Wargaming according to theWart

Hammers Slammers!

2011-04-04T22:24:00.006-04:00

I ordered some of the 6mm Hammer"s Slammers models from Old Crow Models. When I placed my order only the "Blower" Tanks, Combat Cars, and Command Cars were available. I Ordered a few packs ea of the Combat cars and Blower tanks, as well as a single pack of the Command variant t of the blower tanks. I received my order last week and was impressed by the quality of the models. As an added bonus, Jez from Old Crow, had included some extra models in the way of an artillery "Hog", a cargo car, and 2 command cars. It's always nice to find "extras"!

I painted them all up over the weekend, and took some pictures, to show off. I glued 3/4 fender washers to the bottom of all the "tanks", and "#6" flat washers to the bottoms of the cars. The washers give the models the appearance that they are hovering abit.

In total there are 24 Combat Cars, 2 Command Cars, 16 Blower tanks(4 Command), 1 Hog, and 1 Cargo car. I will be ordering more from Old Crow in the very near future!

Warhammer Fantasy Empire Army

2011-03-13T22:50:00.010-04:00

My younger brother Alec and I were first

introduced to the wargaming hobby in the summer 2000 by a mutual friend. We started playing Mage Knight and moved on to Warhanner Fantasy. I started collecting a Dwarf Army and Alec started an Empire army. Alec's Empire army never got much past the assembled and primed stage, aside from character models and a steam tank which he had painted. He could just never get into painting rank and file models. In January 2007 Alec passed away. I planned to finish his empire army, and just finally got started working on it in February. So far I've painted two units of 10 knightly orders, a unit of 15 Swordsmen, 12 Handgunners, and 5 Pistoliers. The General on Griffin Alec had already painted, I just hand to do some repair and touch up work to it, such as pinning the wings and fixing a few paint chips.

I've got another 12 Handgunners on the painting table now, along with the Steam Tank which I'm touching up and repairing. After that I'll probably start work on the Great Swords and Flagelants.

In other news, I managed to make it to Cold Wars last Friday. It's the first time I've managed to make it to a convention. I picked up some FAA Moroccan troops for my 1940 french army, as well as a few Frontline Belgian T-15s from the RLBPS stand, and some more 1/600 scale ironclads from Thoroughbred Figures in the dealers area.

What!? An update?!

2011-02-02T11:43:00.005-05:00

WOW! It has been more than a year since my last update. Well, I intend to start updating on a regular basis again. Here goes the first new update.

While browsing the Skytrex site recently I found this 4 pack of painted German Sdkfz 251/1 half tracks in 20mm for 10 pounds. Always a sucker for vehicles I don't have to paint, I ordered 2 sets of them right away. A week later they arrived and you can check out some pictures below.

The first Picture shows the packaging they came in.

The Second photo shows one of the models next to an RAFM 20mm Renault r35.

The final photo is a line up of 4 of the 8 vehicles I received.

So ends my first post in far too long.

WW1 Germans and ACW Confederates

2009-10-04T12:09:00.006-04:00

I've just painted up some of Old Glory WW1 Germans. They are the German Reservists in Picklehaub from Old Glory's "Trench Wars" Line. The Officer is from Brigade Games "Company Command" Pack. They are painted in Early war uniforms. The Brigade figure is a bit larger than the Old Glory figures, but on the Table they look fine together.

I've also just completed my latest batch of American Civil War Confederate soldiers. These figures are from the Old Glory 2nd Edition line. They Paint up pretty nicely, although some of the faces are a bit oddly sculpted. They fit in pretty nicely with the Perry Plastics I have already painted. I will attempt to post some side by side comparison photos of figures from the two lines.

Recently Painted Warhammer 40K Minis

2009-09-29T16:28:00.003-04:00

The First to Pictures posted here are both miniatures from the "Black Reach" box-set for Warhammer 40K. While I can count the number of times I've played 40K over the last 5 years on 1 hand, I still collect and paint quite a few GW minis. Mostly from Space Marines (read Black Templars) and Imperial Guard.

