The first wargames show I have been to since 2019. And to be honest, pretty much the first time I have been out in a 'crowd' since February 2020. I think in that time, my going out has been two visits to family on the West Coast, two funerals, and two restaurants, other than the fortnightly game with one other wargamer.
So once I got over my shock at being among people again, as always the venue was Edinburgh College where the bring and buy was in what seemed to be a weights room (all those mirrors) and the games and traders in two decent sized halls. I saw (I think) two people wearing masks. It also came as a shock how close and up personal people want to get - 'in your face' it felt like. But I caught up with a few folk I hadn't seen in years - so that was very pleasant.
So here are the games:
As promised, I followed up on my WW2 US forces with a roughly Normandy themed German force. Again, all 3d printed. I wasn't so keen on the infantry, but they will do.
Similarly to the US, I wish I had added crew figures to the open topped vehicles. This time I added some foliage to add a bit more interest as well. Just some small clump foliage added with PVA, then lightly drybrushed yellow ochre.
The painting was very simple - the airbrush got a workout, added tracks etc. washed everything in Agrax Earthshade, lightly drybrushed Vallejo Buff. My only annoyance is that the I94 decals from Pendraken are quite badly out of register on all 6 sheets I used.
The stl files were all from Thingiverse again, scaled down to 66.7% from the 1:100 files from M. Bergman.
I also printed myself off some 1/150 1940 French and some 1941 Russians. Next up will be some 40/41 Germans who can face off either (yes I know, but a PzIVD is a PzIVD, especially in 1/150).
Hopefully I will get to Claymore in Edinburgh this weekend, and collect some more bases. I might do some Early War BEF as well... we shall see.
I am not quite sure how many different sets of WW2 rules I have played. I do know my first were home-made, then the first published set I ever used were Charles Grants 'Battle- for Practical Wargamers'- courtesy of Mr Carnegie and Blackness Library, early 1970s. More recently, I have played Blitzkrieg Commander (BKC), Airfix Battles, some hex based games whose name escapes me and Chain of Command (CoC). In between there has been Rapid Fire, WRG 1925-1950, Operation Warboard, and several others.
My favourite set at the moment is CoC, but it's principally a platoon level infantry game, other arms are support only. So no real chance to get squadrons of tanks on the table, and a very different command experience from other sets. I purchased Dave Brown's O Group, thinking it would give me the opportunity to get a few more AFV on the table and decided that as I already have WW2 forces in 28mm, 20mm, 15mm & 6mm, O Group would be perfect for 10/12mm.
Why another scale? Well, I am limited by the 1800mm x 1200mm table top I can squeeze into the magnificent man-shed, and if I didn't want hub to hub Shermans, then I needed to operate in a smaller scale. I have roads and other terrain in 15mm and buildings in 6mm, which visually will work. Plus, in 10/12mm, no one expects painting to be anything other than impressionistic. Finally, I have a 3d printer, and there are excellent free files available for most vehicles for the major combatants. Simply rescaling 1/100 print files (15mm) to 66.7% gives me a load of options, albeit at the cost of some fragile prints. I believe Pendrakens excellent range of vehicles are scaled to 1/150, so these are directly comparable.
My first two prints were 1944 & 1945 US, with an opposing Late War German Kampfgruppe. O Group generally uses 2 models for a troup/squadron, so common vehicles I printed off in sixes, with pairs for the other options.
Of course, my usual opponent Martin, having introduced me to the Cold War rules, 7 Days to the River Rhine (7DttRR), then decided to try out it's stablemate, Iron Cross. I might write up my thoughts on these in a future post, but they seem to work quite well. I still want to give O Group a decent try, but between BKC2, O Group and Iron Cross, I have plenty of options.
Naturally, Martin was also keen to get some new toys on the table. He already has substantial British & German forces for Later War, so I sorted him out with a few Soviets.. (although I did put my foot down and insisted that no one needed a dozen IS2..)
My next post will show the Germans... hopefully, soon!
Ok, hands up all who thought I had been painting figures for the taking of Scinde? Well no, although close. But the sin is that I have been remiss in updating the blog since April.
It isn't that there has been nothing happening. There's been a lot happening. I just haven't found time to blog about it. There has also been a lot going on in that other life outside wargames world. My nephew, who I have been very close to for years, graduated, and was elected to the local council, I've been gardening and building things. Hopefully, the sale of the Australian House will go through and that will let me focus on other things.
I've played some games...
So that's about it for now. Hopefully back to regular posting sometime soon.
Having used Contrast Paints to do my Indian Mutiny figures, I was impressed with just how quickly I could get a half decent result. I do paint for effect, so I will never obtain results like Moiterei.. but Contrast works for me. I could obviously go back and add additional detail to improve the results, but it seems superfluous when you are working to the 1 metre rule.
In any case, I have long intended to paint up forces to play the Too Fat Lardies 'Bloody Bucket' Pint Sized Campaign for Chain of Command. Battle of the Bulge, what's not to like?
Over time I have picked up all the necessary figures in sales and on eBay. Taking part in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, it occurred to me that I had foolishly ruined my eyesight painting a German platoon in Peadot and Oakleaf, and that doing something simple like US infantry in greatcoats would have earned me the same points... So I wondered just how long it would take. I bet myself a week...
So here's the result:
Close up of one of the Bazooka teams showing the effect of Contrast. The 57mm is a 3d print.
The snow effect is Bicarbonate of Soda over PVA, then sealed with plenty of spray varnish as Bicarb is extremely hydrophilic and unless properly sealed, will go 'off', discolour and bloat. The 3d printer is whirring away churning out Jeeps, an M16 halftrack and Shermans... to be winterised once they have been airbrushed.
Not bad for about 4 evenings actual painting I thought. Perhaps the flesh could do with a very pale highlight, but good enough for Government work, as they say.
Next week - maybe I could tackle my 1st Corps US Marines? I should finish the Volksgrenadiers, but they are currently buried in the man-shed, which is itself packed with the extra contents of the now demolished tin shed. It would take a serious archaeological dig to unearth them... till the new garden shed is erected on the 21st.
No, not the massive Waterloo wargame of a couple of years back, but 'The Great Game' - the term used to describe the rivalry over India between Great Britain and Russia. And one of the key players was this chap...
