More on Mongolia

Right, had a quick look at the Tumbling Dice and O8 ranges and did some background refresher googling to work out what would work for the Nomonhan Incident. It looks like most of what's needed is already there, both for the Soviets and the Japanese.

Soviets

Fighters were primarily the I-15bis (ISA 365) and the I-16 (ISA 367).

Some were also equipped with air to ground / air to air rockets and these are also available as variants (ISA 365a / 367a).

There's no I-153 but these only appeared at the end of the conflict. Luckily, O8 do a very nice I-153 so I can use them alongside the TD aircraft to fill the gap.

Bombers were the SB2 (ISA377) but the TB3 (ISA379) was also used for night bombing towards the end of the war.

For reconaissance and liason the R5 was widely employed but it isn't in the current TD range. I could use the DH4 from the WW1 (ISA14) range as a substitute with a bit of filing to the cowling but it isn't quite right.

Japanese

The Japanese used 88 Ki 27 Nate fighters (ISA411).

They also had three squadrons of light bombers, either Ki 15's, Ki 30's, Ki 32's or Ki 51's.

The TD range includes Ki 32 Mary's (ISA417) and Ki 51 Sonia's (ISA413) but no Ki 30's.

The Ki 15 Babs (ISA 410) is probably better empoyed as a scout / reconnaisance aircraft, as these were also used a lot during the conflict.

There was one squadron of heavy bombers which probably were Fiat BR20's (ISA465) but there may also have been Ki 21 Sally's (ISA416).

Overall, just about everything is available in the Tumbling Dice range, including some useful ground targets in the ISL range too. I need to look at the O8 Russian stuff too, as I'm sure I can find some suitable early war things there that could be used as objectives or targets for strafing.

Wings At War Mongolia 1939

I've been thinking about alternatives to the Battle of Britain for Wings At War and had a flashback to an idea I originally had a couple of years ago.

I thought about doing the Nonomhan Incident in 1/300th scale using Bag The Hun at the time and even got together a selection of aircraft for both but these got sidelined by other things. I also came to the conclusion that the numbers of aircraft involved meant that 1/300th scale wasn't quite right, as I'd only be using squadron strength units at the most for reasons of gameplay and workload.

Today I had the idea of using 1/600th scale with a variant of Scramble For Britain as a basis for a Battle of Khalkin Gol, as the Soviets called it at the time. Nearly all the required aircraft are available from Tumbling Dice and would be easy to paint up, base and organise into relatively large squadron sized units.

I'd have to work out a set of objectives, missions and some special rules to fit the particular conflict but a lot of the rest could just be lifted or adapted from the existing Wings At War system. The terrain would also be very easy to do!

I'm quite interested in working this out if I can find the thinking time over Easter.

Dustbins

I've been thinking about the VBCW BUF force and have decided that the auxilliary bus drivers and conductors idea, using the SCW Assault Guard figures, is a bit boring. However, over on TMP there's a news item that Empress have just re-released their Talares Rio Tinto armoured truck, which is such a cool looking model that I think I need to get one.

I reckon it would make an excellent armoured dustbin lorry and the Assaultos would be perfect as an armed dustbinmen militia. This also fits neatly into Jon's background blurb for the war in Dorset, which involves a fascist county council taking over against the resistance of the Anglican League, so dustbinmen would be a perfect source of potential recruits for the blackshirts.

Of course I could always scratchbuild one but I can't really be bothered!

Belgium 1 / Portugal 0

The Aeronef clash this evening ended in yet another defeat for the hapless Portuguese, although not quite to the extent of the previous drubbing. In fact it was more of a draw with the total of destroyed aeronefs equal and the decision going to a comparison of damage points to the surviving vessels. A close run thing indeed!

Nonetheless, the Portuguese took a bit of a beating losing half of their fleet to the concentrated firepower of the Belgian Alliance. I think it's time that that Portuguese steamed off into the sunset and that my formidable Japanese fleet made a long overdue appearence in the next game against Andy's chocolate munching cohorts.

Wings At War Battle of Britain

The Wings at War starter pack for Sramble for Britain arrived yesterday from Tumbling Dice. It's the usual A5 format stapled booklet with a very nice colour cover in glossy card rather than the usual plain card used on other sets in the series. The layout and mechanisms will be familiar to anyone who has seen a set of Wings At War rules before, with the established system of movement and aerial combat applied in this case to the Battle of Britain.

