The Road to FearNaught - El Alamein - DAK - Pioneers and Panzer IV's

Hello All

I have gone back to my DAK for the up coming Fearnaught Campaign Weekend in June. Here is my Pioneers.

Of all the pioneer platoons I have done I think these were my favourite models. The addition of the men with metal detectors and soldiers looking for mines really makes them stand out.My only problem was it's been so long since I painted the 2 Grenadier platoons that a few pieces of equipment are different colours.

And now here is my Panzer IV's

I have painted these in the same style as my Flak 8.8's and Pak 36(r)'s. They aren't quite finished as I'm waiting on decals from Dom's Decals.


Thanks for looking, I hope you like my units.

Ben

Late War Hungarians - Part 9 (My First Go With An Airbrush)

Hello All

Over Easter I had the chance to use my friend Dave's airbrush, so I took the opportunity to spray on some camo onto my Hungarian Panthers and Tigers. Now I have never used an airbrush to do anything other than a base coat so I was a bit worried, I was more worried when the camo didn't quite come out as I thought it would... so the models moved to the back of my painting pill, that was until today. I needed to get them done for this weekends FOW big game and so I found the guide I had been using on line and finished them off. So here is Ervin Tarczay and a platoon of Hungarian tigers.

I'm happy how they have come out, they look different to how I thought they would when I first planned on getting them sprayed up but overall I'm happy.


Ervin Tarczay

The Platoon

If anyone can pick out any rookie errors I have made please let me know!

Next up I'm planning on getting my 3rd platoon of Shermans painted for the weekend, if I have time I will also finish off my Hungarian Panthers. I wish I didn't have to paint the Shermans so I could go straight to the Panthers but I'm going to be strong and keep to my plan!


Thanks for looking.

Ben

Irish Guards Armoured 1750pts Army List

Hello All

Over the Easter weekend I got 3 games of FOW in with my new Irish Guards Armoured Squadron. Surprisingly I won all 3, even more surprising was the fact I thought I had lost two of the games two or three turns in! It was a nice selection of opponents, with three different companies and three different missions, so hopefully I can start to see were I am with the list from these games.

 First up was a German Armoured Recon list which was mainly Pumas. We played Hasty Assault, my main problem was a unit of Tigers that deployed in ambush, they killed 4 or 5 tanks but couldn't stop me from taking an objective before the German reinforcements could come on in big enough numbers. 6-1 Win to me.

Next up was Adam's (from For King, Country and the Empire Blog) British Para Company in Pincer. I took a pounding, but my Guards (thanks to being Guards) held it together and I took the objective on turn four by rushing it with everything I had and assaulting the one Infantry platoon on the objective with 2 different tank platoons. If the game had gone on for one more turn I would have been swapped by arriving Para Platoons on from my flanks and I would have been wiped out. 5-2 Win to me


The final game was against Ferb's (from Ferbs Fighting Forces Blog) German Panther Company. Ferb has written a AAR on the game. This was a tough game for me, by turn three I really thought I was dead and buried. All my Platoons were down to 2 working tanks, I had taken and passed 4 platoon moral checks and my company commander was dead. Then the Unit of the Match Typhoons turned up and killed a platoon of Panthers freeing up a flank, Pete then had a bad turn of shooting and my Shermans were able to push and take an objective. I really don't think I should have won this game, yet some how I pulled off a 5-2 win!

Lessons Learnt 

Well this was my first games not using an Axis force. I knew Shermans were not Panthers, Tigers or Finnish T-34/85's (the only other tanks I have used in Late War), but I really had to see them in action against Axis armour to realise how brittle Shermans are! Also Fireflies look great on paper but Anti-Tank 13 is not that good in long range duels with tanks that save most shots from 17 Pounders, but your Fireflies don't get a save from the return fire!

