Show & Tell

Due to.a range of differing circumstances, I haven't been able to attend any wargames shows this year, and so when Matt suggested going to Partizan in Newark this weekend, I jumped at the chance.

I didn't go with any particular intentions to buy anything, but I was more interested in seeing what I could grab for a bargain and look at some intimidatingly detailed demo games.

For example, this one...

This massive game was by Shrewsbury Wargamers (I think) and is themed around the battle of Rourke's Drift, but using Warhammer 40k Praetorians as the British and Orks in place of Zulus 

Interestingly, the chap I was talking to wasn't aware of the Bloodbath at Orc's Drift campaign from the very early days of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

One of the things I like about wargames shows is that they remind me that I'm also a historical gamer, something that is easy to forget in an online space that is dominated by the grim darkness of the far future.

For example, this eastern front game in a ruined city reminded me just how long it has been since I played a game of Bolt Action.

It's also a reminder that I should probably build more terrain as good looking boards make a massive difference, as is clear from this Vietnam game. However, I'm always stumped by the question about where I would store it all.

It's aldo good to see what else is out there. This really involved, multi-level board reminded me that Burrows & Badgers is the sort of silly thing that has the potential to garner my interest.

I've previously resisted due to other games demanding my attention, but I'm nearing the end of several projects and so since might open up for some anthropomorphic shenanigans.

Mind you, there are other projects I haven't looked at in some time that I could easily return to, such as VBCW, something for which I do have a few bits and pieces still to put together, and I still need to return to Vlad's Army for 7TV, which covers a lot of the same ground in terms of terrain and miniatures.

Speaking of 7TV, although this board was using homebrew rules, it definitely had the same vibe as 7TV as Martians attempted to stop the world's billionaires colonising their home planet.

In the centre of the picture you can see Jeff Bezos and his delivery drone, whilst Donald Trump is just visible on the platform behind the rocket discussing the most wonderful plans that anyone has ever seen (everyone has been telling him they love this big, beautiful plan) with an unseen Elon Musk, who is dressed as Homelander from The Boyz, naturally.

And so we get to the part where I reveal what I picked up:

1. The show miniature is a Polish paratrooper, which I'm not sure I gave a use for, which is a shame.

2. I bought a boat because I've decided that I do want to work towards a proper board for Carnevale, and making it a dock should reduce the amount of streets I'll need to build.

3. My Blood Angels will be getting reinforcements in the form of a single Terminator and a very old Vindicator, which needs some TLC.

4. I grabbed Pirates of Lunar City, a feature pack for 7TV that I don't already own. I want to get back to the game and I find the feature pack provide good motivation.

5. Finally, and providing the biggest hit to my running totals, I bought 33 Napoleonic British from a very persuasive member of the RAF on their charity stall. These will allow me to build a second Sharp Practice army for the War of 1812.

I genuinely enjoyed this show as I think I've been so focused on clearing my backlog for a while, that I haven't thought about other things I'd like to work on. After today, I think I have a few different and exciting projects to look forward to.

Acquired: -42

Painted: 447

Lead Mountain: 356

The Old Guard

In a startling display of efficiency, I 've finished almost all of the models that I bought at Vapnartak a couple of weeks ago. That just leaves a single second hand dreadnought to do.

This time it's eight Home Guard I purchased from Wargames Foundry to fill the ranks of my ad hoc VBCW/Operation Sea Lion Bolt Action force, turn my Dad's Army miniatures into a couple of useable units and fill out the extras needed for the Vlad's Army 7TV feature pack scenarios.

The models are metal, as would be expected from Wargames Foundry, and were all single piece castings except for the chap on the left of the above picture, whose hand holding the rifle was separate. This was a bit of a swine to position as the connection was not very clean or well lined up.

Sadly, this was a bit of a recurring theme, as there was an awful lot of flash to clean up and some of the models are a bit messy in places. The chap in the centre with the Molotov cocktail below has an ugly mould line running down the left side of his face. 

I'm not sure whether this is because this sculpts, and therefore their moulds are old, or I've just come to expect a higher standard from dealing with newer miniatures and different materials recently. However, based on these and the police, I will probably pause for thought before buying more from Wargames Foundry.

Having said that, the sculpts are characterful. The rifles are a bit stunted (and in one case slightly warped), but the faces are, for the most part, older men. Receding hairlines, glasses and overgrown moustaches abound to really make they miniatures fit the role they are meant to play.

