The Plan – 2014

Having reviewed progress in 2013 yesterday, today I set out my plan for 2014. As a cursory look at the last 2 years will show I achieve between 50% and 75% of my objectives so I am confident I will be reporting a similar ration of success and “deferred success” in 364 days time J

1 – 15mm Colonial. Sort out those blasted Bashi Basouks and some river boats. Then look to see what we need extra (if anything) for the hinted-at Berkeley Vale campaign.

2 – Form Line of Battle. A surprise entry, but here because (a) I’ve remembered how much I love the rules and (b) Rodger at the club wants to give them a try. The plan here is to renovate the fleets and complete at least six ships from the “lead pile”

3 – Project X. Mysteriously referred to over the last 2 years, PX has three elements to it. I will complete at least 2 of them this year. You’ll know when I do J

4 – 1/600 Coastal. Resurrecting last year’s objective, I will renovate the existing fleets, finish any odd models that have yet to be completed, sort out soft copies of ship data cards and get some games in! A stretch target will be to do the same for my 1/1200 models.

5 – Armada Invencible. Another surprise entry, but 2014 should see the rules for this hit the streets. I have a couple of the ships already and it looks like my stock of old Airfix galleons might work with them at a pinch. The objective here is to get a copy, knock up small English and Spanish squadrons and try them out. And if they don’t work then an Armada variant of FLoB may be on the cards J

6 – Games. I’m well set up to run a number of games, including Wings of Glory, X Wing, Sails of Glory (of which more in the coming days I hope), War Rocket and a few others so the plan here is to get a number of games of each in. I’ll also try to run a one day campaign, maybe two. These may or may not be connected with Project X.

Inevitably there will be some mission creep. I can guess where the mission may creep to over the coming months (those 15mm Vikings would like a day out, as would my 7^th cavalry and Plains Wars Indians, and then there’s the “not the Spanish Civil War” stuff…..). So expect some variation.

However, one very firm target – NO NEW PERIODS!

And now to end, the first completed models of 2014 (which don’t fit in to objectives 1-6) – a pair of Zvezda 1/100 T-35s. They really are quite imposing! 

Loaches, Landing Craft and Little Friends

Many years ago I built up a sizeable collection of Peter Pig 15mm Vietnam figures, backed up by a load of Roco Minitanks vehicles and Revell Hueys. Of course, "Apocalypse Now" was a great influence, and I always wanted some Loaches to go with my Hueys. Some months ago Battlefront brought out a box set of two Loaches. Lovely models, they go together very quickly and easily, and come with a decent set of transfers (decals to you colonial types) and soe nice flying stands. They were quickly assembled, then languished in the painting pile until this weekend. As I discovered yesterday they are als a dream to paint up. And here they are.

 I'm very pleased at how these came out. But I now have a suspicion that 15mm Vietnam skirmish is about to find itself a higher position in "the plan"

I also finished off the LCM - a basic resin model with some additional bulwarks, a couple of gunners and a covered deck. I have another one of these - not sure what to do to soup that one up.

Finally I've finished off a couple of Siemens Schukhert D.IVs that I've had waiting to be painted for a little while. One painted in the colours of my altar ego, "The Black Hand", the other in a corn snake and purple scheme for Laura. a bit of fun.

BIFF

Fresh off the painting table is the British Intervention Field Force, or "BIFF" as it is more commonly known. One of those shadowy units formed by the British Army in extremis during the 1930s, BIFF was tasked with protecting British interests in various small wars, insurrections and civil wars around the world. As its name suggests, BIFF would intervene for specific missions, frequently the extraction of UK and friendly nationals, or to secure assets of interest to the UK.