There are, of course, specific rules for the Battle of Britain including the table layout, formation flying, bombing targets, radar and night fighters, the last of which looks like a really interesting addition to the system. Overall, the new period specific additions to the basic rules are very well thought out and should give a historically realistic feel to the game. In combination with the starter pack of selected TD 1/600th scale planes, the whole package represents excellent value for money.

I doubt I'll be taking the plunge into Scramble for Britain at the moment, however, as I already have plans for Mig Alley which should come first in the list of things to do. I've also got quite a few planes in 1/300th for Bag The Hun, so should focus on that first when it comes to the Battle of Britain. On the other hand, I like the system and the TD planes so much that I might just add a few more Spitfires, Hurricanes, Stukas and the so on to the collection, just in case I feel the need to do 1940 in a smaller scale and at a larger level.

Highly recommended!

Silly Buggers.

For some reason the blogger wotsit seems to be playing silly buggers with the piccies this afternoon but, in the true Dunkirk spirit of stiff upper lipishness, we'll carry on regardless.

I've finally managed to get the postponed Aeronef game against Andy's combined Belgian - Luxembourg fleet on for tomorrow evening, although at the expense of a Bag The Hun 2 try out game. I just haven't had the time to read through the BTH2 rules and neither has Andy, so it's the trusty fall back alternative one brain cell Aeronef option instead.

The mighty Portuguese armada was throroughly trashed by the duplicitous Belgies last time so they're out for revenge. I suspect they may get thoroughly trashed again as Andy is a master of aerial ironclad manoevering and has an uncanny ability to do the right thing at the the right time, in contrast to my 'full steam ahead and damn the (aerial) torpedoes' approach to things.

Anyway, as promised here are some photos of my Bolshevik Aeronef fleet, which won't be sallying forth tomorrow but may well be dispatched at a later date if the Portuguese don't cut the mustard or pass the port tomorrow.

BUF Line Up

Here's a line up of the BUF platoon for a VBCW ready for preparation and basing. As you can see, I didn't find the time today to get this done as we ended up cycling all afternoon rather than staying at home, which was fun bit not very productive in wargaming terms.

Nonetheless, I have sorted out the figures and plan to get the cleaning up and basing done tomorrow evening, once the kids are asleep. The Heinkel He51 B2 is also going to be assembled as and when I have the time but this will probably toward the end of the holidays.

I'm looking forward to this lot as a bit of a change from the aircraft I've been doing over the last month or so. Hopefully, I'll be able to get them done and dusted in slightly less time!

Easter Preparations

I'vr decided to crack on with the BUF VBCW skirmish project for Easter / April, despite the fact that it's not really something I'd planned for at the start of the year and therefore a bit dodgy. I'm supposed to be clearing my backlog of projects from the leadpile, not starting new ones but as I've just ploughed through the planes for the club game I think I deserve a reward.

I'll try to get the figures cleaned up and based today so that I can undercoat them for painting later in the week. If I work hard, I could get them done before we go to France next Monday but, if not, I can always take them with me as a little holiday project.

I've also had a look at the list of things I set out to do at the start of the year. So far, I've completed one of the projects on the list, namely the North Africa Luftwaffe, although to a lesser extent than originally planned. The ARVN have been 75% completed and won't need much to finish them off. I've also completed the Axles and Alloys project but this doesn't count as it wasn't on the list to start with.

So, not bad but less than I should have done in the two half terms I've had so far.

I think I need to be more ruthless and so have decided to edit my list of things to do to focus on projects that are achievable and that I really need to shift. I have two half terms after Easter and an entire activity week, so that means I can get three big projects shifted with a fair chance of completing them to a decent standard.

I've decided to shelve anythig in 10mm for the moment as I've already tackled the ARVN, So it's goodbye to the Noggies, Fallschirmjager and Indochina projects unitl a later date and/or when there's some early war oppossiton for the Norwegians. I've also decided to stick to only one 28mm project after the BUF are done, so I have to choose between the Late War British, the Darkest Africa Germans, the Future FFL or the Japanese for the Back of Beyond.

Finally, I am determined to include in the project schedule the 15mm AK47 Dictatorship army and something nautical by the end of July, probably the 1/600th scale WW2 coastal warfare stuff that I've had hanging around for ages or the Victorian naval fleets in 1/2400 that have been waiting to be painted for a while.