The main plus points I liked with the army were "All Guns Too The Left" and the Typhoon. AGTTL really makes this an attacking army which brings it's own risks, but that re-roll is really useful. I did think long and hard about weather it's better than Semi Indirect Fire and while I think they both have there uses I like AGTTL more as I will be facing Veteran Infantry lists quite often and as SIF only works a long range you can't hit dig in gone to ground Veteran Infantry. I also found JOE's extra move very useful with ADTTL for getting side shots, sure it's only on a 5+ roll so you really can't rely on it, but when it works it's just great. The second plus point and without doubt the best unit in the army was the Typhoons. It just keeps enemy armour second guessing there moves and sometimes doing something risky hoping they pass their Stormtrooper move, with a fail probably mean some dead tanks. One last thing to remember is Guards are hard! The 4+ with a re-roll to pass yout platoon motivation test means most of the time you need to wipe out the platoons to get them off the table. This really saved me in the second and third game!

This is my current list.

Guards Armoured Squadron 1st list

British Late-War

Platoon	Qty	Unit	Points
Headquarters
Guards Armoured Squadron HQ  p.17	2 1 1	Sherman V Warrior JOE Vandeleur in Humber RAF Forward Air Controller	245
Combat Platoons
Guards Armoured Platoon  p.17	1 1 2	Sherman V Sherman V with .50 cal AA MG Firefly VC	395
Guards Armoured Platoon  p.17	1 1 2	Sherman V Sherman V with .50 cal AA MG Firefly VC	395
Guards Armoured Platoon  p.17	1 1 2	Sherman V Sherman V with .50 cal AA MG Firefly VC	395
Brigade Support
Guards Column Platoon  p.19	3 1 1 2 2 2 2	Universal Carrier -OR- Cmd Rifle team Troop Carrier -AND- ML 3" Mk II Mortar Mortar Carrier - OR - OQF 6 pdr gun Loyd Carrier	100
Divisional Support
Air Support  p.38	7	Priority Air Support Typhoon	220
Company Points:			1750

Source document: Hell's Highway

As always thanks for reading.


Ben

The Fighting Irish - Universal Carriers

Hi All

My Irish Guards are making good progress, I have now finished the universal carriers and the RAF controller that goes with Joe.

I'm not sure about the basing, I might change the grass for somthing a bit brighter.

Need to add Allied star to the front.

Next up 4 more Shermans and some tank crews.

Thanks Ben

Busy Few Weeks

Hello all,

In the past I have never understood people when they said to me "I can't do that it's over Easter and I'm busy". It seemed strange to me, for me Easter was a few extra days off were you do stuff with your friends and got chocolate. Well that was until my little one came along, it would seem when you have child Easter because less about having fun and more about spending time with family (not that that can't be fun!). Unfortunately for me I only worked this out after I had planned on spending Easter doing a big chunk of hobby. So I'm now behind on all of my projects with my next planned projects meant to be starting in a few weeks. Time for a re think.

To be fair Easter wasn't a complete loss for me, I got in a few games with my Irish Guards (more on that in a few days) and I picked up my first few Infinity models (can't wait to paint them).

So with my original plans ruined I'm now forced to think on my feet and come up with a new one! So some of you may remember my post back in February about trying to have 2.5k of Hungarians done for a big game the 22nd April. Well for some time I knew this was going to have to change as I have been trying to get the Hungarian Artillery box set but my LGS can't get them in (I think this is a common problem at the moment with supply from Battlefront), so I'm now just going to aim to get 2k done. For this I need to paint up 3 Tigers or 3 Panthers, if I get time I'll try and get both done. On a similar note I finally got my 3rd box set of PSC Shermans/Fireflies, so as the allies look a bit light on the ground I have offered up my Irish Guards as extra troops. This means I'd like to have the final 4 Shermans painted up for the game too.

So that's my hobby until the weekend of the 22nd April. After that I will continue the Road to Fearnaught and get my DAK done for the 16th June. I would like to have my Typhoon, Guards Infantry and Heavy Mortars painted up for my Irish Guards, I was also give some crew for my Shermans so I'll need to get them painted up. Finish off any Panthers and/or Tigers I haven't got done for my Hungarians and start my Infinity force & terrain. Going on from this I have picked up a few bits of Desert terrain when I was in Bournemouth for my FOW/Infinity Desert board, I'll be doing a review of the Gale Force Nine terrain in the next few days.

