Sunday, April 26, 2015

1/72 SPANISH CIVIL WAR AIRCRAFT

Here are some photos of two 1/72 Spanish Civil War airplanes that I painted this weekend. The first is a Fiat CR32 which I purchased as a die-cast model. This came in Italian colors, but as I wanted it for Spain I repainted it. The second is a Breguet light bomber which was used by both sides in the conflict. The Breguet is a plastic kit which I have had for many years, but have finally got my act together and painted it. The markings are a mix of homemade decals and hand painted.


 
Here is the original CR32 in Italian colors
 Here is the Spanish version of the CR32


 Here is the Breguet light bomber

Thursday, April 23, 2015

28mm Albert and his bodyguards

Here is 'Fat Albert' (Abdul Fatimu) and his loyal bodyguards. Albert is a character in our on-going early medieval campaign and I have wanted to paint up his retinue for quite some time. I recently came across the GW minis for the guards which looked perfect and purchased them. I painted them this week and here they are guarding their master. Albert is a Reaper figure.

28mm Medieval Swiss

Here is the latest addition to my 28mm Medieval Swiss army. The Halbediers are Perry miniatures, the standard bearer is a figure from a fantasy pack. I thought he looked just right for the part he had to play.


Monday, April 20, 2015

BIG Bear and BIG Crocodile

I received a nice big bear and big crocodile in the post yesterday and could not resist painting them immediately. The bear will be great for all sorts of games including using him as Beorn in bear shape for Lord of the Rings games. The Croc will be great for modern skirmish games when the TEAM ventures into tropical swamps - I will make sure that will happen in the near future. Here are some pictures of the new beasties.




 



Sunday, April 19, 2015

WW1 Air Combat Game


Today we played a game of WW1 air combat using the Canvas Eagles rules. Matt provided the 1/72 scale models, the hexagon gaming mat and the rules. The game involved two RFC aircraft an RE8 on an artillery spotting mission and an SE5a protecting it, and two German Albatrosses whose mission was to shoot down the RE8. Sam and Matt played the Germans and Ian and I played the RFC. Sam dueled with the RE8 scoring and taking some hits to each of their fuselages. Matt closed in on my SE5 but went into a spin when he tried a complicated maneuver to get behind me and could not recover crashing to the ground. He returned to the game with a second Albatross (actually Hermann Goering). I shot this down the turn it came on - some accurate shooting followed by a 6 on the critical hit dice which blew it up (so much for the WW2 Luftwaffe chief!). The duel between Ian and Sam continued as Matt came on with a third plane, this time a DR1. I closed in on it quickly and once again got a really good dice score and caused four critical hits which blew the DR1 to pieces (it was not Matt's day for sure!). Matt then came on with the fourth plane. We let this one come on a bit further away from me and it did survive for a couple of turns before I managed to get in close gave it a burst and once again rolled hot and Matt went down in flames. At that point Matt gave up, put his feet up and relaxed. While this had been going on Sam and Ian had been tangling with each other, both scoring hits but nothing dramatic. I closed in on Sam and managed to get into the same hex as he was in and gave him a burst at point blank range and just like Matt sent Sam down in flames. With that Ian and I turned and flew for home with Ian sporting some honorable battle scars and my plane without a scratch. I must admit it really was my day with five kills for me counting Matt's spin out as one, the dice were good to me and I managed to get my plane in the right place more often than not. It was a fun game with everyone having a good time - even Matt who to his credit found a lot to laugh at as his planes went down one after the other. Here are some photos of the game.
 

 Ian's trusty RE8
 Matt's Albatross
 Sam's Albatross
 My SE5a

 The fun begins










 

 Matt's first replacement goes down in flames
 Matt's second replacement does the same
Matt's third replacement managed to survive for a while before suffering the same fate as his comrades
Sam tempting fate by closing in on my SE5, he went down in flames a couple of turns later


Thursday, April 16, 2015

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

28mm Romans

Here are some Aventine Miniatures Romans I painted recently. Excellent figures which have painted up looking very nice. A mounted commander and standard bearer and a mounted Centurion, complete with his cane.







Sunday, April 12, 2015

Sunday Wargames

We had our monthly wargames club meeting today - Sunday. 20 people turned up and played a variety of games. Here are some photos. 
 
 A Dark ages battle from our ongoing campaign.
An interesting DBA-3 series of games based on a 1066 campaign 
 
 One of the DBA-3 games being played.
An X Wings game.
 Spaceships and more spaceships for X Wings - lovely models.

 
 
 The Dark ages battle.
Trying to get the most out of your Dark Ages warriors 

 

 
This fellow - who was Lord Robert a character in our campaign - was surrounded by his foes for several turns, but try as they might they could not kill Robert. In the end Robert threw off all his assailants and emerged victorious.
 
 Robert surrounded by the foes he had slain - something for the bards to sing about.
 A very impressive Hail Caesar game - Seleucid vs. Roman.