I'm feeling justifiably proud of myself this week. I've made another significant lump of progress towards my secret target...more on that when I've actually achieved it. However, on this weeks blog there's the staple diet (for January at least) of Flames of War, Blood Bowl and a Very British Civil War. So, on with the show...

Flames of War

Following on from completing my two platoons of Panzergrenadiers last week, I've painted an entire platoon of Pioneers including a 3-Ton Supply Truck, a Flamethrower stand and a Goliath Demolition Carrier.

This platoon will be representing 11 Pioniere Kompanie who fought alongside SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 26 just outside Fontenay-le-Pesnel in Normandy, 25th June 1944, when General Montgomery launched Operation Martlet just prior to Operation Epsom. This is the action I mentioned last week and these units fought against (and severely mauled) the Hallamshire Battalion (a future project). In creating this force, I'm doing what Battlefront always seems to do in their scenarios and having each platoon represent a company. For the initial force, I still need to add a Mortar Platoon, another Infantry Platoon and some PaK40 Anti-Tank Guns.

Next up will be the PaK40's due to the fact that I got an Amazon voucher for Christmas and discovered that I could get reduced price Flames of War stuff from there. I've also noticed that with a bit of luck, I might be able to squeeze enough extra models out of the PaK40's to enable me to bring my two Panzergrenadier platoons up to full strength.

Painting this unit also involved constructing a 3-Ton Supply Truck to allow me to field Barbed Wire and Minefield when defending. The model I used for this is a Zvezda Opel Blitz German Truck. Although not as detailed as their Battlefront counterpart, this is a plastic model that costs the princely sum of £2.75. It's a bit fiddly to put together, and the rear wheels don't seem to fit the axle at all (I had to do some cutting and gluing), however at fraction of the cost for something that will be sent to the rear on turn two (if it isn't blown up on turn one), this is a bargain. With FoW3 apparently making transports better, Zvezda could be sitting on a little goldmine. I will certainly be buying Zvezda trucks should I decide to add transports for my platoons.

Finally on the Flames of War front, some good old-fashioned Cheaphammering. My funds are severely limited at the moment and I wanted some HMG's for my Germans. However, the list I'm using allows for HMG Nests to be purchased even when not playing a Fortification mission and given that the Germans were dug in and defending during Operation Martlet, I thought "let's make some!" These were simply made with cocktail sticks cut up and laid around a GW 20mm plastic base. A bit of wire for the HM sticking out and Bob's your uncle. I think that they still need a bit more in the way of camouflage (some static grass and suchlike), but I'm wary until I have a clearer or how not to ruin them. However, I'm really happy with them and they should play merry hell with the screaming hordes of US Paratroopers I've been plagued with in the past.

Blood Bowl

This week saw the Slann Frogcisco 49ers take on Aneurin's struggling Bite 'Em All Ravens Vampire team. I knew that I'd got a bit lucky in the last two games and was due some payback. And boy did I get paid.

The first half seemed to go well, despite my star Catcher (the only player with a skill so far) getting injured and missing the next game, I was somehow able to keep the Vampires out of the end zone. I was severely helped in this by the Vampires' propensity to fail their Bloodlust tests and have to knock out their own players rather than move where they wanted to. However, a few daring blocks helps affairs and I even got the ball at the end of the first half but hadn't left anyone in strike range of the opposite end zone (I needed them all to defend) and the half ended 0-0.

The second half began with me receiving the ball. Here's were I screwed up. I should have caged around the Catcher with the ball, however I was too busy failing to wound thralls and so ended up with a thin flat line defence. When not succumbing to Bloodlust the Vampires are scarily good and with deft use of Hypnotic Gaze they were through my lines. This was where the Slann revealed their big weakness, in a key moment, I succumbed to bad dice without re-rolls (no Dodge, Pass, Block, Catch or Sure Hands) and was unable to clear the ball. A Vampire grabbed it and scurried in for a touchdown.

I then had to go through the same mess again, but this time with only one Catcher. This time I did it right. I caged up and began a slog up field. The Vampires were impossible to keep away from my ball carrier (damned Hypnotic Gaze) as I didn't have enough players to run interference, but I was burning re-rolls like there was no tomorrow. I did managed to get into range of a touchdown on the final turn, but with no re-rolls left I was asking a lot to try to get a Leap, a Dodge, a Pass, a Catch and two Sprints off in one turn. Needless to say, I failed.

I was really annoyed with myself after the game as not only had I played stupidly at the beginning of the second half, but I'd also gifted Aneurin an additional 60,000gc to his inducements by forgetting to deduct my missing Lineman from my Team Value. Anuerin played the game well, and actually coped with worse dice than me. He used Hypnotic Gaze to make sure that he always had the initiative.

The most annoying thing? I didn't get a single SPP from the game beyond my MVP (which of course went to a player who didn't have any points already). Next week I'm playing Tom's Dwarfs with only 3 Catchers. It's small comfort that by having the Catcher with Dodge out of action, he won't get to use the Tackle skill at all. How do you like them apples beardy?

VBCW

Just a quick update here to show off another vehicle for the B.U.F. This is a fuel tanker which, although not tactically useful, could find itself being an objective in several games. Really easy to paint and quite effective looking.

With one more week to go in my record breaking month I'm feeling quite chipper. This painting on a whim thing is working out for me. I find that the key thing is to not let painting become a chore. This week I might be doing some more Fascists for an upcoming VBCW game (and this could include another vehicle) and, depending on the post, could see me get started on the PaK40's. It will also see a very tough game of Bloodbowl as Tom and I are sitting joint third in the table, I'm pretty sure that I can't stop him scoring, however, can I score twice?