First we have the Space marine Commander, an extremely nice model, considering he's snap together plastic! I'm pretty happy with the paint job, although the Crosses on the shoulder pads are a bit "soft".

The second photo here is the Dreadnought from the aforementioned box-set. Again a pretty impressive model, all things considered. Once again I am also relatively happy with this paint job, but feel the Cross is a bit "soft" at the edges. I suppose I should break down and use decals, rather than try to paint such things.

Next up, we have the latest squad for my Imperial Guard Army. Nothing particularly special about these guys. Finally below we see the same squad of Guardsmen standing fast in the gaze of a terrifying Rylie-Monster! Ahhhh... Runnn Awaaaaay!

Trafalgar Ships

2009-09-25T19:54:00.003-04:00

Well, the above picture features the first three ship i"ve painted for Trafalgar. They've been done for some time, I just haven't had a chance to sit down and upload the photo.

In other news I have another batch of 28mm Confederate soldiers on the painting table, as well as 3 Imperial Guard Heavy Weapons teams, and a squad of early WW1 Germans. This new batch Confederates are the Old Glory 2nd Edition figures. They fit pretty well with the Perry plastics I painted previously. I will upload some photos of them soon.

Updates and suchness

2009-07-16T11:36:00.007-04:00

I've started painting some of my 1/2400 scale ships for Trafalgar. I began with 3 of the heavier Spanish ships, the Principe de Asturias [112 guns], the Santa Ana [112 guns], and the Rayo [100 guns]. Each ship will be based on a GW plastic cavalry. I decided to use the cavalry bases to maintain a uniform base size amongst the ships and to allow to the ships name and possibly a nation flag to be painted along one of the beveled edges of the base. I'll post some pictures once I finish them up.

I finally picked up the new imperial Guard Codex and the plastic Cadian Command set. I am looking forward to playing a game of 40k with the new codex. I'll post some pictures once I get them assembled.

I've also been thinking about picking up the Operation Damocles Initiation set for AT-43. I have been aware of the games existence for some time now, and had even thought about picking up some of the figs for 40k proxies, but i just recently stumbled across some photos of the Karman faction for the game. Apes in power armor.... need I say more.

June 8th where did you go?

2009-06-11T16:46:00.004-04:00

Well June 8th has come and gone and I completely failed to post. So in the spirit of "too little, too late" I'm making this catchup post on the 11th and will, in the future, attempt to actually post something on the 2nd monday of every month.

That being said I have managed sadly little painting since my last post, I did assemble and base coat some more confederates, but that's pretty much all the work I've accomplished.

On the purchases front things look a little brighter (of course they do, spending money is easier than actually painting). I've added yet another project to the que. Old Glory 25's has been offering a very tempting deal on the Warhammer Historicals Trafalgar ruleset bundled with all the ships to recreate the battle of Trafalgar in 1/2400 scale. I've always had a soft spot for naval games, and I finally gave in. The Rulebook is very nicely done and I look forward to testing the rules out with a small game soon. The ships from Old Glory are nice enough I suppose, I don't really have any other 1/2400 scale age of sail ships to compare them with yet. I do intend to pickup some of the 1/2400 scale Hallmark ships eventually, possibly an American fleet for the war of 1812.

2009-06-03T16:30:00.003-04:00

By jove! 2 posts in 1 day! Don't get excited though, this 2nd post is just me testing the mobile posting capabilities. In other words i have sent this post from my cell.