Actually I fancied raising a new force for my "not the Spanish Civil War" (NTSCW) collection, and I was inspired by the newly release Zvezda Matilda II and Matador truck. So, in keeping with my other NTSCW forces I've raised a couple of infantry companies with supporting artillery, field gun, HMG, mortar and anti tank rifle teams, and a nifty pair of early Carriers for the recce and spotter elements. The figures are a mix of Peter Pig WW1 and WW2 figures, vehicles from Skytrex, Zvezda, Peter Pig and QRF. I've always liked those nifty air recognition flags that the Germans draped over their vehicles in the early stages of WW2 so I thought something similar would be OK for BIFF - note also the CO's radio operator with a Union Flag flying from his aerial (I've been reading a  lot of Falklands material recently

I still have a few bits and pieces to do - some still in the post, but BIFF is now available and ready for tasking :)  And that is just about it for the NTSCW collection for a while, unless I decide to raise a similar but smaller German force (I was thinking paratroopers or a glider or 2), and the eagerly awaited T-35 from Zvezda.

Through the Barricades

Colds, work and family stuff have kept me away from doing much painting and gaming recently, but one thing I have managed to finish is a pile of barricades from Peter Pig. I've been after some decent urban barricades for my SCW collection for some time and so martin's recent release was just the ticket. I was given a couple of sets of these and the log barricades by a friend at Warfare a few weeks back and I've just finished them off.

Now they may be bit "mundane" compared with figures, tanks, ships and suchlike but they are a very necessary piece of terrain and, in true PP style, they have come out very nicely. I painted them overall dark earth, picked out various boxes, barrels, logs  bags and furniture in a variety of colours including a pink mattress), black washed, dry brushed and varnished. The result is, I think, quite pleasing.

Now all I need is an opportunity to give them a run out.

WW1 Oddities and Some SCW

I've been finishing off some odds and ends over the last few days. First up, some unusual French WW1 aircraft.

The big one is a Caudron G.4, an odd aircraft characterised by its enormous engines relative to the fuselage. I did this one in RNAS colours as (at the time of painting) I was fresh out of French roundels, and now that I have a new consignment from Dom's Decals it may get a change of ownership, but for now it gives my RNAS Tripes something to escort.

The smaller one is a Spad A.2. Even more of an oddity, this one is "mid engined" (but is no hot sports car). Instead, this was an attempt to solve the same gunnery problem that the British "pushers" managed, but solved by putting a gunner in a pod ahead of the engine (!). This is a lovely little model, to which I only added the guide rail for the nose gun (and a couple of pilot/gunner figures). 

I think if I was doing this one again I'd cut off the propeller and replace it an an angle, or replace it with a clear plastic disc to show off the real oddity of this aircraft. Otherwise its one of those things where you need to know what you are looking at to know what you are looking at, if you know what I mean :)

On the SCW front, some transport for my irregular units. On the left is an Ertl traction engine from the "Thomas the Tank Engine" series of toys (for those of a nervous disposition, I didn't file off his face; it is still there, hiding behind a disc of card. OK kids? move on). Now I don't know if they had traction engines like this in Spain, but I'm sure someone in the UK may have exported a few, and if not it will always do for my "imagi-nation" extension to the period.

The blue "technical" is a Zvezda ZIS-5 truck, augmented into a semi-armoured personnel carrier through the addition of card armour over the radiator, door sides and the cargo space. The cab windows are covered by brass mesh offcuts which I'm using for another project. 

Finally, a 1/600 Thoroughbred model of CSS Chicora, one of the Charleston squadron. The ship is often described as being painted pale blue, so I thought this would make an interetsing change from the normal black or light grey. 

A decent model and I don't really think the pictures do her justice. Now, the ACW is off my "to do" list for the year, but this model plus an impulse purchase (infrastructure rather than models or figures) might see this change in the next few weeks......

