Bayonet and Ideology Re-match

I have another game of BAIT2 tomorrow, this time with a Republican Regular Army force instead of the International Brigade that I deployed last time. The figures will be provided by my opponent, Paul, but I have had to work out an orbat from the lists in the rulebook. To make this as easy as possible, I've pinched the one from the Peter Pig army box that's listed on the website.

 

This army has two tanks of average quality, three average quality infantry platoons and an HMG unit for support. I'm looking forward to trying out the tanks, which I didn't get to deploy in the last game and to see how the infantry perform, as this army is very similar to the one that I'm building up myself.

 

Unit 1. Tanks. 2 x T26 tanks. Average quality. Gun 6 Armour 5 (76 points).

Unit 2. Platoon 1. 1 Platoon commander base, 1 LMG base, 9 rifle bases. (77 points).

Unit 3. Same as unit 2 (77 points).

Unit 4. Same as unit 2 (77 points).

Unit 5. HMG support. Average quality. 1 platoon commander base, 2 HMG bases (55 points).

Total 362 points

 

AK47 Extra Bits

I have set up a final game of AK47 at the club in a couple of weeks, before I shoot off on my holidays, so I thought I'd polish off a couple of extra units for the occasion. The first is my tribal militia unit that I painted up a few weeks ago, supposedly for a new Religious Movement army but re-purposed as an addition to my existing Mbote dictatorship armed forces, now with bases fully textured and ready for finishing off.

The second is a militia technical that I didn't quite manage to finish first time round, once again in support of President for Life Papi Mpongo, esteemed leader of the Mbotean people. The plan is to complete these in the next few days, so that I can concentrate on the Bolt Action stuff thereafter. It's going to be a busy week but I reckon I can squeeze these in before the weekend.

Bolt Action Yanks [7]

We were out all day at the local street festival, so I didn't have the time to get anything done with the 28mm Yanks yesterday, although I did manage to locate the diecast vehicles that I knew I had in a box somewhere. These are Corgi 1/48th scale pre-painted models which I bought in a Modelzone sale way back when. They scale out quite well with the Artizan figures, perhaps better than the usual 1/56th scale models from the likes of Warlord, in my opinion.

The half tracks will probably just get a wash and a bit of weathering, although I'd quite like to re-paint them using a three stage drybrush over a black undercoat, which is what I'll do with the Sherman M4A3. I have an alternative Hobbyboss model kit of Sherman M4A1 76 (W) which may well replace the diecast tank, as I think it looks the business and is worth a few more points. It'll also give me the opportunity to do some plastic kit building, which is always good fun.

Westwind 30% Off Sale

I got an nice email from Westwind yesterday which announced another one of their very generous 30% off sales on the Arthurian, Samurai and Berlin or Bust WW2 ranges. I made the most of last year's sale by assembling a Romano British and a Saxon army for Dux Britanniarum, saving me a shedload of cash and resulting in yet more lead in the pile.

This time, I've kept my expenditure to a minimum by ordering a 3'' AT gun for the Bolt Action project. The Berlin or Bust figures are much smaller than the Artizan ones but I don't think the guns will be noticeably out of scale, so it will add a bit of punch to the platoon espacially as I already have the Artizan gun crew. I may well go back and get some more Arturian figures though!

Bolt Action Yanks [6]

Here are the support weapon bases for the late war US reinforced platoon, including two MMG's and a light mortar. The single figures are the ammo carriers for the MMG's. I could add a third MMG unit, as I'm allowed three in the lists, but that seems a little excessive so I'll stick with two for the moment. I have a third rifle squad to prepare and the armoured vehicles but I think I'll crack on with some painting first.

Bolt Action Yanks [5]

Here's the second twelve man squad for the Bolt Action Late War US reinforced platoon, consisting of an NCO with SMG, a bazooka team, two BAR gunners and seven riflemen, all undercoated in Halfords Ultra Matt camouflage brown. I now have two squads plus command prepared and undercoated so, when my re-supply of 60mm mdf circular bases arrives from ERM, I'll be able to crack on with the supporting heavy weapons teams.