Boxer Rebellion - Imperial Chinese

2009-06-03T08:27:00.006-04:00

I've uploaded a couple photos of the Chinese imperials, that I finished painting recently. The miniatures are from Old Glory's "Boxer Rising" range. The Boxer Rising range is one of Old Glory's better ranges (IMHO), and with the Old Glory army the cost per figure is unbeatable. I've been plugging the few holes in the range with figures from Old Glory's "Spanish American War" range and Redoubt's Boxer Rebellion figures. The redoubt figures mix quite well with the Old Glory figs. These were painted to a basic standard and then "dipped" in minwax, just like my previously posted Boxers.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

2009-05-11T14:53:00.006-04:00

Well, I could list a whole string of reasons here for why I haven’t posted since August. The fact of the matter is, no matter how genuine and valid each of those reasons may be, they are all still just excuses. Hence forth it is my intention to post something on each of my blogs (this one and the blog dedicated to my Squat themed Imperial Guard army) at least once a month. The goal is to post here on the 2nd Monday of every month at the very least.

That being said, I’ll bring you up to speed on my current projects. I’ve gotten about 20 more boxers painted since my last post about my Boxer Rebellion project. I’ve also painted another 12 of the Perry Plastic ACW figures (all confederates so far), 2 1/32 scale Zis-3 Guns with 6 crewmen each, and 2 squads of Imperial Guardsman for 40K. Other than that I’ve gotten sadly little painting done, having spent most of my free time playing X-box (Nazi Zombies is super addictive) and reading (The Temeraire Series by Naomi Novik, and a few other books that were free downloads for the Kindle).

That is all for now. I’ll post again June 8th at the latest, hopefully I can get myself into the habit of post much more frequently than once a month.

Perry Plastic ACW Infantry

2008-08-12T20:08:00.003-04:00

See pictures below, overall I really like the figs. My one complaint is the fact that there are three officers in every box of 36 figures, but that's a minor issue. I'm relatively happy with the outcome after painting and dipping them.

2008-07-27T08:31:00.003-04:00

I haven't had much time for my hobby lately, real life sort of got in the way. I have been working on a scratchbuilt 40k scale warhound titan since about mid-april. I've also picked up a couple of boxes of the perry plastic ACW Infantry, I'll post some pics asap. In the mean time here are some pictures of my titan in it's current state. The main body is done, I just need to finish up the arms/guns. Pictuired below are the titan and the plasma blast gun.

Speed Painting Finale

2008-03-15T18:13:00.007-04:00

This has taken me much longer to finish that I had intended, not because the process isn't very quick, but because real life has gotten in the way. After dipping I let the figures dry over night and then I paint on eyes and flock the bases. Here are some pics of the finished product.

....and now for some pictures of all the boxers I've finished up to now, 30 plus the 3 Jingal Guns. With the exception of the Jingal guns and crews I painted all the figures using the method described in the previous 2 posts

Psuedo Speed Painting Part 2

2008-03-05T19:38:00.001-05:00

So here's Part 2, the figures were sprayed with a red krylon, then the flesh and other details such as hats, shields, belts, sandals, hair were block painted. When painting using this technique I do not shade, highlight or dry-brush at all I just paint solid colors. The next step is the dip, so I pull out my trusty and battered can of "Minwax Polyshades", a pair of pliers, a paper plate, and a bunch of paper towels.
After laying some paper towels out on the table to catch any excess Minwax and setting my paper plate to my left (this is were I'll set the figures to dry after they've been dipped) I pry the lid off my can of Polyshades. Next using my Wife's lovely pink pliers ('cause I'm too lazy to run downstairs and get my own) I carefully grip the base of the figure and dip it into the Minwax.

After pulling the figure from "the dip" I gently shake it to encourage some of the excess Minwax to find it's way back into the can. I then take 3-4 paper towels layered and folded in half and gently rub the excess from the figure.

Now I let the figures dry overnight on the paper plate. This is a pretty quick process, when I dipped these Boxers I also dipped another 40 some 20mm WW2 French infantry and the whole affair only took about twenty minutes. After they dry I will paint the eyes on the figures and then flock them and spray them with Testors DULL COTE . I hope to finish that up tomorrow night, then I'll post some pics of the finished product.

