Special Ops - Force on Force.

History has a habit of repeating its self, just as we dust off Force on Force for a game of special forces vs a drug baron in a scenario similar to that in Clear and Present Danger. President Trump signs an Exec Order marking certain cartels terrorist organisations.

We picked from the Classified Scenario Book - US Special Ops operating in the Columbian highlands destroying the drug operations and drug manufacturing plants. The Columbians had hired a company of mercenaries to neutralise the Americans. With no more than a dozen Americans rolling back to their exfiltration point they had dug in and were tasked with aggressively defending at the same time.

Limited photo's I am afraid...

The mercenaries were advancing on the main front but also a flanking force which was quickly put under fire by the CO and his radio operator.

The mercenaries were taking a lot of casualties from the very effective American fire power. It turns out poorly trained troops in the open get chewed pretty quickly.

Like all good action movies, things were going fine into the yanks needed to head to the X fill, getting out of the fox holes exposed the fire teams to a number of rounds of concentrated fire which injured a number of the war fighters.

Whilst they were able to escape they left two KIA behind for the mercenaries to take back to there Columbian masters. That could be a problem.

The mercenaries must have taken 30 dead and seriously wounded out of their 40 man force, which found about right given the task they were given.

It was nice to give Force on Force a roll out, the books are a little hard to come by these days and you do pay quite a price for them, but the rules play well and force you to adopt the right tactics if you are to win.

Right back to the brushes.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone.

I do miss an annual not sure you would get away with the 'For Boys' piece today.

I hope you all has some goodies under the tree.

Have a great Christmas everyone.

Dispatched from the Front XXXIII - Anything but Arabs.

It's been a while since the last dispatches post. My apologies this entry might be more of a reminder for me to keep me on track.

Chatting during the Cotswold day we shared a listing of half finished projects, we also seem to share one thing in common far to many projects than ever making it to the table. It got me thinking about the need for a clear out or sweep up of the ever going list on the paint table, during lockdown when everyone appeared to have more time I did a full review of projects underway and sold off a number of half finished projects, but things appears to have been building up again with a queue of things that need completing. I can't be the only one that thinks I have two spare figures why don't I buy a regiment to build them out......

So after the mass of figures for the Crusades project a brief pause whilst I clear some of the distractions that need that little bit of focus to get them table ready. My reckoning is that these should be done over 2 weeks - Enough time for a fresh Pendraken order to arrive.

To kick the next two weeks off I found a bunch of spare figures tucked away in a draw for the American Revolution Project. Getting these done will leave me with no spare figures for this project.

Keeping the focus on the AWI I brought a few packs of snake fencing back in March together with some large cosmetic spatula's but they were not wide enough, not wishing to waste anything and gambling that who is really looking in 10mm I straightened them up.  

Not bad basing material for less than £5.00 and these should not take long to get to the table, the sharp sand and I quick spray done over a couple of lunchtimes.

Pretty sure these were 15mm but have been sitting in a box for 25 years!!! Using the same spatula's these barricades were complete in a day, I don't know what took me so long.

Also purchased back in March an extra bunker for the Western Desert a nice piece of kit from Ironclad Miniatures well you can't go to a show and not buy anything. This was half done just needed some extra dry brushing and a light wash. Now ready for the next campaign game.

A package from Studio Historia Miniatures which has been hanging around since the summer. A case of idle hands on a train ride to London and a few clicks later and I am the proud owner of Zombie Camels and the Ramesses II headquarters, I figured the tent would be a good centre piece for my New Kingdom Egyptian forces and the camels for Silver Bayonet in the desert.

They have some great items on the website I can see a few more orders coming their way in the coming months - that damn butterfly.

Hittite Walls and WW2 Greeks - hhhmmm.

A few months ago we gave Xenos Rampant a run out for Chechen Wars, a great game which was really quick to get through in an evening session, it highlighted the need for a few extra heavy weapons, so a quick order from Fighting 15's and there they sat - time to get them done.

That should do for starters 6 different projects to juggle before I even think about projects for next year.

How it started.... Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas all.

This would usually be the post that describe the year in detail and plans for the year ahead, but for a change let's go back to the 1970's (not that you could tell from the carpet and moustache) and my first documented foray into wargaming. 

