Saturday, March 30, 2013

More of My Glorious Obsession - Home Cast army


Here is the latest regiment of my home cast 35mm figures - my Glorious Obsession. I asked my buddies if they wanted to give me the details for their own regiments. This is Steve's regiment. Steve described what he wanted the coat and facing colors to be and gave me an idea what he wanted on the flag (which after making it I stupidly put on upside down - but I will fix this). The coat and facing colors are actually a real regiment - the Regiment of the Constantinian Order which some religious order raised in the late 17th and early 18th century. This is why I put the Cardinal in the command group. The cardinal figure is a Redoubt Three Musketeers figure - it is supposed to be 28mm but is a giant and is actually 35mm tall which suits my boys nicely. Every figure here except for the Cardinal is a home cast figure made from a master I have made. The infantry figures and standard bearer are from masters I made back in 1983 so they are ancient. The officer with the sword is a master I made only a couple of years ago. 
 


Thursday, March 28, 2013

SACRIFICIAL OFFERING

Don't know where these figures came from but I have had them for a long time. I painted them just now and will put them to use in ancient and dark ages games

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Fez are cool!



Britannia armed trawler


I though all pics of this had been lost but  , a new computer and the things you come across.This was sold long ago but I do have another..and an MTB






Friday, March 22, 2013

OPERATION STARLIGHT 40MM GAME

Operation Starlight - 22 March 2013
The Team: Ian, Peter, Steve, Jim and Geoff played a game at my place last night. Each player controlled two figures of a Special Forces team. We used 40mm figures and modified Force on Force rules. The team had to find a satellite which had come down in an unfriendly country. They had to extract valuable data from the satellite then destroy it. They then had to get to the LZ for extraction. They had 15 turns to do this. As it was the game took a little longer 17 turns, and involved a few 'moments' that provided the guys with challenges, but they coped well and all got through unscratched. Perhaps the highlight of the game was when Peter took an impulsive pot shot at a low flying helicopter with a 203 - hit it and then downed it! All of this was due to a string of highly improbable dice rolls one after the other but who can argue with the dice Gods. A scatter dice then determined where the chopper crashed and the dice continued to provided entertainment by crashing the chopper directly on to the bridge, blocking the most viable crossing point to the LZ. A truly memorable moment! After much noisy recrimination and banter directed at Peter the boys eventually worked out an alternative solution to crossing the river which involved using a fisherman's boat. Around about this time an enemy armored car entered the table. Geoff and Jim gave it a fright with a well placed 203 round and a near miss from a LAW but not before it had opened fire at Jonas (Jim) with its 12.7mm. Lady Luck favored Jonas and not one round hit anywhere near him - an amazingly fortunate thing for Jonas. Obviously rattled the armored car failed its morale and retreated from the table not to be seen again. Having constructed an improvised crossing point with the boat the team scrambled across the river and deployed into the LZ. There was still one problem in that a dug in enemy 12.7mm HMG covered the LZ. The pickup chopper would not come in while that threat existed. Carlito using his moving concealed skills (other wise known as his sneak skills) crept right up to the HMG pit and lobbed in a couple of grenades silencing the gun. An enemy APC had by this time entered the table but obviously wary of what had happened to the armored car deployed its infantry and advanced very cautiously down the road. All too late though as the team had departed - mission accomplished. 
One disappointment in the game, at least for me as the evil umpire, was that I had arranged that two d10 should be rolled every turn. If a score of 00 was achieved one of the team has been bitten by a snake and had to roll on the casualty chart to see what effect it had on them - no one got bitten! 
 Here is the table showing the entry point for the Team and the LZ
 Two more views of the table

 'Bob' and 'Jem' begin working on the satellite to extract the hard drives
Jim and Steve discuss the finer points of moving through snake infested tropical jungle swamp
 
Peter persuading Ian and Steve that crossing the bridge is their only option
Having passionately argued the case for crossing the bridge Peter (as Boris) shoots down a helicopter which crashes directly onto the bridge blocking it - well done Boris! 
Geoff, Jim and Ian consider what on earth they can do now that the bridge has been 'Borised' 
An enemy armored car arrives and tentatively enters the AO - Jim and Geoff dealt with it by firing a LAW and 203 at it. They did not managed to destroy it but did force it to retreat off the table - giving the team a breathing space to plan their escape.
Ian (Carlito) comes up with the idea of grabbing hold of a local fisherman's boat to get across the river - after of course asking the fisherman in a respectful and sensitive manner if he could borrow his property.
 
Steve had a revelation (he claims that did not hurt but no one believed him) and the boat is used to bridge a narrow part of the river - the Team uses it as an improvised crossing.
 The pesky 12.7 mm HMG covering the LZ which Carilto silenced with grenades

 The enemy regular troops finally arrive and advance very cautiously 
 
Finally at the LZ the team board the chopper - Bob checks his pouches and confirms he still has the satellite hard drives - mission accomplished!

Norman mounted crossbow 28mm

plastic conversions




Sunday, March 17, 2013

28mm AWI Battle Report in Pictures


Haven't posted anything for a while so here is something to share with you all.

Yesterday, five of us gathered for a 28mm AWI game at my place. It was a fictional scenario called the Battle of Three Farms. The basic premise is that the American forces are protecting some supplies gathered from the area to feed the main army. The British are attempting to either stop the supplies from exiting at the ford (which they don't know about) and/or crush the rebel army. We used a modified free set of rules called Sons of Liberty.

The British (@3,500 men)have 3 brigades, plus a reserve, 3x3pdr guns and a cavalry detachment. The Americans (@5,000 men) have 4 brigades, plus 2x6pdr guns and a cavalry detachment.

Figures and terrain are my own (except the dead ones and some animals) and are a mix of Perry, Foundry, Eureka & Kings Mountain.

Lots & Lots of photos!

Cheers,
Mick
The residents of Chifley House
The Eastbrook Farm House
Clayton’s Farm (Note the home made lettuce patch!)
On comes the Elite Brigade of Grenadiers and Light Infantry
Surprise! Already within range of the American riflemen
Militia occupying a large field.
Some seasoned Continentals in the Eastbrook Farm.
Off go the supply wagons and escorts…
Jaegers skirmishing with the solid looking Rebel line.
  
Ooh, nice… the British main attack is launched on turn 3.

The Elite brigade starts deploying to counter the annoying resistance.

Guards, we’re guarrrrds! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0KYh4J2trE
Getting stuck into the militia.

British 1st brigade pushing ahead.

A cheeky bunch of Continental Dragoons sally out and run over some grenadiers. While the Jaegers stay clear.
British have cleared out the Eastbrook Farm house in one go. Cows don’t seem to care.

And the large field goes next. Was too much for this cow.

 
 The British, now cluing onto the American aims, launch an attack on the ford. The first supply wagon is on the top left of the picture.

The result of the British attack. Didn’t go so well.

Crappy E class troops are taking hits, but won’t run. 

 
While their left flank willingly gives ground to 1/3 of the British troops

The wooded ridge is almost cleared. 

And the British kept-a-coming…

The Americans reach their ‘line in the sand’ positions. But have bought enough time for the 2nd cart to escape.

With time running out, The bloodied British prepare to launch another assault.
The rather exposed and contracted American position awaits more attacks in the South.

 In goes a light battalion attack over another set of obstacles.

In goes the Lt Dragoons for a successful 11th hour attack.
All too little too late though as the Americans claim victory by acheiving their objectives.