Pseudo Speed Painting part One

2008-03-02T19:22:00.000-05:00

O.K., so here's a quick sort of pseudo speed painting walk through. I this case I'll be painting Chinese Boxers, but I've use the same technique for man other periods, in fact I painted all my 54mm WW2 Russians in a very similar manner. First I'll start with a selection of ten figures mounted on 1" fender washers and then sprayed with Krylon Red (I generally try to start with a flat or satin color, but in the case I'm using a gloss red) . Now using "Talaran Flesh" from the Citadel Foundations line of paints.

I will then begin to rather liberally apply paint to any exposed flesh areas of the miniatures. After all the flesh is neatly painted I'll begin painting any other details I want to stand out (including weapons, hair, belts, and foot wear) leaving the rest of the figure the color of the base coat. The finishing touch is to paint the bases a dark brown color and then the figures are ready to be dipped. I do not paint the eyes at this point, I wait until after the figures have been dipped to do this. I'll post pictures of the dipping process at a later date in part two of this article.

Russian Front Game photos

2008-02-27T07:49:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since me last update, so I thought I'd put up a quick post suggesting you head on over to the Gettysburg Area Gamers website and check out the photo gallery for some pictures of some of the great games we've played in the past. There are also some pics of the recent 54mm Russian front game I ran using Arc of fire. The game was actually the same scenario as recorded in my last post with some minor changes. It was played on a larger table, and both the Russians and the Germans rolled much better on the additional units chart, with the Ruskies getting a 47mm AT gun and the Germans rolling the Sdkfz.222 for this game. The group played out the scenario very differently than Rueben and Clay did. The Halftrack was destroyed on the first turn by AT gun fire. The game quickly turned into an infantry battle for the stone bridge. We had to call the game at the end of turn 8 due to time restraints. I called it as a Russian Victory as they were still holding all of their objectives, however I think if we had gone another 2 turns the Reds would have been done.

Arc of Fire Game

2008-02-06T19:48:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I hosted a small Arc of Fire WW2 game at my house. The intent was to introduce some fairly new gamers (My brother in-law Reuben and my cousin Clay "Claybird") to the rule-set and to further acclimate myself to the rules as well. I'll be running a similar scenario at an upcoming Thursday night G.A.G. Game. It was a pretty simple scenario, with elements of a larger German force advancing towards a town, and a small group of Soviets attempting to slow/stop them. The German objectives were to capture the stone house, the small hill to the south and to exit at least one vehicle off the eastern table edge. The Russian objectives were to simply hold either the stone house, or the Hill. The Game was to end at turn 12. Both sides had the opportunity to roll for additional elements at the start of the game, while the Reds rolled an extra squad the Germans rolled a 3, being one of only two results on a D10 that would result in no additional forces.

The Game started pretty well with the Germans playing it cautious and advancing slowly down the paved road towards the stone bridge. The bridge was the only place they could cross the freezing river. While the Russian platoon HQ took up position in the house, one of the russian infantry squad to up a position behind the house. The Russian assault squad was hidden in tall grass to the east of the bridge. The Political section and second infantry squad held the hill.

Suppressing fire from the Russians on the hill slowed the advance of the German infantry up the road, however the halftrack pushed relentlessly forward to the din of small arms fire. The Red infantry squad positioned to the east of the house attempted to sneak around the north side of the house for where they stayed for the rest of the game thanks to effectively suppressing German MG fire.
Turn three started with the Russian still holding both the Hill and stone house and the entirety of the German forces still to the west of the bridge. On the first German Card the Halftrack roared of the Bridge and poured Machine Gun Fire into the house. The Second card for the halftrack followed immediately afterwards and the Halftrack moved down the dirt road towards the table edge were it stopped to unload into the nearby russian infantry. The third turn ended with the halftrack stopped only inches from the table edge. The Political sections Commissar was dead ,the infantry squads on the hill and advancing around the side of the house were both broken, and the assualt squad was charging towards the halftrack.