Now that we a great present, I loved that fort you could block the doors and the towers could slot on to any corner, the US Cavalry were always under attack by the Red Indians (Sorry Native Americans) hours of fun.

Fort Cherokee is still available on E-bay if you have £70 to spare.

Leap forward a number of decades and how things have moved on a proper table and far too many toys, scales and periods...

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by and taken time out to comment over the past 12 months. I hope everyone gets what they asked for. Who says we are difficult to buy for.

Just in case no one takes the hint in my house I have this little lot to work through as a back up.

Merry Christmas everyone see you all in 2023.

Merry Christmas All.

Well here we are again.....

It was being to look like we are going to be sealed in our homes again but it looks like we should be Ok subject to the now regular daily testing.

Merry Christmas all.

I have dropped plenty of hints this year, I say hints more over the stuff I ordered myself so stay tuned for 2022 more Pony Wars (the Christmas Challenge to get everything complete), Korean Terrain and some 'V' Vehicles for starters.

looking further ahead I quite fancied a look at the 'Silver Bayonet', just trying to decide on which faction, it could be Spain, Haiti or Egypt for Napoleonic's or something really wild merging my Russo-Japanese War stuff with the Ming Dynasty....?

Part of me wants to get more use of the desert terrain so maybe some WW2 Italians vs LRDG?

I have a draw full of Ancients to finish so it would be good to get a few more chariot wars on the table.

I hope none is on the naughty list and as is customary in recent times. 'stay safe'.

Benefits of Club Wargaming - A call to arms

In a departure from my regular post. A call to arms....

Last week saw the 'valiant few' of the Wyvern's Wargaming Club put on a multi-player Stargrave game - excellent fun, with the usual levels of skulduggery and good humour.

With only two games on offer that evening, It got me thinking about the future of club gaming and how as we return to normal, Covid and the past 12 months of locked down appears to have significantly impacted the gaming community, certainly in our local area. Instead of seeing people clamouring for face to face gaming players have gone to ground. the forum is quiet and the early banter and conversations of lockdown 1 & 2 have been replaced by radio silence.

• After long periods of isolation have players turned into modellers, painters and on-line gamers?
• Have we lost some of our newer players returning to the hobby after having young kids brought up on Games Workshop and now trying historical gaming - During the length periods of home working, have they now found new hobbies?
• Have we lost players to Covid given our demographic? Or has the recent loss of several stalwarts of the hobby left a significant gap, as we wait for newer characters to step forward?
• Have people built their own game space and now no longer think they need a club as they can game at home?

This conversation tends to come round every now and again - So why a club...?

Why do I need to keep lugging my terrain, figures around when I can simply play at home? 

In no particular order, my reasoning for club gaming over remote/solo gaming.

• Room - Yes I can at a push roll out a 6x4 but every now and again, I want to go BIG, with more than two players, I want people (Generals) huddled in corners planning their next move, I want to push regiments across a large table, stretching to reach the middle.
• Inspiration, new ideas and new projects - some of the best projects have come from that cross table chat, the whole club painting Zulu's or now everyone digging out Stargrave Gangs - That would simply not happen at home.
• Hints and Tips - How do you get that effect? - Black or White under coat - Google and You Tube are fine but I want to see mini's close up and physically hold them to see how others do things.
• New Friends and simply getting out of the house. - We might not know the names of each others partners, kids, jobs, Birthdays - But we know people's favourite period, scale and tabletop tactics. 
• Mental Health - With a head full of projects, terrain ideas, future gaming plans - who has time to worry about work or real life?

This is our club space...... Based in the village of Bishampton, we attract members from Evesham, Pershore, Worcester and Redditch, with a few even further out.

We have dwindled in numbers of late and are on the lookout for new or returning members, in effort to drive membership we have a new home on Facebook, much to the kids disgust. 

Wyvern Wargamers | Groups | Facebook

If you are in the area check us out, a friendly group playing most historical games and/or popular games on the market on the 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month. We have a long running Saga Tournament (hopefully back next year) and a number of all dayers.....

If your not local please share with your network, after all I suspect we are not alone in seeing a downturn in members and occasionally we all need reminding to make that extra effort.

Join the group and come and take part or like Woolworths, Debenhams or your local model store we might just be gone.