If there's any time left after that I'll try to squeeze in the 1/600th Wings At War Korea project as a bonus, but that's being a bit optimistic given my lack of progress to date!

Ju88 Finished!

I finished off the Ju88's this afternoon by painting the exhausts and canopy glazing bars on the remaining planes then decalling the whole lot with upper wing and fuselage crosses.

I then varnished them with Citadel spray satin varnish to seal the decals and protect the paintwork from the occasional knocks and scratches that they'll get when handled during the game. All I need to do now is detach the nails from the underside then hand them over to the playtesters on Tuesday.

So, that's ten days worth of work that has been completed to the deadline and with an end result that's not too bad, if not up to my usual standard.

And I can at last get on to something else!

Time for a drink or two I think.

Aeronef Over Africa

I've played a few games of Aeronef over the last two or three years and have even run a Scramble for Africa campaign at the club which went down quite well. My first eronef fleet was Japanese,but it remains unbased as I originally used blutack to stick them to the flight stands and never got round to basing them properly.

My chosen colonial power for the campaign was Portuguese, so I used a combination of Argentinian and Brazilian nefs because they were really nice models and weren't used by anyone else at the time (the other fleets were British, German, French, Russian, Egyptian and Italian).

So, here they are.

I went for a hot climate scheme of grey hulls and white superstructure, with yellow funnels for a contemporary victorian look. They could do with a wash or blacklining of some sort but I couldn't be bothered at the time as I had to get them ready for the campaign in a couple of weeks. The digs were converted from plastic Revell Hindenburg kits by turning them upside down and sticking two lower halves together.

I've also got a small Bolshevik fleet using the Brigade Hungarian aeronefs. It's not complete but I'll post some pictures of what I've got so far later on today.

VBCW BUF

The remaining figures for the BUF arrived from Musketeer yesterday and I've now worked out what I'm going to do with them. I decided to follow Jon's example and organise them into a platoon of two sections plus a command section and attached HMG.

Each of the sections will have eight figures armed with rifles and an NCO with Bergmann SMG, while to command section will have a standard bearer, officer and lewis gunner. There will also be a Vickers team for fire support and perhaps a couple of character figures, as I have a very nice Artizan pilot that would be a nice extra.

This lot will be a flying column so I've raided the toy box and found some Days Gone By trucks and vans that they can commandeer as transport, at least one of which I'll up armour as an improvised assault vehicle. For additional support I also have a CV33 flamethrower tankette for special occasions.

Finally, I can't resist aircraft so I'm going to provide air cover with either a 1/48th scale Heinkel He51 floatplane or CR32 fighter bomber.

Nice.

Easter Holiday Project

Now that I've nearly finished the planes for the participation game, which is a really good as I'm thoroughly fed up with the things, I can start to look ahead to the Easter holidays in a weeks time.

We're off to Brittany for almost the whole two weeks so I'm going to take something with me to paint and try to actually paint it! I've done this for three or four holidays in a row and achieved nothing so it's time I bit the bullet and got on with it. It needs to be fairly minimalist and require only a handful of paints, so...

...the current front runners are:

1. Two or three units of 28mm BUF for VBCW, which I can base and undercoat next week.
2. Two or three units of 28mm Japanese for the Back of Beyond, which I've started already and just need finishing off (there are a couple of pictures above of one such unit)
3. Two or three units of 28mm Late War British, which also need preparation.
4. Something else.....but NO planes!

This needs some thought so I'll dig out the various boxes of figures and have a think...

Wings At War

Somehow I missed this new set of rules in the Wings at War series but thanks to a post on TMP I've now ordered a starter set from Tumbling Dice to add to my collection.

I haven't actually played a game yet, despite having collected loads of 1.600 scale planes for Korea, the Falklands and Vietnam, not to mention the other non WaW stuff I've stockpiled for the Six Day War, Lebanon and the Alto Cenepa War.

My sticking point has always been the basing system and how to go about it. If I can ever solve the brass tube versus plastic rod versus brass wire versus mini dice issue, let alone the tiddly magnet ball bearing question, then I may actually get one of these projects off the ground.

The rules system is so elegant and the TD models are so cool, that it would be a shame not to get on with it in one way shape or form this year. It's on the to do list as well so wouldn't break the NYR rule either!

