle, specifically Colonel Stranski's mechanised regiment, the Cadian 114th. While this book focuses primarilly on the exploits and horrific failures of the Tallarn and Elysian forces, the Cadians were there doing their thing, apparently in a less costly fashion.

Force wise I intend to use the new Forgeworld armored battlegroup list to create a large mass of dust encrusted AFVs with a couple squads of infantry in support. While I intend on doing only around 20 guys, the trick will be to make the Cadian models, the definition of bland, interesting. So far I've been playing around a bit with ideas, mainly stolen from Warseer's gropius, and am reasonably happy with the results, see for yourself.

With this fella I tried to do an amalgum of MARPAT and 90's era desert camo used by US forces. The rifle was constructed as a shortened carbine to be easily used within the confines of an APC and I removed the shoulder pads and added some knee pads to try and reinvent the cadian look.

This tank is a bit of a blast from the past, reminding me of when I did my original desert guard army. Alot has improved since then and I am most pleased with my first ever real application of Mig pigments that I think turned out pretty damn spiffy, the dark rust color s is really really phenomenal invention.

Warlord finished

2009-09-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well after a very long haul the warlord is finished, I am pretty happy with the final product, but there is a few things I am not overwhelemed with like the overall proportions when you compare it to something like Mojaco's fine beasty. In the end it has definitely been an education, but if I ever do something like it again there will be alot to fine tune

Vostroyans...daemon hunters....warlord titans

2009-08-04T21:44:00.001-07:00

oh hay a big update

first the daemon hunters!

Lady inquisitor got repimped

a couple test minis for my new vostroyan army :)

and...oh my ...whats this??

2 feet tall folks...I dub thee the compensator

Female Inquisitor and Grey Knight

2009-07-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

pretty happy with how these turned out

Reaver finished

2009-07-18T23:00:00.001-07:00

AIIIIEEEEEEEEE

Some guard I did right after release

2009-07-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

I briefly suffered from guard fever right after the release of the new codex and wipped these guys up before I remember it was guard and I would have to paint 100 more if I wanted to get anything of worth on the table.

I promptly gave up after that realization and sold them to a client who seems to buy all my guard cast offs