This was as far as the halftrack was to make it, the Russain assault squad was the first card up on the 4th turn and some well placed Grenades from the Ruskies put it and most of the infantry still within out of commission. We had to call the game early at the end of turn four, I called it a tie, but it would have been interesting to see how things turned out. There were still 2 relatively fresh Gerry squads coming over the bridge, the Ruskies were mostly broken and pretty shot up.

The nearly impervious Char B1

2008-01-22T19:31:00.000-05:00

The Char B1 Heavy Tank, the most powerful tank of the early part of ww2, with a forward hull mounted 75mm gun, at turreted 45mm gun, a Coaxial MG and armor that in some places reached a thickness of 65mm. At the beginning of the war the German's didn't even have a anti-tank gun that could pierce the armor except when a direct hit to the main vent was achieved. Of course they could be taken out by repeated hits, they could be slowly pounded into non-functionality. I'd imagine that repeated direct hits would have quite a negative effect on the crew morale.

Enough history though, I've recently finished painting six of these monsters. I painted three in a camo scheme and three a basic green paint job. This is the first real camo job I've tried on an AFV and I'm relatively pleased with it.

A battle report of sorts.

2008-01-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I played in a really fun Span-Am war naval game last night. I had intended to write a bit of a battle report about it, but have found my memory is some what lacking when it comes to details.
I was a spanish play along with three of my fellow gamers (Jack, Rob, and Woody), We had seven spanish ships, For capitol ships and three torpedo destroyers. Out objective was to escape off the opposite side of the board, while dealing as much destruction as we could. We found out later that sinking a single American ship would have one us the game.

On the First turn our four capital ship advanced towards the opposite table edge, at full bore. While Jack took the Torpedo Destroyers (they didn't count for Victory Points if they got off the edge) straight for the American Fleet, in attempt to slow down the Americans while we headed for our objective, taking potshots at the yanks as we went. This had moderate success in the first turn, while we inflicted some damage on the American ships, Billy Ray and has boxcars caused a catastrophic critical hit on Rob's ship the Vizcayo and sunk it befor the turn was out. The second turn proceeded about the same way. We inflicted some more damage on the Texas and the Brooklyn and advanced forward. The third turn rolled around at full steam and we inflicted even more damage on the Texas and the Brooklyn, but a withering hail of fire from Billy Ray's ship sent my ship the Cristobolo Colon straight to the bottom of the sea. In the fourth turn, we dealt yet more damage to the Texas and Jack successfully rammed the Texas with one of his torpedo destroyers while taking only minimal damage himself, the Texas was listing to port and her bilge pumps were going full bore. The game went on for a few turns after this with Mr. John's Texas pulling back and the Brooklyn taking quite a beating trying to cover the Texas' retreat. In the end all our ships were sunk and the Texas had one hull point left, the Brooklyn had 2. So it was a victory for the Yanks, but we sure gave them hell.

Early World War II French Armor

2008-01-08T19:11:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh..... the Early War French army. The Early part of the War holds great interest for me, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about 1940 France, 1939 Poland, and even the Winter War between the Finns and the Russians, I've been picking up miniatures for pretty much all the above as well. The French however are the closest to being done. I've uploaded some pictures of some recently completed French armor here.

They are all RAFM models, there are 4 Renault R35s, 2 Hotchkiss H35s and 2 Lorraine APCs.

I'm pretty pleased with how they came out. While the french had some great armor camo schemes it's my understanding (and in this case I'm going to stick by that understanding no matter how wrong it turns out to be) that a quite a few French tanks of the period didn't get the camo treatment, so for these models I decided not to go the way of camo. That is of course just a lame excuse, because I hate painting camo and I'm not very good at it either.

The beginning..... and abit about things to come

2008-01-07T18:41:00.000-05:00

I've started this blog with the intention of recording the progress of all the current wargaming/modeling projects I'm currently working on. I suffer from project/period A.D.D. so I've always got several different projects going at once. I'm currently working on Early World War 2 French in "20mm", Boxer Rebellion, and updating some of my 40K armies. Well I guess that's about it for my first post.