Ju88 Blitz

I managed to get a good four hours in this evening and shifted the Ju88's a long way forward.

I've virtually finished ten of them and only need to do a little black lining and highlighting before they get the decals applied. The remainder need to have the exhausts painted and the framing done on the canopies.

The framing has been done with the black green shade, the Revell acrylic version, rather than my usual black as this fits with the other planes that have been painted for the game. I'm not so keen on it myself, especially as I didn't do a great job on the lining and had to do some tidying up afterwards. The paintwork is also less than my best to be honest but en masse they should look fine. Still, with twenty four of the buggers to do by Tuesday, I can't afford to be picky.

The sooner I get them shifted, the sooner I can get on with something less tedious!

Ju88 Masking Complete

I stayed up late last night and finished the masking up for the Ju88's. I'm hoping to get the black green splinter painted later today and perhaps even get the grey undersides done as well. I'm hoping the tape won't lift off patches of the basecoat, which often happens if you're not careful removing it but, if it does, I should be able to patch things up.

Sci Fi Fighters

Yes, I know it's another random ramble in a completely irrational direction but I stumbled across these simple space fighter rules today, thanks to the excellent Freewargamerules site:

http://www.sfsfw.org/a/03/tacship.php

Needless to say I have some of those plastic em4 space fighters knocking about somewhere and could set this up as a little beer and pretzels type game, if I could find the time to paint up and base a few of the models.

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that this level of gaming is the sort of thing I can manage and that the big army projects I have always aspired to will have to wait a few years until the kids have grown up.

Operation Kronstadt

I started reading Operation Kronstadt yesterday and have already been hooked by the first couple of chapters. The author, who was an MI6 agent himself, has a narrative style that really fires the imagination and get you involved in the turbulent events of 1919.

I've read a couple of excellent books about the Kronstadt Raid and naval operations in the Baltic before, including the autobiography of Gus Agar, but this book has sparked my interest again. It's an incredible story involving lots of cloak and dagger stuff, fast motor torpedo boats (CMB's) and the early stages of the Russian Civil War.

In wargames terms, it also has great potential for coastal warfare actions using Action Stations! or a similar set of rules. By coincidence, I picked up some of the excellent Langton Miniatures 1:200 scale WW1 coastal range very cheap via ebay a couple of years ago and have been looking around for something to do with them ever since.

I've added a couple more of the Langton CMB's to my collection since then and even have a plastic kit in 1:180th of a WW1 era Chinese gunboat that cost a fiver from a discount shop a few years ago. It would be an top target for a CMB attack, although not quite on the same scale as the Kronstadt Raid. It's actually quite a large model and could easily stand in for a Soviet or German light cruiser.

There's some pictures of a completed, superdetailed and very well finished version of the kit here (the kit itself is fairly crude and in hefty plastic so ideal for wargaming):

http://www.steelnavy.com/ZhengDeFuZhongShanCT.htm

I've also got one of Rod Langton's German coastal U boats so that could be incorporated somewhere in the project too, perhaps as a variation on the Kronstadt Raid but in reverse.

This may make it onto the list of things to do this year as a result.

Hacked Off

Arse.

It's one of those days when you wonder why you got involved in this ridiculous hobby in the first place and didn't take up some equally pointless leisure activity such as morris dancing instead.

Without going into the convoluted details, I've raised some well founded issues at the club and been duly shot down for my efforts. As I've done most of the groundwork for the project concerned and have put a lot of effort into getting it up and running and sorting things out, I'm a bit hacked off that I now seem to be the metaphorical spanner in the works.

It's not the first time but it will definately be the last as far as I'm concerned.

I'm off to get my bells and silly hat out for a spot of strip the willow...

Axkes and Alloys II at WMMS

As a particpation game helper / organiser / dogsbody, I know how much of a pain in the backside it can be to get this sort of thing up and running, so I'm duly impressed by the effort here. Nice terrain, some barking mad cars and a neat set of multiplayer rules = a great demo game and a cracking write up as well.

http://axlesalloys2.blogspot.com/2010/03/vroom-vroom-bang-bang-x10.html

I really should get some more cars done for this and organise a club multiplayer game....

Ju88 Test Mask

I've masked up one of the Ju88's using 6mm Tamiya tape to see how straightforward it will be to do the other twenty three.

