Colours 2011

We had a good time at Colours today, even though I came away with a meagre bag full or goodies. I really couldn't find anything that grabbed my attention enough to warrant spending any cash. There were plenty of nice things to buy but even my usual purchases from Pendraken and Peter Pig, for example, failed to materialise.

I did, however, pick up a bargain bundle of the Impetus rules and one of the supplements for £30, which doesn't sound like much of a deal but is actually £10 less than the asking price. The Impetus rules have been recommended by a chap at the club so, although they're expensive for what you get, I thought I'd make the most of the special offer.

I also bought two packs of the new Artizan French Foreign Legion figures in sun helmets for use in the Heart of Africa. They are much bigger than the Dixon figures that I already have, despite being sculpted by the same designer, but match very well with the Foundry Darkest Africa range. I hope that Artizan now bring out some Tiralleurs Senegalese and other French troops?

Finally, we all enjoyed a game of Tusk run by Kev Addams of the Lincombe Barn Wargames Society. This was a 28mm set up using Copplestone and Grenadier (EM4) caveman figures alongside Primeaval Designs and Trent Miniatures mammoths, sabre tooth tigers and other beasties. It was an excellent game and the boys really enjoyed it. Nice one chaps!

Off to Colours

I'm off to Colours in Newbury tomorrow along with the two sprogs. I have a sketchy plan of action for the day, which includes a browse of the usual traders with a few small purchases on the cards,  if the price is right (or I lose the plot).

I'll be looking out for interesting things but hope to resist the urge to aquire vast quantities of additional stuff. I'll also be checking out the participation games, which are always a highlight of the show and should produce some interesting photos for the blog.

I'll post some pictures and a brief overview when I get back.

See you there!

P.S. If you see this....RUN

AK47 Autumn Assault [2]

I pretty much finished the AAA bases this evening, although I need to add a little weatheirng to complete the overall effect. In the end, I had to rush them a bit so the overall result is OK but not as good as I had hoped. It's onto the anti-tank guns, multi-barrelled rocket launchers and BTR 152 tows next, together with the four crew bases that they will be deployed with.

AK47 Autumn Assault [1]

In the interest of suspending disbelief, I have renamed my AK47 project as the Autumn Assault rather than Summer Offensive, thereby justifying it's continuation into the next couple of months or so. As part of this renewed effort, I have had a crack at the AAA component which consists of three bases plus the completed tows.

They're far from finished, requiring a decent wash in gunge together with re-painted barrels, tyres and detailing of the figures, but they're coming along. They're cracking models and really deserve a bit of attention to detail. I'll try and finish them off tomorrow but it's a busy day, so I may not get round to it.

This Very Ground

I won a copy of these French Indian Wars skirmish rules for a fiver on ebay the other day. I don't really have a use for them in mind but had heard good things about them, so thought I'd grab a bargain even if they end up in the dusty pile of unused rulebooks in the loft.

A quick skim read suggests otherwise but, having no great urge to do this in 28mm, I'm not intending to start anything silly. If there was a decent range of FIW figures in 15mm, I might be tempted over to the dark side....at least it would make good use of all those 1/100th scale architectural model trees I scrounged from work!

AK47 Summer Offensive [31]

I'm beginning to think that this should be the AK47 Autumn Assault but, on we go regardless!

Here are the two GAZ jeep tows for the AAA mounts in the regular contingent of the AK47 army, together with it's small but perfectly formed armoured car recce element, all of which are Skytrex models with Peter Pig crews and new gun barrels from spare AK47 range soviet HMG's.

I'm hoping to tackle the long overdue regular heavy weapons tomorrow but probably won't be able to finish them off until the end of the week, as I'm now back at work.

Bugger

:O(

The Somme

I finished Dusty Warriors yesterday and have now moved onto something a little different, although with some similar themes. The book I've chosen to read over the next week or two is Somme by Martin Gilbert, partly as I haven't read any First World War military history titles for a while and partly because it's a topic that I have neglected to study myself.

I've always focussed on the naval and air warfare aspects of the First World War, although I have read quite a lot of autobiographical accounts of the war on the Western Front, so this should fill in some gaps. I'm sure it won't get me sufficiently inspired to attempt gaming trench warfare but I'm sure it will be well worth the time and effort.

AK47 Summer Offensive [30]

I finished off the helicopters today in the spare time that I could find. It was my youngest son's 6th birthday and the local village fete, so time was scarce for painting to say the least. However, the two transport Mi4's and the single command / gunship Mi1 are now ready for action. I need to make some flight stands and add some red triangle insignia, which I have run out of, but it's onto a few more vehicles tomorrow now that the choppers are out of the way.

AK47 Summer Offensive [29]

I didn't have as much time today to get on with the AK47 stuff but, nonetheless, decided to tackle the three transport helicopters. They're about half way complete by now, with the rotor blades, decals and final details to be added, but they're moving in the right direction.

The shiny finish is down to the Future based gunge wash that I applied after the base coat but this will be suppressed by a later matt varnish. I should get them finished off tomorrow, as I've deliberately avoided any fancy camouflage or flashy undersurfaces in order to shift them along as fast as possible.

AK47 Summer Offensive [28]

Well, much to my surprise, I've actually done and dusted the AK47 armour and AFV's in the space of twenty four hours, despite the usual diversions and the fact that I've knackered my back.

I'm quite pleased with the end result, although it's unashamedly simple in both execution and appearance. I was partcularly pleased with the red triangle decals, which I pinched from the sprog's 40K box, after searching through my own pile of spare decal sheets to no avail.

I have several other vehicles to paint up using the same scheme, which is a fall back to the usual Foundry Phlegm Green three stage approach with a few additional highlights. These wil have to wait until I've finished the remainder of the infantry and heavy weapons teams, which I'm planning to tackle tomorrow.