Finally some of you may have seen I have started my own painting service for FOW. This was something I thought long and hard about, but as I have dropped a shift at work to save money on childcare and I'm meant to be getting married this year (wedding aren't cheap) I thought it was a good way to get extra money in. So I'm looking at doing a few painting commissions over the year, I already have one almost confirmed for some Desert Italians. This will need to be done for Fearnaught so I now have two armies to paint for it.... This might be a long few months!

Anyway until next time Ben

Infinity - Starting A New Game

Hello All

Today I thought I would start to talk about my plans for the next few months starting with Infinity. I have been looking at Infinity now for about a year or so. I just love the models, but for a couple of reasons I have never taken the plunge and started the game. The reasons? Well no one to play against was the first one! That has changed now as one of my friends has started playing. The second was I was a bit nervous about painting the models, I mean the models are so detailed and the paint jobs on the site are just about the best you'll ever see! So after a bit of research I have found a faction I think I can paint and hopefully to a high standard.

So Why Infinity?

Well apart from the great models the game seems to ticket all the boxes in what I'm currently looking for in a new game.

1) The Cost:- The rule book is free as is the expansion (you can buy the rule book and I will end up getting it but to start with a free PDF is a great thing!) a starter set and a couple of extra Blisters to get you to 200pts (the lowest "normal" size game) will set you back around £50 (less if you can find a discounted stockiest). Also the company provides a free army builder which I can tell you made getting into the game alot easier!
2) Army Size:- You only need a hand full of models! I like this as it's cut down on painting time as I can concentrate on each model to try and get the most out of the wounderful sculpts. Also I'm not looking for a mass battle game. I have FOW and to a less degree Dystopian Wars and Firestorm Armada so I'm looking for something a bit different to complement my gaming collection.
3) The X Factor:- You know what I mean, when you either see a game being played or so the models and you just know this game is for you. I had the same feeling when I saw FOW being played for the first time (the rules just made sense coming from a 40K) . Infinity gave me the same feeling when I saw the models and the art work.
All the above are also the reason I have been looking at MERCS and Malifaux, but more on them later.

So what am I planning to do? 

Well as I have never played the game so I'm not going to drive in too deep to start with, having said that (and bearing in mind I am a wargamer so buying models I never use is in my DNA) I will be getting a 200pts force off the bat (but thats only 9 models, surely that can't go wrong...). I'm also using this as an excuse to buy a desert board that will double up for Infinity and FOW. I have already ordered a mat from Hotz Artwork and have a few bits of the Gale Force 9 Desert terrian on order from Triple Helix and I'm hoping to get a few things from Micro Art Studios to add some Sci-Fi terrian to the mix.

So my Starting force is

GROUP 1 (Regs: 9/Irrs: 0):

3x GHULAM Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife (13)

GHULAM Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife (18 | 0.5)

 JANISSARY Lieutenant AP Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW (45 | 1)

 ASAWIRA Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, Shock CCW (59 | 2)

3x NAFFATÛN Rifle + Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife (12)

197 Points | SWC: 3.5

So wish me luck and as always thanks for reading.

Ben

The Fighting Irish - Shermans WIP

Hello All

An update on my Plastic Soldier Company Shermans. I have finished Painting the tanks (bar the 4 I'm still waiting on from my Local Stockiest), I now just have to get hold of some Battlefront British Crew and paint them up.

Note- I'm not 100% happy with the way the pictures come out, they make the models look alot more "green" than they really are. I'll try and either get some better ones done up over the next few days or try to do better when I have finished the crew.



The to HQ Shermans



The First Combat Platoon

The Second Combat Platoon

 I had a few unexpected challenges with the Shermans. The main one was the small problem that the company marking decals I bought were the wrong ones! (a little looking around and I failed to find any that were "right"). The company symbols of the guard regiments were coloured in black, so I ended up painting behind the decals and the tried to line up the decals so they had the middle coloured in black.

I was also happy how the weathering turned out. It adds alot to the model without over powering it.

A close up of the decals after the black as added

Next up is some Universal Carriers

Thanks for looking, I hope to have another update soon!

Ben