It wasn't too bad so if I adopt the usual production line approach and mask one bit at a time in one go, I reckon I can get them all masked up for painting quite quickly. I've simplified the scheme a little to avoid lots of sharp splinter angles but otherwise it's fairly close to the correct pattern.

I'll try and get more done later today with the wings completed as far as possible.

Back of Beyond Bolsheviks

As I've been digging out rules for the Russian Civil War, which I've been interested in gaming for a long time, I thought I'd post some pictures of my Bolshevik army for the Back of Beyond.

The Third Peasants and Workers Shock Brigade, under the leadership of Military Specialist Comrade Colonel Igor Tubugerov, has had some success in the campaigns that I've run at the club. It's an effective force with three units of regulars, a unit of Cheka, a unit of Latvian Rifles, three heavy machine guns, a sniper, a field gun, an armoured car and tank plus air support, together with the ubiquitous (but fairly useless) political commissars.

It was the first big 28mm project that I've undertaken and, although the figures aren't painted to a top standard, they're not bad considering the fact that they were turned out in about three weeks. I really should add some additional units and artillery to the army but I have more then enough projects to tackle without going back to the Back of Beyond.

I have another Back of Beyond army, the Japanese using Copplestone Chinese Warlord figures, but they're only partly finished and need quite a lot of work to be ready for action. I've also got about three or four more forces in the leadpile but as interest has waned at the club they may neveer see the light of day.

Ju88 basecoat completed

I finished off the basecoat on the JU88's this morning having decided to stick with the shade I mixed for the first batch. It's looks fine in retrospect and should match well with the planes painted by Andy, Andrew and Jon. The bombers are ready for masking up which I'm going to start and, hopefully, finish by the end of the weekend.

We went to Southampton today and I was given the boys to drag around while my wife took Amelie to West Quay to look at sofas. This was a good thing, as I hate West Quay, but it did mean I had to disentangle the sprogs on several occasions as they beat each other to a pulp in various public places.

Despite this arduous exercise in child management, I did score some good stuff in the form of a book on German airborne forces in WW2 from a charrity shop, a reduced price paperback copy of Operation Kronstadt by Harry Ferguson, which I've wanted to read for a while, and a plastic storage box for the leadpile.

However, the best bit was that I discovered a newly opened branch of Modelzone and, as a result, was able to pick up some 6mm Tamiya tape to mask the Ju88's with and two pots of Black Green paint, one Tamiya and one Revell, so that I don't need to mix up the correct shade for the upper surface splinter camouflage.

I was also tempted to get some half price Pegasus 1/72nd scale Soviet tanks for Rapid Fire! but resisted the temptation.

Heroes of the Russian Civil War

Jon posted a query about this set of rules on TMP the other day as he'd been unable to track them down. Luckily I had a pdf download from the Gauntlet International site in my files so was able to email a copy to Jon and to Pete Jones, who asked if he could have one to post on Freewargamerules.

So, if you're looking for an alternative to Contemptible Little Armies for the Back of Beyond or are interested in skirmish gaming the Russian Civil War at a platoon level, then it should be available as a free download sometime soon.

I've offered the services of my Bolsheviks for a game against Jon's Whites but we'll have to wait and see if it happens as I'm pretty busy at the moment.

Saurian Safari

I had a game of Saurian Safari planned for next Tuesday but I've had to postpone it (again) as I have too much on my plate at the moment. It's a shame as I was going to try out the rules I've written for steam powered vehicles with the Ironclad Miniatures steam tank as a means of transport.

However, I will endeavour to slot the game in sometime after Easter when I should have less work to plough through and more time to spend on gaming (in theory). I have run an annual dinosaur hunting competition game in July for the last couple of years, the Compton Pauncefoot III memorial trophy, so I might well bring that forward a bit and combine it with the steam tank to kill two birds with one stone (or two dinosaurs with one shot...)

Ju88 Basecoat

I had a real pain in the arse trying to get the basecoat drybrush right this evening. I tackled half of the Ju88's in a series of attempts to get the mid-green uppersurface shade correct but didn't manage it in the end.

It's not that they don't look OK but more that they aren't quite right. The tone is too blue green and not bronze green for a start. They've also lost the depth they had after the wash and look a bit flat.