Anyway, currently on the workbench are some naval projects. More on these later :)

SCW (And Beyond) - Part 2

Today's completed items are some more bits and pieces for my 15mm SCW / "imagi-nation" collection. This time we have a maritime component, the police make an entry, and we've been working on the railroad :)

First up - the submarine. many years ago the kids were given a bath toy submarine. s luck would have it, the toy looked like it would make an ideal 15mm surfaced submarine when its lower hull was removed. and several years later, it came to pass. The toy was about to be thrown out and I salvaged it. It still took 2 years to get around to making the model though :)

The deck gun was made from an old Airfix 6pdr anti tank gun, trimmed and mounted upside down to mimic a 1920s 12pdr / 3" naval gun. Now that I've finished the model I'm thinking it may have been better to remove part of the "foot" in front of the conning tower and fin to make more room for the gun, but I think the result is reasonable (and now that its done I don't feel much like changing it).

Accompanying the boat is a small naval landing party, made up of Peter Pig U-Boat crew. This is a nice little set with riflemen, POs with SMGs and a couple of officers. I might see about adding an LMG team and a rubber boat or two to this group next year, but for now I think they'll do.

The railway subject of the next shot will be familiar to a few readers. Having seen the Siku railway locomotive and wagons on "Jims Wargames Workbench" I decided to get some for myself. its more suited to my AK-47 collection, but could just pass for a 1930s diesel. Rather than repainting I decided to give the loco and wagons a black wash, varnish and then heavy weathering. They came up OK, and fit nicely on the 15mm track I got for use with my Sudan armoured train. Alongside the train you can see the Policia figures (more on these later)

Whilst searching for the railway loco on eBay i noticed that Siku also make a steam locomotive and coaches. This has a very nice, dumpy "European" look about it, and so it fits nicely into my 1930s setting (it may not be authentic for Spain, but close enough!)

And so finally the Policia. I over-ordered on Civil Guard from Peter Pig and, having finished the CG unit I wanted to use them for something else. So they have become a small unit of local police (augmented with a couple of officer figures form the PP WW1 range). Seem here with their ultra modern transport (courtesy of Minifigs) and a BT-42 skulking in the background.  

Looking through my box of stuff to do, the SCW pile is down to some refugees, casualty figures and some 1930s biplanes. So it should be a fairly quick job to get these all squared away early next year.

SCW (And Beyond)

Another of this year's projects has been to finish off my 15mm Spanish Civil War collection. This began as a simple "paint up what's left" operation, but as with so many things in life, it took on a momentum of its own and snowballed slightly. This was due in no small part to the Abbey Wood irregulars and their "Very British Civil War" games in 28mm, of which I've played in a few. I liked the quirky "anything goes" approach and the odd local militia units and 1920s/30s "technicals" (including, in one game, an armoured horse-drawn stagecoach!!). I thought it would be fun to try in 15mm but in a mythical 1930s Central/South American (or I suppose a Southern European) "imagi-nation" so that I could use my SCW kit as the bedrock and supplement with odd units of "irregulars"

Just recently completed are a couple of units of civilian militia with assorted transport. I used a variety of Peter Pig packs for these, including the French partizans SCW bomb-throwers and other odds and sods. it makes a nice irregular unit, IMHO

Transport is provided by a Peter Pig Russian staff car, an ex-SDD Home Guard armoured bus and an armoured steam roller (!) Fire support is courtesy of a couple of Garford Putilov armoured cars from PT Dockyard, and WW1 Russian and Belgian armoured cars from Peter Pig

Finally, I have replaced my old SDD BT-5 and T-26 models with some of the lovely releases in plastic by Zvezda. The BT-5 is the BT-7 model out of the box (to me they look close enough). The T-26 is a conversion, replacing the original turret with that of the BT-7. I now have load of BT-7 hulls and T-26 sloping turrets (so I'm looking at decent BT-7 conversions and wondering if a simple turret swap would make a good BT-7M, or whether to scratch build a turret and make a BT-7A; I've already decided my "imagi-nation's" more regimented neighbour and nemesis is going to be based loosely on the Finns, if for no other reason than I can use some Battlefront BT-42s!)