FoF First Impressions

Ian FF at the club was kind enough to take me through a Force on Force game at the club tonight, the first scenario in the rulebook set in Fallujah. I have read and reread the rules and ended up confusing myself utterly, so it was great to have him take me through it. Ian kindly supplied the terrain (and very nice too) dice and all the figures..  I just showed up, pawed through my rulebook and kept having Eureka moments. For a complex rulebook, the basic mechanics of the game are really simple, but seem to be very effective. The layout of the rulebook however is less than ideal.

Ian's figures are the very nice Caesar 1/72 plastics, and they look really good. If I didn't have so many modern 15mm, I would certainly be considering them.

Modern Navy

So I took a tip from various people, and kept an eye on eBay for various old Dinky Toys. they will form my new 15mm Navy for Force on Force or AK 47.   A couple of quick paint jobs later and these three will look the business, landing forces, machine gunning enemy and so on...  now I need to make some navigable rivers..  and so it goes...

OSA Patrol boat - I am told by an Aussie Senior Petty Officer that the Indonesians ran these plus local copies

Patrol Boat..   bit rusty and elderly..  but still fast when the turbines kick in!

Rescue Launch..  except a few guns added and it won't be the one rescuing.. 

Cold War Redux

Ok, I admit it, I am a child of the Cold War, CND badges, Greenham Common, nuclear armageddon and admiring the EE Lightning on full afterburner take-off at RAF Leuchars..  Whooheeee .. yeah! You know what I am talking about.. 

So when I saw a pre-order on Amazon, for the extension of FoF for the Cold War: 'Cold War Gone Hot', a mere nine quid plus postage.. well..  It arrived today... because real men use SLR, and drive Chieftains.

I also see that the third mission (omitted from the book) is now online at the Cold War Hot Hot Blogspot.. so get on over there sharpish and treat yourself to some 70's and 80's goodness, when men wore bad moustaches and the German plains were a giant exercise ground.

Also in the mail today.. enough lovverly QRF WWI Highlander figures to do a desert force for HiTT - including Rolls Royce Armoured Car, 18 lb artillery, and some Vickers HMG. At some stage I am going to have to find the figures to do opponents..

FoF & Phil Barker

For those who like to criticise Phil Barker and WRG for their writing style, I would like to suggest they look at Force on Force. Page 20, under:
"End Phase: Move and/or Fire Remaining Non-Initiative Units." Paragraph 2.

"Only Overwatch units may react to a non-initiative unit that moves in the 'end-phase,' although units being charged by a non-initiative unit initiating Close Combat may still perform defensive fire under the rules for Close Combat."   

Well, that is clear as mud then...

FoF

Amazon came through today with the Force on Force rules, plus two supplements. Total cost - about A$58. Which is very inexpensive. Haven't had much time to have a look, but first impressions are positive. Except all my 15mm Moderns are based on 30mm x 30mm bases suitable for Peter Pig's AK47.

I shall have a look at how the rules will work for multi-figure bases, or maybe I will be forced to look at one of two options - either rebase (yuck) or go to single figure bases, and if I do that, then the Empress Miniatures modern British are very tempting, as are the Eureka moderns. "Resistance is futile.."

Johnny Storm M1A1 Tank

I got a 'Johnny Storm' diecast tank from eBay, very cheap, and absolutely the best 15mm M1A1 model out there I have seen. So here it is with a quick wash with GW Devlan Mud, followed by a drybrush with cheap artists acrylic cream. I reckon it looks the business.  So now I am looking for some others.

Johnny Storm, 15mm M1A1

I think, given how heavily it has been drybrushed, that it needs some stowage and scrim netting to look right...  time to get the green stuff putty out I think. Anyone got any good ideas for doing a scrim net in 15mm?  (I am thinking a bit of an old nylon rolled up with tea leaves glued to it..  )