I eventually settled on a 50:50 Catachan Green / Gretchen Green drybrush which was largely determined by the fact that the other Luftwaffe aircraft in the game have a Catachan Green shade for the upper surfaces.

It's not right but it'll do.

On a more positive note, Bob from the Wargames Command Post delivered my Force of Arms tankette flamethrower this afternoon, which is an excellent turnaround as I only ordered it a couple of days ago. It's a lovely little resin model and well worth a tenner, despite being on the tiddly side of small. Unfortunately, the standard CV33 tankette was out of stock but Bob was kind enough to let me know and has promised to send me one when he has them in.

Nice bloke.

On the Buses

I had another look at the Empress Assault Guards next to the Musketeer BUF figures yesterday. Although they are an excellent match in style and size, not a surprise as they were sculpted by the same bloke, they are quite different in terms of their uniforms and webbing. So, I'm going to use them as a seperate militia alongside the BUF legion figures rather than mixing them in. I am going to use a couple of the command figures with the BUF Legion platoon but I have about ten of the Assaultos left over to form a section of their own.

I was then faced with the challenge of explaining their unorthadox outfits, which consist of 'mono' boilersuits and peaked caps. At first I thought they could be a crew for an armoured train as they look a bit like railway drivers and firemen. The only problem with that is I will need to build one. I have some Teamsters toy engines and carriages for this, orignally destined for the Back of Beyond, but it would be quite a bit of work. In the sourcebook the railwaymen are also largely leftist so less than keen to drive trains around for the BUF.

My second idea was to make them a militia unit of bus drivers and conductors, which would operate as the transport element of my BUF flying column. I quite like this option as I could scratchbuild or convert an improvised armoured bus for them to drive around or just get hold of the big scary Somua armoured lorry from Empress. The figures look like they might be bus crew in their caps and overalls and it would be easy to include some BUF armbands to give them a bit of identity.

Now all I need is the bus!

Ju88's Undercoated

I got home from work a bit early this afternoon so I was able to find time to undercoat the Ju88's with Humbrol Matt Olive Green spray.

I didn't have enough Matt Grey to do the job and so decided to go with the alternative approach, using the Olive Green as a base for the principal upper surface shade. In the end I didn't bother to undercoat the undersurfaces as they will just need a simple coat of mid grey after the uppers are done.

As I did the undercoat relatively early I was able to give the models a wash later on using my pot of Klear based brown/black gunge. As the Raiden models have some fairly deep panel scribing this seemed like a good idea.

The next stage will be to drybrush over a heavy coat of the mid-green base shade, although I need to pick out a suitable shade for this from my extensive collection of Vallejo, Foundry and GW colours.

VBCW Rules Ideas

I've been having another think about the rules to use with the Very British Civil War stuff.

On the one hand, I'd like to try out Triumph and Tragedy which I picked up originally as an alternative to Contemptible Little Armies for my Back of Beyond Bolsheviks. It seems like the ideal set for small scale skirmishes, especially as it has a neat card based system. It also includes the sort of things you'd expect to see in a 1930's era game including rules for leaders, aircraft, improvised vehicles etc. On the other hand, Jon is keen on Rate of Fire, which I think might be a bit too WW2 tactically orientated but could work out with a few tweaks.

Other options include Troops, Weapons and Tactics from the Toofatlardies, which I think would combine the best of both of the above. I really rate the TFL approach to gaming which is based on thorough research and accurate tactics but which also has the element of randomness or unpredictability that makes gaming enjoyable. The Tea Break is a good case in point.

Finally, for a starter, I've dug out an old set of freebie rules called Landser that would be perfect for a quick pick up and play game: http://mainly28s.com/rules/+1939R.Landser.html

They were originally published on the old Icon Miniatures site which has now become the infamous Black Tree. You can still download them from the Mainly 28's site either in their original format or as a revised version. There's also a yahoo group which is a bit dormant but worth a look.

I think they are a neat little system and might be very useable for VBCW at least in the short term before switching over to something more comprehensive.

Raiden Ju88 Clean Up

I finished cleaning up and nailing down the twenty four JU88A1's for the participation game this evening but it's too late to get them undercoated so that will have to wait until tomorrow. As you can see, there's quite a lot of them but I'm feeling fairly confident that I can get them done to a decent standard by the end of the month.

Famous last words.