A couple of the group are clearly meant to represent characters from Dad's Army, specifically Walker and Pike, and so I took care to make sure that they are recognisably different from the Warlord versions, giving the not-Walker grey hair, and ensuring that not-Pike's scarf is more generic.

Although I was a little bit critical of the casting of the Warlord models, based on a direct comparison I recommend them over Foundry if you are keen on picking up the Warmington-On-Sea militia.

In terms of painting, they were all done very simply in the same way as the Warlord models and they do go together really well. They now have a date with some supernatural agents of the Third Reich in the first episode of Vlad's Army, just as soon as I rebase a load of bats...again.

I'm pleased to be making such quick progress, as I was worried I'd undone my hard work at the start of the year. I've also started to sweat less about being exactly right with the Lead Mountain totals as I keep finding new miniatures or getting rid of things I won't use . the figure is roughly right and is going down, so it's all good.

Acquired: -4
Painted: 60
Lead Mountain: 521

The Old Bill

As mentioned in a previous post, after painting up the four police officers I already had, I took the opportunity to grab five more from Wargames Foundry to make a workable unit for my VBCW/Operation Sea Lion force in  Bolt Action.

As they paint up rather quickly, I've painted them up rather quickly.

The five models are quite simple sculpts and as they are also quite old, the did require a fair bit of flash cleaning off them. There were some notable mould lines to file down too, but broadly I've managed to clean them up fairly well. My only real gripe across the models I've painted is that many of them have buttons missing for some reason.

In terms of painting the uniforms are just Kantor Blue with a wash of Nuln Oil. I've done nothing special with the rest of the models an I've not even bothered with eyes. Partly this is because they are all wearing helmets low over their eyes, but partly this is also because I tend not to bother with eyes on models intended for larger scale games like Bolt Action. 

Technically these are Victorian policemen (hence the large amount of facial hair on display), but really, there's not much to distinguish them from police uniforms in the inter-war period. However, one model was notably holding an lamp and waving a rattle.

I've kept the lamp, as it appears to be somewhat akin to a signal lamps that were in use during the war and a signal lamp seems totally appropriate for a wartime police patrol.

The rattle, however, had to go and has been replaced with a truncheon. As he looks a little different to the rest, I'll make this model the unit leader and not giving him one of the prized firearms at least makes it possible that he won't be a sniper's first target.

And so that's the unit done. In game terms they will function as a Veteran Urban Militia patrol in the LDV. I'll probably pair them up with the civilian versions of Dad's Army to make a small platoon supporting the Coastal Defence Platoon which will feature the Navy and some Home Guard.

Keeping track of the Lead Mountain remains awkward with lots of coming and goings, but I think I'm just about staying on top of it. I've painted the 5 policemen, and given a piece of Mantic terrain to Craig as I had a duplicate, however, Matt has printed me some tentacles (actually ninetacles) to use for the Watcher in the Water and I miscounted my Home Guard models whilst they were still in the pack last week. Therefore, I've technically gone backwards again.

Acquired: -4

Painted: 52

Lead Mountain: 529

It Was A Coincidence Officer...Honest...

Well this is a bit awkward...

I've been in a bit of a slump for a week or so and, as long term readers of this blog may remember, to break out of this sort of thing I usually search through the lead mountain for some 'easy wins', models that won't take too much effort to get me feeling like I'm making progress.

This time I settled on two disparate groups of models that were already based and undercoated: some Iron Age hogs, and a group of Victorian Policemen.

The unfortunate connection between the two didn't actually occur to me until later.

The Victorian Police are from Wargames Foundry and I think were given to me with the intention that I might use one to convert a corrupt cop for my Pulp Gangsters. However, instead of that I've decided to paint them up as is.

Even though I don't play any games with a Victorian setting (yet), my thoughts are that they will serve perfectly well for 7TV Pulp games set in Blighty as Police uniforms didn't particularly change that much by the interwar period. 

On top of this they might actually be the start of another unit for my VBCW/Operation Sea Lion army for Bolt Action. With the addition of a second pack from Wargames Foundry, armed only with truncheons, they will make for a nicely themed Urban Militia unit.

Painting was predictably simple. Kantor Blue with a wash of Nuln Oil and all the usual face, hands, guns and trimmings. I've based them for Bolt Action rather than 7TV as I suspect they'll get more use in that form.