Bolt Action Norway Fallschirmjager

 

I've been working pretty hard over the last few weeks so thought I'd reward myself with a new force for Bolt Action, following on from my previous ramblings about Norway. I have the Crusader early war French to use as the 13th DBLE, with a bit of imagination and a modicum of greenstuff, so thought that the obvious choice would be a unit of paratroopers.

 

I really like the Crusader figures so it was a bit of a no-brainer. I've splashed out on a unit pack of 16 riflemen, 2 SMG's, 2LMG's with loaders and a couple of officers, which at £30 is a pretty good deal and cheaper than buying the packs seperately. I've also added a command pack, an MG34 on tripod with crew and a pack with a light mortar and anti-tank rifle crew.

 

 

That's pretty much it, so a straightforward summer project that requires minimal effort to base and paint, but will enable me to field a half platoon of two sections, a command section and some supporting firepower, just in case. In the meantime, I'm basing up a second twelve man squad of late war US GI's, followed by some heavy weapons bases and a tank!.

Bolt Action Ramblings

 

I really enjoyed the Bolt Action game yesterday, so much so in fact that I'm thinking of picking up the 28mm US late war infantry company from it's dusty shelf and getting it sorted this month, instead of the 15mm SCW stuff. I'll base up the Republicans anyway but then leave the painting until the Summer holidays.

 

I've also been thinking about other options for Bolt Action that aren't late war and tie in with my existing interests. It wasn't long before the idea of an early war Norwegian project bubbled up from the depths of my sub-conscious, as this is a campaign I'd thought of gaming in 10mm before. It would, however, make an excellent 28mm 'skirmish' project and has a lot going for it.

 

 

I already have a platoon of early war 28mm French by Crusader Miniatures which I bought at Salute a few years ago for no other reason than they were dirt cheap and really nice figures. These would be great as a starter force for Norway and I could add a few extra bits as well to bulk them out. I can also match them with the Crusader early war German range, with the Fallschirmjager as an obvious choice, together with the early war British range as opposition.  

 

I have quite a lot of terrain bits and bobs that could be used for Norway too, including a big bag of fir trees and some rocky hills from the GF9 Battlefield in a Box range. The rest of the terrain can be improvised as it'll mostly consist of snow covered scree and the like, with the occasional mountain stream, road or forest track.

 

 

The only major obstacle is the Norwegian contingent but I have some ideas for simple conversions, possibly using WW1 Austrians with green stuff and headswaps to make them look the part. It's all a bit sketchy but I think I can work something out along theses lines. I'd only need a couple of rifle sections anyway, so it wouldn't be a major obstacle to the project as a whole.

 

This is all theorectical at the moment but I have ordered a copy of Skirmish Campaigns: Norway! from Caliver Books, as it was the only place I could find it. This will give me some idea of the sort of things I could do with what is, at the moment, only a rough outline but which could be a lot of fun. I'll do some more thinking but, in the meantime, will crack on with the Yanks for another late war game at some point in the not too distant future.

Bolt Action Game

I had a really good first game of Bolt Action at the club this evening, with a late war skirmish between a platoon of British Paras and German panzergrenadiers with some tanks and heavy weapons in support. In the end the British pulled off a narrow victory, largely as a result of a lucky shot from the British light tank crew, which knocked out a menacing Panzer MkIV early in the proceedings.

It was a really tactical game with a real small unit fire and movement 'feel' that helped to make the turns very interesting, so Bolt Action is a definite thumbs up for me. The terrain features and figures were also very impressive, which made it a really visual game as well. I'll have to get the Late War US infantry done at some point over the Summer, so that I can have a re-match using my own unit of grizzled veterans.

Good fun!

15mm SCW Flags

I've been pondering the inevitable basing conundrum again today and, after much aforethought, have arrived at what I think will be a good compromise between BAIT and IABSM. I've ordered the requisite laser cut mdf bases from the ever superlative ERM, so will be able to start the actual basing up once they arrive.

In the meantime, I've located this excellent source of 15mm flags for the various factions in the Spanish Civil War, which will make my company command bases stand out: http://www.wargames.cat/Dwnload/Vex/ . They're free as a download and come in 20mm and 15mm, based on some thorough research by a collective of Spanish FoW gamers. Outstanding!