28mm US interwar sailors.

These are Tiger Miniatures US sailors from their Sandpebbles range - based on the 1966 film starring Steve McQueen.  These are from the command and armed sailors packs and painted up nicely.  I would have preferred the dark blue rig, but bit the bullet and opted for the white tropical rig.  The only thing I need to complete are the sleeve rank and officer shoulder insignia.

I must now look out for some suitable RN figures for the era, or possibly slightly earlier Late Victorian.  Tiger Miniatures do some nice cold weather troops for Allied intervention in Russia, British infantry in Pashtuns for cold weather high altitude adventures, and German colonial troops (Schutzstruppen), all of which are tempting.

Thanks for looking.

20mm M113 ACAV for Vietnam

For a bit of a change from darkest Africa, I finished off a Britannia M113 ACAV model that I bought from Paul at the old Defenders Club several years ago.

Not too many bubbles, all went together well.  Ready for the upcoming Nam 68 rules from Plastic Soldier Company.

Thanks for looking.

Update: following Will's suggestion, I picked up a set of Skytrex decals.  They are quite large, but sum up the period nicely.  The M113 ACAV got the Eve of Destruction decals and I dig out the M577 and added The Boss decals.  Sadly no decals to add Fortunate Son or Paint it Black!

20mm US infantry for Vietnam

Pre-pandemic, I made a trip to one of the Penkridge table sales, where I picked up a box of under coated US infantry for Vietnam, based on pennies.  I'm running a 15mm Vietnam game at the end of the month and this inspired me to take a look at these.  The deal was sealed when I bought a box of Warlord Waffen SS figures and came across the excellent Paint all the minis 28mm Vietnam tutorial, so thought I'd try out the method on these slightly smaller scale minis.

I did one test figure and then batches of five, completing one batch a day with around 90 minutes working time per batch, excluding drying time.

Test figure rear left and first batch of 5.

Some command types and an M60 gunner.

Scout in soft hat and more command plus an M79 Blooper grenadier.

Sniper, command and M16 troopers.

A pair of M60 gunners and M16 troopers.

Some figures I particularly liked.

M16 trooper holding helmet on, either under fire or in the down draft of a helo.

Leader figure.

M16 trooper advancing.

Leader/radioman.

Scout in bush hat advancing.

Radio man advancing.

M79 grenadier advancing.

Leader signalling by hand.

Leader advancing.

M16 trooper rushing.

Nice sculpts, I have about 80 in total, so more to come.  I'll paint up at least enough for a USMC platoon in this batch, which should also cover most Army units as well.  Basing is a mixture of tufts and green static grass, which gives a nice luxuriant base to the figures.

Thanks for looking.

Early 21st Cent action in the Middle East

Thursday was a Jubilee open day at the local community centre where we normally play club games on a Thursday evening.  The centre invited us to put on all day games for visitors to watch, so Dave, Paul, Mick, Nathan, Tom, Ian and I did an early 21st Cent ME game based on a US probe into the outskirts of, let's say, Fallujah (no idea if the forces involved are in any way historical).  A US battlegroup with recce squads in Bradleys, supported by various infantry squads in M113s and Hummers, with 4 M1s, met up with Republican Guard recce screen in BMP-2s, supported by a pair of T-64As, with follow up waves of T-64As and Fedayeen infantry in technicals.  All terrain and troops from Dave's collection.

The calm before the storm with US deployment 24 inches on from the far table edge and Iraqi deployment from the near table edge (Iraqis were allowed to occupy the buildings on the far side of the road just over 24 inches on).

One of the US objectives was to place special forces adjacent to what appeared on satellite to be a WMD - of course, the Iraqis knew there were no WMDs and this was just an innocent length of drill pipe.

Iraqi left flank.

The killing ground - but who for?

Iraqi right flank.  Bradleys in the distance waiting to be deployed.

Dry wadi crossing the centre of the battlefield - good cover for infantry.

Three turns in and the Iraqi recce screen (vehicles in camo green) have been overtaken by the waves of T-64As on the left flank.

On the Iraqi right T-64As also advance rapidly, followed by Fedayeen technicals swarming with irregulars. 

The Republican Guard AT-4 team in a sand bagged emplacement in the apartments with blue balconies has done a sterling job in dissuading US vehicles from breaking cover, despite its poor strike rate.

The empty battlefield - the US have pushed a Hummer forward on the Iraqi left.

Towards the end, the Iraqis have their danders up and are surging forwards trying to close the range with those M1s.  There is, however, only one operational T-64A on the left flank, but even one of the BMP-2s has come forward to try and pin the troublesome LAW and TOW teams that have made it to the wadi.

Burning T-64As (T-80s proxying for recce T-64As).

The moment of truth, swarms of Fedayeen unleash salvos of RPGs, taking out M113s and an M1.  The last T-64A on this flank also despatches an M1.  Not photographed, but US special forces dash out of a building and attempt to identify the load on the truck (just to the right of the apartment block), only to be pinned by a recce infantry squad that had been on ambush fire the whole game.  I'd like to claim this was due to my superb generalship, but was in reality a hangover from the first turn when all they could do was go on ambush and a lack of orders meant that I could never get them to do anything once reserves arrived.  A desperately unlucky casualty check roll of 1 meant the special forces team were wiped out to a man and the contents of the truck remained unresolved.  The Republican Guard ensured the drill pipe was delivered to a nearby oil field as quickly as possible.