 I've had the Iron Age pigs for some time. I thing I was given them by my day when I made the small MDF pigsty. I've done absolutely nothing special with these. The adults are done with Wyldwood contrast paint, whilst the young were done with Skeleton Horde before having rough Mournfang Brown stripes added followed by a wash of Agrax Earthshade.

They'll work well enough as scenery in Saga, or even other games. The farm will simply by rearing rare breeds.

Cobwebs blow off, I'm now ready to get on with something a bit more interesting. Hopefully without upsetting any more of the emergency services.

Acquired: -22
Painted: 39
Lead Mountain: 522

Who Do You Think You Are Kidding?

A few weeks ago I painted up most of the Nazi/Undead invasion forces for the Vlad's Army feature pack for 7TV.

Today it's the turn of the stalwart defenders of good old Blighty: the Home Guard of...'Walsingham-on-Sea"?

I had originally intended on using a cobbled together force from my VBCW/Operation Sealion army for Vlad's Army, but back in the summer at the 7TV Fantasy day, I was surprised to receive on of the 'Most Sporting' awards, and my prize was a Dad's Army box for Bolt Action from Warlord Games.

Given that the defenders of Walsingham-on-Sea are less than loosely based on Captain Mainwaring & Co. I figured I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and would do this properly.

The box contains 18 metal miniatures of the main characters both in and out of uniform, along with a few additional characters from the show.

The sculpts are very characterful and some of the facial expressions are excellent. I particularly like the gormless looking Private Godfrey.

Despite the character they have, I often find the casting of Warlord Games metal miniatures to be a bit rough, requiring more clean up than other manufacturers I use for Bolt Action (Artizan or Crusader for example).

Thus was particularly true for Corporal Jones, who needed some hefty chunks of flash removing.

This set also represents the first time I've painted WW2 British, and so I had to actually do some research rather than just slapping on what I had available.

I used a base of Vallejo English Uniform, with Khaki for the webbing and Ushabti Bone for the packs and gaiters. A coat of Agrax Earthshade later I highlighted up the webbing, packs and gaiters for contrast. Helmets were done with US Dark Green, with lighter green highlights on the leaves.

Vallejo always seems to be my go to brand for painting WW2.

Although intended for Vlad's Army in the short term, this unit can also feature in Bolt Action should I ever return to Operation Sealion. They will serve adequately as Old Soldiers in a Home Guard list, or even as the actual characters, as there are special unit rules for the cast.

As mentioned earlier, the box also contains duplicate sculpts of the main characters before they received their official kit.

Although not needed for Vlad's Army, it seemed a shame not to get them painted at the same time, and they can easily work as LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) in Bolt Action.

I believe their outfits and equpment are based on the Dad's Army TV movie which charts the formation of the unit.

As such, the painting was a bit more fiddly that for the models in uniform, especially Jones' apron, the LDV armbands and Pike's scarf (although that is on both versions of the stupid boy).

Again, these are a characterful bunch, but I'm disappointed in Walker. Not only does he have quite a nondescript pose, he also has a distorted face.

Additionally he's not armed with the shotgun he arrives at the first training session with, much to Mainwaring's chagrin. It feels like a missed opportunity, especially as LDV units can include a couple of shotguns.

Naturally, wherever the Home Guard go, Warden Hodges will be there to annoy them, and so he also has sculpts both in and out of uniform.

Given that he's unarmed in both poses, he is likely to feature in Vlad's Army as one of the civilians that are destined to be bitten by a vampire or rescued by the Home Guard.

It's not clear which fate Hodges would dislike more.

Finally, to round out the set, we have the Vicar and the Verger. Not only are these characters likely to feature as civilians in Vlad's Army, but the clergy can be useful in a range of settings, meaning that they have the potential to be the most used miniatures in the set.

They turned out a bit shiny even after a coat of matt varnish. Not sure why.

And that's it. 18 painted but I also bought another 14 miniatures from Wargames Emporium, taking advantage of them selling individual sprues. You'll see some of them pop up soon.

Acquired: 144

Painted: 166

Unleash the Dragon

But not in a Cisqo way...

For this post we're returning to the emerging struggle for Sheffield in another installment of 7TVBCW, and this time we broke out the big guns.