Creating Battlefield Clutter - 15mm Car Wreaks.

Several weeks ago a picked up from E-bay a bag of cut price 15mm cars... perfect for filling the streets of any modern battlefield, I have always felt that a gaming table should include, cars, gardens and random trees rather than your standard 4 hours for a village...

However when these arrived they were a little two shiny for my liking and figured that any modern car on battlefield should have a more war torn look.

With a bag full of spare bricks and some left over Warbases I set about turning these straight off the production line models into 15mm wreaks.

After a few minutes of setting about them with hammer and drill they looked pretty broken up, I glued them to the bases and sprayed them black before drybrushing them with a with dark brown metal, followed by a dark metal silver to create that burn't out look.

I am really pleased with how they have turned out and will compliment the modern/early sci-fi table top

With another 43 in the bag I am already thinking about put a few up on bricks and making some a partial wreak or street barricades to close off routes etc, etc.

The Easter - Lead Challange

Easter Bank holiday, 4 days off work, finally warm enough to varnish winters output and a chance to take stock of the recent flurry of purchases thanks to trips to Hammerhead and WMMS.

I have tried to restrict my interests in recent years to certain periods, but as I look over the latest purchases it dawned on my that the Wargames Butterfly has been creeping into my recent purchases.

In no particular order.

• More for the Water Margin project, with a War Wagon, Carts, Light Cavalry, Infantry and some Chinese Wizards to create a Chinese Frostgrave Faction.
• A whole bunch of Russian Infantry for Chechnya.
• Guardians for Lemuria - Just lovely sculpts.
• Various barricades from Anisty Castings.
• A Martian Blood pool for when the Human forces cross into Martian territory.
• A Pool/Oasis for the Ottoman project which is bound to rise up the painting list with Sharp Practice 2 launch in April.

Quite a to do list and with decorating the kitchen and reversing mother nature in the garden on the agenda. I am begining to think I should have stopped at work.

No promises but let's see what can be achieved this weekend.
Good job some of these tasks can be done between coats of paint and allowing glue to dry.

The summer challange - Conquering Lead Mountain

It should be summer, but I find myself staring out at yet another down pour, the kids have all their mates round, time to retreat to the man cave.
After 25 years or so gaming it struck me that I have managed to amass untold odds and sods, 8 shelves of trays, boxes and draws, mostly unnamed, purchases from shows and late nights on the internet with a surplus in paypal which just had to be spent.

I have certainly been guilty of chasing far too many hares over the years, blister packs and single figures because they looked nice, some one elses project that I was keen to jump in on, long after they had changed projects and sold their collection, I had become a collector of figures, which will never be enough to complete a project, or are unlikely to ever see even an undercoat. 

Draws had piles of shiny lead for existing projects which just needed some focus to finish off, limbers, casualty markers and enough doubles to make a few extra units.

Time for a clear out.

So the plan, 6 weeks to either paint it, play it or sell it.

I thought I would tackle it one shelf/box at a time.

In draw number one we have, heavy weapons for the Japanese and Marines in the Pacific which never quite got finished when the original project kicked off, Sci-fi terrain for Starship troopers and aliens, RJW extra casaulties from Salute, Ainsty crates and food stuff's for a middle eastern market, Civilians for modern Africa, left behind because the chaps with guns had more use.

With a little focus I should be able to free up enough space for funds for a new project in the autumn.
Quite a challange but one sure to keep me out of trouble during the summer holidays.

Can you have unlucky figures? - Niazam Artillery.

The signed were bad from the day I ordered them, only half the order arrived, the rest would follow on later.

Tired of being the Napoleonic whipping boys, I thought I would bolster the Ottoman forces with some westernized Nizam - i - Ceditso or New Army.

The only manufacturer I am aware of that make them are Old Glory they can always be trusted to cater for the gamer seeking the odd units of a period, the challenge with Old Glory is that the quality of sculpt can vary from range to range, the Ottomans are a little less well defined than others but they do provide me with valuable reinforcements.

So I purchased 2 bags of infantry and 2 bags of Artillery crew (a week later Brigade bring out their Ottoman Artillery) - Bad sign number One.