There were some minor distractions for the US troops.  A concealed sniper in the wadi on the Iraqi right flank occasionally pinned down US infantry trying to push forwards, while two innocent lads on motorcycles heading home from work and a lady driving an SUV caused some heavy handed US actions involving cable ties, car crushing and I think double taps to the head were also mentioned, possibly in front of the worlds news networks, with Al Jazeera running the clips every 15 minutes!

A fun game, played using most of the Battlegroup Northag stats and rules mechanics, minus pulling chits, with a roll for the US for helicopter support, which, fortunately for the Iraqis locally, was in use elsewhere on the day and not available.  Great looking 20mm forces and terrain from Dave, although several of those playing could have fielded both US and British troops suitable for the theatre.  Playing this meant I had a search through my stash for some 15mm Old Glory ME and insurgent infantry, which are now on the painting table, while the 3D printer is generating some BMP-2s and I'm searching for Toyota Hilux pickup stl files for the insurgents.

Thanks to Dave for laying the game on and my sporting and gallant allies and opponents - it was a lot of fun.  Thanks for looking.

15mm WW2 US vehicles 3D printed

Most of these are Bergman STL files from Thingiverse, possibly with one or two from Tigerace1945.  Pictures haven't come out too well here - lots of reflections.

Three jeeps, can't remember where the armoured jeep STL file came from.

Dodge staff car.  One of Bergman's 1:200 offerings scaled to 1:100, so not as detailed as others.

Dodge ambulance, again an upscaled 1:200 model.

An M4A3E2 Jumbo assault tank - uparmoured Sherman.

A pair of M4A3E8 (easy 8s) to make my Sherman platoons more suitable for 1945.

 All need decals adding, especially allied stars and US vehicle numbers, plus I'm sure the tanks will be named at some point.

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW2 US paratrooper supply carts

I picked up a little bag of SHQ figures from the tabletop sale at Penkridge back in August.  Four supply carts and 4 2 man crews.  Two were standard supply carts, while the others were supplied with models of lieutenant colonel Benjamin Vandervoort - not sure what I'll do with the spare Vandervoort.  The cart crews include a standard US infantryman, but I've painted him up as a paratrooper - he just hasn't bothered to camo up his helmet and add some skrim.

For D-day, these guys are painted in green ochre, with added US dark green reinforcing patches on knees and elbows.  Webbing and equipment is German camo beige, while helmets and carts are brown violet.  Weapons and wheels are black grey.

Vandervoort carts. 

Basic supply carts.

Nice little bargain set to add some resupply capability to my US paratroopers.

Thanks for looking.

Back to my roots - US Cavalry vs the locals

Last evening at Beacon Gaming Club, Will, Si and I played out a game using the "Too few to fight, too many to die" rules and some lovely Britannia miniatures (not sure they are still available from Grubby) from Si's collection.  Will and I each took a half troop (6 men) tasked with escorting a covered wagon through an arroyo complex and on to a fort on the adjacent plains.

Indigenous peoples, hereafter referred to as hostiles, in true Hollywood fashion were generated and played by Si, appearing according to a card system with diced random composition and strength.  The wagon plodded along d6 inches per turn.

Early on, Will's half troop found itself facing two groups of hostiles on the cavalry's right flank, so dismounted to face them.  The closest group attempted a charge, but stopped short, exposing themselves to some nasty volley fire.  On the left in the far distance, my cavalry have dismounted to take on another party of hostiles that have taken up a good ambush position along the arroyo walls.

My half troop slowly advancing on the hostiles and disorders on them.

Come on my lucky lads, make every shot count!

In the distance, another party of hostiles on foot appear.

Mounted hostiles approach the fort and some live to regret it.

Will has dealt with the two parties of hostiles to his front, while more warbands appear behind him (top right) and in front (left of giant hand).  Having driven off the hostiles on the arroyo wall, my half troop has mounted and is catching up with the wagon to deal with any hostiles appearing between it and the fort.

Faced with two large parties of mounted hostiles, the cavalry have all mounted and charged the enemy using pistols and sabers.  In the foreground, my half troop lost a man, but the hostiles recoiled with lots of disorder, but Will's cavalry charge swept the other group away and the shaken remnants of the group facing my half troop melted away into the dust and heat haze.

That effectively brought the hostile's efforts to intercept the wagon to an end for the day and the wagon was left to trundle into the fort, for the loss of one cavalry trooper and a few cuts and scratches.

A great game, lots of fun, quite simple mechanics easy to pick up, but when those hostile cards keep generating new contacts, there's a lot to keep the cavalry busy.  Then a run of "nothing happens" cards and the cavalry have a chance to deal with the threats.  Lots to keep the players busy and lots of touch and go moments.

As ever, thanks for looking.