Whilst the BUF and Swallownest Socialists fought to determine the fate of George Orwell, the Handsworth Volunteers, part of the patchwork of militia that had declared the People's Republic of South Yorkshire, had received intelligence that royalist forces gathering near Wortley had developed a new weapon that might tip the scales against the numerically superior left-wingers in the region. Therefore they detached a scouting force of Great War veterans to Wortley to gather intelligence:

Rugged Veteran

Spiritual Custodian

Soldier of Fortune

VIP

Army Officer

Army Sergeant

5 Army Privates

Truck (Running Board, Twin- Machine Guns)

They were successful in discovering that the royalist militia in Wortley had constructed a prototype steam-tank they had nicknamed the Dragon after a local legend. However, the Handsworth men were discovered and found their escape route blocked by the a small force of well-armed Wortley folk and the imposing form of the heavily armoured Dragon, belching fire and smoke.

Bad Lieutenant

VIP

Grunt Leader

Grunt Heavy Team

3 Grunts

Big Rig (Heavy Suspension, Roof Machine Gun, Turret, Reinforced Frame, Plating)

Aware of the firepower arrayed against them, and knowing that the People's Republic needed to know what they were up against, the Handsworth commander divided his force into three groups. One team would make their way cautiously through the cover of the old ruined mill. Another would mount up in the SICKLE (the Siege Insertion Carrier with Knight's Lance Entry) and attempt to use speed to break free.

 

The final team would make their way through the farm and across the fields, keeping their heads low.

However the Dragon and the Lewis Gun team waited patiently for their quarry to move into view.

Whilst a squad of militia ran quickly towards the fence to take up a firing line.

To the surprise of the men of Wortley, a bright red fire truck burst across the bridge and race towards their lines, machine guns blazing, whilst other enemy figures could been seen scurrying past the farm.

Sensing there was no time to lose, the militia raced to the fence.

And the Dragon clunked, clattered and beached it's way to the top of a rise and began to pour fire at the enemy, raking the SICKLE and killing one of the men by the car.

The Lewis Gun team also opened up, further damaging their blazing red target.

Whilst all hell broke loose to their left, the leader of the Handsworth men moved with his team through the old mill without drawing any fire.

However, those was because the SICKLE was taking fire from all angles whilst barreling headlong towards the Dragon. Ultimately the weight of fire told and in an almighty explosion and the wrecked fire truck was pitched on its side. Only the chaplain crawled out of the wreckage alive.

From their vantage point, the Lewis Gun team were surprised when the explosion shook the ground around them.

And they narrowly escaped being caught in a land slip that blocked their firing line, taking them.out of the fight until they could reposition.

In a chilling reminder of their experiences in the Great War, the Handsworth men tried to advance across the cornfield to the well defended Wortley lines, but were shot down one by one. 

However, help arrived in the form of the chaplain, whose injured form, crawling out of the wreckage of the SICKLE made one of the militia briefly rethink what he was doing.

This moral dilemma caused him to back away from the fight and question the choices that had led him to firing upon his own countrymen, allowing the chaplain to stealthily make his way past the Wortley lines.

Seeing his men gunned down and realising that the Dragon would soon turn its attention to him, the leader of the Handsworth scouting party suddenly made a death or glory charge towards the Dragon, spraying it with SMG fire.

Despite the Dragon pouring fire at him, including a jet of some corrosive substance sprayed put of the window slit, the socialist officer was somehow able to exploit the steam tank's high firing point and duck under everything that came his way, scurrying past the armoured behemoth to escape.

The last few men of the Handsworth squad were not so lucky and were gunned down amidst the ruins of the mill.

However, the team leaders had escaped and the PRSY would at least be able to prepare for when the lumbering beast headed their way.

In what had appeared to be a somewhat one sided affair, Matt's Handsworth Volunteers had almost all been killed by my somewhat cheesy heavy firepower. However, speedily grabbing objectives and getting his two co-stars off the board handed Matt an 8-2 pyhrric victory.

It was fun to use Apocalypse vehicles in the game, and although the 17 rating Dragon was a bit OTT, it did leave me both short handed and short of plot points, which proved crucial for Matt when he made his dash for glory.

I'm not sure where we're going next, but given that I know Matt has a WW1 artillery piece, I confidently expect the Dragon to be facing it masquerading as a bazooka team then next time it numbers out of the work sheds.