So a started to put paint to metal, I found them a struggle whether it was the lack of close up detail or the fact they all appear to be cast with the same head surely not every member of the New Army had a broom handle mustache?
They took an age and were very often superseded by other projects, the uniform colours appear to match those of the period they were an absolute bind to paint and I was a little underwhelmed by the result.....

Another bad sign....

Then finally the curse of varnish frosting. These guy's are just damned unluckily.

Now a wanted a dusty effect but this is bloody ridiculous, I did encounter this issue about two years and over come it with Olive Oil.
 
http://dusttears.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/matt-varnish-frosting-solution.html


To the doubters out there - Two years later, no mold and no smell :-)

I really can't decide whether I preferred the dull or shiny versions, the shine does tend to where off with game play.

However given the bad luck with these so far, you can only imagine how they are likely to perform on the table top.

So I finally finished them now just the 96 Infantry to do, they might have to wait at the foot of lead mountain for a while.

Matt Varnish Frosting... A solution ?

Aaaarrrgggghhh the Wargamers greatest fear, having spent several hours paintng up another unit for my Egyptian Project, I thought I would give them a coating of GW Purity Seal to protect my time and effort only to find the Matt Varnish has left a frosting effect all over them....

Reading several websites,forum boards and checking in with guy's at my local club the Evesham Wargames Club.

I am led to believe that this can be caused by high humidity, overspraying from to far way or a bad batch.

I could put it down to weeks in the Egyptian desert but I would like to find a solution to this or at least a remedy to lessen the effect.

I have tried Testors Dull Coat, GW Purity Seal and Humrol Matt Varnish and all at one time or another seem to have the same effect so this "frosting" does not seem limited to one brand and none of my research seem to have a clear answer despite many people experiencing the same issue.

Advice prior to spraying seems to come in a varienty of guises.

1. Warm the figures prior to spraying.
2. Warm the can.
3. Shake the can vigorously at least 5 minutes.
4. Spray at room temperature.
5. Spray far away
6. Spray lightly
7. Spray a few at a time

Ditch spraying and revert to Brush on Varnish.

I am tempted to try Krylon Matte Finish (if I can get hold of it in the UK?) or Army Painter Anti Shine Matt Varnish to see if they deliver a better result.

None of the above solve my issue so I set about exploring the solutions available.

1. Over coat with a second coat of Matt Varnish.
This appears to be a popular solution but in this case had little or know effect on the colouring, it did start to lose the depth of the figure. I suspect though this is due to the lack of actual casting depth in the plastic model.

2. Apply a coat of Thinner or Nail varnish remover.
This did not work, I applied it with a cotton bud and rubbed the effected area, it dried only to return the same effect as before.

3. Apply a brush coat of Matt Varnish.
This had the impact of dulling the effected area but the colour still suffered some discolouration.

4. Apply a brush coat of Gloss Varnish.
Having never been a fan of this type of finish, I need to pay a visit to the habby store for a can of this, it appears reading other blogs and forums that this has a mixed impact working for some but not for others.

5. Apply a ink wash over the figure to lessen the effect.
This did lessen the efect and was easy to apply given the type of figures effected, but I can see this being a problem for more detailed figures or where the desired effect is for bright uniforms, such as the Napoleonic Period.

6. Apply a coat of Olive Oil

Now this I dismissed out of hand as one of the those crazy ideas a kin to repainting the whole figure or dropping in paint thinner over night. But I had little to lose as none of the others seemed to be having the desired impact. But it actually worked!!!!

I applied it with a small soft paint brush and left it for several hours and it maintained it's colour depth, I rubbed the figure on the flat areas to try and wipe it away and it still retained a sheen and not trace of the frosting.
You will need to do this to also remove the excess oil.

I thought it might leave the figures a little greasy but it does not appear to, I even wiped the figure in a cotton rag to see if it picked up and traces of the oil nothing or at worse no different to the oil left on figures from your own hands after extended gaming, I even rubbed the flat areas with my fingers to try take of the coating and it still retained it's brightness.

So for me this solution seems to work and after 25 years of gaming it's the closest yet to return them to their original finish... Thay have a slight satin finish to them but blend well with other figures in my collection.

Could Olive Oil is a solution that has plagued wargamers for several years.... Try it for yourself.

Thoughts and comments welcome.